(6 minute read)
"👯Woah yes wait a minute Mr. Postman💃" ~The Marvelettes ~Nick Fury
It's no wonder this song climbed exponentially to 40 million views on YouTube after the recent release of Captain Marvel (2019). Between today and yesterday, the video climbed 40,000 more views.
What is there to say about this film that other reviewers haven't already said? Well, let me deliver some thoughts.
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Was there a plot? Absolutely. We follow Carol's journey from full amnesia to profound self-discovery to hero transformation – a straightforward hero's story that is easy to follow and exciting to watch. There are enough emotions and themes to form a structured story, but they rarely ever make you grip your seat. As for following the Marvel Formula, it succeeded and didn't take many risks.
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A more controversial opinion could be that they didn't see any lucrative opportunity in here until they saw the success of Wonder Woman. They then probably thought, "Hey! Let's squeeze in a woman superhero before we close out this whole Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Endgame", which just happens to be coming out a month and a half after Captain Marvel was released.
As well as Black Panther (2018), it is truly an American cinematic project to introduce a more diverse cast that isn't as strictly male and Caucasian as Marvel Comics historically were when the comic brand was established in 1939. Since Disney was able to create Aladdin and Mulan in the 90s, which are timeless classics, then shouldn't Marvel aim to be just as exemplary?
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Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with that at all, and come on, it's a superhero, sci-fi movie so no one should really see it as politically charged. Still, it humanizes the situation when we start to question our preconceived notion that all aliens in an alien-type movie are out to get us.
Maybe green or blue skin doesn't mean evil. Maybe we start to realize that life outside of Earth doesn't look like an enormous spider dinosaur like in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). It's almost a relief that Marvel Studios didn't play out that specific cliché until the end, which the audience can ultimately decide was a good or bad addition to the story.
I'm also not sure if the movie was saying something by having the Skrulls morph to look like humans but that was probably an added way to scare a naïve audience into not trusting them. One Skrull wasn't too sore for the eyes! 😉
And by the way, even Carol herself is technically a refugee for a greater part of the movie, having fallen onto Earth to escape her captors. Sure it's playful to see her act a part of an alien that's never seen Earth before, but we all know she's definitely far from the look of any refugee. A real refugee isn't a good-looking, all-powerful badass but rather should have a look of worry and anxiety over their future.
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"👯Woah yes wait a minute Mr. Postman💃" ~The Marvelettes ~Nick Fury
It's no wonder this song climbed exponentially to 40 million views on YouTube after the recent release of Captain Marvel (2019). Between today and yesterday, the video climbed 40,000 more views.
What is there to say about this film that other reviewers haven't already said? Well, let me deliver some thoughts.
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1. The Marvel Formula
Not much to say other than that it worked. The latest Marvel superhero origin story, the last piece to Avengers: Endgame (2019), rehashes a formulaic story that is all too familiar. A hero's story with plenty of humor and CGI to go along with some well-executed action that can satisfy your $10-15 cost to see it in theaters.Was there a plot? Absolutely. We follow Carol's journey from full amnesia to profound self-discovery to hero transformation – a straightforward hero's story that is easy to follow and exciting to watch. There are enough emotions and themes to form a structured story, but they rarely ever make you grip your seat. As for following the Marvel Formula, it succeeded and didn't take many risks.
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2. The Superheroine Story
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we haven't had a female superhero film since Wonder Woman (2017). I mean what was before Wonder Woman? Halle Berry in Catwoman (2004)? Marvel may have just procrastinated on making a female-lead film for the longest time.A more controversial opinion could be that they didn't see any lucrative opportunity in here until they saw the success of Wonder Woman. They then probably thought, "Hey! Let's squeeze in a woman superhero before we close out this whole Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Endgame", which just happens to be coming out a month and a half after Captain Marvel was released.
As well as Black Panther (2018), it is truly an American cinematic project to introduce a more diverse cast that isn't as strictly male and Caucasian as Marvel Comics historically were when the comic brand was established in 1939. Since Disney was able to create Aladdin and Mulan in the 90s, which are timeless classics, then shouldn't Marvel aim to be just as exemplary?
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3. The Camera
This is a small observation I made while watching the movie and talking to a friend after. The scene where Carol and former pilot/best friend, Maria, are talking in the kitchen. For whatever reason the camera kept fidgeting up and down. Were they getting bored? I heard there were other scenes with similar blips like that.------------------
4. The Refugees
It starts to feel like more than just a coincidental connection when I finished watching the movie and then started thinking about the world's ongoing refugee crisis. Like Elysium (2013) with Matt Damon and its strong immigration themes, Captain Marvel had a similar tone that related well with modern events going on in the Middle East. A group of families named "Skrulls" escaping persecution and war from extremists may sound a little familiar to some.Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with that at all, and come on, it's a superhero, sci-fi movie so no one should really see it as politically charged. Still, it humanizes the situation when we start to question our preconceived notion that all aliens in an alien-type movie are out to get us.
Maybe green or blue skin doesn't mean evil. Maybe we start to realize that life outside of Earth doesn't look like an enormous spider dinosaur like in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). It's almost a relief that Marvel Studios didn't play out that specific cliché until the end, which the audience can ultimately decide was a good or bad addition to the story.
I'm also not sure if the movie was saying something by having the Skrulls morph to look like humans but that was probably an added way to scare a naïve audience into not trusting them. One Skrull wasn't too sore for the eyes! 😉
And by the way, even Carol herself is technically a refugee for a greater part of the movie, having fallen onto Earth to escape her captors. Sure it's playful to see her act a part of an alien that's never seen Earth before, but we all know she's definitely far from the look of any refugee. A real refugee isn't a good-looking, all-powerful badass but rather should have a look of worry and anxiety over their future.
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