by James H. Carter II

The trailers for “Captain Marvel” make it seem like this was going to be Marvel Studios’ attempt at a “Top Gun” type of film, which wasn’t too surprising since the MCU films tend to genre hop a bit. It doesn’t take too long to realize that the “Top Gun” assumption is way off as this film feels more like a “Guardians of the Galaxy” film than an Air Force movie! In fact many of the side characters from those films are main characters in this film.

A big chunk of the film does not take place of Earth, but on several far away planets with a war raging on between different aliens! One way this film is not like “Guardians” is how the aliens are portrayed. In the previous James Gunn directed films, the random aliens the main characters encounter come across as kind of wacky and not to be taken too seriously, which works with the tone of those films. But in “Captain Marvel” these characters are more humanized (for lack of a better term) and are given way more depth. The line between who is wrong and who is right is definitely blurred as the alien war rages on throughout the film.

Speaking of raging on, this film is a non-stop action-packed ride that never lost my attention. Even when there were some slower paced dialogue-heavy scenes, the performances and story beats were so compelling I could not take my eyes off the screen! Even with a lot of crazy and bizarre “Matrix” like scenes, I was never lost and was kept engaged until the very last post-credits scene! The directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, seemed to have cherry-picked the best elements from all the past Marvel films and jammed them into one film! It’s got the outer space battles of “Guardians”, the synth score of “Thor: Ragnarock”, the hard-hitting fight scenes of “Winter Soldier” and “Iron Man” mixed with the humor of “Ant-Man”!

And probably my favorite element of the film is the use of 90’s alternative rock songs throughout. Being a teenager of the 90’s, it brought me right back to my youth and somehow made the larger than life actions on the screen seem grounded in reality. There are plenty of other non-music related 90’s references to keep you chuckling throughout, including an incredible one with the great Stan Lee!

This Blu Ray came jammed packed with special features covering such topics as Brie Larson entering the MCU, the impact of Captain Marvel on audiences, A look at Nick Fury’s role in the MCU, background on the directors, and a deep dive into the Skrull / Kree conflict. My favorite feature was about Goose the cat and looks like it was actually made in the 90’s!

This film is a wonderful introduction to one of the most badass characters ever introduced into the MCU. Not only is Carol Danvers a one-woman wrecking crew, but she also shows her strength by working through her personal demons. Captain Marvel was the perfect opening act to “Avengers: Endgame”!

(All images courtesy of MARVEL/DISNEY)

“Captain Marvel” Blu Ray Review

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