In honour of International Women’s Day, I think it only necessary to watch and review a film about a strong female character. Captain Marvel certainly does showcase a strong female superhero. I would expect nothing less from Marvel Studios after producing characters such as Captain America, Iron Man and Thor (all male characters I might add).
Captain Marvel is another installment in the Avengers Universe. It is an origin story about the self discovery of who Carol/Vers (Captain Marvel) is, who she used to be and who she wants to become. She sets out to remember her past to understand the world around her. Many secrets are revealed while Carol/Vers finds herself in the middle of a galactic war between two alien species. This is also the film that actually explains why Nick Fury (a recurring character in the Marvel films) starts the Avengers initiative in the first place. Captain America might be deemed the first avenger but Captain Marvel turns out to be the original. That’s right! [spoiler alert] A woman is the reason behind the Avengers.
Not only does this film show us how the Avengers came to be but it also links heavily with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise (also a part of the Avengers Universe). There was no direct connection between the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avenger films until Infinity War where all the characters came together to defeat Thanos. Captain Marvel however becomes some sort of a gateway between these two worlds even more so and actually pre-dates all the Avenger and Guardian films.
I love how Carol/Vers/Captain Marvel is one kick-ass superhero. She has immense power that makes for some amazing fight scenes. This film makes me proud to be a woman. Not only does she make me proud because of her exceptional fighting skills that could take down the hulk but also through the things she says. This is a film for any woman who has ever been belittled or underestimated or disregarded because of their gender. There are many moments in this film where Carol is belittled or underestimated or disregarded because she is a woman. But she has the strongest come-backs I have ever heard in a Hollywood film. Each time she comes-back at someone it’s as if she is speaking on behalf of all women who has been put in that position. The words are so powerful and I have to give a quick shout-out to Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Geneva Robertson-Dworet who wrote this screenplay. My personal favourite is “I have nothing to prove to you”.
Unfortunately I did find one aspect of this character ‘annoying’. Carol/Vers had no flaws or no visible flaws that we could see. She was so perfect that she is almost unreal in some moments of the film. You could argue that her character is reckless and head-strong but most of the time her biggest obstacle portrayed in the film was that she was a woman and better yet a woman who didn’t remember where she came from and therefore had no control over her ‘emotions’. It was as if the filmmakers were pushing this idea of a underestimated woman that they kind of forgot to give her any real human/character flaws. This underestimated woman idea works for what the story is trying to achieve but some viewers may disregard the character because she was too perfect and therefore defeats the purpose of the story.
If you are an Avengers fan and have seen all/most of the Avengers films as well as Guardians of the Galaxy then there are already some spoilers as you watch this film. It becomes apparent very early on in the film that Carol/Vers works for the Kree and Ronan the Accuser who we know to be the ‘bad guys’ from the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Therefore when it turns out later on in the film that she has been on the wrong side this whole time it is not so much of a shock as it would have been to those who might not be as heavily invested in the Avengers Universe. Therefore I felt there was no big impact on me as I kind of saw it coming. But as an origin film, these things do happen because they pre-date the films we have already seen.
Having a strong female lead in this film means that women and girls today and in the future have someone to look up too. A character that isn’t the at home wife of a man in power or a character that needs saving by a heroic male. Captain Marvel can save herself as well as an entire planet. This character will become a role model to women everywhere. You will be underestimated and belittled, you will be shoved to the side, you will face obstacles in life that may seem impossible to overcome. Captain Marvel teaches us that everytime we get pushed down we must get back up.
I am not going to give a rating for this film because I am properly a little biased but I will say that it’s worth the watch. If you enjoy watching all the Avengers films then this is yet again another great one. If you are a woman and want to see a different kind of female character in a film, watch this one. At the end of the day, this film will mean lots of different things to each person who sees it. It has had an big impact on me (as a woman and as a filmmaker) and I hope you come away with an impact just as good.
Mean Productions 