Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
That's very true. There's a huge gap between when Howard found it and when Fury reveals they still have it at the end of Thor. That's plenty of time for others to put their finger in the Tesseract pot.
I wonder if Mar-Vell knew Howard and got his help to borrow it. Hell, maybe Howard didn't totally make the Arc reactor on his own. He might have gotten help from Mar-Vell in return for lending out the Tesseract. Maybe Howard, Mar-Vell and Talos all worked together in this venture. I wonder how much Howard knew?
One Strip! One Strip!
Saw it, really liked it. My only real complaints (and one of them is a nitpick):
1) Mar-Vell. This one's the nitpick, but I feel like my reasoning is weird enough to warrant some in-depth explanation. Like, okay, I get it. Comics Mar-Vell is boring. And I'm not saying that actors have to match their characters, Idris Elba as Heimdall is a great pick and critically underutilized across the MCU. But like. Mar-Vell already gets the short end of the stick. He's going to go down in superhero history as "The least interesting Captain Marvel who people still remember", and the only reason people are going to remember him at all is because he was the first one. When they picked Carol to be the MCU Captain Marvel, it was pretty much the final nail in his chance at popularity, and this is probably going to be the only movie Mar-Vell features in aside from maybe an occasional flashback. I feel like the least they could've done was gotten his gender right. I know he's never been big in the spotlight, but if it wasn't for him (by virtue of at least having had the name first) we might never have gotten Carol as Captain Marvel in the first place. Not everything has to be 100% accurate to the comics, I'll always agree to that, I just... I dunno. Feel like Mar-Vell deserved at least a little more accuracy than what we got. Doesn't actively detract from anything though, unlike...
2) How Fury Lost His Eye. God, that's a reverse HYDRA twist if ever there was one, and I hate it so much for undercutting such a cool idea from one of my favorite MCU movies. "Last time I trusted someone I lost an eye" is just. So damn good. It just implies so much about Fury and his paranoia and his mindset without actually telling us anything, and with this movie being set in the past and having impostor shapeshifters I was really excited to see how it played out. Now it makes that line retroactively hilarious because it's just Fury trying not to admit his eye got scratched out by a space kitty and I absolutely hate it even as I laugh at it.
Other than that, thought it was well-acted, pretty well-paced (except maybe the beginning, but it picks up quick enough that I didn't think it warranted its own bullet point), and I actually really appreciate the play with expectations of both the Skrull and Kree being bad to just "no, it's only the Kree who are assholes". They knew comics fans would run rampant with the idea of Skrulls and assume it was setting up Secret Invasion, and no. Apparently we're not going there. That's brilliant.
Edited by Khfan429 on Mar 8th 2019 at 10:06:39 AM
Actually Nick Fury losing the eye as he did is the perfect treatment given his mythologizing in the “present”. Dude is a spymaster and a master bullshitter. Why would he be telling the truth when he can embellish a mundane event to enhance his mystique instead?
And I thought the smear campaign against Dark Phoenix was bad.
I mean, it's not even that much of a lie. He never elaborates beyond saying he's got it for trusting someone he shouldn't have, and he was WAY too comfortable with the flerken even after he knew what it actually was.
Just got back myself, and I quite liked it.
It doesn't break any grounds for the MCU, but it's still a competent entry, and arguably better than half of Phase 3. I grew up in LA in the 90's, so the 90's fanservice, to me, was fine and fun. Carol herself was fine, and way more tolerable than she has been in the actual comics the past few years. My favorite character was Talos, partly because Ben Mendelson is one of those actors who makes everything better, and because I was genuinely engaged with his story and his stakes.
We have twenty years of nothing for Carol between here and Endgame, so there's a lot to work with involving the inevitable sequel. I want to know if the Skrulls make it, goddamnit.
I have a nitpick complaint, and it's that in the first Avengers film, Nick Fury specifically points to Thor and stated his coming to Earth was the wake up call that Earth is not alone. Here in Captain Marvel, he pals around with some aliens years before that. I wish they found a way to better blend that into what has been previously stated.
Also, Stan Lee reading his line off of a Mallrats script got a big laugh out of me.
Edited by AzLiddell on Mar 8th 2019 at 10:50:17 AM
Saw it now. I would put it equal in my eyes with The First Avenger, in that it has a really great hero and supporting cast but the third act action gets kinda generic.
Brie Larson as Carol had me hooked from her first scenes. I really liked her playful propensity for poking at rules and pranking those she meets. That said, I'm not sure if her big climactic moment was misaimed or if I just misunderstood it. I thought it was supposed to be that suppressing her emotions was bad and she'd regain her power by letting her emotions flow, but instead it seems her captors were right and she did succeed by focusing her mind off of her emotions and only on her goal? Not quite sure.
Every scene with Maria made me want to cry. Good golly did I care so much about them. And I loved Monica sweet-talking her mom into taking part in the climax.
Peeved that Gemma Chan's Minn-Erva didn't do much and then eventually got shot down. Maybe the new She-Ra's still very occupied in my brainspace, but I absolutely would want her to come back in the Captain Marvel sequel and be the Catra to Carol's Adora.
They did not need to shoot the space scenes as dark as they were. The colors deserved to pop like in Ragnarok and Black Panther.
And when I saw pictures of toast floating around on Twitter, I thought it was going to be a really significant detail involving Carol discerning if Fury is a Skrull through his toast preferences but it never came up again. 
Edited by Tuckerscreator on Mar 8th 2019 at 11:14:47 AM
Also saw it today.
I would say its not top 5 material.
But I still really enjoyed it.
Especially the climax, Marvel hasn't really done a movie that I can think of exactly like it. Where once she breaks the limiter, nothing really poses a threat to her afterwards. Its almost literally like she's suddenly playing Dynasty Warriors.
It felt fresher than the recent Marvel movies I've seen for some reason.
Count me in on the side of "Liked the explanation for Fury's Eye".
I think maybe aside from the climax the strongest parts were the Maria and her family parts. That were really well done.
Been giving it some more thought, and while I still think movie is fine, I think you can chalk me up on the "movie doesn't play well with the established universe" side.
It's not THAT big, but there's enough that it makes me do a double take and think "well, thats a bunch of previous phase stuff that doesn't make much sense with this new context".
They could've done a better job on that front.
Edited by MrSeyker on Mar 9th 2019 at 12:22:43 PM
Ooh, just remembered from the Endgame clip they played: Steve still has his beard and Nat her blond hair by the time Carol shows up.
Ok, so I was a bit of a Dick Van Dyke earlier in here so I apologise for that..fresh out the movie yesterday and my emotions were all over the place, and not in a healthy way. I'll give this another go:
I went in with a very open mind, but I can't sugercoat my feelings. It was pretty bad.
Were this 2009, I could see myself probably liking it a bit more since it linked largely to Phase One continuity more and I perhaps would have rated it higher in part to learning new things, but as it was a throwback film coming off after many films that have since experimented and expanded on larger aspects of the mythos, it came across as a retread of old ground. Despite being raised in the decade, 1990s nostalgia also doesn't really appeal to me all that much. I'm numb to nostalgia these days, so a lot of the references just didn't click for me.
I also didn't think there were too many stakes in the movie, nor did I think Carol really 'earned' anything. She gets her memories back all too easily and without any visible tension, journey or struggle. She was way too cosy with her friends (both on the Kree side and her regular human friends), I'd have preferred a bigger misunderstanding at Rambeu's home with the Skrulls with a bit of a battle before things settled in, but as such the middle act is so restrained and boring.
"Keep your emotions in check" would work for me as a plot thread if Brie were capable of displaying any emotion.
I wanted there to be a bit more of a balance with Jude Law, he just becomes an absolute moustache twirler as soon as Carol realises he's one, and I feel that was a betrayal of the way he'd been portrayed up to that specific point. 180s are fine if you see them built up, but the switches are just jarring
The third act was far too one sided, the Kree fleet were next to no threat at all, Ronan didn't need to be there, he didn't interact with Carol, just Jude, it may as well have just been him on the hologram the whole time as a a cameo for what little he did being there physically.
Goose gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "cat scratch fever", I can't believe they wasted Fury for most of the movie playing about with this thing after such a promising start with him and Carol prowling around looking for information.
I'm surprised Marvel have never put out an actual team called "The Protectors", there's some food for thought
Overall, a 2/5. Tried to give it a pass but my well-documented frustrations with this franchise continue.
Edited by Zarius on Mar 9th 2019 at 1:24:41 AM
No emotion? None? Not her fondness for pranking her friends with electric zaps and prodding questions? Not when she can’t contain her anger against Yon-Rogg and sends him flying 30 feet? Not her growing doubt while her seemingly happy memories play? Not her SCREM? Not her self-assured composure when demanding info on a planet where everyone thinks she’s some weird cosplayer? Not her warmth toward Maria as she begins to reindulge in their old rapport? Not her smarminess with Monica, making the youngster feel included, not talked down to? And even then, you’re still certain that it’s the fault of the Academy Award winning actress and not a case like pre-Ragnarok Hemsworth being given nothing script-wise to work with?
Edited by Tuckerscreator on Mar 9th 2019 at 1:54:42 AM
So I have to admit, while I have a set of standard criticisms of the MCU films (I've seen all except Dark World and both Ant Man), this was so generic and bland I found myself bored. I've felt that Thor was their worst film and this is on par with that. It's inoffensive, but everything from scripting to acting to direction to editing was really bad. I will say, I get the feeling that 20 minutes or so were removed from the film, so much of my criticisms may be from seeing these gaps.
For starters, the film is going in about 5 directions at once almost from the get-go, which results in the narrative forgetting what plotline they were trying to progress at any given moment. This means a lot of things are happening (Carol finding evidence of her past, the origin of her powers, tracking down the Skrulls, figuring out what they're after, reuniting with her Kree team) which keeps up a superficial pacing but doesn't amount to much. The sloppy editing doesn't help, we get a glimpse of what appears to be her father and brother in a flashback, but they don't show up again.
I do think Brie Larson was miscast. She's a fine actress but known for very warm, humanistic performances. Carol needed to be someone much tougher and more commanding. The direction and script on this is lacking, filled with platitudes of "You're the strongest person I know, always supporting me and my daughter" but when she declares "My name is Carol Danvers" we still know more about "Vers" and she is still behaving like "Vers" (plasma shooting Kree commando). A simple theoretical fix there would be to have Larson act more aggressive and ruthless at the start, only to slowly break down as she remembers fragments of her past life and become more warm and friendly. Instead it's a fairly one note performance throughout, with only marginal variation (sarcastic joke scattered throughout).
And that is where I found the climax lacking. We get no exploration of what her powers actually entail, she acts as though it's a normal thing to have and uses it is very utilitarian ways. As such once it hits the limit break in the third act it's not played as her mastering her powers or rising to the challenge but simply having a big enough stick that everyone else is at a disadvantage. Indeed, the fight against her former team has very sloppy choreography, portraying her as clumsy and just overpowering everyone with sheer force rather than skill and ingenuity.
I wasn't even sure we would be getting Mar-Vell in the movie, so I was really happy when we did and I excited to see them as a woman, too. It makes more sense that Carol would attach herself to a female scientist — in the comics, it was the '60s and they were using Carol as Mar-Vell's love interest, which they thankfully rejected here.
Plus, it pisses off misogynists, which always makes me happy.
Queen of Good Things, Honest
I saw this last night and felt like it was a little slow to get going, but once it did, I was hooked. Carol is the best. The theater I was in actually applauded the screen when it was finished, which I am 100% not used to. @.@
One thing I absolutely loved is that Carol is not a finesse fighter. She's not an agility-based combatant. She is 100% a bruiser, like Thor or Hulk, and that made me so happy.
Also, my cat now thinks I'm crazy because I keep picking him up and asking him, "Who's a little Flerken? Is it you? Are you a Flerken?"
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
One thing I absolutely loved is that Carol is not a finesse fighter. She's not an agility-based combatant. She is 100% a bruiser, like Thor or Hulk, and that made me so happy.
Well, that just adds one more reason for me to see it. There's something I love about seeing a normal-sized woman capable of tearing steel apart with her bare hands.
The Mad Doctor
I didn't enjoy this because it's a bad movie. I didn't enjoy it because I expected more from a Phase Three film. If you said if this movie came out in Phase 1 or Phase 2 and I would enjoy it then, you wouldn't be wrong. Nothing really came out as memorable about the movie other than the climax.
I thought it was kind of neat that Carol starts off as very much a "shoot first, ask questions never" fighter, which is something you don't usually get to see with female characters. I will agree that I wished they'd had better lighting/better color grading for a lot of the scenes in space, since it was a little hard for me to tell what was going on because it was so dark. But overall, I'd definitely be willing to see it again.
Also, I really liked the "Prove to me you're strong enough to not rely on—(gets photon blasted into a pile of rocks)" bit near the end.
Edited by unexplainedEnemy on Mar 9th 2019 at 12:05:18 PM
they're gonna find intelligent life up there on the moon/and the canterbury tales will shoot up to the top of the best-seller list
Edited by alliterator on Mar 9th 2019 at 9:30:53 AM
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
The funny thing about that to me is that:
1) For some reason, I can't help but think there was a tiny bit of sincerity in his statement of pride (sure, he was trying to play her, but I still feel like on some weird level he had come to care).
2) Her just blasting him showed she finally learned not to be ruled by her emotions. Instead of falling for his goading, she just nails him because yeah, she doesn't have anything to prove.
The first one is likely me just being stupid, but I think the second one works well.
One Strip! One Strip!
I love these Pitch Meetings.
Edited by alliterator on Mar 9th 2019 at 9:40:40 AM
The Head of the Hydra
I can believe that he genuinly felt some measure of pride in Carol.
Sure he tried to goad her into fighting hand to hand for his own advantage but I can also believe he wanted to finally she if she had what it takes.
People can be complex enough to feel two different things after all.
Edited by slimcoder on Mar 9th 2019 at 9:42:57 AM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
I just love thinking of his thought process there. "Oookay, she just completely annihilated an entire warship. But... if I can goad her into fighting me hand to hand, maybe I have a-" <gets blasted>
I also love how she puts out her hand as if to lift him to his feet in a sign of respect, then drags him all the way to his spaceship instead.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 9th 2019 at 9:47:57 AM
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
The directors break down the train fight scene. "There was no elder abuse, we swear."
Like I said, its easy to explain the cube's detour.
Lawson was working in space tech for the USAF and NASA, and Pegasus developed the Quinnjet which became SHIELD standard, so everything is connected.
And I understand why, as it is the only infinity stone they can use to explain Carol's powers.
I'm just not a fan of this background wrinkle.