Opinion: Captain Marvel – not as marvelous as expected

Source: Marvel Studios

Source: Marvel Studios

Maggie Stoltenberg, Staff Writer

Captain Marvel was one of the most anticipated movies of 2019, and superhero fans were pumped to finally experience the excitement of the first Marvel movie with a female lead. Although the anticipation of Captain Marvel was vast, the movie itself lacked the expected excitement of a traditional Marvel movie.

Captain Marvel is set in 1995 and tells a story about a woman named Carol Danvers, who would later be known as Captain Marvel, played by Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson. The story follows Danvers through a journey to defeat the Skrulls who are alien shapeshifters, who are at war with the Kree, which is the empire she belongs to. Throughout the movie, Danvers learns lessons about self-discovery and trusting her gut.

As a huge Marvel Superhero fan myself, I would say that being excited about this movie would be a huge understatement, so walking into the movie theater, I was anxious to see how Captain Marvel would play out. Although I enjoyed the movie, there were things that didn’t really click, in my opinion.

First off, the storyline was hard to follow. Throughout the story, there would be recurring  flashback scenes that didn’t make sense until the very last bit of the movie. My brother George Stoltenberg, a fellow Marvel fan, saw the movie with me and felt the same way.

“The flashbacks were hard to follow and I didn’t really know why they were related to the story,” Stoltenberg said.

Secondly, the epic superhero battle scenes that were supposed to be action-packed, weren’t so action-packed. Throughout the movie, there were mini fights that looked pretty normal compared to the other movies I have seen, but when it came time for the big fight, I was underwhelmed by the combat, as the moves seemed like something I could do.

Lastly, the acting left me waiting for something that wasn’t coming. It’s no question that Brie Larson is an amazing actress – a highly decorated one as a matter of fact – but it doesn’t mean she’s cut-out for every role. I have been a fan of hers since the movie Room, which she starred in and scored her major awards in 2016. However, something about her performance in Captain Marvel seemed off to me. At times, I felt that some of the things that she said were forced. Even saying that, it’s not the worst performance I’ve seen in the Marvel Universe – I’m talking about you, Fantastic Four franchise.

Although Captain Marvel had many flaws, just like any movie, it did have a really good story (when I finally realized what it was). Also, it made me excited for the future of women leading roles in this franchise (in the not so near future). Finally, it just hyped me up more for the final installment of the Avengers Franchise.