The Captain Marvel User Review Thread (TAG SPOILERS!!!)

[flickchick85]

Yeah, I could be totally wrong, but I suspect this is a film that will age very well for a lot of people, once we get away from expectations a bit.

I've already seen it more in theaters than I did BP, and by the last viewing of BP, the rewatch was starting to feel like a bit of a chore for me. That has yet to happen with this film, as the little details have only made me appreciate it more with each viewing.

 

[Patrick77]

I think that this has to do with how the lead character's story is presented.

Spoiler: Very minor spoilers.

Basically: it is fragmented.

Also the performance by the lead actress. We are used to these performances being fairly bombastic and extroverted from the beginning, but Larson's performance in this movie is more about that aspect of the character emerging slowly. Initially, it is more subtle and introverted.

I almost completely missed that second part on opening night, but definitely not the second time I saw the movie.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I really liked this film. I also liked the other origin films and based on the reviews I thought it might be on that level, but was pleasantly surprised. I have it being much closer to Black Panther than Doctor Strange. The characters and performances were good, but that's true of pretty much every Marvel movie. This was easily the best Nick Fury has been in any of the films. I was surprised at how invested I was in the plot. It held my attention the whole way through. I was also concerned about the flashback sequences, as I had heard that a lot of the movie was told in flashbacks ala Batman Begins (albeit more poorly), but that wasn't really the case. There are a few flashback scenes that reveal specific plot details so that we as an audience find out when the characters do, but there aren't many. There wasn't really anything unconventional about the narrative here.

I enjoyed the action especially

Spoiler

at the end which is maybe the best display of power in any of these movies. I loved the third act here in general and it features one of my favorite final confrontations of any CBM. Yon Rogg does the stereotypical "fight me like a man" thing to the hero to "prove themselves" and Carol rightfully just blasts him because she has nothing to prove. It was the best scene in the movie and will probably go down as her defining moment for me irregardless of where they go forward in future films. It was her "I am Iron Man" moment.

Was it a perfect film? No. Larson was fine, but she wasn't scene stealer the way a RDJ or Chris Evans were. It didn't look particularly great. But it was still an immensely fun adventure and a great start for the character. One of the better Marvel movies. 8/10

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Yeah, I could be totally wrong, but I suspect this is a film that will age very well for a lot of people, once we get away from expectations a bit.

I've already seen it more in theaters than I did BP, and by the last viewing of BP, the rewatch was starting to feel like a bit of a chore for me. That has yet to happen with this film, as the little details have only made me appreciate it more with each viewing.

I don't know if I will ultimately like this better or BP better. There are some things I think both do better than the other.

The case for Captain Marvel:

Spoiler

Both films start with the plot headed in one direction (Skrulls, Klaw) only to flip things around and make the film really be about something else halfway through (Yon Rogg/Ronan, Killmonger). I definitely prefer the first half of Captain Marvel to Black Panther. I think Black Panther starts kind of slow. It explores the culture of Wakanda, but nothing really that interesting happens (aside from Andy Serkis being fun as always) until Killmonger reveals himself and gives the movie some real purpose. By comparison, the first half of Captain Marvel does have real purpose, it just flips it on its head halfway through. The Skrulls are more interesting than Klaw, and Carol is taken out of her element and starts growing as a character MUCH sooner than T'Challa does in BP. I haven't rewatched CM yet, but I have the feeling that will aid it after multiple ones.

 

[Schlosser85]

I dug Captain Marvel. The 90s setting and sci fi angle gave it a fresher feel. It was cool to see younger Fury and Coulson, and Ronan and Korath again. Goose was adorbs.

Spoiler

I have zero investment in Mar-Vell so I didn’t care about him being a woman. Fury’s eye was anti-climactic but I liked the Avengers bit actually. I wish Ben Mendelsohn would learn to stop grinding out every word through his teeth. But hey, in this he was only sort of a villain, so wow, mixing it up! I liked the misdirection about who was good and bad (or more so in either direction).

 

[Manasrepublic]

This was a decent film. Nothing too spectacular. I enjoyed it quite a bit but there were clearly some oddly acted bits, jarring directional and music choices, and it felt like multiple solid scenes that weren’t very well stitched together. The action and sfx and general performances were pretty good. 7/10 for me. It didn’t feel as fresh or unique and different as it could have been. Marvel needs to change up their styles or be a little bold from time to time. A lot of the film felt too ‘safe.’

 

[Web-Head]

Yeah, I could be totally wrong, but I suspect this is a film that will age very well for a lot of people, once we get away from expectations a bit.

I've already seen it more in theaters than I did BP, and by the last viewing of BP, the rewatch was starting to feel like a bit of a chore for me. That has yet to happen with this film, as the little details have only made me appreciate it more with each viewing.

I felt the same way when seeing Black Panther the second time in theaters. That almost 2.5 hour run time felt closer to 3 hours whereas the 2+ hour run time for this flew by.

I could tell right after Captain Marvel ended that it'll be an MCU movie I frequently rewatch

 

[beenie123]

I felt the same way when seeing Black Panther the second time in theaters. That almost 2.5 hour run time felt closer to 3 hours whereas the 2+ hour run time for this flew by.

I could tell right after Captain Marvel ended that it'll be an MCU movie I frequently rewatch

I felt the same way when seeing Black Panther the second time in theaters. That almost 2.5 hour run time felt closer to 3 hours whereas the 2+ hour run time for this flew by.

I could tell right after Captain Marvel ended that it'll be an MCU movie I frequently rewatch

Yeah I think its the nature of how the first acts of both these movies are structured that one can 'feel' longer or be more re-watchable than the other. But imo there is a reason why the majority of people view black panther higher than it and how rewatchable it is has little to do with it.

Spoiler

The first act of Black Panther is almost all world-building, set-ups and establishing characters. Nothing that drives the plot or moves it forward in any meaningful way happens until T'challa gets alerted about Klaw stealing vibranium(a good 35 minutes into the movie). In comparison Captain Marvel during that same time had been tasked on a mission a couple of scenes into the movie, it goes wrong and she gets kidnapped, she manages to escape and then lands on earth and then is almost immediately involved in a chase scene after and this all happens in the first act before the movie turns into something like a buddy cop movie with SLJ about finding her past. Pretty much from the first minute to the last of that movie there is something driving the plot.

So I can totally understand how Black Panther can feel longer compared to it as it takes its time to really get into. Upon rewatching that first Act especially can feel jarring once seen already because of how little happens as far as the plot is concerned. Its my favourite and imo the best MCU movie but there are still probably about 5 other once I would view as more rewatchable than it.

Where Black Panther stands out is that, the groundwork done in the first act in respect to establishing wakanda, its traditions, the characters(including T'challa) and their viewpoint on how it should be is what made the reveals and what transpired in the 2nd and 3rd acts more meaningful. It accomplishes that so much better than Captain Marvel did where it felt so rushed through and fast-paced that the big character hero moment and twists never felt earned and pretty much void to me.

As a result of one movie taking its time to lay the foundations the scene where T'challa confronts his ancestors with his second visit to the ancestral plane has more of an impact than when Carol has her 'hero' moment and takes off the thing on her neck that was supposedly holding her back. In turn the audience can become more invested in the 3rd act of Black Panther because of how well set-up and written the characters were leading up to it. So much so the moment Killmonger said his final words also felt earned compared to when Carol confronts Jude laws character at the end which could've been powerful but is ultimately played for jokes. That's what good writing does which unfortunately didn't seem to be case for captain marvel where the end almost felt like a parody to me once she was able to unleash her full powers.

At least that's why I think Black Panther worked much better for many people compared to Captain Marvel despite it arguably not being as rewatchable to some or the first act feeling 'slower'.

 

[Patrick77]

The 3rd act of Black Panther is something special. Incredibly impactful. Not many sequences in these movies can compare to it.

Having said that, I thought that the 3rd act of this movie was definitely a strength, and did compare favorably to most other origin stories that I can think of. The problem is often that the final confrontation can feel rather formulaic, and rather lacking in meaningful character material, but that wasn't the case here. Or at least I didn't think so.

 

[Web-Head]

Yeah I think its the nature of how the first acts of both these movies are structured that one can 'feel' longer or be more re-watchable than the other. But imo there is a reason why the majority of people view black panther higher than it and how rewatchable it is has little to do with it.

Spoiler

The first act of Black Panther is almost all world-building, set-ups and establishing characters. Nothing that drives the plot or moves it forward in any meaningful way happens until T'challa gets alerted about Klaw stealing vibranium(a good 35 minutes into the movie). In comparison Captain Marvel during that same time had been tasked on a mission a couple of scenes into the movie, it goes wrong and she gets kidnapped, she manages to escape and then lands on earth and then is almost immediately involved in a chase scene after and this all happens in the first act before the movie turns into something like a buddy cop movie with SLJ about finding her past. Pretty much from the first minute to the last of that movie there is something driving the plot.

So I can totally understand how Black Panther can feel longer compared to it as it takes its time to really get into. Upon rewatching that first Act especially can feel jarring once seen already because of how little happens as far as the plot is concerned. Its my favourite and imo the best MCU movie but there are still probably about 5 other once I would view as more rewatchable than it.

Where Black Panther stands out is that, the groundwork done in the first act in respect to establishing wakanda, its traditions, the characters(including T'challa) and their viewpoint on how it should be is what made the reveals and what transpired in the 2nd and 3rd acts more meaningful. It accomplishes that so much better than Captain Marvel did where it felt so rushed through and fast-paced that the big character hero moment and twists never felt earned and pretty much void to me.

As a result of one movie taking its time to lay the foundations the scene where T'challa confronts his ancestors with his second visit to the ancestral plane has more of an impact than when Carol has her 'hero' moment and takes off the thing on her neck that was supposedly holding her back. In turn the audience can become more invested in the 3rd act of Black Panther because of how well set-up and written the characters were leading up to it. So much so the moment Killmonger said his final words also felt earned compared to when Carol confronts Jude laws character at the end which could've been powerful but is ultimately played for jokes. That's what good writing does which unfortunately didn't seem to be case for captain marvel where the end almost felt like a parody to me once she was able to unleash her full powers.

At least that's why I think Black Panther worked much better for many people compared to Captain Marvel despite it arguably not being as rewatchable to some or the first act feeling 'slower'.

Spoiler

That's part of the reason why I loved this movie as much as I did, because of how action packed the first act is.

I understand Black Panther needing world building and fleshing out the characters, but I just did not find T'Challa all that interesting. Especially compared to his appearance in Civil War. I actually don't mind the first act in Black Panther. It's just nothing aside from the supporting cast stood out to me. I didn't even think Kilmonger was some amazing villain.

Personally, I loved the Carol/Yon-Rogg moment. Him saying she still needed to "prove it" and she realizing she doesn't have to prove anything to him.

My opinion on Black Panther vs Captain Marvel seems to be swapped with most - where I found this to be one of my favorite MCU movies so far and think BP is middle of the road MCU in the 11-15 range.

A big reason why is that I love Carol and I don't find T'Challa that interesting and overall I just enjoyed Captain Marvel more.

 

[THORin]

Spoiler

That's part of the reason why I loved this movie as much as I did, because of how action packed the first act is.

I understand Black Panther needing world building and fleshing out the characters, but I just did not find T'Challa all that interesting. Especially compared to his appearance in Civil War. I actually don't mind the first act in Black Panther. It's just nothing aside from the supporting cast stood out to me. I didn't even think Kilmonger was some amazing villain.

Personally, I loved the Carol/Yon-Rogg moment. Him saying she still needed to "prove it" and she realizing she doesn't have to prove anything to him.

My opinion on Black Panther vs Captain Marvel seems to be swapped with most - where I found this to be one of my favorite MCU movies so far and think BP is middle of the road MCU in the 11-15 range.

A big reason why is that I love Carol and I don't find T'Challa that interesting and overall I just enjoyed Captain Marvel more.

Absolutely agreed on all points.

 

[FunkMiller]

7.5/10. Pretty good, but nothing earth shattering. Larson was a weak link. Jackson was a blast.

Thanos is ****ed.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

I don't know. Wasnt among the greatest of the genre. Good graphics, good humor at times.

They made light of the entire MCU imo. Iron Man's origin had a real gravity to it. The Avengers and Civil War had developed an heir of almost fear. Coulson and quicksilver, rhodey's spine, and then the snap in IW... nick fury's eye was the biggest mystery in the mcu and one of the darker. But CM made all of that a little too carefree and shallow. And Thanos no longer seems like a threat.

Hmmm.... idk ill let it percolate a little more. But it wasn't a bad movie. 7.5 or 8/10

 

[Manasrepublic]

Thanos was also screwed against Thor. The son of Odin just made a poor choice in where to strike first....

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

In what way did it make Thanos no longer seem like a threat? He wasn't even in the movie.

 

[Madam-Shogun]

Marvel needs to change up their styles or be a little bold from time to time. A lot of the film felt too ‘safe.’

This is my feelings towards all of the post phase 2 MCU films, though you were a lot nicer about Captain Marvel than I was. I definitely didn't hate Captain Marvel tho, but I'll never watch it again. It just felt very meh to me. Fury was good because Sam is always good. And Brie still seems wrong for the part even after I watched it. So my opinion of her hasn't changed. Nothing really stood out for me. I felt that their should have been more depth and gravity to the background of the Skull and Kree conflict. It still might happen I guess.

So basically It was just AIGHT to me.

 

[8ulk87]

I watched the movie yesterday and i have to say this.

Its a decent movie which i enjoyed but its nothing special. Another case of overhyped.

7,5/10 for me.

The action was luckluster.
They made the Skrulls wimps.
How Fury loses his eye is completely idiotic and kinda undermines the Winter Solider.
It hit retcon teritorry in a few places but i guess its almost inevitable at this point.

 

[Manasrepublic]

Not to start a comparison war but the one thing I really do like about the DC films is that each film has such a different look, a different vision or bold out there choices being attempted or some attempts to try new things even if they always stick. MOS, WW, Aquaman, BVS, and now with Shazam looking to rock both critically and likely the BO, each film looks so different from each other with different interesting styles and visions. The one film that was totally forgettable was WBs attempt to mimic marvel and thats JL.

Marvel’s films as much as I love them are slightly starting to look and feel like variants of the same flavor, in terms of look, style, visuals, tenor and pacing, dialogue etc.

I hope I don’t get absolutely blasted for this as it wasn’t my intention to start some flame war. I love the success of Marvel and the universe building; I guess I am hoping for more self-contained intimate personal stories like Winter Soldier or even the first Iron Man or GOTG. I also hope the next series of MCU films all look and feel different from each other especially in terms of visuals

 

[SKSpawn]

I just saw this the other night and I thought it was pretty decent; despite a lot of negativity surrounding her performance from the trailers, Brie Larson was gorgeous and really good throughout and I love how, when used properly, this de-aging effect could mean we never have to worry about recasting characters ever again.

As a cheap plug, I have a more in-depth review on my blog, if anyone's interested.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

For those interested here is my podcast's CAPTAIN MARVEL Spoiler Review Discussion. Review proper starts at 36:13. Or listen from the start for some banter as well as the crew touching on the "controversy" surrounding the Brie Larson led MCU film.

Podcast Episodes — TO BE CONTINUED... (A Fanboy Podcast)

 

[Web-Head]

My 11 year old niece' thoughts on Captain Marvel
- That might be my favorite Marvel movie yet (She hasn't seen all of them yet but a good amount)
- "I'm just happy a woman got her own superhero movie"
- "I'd give it a 10 out of 10"

That's what it's all about, guys.

 

[Zarex]

I saw CM this afternoon and both my wife and I liked it quite a bit. My wife doesn't always care for comic book movies, but the combination of a cute cat and a female hero kicking a** persuaded her to tag along.

I was expecting mid tier Marvel based on the user responses, but I would put it closer to the top. And I absolutely loved

Spoiler

The depiction of Carol's amnesia and Mar-Vell's treason from the comics, Talos joining Team Carol and the sympathetic Skrulls, and Goose

A solid 8 out of 10 for me.

 

[Timebomb]

Just got to say that the movie definitely holds up and improves on repeat viewings.

 

[First Avenger]

Yeah, it holds up pretty well. The story flows better and the performances are still wonderful. Saying this just feels like a Phase 1 movie is a bit unfair.

 

[harlequinade]

Phase 1 movie is imho not a criticism, though. Those were mostly great