Ignore The Critical Reviews. Go See CAPTAIN MARVEL

When you’ve put out as many successful superhero films (20?) as Marvel Studios has, and also managed to thematically link them together without thoroughly confusing your audience - - it says a lot about the quality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, the bar keeps getting raised and expectations are higher for each succeeding film. It’s inevitable that one film will fail to meet enough critical expectations, and it will generate less than complimentary reviews. Captain Marvel may be that film.

For my money, I expect to see an entertaining film with creative special effects featuring mythic comics characters that I’ve come to know and love. Captain Marvel delivered for me. It’s exciting, with a fast paced plot that explains a lot without too much confusion, has many amusing moments, nods to fandom, and lots of action. It’s a popcorn film, action cinema at its’ best. That’s what I like about it.

It’s also the first Marvel film to have a prominent female superhero character in the lead role. And a likable character, despite rarely getting any screen time for emotional scenes because of the action-heavy story. Perhaps some viewers were expecting a bit more feminist themes but this particular storyline doesn’t have space for that, and it would have seem forced if deliberately inserted.

In the comics, this started out with a male solider from the interplanetary Kree race as Captain Mar-Vell. (Even spelled differently). A little later Carol Danvers entered the picture and took over as first Ms. Marvel, then Binary, and back as Captain Marvel. Marvel writers put Carol through enough changes emotionally and physically to fill several suitcases. Rather than introduce her in the movies with all this accompanying baggage, screenplay writers pared the character back to core elements. As portrayed by Brie Larson, this Captain Marvel exudes a tough exterior, holding her own against the most formidable of opponents, but she still knows how to let her hair down and crack a joke or tease a team mate. She is one of the most powerful Marvel heroes, probably as close to DC’s Superman or Wonder Woman as it gets. It never appeared like she was in danger of losing a battle. I expect Captain Marvel to feature prominently in Avengers End Game next month.

The story takes place in the 1990’s and makes the most of it, featuring plenty of nostalgic moments to make audiences chuckle in recognition. The music selection is a nice cross-section of familiar songs from that period. Both Nick Fury and Agent Coulson are younger versions of these aging actors and appear convincing and seamless. I can’t determine if it’s a particularly good make-up job, computer generated enhancements, or a combination of both.

The story establishes a complicated but logical origin for Captain Marvel, links some past events to prominent situations in the current films, and connects the dots in clever fashion. One of my favorite scenes is the pursuit of the alien shape-shifting Skrulls on a commuter train.

Ignore the critics and go see this film. It’s a good one.