“Captain Marvel” will make girls feel like how boys felt about Superman [spoiler-free review]

I am not going to lie to you. When I first heard about “Captain Marvel” being the next MCU film, I was a little skeptical. I did not know much about the character, herself, and was honestly not familiar with Brie Larson’s work at the time.

I was confused as to how this character could come in to save the MCU after the happenings in Avengers: Infinity War. After all, how could one woman fix all that went wrong when all of the heroes we knew and loved in the previous films failed? Then, the trailer came out. I was even more skeptical.

The trailer did not excite me. The humor felt forced and I was just simply not intrigued. I still knew I was going to watch this movie since I have faithfully watched all the other MCU films, I just did not think I would enjoy it that much. So, I watched it. And oh boy, I was wrong.

Carol Danvers was much different from what I expected, but so much better for it. Brie Larson was outstanding in her portrayal, as was the rest of the cast. Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos were particularly moving in their respective roles. I came to care for these characters and their stories just as quickly as I fell for Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and the rest of the MCU gang. What especially moved me, though, was what this movie could be for women.

I am a woman and have been a fan of the MCU since the beginning. Naturally, this movie being the first in the MCU line with a female lead, people are going to expect it to be a positive force for women and young girls. I genuinely felt that it was.

Danvers is a strong character and not just because she is physically strong – so is Brie Larson for that matter; you do not want me to get started on how hard she worked to increase her strength and fitness for this film. But Danvers is also actually funny; the humor in the film did not feel forced as it did in the trailer. She’s sarcastic and quick-witted. She’s incredibly smart but she’s also very stubborn. She’s flawed, which is an important trait in our heroes. It makes them feel more real. To me, Carol Danvers felt real. She felt like a woman I could have been friends with in an alternate universe. She was very much a figure that I could see little girls looking up to in a positive light.

There was even a point in the movie where I sat back, eyes glued to Carol Danvers, and thought, “This must be what little boys feel like when they watch Superman or Iron Man.”

Captain Marvel was just so cool on-screen and I felt awestruck. It wasn’t just her powers or her strength that made her cool. It was a culmination of everything the movie had shown us of her: her struggle with her emotions, her personality, her sheer humanity despite being part Kree, her presence as a woman, and her relationships with the other women in this film.

Now, this review might seem biased since I’ve focused on its relatability to women and I am a woman. But I watched this movie with a man, another avid fan of the MCU, and he thought it was a great film. He literally had no complaints whatsoever when we discussed it afterward.

The movie was well-paced, the story was coherent without being too predictable, the writing was clever and funny, the characters were compelling, and the emotions shown by the actors pulled at your heartstrings.

Whether you are a woman or not, “Captain Marvel” will sure to delight you when it comes out on March 8, 2019 – which, not by coincidence, I think, is International Women’s Day.

Be sure to stay until the very end. It is a Marvel movie, after all.

“Captain Marvel” comes to theaters on March 8, 2019.

Details (from IMDB) –

• Runtime: 124 minutes

• Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive language.

All reviews are personal opinions and may not reflect the attitudes of other writers for DisneyExaminer.com unless stated otherwise.

These films have been screened prior to the release date for review purposes and therefore are viewed without charge courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios.