Marvel has been the gold standard for superhero films the last decade. People such as director James Cameron have said superhero fatigue is on the horizon, but Marvel Studio’s film, “Captain Marvel,” which opened this past weekend, shows that these films aren’t going away any time soon.
“Captain Marvel” is the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which follows the origin story of Carol Danvers, the first female-led superhero film in the franchise.
The movie dives into the character of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and puts her on a journey to find out who she really is. Carol starts out as a Kree Warrior fighting in the Kree-Skrull War.
Skrulls are the villains in this film. They are shapeshifting creatures that can take the life form of anything they see, but they don’t take the thoughts of the people. You can detect a skrull by asking questions about a person’s past life.
Carol can’t remember who she is or any past memories of her life. She is called Vers throughout the film as her real name is unknown.
This movie is unlike any origin story that Marvel has done before. Taking a character that already has her powers is new in this world. Characters like Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man and others have to learn about their powers and get them in some way.
I really enjoyed the movie and would put it in the middle of the pact when it comes to all the films. If you are a Marvel fan and excited for “Avengers: Endgame,” then this movie is for you.
Captain Marvel had some controversy going into opening weekend.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Larson was quoted as saying: “About a year ago, I started paying attention to what my press days looked like and the critics reviewing movies, and noticed it appeared to be overwhelmingly white male,” she said.
She added: “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’ It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of colour, biracial women, to teen women of colour.”
This caused an uproar with the white male demographic, as many used the hashtag #BoycottCaptainMarvel. Many actually suggested seeing “Alita: Battle Angel” instead.
Rotten Tomatoes was bombarded with people giving it a “Don’t want to see” rating. Only 33 percent wanted to see the new movie, which is unheard of for a Marvel film.
When the film was released this weekend, “Captain Marvel” had over 58,000 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. For context, “Avengers: Infinity War” which has been out for a year, has 58,000 reviews.
The “Captain Marvel” ratings were enhanced caused by bots rating the movie and giving it a bad score. Cinemascore, a site that surveys people right after they see the movie at the theaters, gave it a score of “A,” which shows that real audiences liked the movie. The approval for the new film also showed in money made at the box office.
Walt Disney Studios, of which Marvel Studios is a subsidiary, beat its own projection as “Captain Marvel” shattered expectations when it came to box office numbers. “Captain Marvel” took in $455 million worldwide, according to Vox, with $153 million coming in North America in its opening weekend.
The budget for the film was $152 million. Meaning in a four-day span, Marvel has another hit and profit-maker. “Captain Marvel” is actually outpacing the Oscar-winning Marvel film, “Black Panther,” which grossed more than $1 billion after its run in theaters. At this rate, “Captain Marvel” is on its way to that height.
Sorry trolls, Captain Marvel is here to stay.
