Sister + Friend Movie Review: Captain Marvel
We saw Captain Marvel opening weekend and yet it has taken days to motivate myself to finish the review. I liked it but found it to have weaknesses.If you haven't seen the movie yet, there are spoilers ahead. If you are reading this to prepare for Endgame, what you need to know is Captain Marvel can fly in space, is super powerful, and knows Nick Fury.
Now on with the review:
Good:
Susi: It was entertaining, I had fun, I liked the cat. I enjoyed the twists and revelation. Without knowing the comic I wasn't lost, the movie stands on its own.
Stuart: Fury's interaction with the cat. The use of humour. I liked the final stand off between Carol and Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) with Carol saying "I don't need to prove anything to you." And the twist on the mission was great. The partnership with Fury and Carol was great, you could feel the chemistry.
Boy Age 10: Goose! By far my favourite, some other things that were also good was the space battle at the end, the Kree fighting, and Captain Marvel being a human torpedo.
Zach: The Stan Lee tribute and cameo. The buddy cop partnership between Carol and Nick.
Sister: I liked Agent Coulson, young Nick Fury, and that is was a different self-discovery/origin story.
Me: There were some great moments. I enjoyed the buddy cop relationship between Fury and Marvel. And as a fan of Clark Gregg/Agent Coulson it was great seeing on the big screen again. I liked 80s nostalgia and that he cat's name being Goose, it immediately caused me to wanted to watch Top Gun. In fact we're watching that while writing this [well, the first draft was written that week while watching Top Gun]. And I enjoyed that Mar-vall wasn't Jude Law, it was a "spoiler" I had seen when he was first attached to the film. The first half of the movie I was thinking and expecting him to do and being one thing because of this misinformation. It felt like a huge twist when I personally realized what character Law was actually playing.
Less than Good:
Susi: The broken physics hurt at times. The "memory" cuts in the early half was confusing. It was hard at times to know when she was remembering, dreaming, or when she was living in the present. For me it wasn't building mystery, it only made the story hard to follow. Next, the reunion between Carol and her best friend fell flat because of the lack of reaction from the Maria and the low emotional bonds displayed between them.
Stuart: The weird Mohawk helmet seemed an odd design choice to pull from the comics. The final battler scene seemed anti-climatic. I know it's the character but the build up didn't seem to pay off. With the lack of a "coming into powers" montage, it was jolting having her suddenly just be able to fly in space without the learning curve or surprise from Carol and the new extent to her powers. Even if it is true to the comic the set up was lacking.
Boy Age 10: They way they did the memory flashbacks was a little confusing.
Zach: The pacing felt off, at places it was too fast and then it drags in others. The training and different fight scenes were over cut and edited. The winks and odds felt cliche and it felt like they relied of predictable tropes to carry the movie.
Sister: There was awkward lines and in places the delivery of those lines are equally awkward. The cat, I actually hated the cat. I also didn't care for the choice of Brie Larson for the role of Captain Marvel, I don't like her face.
Me: Oyi, there were issues, where to begin. The only relationship that felt developed and built was Fury/Vers. The relationship between Carol Denver and Maria Rambeau felt still and flat, not believable. The choosing of new colour design for the suit was laughable. There is one scene that still really bothers me. There is a guy that gets off a bike makes a jerk/creep "smile baby" comment to Vers, which was cringe for me and felt out of place because it didn't enhance the story. Next scene you see that Vers has stolen the bike. It felt like a statement, "don't been a jerk" but I saw was "it's okay to steal if you're stealing from a jerk" And that still bothers me.
Favourite Scene/Quote:
Susi: When the Skrull jump back from the "cat" and the humans not understanding why.
Stuart: The Kree scanning the "cat" and it is a high dangerous creature and then scan Fury and the result is "low to zero threat."
Boy Age 10: Nick Fury gently informs the flerken-cat that he's going to pick the cat up right after the flerken destroyed a number of Kree.
Zach: Nick Fury explaining to Vers (Carol Denvers) that he only goes by Fury. "What does your mother call you?" "Fury."
Sister: The final showdown fight in which Vers realizes she doesn't need to prove anything to her former mentor.
Me: "I'm going to trust you not to eat me" Fury to Goose.
Questions We Have?
As we talked and shared our thoughts on Captain Marvel a few questions started to form.
- If the cat/flerken was Mar-Vial's cat, who has been looking after it the past six years? And why is it still strolling around the top secret base years after its owner was dead?
- Why was the cat's name changed to Goose from Chewie in the comics?
- Why aren't all the Kree blue?
- Is Captain Marvel going to be as clueless in Endgame?
Susi: 3.4 good kitties out of 5
Stuart: 3.5 Flerkens out of 5
Boy Age 10: 4 human ship destroying torpedoes out of 5
Zach: 3 belly flops through spaceships out of 5
Sister: 3.5 fake eyeballs out of 5
Me: 3.3 regurgitated tesseracts out of 5
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