***no spoilers***
I. Loved. This. Film.
Yes, there were moments where I was asked to suspend belief too far. Yes, there were moments where the writing was a bit weak. But this movie gave me what I want when I come to the MCU. And it is not only one of the few post-phase 3 movies that actually made me feel something, it may actually be #1 in that department. And it had me smiling from ear to ear through a significant part of its run time.
Captain Marvel was way at the bottom of phases 1-3 for me. Didn't like the movie. Didn't like the character. And didn't like Larson's wooden acting either. Her appearance in Endgame didn't do much for me in that regard. Completely different story here. The character was written so much better and was so much more likeable. She
should have been sympathetic in the first film, given all she had to struggle through. But I just didn't care. Here, I not only cared, but I
felt for her, and I
liked her. And I already loved Monica and Kamala.
Nitpicks/things I didn't like (still spoiler free): (1) As mentioned, the way some things were written, I feel like the script asked the viewer to suspend belief a little too far on too many occasions. In the first three phases, even though we are dealing with super heroes, and all-powerful magic space stones, space travel, and eventually even time travel, it was always
just grounded enough that I rarely had too much trouble just playing along and pretending it's all real for 2 hours at a time. That is getting harder and harder in the MCU. (2) As also mentioned, there were some writing flaws. For instance, there were times where there would be an emotional moment that I'm totally buying into, and it is well acted, and I'm immersed...and then it gets resolved too quickly or too conveniently rather than taking the time to breathe and pay off properly. I think the shorter run time actually slightly hurt the film in a couple of spots in this regard, although overall, the shorter run time really helped the film not feel too bloated. It's just that there were a few moments that really could have used a bit more time and care in how they were handled. (3) Again, I love how the character of Captain Marvel was handled in this film. But the biggest problem with Captain Marvel is Captain Marvel. And what I mean by that is that she is too overpowered. And why that is a problem is because, since it is repeatedly shown that she can do anything, she should be able to do anything. But she can't. And there's no explanation for how she can rip a gigantic warship apart in seconds without blinking, but then struggles against much lesser challenges for no reason other than the script needs her to. I'm not going to harp on this too much because I think it's just the nature of the beast with this kind of character. But I mention it because it bears mentioning.
But again, I loved this film, so I don't want to create the impression that I didn't. It's just easier to go on and on about things that didn't work as well. I may catch this one in theaters again next week. I know this one won't hit for everybody, but it certainly did for me.
***A FEW SPOILERY NOTES BELOW***
***AGAIN, SPOILERS COMING***
Some more random thoughts:
I doubt this will have staying power for me, but when the film abruptly turned into a Disney Princess movie for a few minutes, that was far and away my favorite part of the movie. I could not stop laughing and had to wipe away the tears repeatedly.
The mid-credits scene didn't get me the way I'm sure it got most people. One of the major problems with the multiverse for me, from a storytelling standpoint, is that suddenly everything is canon and nothing is canon. You can basically say anything you want, and incorporate any story or character(s) you want, and none of it really has any stakes because it can all be waved away or get a "do-over" in another reality any time. And the CGI on Hank was not great. And...even though I was a huge X-Men/mutants fan as a teenager, I just don't care about the X-Men anymore. Too many bad movies for me to care or want them as part of the MCU. So it really did nothing for me in that respect. ON THE OTHER HAND, Teyonah Parris knocked it out of the park with her acting during this scene.
Muneeba calling Fury "Nicolas"...
Oh, and the scene at the Rambeau home at the end...that was confusing. Was Carol moving in? What was going on? That wasn't really clear. I asked my daughter afterward because I thought it was just me, but she said it was confusing to her too.
On the suspension of belief issue: Um...that's not how suns work. It's just not. In fact, the whole thing about Hala dying was just a mess. I mean, I really, REALLY liked the main idea of Carol taking out the Supreme Intelligence and that unintentionally resulting in Hala getting really messed up. But the plot was broken the way they did it. This bugged me more than anything else.
Topic: Marvel Studios' - The Marvels - SPOILERS (Read 4588 times)
