Captain Marvel

This is a perfect example of horrible marketing for a good movie. I wasn't too impressed with the trailers. They were kind of bland. I went into this with my expectations checked at the door, and this movie was above average. It wasn't as boring and uninteresting as the trailers led me to believe, but it still has faults. For an MCU movie, it's average, and for a movie it's above average. The main problem was it tried to hard to be another 'Guardians of the Galaxy' movie, but without the risks. "Guardians" was a gamble. (A movie about a talking raccoon and a tree?! Marvel has lost their minds!). It tries to capture the wonder of a sci-fi movie, but plays it too safe. There were many factors that I felt didn't go as far as they could have. The plot is pretty paint-by-numbers as well. This movie 'borrows' too much from other films. It didn't feel enough like it's own thing.  There were some amusing moments, and one in particular that got a huge laugh out of me, but the film played it too safe. The CGI is pretty impressive. I couldn't tell that the aliens in the movie were CGI. However, when there are scenes of characters flying, it definitely looks CGI, and cheap CGI at that. (Think "video game trailer.") Larson's acting is not as wooden as the trailers would lead you to believe (most of the time anyway), nor is the character of Captain Marvel as narcissistic and rude as the trailers made her seem. She's nowhere close to my favorite MCU character, but I wouldn't mind seeing her return. I don't know what most of Hollywood has against Ben Mendelssohn's natural accent. Mendelssohn is a terrific actor, but in movies like "Ready Player One" and this one where they make him do an American accent, it sounds fake, and is distracting. And no, this movie is not a 2 hour lecture on feminism. Contrary to the marketing, Captain Marvel doesn't put down the male characters (at least not unprovoked.) This movie actually can be enjoyed by anyone. Marvel needs to re-evaluate their marketing team. 

Grade: B      8/10       3.5/5 stars