Captain Marvel is a film that’s created buzz long before it premiered in movie theaters. The film set in the ’90s is Marvel’s first female-led film and follows the origin story of Captain Marvel, otherwise known as Carol Danvers.
The women in this film not only kick ass but they also set a role model for what a woman can do when she has the ambition to do so. I remember when I was little, my mother used to tell me that no one can stop a woman with ambition.
Now let’s get right into talking about the film.
***** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN CAPTAIN MARVEL, I HIGHLY ADVISE YOU GO SEE IT AND THEN COME BACK TO READ THIS ARTICLE. *********
At the start of the film, we meet the lead character Ver’s, short for Carol Danvers. But she herself doesn’t know her true identity or true capabilities yet. Throughout the film, she has an identity crisis as she struggles to understand her past. The flashbacks of her past life start coming to mind after her first visit with the Supreme Intelligence, which is supposed to embody the person you most admire. She sees who we later find out to be Dr. Wendy Lawson, but Ver’s is confused as to why she is the person she admires most since she doesn’t remember her at all. She struggles to understand and find connections between what’s true and what’s a lie.
From the start, we also see that Ver’s has a lingering sense of feeling she’s always got something to prove, and this is instilled by the male antagonist Yon-Rogg. When we first meet Yon-Rogg he tells her that she needs to lessen herself and her abilities to win a fight during their training.
He also tells Ver’s that she must “rule with her head not her emotions,” because he’s, “trying to make her the best version of herself.” He continues to remind her that, “I made you and what is given can be taken away.”
This is slightly true because the Kree are able to take away/lessen her powers with the chip they put in her neck. This limits her powers and capabilities to only her hands when in actuality she has so much more power than that.
Yon-Rogg knew what she was capable of from the start when he found her after she had gained her new abilities in the explosion. He knew she was too powerful. They were afraid of her and Yon-Rogg’s partner was ready to kill her on the spot. So he decided to recruit her instead as the Kree warriors’ latest weapon. He then brainwashes, lies, manipulates, and uses her. She becomes so close to him that she is blind to the actuality of who Yon-Rogg is and where his intentions lie.
In her final fight scene with Yon-Rogg, we finally see her say to him, “I’m kind of done with you telling me what I can’t do.” This is hands down my favorite line in the film because as a woman I myself can relate to being told what I can and can’t do by males.
Even growing up and competitively playing sports, I remember the boys always trying to leave me out and telling me that I could not play with them because I’m a girl. Frankly, that upset me and gave me the feeling of needing to prove So I’d jump in and play despite them telling me I couldn’t perform above the weakling they labeled me as.
So I can see where Ver’s/Carol Danvers is coming from.
Yon-Rogg is not the only one that tells her what she can and can’t do. A lot of the males in the film collectively do the same to her over the course of her life. We see this in her final confrontation scene with the Supreme Intelligence. As she finds her humanity, she has multiple flashbacks of her upbringing. From go-karting and playing baseball to military boot training and joining the airforce to become a female pilot. She’s constantly being told that she needs to slow down, quit, and accept that some things are just for men. But in these same flashbacks of her falling down and hitting the ground hard, we also see her getting back up and growing stronger than ever before.
She also makes it clear to the Kree Warriors and antagonists in the film that “I’m not gonna fight your war, I’m gonna end it.”
It’s when she understands, embraces, and values herself and humanity that she discovers her true powers and capabilities. Maria also does a good job of telling Carol early in the film who she was and who she is, given that she’s her best friend.
The only male in the film who sees and accepts her for who she is is the Young Fury who becomes close friends with her. But even he at first tries to boss her around and tell her how he needed to arrest her when she was just on her mission doing what she believed to be the right thing. Despite this, they become close friends and almost embody a buddy-cop relationship with the trust and humor they share with each other.
But something that I noticed is that most of the males in this film were portrayed in a certain weak or vulnerable aspect. With young Fury, he’s seen as weaker because of his lack of experience since this film takes place before Fury was the Director and the Avengers had been created. We also see Fury’s weakness with the cat/flerken named Goose. He practically melts like butter when he’s around that cat and sneaks in lots of cuddles.
Now let’s talk about Maria Rambeau. I love her character so much and here’s why. Not only is she a woman but she’s also a mother, a female fighter pilot, a really great friend, and did I forget to mention, she helps Carol save the world.
What I also love about Maria is that she’s not afraid of anyone, regardless of who they are, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind. When she first meets an alien species called the Skrull she’s not afraid to tell him, “Call me young lady again, and I’m gonna put my foot in a place it’s not supposed to be.” All sass aside, Maria’s extremely talented and hardworking. I mean, can we talk about her pilot skills, because they’re pretty awesome. Now if you ask me, I think Carol and Maria are friendship goals in many ways. But you’ll have to watch the film to see just how.
In terms of music, this film incorporated a 90’s driven female soundtrack. Most of the songs were angsty rock-and-roll tunes like “Just A Girl” by No Doubt and “Connection” by Elastica. But there was also a variety with Salt-n- Pepper’s single “Whatta Man” being hip-hop and “Waterfalls” by TLC being R&B. I thought it was refreshing to have a female-driven playlist in the film because usually in superhero movies the soundtracks are male-dominated. So it was really sweet how the film had a female lead and a female-driven playlist. Talk about girl power.
The film did a great job when it came to honing in on the 90’s time frame and making everything seem like you were in that era.
I don’t know about you, but it made me nostalgic seeing a blockbuster in the film since they used to be very popular in the ’90s and early 2000s. It was also really cool to see the pager that Carol gave to Fury, because I remember my parents talking about how they had pagers back in their day. I never understood what it was since I’d never seen or heard of such a thing before. That’s one of the reasons why I deeply admire films that are set in different time periods. They give audience members a glimpse into an era they may have not lived through.
Overall the film was amazing and before I spoil anything else I just want to end by saying that Carol Danvers was Superhuman. She was doing incredible things before she could even shoot photon blasts out of her hands.
Anyways, I can’t wait to see what role Captain Marvel plays in Avengers: Endgame. As the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe, she is going to be a critical component in this upcoming film.