Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 3, 2019

Captain Marvel's origins story has a lot riding on it, coming hot off the heels of Avengers: Infinity War when the title character was paged to come save the universe from a particularly nasty bout of mass extinction. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck give the character in this film an appropriate, if not somewhat routine, introduction en route to her part in Avengers: Endgame, this film being a necessary point of entry to establish the character's story, powers, and the possibilities that come with her. The retro origins story travels back about 25 years and folds in several characters and concepts that further ties the Marvel Cinematic Universe together, making it one of the earliest chronologically and most critical for the here-and-now.

Vers (Brie Larson) is a Kree and part of her people's Starforce, a critical military unit on the frontlines of a war against the shapeshifting Skrulls. Vers, who suffers from memory loss and possesses extraordinary powers, has been trained by Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) to harness her abilities while her world's leader, an A.I. known as Supreme Intelligence (Annette Benning), appears to her as a figment of her imagination, an echo of a past she cannot remember. A skirmish with the Skrulls results in her crash-landing on Earth, in 1990s Los Angeles to be a little more precise. She quickly meets S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who are startled to encounter not only her but the shapeshifting aliens in pursuit. As Vers slowly pieces her past together -- a past with origins on Earth -- she comes to learn the truth about not only who she is, but what she is fighting for and the origins of her powers.

Captain Marvel does absolutely nothing to reinvent the Superhero wheel, and the story is not as compelling as some of the other origins stories in the MCU -- those introducing Captain America or Black Panther -- but it's a reliably entertaining vehicle that lays some critical groundwork in the MCU past that will be a vital foundation in its future. The title character's story blends ideas and elements from various origin mythos, with hints of everything from Superman to The Incredible Hulk defining her journey to hero. It has content on offer that is not particularly bold in any directions taken or choices made; it's a comfortable journey that is perhaps more noteworthy for its ancillary content than its primary story drivers.

Beyond the narrative ebbs and flows is also a now-routine spectacle of sight and sound, of grandiose visual effects that play right into the long-established MCU style. A catchy 90s soundtrack pulses the movie's lifeblood through the speakers (No Doubt's Just a Girl blares as the heroine finds herself and hones her skills while kicking some bad guy behind later in the film) but it is Brie Larson who delivers a formidable performance as a character in search of herself. It is her arc that beyond the laser blasts and explosions and typically quick-move and high-impact visual effects truly grounds the picture. Larson never plays the part tiny, even when she is forced to question her own motives and wrestle with the realities of a life she knows and the truth about who she is, where she comes from, and who it is with whom she has allied herself. The character experiences a seemingly unending reveal of questions and answers, each one bringing a new weight to her shoulders until that moment when she brushes it all aside and rises to become the hero she was destined to become. One of the film's best scenes shows her as a youth, falling down after crashing a bike or being brushed back by a pitch in a baseball game, and standing back up. She builds a resilient hero, resilient certainly in terms of her physical prowess but also resilient in terms of her mental stamina. It's not a particularly novel arc but Larson and the filmmakers explore it convincingly, thoroughly, and agreeably, turning a fairly makeshift character into one worth cheering for.

Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Disney's 2160p/HDR UHD presentation of Captain Marvel offers a fairly standard upgrade set over the counterpart 1080p Blu-ray. It is the superior image, not by leaps and bounds, but the added resolution, bitrate, and color scale all contribute to an image that reveals notably sharper details and bolder and deeper color hues. The textural increases are not dramatic. That does not mean they do not prove critical. Total image sharpness is plainly improved. Image clarity finds another gear, allowing the film greater stability corner-to-corner while ironing out finer-point detailing on essential closely framed details as well as more expansive shots that reveal larger area environments or clusters of characters. Even in low light, a huddle of frightened Skrulls later in the film are revealed with precise clarity, the UHD highlighting various makeup and prosthetics with greater screen command than the Blu-ray can provide. Close-ups are certainly where the UHD shines brightest, managing to showcase finer and more complimentary costume textures, refined and more intricate and natural facial features, and superiorly defined near-frame environmental details. It's undeniably sharper, talking degrees rather than radical departures, but it's a welcome increase over the very capable, but lesser, Blu-ray.

The HDR color enhancements make a bigger difference. The image takes on a dark look overall. Even bright scenes are appreciably less so on the UHD, but the benefits include a wider color spectrum, more subtle tonal variations, and greater impact and intensity, particularly some of the brighter and more colorful components, such as Captain Marvel's photon blasts or her finished third-act costume, respectively. The HDR colors render whites brighter (a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt she wears for parts of the movie) and black levels more thoroughly deep and accurate. This is a solid UHD presentation. Like the Blu-ray, and due to the source, there's not much here to truly dazzle the eyes, but the improvements to detail and color, the latter more so than the former, make for an enjoyable watch that is certainly the superior home video presentation.

Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Captain Marvel's Dolby Atmos soundtrack shares many of the same characteristics as the companion Blu-ray's 7.1 lossless configuration, including the necessary upward volume knob boost several decibels above reference, calibrated norms. The track is certainly no slouch when turned up nice and loud. Like the other track, this one has plenty of force on offer, with the subwoofer cranking out pulse after pulse to compliment some of the film's mightiest action scenes. There is a feel for weight as necessary -- starships powering through the cosmos at casual speed -- and a feel for dynamic low end as the action intensifies, including a space battle during the film's climactic action sequence that also embraces the full-on surround engagement and precision sound imaging that define so much of the audio experience. Listeners will experience the film's full compliment of zip and zoom effects with flawless stage engagement. The add of the overhead channels to the experience is not a fundamental game changer compared to the Blu-ray offering, but there's is a very distinct feel for greater spacial awareness both in high impact action scenes as well as in less demanding but not less critical sound elements. Music is well-rounded for clarity and delivery, both score and popular music alike; both prove richly rewarding in delivery and stage coverage, boasting clear vocals and instrumentals alike in shaping the film's fun 90s throwback soundtrack. Dialogue is unsurprisingly clear and detailed with firm center channel placement.

Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Captain Marvel's UHD disc contains no supplemental content. The bundled Blu-ray includes the following extras. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Intro (1080p, 1:51): Less an "intro" and more a lightning-quick behind-the-scenes compilation, Co-Writers/Directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck share a few thoughts about creating the movie's tone, the visual effects, the character, and more.
• Becoming a Super Hero (1080p, 6:40): Larson talks up the opportunity to play the part while fellow cast and crew talk up her contributions and personality. It also explores her flight and physical training for the role.
• Big Hero Moment (1080p, 3:31): A closer look at the character's depth, personality, and history.
• The Origin of Nicky Fury (1080p, 3:33): A brief exploration of Fury's story in the film and his history (future in this film) in the MCU.
• The Dream Team (1080p, 2:44): A rapid-fire praise of Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
• The Skrulls and the Kree (1080p, 3:31): A quick look at the film's warring aliens.
• Hiss-Sterical Cat-Titude (1080p, 3:23): A retro-looking, 4x3 aspect ratio featurette on the film's feline star, Goose.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 8:47 total runtime): Included are "Who Do You Admire Above All Others?; Starforce Recruits; Heading to Torfa; 'What, No Smile?;' Black Box; and Rookie Mistake.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:02): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Audio Commentary: Writers/Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck explore the film in detail, beginning with the film's Stan Lee opening studio logo tribute and moving on to cover plot essentials, crafting various scenes, cast and performances, inspirations, the film's time period, and much more.

Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps the most pressing question answered in Captain Marvel is the origin of Nick Fury's eyepatch, which is revealed in one of the film's best scenes. The movie is mostly a two-hour build-up to explaining the end moments of Avengers: Infinity War. Captain Marvel is a good movie, perhaps a little unimaginative in terms of narrative development and story execution, but the film fills in some critical backstory for the character, and beyond, and paves the road for a future where the title character is to play a big role in upcoming Marvel movies. Disney's UHD delivers the expectedly healthy video that offers a modest upgrade over the Blu-ray, the expectedly volume-challenged but otherwise good Atmos audio, and a fairly robust package of supplements. Highly recommended.