Ms. Captain Marvel

You gotta hand it to Kevin Feige and the SJW’s at Disney Marvel; they can sell snake oil, sprinkle in some "controversial" comments by the lead actress during the pre-release press circuit, and people will still throw their money at it.  Captain Marvel, despite its obvious namesake, wasn’t a popular title for Stan Lee (RIP) by all accounts, having been rebooted and repackaged numerous times in various incarnations without much success, yet despite it all the 21st entry of the MCU managed to pull off the sixth largest opening weekend in box office history, raking in over $150 million stateside and over $450 million worldwide.

 

Like most people, I had little idea who “Captain Marvel” is (though I had an inkling “he” was associated with Shazam! thanks to my childhood days watching the Shazam!/Isis adventure hour on CBS’s Saturday morning lineup) until Samuel L. Jackson’s Fury (not Nick) made her famous at the press of a pager button before disintegrating into so much pixie dust in the post-credit scene of ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’  With the combined might of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy failing to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones and culling the universe, it appears that salvation now rests on the slender shoulders of this enigmatic cosmic heroine.

 

Directed by the relatively unknown tag team duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, CM is a decent if unspectacular entry in the MCU even considering the "dutiful soldier joining the enemy upon discovering the truth" theme is a well-worn one.  After 20 movies, some diminishing returns is only to be expected after the highs of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (the Russos are my favorite).  As an origin story for the uninitiated, CM sets up Ms. Marvel’s backstory well enough, teaming her up with Nick Fury circa 1995 which explained how he was able to summon her 24 years later.  And surprise surprise, who knew the tough-as-nails head of SHIELD has a soft spot for furry felines, I mean “flerkens.”

Grade: B+