Since Captain Marvel won’t be released into the wild until June, I thought I’d include a quick recap here, before we get into Infinity War.
OKAY SO, we meet our hero ‘Vers’ on a Kree planet, training, quipping, and being generally awesome. She has some super-punch power that the Kree gave her *wink*, but first she must control her emotions (eye roll).
Meet Yon-Rogg, played by the ever charismatic Jude Law (who is apparently vying for a place in every nerd’s heart, what with this and Dumbledore). He’s Vers’ mentor / big brother type, who just wants the very best for her! If only she could be good enough to deserve the powers she was given!
We also met the Supreme Intelligence, who not only has a very modest moniker, but is also played by everyone’s crush, Annette Bening.
Apparently the Supreme Intelligence takes the form of someone you admire? Or have a crush on? I forget. Anyway, they have a device on Vers’ neck that suppresses her powers FOR HER OWN GOOD. Everyone’s Crush was like, “don’t have emotions and do what I say always” which isn’t a red flag at all.
The Kree are at war with the Skrulls, a bunch of no-good hooligans who are bad for REASONS. So off Vers and a motley crew of badass Kree went to rescue some spy who got caught doing spy things. BUT OH NO! Vers is captured by the Skrulls, who forcibly take her on a fun stroll down memory lane because they need something that’s buried in her broken brain.
We got a pretty awesome jumbled montage of memories that suggested all is not as it seemed, and featured Annette Bening heavily (not one complaint about that). These memories lead them to Earth, but (in a very fun fight sequence) Vers escaped and crash-landed into a Blockbuster Video. Hahahaha, oh the 90s!
Young Fury! Young Coulson! My heart! The crash-landing attracted the attention of SHIELD, and just like ANY movie/show about aliens or supernatural beings, they did not believe her. Their timing was pretty great, though, because they witnessed a chase/fight between Vers and the Skrulls, and now they’re believers!
Meanwhile, General Skrull (Talos) had taken the identity of the SHIELD director, so he knew our girl’s exact whereabouts, because FURY SENT SHIELD THEIR LOCATION. *shakes head*
[In his defence, it’s not like he knew he was in a movie and currently befriending the protagonist. For all he knew, she was a gorgeous wacko bent on Earth’s destruction.]
After some investigating at the Project Pegasus super secret lair, they found out that she was, in fact, Carol Danvers; a human fighter-pilot presumed dead after flying an experimental plane designed by none other than the woman Carol sees in her dreams. The INTRIGUE!
Anyway, SHIELD showed up to capture/kill them, lead by the Fake-Director-Skrull-King. Fury recognized the error of his ways, and he and Carol escaped with the aid of a cute little kitty and my husband Agent Coulson (who has the purest of hearts now and forever).
They went to meet Carol’s best friend forever and ever until eternity Maria, who is also a fighter pilot. She and her daughter Monica filled Carol in on her awesome life. Fury’s presence as an awkward third (fourth?) wheel was cute and funny.
BUT THEN…
Lord Skrull showed up to Maria’s house for a chat, and it turned out that he’s not the bad guy! (gasp?) The Skrulls just want to escape the destruction of the Kree, and find a new home. Everyone’s Crush the legit Annette Bening was actually a Kree genius who was helping them. She built a super special engine (with a magic core) that would carry the Skrulls far away. HOWEVER, during the test flight the Kree attacked and killed Everyone’s Crush before she could destroy the core (that they wanted REAL BAD). So Carol took one for the team and shot it, resulting in an explosion of the core energy, which was absorbed into her body.
So her powers weren’t given to her by the Kree! They used her! And turned her into a weapon against innocent lives! Ohhhhhhhh now she’s piiiiiiiiiiiiissed.
So off they popped to the space-hangout Everyone’s Crush had set up for the Skrulls. Count Skrull was reunited with his family, and it was very sweet. Oh, and the core was powered by the Tesseract, so that’s fun.
But whoopsie, the Kree followed them there, captured Carol and threw her in with the Supreme Intelligence for a talking-to.
Fake Everyone’s Crush tried to gaslight our girl, but Carol was all, “forget this,” and removed the device that was suppressing her powers. She leveled-up and it was ON.
An awesome battle ensued. Maria flew a jet, Fury rescued an alien cat (which later scratched him in the eye *wink*), and Carol bested a hunky Kree. Jude Law was all, “prove you can beat me without your powers! That is only way you will know if you are good enou-” and Carol was all, “naw” and blasted the shit out of him, which was WILDLY satisfying.
So Ronan the Accuser (oh yeah, Ronan the Accuser, ‘member him? He wanted the power core) was like, “be still my heart, but we outtie”, and the Kree fleet up and left.
Everything was good again! Carol knew who and what she was, Earth was saved, the Skrulls were on their way to a new home (accompanied by Carol herself) and the Tesseract was safe, tucked inside an alien cat’s belly.
And that’s that! All around a pretty fun MCU instalment featuring some timely themes. Carol’s journey showed not only physical growth but mental and emotional as well. She stopped blindly believing what she was told and instead started investigating. She put her prejudices aside to see the truth of the situation, and went a step further to rectify the wrongs she was a part of.
*cough* our entire society today *cough*
And of course, the feminism of it all. It’s not just that this movie had a female lead. It’s that the female lead had autonomy, and power, and vulnerability and deep connections with others that didn’t compromise her own sense of self. So often media portrays “strong” women with decidedly male attributes. But Carol Danvers (like Wonder Woman before her) was powerful while remaining feminine. And she looked damn good on that motorcycle.
What did you guys think?? How many times did you see it in the theatre? Do you miss Blockbuster?
SOME STUFF
- This is the first MCU movie without even a hint at a romantic subplot. I wouldn’t mind seeing something in the future, but for Carol’s first outing, I’m happy they didn’t pair her off.
- Speaking of, a lot of people are speculating that Carol and Maria are in love. I’m about it, but I also wouldn’t mind (like the rest of the internet it seems) seeing what happens when Carol meets Valkyrie. I mean… two wildly powerful, sassy women who don’t take shit? Could be electric.
- Finally revealing the backstory of Fury’s eye as an alien cat-scratch was funny, but a little lame, and it retconned a few details from other movies. Namely, when he yelled at Steve, “the last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye!” So either Fury was being dramatic to win an argument, or he feels very betrayed by that cat.
- Her call sign was Avenger! And THAT’S why the initiative is called Avengers. I didn’t notice that detail the first time around. Cool bit of mythology.
- Fury’s mother calling him “Fury” is very funny.
- Lashana Lynch (Maria) is a very attractive woman, despite the hair team’s best efforts. I also had a bowl-cut in the 90s, but I was 8 years old. This is a grown woman and there is no excuse!
- Explaining Carol’s absence through the first 10 years of the MCU as her being off in space helping an alien race find a new home was clever, sure. But it also raises the question of why Fury didn’t call her for any of the other near-miss disasters. A hostile alien race invaded, and Fury was like, “hmmmmmm… what if she’s in the shower, though? I don’t want to disturb her.”
- Young My Husband Agent Coulson made my heart sing, and other parts of my body do things as well.
- Do you trust cats? If so… why?
OKAY BYE THANKS! See you next week for our very last installment of the MCU Photo-Recap Countdown!
Toni Watches 