Captain Marvel

Genre : Superhero

Year : 2019

You only have to take a look of the balance of genders in Marvel's 'Avengers' series of films to see that in the main, female superheroes are the exception rather than the rule. Throughout their existence, comics have primarily featured male protagonists, probably because the target audience is male and the males who read them can't relate to a female protagonist. After 2004's 'Catwoman' infamously won the worst film award at the Razzies in 2005, and 2005's 'Electra' was a huge flop, women have always played second fiddle to the men when it comes to playing superheroes on the big screen.

That all changed however with DC's 'Wonder Woman' in 2017. Here was an alpha female in a film whereby the men played second fiddle to an incredibly strong female lead, and the film was a huge commercial success. Marvel knew they had to match it, but didn't really have anything to match it with.

Then along came Captain Marvel.

Honestly knowing very little about the main character, other than she is what Joe Public would term a 'B Lister' when it comes to comics, I had little or no expectations walking in this other than the odd review online saying it was just ok and I shouldn't expect much from it. I must admit, during the first act, I began to see where these negative reviews had come from, as the pace is very slow, and little or no explanation is given as to why Brie Larson's character is where she is to begin with. The audience are thrown into a run of the mill sci-fi scenario, which without wanting to sound overly sexist,  I can honestly see alienating many females early on who had gone to see Marvels answer to Gal Gadot.

Captain Marvel is essentially an origins story, and during the 2nd act, the audience are drip fed the reasons for her powers. The sci-fi element of it however, still strongly prevails throughout, and lacks the humanitarian element of Gadot's Diana Prince in the backdrop of the first World War. Aliens and spaceships play a huge part in 'Captain Marvel', and I can't help but think Marvel studios missed the boat on appealing to the female members of the audience by focusing on this.

It isn't until the third act that Larson's character really comes into her own. Marvel does a spectacular job of showcasing this character as essentially the female equivalent of Superman, and it shows. It was great to see Larson's character fully suited up in her official Captain Marvel rigalia and I really look forward to seeing the character later this month in 'Endgame'. 

Those of you who who's seen Gareth Edward's 'Rogue One' will know that replacing actors with CGI replacements can be a very ropey affair. Special mention in this case, has to go with the team that have recreated a younger Samuel L Jackson and put him on the big screen. Essentially, the character is CGI throughout the film, and it's done way better than anything the Star Wars universe has thrown at us up until now. While not quite perfect, it's nowhere near as bad as the recreation of Peter Cushing, and entirely commendable. 

I enjoyed 'Captain Marvel', more than I thought I would. That's not to say it will appeal to females like Gadot's Diana Prince did, purely because sci-fi, space ships and aliens are core themes. 

Nevertheless, come the end of the film, she really is a force to be reckoned with. 

I give it four out of five, only for the slow paced beginning.