Captain Marvel”— to Save the Universe Later Which Employ Deadly Electrical Bolts, Crashing Superhero Armor Rebecca L

CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2019

Volume 165, No. 52 Serving Chicago’s legal community for 164 years

unpredictability is the catalyst (no pun intended) for the film’s im- A low-stakes ‘Capt ain portant plot pivots. With the profusion of big-budget action movies, even state-of- Marvel ’backstory now the-art special effects fail to stir RE B E C CA our visceral responses. The action L. FORD sequences in “Captain Marvel”— to save the universe later which employ deadly electrical bolts, crashing superhero armor Rebecca L. Ford is counsel to Scharf and high-speed vehicles, both Banks Marmor LLC, and concentrates her earthly and galactic —d o n ’t seem Marvel dug into its archives and pulled out an practice on complex litigation, compliance, board governance and specialized all that special. All-American heroine ahead of next ‘Av e n g e r s ’ employment issues. She is the former Besides, the stakes are low by executive vice president for litigation and movie standards. Danvers’j o u r - intellectual property at MGM. She can be ney is to find herself, but we’ve aptain Marvel”has one clad in an aerodynamic red, gold, reached at [email protected]. known who she is ever since the job. That job is to ex- and blue leather flight suit, she’s m o v i e ’s trailer dropped, not to plain the origin story of kickass, not eye candy, with a light whomever one admires most. mention the encyclopedic knowl- its titular shero well touch of alien-altered DNA. A digitally youthened Samuel L. edge of comic book fans. enough to justify her Her memory has been wiped, Jackson plays Nick Fury, the In February, Larson publicly ad- roleC in saving the universe when and she isn’t who she’s thinks she S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, after Dan- vocated for the inclusion of more “Avengers: Endgame”opens on is. We go along for the ride as she vers crashes from the sky through women and minorities at press April 26. discovers her identity, her history the roof of a Blockbuster Video junkets. Such diversity was espe- At the climax of “Avengers: In- and her powers. store, quickly learns that threats to cially important, she argued, with finity War,”tough-love villain Danvers is relatable, particularly Earth can also arrive from space. a movie like “Captain Marvel.” Thanos disintegrated half the uni- in her sarcastic moments as she Jackson and Larson have The backlash was tsunamic. In- verse (ostensibly for its own deals with the shape-shifters and worked together in previous ternet trolls organized a campaign good), including a critical mass of bad guys who obstruct her journey. movies, including “Kong: Skull Is- to bombard the film with negative Marvel superheroes. Someone Set in 1995, the movie’s land”and the upcoming Netflix votes on Rotten Tomatoes, forcing else super will have to step in to MacGuffin is an energy core from release “Unicorn Store,”w h i c h the movie site to remove its “w a n t put things right. which Danvers’Air Force mentor, Larson also directed. They have to see”option for fans to indicate Which explains why the good interest in upcoming movies. (A folks at Marvel dug into the com- similar campaign was launched ic archives and repurposed a hal- against “Black Panther.”) ter top- and thong-wearing fan- With the profusion of big-budget action movies, Such sandbagging did not seem tasy character, once known as even state-of-the-art special effects fail to stir to scare anyone away from the Ms. Marvel, into an all-American theater. “Captain Marvel”took in warrior girl. our visceral responses. more than $153 million domesti- In contrast to D.C. Comics’e x - cally on its opening weekend for a otic and cosmopolitan Wonder total of $455 million worldwide. Woman, an antiquities expert with Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Ben- great chemistry. Together the two By all measures the mission of an office in the Louvre, Brie ing), has developed a light-speed actors make a charming team. this combat-ready, girl-power sto- L a rs e n’s scrappy Carol Danvers — engine sought by Kree aliens. An orange tabby cat named ry was accomplished. t h at’s“Captain Marvel”to you — Lawson is also the corporeal Goose, after Tom Cruise’s wing- Who knows, come April, Cap- is all-American in temperament representation of the Kree’s lead- man in “Top Gun,”is the louche tain Marvel may even save the and outlook. Pure U.S. Air Force, er, who takes the form of thief of many scenes. His feline u n i v e r s e .