I’ve been following the Marvel movies since their inception over 10 years ago. Marvel entered the space at a time when superhero movies were still trying to find their identity, and through an abundance on sharp humor, stylized action, and a clear narrative direction, Marvel was able to strike on a winning formula. But after so many years, that formula has began to feel a tad predictable. It's almost as if Marvel is drawing out roadmaps, with dots for when to add a joke, when to have an action scene, and when to slow down for some drama. Even within this formula some films pull it off well, like the most recent Thor movie, others, as is this case with Captain Marvel, not so much. Captain Marvel’s biggest problem isn’t just with the stale formula, but with the fact that it doesn’t even manage to pack anything worthwhile into the formula. With jokes that miss as often as they land, a scattershot plot, and some surprisingly weak effects, Captain Marvel feels like the most recycled Marvel movie yet.
Captain Marvel gets off to a rocky start and never really finds its footing from there. The movie’s opening is poorly explained and far too short. We’re not given any time with these characters or any time with this world. We have a short scene of exposition, which is not very effectively implemented, and then we’re immediately thrown into an action sequence. This opening is the first example of a big issue I had with the film and it’s that the characters motivation are not often made clear in a given situation. While I generally understood the overarching story, I was often confused as to why a character was in a specific place as well as what they were doing there.
The story as a whole is familiar in a very bland way. We’ve seen this type of story before. Tropes involving a fish out of water as well as memory loss. We’ve even seen it done within the MCU (and not particularly well in that case either). In general this film’s plot, and it’s inclusion in the over all universe, just seem like an afterthought. It’s a story that I don’t think impacts the arc that the avengers films have set up and more than that it’s a story that I don’t think is in need of telling. The narrative issues speak to a bigger problem with this film and that is the writing. The quality of the writing in Captain Marvel dips significantly compared to most of the previous films in the MCU. The dialogue is particularly awkward. The movie is full of bad jokes and emotional moments that don’t feel particularly resonant. The character are also pretty underdeveloped. Captain Marvel herself just feels like a retread of Tony Stark and Peter Quill, but minus the layers that make those characters so compelling. Even a character like Nick Fury just seems like a shell of his former self.
While a lot of the dialogue is not up to snuff, the performances don’t do the script any favors. A lot of the delivery from a large portion of the actors is incredibly stiff or lifeless. Brie Larson, as good as she is capable of being, did not show any of that talent in this film. She was so stiff so often and had this very strange delivery that made it seem like someone was feeding her her lines through an earpiece.
Even the effects in this movie can be surprisingly bad. While the opening battle was huge and very well done, the film falls apart after that point. A lot of the special effects are shockingly bad. At one point there was an explosion on a ship that would have looked bad had it been a cutscene in a PS3 game. The editing is also incredibly choppy, often making me feel like a shot or a frame was missing several times throughout the film.
I was really disappointed by Captain Marvel. I think you could potentially chalk some of my issue with the film up to superhero fatigue. But even applying that caveat, I don’t think this is a good movie. The film just comes off as uninspired and lacking a lot of the wit and cohesion that’s made several other films in this franchise so enjoyable. Even to the biggest fans of the MCU, I would say Captain Marvel is worth skipping.