@RogerRoger Fortunately when I break down a movie, it’s typically afterward. I’m a very good movie companion otherwise. 😄
Interesting take on Capt Marvel. The movie is victim of the 20 movies that came before it and assumes a level of knowledge of the world, but yeah, the character origin story part could have been a little more clear because I remember being a little confused at first and feeling like it was kinda slow on the front half.
Did you connect the dots on the Kree and Skrulls from the other Marvel movies? Kree are notably seen first in the Guardians of the Galaxy storyline with Ronan. It enhances the story to see some of the threads that go throughout, but there are so many characters and races in so many movies sometimes it’s hard to keep track. But even without the larger interconnection, it’s still a decent film. I’ll be interested to see if you like how Capt Marvel is used in End Game.
Captain Marvel was alright. Feels like someone mashed a typical Marvel production together with a sci-fi B-movie screenplay. Brie Larson was lifeless, but then she's lifeless in every movie I've seen her in, so no huge disappointment there.
I liked Into the Spiderverse more than almost any of the Marvel movies I've watched, personally. And I've watched them all. The presentation is phenomenal.
@Ralizah Have you seen Brie Larson in Room? She's incredible there. Instantly converted me into a fan. I haven't watched Short Term 12 or United States of Tara (yet), but I've heard she's great in those too. It's a shame a lot of people are writing her off based on her Captain Marvel performance, which I thought was fine but nothing special. Not the case with you since you said you've seen her in other things too, but a sad observation.
@Tjuz@Ralizah I agree that Brie’s fantastic in both Room and Short Term 12. I’m a big fan of Marvel comics but Captain Marvel is a truly bland character. It’s almost as if they told her to act that way to be ‘faithful’ to the comics. I enjoyed the film, sure, but that was more due to Ben Mendelsohn, who stole the show.
@Tjuz I've seen her in Kong: Skull Island, Captain Marvel, and Just Mercy, and she just never makes much of an impression on me. Granted, anything is better than the constipated performance she gives in CM.
I've not seen Room. The synopsis I read just sounds profoundly depressing, so I think it's something I'll need to be in the mood for.
@Th3solution Given that the two Guardians of the Galaxy films are the only Marvel films I haven't seen (not for any specific reason, although I kinda dislike Chris Pratt's meathead character whenever he's popped up in the crossovers so I'm in no great rush) then no, I didn't pick up on the connections you mentioned. But that's okay, as my somewhat-eidetic memory doesn't seem to function with regards things I'm resolutely casual towards (as Endgame proved last night) so I might not have joined the dots anyway. As I said, Captain Marvel explained everything by its end, so it was no major crime.
So yeah, Avengers Endgame was certainly a movie! To its credit, I wasn't as bored as I feared, given its three-hour runtime, although there was a moment halfway where I paused and made more tea (which I rarely do). As a crescendo piece, both in and of itself and for over a decade of blockbusters, it was well-made, well-acted and well-paced. There was weight to it (actual weight! In a Marvel movie!) which I appreciated, although many of my reactions (mostly heartwarming smiles) were involuntary, akin to an infectious sneeze; whenever the soap opera schmaltz was dialled up, I smiled or went "Aww!" like I was supposed to. Other more dramatic moments, like Black Widow's self-sacrifice and the drawn-out mourning sequence for Tony, didn't have any emotional impact on me, but I can totally understand how fans would've gone to pieces. They were handled solidly enough.
It didn't rely too much on obscure references, which I appreciated. That said, there were a couple things that I knew were nods and winks, but which had zero impact on me, simply because can't be expected to keep track of everything in a franchise which only mildly entertains me in passing. I liked how Ant-Man was a focus, probably because I only watched his film the other day. If I had to pick a favourite, it'd be him, accompanied by Smart Hulk. Let's have a buddy-up adventure with them. Little and large, breaking the laws of physics together. It'd be great.
The treatment of Thor's character left me cold, however, not because I had any particularly strong feelings towards any individual moments, but rather because it was just a kinda-lazy, family-friendly portrayal of depression stereotypes (and could never be anything more in a Disney tentpole flick). Folks like Tony, Hawkeye and Cap portrayed much more nuance and realism in an occasional glance or stare into middle distance than drunken shouting in a fat suit ever could. I got that Nebula was supposed to be a big deal, too, but honestly a lot of the space stuff didn't connect; I much preferred it when things stayed on Earth. Captain Marvel being largely absent (and then being the finale's ace in the hole) was expected, especially after her own film established that she's intergalactic. For plot purposes, she had to be elsewhere, otherwise she just would've won all the time. The "She's got help!" scene made me grin, but I can't decide if I was grinning because it was badass (which, admittedly, it was) or because it was a cheesy and ham-fisted move to earn woke points. Maybe it can be both. Maybe the long-sealed door to real change needs to be bludgeoned open by blatant pandering like this. I don't know, nor am I qualified to know. I'm just a guy who thought the shot was cool, and who's written a disproportionate amount about thirty seconds of a three-hour film.
It was a textbook "event" movie, a crowd-pleaser of epic scale which was perhaps a little overstuffed and overstimulating for this casual passer-by. I'm glad to have seen it, but it did make me feel like a guest at a stranger's wedding. I sat at the back, I kept quiet and I smiled and applauded when the couple said "I do" and kissed, because I'm only human. But I've no idea who these people are, and I'm certainly not gonna keep in touch. Best I can do is congratulate them for their impressive achievement and wish them, and their families, well for the future.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger That’s a great post (as always) about your End Game experience - full of insightful observations, justified emotional response, and honest balanced sentiments. I love your metaphor at the end about being a visitor at a stranger’s wedding, as it gives a nice palpable visual to how you feel about the movie. Very relatable.
And that’s wonderful that you got the enjoyment out of it that you did. Like in your wedding scenario, I always hate going to parties and huge social gatherings like weddings, especially when I don’t know or like the people there. I drag my feet and grumble a little but once I’m there I quite enjoy it usually and think fondly about it in retrospect. Yet, when the next opportunity to go comes again, I’m dragging my feet again. Weird how that works.
I did find it interesting how you spoke of the now infamous ‘girl power’ scene. Despite many viewers feeling strongly about the implications and delivery of it, I think your take is very balanced and sensible.
Well if End Game is like attending a stranger’s wedding, then Into the Spiderverse is going to be like being dragged to a concert of your best friend’s favorite band. I hope it’ll be a raucous good time that you didn’t know you wanted to have.
@RogerRoger I think I'd place Captain Marvel near-ish the top of my favourite Marvel films too. I think the strange plotting is quite deliberate - the audience spend half the movie not really knowing what is going on because Carol Danvers herself doesn't know either, so we're with her in that respect. It's the strong characters and performances that pull the movie through in the end, though. And I love the "cat"!
I only watched Endgame for the first time last month and found it absolutely awesome. I liked that the focus is more on the original Avengers as it feels fitting as an end to their saga, compared to recently introduced characters. However, certain characters like Valkyrie perhaps feel a little too on the periphery. The only thing that ended up confusing me was the time travelling Captain America at the end, which would surely create an array of time paradoxes. Seriously, time travel is headache inducing.
Nebula is one of my favourite characters in the film, but a lot of her character development is in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Her arc is complete in Endgame; things that happen to her in the Galaxy films make certain scenes in that film more profound.
Good point about Thor. Turning his depression and self-destructive behaviour into something comedic missed the mark. However, I do think that his scene with Frigga is one of the more poignant in the film.
The girl power bit was awesome, because the characters are completely badass.
@Th3solution Thanks; honestly, given my relationship (or lack thereof) with Marvel, it was the best possible outcome. I was never gonna rave about it, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Oddly enough, I've said the same about all the other Avengers crossover films before, so they're doing something right. And I'm exactly the same about parties and social gatherings, which is probably why it's taken me a while to gear up to these Marvel movies, as I've had the NowTV log-in details to watch them for weeks. I was dragging my feet, but I shouldn't have been, as I had fun.
That being said, I'm gonna leave Spider-Verse until early next week now, and not try and squeeze it in before the weekend (during which my partner and I are watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope together for the first time). Don't wanna overdo all this superhero stuff and end up thinking negatively about what has otherwise been a mostly-positive experience.
@mookysam Thanks for confirming what I thought, namely that certain scenes and payoff moments would've been awesome for Marvel fans. A couple times I caught myself thinking "Gee, I wish I were a Marvel fanboy, so that I could really get this, because it's all kinda awesome!" But a lifetime of watching Star Trek time travel stories tells me to just ignore the Captain America paradox and enjoy the scene for the sweet, heartwarming bit of sentimental fluff that it is (whilst revelling in how incredibly realistic CGI has become of late... seriously, wow).
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@Gremio108 Steve Carrell is a phenomenal actor. It's a shame many often dismiss him as "just" a comedy performer, because he's got some seriously broad talent. And I don't mind admitting to getting plenty of brain-deactivating enjoyment out of Terminator Genysis, even if it made as much sense as playing Scrabble with kanji tiles in a tumble dryer.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Was actually pretty good which was a nice suprise as I've only seen 4 films of M.Night's (Sixth Sense, The Village, Unbreakable and Signs) and the series Wayward Pines... And most of his other films/projects are considered awful.
It's... Well I can't really talk a whole lot about it without spoilers but I think the depiction of mental health was fairly decent despite it being (for the most part) what you might expect for a psychological thriller with the main "villain" having multiple personalities.
James McAvoy was rather splendid in the role of Kevin and his other personalities (being able to switch through them at the tip of a hat) and Anya Taylor-Joy was rather good in the other lead role of Casey.
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
James McAvoy carried that movie like Atlas carries the globe. Without his skillful performance, the rest of the film would collapse.
I get irritated at movies using mental illnesses to scare the audience (and almost refused to see it for that reason), but certain plot twists calmed my concerns a bit on that front.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I like M. Night quite a bit. He does have a few duds though. You’ve seen most of his best ones. You might add on The Visit. I liked that one pretty well, probably better than most of his except for Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. Like you say, Split is decent enough. I like it a little better than The Village and After Earth, and it’s miles better than The Last Airbender and the awful Lady in the Water. If you liked Split and McAvoy, then definitely check out Glass too, since it’s related.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Well apparently Joaquin Phoenix was originally going to be Kevin but left for some reason and McAvoy was cast instead @Ralizah.
I'm admittedly quite curious at that would've been like... Probably pretty similar as they're good actors but still...
I'd actually only seen two M.Night films for the longest time @Th3solution. The Sixth Sense (which I liked) and the Village (Which I didn't like).
Then I saw Wayward Pines which actually was a pretty good Mini Series (... Don't watch the second season though it's bad as it wasn't meant to be more then one season and it shows 😅)
Then I saw Unbreakable and Signs last year which were both decent.
I think M.Night is a pretty decent ideas man... In fact my opinion of him is actually sort've similar to my feelings on ol' Quantic Dream David Cage in that I think they could do with a good writer (Or at least someone who isn't a yes man) to make sure they don't do twists just for the hell of it and tighten up a few things as otherwise they have pretty decent ideas!
I'll be sure to give Glass a look... The lead performances should be pretty decent from those three even if it isn't the best film
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That's the best way to approach Glass - as a fun crossover piece. The plot itself isn't great, but I enjoyed watching the three primary personalities interact.
Not Shy's best film, but certainly not The Village or The Happening (although that's so bad it's almost good).
Watched Godzilla: King of the Monsters last night. Not a masterpiece in filmmaking, but a generally fun time that consistently brought a smile to this Godzilla fan with it's many references to the franchise history (the classic Godzilla & Mothra theme music being mixed in at parts, the oxygen destroyer, and Ghidorah's codename as "Monster Zero"), not to mention pretty great depictions of Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, and the titular star himself.
Will definitely pick it up on Blu-Ray at some point in the future (the family rented it on DVD, and it's easy to see how the vibrant colors are muted with the sub-HD resolution), and am looking forward to the inevitable Godzilla VS Kong. Calling it now, after fighting each other they have to team up to beat Mecha-Ghidorah, as forshadowed in the after credits scene of KotM, to save the Earth.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Joaquin Phoenix won another award last night, he has won every best actor award this year out of the shows he has been to so am hoping he goes onto have a successful BAFTAS and Oscars too!
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