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- TITLE: Captain Marvel (2019)
- DIRECTORS: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
- SCREENPLAY WRITERS: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet
- STARS: Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), and Ben Mendelsohn (Talos/Keller)
- GENRE(S): Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
- RUNTIME: 123 minutes
SHOW RATING OVERVIEW ★★★ (3.5)
Writing/Story: ★★★ | Cinematography: ★★★ Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI): ★★★★★ Character(s)/Acting: ★★★
IMDB BLURB:
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
IMDB STORY LINE:
After crashing an experimental aircraft, Air Force pilot Carol Danvers is discovered by the Kree and trained as a member of the elite Starforce Military under the command of her mentor Yon-Rogg. Six years later, after escaping to Earth while under attack by the Skrulls, Danvers begins to discover there’s more to her past. With help from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, they set out to unravel the truth.
MY 2 CENTS:
Writing/Story: ★★★ The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally introduced to Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson. She learns about her past, she discovers who she is, and she finds herself caught in the middle of a war between two alien races and realizes she is more powerful than she ever knew or thought possible.
Carol Danvers is the everyday woman turned female hero. In my opinion, we don’t have enough female heroes on screen so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I understand that when the lead character doesn’t know anything about their past, it can be difficult to tell the story and portray that disassociation to the audience. With Carol Danvers, we learn about her past at the same time she does, through audio recordings and short flashes of things that happened in her past. It’s similar to when you’re reading a book and the author just word vomits all over you, telling you what happened instead of showing you. I wanted to see Carol physically discovering her powers, reacting to things instinctively, which would then lead to sparks of memories. Instead, more often than not these memories were brought on by the audio recordings, the short flashes of memory, and her visits with the Supreme Intelligence (played by Annette Bening) which is somehow supposed to tell her or show her what she most desires… I won’t even get into that because it was just a really strange plot line to me.
Honestly, for me, this was more of a Nick Fury movie… It was my first experience really getting to know the Character of Nick Fury and I thought Samuel L. Jackson did a great job with the role. I loved seeing the younger version of Nick Fury since my only other experience with him was in Spiderman: Far from Home earlier this year. Captain Marvel was more of a buddy cop movie staring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson. Or an amnesia self-discover movie… or maybe it’s a fish out of water movie since she comes to earth and has no idea how earth operates.
Cinematography ★★★ Visually, there just wasn’t much to talk about with this film. There isn’t a whole lot of style with this one. This film felt like a series of storyboard moments. The actors are intentionally framed, and their performing but there is no really remarkable style to speak of. That isn’t to say there aren’t good moments. There are. There are a couple really fun fight sequences and a cool slow-motion walk to the space craft, but other than that there just isn’t a lot of visual style to it.
Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI): ★★★★★ I have to say one of the most noteworthy aspects of this film was the CGI done to de-age Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson). Truly amazing CGI. If for no other reason than to see the stunning CGI work, this one is worth the TV rental fee. After the first scene or two, I stopped noticing and they seemed completely natural, which to me is the sign of a truly gifted CGI team. If you stop noticing the CGI and it starts blending into the rest of the film then you know they’ve done a great job.
Character(s)/Acting: ★★★ I felt like Brie Larson, although maybe not my choice for Carol Danvers, she did have some good moments. The chemistry between her and Samuel L. Jackson was fun to watch. They played nicely off of each other and the banter back and forth was very clever and entertaining.
Like I said, Brie Larson wouldn’t really be my choice for Carol Danvers. It isn’t because I don’t think she is a good actress, I do. I loved her in Room, and honestly think she is fantastic in the right role. However, in this film she just wasn’t the right choice. She doesn’t seem to fit the strong superhero persona. Her acting style felt forced and she seemed stiff and uncomfortable in the costume, and her movements were choppy, rather than fluid, during the fight sequences.
Although I felt like Lashana Lynch did a decent job at Maria, Carol’s best friend, there just didn’t seem to be much chemistry between the two actresses. Sure, Carol doesn’t have any memory of their friendship, but Maria does… There should have been some sign of that internal struggle she would have been feeling having lost her best friend, thinking she was dead for years, and then having her show up on her doorstep. I just wish there had been more of an emotional connection between the two of them. Without that, I just didn’t really care for the characters.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
“I’m not gonna fight your war. I’m gonna end it.” ~ Carol Danvers
Honestly, this is a pretty good superhero quote and to me, probably the most superhero thing Carol Danvers says in this film.
TO SUM IT UP:
I was more disappointed than I was entertained. The movie isn’t terrible… but it’s not great… it just seemed to fall flat.
Have you seen Captain Marvel yet? If you have let me know, in the comments below, what you thought of it! As always, I do recommend seeing this film and finding out for yourself what you think of it. My opinions might not line up with yours and you might just love the film.
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