Captain Marvel

Vers (Brie Larson) is a human who fights for the intergalactic Kree empire. After waking up on the Kree planet Hala without any memories, she is given enhanced ability by the Kree and assigned to their elite Starforce under the leadership of her trainer, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). During a mission to extract intelligence on the Skrulls, a race of enemy shapeshifters, Vers is captured by Talos (Ben Mendehlson), the Skrull leader. Her memories are examined for a trace of Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Benning), a scientist from her forgotten past. Fighting her way out of Skrull custody, Vers crash lands on Earth, where she attracts the attention of veteran SHIELD agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and rookie Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Enlisting a curious Fury’s help, Vers tries to find Lawson and discover her own true identity while evading the Skrulls, who have begun to infiltrate Earth.

As Marvel Studios’ first female-led film, Captain Marvel attracted both a disproportionate amount of pre-release hype as well as a disproportionate amount of backlash from trolls. This polarized reaction does the film a disservice as it is neither as momentous nor as insufferable as either response suggests it should be. Instead, it’s a largely entertaining origin story replete with fun nostalgic flourishes as well as a sense that (ironic, given its 90s setting) it came along a decade too late.

Writers/directors Anna Fleck and Ryan Bolden, best known for character-driven dramas like the underrated Half Nelson, may seem an odd team to helm a superhero blockbuster, but their low-key sensibility rescues Captain Marvel from the pitfalls of excess. The 1990s setting, for example, is established via a Blockbuster Video appearance and period-appropriate music, and while there are a few well-timed jokes regarding the era’s (comparatively) slow computers, its never cranked up to the point of overshadowing other aspects of the film. The movie’s “don’t let anyone hold you back” message, in contrast, is far from subtle, but thematic obviousness and superhero movies go hand-in-hand.

Though their roles are varying degrees of rewarding, Captain Marvel’s cast is a good fit. Larson, in the title role, turns in a deceptively complex performance. As with Chris Evans’s early outings as Captain America, the apparent woodenness that comes with being a virtuous soldier-type belies a more conflicted core, something we see when Vers struggles with coming to terms with her identity. Both Jackson and Gregg are digitally de-aged about twenty-five years, and watching them play younger versions of much-loved characters is a blast. Mendelsohn is practically the go-to guy these days for slimy yet overmatched villains, and while Talos starts that way, as befitting a shapeshifter, there is more to the character than initial perceptions let on. The same can also be said for Goose, who is by all appearances a cat that once belonged to Lawson and joins up with the heroes. Unfortunately, several other roles are poorly written, and antagonistic characters often come across as blandly one-note. It would spoil the film to name them all, but a younger version of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace, returning from Guardians of the Galaxy) shows up, and he continues to lack his comic book equivalent’s complexity (think less genocidal maniac and more uptight hardass judge).

Aesthetically, Captain Marvel is a victim of timing. It is by no means a bad-looking film, but it lacks a lot of the visual oomph it would have delivered had it been released before other movies beat it to the punch. Guardians of the Galaxy already made its mark using upbeat pop songs from an earlier decade in action sequences, and several Marvel movies have made use of fast-paced space chases. Add to that the unfair-but-inevitable comparisons to DC’s Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel simply loses a lot of the impact it may have had otherwise.

Though it may not be a revelation, Captain Marvel is far from a flop. An engaging change of pace, it fits nicely into Marvel’s cinematic universe rather than redefining it.