Reviews & Ratings for
Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel is the lead up to Avengers: Endgame. Only the biggest film to be ever made… in terms of hype and Fan expectation. So no pressure!

I go with ZERO expectations to any comic book film, some of them surpass expectations like Glass (Sequel to Unbreakable and Split) and some are just totally meh (in my opinion) such as Venom and Aquaman. Therefore, I had zero baggage with me for this film. I only hoped it would be as good as Ant-man and not totally suck like Thor the Dark World.
I was pleasantly surprised; the movie is Decent to say the least. Let’s break it down…

Direction:
This movie is made by a pair of directors I have never heard of! However, that’s not a bad thing. Most of the world had not heard of Chris Nolan before he made Batman Begins. Same goes for Joe and Anthony Russo before they made Winter Soldier.
So being unknown directors is not a problem for Marvel films. The direction is solid, crisp and very in tone with Marvel offerings, which has a joke right before a deadly conflict.

Acting:
The film has Brie Larson and Sam Jackson as its main characters. Brie Larson’s acting is a bit iffy and unlike most Marvel Superheroes her casting seems a bit questionable. She isn’t terrible in the role, but the typical marvel spunk, comedy and one liners / attitude doesn’t suit her at all and it comes across as cheesy. While she isn’t an eye sore as the film’s lead they could definitely have done better.
Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury on the other hand has been transformed into a comedy sidekick. There are specific things here, which are ‘spoilery’ so will only discuss them in the last paragraph BELOW the rating. It’s nice to see Nick Fury in the formative years but he doesn’t really have much to do expect be the butt of most of the films jokes.
The rest of the side characters are well handled and no one sticks out as either too good or bad. Annette Bening fulfills the role of the senior actor who has Oscar worthy talent and is underutilized, same as Glenn Close in Guardians and Micheal Douglas in Ant-man (Also Marisa Tomei in Homecoming, though that’s a Sony Marvel films)
Jude Law is there for more or less a guest appearance and the movie has nothing to offer such a veteran and expect actor.

Story:
This film is set in the 1990’s. Right from the trailers it looked like they have covered that time period pretty well. But the film sort of lacks the making of the 1990s as a character. Somehow, Guardians set it up better as the 80s even though it was set in contemporary times. The plot is a bit weak but they can’t make too many changes or the rest of the films in continuity will get affected.
The ending climax scene is a straight rip-off from the Guardians of the Galaxy / Thor Ragnarok type of film making.

Overall:
This film is fine and enjoyable. It’s not as good as the First ‘Iron man’ nor is it too bad as Iron man 2/3. It’s definitely worth a watch for all Marvel fans. If you have never seen a Marvel film, then this film is NOT for you!

Rating:
7/10. Solid in most parts. Some strange moments, but overall pretty watchable.

P.S: (Spoilers)
My main issue with the film is how much a comic relief they have made Nick Fury. Sure, he could have been less serious and more jokey as a younger person, but he is not at the beginning of his career! He is already a decorated ex-soldier and Spy! He is shown as a LOW threat level as a joke but the CAT is highly dangerous. Also the way he does lose his eye is a throwaway joke! Come on! Fury’s losing an eye should have been epic while doing something heroic. In a way they try to justify it as things Fury did, he was a silly fellow and lost an eye because he was careless. But does that sound like the Nicholas J. Fury we have seen in Avengers? They sort of portray him as a fake legend whose heroics are all hear say.
Why did they feel that if Nick Fury was strong it would devalue the main lead? This method of raising her value by making the legendary Fury a joke is just sad.
Other than this, the film is fine. They also under used Coulson. He barely had a role but that’s fine. It’s the director and writers call.
Ronan the Accuser from Guardians makes an appearance here and even he his stature of someone who talks back to Thanos is severely reduced here to make Captain Marvel look powerful… these are some things which hard core marvel fans might take an issue with.

Captain Marvel is a film co-written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. To be very honest, the trailers and promotional material didn’t excite me for the film and so as a result my expectations from this film were not very huge. In short, I would say that this film was quite a satisfactory watch for me.

Plot: Vers, a member of the Starforce is the only hope when Earth becomes the target of an intergalactic conflict.

Story and direction: MCU has grown over the years and when you have in mind to watch a film from this universe, it has a certain bar set for itself. Well since MCU is one of the most successful franchises to date, this film knew that without even promoting people will sure be attracted to watch this new venture. So, in short, I went into the halls a blank slate having no expectations what-so-ever. This film is neither bad (as many trolls suggested) nor great. For me, it was a decent film. The good is the technicality the film has. The VFX is as usual awesome and you have wide angle shots and CGI that doesn’t feel mis-placed. A big hats-of from my side to the team for the de-aging effects. OMG. It felt as if I was seeing a younger Sam Jackson and Clark Gregg. The action scenes felt quite natural to me and were just quite good. The marvel brand of comedy is there and you are surely entertained by it. But what did feel lacking for me was the character development. I was not really invested into a character and cared for them. That’s what you want from any film. Yes, the film was entertaining and good but what good is a film when you really don’t have anyone you can pinpoint on after watching the movie. Where is that lasting effect? The film too doesn’t have its own voice. Also, the score was pretty average. In an action scene, apparently a pop song just plays in the background which felt too out of place.

Performances: Brie Larson for me did a fair job. She has what it takes to carry a movie on her own shoulders (this being much different from her much acclaimed ROOM). Samuel L Jackson is just awesome and it’s just a treat to watch him in this universe. Ben Mendelsohn actually surprised me. He was good. Jude Law, Djimon Honsou, Lee Pace and Gemma Chan were good additions to the film. Clark Gregg had a small yet effective role. Lashana Lynch was really bad-ass. And so was Annette Bening. A special mention to Goose. OMG, the cat is so adorable.

Favorite Scene: It would be the one where Vers and Nick Fury have a conversation in the bar interviewing each other on whether they are Skrulls or not. That scene was funny and entertaining at the same time and the MCU we know for quite a long time now.

Verdict: I would say that this film is quite weaker than the previous MCU films we have seen in recent times. But for me this was a decent watch. Don’t really believe the trolls. Make a judgement on your own. I am really interested to see how this character is incorporated into future films as well as the upcoming finale of AVENGERS. Be sure to watch the dedication to Stan Lee. That man is a legend and the tribute to him was just great. Yup, don’t forget to watch the mid-credits. Post-credits can surely be forgotten.

I am going with a 7/10.