[wpdevart_youtube]xpNisnvFmOk[/wpdevart_youtube]
CAPTAIN MARVEL ****
Dir: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck (12A, 122 mins)
Marvel takes a long overdue foray into a standalone female superhero movie, following in the wake of DC Universe’s excellent Wonder Woman. Continuing their offbeat choices in directors, Marvel have enlisted indie darlings Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to helm their next tentpole movie. The choice of Oscar winner Brie Larson as lead is also inspired, bringing some actorly gravitas to a laser-beam-shooting character. Set in the 1990s, Larson plays Carol Danvers, a US pilot whose DNA has been fused with the Kree, an alien race. She forgets her earthly origins, becoming a member of elite fighting group StarForce – alongside Jude Law, Gemma Chan, Djimon Hounsou and scientist Annette Bening, responsible for Larson’s Kree powers. Returning to Earth Larson finds the planet invaded by the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race under the rule of Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos. On Earth she encounters a digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson as a naïve Nick Fury, now a desk-bound SHIELD agent who does not believe in aliens. His meeting with Captain Marvel sets him on a path to the creation of the Avengers. As a prequel of sorts, Captain Marvel should be unencumbered by too many plot strands. With a jocular tone, an indie director’s attention to character and some CGI spectacle this should be Marvel-ous. Opens Mar 8