Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is many things, some of which work better than others.  As an action, superhero, and science fiction movie, it works really well.  As a personal drama showing the evolution of a character, it is not the best because the character doesn't really change that much, but it is good enough.  As a period piece about the 1990s, it is nothing special.  As a political statement pushing female empowerment, the movie tries too hard, making a handful of scenes feel contrived and slightly awkward.  

There are a number of times I wondered about the logic of the film.  A few things don't make sense, but the pace of the movie is so fast that I didn't have much time to think about them.  My biggest concern is that there is a huge plot twist about three-quarters of the way into the movie where I had a hard time accepting this twist given all the things we had just seen.  However, the characters accept this twist without question.  In addition, much of the resolution of the film happens way too easily.

The Captain Marvel character starts snarky, serious and powerful.  The character ends snarky, serious, and way more powerful.  As played by Brie Larson, this character doesn't have much emotional depth, nor does the character evolve on an emotional level.  However, her emotional range is just enough to sustain the movie.

There is a scene late in the film that is a compilation of quick flashbacks, which reminded me very strongly of a very similar scene in the final episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Both scenes are about female empowerment, and it appears to me like the movie copied the TV show.

There is a ton of eye candy in this film.  There is so much going on that it is hard not to be entertained.  Despite a few flaws, the movie is really enjoyable.

Rating:  B+