neobateman

I've held back on reviewing Captain Marvel, I wanted to let the film sink in and allow myself to come to a proper conclusion on my thoughts. One thing I will make clear from the very beginning. I wanted to enjoy this film. I rooted for Brie Larson (she was my top pick for the role of Captain Marvel). Marvel Studios have overall done a very satisfying job not just in adapting their comic book characters but also crafting very enjoyable films in the process. Unfortunately Captain Marvel is a dull mess with a weak story, an uninteresting hero and weak villains. The film succeeds in the humour department, the film has clever jokes and funny lines, especially between Carol (Brie Larson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Praise needs to be given to the special effects team that managed to digitally deage Jackson in order to make him seem like a younger version of Nick Fury. This is the first time where the special effects didn't bother me. Usually the actor looks unnatural, as if they are wearing a digital mask. Jackson however, just appears younger, there is nothing that seemed out of place. The rest of the special effects also work spectacularly well (of course, its Marvel). The sets are futuristic, convincing and bring across the Utopian world of the main character. The action scenes are exciting, well shot and easy to follow. But this felt like a Phase 1 Marvel film to me. A film mainly required as set up for Avengers: Endgame, I find this to be extremely unfortunate because this character deserves better. Carol Danvers doesn't seemingly go through an arc, her worldview is never challenged which doesn't trigger a growth within her character. The strongest superhero films built an emphasis on a flawed main character whose experiences and mistakes shape his or her journey (think Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, Iron Man or Wonder Woman). Larson's character travels to Earth and is confronted with our way of life, which lead to some of the funniest scenes in the film. She is a fish out of water and perhaps doesn't see humanity the way we do. However, what does she take away? How will this impact her personality in the future? The character felt poorly written and I never had the impression I was watching a human being on screen. Her character felt constructed and not like a tangible and complex person. Larson tries her best with the role but the limited material drags her performance down to simply being a badass superhero with a sense of wit. Larson is a fantastic actress with an awesome range. She possesses so many more skills as an actress and the film doesn't allow her to express them. I hope that in future sequels the character can ripen up and grow on me more. There is certainly potential there, however a more independent and creative voice I feel needs to be present in order for the films to change their focus (i.e. Richard Donner, Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Sam Raimi, Taika Waititi or James Gunn).

Avengers Endgame is the conclusion to 11 years worth of MCU build up. A 3 hour long epic superhero adventure packed with eye candy action and emotional moments that suffers from a few minor inconsistencies in story and characters. The promotional material has been incredibly vague and therefore I'll keep it too with this review too to not ruin the fun. After the 'events' of Infinity War, the Avengers are forced to reassemble and take on Thanos (Josh Brolin) once more. That's all I'll say about the plot. I was genuinely surprised with the direction that was taken for many characters. Unlike Infinity War, the heroes are in front center this time. There were genuine arcs that made me love and feel for these characters yet again and all of the actors were fantastic. Robert Downey jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth are at the centre of this movie and there characters were all the best, emotional and surprising for me. Especially Ruffalo lightened up the mood with a comedic performance. At this point the chemistry and comradeship between the Avengers is undeniably the best part of these films. Just seeing these characters on screen talking and interacting was truly amazing. The conversations and relationships they share with each other is vital to the films success and it absolutely delivers. The humour is on point, the dialogue snappy and real and the fight just as brutal and significant as before. All other actors too gave very effective performance but I will admit that there were two that disappointed me a little. Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) and surprisingly Josh Brolin (Thanos). I haven't seen Captain Marvel but the use of her character in Endgame didn't do much for me. She had no personality and Larson (a terrific actress) didn't have the inviting charisma that a Scarlett Johansson has. Whilst he stole the show in Infinity War, Brolin's Thanos is merely reduced to a big evil villain in this film. I get that most of the screen time and story was dedicated to the Avengers and that Infinity War was Thanos' movie. But if I'm supposed to judge Endgame as a film on its own, his character definitely felt underused. Some jumbled story parts that best shouldn't be overly analysed aside. Avengers Endgame is an absolutely experience from start to finish. Perhaps the best film in the MCU yet I don't know how they can possibly top this. Wrapped up with a nice bow and tie, Endgame is a satisfying blockbuster for all fans of the MCU and superhero films in general.

Green Book certainly stirred up controversy when it unexpectedly won Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards. I personally didn't care as I lost interest in the Oscars completely (these are the people that nominated Black Panther for Best Picture). Certainly is the film in my Top 5 favorites of 2018, not really. That doesn't mean however that Green Book isn't an endearing, enjoyable and above all funny film about friendship and acceptance. The themes of this film have been highlighted around a zillion times in other films such as The Help. However that doesn't mean that the formula is broken. I for one appreciated this films humor, performances and story. A tough Italian brute (Viggo Mortensen) is looking for a new job. He is hired by an African American musician (Mahershala Ali) to drive him through the Southern States in the early 1960s for a tour. The film wisely goes for humor over melodrama which is what sets it apart from all the other films about this topic. Not that the film doesn't have dramatic moments, in fact these are all the more effective because the two main characters were so likeable and funny. Mortensen gave such a heartwarming performance. His character is a brute, he doesn't mind getting physical when someone pisses him off. But his character also expressed such an aura of warmth were the audience simply gravitated towards him. He doesn't understand the racism, he doesn't get the absolute treacherous and human rights violating laws of Jim Crow under which African Americans suffered. However the film wisely never preaches about the privileged white man not knowing the truth, it just shows it, plain and simple. Ali too gave a terrific performance, his character had a sense of sophistication and coolness even in intense situations. It is incredibly heart wrenching to see such a professional guy who lives his passion pushed to his breaking point by his societies' racist rules. Overall there is not much else to say about Green Book. The themes are obvious and the film doesn't attempt to hide it. Mortensen and Ali are terrific and share great chemistry. A heartwarming family film that allows children to have a more sanitized look into America's darkest points of history. No 12 Years A Slave but still a good time.