Captain Marvel (Post-release)
- Thread starter Vivek
- Start date
Anyone who has seen the film and would like to take a look at some of the concept art, I bought the Marvel Art of Captain Marvel and filmed a quick flip-through as a preview for anyone wanting to buy it.
I’m coming from the perspective of a comic fan from the 1970's and 80’s. And I’ve avoided reading details about Brie Larson’s bad press.
Brie looks great in her suit. Her jawline is angular in a heroic way (better than Gal Gadot's graceful face). Her stare is perfect for a cosmic hero. She looks like a Kree warrior. Add 2-3 inches to her height and she'd be flawless.
In terms of world-building I think the film did a great job of expanding the MCU without relying heavily on the past. The story is decent framework.
But the script and dialogue were both weak.
I also get the sense that the actors had little or no direction. I know Brie is supposed to be stoic in the beginning and then rediscover her humanity (not that trope again...) but that also made it impossible for the audience to connect with her. You can't introduce a character with suppressed emotions and expect them to be relatable at the same time. The way you write a dispassionate hero is to present them as an enigma. You didn't need all that exposition between Brie and Law in the beginning when you could have alluded to it. We have better writers in the MCU - I don't know why one of them wasn't able to doctor this script. (Maybe James Gunn can freelance under a pseudonym?)
I think the production design and art was a little too spot-on with its references to GotG - Korath and Ronan were OK but they really didn't need to use the GotG planet title font and exposition as well.
Going back to the acting. Some of the problem was the directing and some of it was the acting. My subjective sense is that the director isn't an actor's director. They filmed the movie to support the plot line rather than the emotional or character arcs. There are no dramatic beats or breaths - just a string of events.
The problem I have with Brie is that she is a little too self-conscious in her acting. It's also clear that she's consciously trying not to project that. She needs to work on her "thousand yard" stare and be less "reactive".
My biggest disappointment was on how they depicted the Kree-Skrull war. In the comics it's a rich history and is ethically complex but this movie discarded it entirely and watered it down to your basic oppressor/victim dichotomy. Worst of all, it put a wrench into my hopes of seeing the Fantastic Four and Avengers in a proper treatment of the Kree-Skrull war. Allusions to calling Kree "terrorists" and talking about "barriers" was just a final cringy insult to top it off. Really, Marvel?
I don't mind a little bit of social analogy in my movies. I thought BP was terrific because it handled delicate social issues with nuance and with a degree of balance (if you look close enough). In this department CM was just lame-brained. Thanks for mucking up the Kree-Skrull conflict.
I was so relieved they didn’t give her a love interest - especially that it wasn’t with Jude Law.
I shouldn't be surprised they inserted some of that "you can't do that, you're a girl" into her backstory. Well, they really constructed her persona behind that central struggle which is tantamount to making her a social justice icon. At least they didn't make all men around her buffoons ... oh wait Nick Fury was a wuss. I think it would have been more impressive if Fury was a badass agent who grew to share a professional camaraderie and connection with Carol. That would have been more powerful than what we got. It would have been especially poignant since he's such a loner in other films. Instead they chose to make him a eunuch thinking it would elevate Carol's stature. That was the wrong choice. So much potential lost here. I would have looked forward to Carol reuniting with a professional comrade, Fury.
I thought they wasted Colson. He might as well have been a life model decoy, he was so wooden.
The standout characters were Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), the flerken and Dr. Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan) in that order. Even with her brief amount of screen time Gemma Chan has a natural presence I can't put my finger on. The camera loves her.
Back to the script. Only the flerkin made me laugh. Only Ben Mendelsohn's delivery made me take notice. Everybody else was painting by the numbers.
As I said I'm only familiar with Jim Starlin's Captain Marvel from the 70's and 80's. I knew of Ms. Marvel only before she became Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell's transformation into the modern cosmic hero and his encounter with Eon was an epic story I loved as a teenager. Captain Marvel was one of my favorite superheroes because of Starlin's character design and I was fascinated with the concept of his Cosmic Awareness (after it was unlocked with Eon) and how it informed his insight as well as his fighting style. I didn't mind this movie changing his gender but Captain Marvel's spiritual/cosmic evolution was reduced to the moral revelation "Kree bad. Skrull good." And instead of a spiritual journey where Captain Marvel encounters Eon and literally confronts his inner demons in order to earn the mantle of "protector of the universe" we get Carol changing the color scheme of her costume with the help of a kid standing on a porch.
I don't hate this film. And objectively it's not a terrible movie. I don't think the MCU is destroyed and I think what follows is serviceable. As a comics fan this movie is mostly disappointing for the reduction of elaborate storylines, themes and relationships to a mostly derivative Hollywood vision. Then again, isn't that what "social justice" is all about?
Brie looks great in her suit. Her jawline is angular in a heroic way (better than Gal Gadot's graceful face). Her stare is perfect for a cosmic hero. She looks like a Kree warrior. Add 2-3 inches to her height and she'd be flawless.
In terms of world-building I think the film did a great job of expanding the MCU without relying heavily on the past. The story is decent framework.
But the script and dialogue were both weak.
I also get the sense that the actors had little or no direction. I know Brie is supposed to be stoic in the beginning and then rediscover her humanity (not that trope again...) but that also made it impossible for the audience to connect with her. You can't introduce a character with suppressed emotions and expect them to be relatable at the same time. The way you write a dispassionate hero is to present them as an enigma. You didn't need all that exposition between Brie and Law in the beginning when you could have alluded to it. We have better writers in the MCU - I don't know why one of them wasn't able to doctor this script. (Maybe James Gunn can freelance under a pseudonym?)
I think the production design and art was a little too spot-on with its references to GotG - Korath and Ronan were OK but they really didn't need to use the GotG planet title font and exposition as well.
Going back to the acting. Some of the problem was the directing and some of it was the acting. My subjective sense is that the director isn't an actor's director. They filmed the movie to support the plot line rather than the emotional or character arcs. There are no dramatic beats or breaths - just a string of events.
The problem I have with Brie is that she is a little too self-conscious in her acting. It's also clear that she's consciously trying not to project that. She needs to work on her "thousand yard" stare and be less "reactive".
My biggest disappointment was on how they depicted the Kree-Skrull war. In the comics it's a rich history and is ethically complex but this movie discarded it entirely and watered it down to your basic oppressor/victim dichotomy. Worst of all, it put a wrench into my hopes of seeing the Fantastic Four and Avengers in a proper treatment of the Kree-Skrull war. Allusions to calling Kree "terrorists" and talking about "barriers" was just a final cringy insult to top it off. Really, Marvel?
I don't mind a little bit of social analogy in my movies. I thought BP was terrific because it handled delicate social issues with nuance and with a degree of balance (if you look close enough). In this department CM was just lame-brained. Thanks for mucking up the Kree-Skrull conflict.
I was so relieved they didn’t give her a love interest - especially that it wasn’t with Jude Law.
I shouldn't be surprised they inserted some of that "you can't do that, you're a girl" into her backstory. Well, they really constructed her persona behind that central struggle which is tantamount to making her a social justice icon. At least they didn't make all men around her buffoons ... oh wait Nick Fury was a wuss. I think it would have been more impressive if Fury was a badass agent who grew to share a professional camaraderie and connection with Carol. That would have been more powerful than what we got. It would have been especially poignant since he's such a loner in other films. Instead they chose to make him a eunuch thinking it would elevate Carol's stature. That was the wrong choice. So much potential lost here. I would have looked forward to Carol reuniting with a professional comrade, Fury.
I thought they wasted Colson. He might as well have been a life model decoy, he was so wooden.
The standout characters were Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), the flerken and Dr. Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan) in that order. Even with her brief amount of screen time Gemma Chan has a natural presence I can't put my finger on. The camera loves her.
Back to the script. Only the flerkin made me laugh. Only Ben Mendelsohn's delivery made me take notice. Everybody else was painting by the numbers.
As I said I'm only familiar with Jim Starlin's Captain Marvel from the 70's and 80's. I knew of Ms. Marvel only before she became Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell's transformation into the modern cosmic hero and his encounter with Eon was an epic story I loved as a teenager. Captain Marvel was one of my favorite superheroes because of Starlin's character design and I was fascinated with the concept of his Cosmic Awareness (after it was unlocked with Eon) and how it informed his insight as well as his fighting style. I didn't mind this movie changing his gender but Captain Marvel's spiritual/cosmic evolution was reduced to the moral revelation "Kree bad. Skrull good." And instead of a spiritual journey where Captain Marvel encounters Eon and literally confronts his inner demons in order to earn the mantle of "protector of the universe" we get Carol changing the color scheme of her costume with the help of a kid standing on a porch.
I don't hate this film. And objectively it's not a terrible movie. I don't think the MCU is destroyed and I think what follows is serviceable. As a comics fan this movie is mostly disappointing for the reduction of elaborate storylines, themes and relationships to a mostly derivative Hollywood vision. Then again, isn't that what "social justice" is all about?
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DARTH ANIBAL
Sr Member
It was a jab but that wasn’t my central message. I went back and forth about that last line ... it just came out organically. Sorry. I revealed my stripes but I’ll own it.Really? All that just to sneak in that jab?
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cboath
Master Member
Not sure how you'd fit all that backstory in without a separate movie or two that would have needed to precede this one. The story sounds pretty good (didn't read the comics), but you've got two hours, i don't think you can get into the nuances of the skrull/kree confict and do it justice in 10-15 minutes. Same with Mar-Vell's history.
I get really tired of people beating the SJW theme as well. Mid 90's....women were not allowed in combat. They were being harassed, etc in the military and that didn't come out until the early 00's as i recall. The recurring theme from those trying to block it ('those' being military and governmental types, cited such classy things as 'not strong enough', 'not tough enough', 'will spend their time fawning over the men', 'men won't focus on combat, but focus on the women' etc). Given the setting, it would have been more of a disservice to NOT mention it at all. The 50's and 60's were NOT that long ago in the grand scheme of things. People then didn't think women should have jobs then. Things have not equaled out completely since then. I don't see acknowledging it as pushing an agenda, it's pointing out exactly what was going on more or less at the time. I mean, i was that age at that time. As a kid growing up, did i see people saying those things to my sister, yes. Not the military aspect as she didn't go military, but 'that's not for girls', 'girls don't/shouldn't do that', etc, etc. My parents weren't one of them, but i knew of ones that were.
10-15 years ago, that phone booth scene would have had multiple 'but she's a girl' type lines, probably in more places in the flick as well..At least they've gotten past that.
All i'm saying, really, is that those things are alluded to as it is a sign of the times and people still hold the biases. Not everyone, but enough that it is still an issue.
I get really tired of people beating the SJW theme as well. Mid 90's....women were not allowed in combat. They were being harassed, etc in the military and that didn't come out until the early 00's as i recall. The recurring theme from those trying to block it ('those' being military and governmental types, cited such classy things as 'not strong enough', 'not tough enough', 'will spend their time fawning over the men', 'men won't focus on combat, but focus on the women' etc). Given the setting, it would have been more of a disservice to NOT mention it at all. The 50's and 60's were NOT that long ago in the grand scheme of things. People then didn't think women should have jobs then. Things have not equaled out completely since then. I don't see acknowledging it as pushing an agenda, it's pointing out exactly what was going on more or less at the time. I mean, i was that age at that time. As a kid growing up, did i see people saying those things to my sister, yes. Not the military aspect as she didn't go military, but 'that's not for girls', 'girls don't/shouldn't do that', etc, etc. My parents weren't one of them, but i knew of ones that were.
10-15 years ago, that phone booth scene would have had multiple 'but she's a girl' type lines, probably in more places in the flick as well..At least they've gotten past that.
All i'm saying, really, is that those things are alluded to as it is a sign of the times and people still hold the biases. Not everyone, but enough that it is still an issue.
There is just no fun in what has become the “SJW debate”, frankly on either side of the issue. I find that neither side of the argument is entirely fact-based or reflective of reality as a whole. Moreover, the arguments are divisive, toxic, tiresome, and no one seems to win. I just want my entertainment to be enjoyable with good stories and characters. I really miss those days when that was what it was all about (and to be honest, putting butts in seats and making money). We seem to be separating into tribalism and some sort of self-loathing of society as a people. I am not entirely certain what the driver may be; it’s beyond me. It serves “somebody’s” agenda to have this all play out as it does, I am just not certain who the beneficiary is. It doesn’t seem to be fandom as a community.
And let’s not lose sight of reality. Fandom is now being sucked into debates regarding a fictional super-hero being played, not by a real hero, but by an actor in a costume fighting make believe creatures from outer space in front of a green screen. It’s seems to be an attempt to inject artificial weight and gravitas into the subject matter. We are not debating the character merits of real-life heroes like Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, etc. Are we really misunderstanding and undeservedly inflating something as simple as the marketing gimmick of a movie and giving it the large scale debate that a fictional movie frankly doesn’t deserve? When fictional characters like Thor, Superman, Wonder Woman, and, yes, Captain Marvel become the platform for addressing societal issues, then we have lost our perspective.
Comic book movies are meant to be fun escapism. While the comics sometimes delve into metaphorical larger issues, the core of the phenomena is great characters, great stories, and fun. Fun escapism is what I think brought us all together in this hobby—didn’t it? Now, what is being artificially put into its place is dividing us.
I hope the term “SJW” is retired at the end of 2019 for both sides of the issue.
Anyway...
And let’s not lose sight of reality. Fandom is now being sucked into debates regarding a fictional super-hero being played, not by a real hero, but by an actor in a costume fighting make believe creatures from outer space in front of a green screen. It’s seems to be an attempt to inject artificial weight and gravitas into the subject matter. We are not debating the character merits of real-life heroes like Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, etc. Are we really misunderstanding and undeservedly inflating something as simple as the marketing gimmick of a movie and giving it the large scale debate that a fictional movie frankly doesn’t deserve? When fictional characters like Thor, Superman, Wonder Woman, and, yes, Captain Marvel become the platform for addressing societal issues, then we have lost our perspective.
Comic book movies are meant to be fun escapism. While the comics sometimes delve into metaphorical larger issues, the core of the phenomena is great characters, great stories, and fun. Fun escapism is what I think brought us all together in this hobby—didn’t it? Now, what is being artificially put into its place is dividing us.
I hope the term “SJW” is retired at the end of 2019 for both sides of the issue.
Anyway...
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All they needed to do was to introduce the two races in conflict. They didn't need to explain it at all. The war could have been fleshed out in other movies.
I’m going to dial back something I said above:
Carol’s personal conflict was about her impulsivity and recklessness. And, even if there was an element of “you can’t do that, you’re a girl” in her flashbacks, it’s all about her perception of that in her life which makes her feel like she’s got something to prove. That totally makes more sense.
The movie doesn’t really ride the misogyny narrative as much as I implied. I take back the “social justice icon” tag.
But I still have a problem with this wuss Nick Fury who seemed oddly blasé about losing an eye to a cat scratch.
I thought about it more and I’m changing my tune.
Carol’s personal conflict was about her impulsivity and recklessness. And, even if there was an element of “you can’t do that, you’re a girl” in her flashbacks, it’s all about her perception of that in her life which makes her feel like she’s got something to prove. That totally makes more sense.
The movie doesn’t really ride the misogyny narrative as much as I implied. I take back the “social justice icon” tag.
But I still have a problem with this wuss Nick Fury who seemed oddly blasé about losing an eye to a cat scratch.
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Strikerkc
Sr Member
Just got back from seeing it myself, and it was a lot of fun. It's like a lot of the starter movies, in that there's a fairly predictable plot, with one or two "oh ****" moments that are nice. It also happens to answer a few unanswered "Trivia" questions about the MCU that it didn't need to, and I wasn't really worried about ever knowing; but the answers they gave were entertaining.
The main thing that was different, was that Carol's snarky bravado is done differently than pretty much all of the other MCU leads. Most of the MCU characters are banter based. Their jokes and comments are a little long winded. Carol has got to be one of the most sarcastic characters in the MCU (which is saying something) but all of her jokes are very brief (generally followed by intense violence).
I liked it a lot. The theater I was in (saw it in 3D) had bad sound in it, and I was gonna see it again today in IMAX (where our local theater buts the big loud glorious speakers), but the good seats were all sold out for the weekend.
I liked Stan Lee's cameo, and I kind of hope it's his final one:
How Fury got the teseract, and how he injured his eye
The main thing that was different, was that Carol's snarky bravado is done differently than pretty much all of the other MCU leads. Most of the MCU characters are banter based. Their jokes and comments are a little long winded. Carol has got to be one of the most sarcastic characters in the MCU (which is saying something) but all of her jokes are very brief (generally followed by intense violence).
I liked it a lot. The theater I was in (saw it in 3D) had bad sound in it, and I was gonna see it again today in IMAX (where our local theater buts the big loud glorious speakers), but the good seats were all sold out for the weekend.
I liked Stan Lee's cameo, and I kind of hope it's his final one:
Since he's doing his cameo as himself in the movie, I enjoy the idea that his final cameo would be one in which he did not play a character, but was Stan Lee.
It's even a layered cameo, he's cameoing in this movie, as himself, practicing his lines for ANOTHER cameo in a different film, where he is doing a cameo as himself
It's even a layered cameo, he's cameoing in this movie, as himself, practicing his lines for ANOTHER cameo in a different film, where he is doing a cameo as himself
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patrickivan
Sr Member
My wife and I saw it today. VIP cinemas are the way to go. No kids under 19 massive spacious sitting. Smaller crowds...
Oh ya, the movie. We thought it was great. There were a couple of things I didn't like. Most of them involved the damned cat. I won't say anything further at this point. And clearly the people who laughed at said related scenes were cat people. Ugh. Hahahaa, cats are whimsical.
I don't think any origin movie will compare to Iron Man and Captain America. I think wind on the seas may be calming a bit for these movies with the next Avengers movie being the big climax. I hope not. I find myself getting a little super heroed out after all these years or nerdgasms. Damnit. Like too much porn on the internet, we're just been spoiled too much I think.
Regardless, I enjoyed this being a set up to the End Game movie. I welcome some new blood into the mix, and while she's supposed to be the next coming of ******, I don't think the movie will be so heavily focused on that, and will truly be a team effort to try to restore things back as much as they can. She's going to be that fresh hope that they desperately need. It really makes sense to have someone come help them. The Avengers and Co. have been brutally beaten and they're suffering badly.
They need something to rally them.
Oh ya, the movie. We thought it was great. There were a couple of things I didn't like. Most of them involved the damned cat. I won't say anything further at this point. And clearly the people who laughed at said related scenes were cat people. Ugh. Hahahaa, cats are whimsical.
I don't think any origin movie will compare to Iron Man and Captain America. I think wind on the seas may be calming a bit for these movies with the next Avengers movie being the big climax. I hope not. I find myself getting a little super heroed out after all these years or nerdgasms. Damnit. Like too much porn on the internet, we're just been spoiled too much I think.
Regardless, I enjoyed this being a set up to the End Game movie. I welcome some new blood into the mix, and while she's supposed to be the next coming of ******, I don't think the movie will be so heavily focused on that, and will truly be a team effort to try to restore things back as much as they can. She's going to be that fresh hope that they desperately need. It really makes sense to have someone come help them. The Avengers and Co. have been brutally beaten and they're suffering badly.
They need something to rally them.
Strikerkc
Sr Member
Someone, perhaps, that knows how to stand back up, after getting knocked down?
Something tells me that may be a major theme to endgame. They'll have two Captains, both known for "getting back up"
ALLEY, the thing about the SJW debate... Well, I'll honestly try to keep it brief. You know the old "there are only seven stories in the world" thing, yes? The notion that every story ever told follows one or another of those basic archetypes. And, within those, there are two basic approaches -- allegory or high-concept. The latter is operatic. Black and white, good versus evil, no ambiguity or requirement for hard thought. The former is shades of gray and expects to challenge the preconceptions of those who read/view/hear it. In every era, the latter has faced significant resistance from those who are either complicit with or manipulated by the establishment. Book burnings, book bannings, blacklisting, etc.
If Sam Clemens were alive today, he'd probably be branded a Social Justice Warrior. He set out to deliberately provoke, to take unquestioned cultural "truths" and shove them in people's faces, try to render some of the inequalities he saw a little bit less unequal. It's the same thing now. The social demographic that has been "in charge" for hundreds of years doesn't like anything that threatens its monopoly on relevance. Anywhere someone who is not a straight white Christian male property-owner steps up demanding social equivalence, that demographic reacts like it's a zero-sum matter -- that recognizing equivalence somehow lessens what they have.
There is and always will be reasoned debate happening down in the trenches. The loudest noise always comes from the two extremes, and neither ever comes at the matter with nothing but unrefutable facts backing them up, which muddies things.
Gonna stop there before it gets too far into politics. This is just basic sociology. As much as many of us here are utterly unfazed by a superhero movie with a female lead, as much as we care more about the acting and production values and story and such, there are those out there who feel threatened by its mere existence, and have a bone-deep need to undercut or destroy it. Which brings out their opposite extreme in its defense.
Captain Marvel, being more allegory than high-concept, is gonna provoke a reaction, just by nature of the story not being stripped down to archetypal basics. Just keep your head down, try to stay reasonable, and ignore the bluster from either side. Stan and Jack and Steve and all of them in the '60s were sorta being modern-day Sam Clemenses. Where DC is more high-concept with their heroes, Marvel's comics and characters, from the get-go, have been real, flawed, humans with human problems and failings. In their comics, they confronted racism, sexism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, et cetera, et cetera. Sometimes directly, sometimes veiled behind the genre (mutants, or interdimensional demons, or aliens, or whatever). So I don't expect them to shrink back from socially-relevant topics now.
dascoyne, I, too, would like to see more of the Kree-Skrull backstory, and how Mar-Vell realized the Kree were not the heroes they present themselves as, picked Earth, got the Tesseract (presumably from Howard), and all of that. There's so much missing there, I can only hope they plan for a resurrection of Mar-Vell, albeit not exactly like in the comics, and that Annette Bening shows us what went before as we go forward. Maybe one of the new streaming shows?
And Strikerkc, all of Stan's cameos were as Stan, undercover, checking up on his creation -- just as when he was inserted into the comics.
If Sam Clemens were alive today, he'd probably be branded a Social Justice Warrior. He set out to deliberately provoke, to take unquestioned cultural "truths" and shove them in people's faces, try to render some of the inequalities he saw a little bit less unequal. It's the same thing now. The social demographic that has been "in charge" for hundreds of years doesn't like anything that threatens its monopoly on relevance. Anywhere someone who is not a straight white Christian male property-owner steps up demanding social equivalence, that demographic reacts like it's a zero-sum matter -- that recognizing equivalence somehow lessens what they have.
There is and always will be reasoned debate happening down in the trenches. The loudest noise always comes from the two extremes, and neither ever comes at the matter with nothing but unrefutable facts backing them up, which muddies things.
Gonna stop there before it gets too far into politics. This is just basic sociology. As much as many of us here are utterly unfazed by a superhero movie with a female lead, as much as we care more about the acting and production values and story and such, there are those out there who feel threatened by its mere existence, and have a bone-deep need to undercut or destroy it. Which brings out their opposite extreme in its defense.
Captain Marvel, being more allegory than high-concept, is gonna provoke a reaction, just by nature of the story not being stripped down to archetypal basics. Just keep your head down, try to stay reasonable, and ignore the bluster from either side. Stan and Jack and Steve and all of them in the '60s were sorta being modern-day Sam Clemenses. Where DC is more high-concept with their heroes, Marvel's comics and characters, from the get-go, have been real, flawed, humans with human problems and failings. In their comics, they confronted racism, sexism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, et cetera, et cetera. Sometimes directly, sometimes veiled behind the genre (mutants, or interdimensional demons, or aliens, or whatever). So I don't expect them to shrink back from socially-relevant topics now.
dascoyne, I, too, would like to see more of the Kree-Skrull backstory, and how Mar-Vell realized the Kree were not the heroes they present themselves as, picked Earth, got the Tesseract (presumably from Howard), and all of that. There's so much missing there, I can only hope they plan for a resurrection of Mar-Vell, albeit not exactly like in the comics, and that Annette Bening shows us what went before as we go forward. Maybe one of the new streaming shows?
And Strikerkc, all of Stan's cameos were as Stan, undercover, checking up on his creation -- just as when he was inserted into the comics.
firesprite
Master Member
Howard Wolowitz connection?
Capn_Jack_Savvy
Sr Member
Everyone see what Stand The Man was reading? MALLRATS script!
Just watched a second time.
I wonder if the directors even care about superhero films at all. There was not an ounce of personality in this movie. I can't think of anything about the narrative that stands out. I can't think of a moment I want to see again. Maybe the directors were so intimidated by the resources at their disposal they were afraid of taking any chances.
Each MCU director at least has something personal they want to infuse into the movie - even if it's outlandish. Even Ang Lee's Hulk wanted to say something about fathers and sons and had that actors' stage moment between Nolte and Bana. Captain Marvel had nothing.
I don't think anyone in the production to want to own any of the action sequences either. The fights were forgettable and edited badly so you couldn't even tell what was going on at times. You know when the Kree in disguise had Fury at gunpoint? Fury executed probably the slowest, most telegraphed gun disarm ever filmed. The sad thing is I know SLJ can do a better disarm. Remember Snakes on a Plane?
As critical as I am about Brie’s performance she had glimpses of potential - and they were brief. I’m talking about those two instances where she shows joy and surprise with her powers. The first time is when she blasted those blocks off and clapped her hands like an excited kid. The second time was in a fight toward the end where she was knocked down and for a split second she smiled with her eyes darting about with glee.
Another perfect line perfectly delivered was how she proved to Fury she wasn't a Skrull. She photon blasted the jukebox and said, "That's a photon blast.... Kree can't do that." I don't know why but I love that line and Brie did it just right.
Brie's hero pose is a 45 degree stance with both fists at her side and arms slightly bent. She looks impressive in that stance. But they have her doing it waaay too often and sometimes for no reason at all when she should be relaxed.
Others have said the '90s theme was a little too forced and I agree. Nine Inch Nails and Heart shirts were just shouting for attention. James Gunn sold us on nostalgia by selecting slightly more obscure great music from the 70's and 80's. Music from the top of the charts get overplayed and tend to lose the power to recall the era from which they came. That's why music from Suicide Squad and Captain Marvel fail and the music in GotG and GotG 2 shine.
The flattest scene was the meta/cringe banter at the end over "Mar-Vell" vs. "Marvel" that also went on way too long.
Effects were “ho-hum.” I’ve taken my 8 year daughter to sci-fi and fantasy movies since she was little and, when CM was flying about in full power, she leaned over to me and for the first time said, "Daddy. She looks fake.”
I wonder if the directors even care about superhero films at all. There was not an ounce of personality in this movie. I can't think of anything about the narrative that stands out. I can't think of a moment I want to see again. Maybe the directors were so intimidated by the resources at their disposal they were afraid of taking any chances.
Each MCU director at least has something personal they want to infuse into the movie - even if it's outlandish. Even Ang Lee's Hulk wanted to say something about fathers and sons and had that actors' stage moment between Nolte and Bana. Captain Marvel had nothing.
I don't think anyone in the production to want to own any of the action sequences either. The fights were forgettable and edited badly so you couldn't even tell what was going on at times. You know when the Kree in disguise had Fury at gunpoint? Fury executed probably the slowest, most telegraphed gun disarm ever filmed. The sad thing is I know SLJ can do a better disarm. Remember Snakes on a Plane?
As critical as I am about Brie’s performance she had glimpses of potential - and they were brief. I’m talking about those two instances where she shows joy and surprise with her powers. The first time is when she blasted those blocks off and clapped her hands like an excited kid. The second time was in a fight toward the end where she was knocked down and for a split second she smiled with her eyes darting about with glee.
Another perfect line perfectly delivered was how she proved to Fury she wasn't a Skrull. She photon blasted the jukebox and said, "That's a photon blast.... Kree can't do that." I don't know why but I love that line and Brie did it just right.
Brie's hero pose is a 45 degree stance with both fists at her side and arms slightly bent. She looks impressive in that stance. But they have her doing it waaay too often and sometimes for no reason at all when she should be relaxed.
Others have said the '90s theme was a little too forced and I agree. Nine Inch Nails and Heart shirts were just shouting for attention. James Gunn sold us on nostalgia by selecting slightly more obscure great music from the 70's and 80's. Music from the top of the charts get overplayed and tend to lose the power to recall the era from which they came. That's why music from Suicide Squad and Captain Marvel fail and the music in GotG and GotG 2 shine.
The flattest scene was the meta/cringe banter at the end over "Mar-Vell" vs. "Marvel" that also went on way too long.
Effects were “ho-hum.” I’ve taken my 8 year daughter to sci-fi and fantasy movies since she was little and, when CM was flying about in full power, she leaned over to me and for the first time said, "Daddy. She looks fake.”
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