There has been much said and discussed about "Captain Marvel," Marvel Studios latest superhero movie starring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. Many critics have bashed the movie, calling it feminism propaganda. However, I think the movie suffers more from standard plot devices and tropes rather than any political or insidious messages. "Captain Marvel," while not the most memorable Marvel film ever made, has its merits as well as its cons.
First, let's break down the plot.
Plot
The movie starts with Vers, a Starforce member for the Kree Empire. She has amnesia, unable to remember anything or who she even is. We find out that the Kree are in an intergalactic war with the Skrulls, an alien race who can shape-shift. The plot progresses to wear Vers lands on Earth, tracking down the Skrulls in an attempt to eradicate them. Stuff happens, she meets Nick Fury and teams up with him to defeat the alien invaders.
However, somewhat predictably, the audience discovers that the Skrulls are actually the good guys, fleeing the Kree war of oppression. The Skrulls just want a place to call home, where they won't be annihilated by the Kree.
Thus Vers finds out her real name is Carol Danvers, and that she gained powers from when the energy source known as the Tesseract explodes and she absorbs its energy. While the plot isn't necessarily bad, it definitely suffers from cliches and the whole "the bad guys turned out to be good guys" trope. While not inherently bad, I never really felt truly surprised or wowed by the plot.
Characters
I personally really liked Brie Larson as Carol Danvers. I know a lot of people didn't particularly like her acting, or that they felt her character pandered to the feminist "propaganda." However, I really appreciated how Carol didn't have a love interest in the entire movie, that she didn't suddenly fall in love with Nick Fury or the villain. That was a truly fresh breath of air in a plethora of movies that seem to cater to romantic cliches (I'm looking at you, Wonder Woman).
However, I really think Nick Fury and Goose stole the show. Goose was a great comedic addition to the story, as was Samual L Jackson's character. Some have argued that Captain Marvel was intended to be a prequel movie for Avengers: Endgame, however, I think the movie did a fine job standing on its own.
There were forgettable characters in the movie, however, such as the villain and his band of evildoers. I didn't find Carol's best friend to be particularly memorable either, although that might have more to do with her screen time than anything else.
In Conclusion
While "Captain Marvel" isn't the most memorable Marvel movie ever made, it does justice to a decent plot with decently written characters. I think most of the hate comes from its strong feminist themes (which honestly weren't that bad IMO). Nevertheless, we'll have to see how well the movie holds up in let's say five years, much like Iron Man and Thor has.
