Marvel Cinematic Universe Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Hurl Bruce]

View: https://twitter.com/nnesaga/status/1092204347218370560


View: https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1092267412047548416

 

[Jack Brickman]

These Endgame trailers are gonna suck because they can't show anything good without giving away major plot points. Kind of the opposite of the last one where we all knew exactly how it was going to end so there was no point in hiding much.

 

[Sebastian]

View: https://twitter.com/nnesaga/status/1092204347218370560


View: https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1092267412047548416

That isn't Thanos' farm.

It looks like it might be New Asgard in Norway.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I finally saw Into the Spider-verse... my fucking mind is blown.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

Going to the 9:30 Captain Marvel show tonight...can't wait!

 

[bigfoot5415]

Captain Marvel 7/10

Will re-rate after another showing. My wife and I had to rely on the firestick because of my son.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

Captain Marvel was another in a line of very entertaining Marvel films.

I really had no idea on her story or if it is accurate to the comics or not, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.

I'd say 8/10, but I'm an easy grader. Top half of MCU films at least.

I don't know if this is really a spoiler thread, so I won't say anymore.

2 end credit scenes. The first made me want to yell, "HELL YEAH!" The second was funny.

 

[el_capitan]

Captain Marvel 7/10

Will re-rate after another showing. My wife and I had to rely on the firestick because of my son.

Is there actually a good copy on there? Or just a cam version?

 

[bigfoot5415]

Is there actually a good copy on there? Or just a cam version?

Just cam

 

[gourimoko]

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10, C, (Average action film, slightly below average Marvel film)

I was .. disappointed walking out of Captain Marvel. Felt pretty let down by the end credits.

Let me just say that for those that don't know, I'm a huge fan of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) as a character. But even saying that, I saw this movie last night with the wife and we weren't terribly impressed.

I had high hopes initially, again, huge fan of Captain Marvel's and loved the idea of her coming in to help save the day against Thanos. Don't think she's an Adam Warlock replacement, but I can understand the idea.

But this movie... there's a lot of cinematic issues. First off the editing of the film is fucking terrible. It feels like it was edited by an 8th grader; i.e., really jerky cuts, unnatural conversation, glaringly obviously different takes being stitched together.

It was so fucked up I actually had to look up the guy responsible, Elliot Graham, and saw that his IMDb page says he worked on such great films as Superman Returns and X2: X-Men United. He also did Molly's Game, which I haven't seen, but is a completely different genre of film.

Honestly, this was one of the worst aspects of the movie because it kept breaking any sort of immersion that I might have; and as a life-long Marvel fan, that's kinda crazy.

Secondly, and even worse, is Brie Larson.

My God.. Her performance was really bad in this movie. Like, ScarJo's performance is stoic and is basically just Lucy-redux in Marvel form; but, Larson, an actress who can actually act, seems to have just mailed this in. Her one-liners, "woo-hoos," etc just felt so stiff and plastic that everything just comes off as manufactured.

And frankly (thirdly), I can somewhat understand why Larson's performance is poor because quite obviously the direction of this movie seems poorly done. Not a single actor on the screen delivers a performance that fits with their past work; in fact, everyone seems stilted as though they're going through the motions, and that includes Larson, and Jackson (who serves as comic relief and does a fairly decent job), but also Law and Mendelsohn who are both two great actors in their own right.

These problems really boil down to the directors, and looking at it from that standpoint, Anna Bowden and Ryan Fleck just totally fucked this movie up ruining what should have been a really great Marvel film leading into Endgame.

From the beginning, the protagonist (Larson's Capt Marvel) never seems faced with a challenge that she cannot immediately overcome, with either a pep-talk, a pat on the shoulder, etc... And it's not that the character is overpowered, she's actually under-powered throughout the movie - but she's still beyond anything anyone in this film is capable of throwing at her. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally - she faces no challenges that she cannot get beyond within literally 90 seconds of screen time. And maybe that's the point, that she's truly invincible? But there's no personal challenge, internal or external, that really is meaningful. And this really negates much of the tension one would hope to build in the film.

And that's really a shame. I say that because, they've taken Carol Danvers (who is similar to a female Tony Stark in from a personality standpoint) and reduced her to a truly blank and emotionless Mary Sue. And that isn't to say Danvers isn't supposed to be super-powerful .. she is! But Danvers is also one of Marvel's absolute best characters in the sense that she's one of their most complex and nuanced, having more depth than just about anyone in the Marvel Universe.

In this movie, we simply see Danvers as a proxy to female empowerment, which is fine in itself, but the way it's done is so hamfisted and so overly simplified that it you have to avoid rolling your eyes at a lot of the imagery in the movie. And that isn't to say this movie shouldn't embrace feminism and feminist messaging - it can and probably should, especially since the source material does and has for decades; but instead, that it lets down the message by delivering it so poorly.

My next issue is with the changes made to the Kree-Skrull source material. I have no problem with the ideas the put forward; the problem was with the delivery. I won't get into much of this to avoid spoilers, but this is again, hamfisted and frankly somewhat stupid. Midway through the film, there's a reversal of sorts that is bizarre, largely unexplained as to how it really makes sense ... when you see the movie, you'll know what I mean.

The musical score of the film is also completely unremarkable. Marvel just won an Academy Award for the score in Black Panther, so this is a pretty big departure from that. The music is uninspired and forgettable, throughout the movie. And the continuous '90s soundtrack playing just doesn't fit the scenes. I mean, Nirvana's 'Come As You Are' playing on vinyl while in a critical battle? It just doesn't work. It could work, as Guardians of the Galaxy has made this work twice already - but the approach taken in Captain Marvel is nowhere near as cleverly done or as smoothly integrated into the film.

Lastly, some of the scenes in the film are just ... they make the film feel like a joke, and not in a good way. Like, the last 10 minutes of the movie probably shouldn't have made it out of the editor's room.

And just as an aside, the way Fury loses his eye was thrown in as an afterthought and pretty absurd, but, whatever...

There's positives here and there in the movie, but Larson's casting is never justified, her performance is undeniably poor, and the directing, editing, and musical score are lackluster at best.

I think people should still see it though. But don't feel compelled to watch this movie before Avengers: Endgame. There is basically zero connection between the two movies other than that pager - and you already know she's on her way. Nothing is revealed other than the blatantly obvious, so if your reasons for seeing this are only to connect the dots, well, then don't bother.

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10

Hope they do much better next time, but they'll likely need a new director and new production crew.

 

[Lee]

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10, C, (Average action film, slightly below average Marvel film)

I was .. disappointed walking out of Captain Marvel. Felt pretty let down by the end credits.

Let me just say that for those that don't know, I'm a huge fan of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) as a character. But even saying that, I saw this movie last night with the wife and we weren't terribly impressed.

I had high hopes initially, again, huge fan of Captain Marvel's and loved the idea of her coming in to help save the day against Thanos. Don't think she's an Adam Warlock replacement, but I can understand the idea.

But this movie... there's a lot of cinematic issues. First off the editing of the film is fucking terrible. It feels like it was edited by an 8th grader; i.e., really jerky cuts, unnatural conversation, glaringly obviously different takes being stitched together.

It was so fucked up I actually had to look up the guy responsible, Elliot Graham, and saw that his IMDb page says he worked on such great films as Superman Returns and X2: X-Men United. He also did Molly's Game, which I haven't seen, but is a completely different genre of film.

Honestly, this was one of the worst aspects of the movie because it kept breaking any sort of immersion that I might have; and as a life-long Marvel fan, that's kinda crazy.

Secondly, and even worse, is Brie Larson.

My God.. Her performance was really bad in this movie. Like, ScarJo's performance is stoic and is basically just Lucy-redux in Marvel form; but, Larson, an actress who can actually act, seems to have just mailed this in. Her one-liners, "woo-hoos," etc just felt so stiff and plastic that everything just comes off as manufactured.

And frankly (thirdly), I can somewhat understand why Larson's performance is poor because quite obviously the direction of this movie seems poorly done. Not a single actor on the screen delivers a performance that fits with their past work; in fact, everyone seems stilted as though they're going through the motions, and that includes Larson, and Jackson (who serves as comic relief and does a fairly decent job), but also Law and Mendelsohn who are both two great actors in their own right.

These problems really boil down to the directors, and looking at it from that standpoint, Anna Bowden and Ryan Fleck just totally fucked this movie up ruining what should have been a really great Marvel film leading into Endgame.

From the beginning, the protagonist (Larson's Capt Marvel) never seems faced with a challenge that she cannot immediately overcome, with either a pep-talk, a pat on the shoulder, etc... And it's not that the character is overpowered, she's actually under-powered throughout the movie - but she's still beyond anything anyone in this film is capable of throwing at her. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally - she faces no challenges that she cannot get beyond within literally 90 seconds of screen time. And maybe that's the point, that she's truly invincible? But there's no personal challenge, internal or external, that really is meaningful. And this really negates much of the tension one would hope to build in the film.

And that's really a shame. I say that because, they've taken Carol Danvers (who is similar to a female Tony Stark in from a personality standpoint) and reduced her to a truly blank and emotionless Mary Sue. And that isn't to say Danvers isn't supposed to be super-powerful .. she is! But Danvers is also one of Marvel's absolute best characters in the sense that she's one of their most complex and nuanced, having more depth than just about anyone in the Marvel Universe.

In this movie, we simply see Danvers as a proxy to female empowerment, which is fine in itself, but the way it's done is so hamfisted and so overly simplified that it you have to avoid rolling your eyes at a lot of the imagery in the movie. And that isn't to say this movie shouldn't embrace feminism and feminist messaging - it can and probably should, especially since the source material does and has for decades; but instead, that it lets down the message by delivering it so poorly.

My next issue is with the changes made to the Kree-Skrull source material. I have no problem with the ideas the put forward; the problem was with the delivery. I won't get into much of this to avoid spoilers, but this is again, hamfisted and frankly somewhat stupid. Midway through the film, there's a reversal of sorts that is bizarre, largely unexplained as to how it really makes sense ... when you see the movie, you'll know what I mean.

The musical score of the film is also completely unremarkable. Marvel just won an Academy Award for the score in Black Panther, so this is a pretty big departure from that. The music is uninspired and forgettable, throughout the movie. And the continuous '90s soundtrack playing just doesn't fit the scenes. I mean, Nirvana's 'Come As You Are' playing on vinyl while in a critical battle? It just doesn't work. It could work, as Guardians of the Galaxy has made this work twice already - but the approach taken in Captain Marvel is nowhere near as cleverly done or as smoothly integrated into the film.

Lastly, some of the scenes in the film are just ... they make the film feel like a joke, and not in a good way. Like, the last 10 minutes of the movie probably shouldn't have made it out of the editor's room.

And just as an aside, the way Fury loses his eye was thrown in as an afterthought and pretty absurd, but, whatever...

There's positives here and there in the movie, but Larson's casting is never justified, her performance is undeniably poor, and the directing, editing, and musical score are lackluster at best.

I think people should still see it though. But don't feel compelled to watch this movie before Avengers: Endgame. There is basically zero connection between the two movies other than that pager - and you already know she's on her way. Nothing is revealed other than the blatantly obvious, so if your reasons for seeing this are only to connect the dots, well, then don't bother.

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10

Hope they do much better next time, but they'll likely need a new director and new production crew.

What was your rating for other recent marvel films so I can compare.

 

[bigfoot5415]

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10, C, (Average action film, slightly below average Marvel film)

I was .. disappointed walking out of Captain Marvel. Felt pretty let down by the end credits.

Let me just say that for those that don't know, I'm a huge fan of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) as a character. But even saying that, I saw this movie last night with the wife and we weren't terribly impressed.

I had high hopes initially, again, huge fan of Captain Marvel's and loved the idea of her coming in to help save the day against Thanos. Don't think she's an Adam Warlock replacement, but I can understand the idea.

But this movie... there's a lot of cinematic issues. First off the editing of the film is fucking terrible. It feels like it was edited by an 8th grader; i.e., really jerky cuts, unnatural conversation, glaringly obviously different takes being stitched together.

It was so fucked up I actually had to look up the guy responsible, Elliot Graham, and saw that his IMDb page says he worked on such great films as Superman Returns and X2: X-Men United. He also did Molly's Game, which I haven't seen, but is a completely different genre of film.

Honestly, this was one of the worst aspects of the movie because it kept breaking any sort of immersion that I might have; and as a life-long Marvel fan, that's kinda crazy.

Secondly, and even worse, is Brie Larson.

My God.. Her performance was really bad in this movie. Like, ScarJo's performance is stoic and is basically just Lucy-redux in Marvel form; but, Larson, an actress who can actually act, seems to have just mailed this in. Her one-liners, "woo-hoos," etc just felt so stiff and plastic that everything just comes off as manufactured.

And frankly (thirdly), I can somewhat understand why Larson's performance is poor because quite obviously the direction of this movie seems poorly done. Not a single actor on the screen delivers a performance that fits with their past work; in fact, everyone seems stilted as though they're going through the motions, and that includes Larson, and Jackson (who serves as comic relief and does a fairly decent job), but also Law and Mendelsohn who are both two great actors in their own right.

These problems really boil down to the directors, and looking at it from that standpoint, Anna Bowden and Ryan Fleck just totally fucked this movie up ruining what should have been a really great Marvel film leading into Endgame.

From the beginning, the protagonist (Larson's Capt Marvel) never seems faced with a challenge that she cannot immediately overcome, with either a pep-talk, a pat on the shoulder, etc... And it's not that the character is overpowered, she's actually under-powered throughout the movie - but she's still beyond anything anyone in this film is capable of throwing at her. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally - she faces no challenges that she cannot get beyond within literally 90 seconds of screen time. And maybe that's the point, that she's truly invincible? But there's no personal challenge, internal or external, that really is meaningful. And this really negates much of the tension one would hope to build in the film.

And that's really a shame. I say that because, they've taken Carol Danvers (who is similar to a female Tony Stark in from a personality standpoint) and reduced her to a truly blank and emotionless Mary Sue. And that isn't to say Danvers isn't supposed to be super-powerful .. she is! But Danvers is also one of Marvel's absolute best characters in the sense that she's one of their most complex and nuanced, having more depth than just about anyone in the Marvel Universe.

In this movie, we simply see Danvers as a proxy to female empowerment, which is fine in itself, but the way it's done is so hamfisted and so overly simplified that it you have to avoid rolling your eyes at a lot of the imagery in the movie. And that isn't to say this movie shouldn't embrace feminism and feminist messaging - it can and probably should, especially since the source material does and has for decades; but instead, that it lets down the message by delivering it so poorly.

My next issue is with the changes made to the Kree-Skrull source material. I have no problem with the ideas the put forward; the problem was with the delivery. I won't get into much of this to avoid spoilers, but this is again, hamfisted and frankly somewhat stupid. Midway through the film, there's a reversal of sorts that is bizarre, largely unexplained as to how it really makes sense ... when you see the movie, you'll know what I mean.

The musical score of the film is also completely unremarkable. Marvel just won an Academy Award for the score in Black Panther, so this is a pretty big departure from that. The music is uninspired and forgettable, throughout the movie. And the continuous '90s soundtrack playing just doesn't fit the scenes. I mean, Nirvana's 'Come As You Are' playing on vinyl while in a critical battle? It just doesn't work. It could work, as Guardians of the Galaxy has made this work twice already - but the approach taken in Captain Marvel is nowhere near as cleverly done or as smoothly integrated into the film.

Lastly, some of the scenes in the film are just ... they make the film feel like a joke, and not in a good way. Like, the last 10 minutes of the movie probably shouldn't have made it out of the editor's room.

And just as an aside, the way Fury loses his eye was thrown in as an afterthought and pretty absurd, but, whatever...

There's positives here and there in the movie, but Larson's casting is never justified, her performance is undeniably poor, and the directing, editing, and musical score are lackluster at best.

I think people should still see it though. But don't feel compelled to watch this movie before Avengers: Endgame. There is basically zero connection between the two movies other than that pager - and you already know she's on her way. Nothing is revealed other than the blatantly obvious, so if your reasons for seeing this are only to connect the dots, well, then don't bother.

Captain Marvel: 5.5 / 10

Hope they do much better next time, but they'll likely need a new director and new production crew.

I felt if they had found a decently charismatic actress, that could have covered up a lot of problems.

 

[gourimoko]

What was your rating for other recent marvel films so I can compare.

Sure... bolded movies that I think are key examples of some of my favorite Marvel films + Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel: 5.5
...
Ant-Man and the Wasp: 7.5
Avengers: Infinity War: 9.0
Black Panther: 9.5
Thor: Ragnarok: 8.0
Spider-Man: Homecoming: 8.0
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: 8.5
Doctor Strange: 8.75
Captain America: Civil War: 8.0
Captain America: Winter Soldier: 9.0
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1: 8.5
Iron Man: 8.0
Avengers: 7.0
Ant-Man: 7.5
Captain America: The First Avenger: 8.0
...
Iron Man 2: 5.0
Thor: 4.0
The Incredible Hulk: 4.5
Avengers: Age of Ultron: 4.5
...
Iron Man 3: 3.0

 

[gourimoko]

I felt if they had found a decently charismatic actress, that could have covered up a lot of problems.

I agree, it would have solved some of the issues. But I think the directing of the film was really the biggest issue. Brie Larson can act. She also can be made to be quite attractive and can be charismatic on camera. I think they wanted her to have a very girl next door look, which really .. isn't Captain Marvel.

But even good actors like Law and Mendelsohn were like cardboard cutouts of themselves in this movie. I think that really speaks to poor direction more than anything else.

 

[gourimoko]

One other thing that I left out of the review, but meant to put it, was that ... you can tell, at some point in the writing, that Carol Danvers in the MCU was meant to be either bisexual or lesbian.

Danvers, in the comics, wasn't lesbian but who cares?

This Danvers seems to come off as bisexual, given the story dynamic as well as the dynamic between her and her "best friend." It seems to make all the sense in the world if they were fucking... but.. they weren't. And there is no mention of significant others, but in fact a rejection of male suitors in the movie's flashbacks.

All of this makes sense up to a point in the film where you're expecting a romantic reveal, and it never happens.. and you're left thinking... well, that was stupid.

Watch this movie, then go back and think .. what if they'd kissed? What if they were in a romantic relationship but Danvers just forgot her emotions towards the woman, just remembering, eventually, the facts - but not enough of the feelings... There's so much they could have done with that, but they didn't have the guts.. The ending of the movie could have had a lot more depth if there was an emotional connection to anything she was leaving behind... but they played it safe.