Captain Marvel (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Tim Gerdes]

I saw this last night. Went into it with zero expectations and almost no knowledge of the character's backstory. I loved it and felt that it was another great entry in the MCU. For me these films are all so intertwined and self-referential that they've become harder to weigh as individual movies. But it definitely felt consistent with Marvel's recent output.

I thought Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson were both terrific and didn't find the de-aging distracting at all. The film was funny and had my crowded theater laughing and clapping throughout. The story went to some unexpected places (for me anyway, this may be old hat to fans of the original comics).

I am really excited to go back tonight. This time I'm bringing my 10 and 8 year-old daughters. I really can't wait to experience this one through their eyes. As a bit of a geek, it makes me happy that in Disney's hands, both Star Wars and Marvel have delivered strong leading female characters. It's made these stories more relatable for my kids, and allowed us to bond over these movies in a way I couldn't have predicted.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I thought it was okay, in the B/B- range. The pacing was a little off, one early section went on too long. But for an origin movie, it did its job.

Saw at at AMC IMAX 2D via A-List.

 

[Tino]

Loved LOVED Stan Lee’s 90’s era cameo.

Hilarious!!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw it last night in RealD 3D. I thought, from a 3D standpoint, that it was one of the top tier 3D experiences that Marvel put out. Ben Davis was the cinematographer, and the visual palette wasn’t as dreadfully dull as the one he used for Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Doctot Strange, thankfully.

I was more mixed on the movie itself. Without going into any specifics, I thought the plotting wasn’t well fleshed out, and the characterizations were minimal. Now, I think you can have a movie with a bare plot but strong characters and have it still be great, or vice versa, you can have a tightly plotted film with more generic characters and that can work too. But the combination of both can be deadly.

The things I liked most about this movie were the things that came to it from other films - Fury, Coulsen, etc.

I thought pacing was off - I checked my watch a bunch of times and that normally doesn’t happen with MCU movies.

I didn’t hate it and I know I’ll see it again but it’s the MCU movie I’ve enjoyed the least since Thor: The Dark World. And while I was watching the movie, I kept thinking of Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds - Captain Marvel often felt like a retread of that film to me.

Sometimes it pays off in the MCU when they bring on filmmakers from outside the big budget studio system to direct and let them develop and write the script too - it worked for Guardians and it worked for Black Panther - but here it didn’t pay off in the same way. The film had something like six credited writers and it never felt like anyone had a handle on what the story should be. It’s functional but severely underdeveloped. That the film has two credited editors suggests to me that they may have had trouble assembling the disparate parts into a cohesive whole.

It’s not terrible. It’s fine. But this is the first one I’ve seen in a while from the MCU that just felt more blandly generic than anything else. I really can’t stop thinking of how much it made me think of Green Lantern.

 

[Tommy R]

Seeing it tomorrow night. When I picked out my seats on fandango most of he seats were already taken. There were two seats next to each other on an aisle, so a snatched those up. All that’s left are the rows RIGHT in front of the screen. So I’m glad we’ll be able to enjoy it in decent seats.

 

[Tino]

I really can’t stop thinking of how much it made me think of Green Lantern.

Oooh. That’s harsh!

 

[Sam Favate]

I really can’t stop thinking of how much it made me think of Green Lantern.

Funny you mention that. I also thought of Green Lantern during the movie, particularly the parts with fighter jets and piloting skills. Only my reaction was "Wow, I can't believe how much better this is than Green Lantern!"

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I didn’t hate Green Lantern - I own a copy in 3D - but it’s blandly generic and I found Captain Marvel to often be the same way.

The things I enjoyed most about CM were the things that already existed in the MCU before that movie.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Here’s the thing, though - I bet I’ll love Captain Marvel in Avengers: Endgame. The writers and directors for Endgame have been so good at developing characters in this universe and making me care for them, and I think they’ll be able to bring out whatever was missing in the solo movie.

I saw the movie in a nearly full auditorium of people who clapped for the opening Marvel logo. I don’t think it was a bad crowd. But much of the film got a very muted response from this crowd. The biggest response by far was from the first post-credits scene. I think this was a crowd of people who wanted to love the movie who ended up just liking it instead. That was certainly the boat I was in.

 

[JimmyO]

I liked this a lot. Going to see Alita again soon, will add more later.

Ok, so, I don’t feel the need to see it again. But my expectations were not high and this movie exceeded them. Larsons acting was just fine, not as wooden as the trailers suggest.

Lots of good moments. I liked the characters.

My only complaint is that this character is

Spoiler

way overpowered and seems too flawless.

 

[Steve_Pannell]

I really can’t stop thinking of how much it made me think of Green Lantern.

I remember I was going to comment the day the first trailer came out that it looked like Green Lantern but with more colors. But since I have no interest in the character and have no intention of seeing the movie I didn't bother.

I know: "And yet, here you are making a comment."

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm home from my second viewing at a Dolby Cinema theater. As much as I liked it last night, I like it even more today. It's among my favorite Marvel films. Larson and Jackson were great together so I do wonder if they remain in contact between 1995 and Infinity?

 

[TJPC]

We saw it today in Real3D, and both of us really enjoyed it and especially Goose the cat.

 

[steve jaros]

Saw CM today in 3D (thanks A-List!) and my wife and I really enjoyed it. Brie Larson has real charisma, she carried the lead role easily. SL Jackson has more to do here since the first Avengers film and is at his casual-intense best. The SFX in 3D were outstanding. The story was not convoluted at all, easy to follow, and yet gelled easily with the larger Avengers themes that overhanged the film. Fast-paced and filled with action, with a nice dollop of humor a la the Thor and Guardians films. I can easily rate this film a solid ...

B+

Recommended, and I will see it again in Dolby Cinema on Monday.

PS - there are two credit scenes, one early on, the other at the very end of the credits. Both worth waiting for.

 

[Bryan^H]

I just pre-ordered this for $21 Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-Ma...ain+marvel+3d&qid=1552091865&s=gateway&sr=8-5

I'm happy to see Disney still treating the Marvel movies with 3D BD!

 

[Josh Dial]

I thought Captain Marvel was fantastic. Not tier 1 (which for me includes Iron Man, Winter Solder, Guardians 1, Infinity War, Ragnarok), but solidly at the tier 2 rank for me. I would give it a solid 8 or 8.5 out of 10.

While some members have commented negatively on pacing, I thought the pacing was great. Unlike some of the weaker MCU movies, Captain Marvel did not suffer from the dreaded "third act problem." In fact, I think each act built steadily into the next, and the movie overall built steadily toward the climax. Other than the "train into Kree city" scene at the beginning, I don't think any of the scenes dragged at all.

I also liked that the film took a different approach to the typical hero power/character development. While there was the traditional "rise above it" scene where Carol was struggling against the final attempt to control her will (with a great flashback sequence of her literally rising up), she didn't really go through the typical routine of "gets powers, learns about powers, achieves a few minor victories, gains confidence, encounters the real threat, gets beat, has to grow as a person and/or in power, triumphs over the real threat." At virtually all times Carol was stronger than her enemy. Yes, she grew in power as she embraced her emotional side, and yes, she grew character-wise by literally remembering who she was, but we didn't need to see her become a badass: she just always was a badass. Normally this "Superman-esque" type of development can be boring: but here I found it refreshing.

On the acting side, there were no weak links. Larson was charismatic and compelling, and carried the movie without stealing the spotlight. Jackson, Law, and Bening were all just as good. Mendelsohn was terrific as Talos, and I particularly liked his "cheesy dad" spin on the character. Lynch was also good. Chemistry wide, Lynch and Larson were great together--it really seemed like they were best friends. Larson and Jackson were also great together.

Like the best solo movies in the MCU, Carol was the most interesting person in the movie (unlike Black Panther, where the title character was the least interesting character). I genuinely cared about her discovering who she was. The audience is meant to be many steps ahead of Carol. Usually this gets old quickly, the audience shouting at the screen over how stupid the main character is. Here, however, her rediscovery was not belaboured.

The amnesia/memories sequences were well done, and stylized without being showy or obtuse. The "flashback" bits in the bar was effect, subtle, and did not overstay its welcome. In fact, it was nice to see the movie didn't fall back on using and reusing the same flashback technique over and over.

I also thought the movie struck a few nice emotional chords. During the final space sequence where Carol is smashing through the missiles--her powers on full display (just shy of going binary)--I was oddly moved by the thought that "damn, maybe the heroes do have a hope against Thanos..." I recognize that since we're more emotionally invested in the rest of the MCU characters, it may be less emotionally rewarding to have a "new" character swoop in and save the day. First, I don't think that's what going to happen--Carol will sway the war, but she won't win it. Second, I found her just so damn charismatic that I won't mind if she gets everyone back on track and sparks a bit of hope in our heroes.

 

[JimmyO]

So what's the rule on spoilers for this thread?

 

[Tino]

So what's the rule on spoilers for this thread?

Put them in spoiler brackets for at least thru the second weekend I would say.

 

[DaveF]

Saw Captain Marvel tonight in a full Atmos theater. It was...fine...adequate...uninspired. The previews had me really excited for Marvel’s first (and very belated) female-led movie, and I left disappointed it didn’t live up the trailers.

I’m not sure why I didn’t get into it. It felt like another blandly generic Marvel movie. The beginning was slow and uninteresting. The ending lacked any danger and seeming risk for the protagonists. And the 90s theming seemed weak after the all-in 80s pastiche of Bumblebee.

To be sure it had some great moments. And it wasn’t a bad movie at all. But it left me wanting more than it was. It didn’t move me. Things blew up good, but I want more than that.

So, it was fine.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Saw Captain Marvel tonight in a full Atmos theater. It was...fine...adequate...uninspired. The previews had me really excited for Marvel’s first (and very belated) female-led movie, and I left disappointed it didn’t live up the trailers.

I’m not sure why I didn’t get into it. It felt like another blandly generic Marvel movie. The beginning was slow and uninteresting. The ending lacked any danger and seeming risk for the protagonists. And the 90s theming seemed weak after the all-in 80s pastiche of Bumblebee.

To be sure it had some great moments. And it wasn’t a bad movie at all. But it left me wanting more than it was. It didn’t move me. Things blew up good, but I want more than that.

So, it was fine.

Perhaps, I'm reading this thread wrong, but I think most of the reactions to this movie and its trailers were the opposite of yours. Many posters in this thread were uninspired by the trailers, but found out they actually liked the movie which eased their earlier trepidation.