Captain Marvel (2019)

[starri]

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I read that review. I'm VERY excited to see that we are getting a strong female friendship in this movie.

any spoilers?  even mild?  I skipped the Jeremy Jahns review just in case he lets loose a mild spoiler, sometimes he does because he doesn't think it's important

[festivus]

Hmm.. I don't think so. She talked about the movie in general terms, said the cat was getting a moment but didn't spill anything. I don't like spoilers either. She did mention character names the actors are playing, I don't know if that is too spoilery for you.

[Morrigan2575]

7 minutes ago, festivus said:

Hmm.. I don't think so. She talked about the movie in general terms, said the cat was getting a moment but didn't spill anything. I don't like spoilers either. She did mention character names the actors are playing, I don't know if that is too spoilery for you.

nah that should be fine.  Thanks I'll take a look at the review.

I liked that review, it seemed very fair.  I'm going to see the movie Sunday and, i'm kind of excited.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Morrigan2575

[IWantCandy71]

3 hours ago, ramble said:

I’m having a hard time getting interested in this movie largely because of the trailers. It has nothing to do with what Larson has or has not done. It all looks so much the same. I find myself mentally yawning. Maybe I’ve finally reached superhero burnout. I asked my kiddo (a comic fan) about going and her answer was she’d just read a synopsis before seeing Endgame because she just wanted to see part two (of Infinity War) and get some conclusion. She skipped Antman & the Wasp in the same way and I just got around to seeing it streaming. I still, and have from the beginning, have a problem with Larson’s voice. I can’t figure out what it is exactly but it bugs me. I’m sure I’ll see this eventually but it won’t be on opening weekend and may not be in a theater. 

I thought the trailer had moments where it looked like good, campy fun. Problem is that good campy fun is great for half an hour. After that, unless it's marketed as obvious comedy(like Shazam), then you'd better be giving me something more substantial for the next hour and a half. And I don't think Marvel is capable of good storytelling anymore, if they ever were. I've been let down so many times by them, that my expectations are rock bottom. I was lukewarm at best about seeing this before coming online. But now? Lol It's a definite no. I don't think Marvel will be crying over missing my ten bucks, and I won't be crying if I never watch it. Win/win.

[Sakura12]

Got my tickets for Friday. I'm excited to see this. 

[Anduin]

I just talked to my moviegoing companion, who said that I hope I enjoy the movie. Which means I'm in the clear to see it myself. I would have waited, but now I don't need to. 🙂

[Cranberry]

It's at a perfectly respectable 84% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, same as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, above Ant-Man (82%), and just below Infinity War (85%). It might rise or fall a little more but should stay in the 80s, and 80% of critics liking it is great! Average critic's score is 7/10, which is pretty standard for a MCU film (Black Panther and the first Avengers are the only ones with an average higher than 8). Looking good. 

Because I was curious and the other sources I found ranked by Tomatometer (percentage of critics who liked the film) rather than average score, here's the score ranking for all previous films:

Quote

Black Panther: 8.26/10
Marvel's The Avengers: 8.05/10
Guardians of the Galaxy: 7.77/10
Iron Man: 7.7/10
Captain America: Civil War: 7.67/10
Spider-Man: Homecoming: 7.63/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: 7.6/10
Avengers: Infinity War: 7.58/10
Thor: Ragnarok: 7.52/10
Doctor Strange: 7.29/10
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2: 7.24/10
Iron Man 3: 6.98/10
Ant-Man and the Wasp: 6.97/10
Captain America: The First Avenger: 6.95/10
Ant-Man: 6.85/10
Thor: 6.73/10 and Avengers: Age of Ultron: 6.73/10
Iron Man 2: 6.47/10
Thor: The Dark World: 6.23/10
The Incredible Hulk: 6.18/10

It's kind of amazing that Marvel hasn't had a flop yet, not even just a critical flop. Even The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World (which totally deserve to be down at the bottom) are "fresh."

[PepSinger]

Cranberry, those scores are so high because Marvel is actually capable of good storytelling. 😉

[PepSinger]

Also, can someone explain to me what is so wrong with the trailers? I have never seen people so turned off by multiple trailers. Am I missing something?? And IMO, I find the criticisms about her voice unnecessarily harsh. Is she supposed to sound more like a man to make her seem tough? Is it so hard to be considered tough if you don’t have a certain type of voice? Let’s challenge this societal norms, eh?

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, PepSinger said:

Also, can someone explain to me what is so wrong with the trailers? I have never seen people so turned off by multiple trailers. Am I missing something?? And IMO, I find the criticisms about her voice unnecessarily harsh. Is she supposed to sound more like a man to make her seem tough? Is it so hard to be considered tough if you don’t have a certain type of voice? Let’s challenge this societal norms, eh?

I will admit that the trailers haven't thrilled or excited me. GoTG and Thor Ragnorok hooked me immediately. I compare Captain Marvel to the 1st Ant-Man which I wasn't really sure I wanted to see. The first few trailers did nothing for me but the final trailer released about 3 weeks before the movie premiered hooked me and, I ended up loving the movie.

For Captain Marvel I can't say there was any single trailer that hooked me. I made a couple of posts about them. I did like the one that aired during Arrow a few weeks back, it added some funny moments to the normal trailer scenes.

So yeah, I do get some of the complaints about the trailer being boring or not blowing people away. 

[Bruinsfan]

Alas, Anne Bancroft and Lauren Bacall are no longer with us to dub over her voice!

I'll admit to a bit of a double standard though, I was watching clips from some of the animated Marvel shows this past week and the voice actors they had for Hercules sounded like they're smallish college-aged guys who should be ordering mochaccinos and working at tech startups, not challenging gods and monsters to battle. It made me appreciate that Chris Hemsworth sounds like Thor should as well as looking the part.

[festivus]

17 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I will admit that the trailers haven't thrilled or excited me. GoTG and Thor Ragnorok hooked me immediately. I compare Captain Marvel to the 1st Ant-Man which I wasn't really sure I wanted to see. The first few trailers did nothing for me but the final trailer released about 3 weeks before the movie premiered hooked me and, I ended up loving the movie.

For Captain Marvel I can't say there was any single trailer that hooked me. I made a couple of posts about them. I did like the one that aired during Arrow a few weeks back, it added some funny moments to the normal trailer scenes.

So yeah, I do get some of the complaints about the trailer being boring or not blowing people away. 

I can go along with this. I wanted to see this movie as I do all the Marvel movies but I wasn't at the super excited  level about it until I read the review that promised me a strong female friendship. The trailers aside from the cat have been a bit underwhelming to me. Contrast that with Ragnarok where I was like, Damn. I must see that NOW.

[Bruinsfan]

That one would be pretty hard to beat, though.  When I first saw that I felt my ticket money had been well-spent before the actual movie it was playing in front of began to roll.

The Captain Marvel trailers haven't thrilled me for the most part, but I also haven't seen anything in them that makes me worry about the movie. I seem to recall feeling similar about trailers to Civil War and Ant Man & The Wasp.

[shantown]

I must be an outlier because the trailer 100% sold it for me, and I will for sure go now. (Also that it's set in the 90s is just fun)

[Dandesun]

Ragnarok is a completely different kettle of fish, though. Thor's established in the MCU and even if you don't watch all the movies you're aware that he exists. Plus, you know, Jeff Goldblum in chin-liner and the whole thing was so WEIRD and a total throw-back to Kirby art and "The Immigrant Song."

Most movie-goers have no idea who Carol or Captain Marvel is so they're going to play it more careful, I guess. Trailers are a tricky thing. I've completely given up on Pixar trailers because very few of them have ever had me going "YES!!" but the movies always do. I think after Wall-E I was just like 'it doesn't matter how shit the trailers look, I'm going to see the movie.'

[Morrigan2575]

15 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

The Captain Marvel trailers haven't thrilled me for the most part, but I also haven't seen anything in them that makes me worry about the movie

The irony is the one thing I felt was lacking in Captain Marvel trailers is the main complaint (by some) against the MCU...comedic moments!

The last (Arrow) trailer gave me a Chuckle and, that settled my big concern because they didn't forget to include some humor.

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, shantown said:

I must be an outlier because the trailer 100% sold it for me, and I will for sure go now. (Also that it's set in the 90s is just fun)

I'm more of an outlier because as much as I love trailers, I would, for now anyway, go a see a Marvel movie without seeing a trailer or reading a review. That's how much I've enjoyed them.  Like I said before, until there have been more than 2 in a row that have made me feel "meh" about them, I'm all in on opening weekend, full price-- full stop.  Once they start disappointing me, I'll stick to $5 Tuesdays or matinees. Until then, I personally don't care about the what the trailers look like.

[Cranberry]

Trailers can be so misleading, anyway. The first Suicide Squad trailer was great. The way they matched the visuals to the music -- it gave me chills. But, uh... we all know how that went.

I feel like with Captain Marvel, they were trying to hide a lot of surprises (a couple of the reviews state that the movie is much weirder and more cosmic than the trailers make it seem), which probably restricted what they had to work with. The cynical part of me wonders if they didn't want to show the brash, sarcastic, rule-breaking Carol Danvers too much, either, because a loud segment of the population doesn't want to see that (as it is, they complained enough about her literally standing up and about the fade from "her" to "hero").

[festivus]

I never said I wouldn't see this movie because of the trailer I just said I thought they were underwhelming.  I didn't even start watching Marvel trailers until I think it was Civil War. I just said that reading about the female friendship thing was what got me truly excited. I don't actually care about trailers that much in general. UO I know.

[Dee]

It's weird that Maria, who is apparently such a crucial character, has largely been absent from the trailers.

[Bruinsfan]

Maria Hill? How could she be a crucial part of the story if it's set in the 90s?

[Morrigan2575]

5 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

Maria Hill? How could she be a crucial part of the story if it's set in the 90s?

Maria Rambeau.

[Wynterwolf]

I am assuming they meant Maria Rambeau.  

[stealinghome]

3 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I feel like with Captain Marvel, they were trying to hide a lot of surprises (a couple of the reviews state that the movie is much weirder and more cosmic than the trailers make it seem), which probably restricted what they had to work with. The cynical part of me wonders if they didn't want to show the brash, sarcastic, rule-breaking Carol Danvers too much, either, because a loud segment of the population doesn't want to see that (as it is, they complained enough about her literally standing up and about the fade from "her" to "hero"). 

I think this may well be the case, because the trailers have gotten progressively better as they have leaned into the quirky/cosmic material more and been willing to reveal a little bit more. The first trailer read as very, very safe.

re: Brie Larson's voice, I was critical of her line delivery in the first trailer because to me there didn't seem to be much conviction behind the line deliveries. Everything she said felt kind of empty and really flat. I've enjoyed the later trailers more in part because her lines have had more personality behind them.

[Anduin]

I've seen it. Pretty good. There's certainly worse. When it comes to movies I like, I put it in the middle of the pack. If you want your MCU with added feminism and 90s references, this is the movie for you.

However, some of the fight scenes are terribly directed. Blurry nonense. Whoever directed those should be ashamed of themselves. Really, they reminded me of the bad days of blurrycam, rather than the clarity that we'vecome to enjoy in the last few years.

Movie is about 2 hours, it has 2 post-credit scenes. One is right at the end. Don't be thinking you can get out early. 🙂

[starri]

[Morrigan2575]

I think this is the right time to break from the thread.  Will be back after i see the film.  Enjoy!

[festivus]

24 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I think this is the right time to break from the thread.  Will be back after i see the film.  Enjoy!

Exactly! Was about to post the same. For me it will probably be a month which I am so not happy about.

[shantown]

I have seen exactly 4 Marvel movies prior to this one so I was a little lost during several parts. Thankfully it was an origin story and there was a lot of "intro" stuff too, so I managed and really enjoyed it. Though I do feel like I was on the outside of some in-jokes but there were plenty of general jokes and 90s references which more than made up for it. I really enjoyed the story and LOVED the soundtrack. You can't go wrong with a 90s soundtrack, and a lot of the music fit the scene/emotion well. I highly enjoyed it, and would consider seeing it again (after studying some Wikipedia pages to better understand everything I missed the first time around!)

[scrb]

On 2/28/2019 at 2:12 PM, Cranberry said:

Brie Larson Almost Turned Down A 'Captain Marvel' Meeting Because Of The Pressures Of Fronting The Franchise

The more I read about Larson, the more I like her.

I can't imagine she would have seriously considered not taking this role.  She's gotten acclaim for her performances but starring in a Marvel superhero movie would probably change the trajectory of her career.

Robert Downey Jr. went from a highly-respected actor to a big star because of Iron Man.  He doesn't have to take roles in smaller films after Iron Man.

Not saying those are her motivations but a huge Marvel franchise comprising multiple sequels would give her security.  It's an opportunity that a lot of actors and actresses never get.

As for this character being viewed as some kind of feminist role model, there seems to be little comparisons made to Wonder Woman, which was a huge commercial and critical success just a couple of years ago.

[calliope1975]

I'm an easy, easy target because I willingly give the MCU all my money, and I've liked every single movie (even some of Thor 2) so I had a blast. I love Carol so much. I thought Brie was great. The montage of her getting up over and over again (similar to what's in the trailer) had me in tears. 

I loved the friendship between Maria and Carol and all the Monica we got. Goose! As a cat owner/lover, you are the best. The '90's soundtrack and setting were perfect. And I caught that Kelly Sue DeConnick cameo. 

To see it tonight at the time I wanted I had to go 3D which I'm not a fan of and if/when I see it again, I'll opt for regular. Some of the CGI on Coulson was creepy but didn't bother me as much on Fury. 

Mostly, I had a bunch of fun and my spirits were lifted after a crappy week, and that's the best complement I can give a movie. I cannot wait for Endgame even though I know it's going to break me. Bring it!

[anna0852]

Just saw it and loved! My theatre did too based on the whooping and hollering. Lots of trivia bits filled in and really whetted my appetite for Endgame!

[SeanC]

I liked it.  It belongs more on the B-tier of Marvel movies, which is too bad because you always hope for a movie to be great, but particularly in the face of the noxious misogyny directed at Brie Larson.

I don't think the movie ever digs particularly deep into its title character -- I never felt especially invested in her search for identity, so the payoff is kind of muted, even if the actors do their best to sell it.  Also, while the bit at the end with Jude Law is a nice bit of symbolism, on the whole the movie's villains aren't powerful enough to give the climax meaningful stakes when we've seen the extent of Carol's abilities.

All that aside, it's fun, and Larson, while I think the character could have been written with a bit more meat for her, does well with what's there, and I'm interested to see what she does in Endgame and going forward.  I also quite liked seeing Fury in a larger and more varied role than we're used to seeing him in; Jackson hasn't really been given all that many different notes to play in his 13+ years in this part.

[Cranberry]

I was predisposed to like this, but I ended up liking it even more than I thought I would.

The one criticism I agreed with pre-viewing was that Brie sounded a little stilted and even almost baby-voiced in the trailers. I'm happy to say that she was not at all like that in the movie. Most of the lines from the trailer weren't even in the movie, and the ones that were in there were slightly different ("a Skrull can't do that" vs. the trailer's "a Skrull can not do that," for example). Carol had a lot of personality, she made some fun jokes (more dry, sarcastic jokes than the quips of someone like Spider-Man, which worked well for her), and she was just cool. I liked her immediately and I loved her by the end of the movie when she'd embraced her new friendships and her newfound power and seemed more comfortable and free.

Also loved the focus on female friendship (which I completely bought even though much of it was shown through short flashbacks and photos), the non-annoying kid, the excellent "cat," the fact that Jude Law was not Mar-Vell as everyone expected but that Mar-Vell was a kickass woman, the twist with the Kree and Skrulls that is really going to change things, and the fight scenes set to '90s songs. Ben Mendelsohn and Lashana Lynch were just as good as everyone's saying they are, and Goose did indeed steal the show. It's not the best of the Marvel movies (my top three are probably Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Ragnarok), but I enjoyed it and I recommend it.

[Grammaeryn]

I absolutely loved it and plan on seeing it again! Brie did a great job. Her rapport with Sam Jackson was great. The plot got a little twisty in points and I’m still trying to figure something out (totally open to DMs). The soundtrack with other 90’s shoutouts made me happy. Some of the millennial audience laughed way too hard for this grumpy Gen Xer. Thanos is so completely screwed and I’m squealing on the inside.

[anna0852]

I can't wait to see what the Avengers make of Carol (I think Tony's going to love her!). Thanos is going down!

I nearly jumped out of my seat for both stingers.

Edited March 8, 2019 by anna0852

[Wishing Well]

I was very overwhelmed by this movie, so I’m not ready to write about it quite yet.  Everything is so beautiful right now that I want to take a moment and let it all sink in, and then write a real review.  But my beloved Captain Rogers may have been finally dethroned as my favorite Avenger.  That beautiful man held on for a solid 14 or so movies, but Carol 😍

That being said, two things.

Season 1 Glee fans, get ready for a hilarious casting moment. Nobody could understand why I was laughing so hard at a moment so devoid of humor, but um...Ken Tanaka 

Second - the MCU banner broke me.  I started tearing up the second this all began...I was expecting some sort of tribute, but not that.  

[thuganomics85]

Saw it a few hours ago, but did my usual wait and process a few things before I post.

I'll admit that I did go in somewhat cautiously since I heard the reviews weren't quite as glowing as many were hoping for (granted, for Marvel films at this point, that's pretty much saying "good, but not great", which is still a hell of a lot better than bunch of other films in this genre), but even with lowered expectations, I honestly really enjoyed it.  There were a few issues I will quibble about later on, but in the end, it made me excited for what is to coming with the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward, and that is quite a feat.

While I certainly understand that acting is subjective and usually don't mind varied opinions, I was pretty much shaking my head thinking about all of the concern and complaints about Brie Larson that came out during her initial casting and trailer releases (don't even want to dive into the recent overblown controversy, which only just makes me love her even more.)  Because saying she shatters all of that is an understatement in my eyes.  As far as I'm concerned, she is only behind Robert Downey Jr. when it comes to the lead actor automatically commanding the screen and make me see and consider them the hero that they are portraying (Chris Evans is right behind them, but it still wasn't till The Avengers where he automatically became "Cap" to me.)  She was damn near perfection as Carol.  Biting, snarky, and hilarious one moment, inspirational and heroic the next, and then brought it home when Carol discovered the truth about the Kree/Skrull war, and her frustrations and doubts began to come out.  She just hit the ground running and never stopped.  So, yeah, I think she is going to be the perfect Carol Danvers and I hope there will be plenty more of her to come (especially if she continues to irate sections of the fanbase that are almost making me embarrassed to be a sci-fi/fantasy/superhero fan.)

It was almost just as great seeing a younger Nick Fury too, and Samuel L. Jackson also seemed more game than normal this go around.  I really got the sense he was having more fun with this type of role and that he and Larson enjoyed playing off one another.  And holy crap, the CGI they used to "de-age" him was amazing.  I honestly forgot at times that I wasn't actually looking at a Young Samuel L. Jackson somehow inserted into this film!

Going in, I figured Talos would be one of the weaker elements (the prosthetics and stuff just made me think it was going to be another case of the Dark Elves from Thor: Dark World), but I loved him and it was great seeing Ben Mendelsohn play a character who wasn't a diabolical bastard (which consist of this, his George  VI from Darkest Hour, and... I think thats it!)  He managed to convey a lot of emotion despite the prosthetics, and played off everyone fantastically.  And while a small thing, I loved that they actually let him use his Australian accent, instead of doing an American or British one like I thought they would do.

I figured Yon-Rigg would end up being bad, but I loved how Jude Law played him and I'm glad that he is still alive, and will hopefully factor in again somehow (granted, the fanboy in me wants them to go full-blown fanservice, and have Yon-Rigg somehow meet Tony Stark, and then those two meet Doctor Strange and Everett Ross, and then we can have the modern Sherlocks and Watson together!)

Maria and Monica were both great, and I hope we get to see more of them going forward.

Everything involving Goose was gold.  As far as I'm concerned, that awesome cat will be the one to finally defeat Thanos!

Definitely some good humorous moments as always.  I think my audience laughed most at Talos' confusion over which hole Maria was threatening to "shove something in" (along with Carol and Fury giving the answer in unison), but I think my favorite was when someone asked if he can turn into a filing cabinet and his baffled "Why would I do that?!"

Now onto some of the negative/mixed things:

I did think it started out a bit slow, and it wasn't until Carol got to Earth when things picked up.

Agree with what was said above that the action scenes were a bit sloppy and choppy at times.

While the use of the 90s music was fun, there were a few times where it felt like they were trying to hard to capture what the Guardians of the Galaxy does/did, and some just didn't work for me.  In particular, I couldn't get into the bit where they used No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl" for the big fight scene.

While it was great seeing Coulson again, the de-aging of Clark Gregg didn't work like it did with Mr. Jackson.

I thought the insertion of Korath/Djimon Hounsou worked as a secondary villain, but Ronan's appearance(s) felt more tacked on and were more obvious with the whole "Hey, it's this guy again!" feeling.  At least Lee Pace seemed to be having fun over-dramatically vamping it up again.

As someone who has loved Gemma Chan since I first saw her on Humans and the "The Water on Mars" episode of Doctor Who, I was disappointed that Minn-Erva was a by the numbers secondary villain, only here to make a few biting remarks, do a few evil glares, and then get snuffed off unceremoniously.  At least I hopefully see more of her as Astrid in the Crazy Rich Asians sequels!

Still, those issues aside, I really enjoyed it and it sounded like my audience did to, so I think (fingers crossed) its going to be a big success despite the reviews not being as glowing as some of Marvel's more recent work, and certainly despite all of the dumb controversy that seems to happen anytime a major film dares to have a lead who isn't the status quo like most major blockbusters (sorry, will get off my soapbox about that.)

The Endgame tease was great and got a huge response.  Looking forward to seeing how Carol interacts with the rest of the Avengers, especially Steve (and not just because Larson and Evans were both in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World!)

Finally, I totally wasn't expecting them to use the opening banner as a tribute to Stan Lee, by featuring all of his cameos.  Fantastic idea and perfectly executed here.

[benteen]

I thought the movie was good.  Not one of best efforts from Marvel but it's a fun film.  Brie Larson definitely delivered and those trailers definitely didn't do her performance justice.  Samuel L. Jackson was a lot of fun as well and the de-aging technology they used for him was amazing.  With Clark Gregg you can tell there's some digital manipulation but you literally can't tell with Jackson.  It probably helps because Jackson has aged very well.  He and Larson are terrific together and I remembered they were in the Skull Island movie recently.  Ben Mendelsohn was great fun and his character was a pleasant surprise.  The Skrull shapeshifting and how it was utilized was excellent.  Lashana Lynch was also terrific, sharing a strong dynamic with Larson. 

Jude Law was good though I admitted being disappointed with the villains and Marvel seems to be slipping back into their old problems with them in this movie and Ant-Man and the Wasp.  I've seen Law give much better performances so I blame the writers on that one.  Annette Bening is good when she's onscreen particularly in the flashbacks but is underutilized as well.  Also, it never feels like Carol was in any true danger from the threats that she faces.  The film had a lot of humor in it, which I appreciated though some of it felt forced.

Really wonderful Stan Lee tribute in the beginning and I was very happy to see him pop up in his usual cameo in this film.

And yeah, the scene from Endgame after the trailer wanted me seeing more of that film.

Those prior criticisms aside, a good movie and a fun throwback to the Phase One Marvel movies.

Edited March 8, 2019 by benteen

[Cranberry]

The review bombing continues. Captain Marvel has 58,353 user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a "liked it" percentage of 31% after one day. In comparison, Avengers: Infinity War has 52,978 user reviews and 91% after being out for almost a year. Anyone want to try to argue that's legit?

[afterbite]

I thought it was a blast. It did start a little slowly and has some of the same problems that every origin story has, but overall, I thought it was delightful. I loved it when she came into her own. I loved her friendship with Maria and Maria's daughter. I didn't really watch the trailers and don't read the comics, so I was absolutely not expecting the twist of Skrulls as good guys (or Skrulls as hilarious). The 90s references made it all the sweeter for me. Loved the air battle in the grand canyon - it seemed like it could have come out of any one of those pilot-helmed movies of the 80s and 90s. Loved her entrance on Earth.

The pacing wasn't always the best and there were a few moments when it felt like she was still settling into the character, but I will definitely be seeing this again. I even really liked the Kree as enemies here, because it gave it a nice, small scale feeling (up until then end with Ronan, which I didn't exactly love because it was a tad too hammy for me, but I'll give it a pass because Captain Marvel got to wreck a whole lot of stuff and I'm into that.)

I'm hoping that Captain Marvel takes the path of Captain America - moving from an origin story with some typical origin story quibbles into a second entry that's absolutely top of the Marvel pantheon. 

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, Cranberry said:

The review bombing continues. Captain Marvel has 58,353 user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a "liked it" percentage of 31% after one day. In comparison, Avengers: Infinity War has 52,978 user reviews and 91% after being out for almost a year. Anyone want to try to argue that's legit?

Is it too much to ask that everybody treat a female superhero movie like they'd treat a white male superhero movie: with zero accusations of "politicizing" things or "pushing an agenda"?  JFC.

I'm seeing it tonight!  I already spoiled myself on the credits scene, but nothing else.  Couldn't resist, LOL.

[scarynikki12]

@Spartan Girl bring tissues for the opening credits. 

[revbfc]

What I liked more than the Stan Lee opening was the Stan Lee cameo.  I bet Kevin Smith went crazy when he saw it.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

Is it too much to ask that everybody treat a female superhero movie like they'd treat a white male superhero movie: with zero accusations of "politicizing" things or "pushing an agenda"?  JFC.

Except I don't think you mean "everybody". You mean the "whiny, fragile fanboys who are totally different than a certain portion of shippers who shamefully dogpiled Emily VanCamp just because she decided to take an acting job. Because men."

I think perhaps Larson was naive in the way she approached this, and on top of that I think she wasn't prepared for how loud this fandom can get. Let's face it, we want it the way we want it, and God help you if you don't give it to us. (Hi, Joss.) But I don't think she had bad intentions or hates men or is going to destroy the franchise. That we're all so focused on blaming "whiny, fragile fanboys" sort of is political, but that's not even about Brie since the same thing happened over The Last Jedi. I just don't think she had enough experience with literally millions of fans paying attention to her, since aside from her Oscar turn in Room she's only had a couple of movies where she's prominent.

More later once I've let the movie settle, I just wanted to offer some food for thought. 🙂

[Guest]

Opening night numbers are in. $20.7 million putting it fifth among Marvel movies behind Infinity War, Age of Ultron, Black Panther and Civil War. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadline.com/2019/03/captain-marvel-opening-weekend-box-office-breaks-records-1202571905/amp/

6 hours ago, Cranberry said:

The review bombing continues. Captain Marvel has 58,353 user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a "liked it" percentage of 31% after one day. In comparison, Avengers: Infinity War has 52,978 user reviews and 91% after being out for almost a year. Anyone want to try to argue that's legit?

If anyone tries to here are some legit numbers based on people who actually saw the movie from the link above. 

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ComScore/Screen Engine PostTrak scores out of the gate for the 21st Marvel title in the MCU are off to a great start with 4 1/2 stars and a 73% definite recommend. Men overall led over females last night 60% to 40%. It will be interesting to see if that changes over the weekend. Captain Marvel pulled in a 77% general audience, 9% parents and 4% kids. Kids under 12 gave the female superhero five stars with girls giving the pic 100% and boys 91%. In order of demo draw last night men 25+ led at 37% followed by men under 25 (23%), women over 25 (21%) and women under 25 (18%). Women love the pic better than guys, 91% to 82% with females over 25 bestowing the best grades from adults on Carol Danvers at 96% positive.

[afterbite]

32 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Except I don't think you mean "everybody". You mean the "whiny, fragile fanboys who are totally different than a certain portion of shippers who shamefully dogpiled Emily VanCamp just because she decided to take an acting job. Because men."

I think there are definitely the loud-mouth fringe people who are the 'whiny, fragile fanboys', but a distressing number of guys (distressing to me), can't seem to bring themselves to discuss this movie, even in a positive light, without saying 'Yeah, there was your girl power rah rah, but otherwise, this movie was fine. It wasn't too political.' This, to me, reads as 'If a guy has a 'guy power moment', that's normal. It's not a 'guy power' moment. It's just par for the course. If a girl has any scene where she infers that she doesn't care what a guy thinks, it's 'girl power', so okay, okay, let the feminists have it and move on. It was enough that we noticed it and thought it was cheesy, but we're not like those other guys brigading Rotten Tomatoes.'

I'm not saying that I think this way of discussing the movie is deeply malignant, but it's really, really irritating. There's an underlying assumption that if something is empowering for women, it's girl power. If it's empowering for men - what even is that? That's just normal, right?

Edited March 8, 2019 by afterbite

[scrb]

6 hours ago, Cranberry said:

The review bombing continues. Captain Marvel has 58,353 user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a "liked it" percentage of 31% after one day. In comparison, Avengers: Infinity War has 52,978 user reviews and 91% after being out for almost a year. Anyone want to try to argue that's legit?

OTOH Wonder Woman has an 88% RT audience score.

[Cranberry]

Now it doesn't have an audience score at all. I'd noticed earlier that it had dropped from the 58,000+ to 4,296 (I assume after RT cleared out all the bot reviews), but the percentage didn't change, and then the number of reviews started quickly climbing again. Now it just says N/A. I'm glad I don't work at RT right now.

Not that the vocal minority matter anyway, because:

'Captain Marvel' Blasts Off To Massive $350+ Million March Debut

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Thursday's numbers are in, and it appears Marvel Studios' latest superhero franchise Captain Marvel is blasting off to nearly $21 million from early preview screenings in North America. That's in the same range as MCU blockbusters Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther, both of which drew $25 million in Thursday night previews. Both of those earlier films had $75+ million Fridays, which represented about 41% and 37% of their respective domestic opening weekends. If Captain Marvel plays similar to those two Marvel releases, then it's looking at perhaps a $60 million Friday and anywhere between $145-170 million weekend bow. The mid-range would be about $155+/- million, in line with my official prediction of around $150 million.

(The potential 350m is worldwide grosses.)

Also, re: Brie Larson not immediately jumping on the chance to play Captain Marvel:

Brie Larson tells us why she seriously meditated before accepting the role of Captain Marvel

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“I am an introvert and all that stuff is very difficult for me,” says Larson on the line from Los Angeles, “and one of my favourite parts of my experience on this planet is getting to be able to explore it, to be able to observe people, to walk around a park or go to a museum. That's how I fulfill myself and restore myself. So, the idea that I could make a piece of art that then potentially puts a barrier between me and the rest of the human experience felt like a big decision. It meant that I just sat with myself and meditated on it, trying to decide if this is something I can do, and it eventually led me to saying yes.”