wazzap24 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 @Chindie Your post on Captain Marvel is spot on. A solid 7/10 and pretty much exactly as per your summary. The cat is indeed the standout, some of the ‘jokes’ miss the mark (by quite a bit at times) and nothing particularly stands out about it. It’s by no means ‘bad’ though. Decent performances from Larsen, Jackson and Law, decent effects, decent story, bit of a twist and a good lead in to End Game. It’s no Guardians or Thor 3 in terms of humour and it’s no Avengers IW in terms of drama, but it was still watchable. @mikeyp102 Spoiler Ref ‘how they got the pager’. I’m assuming that cut scene will appear in End Game and from what we have seen from the trailer, it looks like covers quite a bit of time after the end of infinity war, so I guess we’ll find out then? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 10, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 10, 2019 Captain Marvel The latest entry in the MCU arrives with a great weight of expectation. The first female lead MCU film, a new character, the lead in to Endgame, a 90s set prequel... And it stumbles. Just a little. The film concerns Brie Larson's Vers, an alien of the Kree species (previously seen most notably in Guardians of the Galaxy as the race of villain Ronan the Accuser), who is haunted by inexplicable dreams of a woman being shot. The shooter is a Skrull, an enemy race of shape shifting aliens that the Kree are waging war against. Vers meanwhile is part of a Kree strike team, and during a rescue mission a simple mistake leads her to Earth with a mission to discover exactly what the Skrull plan is... I should be open with my views here I guess. I don't, and have never, liked the character of Captain Marvel. Her origin is a mess, her powers are boring and generic as ****, her stories are dull, as a character she is often po-faced and overly stoic. She's like a completely charmless Captain America in many of her appearances. I find her obscenely unlikeable. The film somewhat addresses that. There are flashes here of Captain Marvel having a lighter side, and the plot attempts to justify that juxtaposition, reasonably successfully. It's got a few problems though. The film is an origin story, which almost inevitably disappoint a little, and it's attempt to hide it's nature only really succeed in making the film messier and clunkier and bogs it down. It's also extremely predictable. Even someone completely unfamiliar with the source material could call the beats here (as my girlfriend did). That's not to say there's not any surprises, as there are, including a fairly major one, but the meat of the plot is blindingly obvious. A lot of the film feels forced and unnatural. There's a fair few 'buddy comedy' moments with Vers and Nick Fury, and there's absolutely no foundation for them. Within a few minutes of meeting, Fury is cracking jokes with her, and there's a strange camaraderie which in fairness to Jackson and Larson they sell well, it's just I had no reason to buy it. It rings false. And this is true of the film again and again. It even seeps into the cracks of its connections with the wider universe, which just felt like a box ticking exercise. A revelation in the third act is just a shrug moment, an event everyone watching who has seen a few of the prior films will be waiting for is relegated to a really shit gag. These feel forced, an attempt to patch Captain Marvel into a universe that, to date, she isn't a part of. They feel token. It's also not very funny. There's jokes certainly, but more here miss, and more are very try hard. There's a handful of good ones, and you will laugh with the film, but compared to other films in the series it's certainly more up and down. Fury in many ways plays off Vers straight man, to varying success. It's a weaker entry on action too. There are less action scenes than the usual MCU film, and what there are aren't Marvel's best. The best action scene in the film comes at the end of the first act, and Marvel knows it - it's been all over the pre-release material. This scene is pretty good, if not a patch on the best the studio has offered, and everything else is supremely forgettable. There's nothing here that will lodge into the hive mind of comic films as a great action moment. The cast is fine, and it's surprisingly small. This film is effectively about, say, 4 characters and everyone else is window dressing. Larson does well with what she's given, Jackson plays an odd take on a young Nick Fury, one I don't think I recognise from the Fury in, for instance, Winter Soldier, but he does it well. He also seems to especially benefit from the de-aging witchcraft Marvel is now famous for. Ben Mendelsohn is enjoying himself as Skrull general Talos, seemingly channeling his inner shady Australian scumbag in what is initially a really odd performance, but one that grows with the character. Jude Law does well with a smaller role as Vers commander. Everyone else? Effectively cameos. Ronan makes an appearance and his lines, in their entirety, could probably fit in 2 tweets. Annette Bening gets 3 scenes. Coulson gets about 15 words. It's genuinely strange once you notice it how much everyone bar the small handful of main characters is nearly superfluous to the plot. Some you could literally delete and change nothing, others you could completely switch out and have very little impact on anything. It looks alright, though doesn't have the identity of, say, Thor Ragnarok. It suffers a little from Marvel's bland style, and the art design isn't that astounding either, being a bit like rejects from a GOTG production. CGI looks good, especially when Vers uses her powers, but also has the seemingly obligatory rough couple of shots (a shot of Vers falling in the finale looks shit, for instance). It has a decent soundtrack, taking advantage of the 90s setting to pick out a bunch of iconic female lead indie and rock bands, but it very much feels like they plonked a few appropriate tracks throughout and as such they're a bit on the nose. The 90s setting is perhaps slightly wasted. You get the music, you get the fashion, but besides that it's a few gags at old fashioned technology (I think I was the only person to laugh at a small poke at a pre-Google world) and that's kinda it. It feels like I've thrown the film under the bus, but in truth I didn't hate it. It's fine. But it's only fine. There's not much I can point at and say is objectively bad. There's a lot I would have hoped would be better. There's a lot to like. It has a few nice ideas, a few good jokes, there's a nice scene or two. But ultimately it's a side story in the MCU, and it feels like one where more polish was needed at the script stage to get the thing flowing more naturally, as it stands a lot of it feels like it's been crowbarred in on pain of death and the film suffers for it. It's a completely solid 7/10, a middling entry in the series. There's 2 credit scenes, the usual nod to future film and gag scene we're used to. The mid credit teaser isn't much to write home about, and the ending gag is one of the better ones they've done but not worth hanging about for if you're dying for a piss. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 I thought it was excellent. Looked great, Larsen was brilliant, it was funny, a nice fit into the MCU, and good set-up for Endgame. 8.5/10! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, MrDuck said: I thought it was excellent. Looked great, Larsen was brilliant, it was funny, a nice fit into the MCU, and good set-up for Endgame. 8.5/10! Ditto , probably up there amongst one of the better ones , my daughter loved the cat scenes but enjoyed the whole film , the inner geek in me liked the nod to AltaVista and the dial up connection lost gag... the inner perv in me also like how Larson filled he super hero costume Marvels let’s hear it for the girls effort I thought was a better effort then the much lauded Wonder Woman I’ve seen all the Avenger movies and not being a fan boy I’ve kinda enjoyed them on the whole even if I’m not exactly gushing in praise for them and eagerly awaiting the next instillment ... and yet suddenly End game kinda has you anticipating and counting down the days ... Cpt. Marvel did that job of filling in a few pieces and filling in some time between instalments , whilst making you laugh along the way Edited March 10, 2019 by tonyh29 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 12, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 12, 2019 Updated MCU ranking Avengers Infinity War Captain America: Civil War Avengers Assemble Captain America: Winter Soldier Thor: Ragnarok Guardians of the Galaxy Spider-Man: Homecoming Iron Man Dr Strange Captain America: the First Avenger Black Panther Ant-Man Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 Ant-Man and the Wasp Avengers Age of Ultron Thor Captain Marvel Thor: the Dark World Iron Man 3 The Incredible Hulk Iron Man 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 bit harsh on iron man 3, that film would break in to my top 10 i think, I'm guessing the twist pissed you off? i benefit from having no knowledge of the character so whilst i thought it was a bit daft it wasnt enough to ruin the film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Seeing that list I’m sorta paraphrasing Eric Morecombe and it’s the right list just not necessarily in the right order 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 12, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 12, 2019 4 hours ago, villa4europe said: bit harsh on iron man 3, that film would break in to my top 10 i think, I'm guessing the twist pissed you off? i benefit from having no knowledge of the character so whilst i thought it was a bit daft it wasnt enough to ruin the film It's the most divisive film in the series. I don't think it's a bad film, I'd argue the only legitimately bad film in the lot is Iron Man 2, but I don't like a lot of what it does. I still enjoy it, I just enjoy a lot of other films in the series more. I'm not a huge fan of the twist, it's undeniably well done but it's but a good idea IMO, and ended up officially being retconned in the Hail to the King one shot short. It's kinda been abandoned in the series, with every subsequent appearance of Iron Man completely ignoring it because it makes decisions that aren't good - Pepper, remote drone suits, the PTSD thing, etc. It's also got loads of things in it that are completely incongruous to what the series had established at that point - notably to do with the Iron Man suits. A plot device revolves around a suit needing to be charged. Except they don't need to be charged, the power source is the arc reactor. And then said suit gets destroyed by being hit by a truck when the thing is meant to be nearly indestructible. It also wastes Rebecca Hall to chuck in another twist for no reason. And it wastes the Extremis plot. It's by no means a bad movie, but it's not a great MCU movie. It's a Shane Black movie with Iron Man in it. For most people, that's great, and I really like Shane Black's stuff usually, but it's not a great fit here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 14, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) who is the voice over from 30 seconds in? female spoiler which will spoil a lot if its true!! Spoiler i cant work out of its peggy or if the images with the first CA film is throwing me id accidentally stumbled across something that suggest Steve gets the chance to go all the way back to her at the end of the film and that's going to be him done, he'll end the film in 1945 living his life with her if peggy is in the film then i think thats not going to be far off any picture of rocket on someones shoulder looking angry and about to start shooting is just a winner Edited March 14, 2019 by villa4europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 14, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2019 2 minutes ago, villa4europe said: who is the voice over from 30 seconds in? female any picture of rocket on someones shoulder looking angry and about to start shooting is just a winner Peggy Carter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) I quite liked her TV show, shame it got cancelled. It did feel like it catered to a slightly younger audience though, and the budget seemed restrictive, but it was fun. Intriguing if she's in it - can't watch the trailer at the moment. And, was in list mode, so came up with my own. Grouped by general enjoyment rather than a direct , 1 2 3 etc. I am a sucker for the Ant Man films and the more comedic ones. Looking down, as a success rate, it's an impressive effort from Marvel, there's only a handful I would be happy never to see again. GOTG 2 gets panned from me, for just never knowing when to stop. It was just gag, setup, gag, setup, gag setup for ever. With some editing and tightness added to the script it would jump up a level or two. I honestly can’t remember if I’ve seen The Incredible Hulk. Some of these changed on a re-watch. I saw Iron Man and Dr Strange recently and I remember on first viewings really enjoying them, but they don’t have a great repeat viewing – or perhaps it’s when they’re away from the big screen. Spoiler Think are really excellent, love and happy to re-watch Avengers Infinity War Thor: Ragnarok Guardians of the Galaxy Captain America: Winter Soldier Captain America: Civil War Black Panther Ant-Man Ant-Man and the Wasp Really enjoyable fare with solid humour / action Captain Marvel Avengers Assemble Spider-Man: Homecoming Captain America: the First Avenger Thor Fine, but no more Iron Man Dr Strange Meh to nah Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 Avengers Age of Ultron Iron Man 3 Iron Man 2 Thor: the Dark World Edited March 14, 2019 by Rodders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 i watched guardians 2 this afternoon for the 1st time since the cinema, i like the ending, i actually like a bit of the set up and story and it has some really cool moments but it just doesnt come together and make a good film, hard to put my finger on it, not being as good as number 1 is definitely part of it but there's just something missing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I laughed at lot during Guardians 2 , but came out the cinema feeling it was a bit meh ..my 2 mates thought it better than the first 1 My kids Love GOTG2 ..which probably says a lot about the mental age of my 2 mates I watched it with the best Guardians film is Infinity war , with the sweet rabbit and Thor interaction ... the "you probably should have washed that eye first line " tickles me every time 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I thought GotG2 was brilliant. Totally stupid with gaping plot holes but loads of laughs, some of the comedy between the main cast is fantastic. I don't think any of the movies fall below a 7/10, and even some of the least liked ones such as IM2, Hulk and Thor I thoroughly enjoyed. Spiderman was probably my least favourite. Some of the X-men movies however..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 14, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2019 58 minutes ago, MrDuck said: I thought GotG2 was brilliant. Totally stupid with gaping plot holes but loads of laughs, some of the comedy between the main cast is fantastic. I don't think any of the movies fall below a 7/10, and even some of the least liked ones such as IM2, Hulk and Thor I thoroughly enjoyed. Spiderman was probably my least favourite. Some of the X-men movies however..... I'm not the biggest fan of GOTG2. It has really odd tonal problems, I don't like the change to Quill being powered (and thankfully they bin the idea in the finale), I thought the humour was forced too often, it wastes the Sovereign, baby Groot is one of the most cynical bits of marketing I've ever seen... I like the Yondu stuff and it has some surprisingly touching moments. It's not bad not not my favourite by any means. Also X-Men are not MCU (yet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 3 minutes ago, Chindie said: I'm not the biggest fan of GOTG2. It has really odd tonal problems, I don't like the change to Quill being powered (and thankfully they bin the idea in the finale), I thought the humour was forced too often, it wastes the Sovereign, baby Groot is one of the most cynical bits of marketing I've ever seen... I like the Yondu stuff and it has some surprisingly touching moments. It's not bad not not my favourite by any means. Also X-Men are not MCU (yet). Yeah, I know X-Men are not MCU... I think the standard for the MCU is really high, just making the point that as soon as you step outside to the other Marvel movies the standards seem to vary wildly. With Guardians 2 I think it helps that I watched it a couple of times with my young daughters - their joy at baby Groot for example is pretty infectious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 13 hours ago, villa4europe said: A it annoying they didn't keep spiderman or Dr strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 On 14/03/2019 at 12:21, Chindie said: anyone else spot Iron man back on earth in that trailer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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