Road to Avengers Doomsday: Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel has the distinction of being the first MCU film with a female lead. Probably long overdue. I admittedly was and I suppose still am not very familiar with Captain Marvel, so this was all new territory for me. Captain Marvel follows Carol Danvers of Earth who is ultimately caught up in an intergalactic conflict and goes on to shape the MCU in ways she never expected.
The cast is strong(Brie Larson, Samuel L.Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Clark Gregg, Annette Benning, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace and Gemma Chan). It is kind of fitting that the first MCU film I watch begins with a tribute to Stan Lee. I think the Kree-Skrull war start to the film is strong. The references to other MCU films and especially the cosmic side of things is kind of cool (Project Pegasus/Avengers connection, Kree-light Guardians territory). The prosthetics for the Skrull are pretty good and the action is always great. The superhero origin story is kind of thrown on its head a bit here as we discover Carol’s past in a nonlinear manner. But this also kind of hurts us and Carol’s journey a bit as we don’t get to connect with her as a character. This is largely brought on by the fact that she feels more like a human being in flashbacks and comes off as being quite stoic and dour as Vers. Yon-Rogg (Law) is a flat one noted villain, but some of his goals and attitudes toward Vers, her being too instinctual, (though slightly contradicted) does go well with the film’s themes of lying and gaslighting. It makes Carol’s ultimate journey toward liberation satisfying on paper…but in execution not so much as Carol never actually struggles with her emotions and instincts as Rogg insists she does.
The Kree-Skrull conflict itself feels very one note and less ambiguous as it is in the comics (which I prefer). And while the Skrull are more sympathetic, the Kree come off as being one noted space despots. The buddy comedy elements are okay, I just think Nick Fury is a little too silly (would have loved for him to have been the no nonsense alternative to the hot shot Vers). Also, Nick Fury did not lose his eye to Goose. There’s a picture in Winter Soldier that conflicts with this. Nothing meaningful is really done with the time period (1990s) and there is quite a massive time gap between this film and Carol’s appearance in Avengers Endgame (2018). Even the Marvels didn’t cover that time period effectively. And Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser was clearly being set up as some sort of aggressor. There’s some clunk comedy in the film that doesn’t really land.
Captain Marvel has good themes and has a lot of elements that make for a good movie. But it plays everything safe and predictable. I guess it served its purpose as a bridge from Infinity War to Endgame. It’s a shame that nothing much has been done with Carol Danvers after this.
Rating: 3/5
The cast is strong(Brie Larson, Samuel L.Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Clark Gregg, Annette Benning, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace and Gemma Chan). It is kind of fitting that the first MCU film I watch begins with a tribute to Stan Lee. I think the Kree-Skrull war start to the film is strong. The references to other MCU films and especially the cosmic side of things is kind of cool (Project Pegasus/Avengers connection, Kree-light Guardians territory). The prosthetics for the Skrull are pretty good and the action is always great. The superhero origin story is kind of thrown on its head a bit here as we discover Carol’s past in a nonlinear manner. But this also kind of hurts us and Carol’s journey a bit as we don’t get to connect with her as a character. This is largely brought on by the fact that she feels more like a human being in flashbacks and comes off as being quite stoic and dour as Vers. Yon-Rogg (Law) is a flat one noted villain, but some of his goals and attitudes toward Vers, her being too instinctual, (though slightly contradicted) does go well with the film’s themes of lying and gaslighting. It makes Carol’s ultimate journey toward liberation satisfying on paper…but in execution not so much as Carol never actually struggles with her emotions and instincts as Rogg insists she does.
The Kree-Skrull conflict itself feels very one note and less ambiguous as it is in the comics (which I prefer). And while the Skrull are more sympathetic, the Kree come off as being one noted space despots. The buddy comedy elements are okay, I just think Nick Fury is a little too silly (would have loved for him to have been the no nonsense alternative to the hot shot Vers). Also, Nick Fury did not lose his eye to Goose. There’s a picture in Winter Soldier that conflicts with this. Nothing meaningful is really done with the time period (1990s) and there is quite a massive time gap between this film and Carol’s appearance in Avengers Endgame (2018). Even the Marvels didn’t cover that time period effectively. And Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser was clearly being set up as some sort of aggressor. There’s some clunk comedy in the film that doesn’t really land.
Captain Marvel has good themes and has a lot of elements that make for a good movie. But it plays everything safe and predictable. I guess it served its purpose as a bridge from Infinity War to Endgame. It’s a shame that nothing much has been done with Carol Danvers after this.
Rating: 3/5
Commentaires
The character arc actually exist.. but hidden in plain sight.. along the flashback scenes. But the moment the arc starting to make sense, the movie already end of 3rd act.
The comment suggested that, if only they make the story linear, keep things simple... make the character arc more clear.. maybe add a bit more background.. it probably ended up a better movie.