Marvel FINALLY got around to having a woman headline one of their Avenger movies, and it was very well done. After a slow start and some confusing world building, it hit it’s stride and I settled in for a great movie. Although my daughter and I went to see the Captain Marvel movie a few weeks ago, due to some scheduled posts and a busy schedule, this is the first I could sit down and reflect on the movie. So similar to what I did with the movie Solo I will address a few issues and then move into seven character studies instead of a standard movie review.

I was a bit nervous about the movie, as her character is brand new to the Avenger movie universe, and I wondered how they were going to tie her in. I haven’t read much about her character, the little I know is her horrible depiction in Civil War II in which she came off as misguided and fool-hardy. Before that, what I knew of her consisted of a backstory of Rogue’s on the animated X-Men series, and how Rogue sucked her powers from her leaving her comatose. I knew she was somehow tied to the Kree aliens, but the world building they were forced to do in the beginning of the movie to explain things to the movie watchers, felt clunky. The movie started to hit it’s stride a third of the way in and then I was able to settle in for the narrative.

Brie Larson was a perfect fit for the role of pilot Carol Danvers. She was the right balance of tough and smart without being too sexualized. She was practical, yet funny, and took her mission seriously. There was a learning curve with her powers and she didn’t take her powers or her relationships with others for granted. She truly did go higher, further, and faster! Now that Marvel showed us they can create a nuanced role for a leading woman, let’s see what they can do with Black Widow and Scarlet Witch!

Samuel Jackson veers towards being a caricature of himself, and I’ve never been a fan of his tough, always ready with a quip,  Nick Fury persona. But the movie de-aged him for the movie and gave him some needed character development. We also get the explanation of how he came to lose an eye, and its not what you would expect.

I experienced a huge generation gap with my daughter as we were discussing the movie afterwards when I made a comment about Jude Law as Yon-Rogg being good-looking, but that didn’t mean he was a good guy. She didn’t know who I was talking about because she did not consider him good looking as he was too “old”. Sigh.

I don’t want to give away too much by revealing who this character ended up becoming, but I was thrilled that actor Ben Mendelsohn wasn’t typecast as the baddie in this role, after his villainy in Ready Player One. I was cheering him on by the end of the movie.

Loved seeing Annette Benning get her groove on with the great 90’s soundtrack! Dr. Wendy Lawson was an intelligent woman who wasn’t quite as she seemed. More roles like this need to be available to older actresses!

Best Friends Forever! Maria Rambea’s friendship with Carol was authentic and much needed. There is a real lack of representation of female friendships in movies and books, so their relationship was welcome. Marie was also a kick-ass single mother to her daughter Monica, whom I’m sure will play a role in future movies, when the Avengers are in modern day.

Goose the Cat stole the show! One of my four cats looks like Goose, so now I will wonder do I live with kitties or flerkens?

While Marvel diligently built Carol into the existing framework of the Avengers universe, I am concerned how a jump from the 1990’s to now might prove problematic, but despite this, I am all in for Avengers: End Game coming out next month.

-Nancy