Review: Captain Marvel

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.

If nothing else, "Captain Marvel" feels like progress. It's the first major Marvel movie to feature a woman as the lead character and one of its two directors - Anna Boden, the other being Ryan Fleck, both of "Half Nelson" fame - is a woman. In terms of storytelling progress, the picture isn't nearly as successful as last year's "Black Panther," but it's much more enjoyable than the deadly serious, and often seriously dull, "Avengers" sequels.

Much of the credit here is in the casting. Brie Larson provides a solid leading performance as Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel), a young woman whose own identity is called into question in the midst of a galactic struggle between several nations. Carol doesn't know if she's actually an individual with a powerful force in her hands from outer space or a young pilot from Earth with a mysterious past and a deceased mentor (Annette Bening) - or both.

As the film opens, Carol is sent on a mission by her latest mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), on behalf of the Kree, the people to whom she shows allegiance. Carol is often reminded by Yon-Rogg that she shouldn't let her emotions get the best of her, reinforcing the sexist notion that women are too emotional to handle jobs in high positions of power. This is complemented by some flashbacks to her girlhood (as an earthling?) when she is punished or scorned by men for trying to do the things they do - racing cars, climbing ropes in military drills, etc. All of this material is well utilized later in the film when those flashbacks are once again played, but this time to comment on the notion of Carol standing up for herself.

Carol ends up on Earth and finds herself teamed up with a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, whose obvious enjoyment of the material makes up for the fact that the filmmakers digitally enhanced him to look 25 years younger). Oh, and by the way, the story is set in the mid-1990s, so the fashion of that era is on display as well as a trip to a Blockbuster, where Carol muses over a copy of "The Right Stuff," and the obligatory soundtrack choices - in this case, Salt N Pepa, Garbage and Nirvana.

On the whole, the intergalactic elements of the story feel a little tired as does the umpteenth Marvel plot thread involving the Destruction of Mankind As We Know It. But the camaraderie between Larson and Jackson go a long way and the girl power elements incorporated here add a punch. There's a nice friendship between Carol and a fellow pilot named Maria (Lashana Lynch) and some decent flashback scenes in which Bening's character lays out her plans for world peace with Carol. A mentorship hinted at late in the picture between Carol and Maria's tween daughter also adds a nice touch.

So, while "Captain Marvel" isn't groundbreaking across the board as "Black Panther" was, it's similar to "Wonder Woman" in that a woman behind the camera made a film about a woman superhero who has men accompanying her on her mission, but doesn't particularly need them around. While the film isn't as inspiring in the storytelling department, it makes up for it elsewhere, elevating it slightly above some of the other recent comic book movies.