Captain Marvel is my Controversial Hot Take

Now this one will either fall flat on its face or do big numbers, no in between! So without further ado, let’s get into what’s so controversial!

In my humble opinion, yes, I believe it is! Now I know it’s become somewhat of a taboo topic to actually like Captain Marvel but hear me out! There’s so much more to this film than just the “woke” crap that people on the internet scream about, and it’s no where near the bottom of the barrel of the MCU like a lot of these tier lists seem to want to make sure it is.

First off, I will defend Brie Larson’s portrayal of Carol Danvers until my dying breath. Given the fact she’s an Oscar winning actress, you cannot deny that she isn’t a talented actor. In this film, she does something she’s never done before, she balances the action and heroic nature of Carol with a deeply traumatic and guarded persona. The MCU up until this point has had a point of making their protagonists quippy and charismatic in a traditional sense, but here Brie takes that and puts a new spin on the hero. Throughout the film, you see Carol going on a journey of self-discovery, from being a loyal, guarded and emotionally light Kree soldier to reuniting with her friends and family, thus rediscovering her emotions and her sense of self. The way that Larson portrays that discovery I thought was really effective, going from the stoic and confident soldier to the vulnerable and emotional woman when she finally discovers the truth. The scene between her and Maria when she finally remembers everything, I think it’s a really beautifully acted scene.

Aside from Larson, this film is also full of fun performances in it’s side characters. Samuel L Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury but a younger, more rookie Fury who’s just getting his footing in this crazy Marvel world. That youthful energy that Jackson brings to Fury, it’s a breath of fresh air for both the character and the story which up until this point has been fairly serious. Alongside him is the triumphant return of Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson who shines as always, but the real MVP of this movie is Ben Mendelson as Talos. The leader of the Skrull refugees and a seasoned fighter in this Kree war, you would expect him to be overly serious but no, he is allowed to have a lot of fun with it! He brings such a great sass and energy to the film, especially when we get to the twist in the story!

Sadly, the villains of the film leave a fair bit to be desired. This felt like a tremendous waste of Jude Law’s talents who did the best with what he was given and made Yon-Rogg entertaining to watch but the writing and the story just didn’t really do anything all that interesting with him. There was no layers nor depth to him, he was just good guy until he is bad guy. Annette Benning doubles up as Mar-Vell and the Supreme Intelligence, and there really isn’t a lot to say about this. She’s fine, it’s fine but it’s nothing incredible nor insulting. The wider Kree strike team get nothing to do except the occasional action scene, with people like Gemma Chan recast in a role that actually utilises her talents (more on that in a few weeks).

One of the things that I feel really goes underappreciated is the visuals and framing of this film. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are indie directors and you can tell by their shot composition and approach to filmmaking. In this watch especially, I noticed a lot of use of close-up handheld camera work, giving it a raw and rough edge that evokes a more personal feel to it. On top of that, the sheer scale and colour contrast is certain scenes is awesome to witness, like the scene above when she first gets her powers or that one GORGEOUS shot of Carol walking out of the plane hanger in the flashback scenes. This film has some really underrated imagery!

As for the story, it’s one that differentiates from the usual MCU origin in it’s formula but then tries to morph into something different to mixed results. The whole amnesia and self-discovery aspect of the story is really entertaining and features some great character work for Larson to sink her teeth into but the twist kind of falls a bit flat for me. Spoilers from here but it’s revealed that the Skrulls are actually refugees that refused to bow to the Kree empire, so they made them the enemy and hunted them down. For one, this twist doesn’t really vibe with me given the characterisation of the Skrulls in the comics but also because the film rarely goes anywhere with said twist. There isn’t any conflict or nuance with the Kree team after this point, they just become evil because the story says so.

Overall, Captain Marvel is a great time for me, but I can understand why some people may be less than thrilled with it. It has a surprisingly effective personal story for Carol, some fun and bombastic action, great supporting cast and some great filmmaking. All I will say is to give it a good shot yourself, cause you just may be surprised with how much you enjoy it!

Well, that is more of a question for when we get to this movie’s sequel in The Marvels but in the case of this one? As of now, there really isn’t any connective tissue between the two of them. As of writing this, Captain Marvel isn’t confirmed to appear in Avengers Doomsday (despite the sequel to this movie directly tying into the events of Doomsday), so there really isn’t a whole lot of stuff I can get out of this movie specifically in relation to Avengers Doomsday.

All I can say is that it’s ridiculous that she isn’t in the movie at this point, especially given where she's left at the end of The Marvels. You have a literal powerhouse sat in the back garden and the multiverse is collapsing, and you don’t think you should give her a call?

1. Iron Man - Yes

2. The Incredible Hulk - No

3. Iron Man 2 - Yes

4. Thor - Yes

5. Captain America: The First Avenger - Yes

6. The Avengers - YES, PRIORITISE

7. Iron Man 3 - Yes

8. Thor: The Dark World - No

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - YES, PRIORITISE

10. Guardians of the Galaxy - No

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron - Yes

12. Ant-Man - Preference

13. Captain America: Civil War - YES, PRIORITISE

14. Doctor Strange - Yes

15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 - No

16. Spider-Man: Homecoming - Preference

17. Thor: Ragnarok - Yes

18. Black Panther - Yes

19. Avengers Infinity War - YES, PRIORITISE

20. Ant-Man and the Wasp - Preference

21. Captain Marvel - No

That’ll be it for this weeks instalment of the Doomsday Countdown! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you again next week for the BIG one in Avengers Endgame! Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and leave a comment down below to tell me what you thought about Captain Marvel!

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