A kid had to face the world in his own animated version and conquer life's biggest monster. ANI (The Harvest) It's as if a child's imagination is a safe haven, a place where the world is a playground for all the possibilities the mind could think of. And even the tight and humble space called home, situated on a busy Metro could not hinder the inquisitive headspace of a young Mithi (played by Zyren Dela Cruz), a boy who accomplishes the day by playing with his colorful toy robots that perform a vital role in his imaginary narrative. With a loving father and a mother that sings him a self-assuring lullaby, Mithi is blissfully unaware of the harsh reality. But life decided to toy with his fate, and Mithi's perfect little world is now showing its cracks, putting his vulnerability to the test and slowly depriving him of his happiness he thought would last forever. And through his eyes, the world suddenly transforms itself into a menacing monster. Set in a lush
With all the backlash surrounding the film's marketing from its lackluster trailers to its lead actress Brie Larson and her sociopolitical views, I might say that the overall presentation of the film did deliver and was entertaining in both action and comedic relief, as one might expect from a Marvel standard of movies. However, what I thought was a misfire in the film was not its story nor its villain but the lead actress' performance itself. And no, I'm not talking about her social commentaries, which is by the way not really used to push for an unwanted agenda. I'm talking about her, as Carol Danvers, outside of her Captain Marvel costume when she's not boasting her flashy superpowers.
Was she insufferable to watch? By all means, no.
Larson's Carol Danvers stayed true to the heroine's comic book roots to say the least and had a great back-to-back banter with co-star Samuel L. Jackson as the deaged Nick Fury. What didn't hit the mark was Larson's way of conversing her thoughts. Personally, despite the efforts and some funny lines, there was still a stench of what-am-i-doing-exactly attitude that she invokes and at times becomes flat and uninspired. In her defense though, Carol Danvers in the comics was not a particularly energetic and fun character either and so if anything, she did just took the part as was told by the source material itself.
Interestingly enough, Captain Marvel is second to the last movie that will be released under Marvel's third phase before going all-out with a post-Thanos chapter, with Sony's Spiderman: Far From Home opening the next phase of their cosmic continuity.
Set in the 90s, Captain Marvel follows Carol Danvers, an Earth-born ex-pilot, who absorbed a foreign energy during an explosion and was trained by the noble Kree empire, thus honing her unmatched capabilities and God-like powers, never before seen in any Marvel movies. Thrown into the mix was an impending invasion of the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race who were at war with the Kree for centuries, lead by their commanding chief Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).
One thing that Marvel does great is their origin stories and how their heroes become an integral part of future events and this movie proves just that. Despite the efforts, I thought that the first half of the film was a bit of a sluggish set up. You are introduced into this new character, tracing her memories from bits of information that she can remember as we go along. Nothing wrong with that really, but it's just that it could've been trimmed slightly and get to the point already without shoe-horning some scenes that adds little to what was the film was to suppose to accomplish.
Going forward however, right when the film starts to get its gears going, was when the film really got exciting and had me convinced that yes, this is a hero. Important to note is that the film had a nice nostalgic reminders of the 90s with their use of music, the setting and even the grunge cinematic filter felt very classic and specific to that era.
What about the other characters you might ask? Well, I'm just gonna say that Samuel L. Jackson owns his role. Every scene that he's in, you cannot help yourself but fathom the fact that he is so natural at what he does and he definitely uplifts Larson's mixedbag presence. The deaging technology used to make him looked younger was very seamless and not in a minute did I thought that I was looking at a computer-enhanced face. I can't say the same about Clark Gregg's Coulson as his deaged form was a hit or miss as there were multiple times that he looked off and was borderline crossing an uncanny valley territory.
Jude Law as Yon-Rogg did good at what he was supposed to do but isn't a particular stand-out either, as you can tell by a mile what his deal was and at times comes off as generic and predictable.
Gemma Chan as Minnerva, an elite member of the Star Force, looked great in her costume and has a sultry and commanding presence to her. Sadly, I thought the film didn't used the character as much, had very little things to do and was cut short of any great moments that would do the character justice, which in my opinion was a missed opportunity on the film's part. Lashana Lynch and Akira Akbar as the mother and daughter duo, Monica and Maria Rambeau was also interesting but had very little screen time as well but was used more efficiently in comparisson to Gemma Chan. Ben Mendelsohn was a breath of fresh air. Despite his villanous stature, I thought his motivations were justified and believable and Mendelsohn gave that character the extra layer that it needed.
I'm not a cat-person myself but Goose the cat was a scene stealer, I tell you that much.
Going back to Brie Larson, I thought her character works best in a group rather that her own. Clearly, she needed the help of these colorful characters to boost her presence and I think the film needed more of that in future films to come (I'm looking at you Avengers: Endgame).
Let's Be Reel
There were a lot of stuff to digest during the course of this film. It may felt about wonky and dragged at first but surely enough, the Marvel brand knows how to make it work and it works. Captain Marvel, despite the cloud of doubts, sure had some powerful potential that would flourish even higher, further and faster with other members of the franchise rather than going solo.
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