by
Father Scott Archer
3-9-19
As
a fan of Thor, the good news is that no one can claim Thor: The Dark World is the worst movie in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, as that distinction may now be given to Captain Marvel, perhaps the worst script and deadpan acting I have
seen in the ten years of the MCU.
Few,
including me, were familiar with the symbol that appeared on Nick Fury’s pager
in the post-credits scene of Avengers:
Infinity War. With a little research I discovered Captain Marvel, as a
series, had several starts, cancellations, and reboots, and as a character, had
gone through name, race, and gender changes. No wonder few are familiar with
this constantly changing superhero. In Captain Marvel’s current incarnation, Brie
Larson plays the title character who is involved in a war between alien races,
the Kree and the Skrulls. Known as Vers, she is a Kree warrior, and her
commander is played by an underutilized Jude Law. Vers is captured but manages
to escape to Earth, crashing through a Blockbuster Video store. After meeting
Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. she discovers she is not Kree but a woman from Earth
named Carol Danvers. She further learns that those for whom she was fighting are
not on the side of righteousness, and she eventually becomes Captain Marvel.
The
most effective Marvel characters have an interesting origin story, character
development, and an overarching obstacle they must overcome. Thor had to become
worthy of wielding Mjolner. Tony Stark transformed from a self-centered weapons
manufacturer to Ironman. This Captain Marvel has no story arc at all. She is
all-powerful with no explanation and with no conflict to overcome. The
character is not helped by Brie Larson’s dull and tiresome monotone delivery of
her lines, which I quickly grew tired of. The lack of emotion on the part of
Captain Marvel coupled with an absence of a character arc are at the heart of
why this abysmal movie fails.
There
are two actors worth mentioning. Samuel L. Jackson did a good job as Nick Fury,
even if the CGI used to make him younger took some getting used to. Having said
that, Fury losing his eye because of a cat scratch was silly and not worthy of
the character. The one and only standout performance was Ben Mendelsohn as
Talos, the Skrull commander who follows Vers to earth. He was very committed to
his role, with the heavy makeup being no barrier to his portrayal as a
sympathetic alien.
The
inconsistencies between this movie and the rest of the MCU are many—and
distracting. For instance, Fury, in The
Avengers, said he was developing weapons because Thor’s arrival on Earth
made him aware they were not alone in the universe. Yet Captain Marvel’s
arrival in 1995 would already have made him aware of the extraterrestrial
threats to Earth.
I
cannot recommend this needless, uninteresting intrusion into the MCU. The
stewards of the MCU are getting sloppy in their strenuous efforts to introduce
a character in the name of bringing more diversity to the MCU and tedium
masquerading as “subtlety.” It would have been better to highlight Scarlet
Johanssen’s Black Widow and given her her long overdue feature films. For those
who are concerned how this story may tie into Avengers: Endgame—and I would say it will have no direct relevance
at all—just read a synopsis of Captain
Marvel and save your money.
