Review: Captain Marvel (third-pass)

Captain Marvel (third-pass / 2D / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 124 mins / Dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck / Trailer



Apologies for the lateness of this review, writing time is competing for top billing at Blackout Towers. First review way back here, second (micro) review here.

CAMEO

So, this was the third time of watching Captain Marvel, and the third time that the opening ident featuring Stan Lee brought me to tears. Ditto with his cameo in the train-scene. What I absolutely adore about this is that because the movie is set in 1995 and Kevin Smith's Mallrats was released in that same year, the Stan we see on the train is rehearsing the lines for his appearance in that film. It's the scene with Brody in which he plays himself after an appearance at a comic book store. So for this Marvel Cinematic Universe cameo, Stan Lee doesn't play Man At Window or Guy Opening Fridge; Stan Lee plays Stan Lee. An amazing tribute to a unique man which is fucking beautiful, frankly.

But I digress. What becomes clearer watching the movie after a break is that the amount of exposition mixed with call-forwards in the first act means that the viewer is bombarded with way too much information. Ironically, this isn't as noticeable on a first-pass when you're just gawping at everything anyway, but the more you understand what's going on, the more jumbled its beginning becomes. Anything before Vers lands in the Blockbuster feels needlessly cluttered.

GUN

On a more positive note (because I do love this, remember), the feeling grows that there's nothing in the actual story itself which dictates that Carol Danvers needs to be a female character. It could as well be Carl Danvers. That she's a woman is just a bonus (albeit a long overdue one). And whereas DC's Wonder Woman did a great job of ramping up its girl-power while retaining credibility, Captain Marvel is altogether less showy about it - although no less important. And that's either the mark of true narrative equality from Marvel, or a damning indictment of the homogenisation of superhero cinema. Definitely one of the two.

It's slightly odd to think that Danvers ends up being the one who inadvertently names The Avengers. As above, it's cool that there's a female touch to these proceedings, but way back in the supergroup's debut comic it was The Wasp who came up with the moniker. It's bad enough that she was recently reduced to being a sidekick in a movie where she should have co-headlined, but now this? I expect Hope Van Dyne to have her own kick-ass movie in short order by way of recompense.

It also occurred to me watching this again that Maria's daughter Monica is around 11 in 1995, which would put her in the mid-30s by the time of Endgame. Might we see the budding pilot teaming up with Carol Danvers in the future when she takes the fight to Thanos? Well, that movie's out by the time of posting this review, and that question has been answered…

Tonally, the other character-chapters in the MCU.



It is.



It is.



The jury's still out on that one.



That's possible.



Nope, I thought there was in the scene where Goose gets hungry for the first time, but I didn't hear it the next time round.



Level 1: Orson Krennic's in this.







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