"Superhero, Space Invasion, Big Car Chase... Truth Be Told, I Was Ready To Hang It Up. 'Till I Met You Today..."
Teased ever so delightfully during the post credits scene of the universally accepted brilliance of Avengers: Infinity War last year, Captain Marvel acts as the final chapter in its' respective franchise before the hotly anticipated, Avengers: Endgame, as it attempts to offer up a slice of background and characterisation to a figure before dropping her amidst our grieving survivors suffering from the murderous snap of Josh Brolin's Thanos. Acting as the twenty first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and helmed by the American directing duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Mississippi Grind), filmmakers who adequately fit the recent Marvel mould by being independent filmmakers given a chance to expand their horizons with a much larger budget, Captain Marvel finally brings forth the first female led chapter in the franchise, with the Academy Award winning Brie Larson (Room) taking the role as the titular heroine who attempts to both save Earth from the threat of Alien invasion after crash landing after a space battle gone awry, as well as digging deep into her own ambiguous and murky past which is haunted of visions of a yet undetermined previous life. Whilst not as groundbreaking or epic as the likes of Infinity War, a particular big screen feat which has now set a very high bar for every Marvel feature which follows, Captain Marvel is a thoroughly entertaining and fan-pleasing origins story which above all else, reaffirms the notion that Thanos is in deep, deep trouble indeed.
As per the likes of Black Panther, Captain Marvel begins in surprisingly jarring fashion, introducing Laron's annoyingly named, Vers, on her Kree inhabited planet as we see her dream of the mysterious figure of Annette Benning (American Beauty) whilst being trained by the steely-eyed demeanour of her mentor, Yon-Rogg, as played in superb fashion by Jude Law (The Crimes of Grindelwald). With her powers and abilities already established in the opening act, the narrative plays with the audience from the offset as it gently lifts the lid of Ver's mysterious youth and young adulthood as we progress through the story, and whilst the opening act features a very familiar Guardians of the Galaxy-esque sensibility, due in part to the return of Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou, the film doesn't really heat up until the story diverts to Earth, where Vers soon begins a blossoming relationship with Samuel L. Jackson's trim looking Nick Fury in an attempt to thwart the plans of the simply brilliant Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One) as Talos, a shift shaping terrorist with a knack for taking deception cues from the likes of X-Men's Mystique. With more laugh out loud humour than one might expect amidst a lovely, 90's setting revolving gag which features Blockbuster and a continuous anxiety regarding the loading speed of the internet, Captain Marvel may indeed fit the mould of the a-typical superhero origin story, but with superb performances all around from both the movie's leads and supporting acts, a genuinely interesting and surprisingly twisting script, and of course, a cute ginger cat named Goose, the latest Marvel flick may be just another side-note in the buildup to Endgame next month but when the side-note is this damn enjoyable, you can't help but admire the sheer entertainment factor such a movie evokes. Team Captain Marvel all the way.
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