Captain Marvel: Totally Marvelous

[lunabee34]

I enjoyed the heck out of this movie.



1. Adored the girl power soundtrack.

2. Adored seeing younger Fury and Coulson. I loved the back story for Fury's eye loss. Loved that we see the antecedents of the gut reaction that helps Coulson trust Natasha.

3. I love that Carol's journey encapsulates so much of the current and recently historical treatment of women in our society. She's a kick ass pilot who isn't allowed to fly combat missions by the Air Force and can only fly as a test pilot; even so, she's doing really important work. She's kept in check, told not to let herself get too emotional, not to use the powers at her disposal--be quiet, don't make a fuss or scene, don't trust yourself, don't let go, don't trust that you know what you're doing. And when Carol finally comes into her power, it's because she embraces her emotions and her gut feelings and trusts that she knows what she is doing. And she does!

4. I love the moment when the Supreme Intelligence says something like, "You're only human," and Carol's like yep. And then it flashes to her getting up, over and over again; SHE GETS KNOCKED DOWN AND SHE GETS UP AGAIN!!! And she grins every damn time she gets up.

5. I love that Carol is always cocky, always got that flyboygirl attitude. Whether she's racing go-carts or facing down bullies or ripping a space ship apart in orbit, she is absolutely incandescent with joy when she speeds and flies and pushes herself to the limits. Love it.

6. I love Carol's friendship with Maria. Up until the point where Maria says that Carol knocked on her door early in the morning and was driving her own car, I assumed that Maria and Carol lived together and were raising Monica as her two moms. I still think that's a valid interpretation of what was going on. In any event, their friendship and how much love they have for each other is one of the highlights of the movie for me.

7. I started tearing up at the intro tribute featuring Stan Lee, teared up more at his cameo (and Brie Larson's sweet smile at him), kinda full on cried when Maria says that what was hard was losing Carol, and pretty much lost it when Carol is the earth's first and mightiest Avenger. There wouldn't even be an Avengers without her.

8. I love that the Skrull dad lives. I really thought he was going to die. I love that the Skrulls were actually good guys and that Carol had to reevaluate what she knew about them.

9. Hooray for older women in the MCU! Whooo, Annette Benning. And Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold.

10. The kitty has tentacles! <3


I hope I get to see this in the theater again!

Where can I find some Captain Marvel icons? Any ideas?

ETA: I forgot to say that I love that Maria gets to be Luke Skywalker dodging Tie Fighters!

Comments

[kore]

Love all your reactions! I am PSYCHED for this movie to do well.

There were GORGEOUS icons here https://megascopes.dreamwidth.org/8424.html

[lunabee34]

Me too!

I mean, I really don't have anything to complain about. I seriously came out of the movie with no real quibbles. I just enjoyed it from start to finish. Which is a rare thing.

(And not to say that there aren't criticisms of the movie to be made; I'm sure there are.)

[kore]

There was one truly bizarre article in the Atlantic that was like "They didn't use the amnesia plot right. Why wasn't it more like Memento?"

[lunabee34]

Oh yes, because Carrie Ann Moss Maria actually being an asshole would have surely improved this film.

*boggles*

[kore]

HAND TO GOD, this asshole critic (I think it was the Atlantic's guy) kept going through all these non-genre amnesia type movies, and they were all by dudes. And then at the end he was all, "It could have been like Annihilation or Arrival, those were good too!" and I'm just like THOSE ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MOVIE W.T.F.

[lunabee34]

Ain't nobody got time for that. LOL

[full_metal_ox]

One possible reason for the amnesia plot is to allow a (white) adult to experience a colonialist trope that's been all too real for any number of indigenous children: abduction and cultural erasure--Killing The Savage (in this case, the Earthling) To Save The Person. Hey, "Veers"--and notice the arbitrary change made to her original name, incompletely glimpsed and misunderstood--was a valuable resource that the Kree knew better how to use, right?

[lunabee34]

Exactly! The amnesia plot in this movie is doing something totally different than the amnesia plot in Memento.

I like your post-colonial take on that plot point.

[lynnenne]

Oh, that is a brilliant interpretation. I hadn't thought of it in those terms, but you are SO RIGHT.

[kore]

I'm sure it's not a perfect movie, but nearly EVERY single whackadoodle or plain uncomprehending review I've seen has been written by a guy. every. single. one.

[lunabee34]

I am not surprised.

I keep thinking of things I should have put in the review like

"You look like someone's disaffected niece."

or

Upon being told to smile by a rando, Carol steals his ride. LOL

[oracne]

YES.

[lunabee34]

I just loved the movie so much. I really hope I get to see it in the theater one more time.

[kore]

Upon being told to smile by a rando, Carol steals his ride

<333

[lunabee34]

It is only as he deserved! LOL

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

That smile 'interaction', ripped from the headlines, should always result in grand theft bike on the road to Destiny.

I have to admit, I want SG-1 cross-over "brush by". Not deep interaction, just snarking waiting in line sort of "eventually you really will meet and you will need serious prompting to recall this occasion which wasn't even a moment at the time."

"Lose the flannel."

[lunabee34]

Yes! That is A+ crossover potential. I would love to read that.

Jack O'Neill would love Carol Danvers.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

(I've no archaeologist icon so an anthropologist will have to do)

So much chop busting and then serious pilot talk.

Daniel walks in, sees Jack, Sam, and Carol and everything is yaw and attitude and flight ceilings. "Okay, I'll be going to translate some Ancient..."

[lunabee34]

Yes, yes! That is exactly how I imagine it would happen.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

<3

[lunabee34]

Also, thanks for pointing me to the icons!

[lyr]

My absolute favorite moment was when Yon-Rogg was all "okay, now put aside your powers and prove you can beat me properly" and Carol just blasted him. I'm always so annoyed by those moments in action movies when the hero gives up his advantage/weapon/powers because it's somehow more manly and heroic to prove he can beat the villain with just his fists. It's stupid. So I loved Carol just blasting him and pointing out that she's got nothing to prove to him. She doesn't have to impress him, and she doesn't have to worry about how cool she looks beating him, because she's cool enough that it really doesn't matter. And why let him be the arbiter of her worth, anyway?

[lunabee34]

Yes!

I love that moment, too. So fantastic and empowering and funny (and reminiscent of that moment in Indiana Jones when he just pulls out the gun and shoots the dude LOL).

Carol is my new hero.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

^5!

(Carol so could have seen Indiana Jones; depending on when the final Pegasus flight was, she could have seen Last Crusade.)

[lunabee34]

Oh, I love that! I love how many Easter eggs to pop culture of the time are embedded in the movie.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

I love how some of the songs were used.

Carol's that smidge older that makes the period between the Incident and her Return my time of getting back up because I was still young enough to think I could be the twice as good to be thought half as good in my sleep.

[lunabee34]

I was an early teen then; I graduated HS in 97.

I loved the music so much, too.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

squee

[oracne]

Yes, that bit. Because he knows he can't beat her otherwise, and she knows it too, and is not playing.

[lunabee34]

Yep. I just love that she's not playing his game anymore.

[independence1776]

This this this, all of this!

[lunabee34]

Such a fun movie.

I wish my audience had been more interactive; lots of laughter at the appropriate moments but no cheering. I love that at a movie.

[nyctanthes]

I'm excited to see the movie is doing well and people are enjoying it!

[lunabee34]

Me too! It seems to be doing really well on both fronts.

[wendelah1]

Try fandom_icons.

[lunabee34]

Thank you!!

[chelseagirl]

I am so excited about this movie and feel all the things you feel!

I genuinely have gotten confused by people's "meh" responses -- I mean, not the trolls but others. I wasn't even looking to SEE if it was perfect, just rolling with it and enjoying it so much!

Perhaps we, who are trained in textual criticism, are the first to shut that off and just ENJOY?? Or maybe it was just AWESOME?

[lunabee34]

I've been confused, too. I don't think it's Oscar-bound or anything, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching it.

I have found that I am much more able to enjoy visual stuff without being critical than the written word. I don't know if it's the different medium or if I just have a different threshold for entertainment. I mean, I tend to like most movies I watch (for values of not being sorry I wasted the money and/or time to watch), but I definitely don't like most of the books I read. IDK It's an interesting question.

[chelseagirl]

I loved Carol so much -- I've read some of the comics, so I knew I would, but -- she was real. I loved Wonder Woman but she was literally divine and a princess. Carol is a regular person, with her quirks and problems, who's been given this gift of immense power and yet still has to overcome literal conditioning to claim it. I didn't see the "meh" that so many people have seen in Brie Larson's performance -- I saw that woman who'd ignored gender expectations not because she came from an island of Amazon warriors but because she saw what she wanted and she went for it. Who was capable of deep friendships, who was deceived, who was clever but could be blinded to things. I liked her all the more for it. She's less flawed than some of my other favorite heroines (Jessica Jones, Wynonna Earp), she's determined to ignore the voices telling her who she should be (like Peggy Carter). Is she super-dynamic? No. She's . . . a person. (Guess I will repost this in my journal.)

[lunabee34]

Yes, yes, yes, yes yes!

And yes!

I will go to your journal to say more.

[lynnenne]

Carol is a regular person, with her quirks and problems, who's been given this gift of immense power and yet still has to overcome literal conditioning to claim it.

I love that about this movie, and her character.

[spikedluv]

Yes to everything you said! I'm enjoying reading everyone's squee posts about the movie almost as much as I enjoyed the movie. *g*

[lunabee34]

Me too!

I am so excited to see so much love for it on the flist. :)

[tabaqui]

FUCK yes, to every single point you put here. I was SO SO GLAD that Carol got to be kick ass and powerful without once being bitchy, without once having a tit shot, an ass shot, a 'sexy' scene (she was just knock-down fucking beautiful). I loved that Maria and Carol didn't talk about boys, that Maria was a mom *and* a pilot and brave as fuck.

I love that Maria got to go into space and that her daughter was like 'i'm building a rocket!!'

I loved Fury getting stupid and baby-talking the second he saw Goose.

It was excellent, and the post-credit scenes were excellent and YES YES YES especially to the Stan Lee tribute.

[lunabee34]

I completely agree with everything you're saying here. She's gorgeous, but she wasn't sexualized at all. I really liked that, too. I love that she had no overt love interest (even though I can see shipping her with pretty much everyone in the movie LOL).

It completely delivered on so many fronts.

[kaleecat]

I'm not reading your post yet as I've done well at avoiding spoilers -- other than confirming nothing happens to the cat. 🙂

Just saying yeah! It has lunabee's stamp of approval! Hoping to see it Friday.

[lunabee34]

I very thoroughly stamp it approved! You are gonna love it when you see it.

How are you? How's the arm?