The Marvels

[Sassafras]

I'm not a hater or anti Captain Marvel or whatever but the ending credit scene is such a cry of desperation lol. I actually find it funny. They really thought they could just get by with z listers and plot points that went nowhere without consequence for so long lol.

IMO the whole marketing for this has been a cry of desperation, especially the last trailer sadly trying to give CM the weight of a Tony Stark or Steve Rogers. *Cringe*.

Look, with all due respect to Zurdo, you can't compare the blank-faced CM with beloved characters built up from successful comic runs and a series of successful films. "Black girl power" WTF is that like the rousing success of BP2and the non-appearance in this film of that awful armor built by whats-her-name.

I don't have some huge hate for CM & co. but the writing, build-up and narratives of these/this MCU film *meh*. Please make it stahp. Gotta admit still tasting the tang of the awful Secret Invasion (thank gawd for Loki) but the biggest appeal for me will be the cats. Can't see running to a theater for this. Maybe if I've got nothing better to do and it's a cheap matinee. 'Coz you know how a trailer is supposed to make you intrigued, if a villain is in a trailer you WANT to see more? I'm not supposed to be more happy about Goose than anything. And all this multiverse &^% just seems like "we can't write a grounded, basic story any more; we've milked time travel; so let's just multiverse everything so we have an excuse to throw stuff at a screen and hope it sticks, including shamelessly ripping off lines from other films."

 

[Sassafras]

Also most reviews say that the action is pretty top-notch, a good flow to them.

IMO it doesn't look like much in the trailers; a cheap set and another girl power scene like from Harley Quinn.

 

[The Buffinator]

Possible spoiler question for those who have already seen the movie:

Spoiler:

Anybody know what happened to Kamala's 2nd bangle at the end of the movie? She was only wearing one that I could see. What did she do with the other one?

Spoiler:

I noticed that as well. My guess would be she loaned it to Carol to study and potentially use to get Monica back. Dar-Benn created the opening between realities when she exploded while wearing both bangles so it seems logical that any rescue mission would require using one or both of them again.

 

[Khev]

Though I tend to avoid his stuff I decided to watch Critical Drinker's review for some laughs and while he totally trashed the movie as expected I was shocked at all the praise that possibly unbeknownst to him slipped through the cracks. He conceded that the film didn't seem to promote any kind of woke agenda whatsoever, that Kamala was likeable and that even Brie Larson showed personality and was somewhat likeable as well in addition to the body switching fight scenes "bordering on fun and imaginative." Sure he thought that the story was stupid and didn't make much sense and that the film was ultimately pointless in his mind but damn those concessions that he of all people made come across as high praise indeed, lol.

 

[Dave_W]

Still talking a load of **** then?

 

[Zurdo95D]

Watch Zurdo hate it lol

Your statement lol

View attachment 673436

 

[Zurdo95D]

 

[MarkKing]

Also most reviews say that the action is pretty top-notch, a good flow to them.

Sounds like the initial reviews like from IGN, are corporate speak. Almost all the initial reviews from the "major" websites are praising Action and Brie's or Iman's acting. They sound so similar, that it;s probably Disney's press talking points.

Major red flags there are the reviews afterwards have completely abolished the film.

 

[nexus]

Saw it last night with my daughter. It was a pretty fun movie. The story was solid (in a comic book sense), the pacing moved fast and didn’t meander, the locales were colorful, the action was solid, the actors had good chemistry, SLJ was back to form, and the mid credits scene set things up perfectly. I rate it solidly in the middle of the pack with a 7.25/7.75 and better than the first.

IMO this is a return to form for the MCU. If Marvel/Disney hadn’t been getting pummeled over the past three years (some of it certainly justified), this would have fit right in with the glory days and probably earned $800M-$1B. Unfortunately, I think projections are running around $300M-$400M.

 

[Khev]

Almost all the initial reviews from the "major" websites are praising Action and Brie's or Iman's acting. They sound so similar, that it;s probably Disney's press talking points.

Critical Drinker praised Iman and Brie too. Are you saying that he's an obedient Disney shill?

 

[davejames]

Well that was pretty forgettable. The movie did have some fun moments here and there (mostly to do with Ms. Marvel), but the story was as slight as can be and seriously underdeveloped. And after the first act the power-switching gimmick ceased to be at all interesting.

Ultimately this felt more like another simplistic, lightweight Disney+ series to me than something truly worthy of the big screen. And in retrospect it actually made me appreciate the first CM even more, since that at least had a fairly epic story and character arc to it.

Still better than the last Thor and Ant-Man though, so at least there's that.

 

[TheeWanderer]

It's pretty decent. The shorter runtime helped and hurt it in some ways. Helped cause it had a good flow of fight sequences and fun moments that kept your attention. It also spared us from dragging on with a plot that centered so much on one of if not the weakest MCU villain we've probably ever had(Sorry Tom Hiddlestons wife but sheesh lmao). However, it definitely hurt it in that it stripped away any possibility of emotional moments actually packing a punch. One second you've got Monica giving Carol the cold shoulder quite literally the next second they're joking around in their underwear lol. The three Marvels definitely have great chemistry and are fun to see interact but their individual arcs and relationships with one another feel incredibly rushed.

I don't think think it's better than Love and Thunder or Quantumania, for all the flaws those films may have, there is still far more substance there and full experiences to be had imo. This film felt like a snack. Not a bad snack, but still a snack. Somebody said that this almost felt like a Disney+ series? And yeah, with the weak villain and rushed arcs/character conclusions-- I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment. Still, it's enjoyable for what it is!

Also, since I don't see it being talked about at all. I'm going to guess that the reshoots were replacing Talos and Maria Hill... As I'm fairly positive they had filmed scenes for this and that new leader of the skrulls definitely was just a stand-in for Talos lol. Obviously had to be done due to Secret Invasion but damn does them basically being killed "off-screen"(to those who don't watch the Disney+ shows) really really sting.

All that being said. The mid-credits scene pays for the price of admission.

 

[Sassafras]

Critical Drinker praised Iman and Brie too. Are you saying that he's an obedient Disney shill?

I watched Reaper's review - who seems to hate everything but makes good points - so the whole film is spoiled for me and I really don't care. Pretty much what I expected. At least there are the cats. The only MCU property I'm looking forward to, if it even gets made, is Thunderbolts with the possible Expendables vibe. The villain in this film just looks deranged like her boyfriend cheated on her.

 

[Neal136]

I've seen it twice, and it's not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe. It's not the greatest MCU film by any stretch, but it's a brisk, enjoyable movie. Brie is better in the role here than she has been before (I realize that might not be saying much), Fury is pretty great, the main Flerken scene is just ridiculously fun, and Iman Vellani (and Kamala's family) steal the entire movie. It is disjointed at times, but the quick runtime works for this.

 

[The Buffinator]

I've seen it twice, and it's not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe. It's not the greatest MCU film by any stretch, but it's a brisk, enjoyable movie. Brie is better in the role here than she has been before (I realize that might not be saying much), Fury is pretty great, the main Flerken scene is just ridiculously fun, and Iman Vellani (and Kamala's family) steal the entire movie. It is disjointed at times, but the quick runtime works for this.

I've seen it twice as well and I enjoyed it even more the 2nd time around. Agree with all of your points, especially regarding Iman Vellani/Kamala (along with her family) stealing the movie. And it's not that Brie Larson and Teyona Parris aren't good it's just that Kamala is simply a delightful character and Vellani plays her to perfection.

It does feel a bit disjointed/rushed at times, in particular with the Carol/Monica dynamic given their long separation. The quick pacing does help the viewer to not dwell on that, as the reasoning for the aforementioned separation doesn't make a whole lot of sense if one thinks about it for too long.

Spoiler:

Carol doesn't return to Earth for 25+ years or whatever because she's guilty over unintentionally causing the civil war on Hala that stripped it of its natural resources and made it unlivable for the Kree. So she didn't want to return home to see Monica until she "fixed" it - even though Monica would have absolutely no way of knowing about these events. That makes Carol look pretty shallow which one could buy for a short time period but not 25 years, especially with her also being aware of Maria's death. And to make Carol look even worse the movie doesn't provide any evidence that she ever made any attempts to correct her Hala "mistake" in all of the time she was away.

But hey, it's still a fun movie lol...

I see it's bombing at the box office, with possibly only $50M or less for the weekend in the U.S.. Ouch! It does seem to be getting a few more positive reviews (it's now "fresh" (>60%) on RT), so maybe good word of mouth will help it limp to profitability by the end of its run?

 

[jye4ever]

I've seen it twice as well and I enjoyed it even more the 2nd time around. Agree with all of your points, especially regarding Iman Vellani/Kamala (along with her family) stealing the movie. And it's not that Brie Larson and Teyona Parris aren't good it's just that Kamala is simply a delightful character and Vellani plays her to perfection.

It does feel a bit disjointed/rushed at times, in particular with the Carol/Monica dynamic given their long separation. The quick pacing does help the viewer to not dwell on that, as the reasoning for the aforementioned separation doesn't make a whole lot of sense if one thinks about it for too long.

Spoiler:

Carol doesn't return to Earth for 25+ years or whatever because she's guilty over unintentionally causing the civil war on Hala that stripped it of its natural resources and made it unlivable for the Kree. So she didn't want to return home to see Monica until she "fixed" it - even though Monica would have absolutely no way of knowing about these events. That makes Carol look pretty shallow which one could buy for a short time period but not 25 years, especially with her also being aware of Maria's death. And to make Carol look even worse the movie doesn't provide any evidence that she ever made any attempts to correct her Hala "mistake" in all of the time she was away.

But hey, it's still a fun movie lol...

I see it's bombing at the box office, with possibly only $50M or less for the weekend in the U.S.. Ouch! It does seem to be getting a few more positive reviews (it's now "fresh" (>60%) on RT), so maybe good word of mouth will help it limp to profitability by the end of its run?

As a multiverse creation movie this should’ve come first before Shang, Eternals, DS2, Thor 3 etc.

Instead our time was wasted with Celestials in the ocean, ten rings and dragons, Gor and Jane’s cancer and Raimi villain cameos.

 

[The Buffinator]

As a multiverse creation movie this should’ve come first before Shang, Eternals, DS2, Thor 3 etc.

Instead our time was wasted with Celestials in the ocean, ten rings and dragons, Gor and Jane’s cancer and Raimi villain cameos.

Agree that this definitely could/should have come before Shang Chi, Eternals and Thor L&T. Of course with SM:NWH and DS2 this makes the 3rd movie dealing directly with the Multiverse (Quantumania touched on it but more as a lead-in to Loki S2), so I don't know if it matters if it's before or after DS2 - I just wished that together they gave us a better idea of where this was all heading. BTW, on a related front am I wrong or did

Spoiler:

Loki S2's finale effectively give them a way out (if needed) of the whole Kang Dynasty story line for the next Avengers movie?

 

[jye4ever]

Agree that this definitely could/should have come before Shang Chi, Eternals and Thor L&T. Of course with SM:NWH and DS2 this makes the 3rd movie dealing directly with the Multiverse (Quantumania touched on it but more as a lead-in to Loki S2), so I don't know if it matters if it's before or after DS2 - I just wished that together they gave us a better idea of where this was all heading. BTW, on a related front am I wrong or did

Spoiler:

Loki S2's finale effectively give them a way out (if needed) of the whole Kang Dynasty story line for the next Avengers movie?

Well Buff….it did not lol

If anything by Loki allowing the branches to exist in his version of the loom we’re actually getting 1 million more Kangs now lol

Remember that He Who Remains told him that if you don’t kill Sylvie my Kangs are coming and are gonna create incursions everywhere!

 

[The Buffinator]

Well Buff….it did not lol

If anything by Loki allowing the branches to exist in his version of the loom we’re actually getting 1 million more Kangs now lol

Remember that He Who Remains told him that if you don’t kill Sylvie my Kangs are coming and are gonna create incursions everywhere!

Yes I suppose you're right, but he did prevent Timely from getting the TVA handbook and becoming the version we met during the season. I was thinking if he never became involved in the TVA and learned of all the different realities that maybe Kang would never come to be but I suppose it doesn't work like that.

 

[davejames]

Yeah Kang is still a threat but I got the sense from the end of Loki that he was at least a manageable threat, since even Ant-Man was able to take him out. And it definitely felt to me like they were trying to downplay the idea of Kang becoming the next Thanos-level threat for the MCU.