SPOILERS!: So I've seen 'Captain Marvel'...
Mar 25, 2019 20:11:26 GMT
Nalkarj and taylorfirst1 like this
Post by blockbusted on Mar 25, 2019 20:11:26 GMT
...and it ranges from good to very good, but it's not one of Marvel's best.
First thing first, I would like discuss the issue of feminism rhetoric. Yes, it's there, but it's used appropriately and does NOT reflect any of the problematic diplomacy that Brie Larson got associated with. First thing to remember, this film is set in the 90s, which, I presume, is the time period that had a lot more genuine sexism issues than we have today. Besides, the fact that the main character is female isn't really that important in this film since her storyline can be given to a male character and it wouldn't make a huge amount of difference. Also, male characters in this film show themselves to be quite resourceful throughout the film. I really liked Nick Fury and thought he did the best he could for someone who joined S.H.I.E.L.D. not exactly a long time ago, and I can't believe how much I liked Talos in this film as he turned out to be some decent dude who just wanted to secure the future of Skrulls (and wow, Ben Mendelsohn's character actually got a happy ending in a big-budget film!), not to mention that he actually helps his people AND Carol's friends to escape from a Kree attack. And speaking of Kree…
...I also liked the theme of freedom in this film. At first, it seems that Kree Empire is fighting for honor and peace, but it turns out that these guys are actually horrendous piece of sh!ts who commits mass genocide towards any species who dare to say no to them (and Skrulls happen to be one of them). This is actually my favorite part of the film. The main character was fighting for Kree for a long time, but after finding out that she was participating in a genocide, she decides to turn on them and fight for what is right. In some ways, this theme also applies to the main character since she was obeying the will of Kree and by the end of the film, she was free from that (which is a good thing since Kree Empire is a totalitarian d!ckhead).
Finally, I really liked how beautiful Kree cityscapes looked. Yes, this is not the first time that Marvel showcased some outstanding sci-fi cityscapes (Xandar and Wakanda, anyone?), but this time, that beautiful cityscape also represents the beautiful surface that hides a horrifying ideal, so despite its short appearance in the film itself, it has a lot bigger representation.
As for the weaknesses, I wasn't a huge fan of the score, I didn't think the story was all that great, and I honestly found Carol Danvers not exactly all that interesting. Now, Brie Larson was certainly not terrible in her role, but I certainly thought her character could be a lot more interesting. There are definitely some snippets of her characteristics in which she seems to be quite a rowdy human being, but because of the film's plot and the runtime (AGAIN!), I didn't really get to see those personalities of her that much (and Krees tend to be super serious most of the time, so that was another unfortunate aspect that hindered her characteristics). I hope that I get to see more of her personality before she turned into a Kree in her future films.
Now, how does this film compare to other similar-themed films or its competitions? Well, let's take a look at these ones first:
Aquaman and Alita: Battle Angel
Yeah, Captain Marvel is definitely better than these 2 films. For one, this film doesn't have undisputable strengths like Aquaman does, but it also doesn't have undisputable weaknesses like the said film. Okay, the visual and action scenes were certainly superior in Aquaman, but that film also had a lot of so-bad-it's-good moments. To make a comparison, Aquaman is either a very good film or a best kind of bad film and I don't think that's the case with Captain Marvel, especially the latter part - in a good way since I don't think this was a bad film by any chance.
This applies similarly to Alita: Battle Angel. Again, action scenes were certainly better in Alita: Battle Angel than in this one, but that film also contains an egregious storytelling goof towards the end of the film, which I will not say here yet because it's a spoiler and I don't think everyone here have seen that film yet (you can certainly ask me in a reply section if you're curious about what I saw as a storytelling goof in that film). And while the storyline in Captain Marvel is not great, it certainly flows a lot smoothly than it does with Alita: Battle Angel (and I actually think even Aquaman has smoother storyline flow than that).
Now let's take a look at these ones:
Wonder Woman and Black Panther
Sorry guys, but I would have to say that both of these are better than Captain Marvel. For instance, I found both Diana Prince and T'Challa a lot more interesting than Carol Danvers (which is saying something since T'Challa is somehow the least interesting character in his own film, although that's only a relative to supporting characters) and those films had a lot more interesting visuals throughout the film with Wonder Woman showcasing lush landscapes of Themyscira and bleak World War I setting and Black Panther showcasing a technological and cultural beauty of Wakanda. They also have better action scenes and scores than this one had, especially Black Panther, which had a nice blend of Western orchestra and traditional African music (and may I remind you that we're talking about an OSCAR-WINNING SCORE here?).
Also, Wonder Woman and Black Panther had some other identities besides being superhero films. When it comes to Wonder Woman, it really felt like a superhero(ine) epic that takes you back to the early superhero classics, not to mention that it also felt like a legit war film. As for Black Panther, it honestly felt like I was watching a 90s Disney film like Tarzan or The Lion King. Captain Marvel didn't seem to have that much identity aside from being a standard superhero(ine) film.
Oh, and I think both have better end credit sequences than this one, though this film's end credit sequence is also pretty good on its own right.
So, to summarize, I think this might be the first "bad" MCU film since Avengers: Age of Ultron due to its issues with character development and story, but there's still a lot to enjoy here like the message about freedom and some of the supporting characters.
Overall grade: A-
P.S. Just in case, don't get too political with your replies.
First thing first, I would like discuss the issue of feminism rhetoric. Yes, it's there, but it's used appropriately and does NOT reflect any of the problematic diplomacy that Brie Larson got associated with. First thing to remember, this film is set in the 90s, which, I presume, is the time period that had a lot more genuine sexism issues than we have today. Besides, the fact that the main character is female isn't really that important in this film since her storyline can be given to a male character and it wouldn't make a huge amount of difference. Also, male characters in this film show themselves to be quite resourceful throughout the film. I really liked Nick Fury and thought he did the best he could for someone who joined S.H.I.E.L.D. not exactly a long time ago, and I can't believe how much I liked Talos in this film as he turned out to be some decent dude who just wanted to secure the future of Skrulls (and wow, Ben Mendelsohn's character actually got a happy ending in a big-budget film!), not to mention that he actually helps his people AND Carol's friends to escape from a Kree attack. And speaking of Kree…
...I also liked the theme of freedom in this film. At first, it seems that Kree Empire is fighting for honor and peace, but it turns out that these guys are actually horrendous piece of sh!ts who commits mass genocide towards any species who dare to say no to them (and Skrulls happen to be one of them). This is actually my favorite part of the film. The main character was fighting for Kree for a long time, but after finding out that she was participating in a genocide, she decides to turn on them and fight for what is right. In some ways, this theme also applies to the main character since she was obeying the will of Kree and by the end of the film, she was free from that (which is a good thing since Kree Empire is a totalitarian d!ckhead).
Finally, I really liked how beautiful Kree cityscapes looked. Yes, this is not the first time that Marvel showcased some outstanding sci-fi cityscapes (Xandar and Wakanda, anyone?), but this time, that beautiful cityscape also represents the beautiful surface that hides a horrifying ideal, so despite its short appearance in the film itself, it has a lot bigger representation.
As for the weaknesses, I wasn't a huge fan of the score, I didn't think the story was all that great, and I honestly found Carol Danvers not exactly all that interesting. Now, Brie Larson was certainly not terrible in her role, but I certainly thought her character could be a lot more interesting. There are definitely some snippets of her characteristics in which she seems to be quite a rowdy human being, but because of the film's plot and the runtime (AGAIN!), I didn't really get to see those personalities of her that much (and Krees tend to be super serious most of the time, so that was another unfortunate aspect that hindered her characteristics). I hope that I get to see more of her personality before she turned into a Kree in her future films.
Now, how does this film compare to other similar-themed films or its competitions? Well, let's take a look at these ones first:
Aquaman and Alita: Battle Angel
Yeah, Captain Marvel is definitely better than these 2 films. For one, this film doesn't have undisputable strengths like Aquaman does, but it also doesn't have undisputable weaknesses like the said film. Okay, the visual and action scenes were certainly superior in Aquaman, but that film also had a lot of so-bad-it's-good moments. To make a comparison, Aquaman is either a very good film or a best kind of bad film and I don't think that's the case with Captain Marvel, especially the latter part - in a good way since I don't think this was a bad film by any chance.
This applies similarly to Alita: Battle Angel. Again, action scenes were certainly better in Alita: Battle Angel than in this one, but that film also contains an egregious storytelling goof towards the end of the film, which I will not say here yet because it's a spoiler and I don't think everyone here have seen that film yet (you can certainly ask me in a reply section if you're curious about what I saw as a storytelling goof in that film). And while the storyline in Captain Marvel is not great, it certainly flows a lot smoothly than it does with Alita: Battle Angel (and I actually think even Aquaman has smoother storyline flow than that).
Now let's take a look at these ones:
Wonder Woman and Black Panther
Sorry guys, but I would have to say that both of these are better than Captain Marvel. For instance, I found both Diana Prince and T'Challa a lot more interesting than Carol Danvers (which is saying something since T'Challa is somehow the least interesting character in his own film, although that's only a relative to supporting characters) and those films had a lot more interesting visuals throughout the film with Wonder Woman showcasing lush landscapes of Themyscira and bleak World War I setting and Black Panther showcasing a technological and cultural beauty of Wakanda. They also have better action scenes and scores than this one had, especially Black Panther, which had a nice blend of Western orchestra and traditional African music (and may I remind you that we're talking about an OSCAR-WINNING SCORE here?).
Also, Wonder Woman and Black Panther had some other identities besides being superhero films. When it comes to Wonder Woman, it really felt like a superhero(ine) epic that takes you back to the early superhero classics, not to mention that it also felt like a legit war film. As for Black Panther, it honestly felt like I was watching a 90s Disney film like Tarzan or The Lion King. Captain Marvel didn't seem to have that much identity aside from being a standard superhero(ine) film.
Oh, and I think both have better end credit sequences than this one, though this film's end credit sequence is also pretty good on its own right.
So, to summarize, I think this might be the first "bad" MCU film since Avengers: Age of Ultron due to its issues with character development and story, but there's still a lot to enjoy here like the message about freedom and some of the supporting characters.
Overall grade: A-
P.S. Just in case, don't get too political with your replies.
