Captain Marvel arrives on Earth — 3.5/5

3.5 STARS OUT OF 5 (Want to know exactly what our star ratings mean? Check out our explanations here.)

Carol Danvers — a.k.a. Captain Marvel — is finally here, and she has fully conquered her first big screen debut.

The first iteration of the Captain Marvel character was introduced in 1967. Captain Marvel, or Mar-vell, was an alien superhero created by the late and great Stan Lee (who has his last cameo appearance in this film). The character of Carol Danvers is the last in a long line of people who have taken on the Captain’s mantle, and this film follows her story. Captain Marvel was a fun, fast-paced, exciting origin story. While Captain Marvel may not be Marvel Comics’ most popular or well-known creation, fans of the Marvel films will still enjoy this crowd-pleaser.

Oscar winner Brie Larson (Room), who plays Captain Marvel, does an absolutely great job here;  as with many other Marvel cast members, she fits into the skin of her character perfectly. Taking on an iconic comic book superhero seems to be what she was meant for. Samuel L. Jackson also returns to Marvel as a younger Nick Fury, a part that Jackson seems to have as much fun playing as we in the audience have fun watching.

Captain Marvel pulls in a lot of elements of Marvel comics that are lesser-known in the movies, including the alien Kree race and their mortal enemies, the shape-shifting (and also alien) Skrulls. Larson brings a great energy as Danvers, and the supporting cast is equally skilled; Jude Law as Danvers’ Kree mentor is fantastic, and Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as the Skrull leader is wonderful. Set in LA in the 90’s, the film also has a really cool soundtrack. Having grown up in the 90’s I felt a bit nostalgic when “Whatta Man” by Salt-n-Pepa was played as Danvers arrived on Earth.

Captain Marvel could have definitely used a better story line, but it’s an origin story and it seems like the filmmakers were just introducing the character and paving the way for Avengers: Endgame in April. I do recommend Captain Marvel; although not Marvel’s greatest achievement, it still has a lot of fun and humor for audiences of all ages.