Captain Marvel

I hadn't a clue what Captain Marvel was about before I saw it. Like a lot of casual superhero film fans my experience of comic books doesn't extend beyond the Beano and Whizzer & Chips. There's plenty of pro's and con's to going into superhero films cold. A pro is going in with no preconceived notions of what the film should be like or what it should leave in or out or who should play the lead role. A con is the feeling of utter confusion at times especially when the filmmakers decide to throw you in at the deep end and you spend the first part of the film struggling to keep up. This is how Captain Marvel starts. It's a pain. But, it gets so much better.

A woman named Vers (Brie Larson) is living on the Kree planet of Hala. She's part of a group of warrior heroes who've been fighting the evil Skrulls for years. While on a mission she's captured by the Skrulls and has her memory probed. Using her formidable skills she escapes and finds herself on planet Earth in 1995. Her crash landing is investigated by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (Samuel L.Jackson) and before long the two of them are on the run together, trying to stay one step ahead of the Skrulls who've followed her to Earth.

30 minutes into this I was getting a headache. It was too much, tonnes of story was being thrown at us, bucketloads of exposition, we'd been introduced to 3 different alien races, scenes are being replayed from different angles, and changing slightly each time. It was messy and confusing. But then all of a sudden it got fun, loads of fun. Vers crash lands in a Blockbuster store and the first thing she does is shoot the face off Arnie in a True Lies poster. A de-aged Samuel L. Jackson turns up, Vers cuts loose, TLC and Elastica are playing overhead, before we know it she's decking old ladies and carrying around flerkins (this will be answered) and Fonz lunchboxes full of power. Meanwhile the laughs keep coming. The next 90 minutes are just pure entertainment. There's nothing here that's going to knock The Winter Soldier or Thor : Ragnarok off the top Marvel spot but who cares? Superhero films are supposed to be enjoyable and this one delivers in spades.

One thing this film did that I loved is showing our hero reveling in her powers. Too many superhero origin tales hold their leads back, don't let them have fun, make them seem almost guilty for using their powers. Not here. Vers can't wait to show off what she can do and it makes for a couple of moments where you'll want to stand up and cheer. There's little as enjoyable as the sight of a happy hero blitzing the enemy like a hot knife through butter. Marvel's first female lead Superhero movie has been far too long coming and the movie makes sure to have a couple of nods and winks about it. One fight scene that plays out to a certain No Doubt song might as well be two stuck up fingers at the Marvel money men who were too afraid to take a chance on a woman lead. Don't they look foolish now.

Larson is a great lead. She's funny, hardy, believable and not afraid to show her emotions. It's actually refreshing after the likes of Iron Man and Thor who always feel the need to hide behind constant one liners. Her being such a solid lead is a poke in the eye for all the whinger man babies moaning about this film too. Sam Jackson has a whale of a time as Fury, back when he was rocking a full head of hair and 2 fully functioning eyeballs. The SFX used to de-age him are amazing. Every now and then you can see the joins but on the whole its mindblowingly good. Filling out the rest of the cast are an underused Annette Bening as a mysterious face from Vers' past, a good Jude Law as Vers' boss Yon Rogg and the ever present Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos. Talos is great craic and it's always nice to see an alien with both a sense of humour and a fear of cats. 

That messy and annoying opening half an hour aside this is thoroughly enjoyable stuff. It's connected to the other Marvel films but you don't have to have seen them to watch this. It's fun, it's exciting and it's flat out hilarious in places. It's a fine introduction to a superwoman who'll hopefully pave the way for many more of them. A grand way to spend a couple of hours.