"Captain Marvel" Review: A Speed Bump On The Way To "End Game"
We’ve had an amazing journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) thus far! What the studio has been able to do in growing from 2008’s Iron Man to Captain Marvel is incredible. With half the universe gone and the other in peril, Captain Marvel, while full of great chemistry amongst its cast and female empowerment, feels like a speed bump on the road to Avengers: End Game.
The call went out from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) via an old two way pager in Avengers: Infinity War during the end credits of the film. We saw the iconic symbol for Captain Marvel, and this weekend in theaters we get our answer as to who she is and what her powers are, kinda. Set in the 90’s, Vers aka Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) doesn’t remember much about her past but sees it in glimpses within her dreams. She’s being prepared for battle by her mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) of the Kree race. Their enemy are shape-shifters called Skrulls. After an interaction with the Skrulls ends with her landing on planet C-53 aka Earth, Vers must hunt for the Skrulls who landed with her while trying to make sense of her past. Her crash into the local Blockbuster brings a young Nick Fury to the site, and thus begins a buddy comedy as only Marvel can do.
The issue with Captain Marvel is that the first two acts of the film are a small, intimate tale that viewers would have ate up in 2011. The magnitude of what’s going on in the 2019 MCU is so big, that Carol Danvers backstory seems so insignificant in the scheme of it all. I realize it’s not, but the convention of storytelling used by writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is all over the place for the first two thirds of the film. It starts out as a mystery, Hangover-esque tale and then becomes a buddy comedy and is heavy handed in making sure its main character knows that she needs to stay in line. It’s also missing an internal clock (a device in film in which the characters are moving to a deadline) to help us move toward the end of the film. So the search for Skrulls doesn’t have any real weight to it other than what the characters tell us.
Once you get to the final act of the film, things take off! Suddenly, we have an engaging film that you feel more invested in. Don’t get me wrong, this film is packed with brilliant performances by Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos/Keller (in that order). The chemistry of the cast and the way they bounce dialogue off of each other is what excuses the first part of the film. Even smaller roles like Carol’s best friend, Maria (Lashana Lynch) and her role model, Mar-Vell (Annette Bening), are nice character performance additions. The final act also gives us something to run toward in regard to impending danger.
As the marketing for this film suggests, there is a strong message of female empowerment that’s great to see, especially for little girls who get to see a powerful female superhero on the big screen! The 90’s references and soundtrack for the film (while the songs are a bit on the nose coupled with each scene) is a nostalgia fest for those of us who lived through them! The one other problem I had is that the film gives us an understanding of how Captain Marvel obtained her powers, but does not tell the extent nor give an actual clear description of them for us to understand what they are and why the internets are saying she’s so powerful. So be sure to sit next to a fanboy/girl who can explain it to you if you don’t know the history like me.
Overall, the film is another decent entry to the MCU, but it just doesn’t have the same bite and excitement in storytelling that the films released in Phase 3 has had. It will be great to see her in the MCU going forward and she is a welcomed addition. Look, speed bumps are necessary, keep us safe and you have to go over them in order to get to your destination. This is a safe entry installment into the broader franchise and I wish it was more! As always, be sure to stick round through the final credit sequences!
Rating: C+
"Mad Max: Fury Road" Review: Believe the Hype!
“Mad Max: Fury Road” is a cinematic sensory experience for the action movie genre, and movies in general! It’s truly the work of a writer/director who has had 30 years to think about the world that put him on the map, and go back to it with impeccable precision in his vision. Yes, George Miller has set another bar for the post-apocalyptic action genre, and challenges other artists to reach it.
The film doesn’t boast of intricate plot points. In fact, Max (Tom Hardy) informs us in the opening monologue that his mission in life is to survive, and that’s what the movie is in a nutshell. It’s the chase and how our heroes survive that’s so exciting.
In the opening scene, Max is captured by shirtless, branded warriors in white body paint. They use him as a living blood bag for a War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). After their ruler, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), realizes one of his trusted drivers has taken off with his prized breeding wives, he chases after them with the War Boys. Nux, looking for glory, straps Max to the front of his car as an ornament and way to keep isolated from Max.
Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) has one goal, to free the wives and get everyone in the stolen rig to the Green Land. After trying to lose her hunters in a massive sandstorm, everyone who survived wakes from the carnage. Finally free from his captors but carrying his chain gang War Boy Nux with him, Max gets free from his chain and commandeers Furiosa’s rig. While playing a quick game of “Can I trust you?” with weapons, Furiosa and Max decide they need each other to survive.
Max takes shotgun literally and figuratively to Furiosa for most of the rest of the film. This is what makes “Mad Max” great; Miller finds all kinds of creative ways to divert the norms of the genre and owns it. As Miller’s lead character plays support for his second billed, a beautiful chemistry forms between a woman who can hold her own against any man and a man who seeks redemption in helping her cause.
Theron’s Furiosa takes her seat with memorable female action heroes like Weaver’s Ripley and Hamilton’s Sarah Connor! Furiosa has an unmatched toughness, calculated intelligence, and compassion that knows when to cut through her fierce outer shell. Theron is able to convey so much with her eyes, which helps continue to push the story forward without having to spell it out. Hardy takes the reigns of the franchise with an equally stunning performance built from subtle moments. His character is a man of few words, but like Furiosa speaks volumes in his actions.
Miller uses all elements of filmmaking to his advantage. He makes you blink as your ride into the sand storm with Furiosa. The screen flashes hot white and cuts to black multiple times as though you’re in the storm. So many action films have roaring scores during chase sequences, and Miller jokingly throws a flame throwing guitarist on the front of a truck who plays the score along with another truck of drummers. As the score escalates at multiple points in the film, the on screen musicians jump in the frame and race forward on their rigs playing with diegetic and non-diegetic sound in a refreshing way. John Seale’s cinematography paints a vivid picture and eases into soft hues at the appropriate times that supplement the story. These are just a few examples of what makes this film a cohesively beautiful, innovative work of storytelling.
The film has taken a little heat because of Miller’s feminist approach to the film as it introduces and highlights female road warriors, and a heroine who looks to free sex slaves. In actuality, it simply highlights what we rarely see in films like this. What do women who have to survive in a world like this actually look like? Butt-kickin’ survivors! Rather than giving us underwritten characters, every character shines through and has a moment in the film. That’s something to be celebrated!
“Mad Max: Fury Road” is a film achievement to see on the big screen! Believe the hype. It’s worth your hard earned cash this weekend, and next!
Rating: A
"The Homesman" Review
“The Homesman” isn’t a glamorized western. Writer/director Tommy Lee Jones gives us an authentic look at what life on the western frontier was like, and a feminist critique of the genre/time. It’s a tough movie for most people to sit through and swallow, but it’s guaranteed to give you something to chew on after the closing credits.
Hillary Swank is Mary Bee Cuddy, a 31 year old, principled, hardworking single woman. Whatever happened up until this point in her life, it’s obvious that her work ethic has brought her the “American Dream of the time” minus a husband and kids. In the opening scenes of the film, Bob Giffen (Evan Jones), the local single man likely to be her suitor, gives her the adjectives of “plain and bossy” as the reason he won’t marry her. She’s obviously far from plain, amassing her own lot and cattle on the edge of the unknown of U.S. territory. She’s what you may call an independent woman today, but she’s referred to as an “uncommon” woman in the film.
When three women in their small town take a mental turn for the worst, no man has the guts to make the journey back east to take the women to a place where they can receive care. Mary Bee does. She secures the help of George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) after saving him from death by hanging. George is an unkempt, self-centered drifter; he’s everything Mary Bee is not. While Mary Bee is on a mission to ensure the safety of the three women, George is on a mission to earn $300 for assisting with the “cuckoo clocks”.
Each woman being transported has their own issues wrapped in feminine disenfranchisements of the time. Gro Svendsen (Sonja Richter), a Norwegian woman who has been repeatedly raped by her husband in an effort to give him a son, howls and bites at anyone who comes near her. Arabella Sours (Grace Gummer), only 19 years old, doesn’t move much or speak. She just holds on to a rag doll that subs for the three children she lost to diphtheria. Theoline Belknap (Miranda Otto), drowned her own baby in an outhouse.
As the group makes the journey east, it’s clear that nature itself is not going to make it an easy ride. Winter is brutal, nights are cold, food is scarce, and bridges haven’t been built to walk over streams or rivers. The harsh reality of survival during that time is made clear as each day passes in the film.
Jones is able to put a magnifying glass on the time and deconstruct the role that women and men played throughout “The Homesman”. While he pushes for feminist context, he trips over it by missing wonderful opportunities for female empowerment. As the duo gets closer to their destination, Mary Bee, despite all of her wonderful qualities and material possessions, feels incomplete as a woman without a husband and makes choices that shatter her weight in the film. All of the women in the film have an identity that is closely associated to a man or lack their of.
“The Homesman” shows us that the frontier was a man’s world. A strong moral compass could get you killed, and self-interest would help you thrive during that era. Jones’ statement on women during the time is made clear throughout the movie, but fell short of something remarkable. Regardless, the film is memorable, and will make you grateful you only had to watch a movie about the frontier rather than live it out.
Rating: C+