I came for the Skrulls, stayed for the fun.

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2019)

I made a conscious decision not to read or listen to any reviews prior to my seeing CAPTAIN MARVEL, the latest origin story from the MCU; this was done out of a desire to avoid even a hint of spoilers, and to avoid being poisoned by the contentious fandom that has surrounded the roll out of Marvel's latest super hero. And I must say, going in cold certainly added to my enjoyment, and made me appreciate the film so much better. Based on a character created by Jim Starlin back in the Marvel comics of the 70's, this film centered on the gender swapped modern incarnation that dates from the 90's, and though I must admit that I never have been a reader of Mar-Vell in the past, this character, a Kree warrior come to earth, has a big following, making her a natural for the MCU. Her entry was assured in the post credits scene of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, where a desperate Nick Fury sends a distress signal in the wake of Thanos's devastating finger snap; a glimpse of the emblem that adorns her costume told us who Fury was reaching out to seconds before he disintegrated.
This film, directed by indie film makers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, is both tying up a loose end, and a bridge to the upcoming sequel, AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The two things that I liked about it right off the bat was the pacing of the story, which moved a along at a decent clip, and that it didn't bog itself down with scenes filled with clunky expeditionary dialogue, something the otherwise excellent AQUAMAN was guilty of more than once. The protagonist here is Vers, a Kree Warrior who fights the Skrulls, a shape shifting race who have been in a long war with the Kree. But Vers is more than she seems to be, and is having troubling flashbacks and bad dreams filled shards of a half remembered life. Her team of warriors is ambushed by the Skrulls on a border planet, and she is captured and escapes, afterward, Vers crashes on earth in the mid 90's (by plunging through the roof a Blockbuster), with her Skrull captors right behind. This sets off a series of chases, more captures, and more escapes, more chases, as Vers hooks up with a younger version of Nick Fury along the way. It turns out that Vers is way more than she appears, it turns out that she once was Carol Danvers (a long time secondary Marvel character), a young Air Force pilot who was believed lost in a crash years before. It is revealed how she came to not only be a Kree warrior, but possibly, one of the most powerful brings in the whole Marvel universe. As it turns out, the enemy turns out not quite to be the villains they first appeared to be either, while an ally turns out to be a hidden enemy after all.
If some of the action scenes are a tad bit perfunctory, and unnecessarily dark, it is more than made up for in a script that gives us plenty of the humor Marvel superhero films are well known for, for many it is their saving grace. Brie Larson and Samuel Jackson, as the title character and the de aged Nick Fury have real chemistry, and I give the film makers points for not weighing down the story by giving her a needless love interest. Larson is perfectly fine as Carol Danvers, though I don't think she slips into the role as easily as Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans or Scarlett Johansson filled the parts of Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow. But the supporting cast shines, Jackson is in fine form as Fury, but Clark Gregg is back as Agent Coulson, equally de aged. The best performance in the film is from Ben Mendelshon as Talos, the leader of the Skrulls, at first we think he is going to be another under developed Marvel villain, (see any stand alone Thor movie), but the film takes a turn at the half way point and reveals that Talos has very valid reasons for doing what does. Mendelshon has to do lot of acting underneath some unrecognizable makeup, but he is another one of those British actors who can do marvelous things with his voice alone. Jude Law is Vers commanding officer, and Lee Pace returns as Ronan the Accuser. Stan Lee has a wonderful final cameo, one that will surely make fans smile.
But like all Marvel fans, I do have nits to pick, starting with how the Kree leader, the Supreme Intelligence, is presented; I so wish they would have gone with the comic books version instead of giving us a hologram of Annette Bening. And how are they going to handle a character like Captain Marvel, who has Superman levels of power, in ENDGAME; the MCU is at its best when it presents flawed heroes who have to find a way to punch above their weight, as it is, Captain Marvel could just show up and snap Thanos's neck, and what would the fun be in that. This would be a good time to go back to the comics and introduce Rick Jones to the MCU (after having him MIA from the Hulk films), and borrow a few pages from that epic Kree-Skrull war story that involved Rick, Mar-Vell and the Negative Zone. It would work. And who would have thought the Skrulls would have fared better on the big screen than the Fantastic Four, after the former were introduced in FF #2 all those years ago.
As for a political agenda, which this film has been accused of having, I must say that there is little evidence of it in what I saw, unless you are offended at the sight of a young girl repeatedly getting knocked down and having to get back up. There are a couple of scenes that can be construed as taking shots at "toxic masculinity," and a vague critique of war mongers and their self perpetuating conflicts, but if you want to ignore it, no problem. What has been harder to ignore is the "toxic fandom" that has surrounded the film, as angry feminists and misogynists projected their own agendas onto it.
There are two post credit scenes, the first of which gets us that much closer to ENDGAME without revealing too much, while the second gives us a good laugh while revealing the whereabouts of a particular McGuffin which might prove to be important.
It all comes together in AVENGERS: ENDGAME, and after that, then what? So many possibilities, but I know I want to see a movie with the Fantastic Four, finally done right on the big screen, facing off against their old enemies The Skrulls, and maybe see that Skrull world based on old Earth gangster movies that appeared in Fantastic Four issues #90 to #93. That would be my wish.