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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Professor Bear

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 March, 2019, 10:17:07 AM
I mean that's exactly how videogames work isn't it?

Anyone YOOF can tell you that you need to input a code to access your computer's real life facility.  Clearly the makers were "nubes".

Theblazeuk

I had a harrowing month spent in Raccoon City, recently, do not recommend.

radiator

Captain Marvel.

It was ok, run of the mill Marvel fare, really.

Some unexpected plot twists ([spoiler]it was nice that Mendlesohn got to play against type for a change[/spoiler]) and some cool visuals aside it was mostly forgettable with some slightly cringey moments and awkward attempts at humour thrown in. Its a bit nitpicky I know, but I was quite distracted throughout by how easily most of the human characters seemed to gloss over the experience of meeting aliens for the first time, which you'd think would be kind of a bigger deal...?

I thought Danvers made for a very bland protagonist if I'm honest - a literal blank slate of a character with few quirks or much in the way of a discernable personality. What little we do get of a backstory is compressed into about 10 seconds of flashback, so the big 'stand up' moment at the end, though nicely filmed, rang totally hollow for me, as I don't think we'd been on anything close to an emotional journey with her, and she was pretty much identical at the end of the film to how she was when it began.

I don't expect deep characterisation from these things, but the more memorable MCU characters for me tend to be so in part because of their flaws and idiosyncrasies, or have some kind of internal conflict that needs to be resolved. I can see the logic of gong with the structure they did, but perhaps a straight chronological telling would have worked better in terms of letting us get to know the characters better and give us more than a very shallow surface read?

I'm in agreement with Keef about the cat stuff being quite lame and predictable. Ditto the 90s nostalgia, which seemed like very low hanging fruit. There seemed to be quite a bit of 'here's a reference to something from the 90s in place of an actual joke' going on. Quite telling that the thing that got by far the biggest reaction from the audience I saw it with was the Blockbusters logo.

Greg M.

Quote from: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 05:19:48 PM
I thought Danvers made for a very bland protagonist if I'm honest

One of the MCU's biggest problems has been its inability to use Marvel's best female characters. The reason? They're all X-Men. (Even most of the stuff that's actually interesting about Carol Danvers in the comics is X-Men-related  – her time as Binary, her connections to Rogue and Wolverine.) Wanda and She-Hulk (the latter in particular) are probably the most interesting of the female Avengers in print, but the former can sometimes end up less a character and more a plot device. I haven't seen the film yet, so can't comment on Carol's depiction therein, but I'll be interested to see if the character can really bear the weight Marvel are putting on her as their surrogate Wonder Woman.

radiator

#13054
I know absolutely about Captain Marvel from the comics, but there's a lot of potential for interesting avenues to go as presented in the film - the idea of on alien stranded on Earth (kind of an inverse of Star Lord from the GotG movies), themes about identity and memory - false or otherwise. But the movie touches on these things very briefly, then does absolutely nothing with them.

But I'm talking more about Danver's actual personality - and the fact that she doesn't really have one. I'd be really hard pressed to describe her as a character than in anything but the most vague terms - 'strong', 'powerful' 'weapon'... That's really all I could say about her.

Greg M.

That's sort of what I mean - her personality's not that interesting in the comics either. I'd broadly describe her as 'dedicated but a bit cross.' She undoubtedly has a fanbase, but I'd say she's not half as relatable as her successor, Kamala Khan.

radiator

I get that, but I also understand that the film version of Peter Quill is quite different from the comic book version? Like, they took a fairly mundane character and figured out a way to humanise him and make him relatable?

(also - typo - should say 'absolutely nothing' in the above post)

Greg M.

In the case of Quill, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the comic. They really made him into the wise-cracking, slightly hapless smartass that the film takes and runs with. I take your point though - you could of course take a fairly bland  comic character and make her interesting, but I suspect (and again, haven't seen it yet, so could be wrong) they were more focused on 'she has to be a tough, powerful capable woman', possibly to the exclusion of all else?

radiator

Quote from: Greg M. on 15 March, 2019, 06:42:07 PM
In the case of Quill, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the comic. They really made him into the wise-cracking, slightly hapless smartass that the film takes and runs with. I take your point though - you could of course take a fairly bland  comic character and make her interesting, but I suspect (and again, haven't seen it yet, so could be wrong) they were more focused on 'she has to be a tough, powerful capable woman', possibly to the exclusion of all else?

I kind of got that impression, yeah.

There's a slight suggestion of an arc in how [spoiler]she's been kept down at various times (generally by male authority figures) and has to overcome this in order to achieve her full potential, but again, it's so brief as to be barely there and so the moment of triumph/payoff at the end really falls flat. She basically goes from being super powerful to being mega powerful. Perhaps they were afraid to really lean in to it and risk angering the manbabies?[/spoiler]

shaolin_monkey

'Cargo' with Martin Freeman. A low key zombie film set in the Outback. Pretty good really. Different from your usual zombie fare. Quite touching.

Dandontdare

I think somebody realised the lack of backstory at some point, so they stuck in that whole 'getting knocked down and getting back up again' memory montage

Apestrife

The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.

Rara Avis

I really enjoyed Captain Marvel but agree with what everyone says about the character / movie being two dimensional. The whole point of the movie was [spoiler]that once she realised who she was she achieved her full powers [/spoiler]but not enough time was spent really developing her back story. Even one well written scene from her childhood or career (which we only see flashes of) would have worked so much better. The flashes are highly illustrative but don't allow you to connect emotionally with the character. Although the audience laughed a good few times I didn't find it that funny myself.

That cat better eat Thanos.

Mattofthespurs

Quote from: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 08:20:52 AM
The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.

Are you referring to Blow Out by De Palma and starring Travolta and Lithgow?

If so, it's a great film and very similar to The Conversation but more like Blow Up, the film from the 60's which stars David Hemmings (which is also awesome)

If not, then I've never heard of it.

Apestrife

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2019, 04:08:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 08:20:52 AM
The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.

Are you referring to Blow Out by De Palma and starring Travolta and Lithgow?

If so, it's a great film and very similar to The Conversation but more like Blow Up, the film from the 60's which stars David Hemmings (which is also awesome)

If not, then I've never heard of it.

Yep, without the "the". The one by De Palma with Travolta and Allen. I haven't seen Blow up in years, but it also comes to mind. Even heard reviwers accidently calling Blow out "Blow up" several times while discussing it haha.

Regardless. To it's credit. I'm still thinking about the film (Blow out).