Film: Captain Marvel
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening
Directors: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Rating: * * * and a half
Men, the poor chauvinistic dears to be specific, aren’t going to like Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie. Why? Because the lady kicks ass and has no time at all for sex. Should the good word be Romance? Nah. Methinks not. After all, what is passed off as romance, most of the time in Hollywood flicks, is just a three letter word.
As for me, I loved Capt Marvel and Brie Larson is awesome in the role in this sci-fi adventure which is an Avengers prequel and an origins tale, narrating how Air Force pilot Carol Danvers (Larson) becomes the titular character. And yes, it also shows how young Nick (Samuel Jackson) Fury acquired that famous eye patch.
Interestingly, the scriptwriters use the extra-terrestrials Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) Kree mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) and a cat to make a telling point about appearances, betrayal and deceit. Expectedly, there’s plenty of CGI-aided action offset by some humour and themes of perseverance, integrity, and courage from the opening sequence where Kree warrior Vers (Larson) arrives on earth to stop a bunch of shape-shifting alien infiltrators called the Skrull. On terra firma, she meets with SHIELD investigator Fury and gets acquainted with video stores and grunge clothing.
Throughout her mission, she is tormented by visions (or nightmares) which allude to an inexplicable connection to planet earth. How she discovers her true identity while resolving the interplanetary conflict makes for a rewarding experience. I should tell you too, gentle reader, the appearance of Marvel Universe creator (the late) Stan Lee sparked the loudest ceetees.