When you’re going to these movies for the mid-credit scene, maybe it’s not a great sign.
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races
The good old MCU. The most reliable thing in Hollywood today, maybe in the history of Hollywood. It took them just over 20 movies to have their very first female-led superhero flick. Enter Brie Larson and her portrayal of Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. You can always count on an MCU movie to do two things; make a ton of money, and seriously divide nerd culture. From the very get-go, I truly wasn’t on board with Brie Larson suiting up in the MCU. She’s a fine actress, an Oscar winner, and has been a staple in Hollywood for years now, but something just didn’t click with me. After seeing the movie, I personally think she lacked any sort of charisma and her whole performance was very vanilla. In a world where Marvel has perfected casting, I just think they could have found someone more suitable. She doesn’t come across as Captain Marvel or even a superhero. Where RDJ, Evans, and Hemsworth are literally walking incarnations of their characters. I think the main reason I’m not down with Captain Marvel is that for the last 12 years we have watched our Marvel heroes struggle time and time again, they have lost so much. Scarified, over and over again. After the events of the InfinityWar, people were legit shook. Now, Captain Marvel is dubbed the most powerful person in all of the MCU and she will be very much responsible for defeating Thanos. Which seems so unearned, actually it is so unearned and it doesn’t even seem fair to be honest. She almost gets a happy ending, and we don’t really know where she’s been and why she has decided to wait until everything legit went to shit to show her face. This movie did a terrible job at telling us why she has been gone. In fact, she tells Nick Fury “only for emergencies.” I think aliens invading Earth through a massive portal in New York wasn’t a large enough emergency.
I just felt this whole movie was a 90s nostalgia trip, that was needed in order to have this girl in our lives before the events of Endgame play out. I even took some flack online saying I felt this was one of the weakest MCU origin films we’ve gotten. A huge blockbuster directed by a woman, starring a woman is fantastic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about its flaws or be honest with how you feel about it. It’s Sunday on its opening weekend and it’s sitting with the 6th highest global opening ever with 455 million dollars, this movie is going to be fine. It’s just not what I wanted it to be. The only great aspect of this film was Sam Jackson’s and Brie Larson’s onscreen chemistry, it was actually quite fantastic. De-aging him worked really well, they should be doing this in more movies. But Jude Law is an utter waste, as one of the weakest MCU villains Yon-Rogg. You get Jude Law in your movie, you should make the most of it. Ben Mendelsohn plays Talos, and he was finally put in a great role. After a few duds in a row, it’s amazing to see him back in a fun role. I just felt the movie as a whole was choppily made, and for being so powerful, I didn’t think we even got a “cool moment” from her.
Just not a whole lot happens in her first outing, we don’t know why she decides to do what she does and really anything about her. And now we have to sit back and watch her take over the MCU? I have zero emotional investment with this character, and that’s a shame really. She doesn’t even lose anything in the movie. I just wanted it to be over so I could see the lead into Endgame. And the mid-credit scene was dope, but my biggest question after all of this. How will she interact and fit in with the rest of our heroes? Most of them might not be around at the end of Endgame, but still, she’s on the main building blocks in the MCU going forward. Even though I disliked her origin flick, I think in a group, Brie Larson could shine. I’ll find out soon enough, and I’m hanging on with the littlest of hope that this will be the case.
Overall, CaptainMarvel falls in the middle of the pack for MCU movies, I’m dialing back some of my critiques of the film because I do think overtime Brie Larson can grow into this role. She’s got a lot to prove to me in Endgame, I just think it’s not right and so unearned that she gets to come in now and be the hero. I hope this is all handle so well next month. I just think it fell short of my expectations
Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews – Captain Marvel = 67/100
The banter between Fury and Marvel could end up being the selling point for me.
Captain Marvel she’s our hero, she’s going to turn Thanos to a zero. Now say that to the tune of the Captain Planet theme. Its taken two trailers, a few TV spots and now this new little inside look at the movie to finally get me on board. The reason? Sam Jackson and Brie Larson look terrific together on screen, and they seem to be the driving force behind it. I still don’t like the idea of her being the saving grace to the MCU and the person who will defeat Thanos, but that will all come together in Avengers: Endgame.
But this new look really focused on Fury and Ms. Marvel and I enjoyed what I saw. And I really don’t have much more to say about it. I haven’t blogged in a week so I thought I’d toss this in here. I guess I’ll be going opening weekend now.
These trailers have been underwhelming to say the least. I’m not buying Brie Larson has a superhero.
Marvel was trying to break the internet last night by dropping yet another trailer for their upcoming female led superhero flick CaptainMarvel. The person who will he responsible for defeating Thanos, or at least playing a major role in doing so. I found myself yet again completely underwhelmed and almost bored while watching this thing.
Here’s the thing. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, I buy that. The female warriors of Wakanda, I buy that. Even Scarlet Witch and Black Widow, I buy that. Something seems off about Brie Larson, I cant quite put my finger on it, but I’m just not invested in this. The coolest part of the whole trailer is when she is completely CGI and that could be anybody up on screen. She’s a terrific actress, but I don’t think she’s the right fit. Gal Gadot is exotic, she was in the military, she looks like Wonder Woman. I can fully support and get on board with that. But this, Brie Larson is now the most powerful person in the MCU, the person who will be responsible for making things better? After all this time, 22 movies and counting, yeah, I’m not buying that for a second.
I also hate how this is an origin story, why do I care about anything now in the MCU that happens pre “snap?” I get it, it’s going to tell us where’s she’s been, and how powerful she is, but it just seems like a total cop out. Fighting an old lady on a bus? But wait that lady is a shapeshifter, it’s just so cheesy and dull and something I don’t care to see.
I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but I’m just not at all interested in this movie. Yeah I want to see her with the rest of the Avengers, but this movie seems so useless and almost not needed. I want more female super heroes like the rest of you, I just simply think they picked the wrong woman to lead this franchise. See for yourselves.
It only took 10 years, but we are finally getting a female led MCU movie! Brie Larson stars in the upcoming Captain Marvel, I feel like she’s the equivalent of DC’s Green Lantern. She’s a space cop, who lands on earth in the 80s! That’s right, we are hearing back in time to everyone’s least favourite decade. But we have Stranger Things to thank for all this 80’s nostalgia.
Look the trailer seems fine, in fact, it was just that, fine. I’m not over the moon about this movie or this character to be honest. The biggest problem I have with her is the fact that she’s suppose to be the most powerful hero in all the MCU and now she’s coming around? After Thanos wipes out half the universe? Where has this girl been? That’s what I don’t like. It’s been 10 years into the MCU and they are now introducing us to this all powerful space cop. It’s kind of a litre ridiculous and I just don’t believe it. They better have a damn good excuse why she hasn’t been around to Earth when it was trying to be destroyed 100 times over.
The cast is chalked full of great people, they are even de-aging Samuel L Jackson for this, and he has both his eyes! Jude Law looks to be a potential villain and the return of Josh Pence as Ronan The Accuser. But all of this and I still thought the trailer was simply okay. It’s a teaser I know, or maybe I’m just tired of origin stories. We know what happens 30 years later in the MCU. Why do I care about this? Remind me why I should care about an origin story of Captain Marvel that takes place in the 80s, when half the universe just got wiped out.
So March is officially the start of summer blockbuster season
March was some month huh? Seriously though, 5 top notch movies were released and that’s kind of uncharted territory for such an early month of a new year. Things are changing in terms of the landscape of how movies are being distributed, with so many franchises, sequels, reboots and comic book movies, it’s hard for them to all be released in the April to August timeframe. Not saying that’s a bad thing, I enjoyed this past month of movie going, and I think we are in for a little bit a snooze-fest in April. The Fate of The Furious looks okay, but that’s honestly the one major release scheduled for April, so the theatre might go a little ligher on my wallet this next month. So in order here are the movies of March, from least favourite to favourite!
5.) Life
Alien meets Gravity! I’ve always been a fan of space movies, so I was excited when I heard Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds were going to be trapped on the International Space Station with an unknown alien life form. This movie was overly enjoyable until the ending which I found to be a major let down. Full of same old cliches that come with a movie like this, I was waiting for a curveball in this movie, but it never happened. Life ultimately failed to take any real chances to maybe try and reinvent this genre, and that was its downfall. I still had a good time with it, as it had a few scary and tense moments.
My Grade – 70/100
4.) Kong: Skull Island
Is that a monkey? Vietnam was a crazy time, now throw is a 100 foot ape into the mix, and now it’s a party! This movie kind of had it all, and I’ve actually come to like this movie the more I think about it. Maybe it was because I was like super hungry during it (I forgot to get popcorn!) and that just made me hangry and I took it out on poor Kong, but now when I think back on it, I actually really liked this movie! Kong was awesome, and that’s all you need in a movie called Kong: Skull Island. It’s by far the best Kong we’ve got on the big screen, and I’m excited to see where they take this character, and I’m awaiting the epic throw down between Godzilla and Kong. The only fault in the movie was that there were far too many human characters. Like too many to count, and at times that really took me out of the movie. But again whenever Kong was on screen I was hooked, and he was doing really cool shit, like punching stuff, punching more stuff and punching even more stuff. You get my point, I’ve renamed it, Kong: Skull Punch Island! John C. Reilly was a hero in this movie, and stole the show!
My Grade – 73/100
3.) Beauty & The Beast
One thing I took away from this, 3D movies suck! You have to keep your head so straight and cannot move it or you will lose focus and the screen will go blurry. That happened a lot watching Beauty & The Beast! Any who, the movie itself was fun, I had a blast going back in time almost to my childhood while I watched this. It had everything you could have wanted in a live adaptation of this beloved fairy tale. Emma Watson and Luke Evans were so incredible as Belle and Gaston, and I couldn’t believe how good they were at singing. Some of the songs felt a little monotoned but that was not a big deal at all. This movie did its job, it got me excited for future live adaptations of Disney properties, and I think that if this is the bar that is set for their future films, the future is extremely bright. Josh Gad as LeFou was the standout in this, the moment I saw that casting I knew he would be, so kudos to him!
My Grade – 82/100
2.) Power Rangers
Been waiting an awful long time for a motion picture Power Rangers movie, because I simply refuse to acknowledge the 90’s ones because they were just horrible. It’s been about a week now since I watched Power Rangers, and one thing that I took away was these kids actually did have attitude, and that they were kind of assholes? Well at least Trini, Jason and Kimberly, it was kind of weird, Jason is just a douche and I guess he is the most suitable leader of the bunch? Besides that, I really enjoyed this movie guys, I had a blast watching it, and again it was kind of everything I thought it would be. Perfect blend of new and old, and they did a bang up job casting the new rangers. Usually known to be super cheesy and campy, this time around we find ourselves dealing with a little darker tone, and touching on some serious issues teenagers are dealing with in today’s society. To best honest, my least favourite part of the movie was when they are in their Zords. I don’t know, it just didn’t really do it for me, and I wish we could have just got them being Power Rangers a little bit longer. Could have used another 5-7 minutes of them just kicking butt in their suits, instead of being in their Zords not doing a whole lot. Small problem, but I’m certainly excited to see where this franchise goes from here. Green Ranger time baby!
My Grade – 73/100
1.) Logan
The movie that was so nice, I saw it twice, in three days…..Some days I just stare off into space and think about this movie. Logan was just such a special movie for myself, and I know for many others. It was the perfect send off for Hugh Jackman, he gave us 17 years of being this character. That’s such a long time, it’s actually lunacy to think about it. He never complained, never quit on us and kept coming back to try and make a better movie for us fans. It’s super sad to see him go, but hopefully FOX will take some time to decide what the best approach is when it comes to recasting Wolverine. I can’t say enough good things about Logan, it had the perfect blend of great story telling, brutal violence and all around great performances. I will miss Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine, but all good things must come to an end, and there was no better way for him to go out. Logan entered my top 3 all time comic book movies, and I’m looking forward to watching it for years to come.
My Grade -97/100
So there you have it, my favourite 5 films of March! It was the best all around movie month in a long time, and I think I’m going to do this at the end of every month from here on out! Did I miss anything? What were your favourite movies of this past month? Let me know!
Let’s face it, Kong is king and all but the movie monkey we all truly want to hang with is the monkey from Grandmas Boy
(Warner Bros.)Warning small spoilers ahead
Skull Island a remote terrain located in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean is a place of mystery or “a place where myth and science meet.” Those words are uttered by head of Monarch Bill Randa (John Goodman) a company who wants to explore this uncharted island in hopes of finding new life, but maybe something more…There’s one tiny detail that Monarch is leaving out and that is they believe this mysterious island is home to a giant ape. Taking place shortly after the Vietnam War in 1973, this movie throws every cliché character from that time period at you. We have the award winning photojournalist, who is anti-war and just wants to get the right side of the story. Weaver played by Brie Larson, next is the manliest of men ex British Secret Service now nature tour guide James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston). We have the cranky, old school war veteran who thinks man is king, Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard played by Samuel L. Jackson and his bunch of misfit soldiers. Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham and Thomas Mann play the Colonel’s soldiers that just honestly want to go home after fighting in the war. John C. Reilly plays Hank Marlow who has been trapped on Skull Island since World War II, and really was the stand out in Kong. So when their mission is turned upside down, literally Kong smashes their helicopters to shit and they are left stranded on this foreign land, they need to make it out alive before something much bigger eats them. One thing about Skull Island is that the people behind the movie know its absurd and I respect that, I respect that all logic gets tossed out the window for this movie, like how Brie Larson and company are involved in a serious helicopter accident and she walks away looking like a perfect 10 model. But this is a MONSTER movie so you have to take stuff like this with a grain of salt, and just sit back, relax and watch Kong fight a lot of things.
So speaking of Kong, that guy knows how to toss trees at helicopters. He smashes these helicopters like a toddler who is playing with toys for the very first time (it was awesome). Then Kong fights off a giant ass squid, which he follows up by eating it like he’s out at Red Lobster enjoying some calamari (it was even more awesome). He follows that up by fighting and punching multiple giant-lizards in the face, and killing everything in sight (the most awesome). Kong beats up a lot of things in this movie, and there was a brief moment where I honest to god thought somehow Sam Jackson was going to go toe to toe with this giant ape, but instead Kong just fist pumps him into the ground, like a fly on the wall. All I know is, Sam Jackson really has the animal kingdom on lockdown in movies. Sharks, apes and snakes, all we need to do is have him wrestle like a bear or maybe a lion and he will officially be in the greatest actor who ever lived. We do get at least 3 great Sam Jackson monologues, which is never a bad thing, he just wanted to take down that damn dirty ape.
Kong: Skull Island really uses every excuse in the book to make everything as big as possible. Kong is huge, the biggest Kong we have ever seen in the movies, but giant lizards, giant squids, giant buffalo, massive walking sticks, that come with some snarky attitude. At one point in the movie, Toby Kebbell’s character shoots this giant walking stick, and the look they share afterwards was so genuine, the walking stick had the look on its face like; “I’m just here minding my own damn business, go sit on another log,” and he feels bad after he shoots it. So bad that he puts his gun down, which was worse case scenario because it’s moments later he gets his head bitten off. Back to things that are giant, we got giant birds that rip people limb from limb, like kids pulling a wishbone apart at Thanksgiving dinner. We have giant ants that are so big, at one point John C Reilly’s character claims, “they sound like birds, but they’re fucking ants.” Even the budget, which is estimated to be around 190 million, is giant, and to WBs credit this is a fun monster movie.
Kong: Skull Island as some great things going for it, but it also has some pretty big flaws that at times took me completely out of the movie. Yes, we all go to a movie called Kong: Skull Island too see King Kong do cool stuff, but the biggest flaw of this movie are the people. For some reason they decided to have like 39503204 (I’m exaggerating) characters in it, and it was just too much. When I saw the cast for this movie I thought to myself, these are all fantastic people in one movie, but they were all totally underused, or forced to deliver some horrible lines. The writing is putrid, no way around it, Brie Larson is an Oscar winning actress, who was reduced to standing around looking scared, and taking pictures. She’s fully capable of more, and her character wasn’t ever explored, you knew nothing about any of these people, so it was hard to root for them. There are a few people who make it to the very end of the movie and might have 3 lines of dialogue in the entire movie, just a waste of space really. I just don’t understand why they thought a movie about a giant ass-kicking ape needed all these human characters. I enjoyed Tom Hiddleston in this, even though again his story wasn’t flushed out and we knew nothing about him really, I could get behind the guy and he proved to be a worthy action star. I’m comparing it to Adrian Brody in Predators. His shining moment in the movie, was when he throws on a gas mark, and starts slicing skull-crawlers like he’s playing fruit ninja, in a cloud of colorful smoke. I really dug that scene and would honestly watch an entire movie of just that; maybe he could start a fruit ninja franchise. The worst part of these two characters is after all the crap they go through and even after Kong turns down Brie Larson, they don’t hook up. There’s a 65% chance Tom Hiddleston took this role so he could have a make-out scene with Brie, because who wouldn’t want that? John C. Reilly on the other hand, his character worked. He was so self-aware of everything that was going on and had some of the best-delivered lines in the whole movie. When he finally says “I call em Skull Crawlers” out loud for the first time, before realizing that name is really stupid, and that everyone can call them whatever they want (these were the giant lizards that came from underground) was a really funny moment, and one of the rare funny moments in the movie. A lot of the humor fell pretty flat, mostly due to the bad writing, these are talented actors in this, but when it’s bad writing no matter who you are, sometimes you just can’t make things funny. The funniest part in Kong, is totally when Shea Whigham’s character tries to take down the biggest Skull-Crawler by uncorking some grenades before he gets eaten, only to be bitch slapped by its tail and flies about a mile away not before hitting a cliff and exploding. He just wanted to be a hero, turned out to be a tool, poor guy.
Now lets talk about the king of Skull Island, Kong! Usually Kong is a tortured soul, he’s lonely, with no friends and just wants some companionship but I never really got that vibe in this. I just felt nothing for this Kong, yeah he was awesome and huge, but you want to get behind this ape emotionally and it just was never there. There is one moment where Brie Larson touches his face, but that felt super forced, like they needed to shoehorn that into the movie, because we all know Kong has a thing for sexy women, like all men do. He even saves her at one point, but then lets here leave with Tom Hiddleston, not before giving her the sexy eyes as she floats down the river on a boat. He didn’t really have a whole lot of feelings; maybe because he’s still just a baby Kong, but usually he’s a troubled soul and once he meets a pretty girl, his personality really shines through. Things I do know about Kong; he likes squid, he enjoys punching things, he enjoys doing ape like things, he might have a crush on Brie Larson.
All in all this is a fun monster movie. It doesn’t need to make sense or have the richest of plots. The good outweigh the bad, and there isn’t that much bad in it to begin with. The tone is somewhat all over the place; it wants to be a horror movie, a comedy and an action movie. This movie is just filler for the main event in 2020, when Kong takes on Godzilla, which is going to be so glorious it might cause blindness upon watching it. One thing is for certain; puberty needs to hit Kong like a ton of bricks if he plans on taking down Godzilla, or to even have a fighting chance. If I’m ranking this movie on just the Kong stuff, it’s easily in the 90’s, but I have to look at it as a whole. But you are going to see this for Kong, and on that front it delivers immensely. One last thing, props to the casting director for getting Dr. Dre and Easy E back into a movie together, felt like a Straight Outta Compton origin story. Actually the music in this movie is awesome, any movie that plays Bad Moon Rising by CCR is a winner in my books.
Check ya later,
Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews — Kong: Skull Island = 73/100
