⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

Director: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck 
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Jude Law 
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 124 mins

Captain Marvel is the final film before the deliriously anticipated Avengers: Endgame. Although it may seem as if it is filler material, it sets in motion the famous superhero’s story before she enters the fray with the other established Avengers. Captain Marvel also represents Marvel’s first female-led feature which is a big deal and the bar set by rival DC with Wonder Woman is fairly high. Captain Marvel is introduced in this film as an amnesiac who is training to fight a war against the Skrulls led by Kree leader Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). She has glimpses of her previous life on Earth but cannot piece together how she has come to be. This film is directed by duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who previously directed the flawed but fun Mississippi Grind. They don’t seem a great fit with the material and the marketing for the film didn’t particularly instil confidence. How does Captain Marvel fare?

Other than a wonky first act, Captain Marvel is entertaining throughout and is refreshingly light for a superhero film. It’s also a film that doesn’t spend copious amounts of time explaining everything and the decision to start the film on an alien planet with a whole race of beings audiences are not familiar with is quite bold. Once Captain Marvel finds herself on Earth, there is some great interplay between Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, who gets developed exponentially as a character here. The film is at its best when it fully embraces its 90s setting and fun is poked at Larson’s fish-out-of-water character. When the superhero antics finally arrive, the film doesn’t outstay its welcome and it’s never boring. The film has some good twists up its sleeve too and subverts expectations.

The performances are generally good, with Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn being the standouts. Nick Furyhas always seemed a little one-note for a Samuel L. Jackson character compared to his exhaustive filmography but here we get to see a different side to him which works well. Ben Mendelsohn, who previous collaborated with the duo on Mississippi Grind, plays a Skrull called Talos and he is equally great and is clearly having a fun time, chewing the scenery. Brie Larson is good as Captain Marvel and is better towards the film’s end but she plays the character a little stiff and wooden. But if you look back to stalwarts Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans first outings for examples, they weren’t great so good things are to be expected once Larson and the crew have settled into their roles.

Overall, Captain Marvel is surprisingly better than expected and ranks strongly in the Marvel canon. It is ultimately a good leading film into Avengers: Endgame and it will be very interesting to see where the character is taken next. It’s particularly impressive that Boden and Fleck are able to avoid many of the genre pitfalls and suggests good things to come now that they have established the characters. This is a much better film than expected and offers strong competition against DC’s Wonder Woman.

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)