Movie Review: “Captain Marvel” is on the lower end of the Marvel-movie spectrum

Movie Review: “Captain Marvel” (PG-13)

Marvel keeps chugging along with one monster hit after the next, and its latest mega blockbuster is the cosmic, time-jumping “Captain Marvel” starring Brie Larson. There’s a lot of talk regarding this one both from Larson and fans, but at the end of the day, from a Marvel Comics Universe standpoint, “Captain Marvel” sits alongside “Iron Man 2” and “Thor: Dark World” — which is to say that it isn’t bad, but it isn’t great.

In the origin story that is “Captain Marvel,” Air Force pilot Carol Danvers (Larson) discovers that there’s quite a bit about her past that even she can’t remember. Slowly, Danvers begins to unlock the secrets of that past in an adventure that finds her in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. During her journey of self discovery and intergalactic ass kicking, she teams up with a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) circa the ’90s, and she eventually transforms into the title character, a fiercely independent warrior looking to bring safety and peace to the galaxy.

Whereas last December’s “Bumblebee” was an ’80s reference smorgasbord, “Captain Marvel” works hard to remind viewers that this flick takes place in the ’90s. From the massive ’90s-centric soundtrack (some songs are used in a subtle fashion while others … not so much) to a de-aged Jackson, a much welcome lack of cell phones, and an appearance by a Blockbuster Video store, you’ll swear you’re visiting a decade long since vanished. While the period detail is fine, the nostalgia factor didn’t really work me over, because I was a teen of the ’80s. That said, if you did grow up in this particular decade, you’ll find plenty to smile at.

“Captain Marvel” was directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck — the filmmaking team behind independent gems “Sugar,” “Half Nelson,” and “Mississippi Grind” — and while this duo clearly put a lot of effort into this massive production, there are plenty of times throughout this picture when it simply feels like they bit off more than they could chew. This is dense source material, and quite frankly, in film form it feels a bit on the convoluted side. There’s a lot going on. Perhaps too much. Worse still, many of the film’s larger action sequences aren’t particularly memorable.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of “Captain Marvel” is that it lacks a certain kind of joy and charm that makes even some of Marvel’s lesser hits (see “Ant-Man”) so breezy and endearing. Furthermore, the effects are inconsistent at best. The alien make-up is terrific, as is Jackson’s digitally enhanced youthful appearance. But the shots of Captain Marvel zipping around through the sky feel far too cartoony, even by big Marvel-movie standards.

In terms of performance, Oscar winner Brie Larson is okay in the lead. She’s spunky, she does a lot of her own stunts, and at times she displays a quick wit. But there isn’t anything particularly dynamic about the way she plays the role.

As far as addressing the elephant in the room, the Oscar-winning “Room” star has taken a lot of heat for recent comments made in the press as of late (she certainly hasn’t made a lot of friends on the sound crew circuit), but she’s also been equally commended for those same comments. At the end of the day, all of the off-screen chatter is neither here nor there where the actual quality of the movie is concerned, and to that end, again, Larson is merely okay as the lead in Marvel’s first female-headlined comic book adaptation. She doesn’t bring the same sort of heart to the role that Gal Gadot brought to “Wonder Woman,” but thankfully she proves to be substantially stronger than Halle Berry was in “Cat Woman.”

While Larson does carry the bulk of the weight of this movie on her shoulders, she’s often upstaged by her supporting cast. Lashana Lynch is terrific as an Air Force pilot and single mother who assists Danvers on her mission. She brings much needed weight to the proceedings. As expected, Jackson is fun here, and much of the buddy-buddy banter his Fury engages in with Danvers is amusing, if a tad obvious. Likewise, a classy Jude Law has some nice moments in the quintessential mentor role, but despite the movie’s best efforts, there isn’t anything particularly surprising about this character.

Of the entire cast, Ben Mendelsohn leaves the strongest impression as a quirky alien being looking to capture Danvers and set her straight in terms of the way the universe really works. Mendelsohn brings a fittingly offbeat vibe to “Captain Marvel,” and he does it while covered in quite a bit of impressive makeup.

“Captain Marvel” isn’t without its noteworthy attributes: A scene-stealing kitty named Goose is certainly worthy of his own spin-off movie. But overall, I wasn’t entirely engaged by this one. “Guardians of the Galaxy” had stronger cast chemistry and did the zany, offbeat cosmic adventure stuff much more effectively while DC’s “Wonder Woman” proved to be a much stronger representation of female empowerment.

Marvel’s latest does an okay job in further planting the seeds for adventures to come, namely “Avengers: Endgame.” But as a standalone movie, “Captain Marvel” is on the lower end of the Marvel Comics Universe spectrum.

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