Captain Marvel (2019) * *

Directed by:  Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

Starring:  Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Gemma Chan, Lee Pace, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Lashana Lynch

Brie Larson was so unforgettably powerful in Room (2015), for which she won a Best Actress Oscar, and yet so lacks a spark in Captain Marvel.    Maybe it is because the movie's blandness just weighs her and everyone else down.   The latest Marvel adventure isn't awful, just pedestrian.   It elicits little more than a meh. 

I can't help but think of Bill Maher's recent editorial about comic book movies, in which he points out how everyone in these movies is after a "glowy thing".   And wouldn't you know it?   In Captain Marvel, the glowing, sky blue cube called the tesseract, which we've seen in other Marvel movies, is the coveted object of the heroes and villains alike.   I recall seeing the tesseract before and I can't say with any certainty what it does, but it looks cool and supposedly contains a great deal of energy.    Captain Marvel takes place in 1995 and the folks in this movie will be happy to learn their 2019 counterparts will still be after more glowing objects.

We first meet the soon-to-be Captain Marvel as Vers (Larson), who resides on a distant planet ruled by the Kree, a race at war with a hostile civilization of shape-shifters who can mimic anything living "right down to the DNA".   Vers trains to be a Kree soldier under the auspices of Yon-Rogg (Law), and even though Law plays a seemingly good guy, his beady eyes can't help but give away his true intentions down the road.    Having Jude Law in your movie is practically a built-in spoiler alert.
Vers is haunted by dreams and visions of her past, in which she may or may not have been an Air Force fighter pilot on Earth and the Kree known as Supreme Intelligence (Bening), may be someone from her past as well.

Vers follows some shape-shifters to Earth and crash lands through the roof of a Blockbuster Video. 
Since it's 1995, you can be sure there will numerous pop culture references, including No Doubt's Just A Girl playing on the soundtrack as Captain Marvel engages in battle with some baddies.    On the scene is the ubiquitous Nick Fury (Jackson), who has both eyes working here, but we later find out at long last how he got that ominous patch over his left eye.    I won't dare spoil that, but it's rather innocuous.   

The plot is barely one we care about, and the emotional effect of Vers regaining memories of her past are muted.    The movie itself could use the powers of the tesseract to jump start the excitement level.
Captain Marvel suffers from a sagging backstory.    Captain America and Iron Man have compelling histories before they ever became superheroes, while Captain Marvel simply doesn't.    Larson is as skilled and appealing an actress as there is, but Captain Marvel almost keeps her shackled, which is the last thing you would expect in a Marvel movie.