I kept thinking of the first two Thor films during this. The space stuff recalls the exhaustingly dense, exposition dump of The Dark World (my previous choice for least favourite MCU), and doesn't feel organic in world-building enough a la the Guardians films to makes it feel anything but alien dress-up.
The earthbound adventure resembles the fish-out-of-water comedy of first Thor (one of my faves), but without the eccentric homeworld stuff to contrast and gives it gravity, and also lacking a central figure as well established and characterized as Hemsworth's hero. There's a valiant, intermittenly successful attempt to freshen the tired superhero origin formula by treating it as mystery for both characters and audience, but this necessitates a characterization void for so long that Larson can't quite overcome it.
And whatever flaws my bottom-tier MCU films (Ant-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor: The Dark World) have, they at least finish comparatively strong, as I enjoy the distinctive climatic fights in all of them. This one's, Annette Bening parts asides, looks as blah and dutiful as the one that opens the film, ultimately making the whole thing feel like scaffolding between two Avengers entries. The Marvel studio had been mostly successful as picking unlikely but eventually fitting directors in the past, so it's a bit dispriting to see they stumble hard with this particular superhero. 5.5/10
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
This was also the problem with the Green Lantern movie... alien dress up is a great way to describe this.Quoting Peng (view post)
Obligatory ranking post:
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The Avengers (2012)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Thor (2011)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Avengers: Inifinity War (2018)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Iron Man (2008)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Ant-Man (2015)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
I refuse to believe this is worse than the humorless Incredible Hulk. Hell, at least Dark World has Loki, which is equivalent of RDJ in Civil War. Incredible Hulk has NOTHING.
Yeah I highly doubt this is worse than Dark World, Hulk or IM3.
I rewatched all the MCU before Civil War, so the ranking and feeling are as fresh as can be. My reasoning for the other entries mentioned:
Thor: The Dark World 5.5/10 (but 3/5 where as Captain Marvel is 2.5/5):
[]
The Incredible Hulk 6/10:
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Iron Man 3 7.5/10:
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Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Ahaha Duke! Why pick that insane fan photoshop for the poster image? Actually, it fits with the '90s theme quite well, looking like something a free in-theatre magazine in the decade would concoct from promo images provided, so in that sense, I like it!
Anyway, seeing this tomorrow. Peng adds to the general reception already having cooled my expectations.
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
IM3 is top 5 Marvel, c'mon now.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
All our lists are upside down. I can do what I like.Quoting Milky Joe (view post)
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Last edited by Skitch; 03-06-2019 at 08:30 PM.
I mean... http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showth...(Rian-Johnson)Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
IM3 > IM2 > IM.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
See, Milky Joe? Everyone can enjoy them in a different way.
Oh I know (except trans, IM2 is terrible). I just find IM3 one of the most re-watchable of all the Marvel movies. Shane Black + RDJ combo rules, what can I say.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
I would totally agree with you if we were talking about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. IM3 not so much to each their own.
Sorry guys, Milky Joe and trans are objectively correct in this one.
IM3 is tops.
Co-signed. Rockwell and Rourke are as underappreciated in it as they are underused, and I really love the scenes of Tony digging into his past with his father to save his life in the present. Those performances and that story thread more than make up for the clunkily wedged-in Avengers set-up material.Quoting transmogrifier (view post)
Now that's just true art right there.Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
I liked Captain Marvel more than I thought I would. Whatevs.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
more like Nick Fury and Things From Space (don't call him Nicholas!)
I liked Brie Larson in this, probably more than I liked her in Room (She only got that Oscar because of Jacob Tremblay). But other than Jude Law being kind of amusing, this was a dud. Music cues didn't work for me, storytelling is kinda lame. Ben Mendelsohn is one of my favorite actors but eh, he worked and he didn't work here. The need for this to integrate with the other pictures that came before and will come after hampers us from really getting to know Carol Danvers. Meh.
Not close to the worst of the MCU imo. It's thankfully a little light compared to the dreary fare that really irritate me.
I really just hope that the role she plays in Endgame doesn't do the Mary Sue thing. I don't want Carol Danvers to come in and save the day after everybody else has failed. She should help but ultimately the Win should come from the characters we have gotten to know over the past 10 years. And no, not cuz she's a woman.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
I thought it was perfectly fine but wish it had embraced its messier, stranger side it shows glimmers of amongst its standard self that simply seems to get a thrill on putting conventional structure on shuffle mode. There are things that land with a thud like the initial stand-off against the Skrull being one of clunkier, muddier and shapelessly staged action scenes to ever be in an MCU movie, and then there's something as simple as a indie drama-style handheld shot of Larson walking outside at sundown that it feels like a stylistic revelation within it simply because of loose, spontaneous and emotionally driven it feels.
I'll likely follow up with more spoiler-y thoughts later, but I'd say it's still well worth watching (as if these movies haven't become something of required viewing to follow each other, whether that's a happy obligation or tedious homework) particularly for the potent charisma and chemistry of the cast, the perfectly captured '90s production design (especially nailing the time's distinctly mundane beige and grey urban landspaces with splashes of disjointed bright colours, rather than just, "An old billboard! Popular songs of the time!", though it certainly does that a lot too) and subverting a lot of the conventions this very franchise has helped cement in the modern blockbuster lexicon. But due to the tropes it can't escape, it probably just slips into my Bottom 5 of MCU, which I suppose speaks more to how much I really do like the vast majority of these movies instead of this being an egregiously weak installment. It's solid in a way that skirts real reverberation and distinction, which unfortunately is no longer the bar Marvel Studios has set for themselves. Good enough isn't good enough when everything else you've built thrives on its exception that everyone else has since tried and failed to emulate.
Aside from its first post-credit scene, I have to wonder if in the future this movie would be more effective to be watched right after the first Iron Man.
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
Wasn't there some drama about that w/ ScarJo and the other og. Avengers? I'm pretty sure I read some gossip piece about the actors feeling like Carol Danvers is getting way too heavily shoehorned in to the 10+ years of build-up. I got that vibe at the end of Infinity War.Quoting Milky Joe (view post)
Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:
Top Gun: Maverick - 8
Top Gun - 7
McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
Crimes of the Future - 8
Videodrome - 9
Valley Girl - 8
Summer of '42 - 7
In the Line of Fire - 8
Passenger 57 - 7
Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6
Tfw the newest (Captain Marvel) and the least popular (Ant-Man) lead characters become the most important heroes in Endgame.Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
This is the first I've heard about the behind-the-scenes drama though.
Last edited by Henry Gale; 03-08-2019 at 11:46 PM.
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
This was a perfectly fine Marvel flick, with all the same pros and cons as most of them. It's an episode, and it fits where it has to in the series, for better or worse. I had more than enough of what I paid three euros for, and my time.
Oh, and - the themes of female empowerment were handled well and the movie is worth it for some of those moments alone. The toxic manchildren of Youtube can go to hell.