stereominusone

This show is so poorly written and directed it hurts. It's a huge waste of acting talent and of viewers' time.

It's hard to comprehend how Marvel could think anyone would enjoy this show. It is an insult to the previous appearances of these characters.

The plot is nonsensical. The screenplay is beyond atrocious. It's relentless boring and cheap. It's badly shot and directed. We aren't given any reason care about the characters., and there is no real excitement or mystery to hook you in.

The MCU seems to be destroying itself more and more with each new release due to a lack of any quality control or creativity. It's tragic to witness after it had such a great run in 2014-2019.

The chances of me going to see The Marvels have now reached zero - the trailer does not provide any reassurance that it won't be more of the completely substandard writing and direction they have delivered in Secret Invasion, GoTG 3, and Ant-Man.

This film is joyless and boring. The MCU has completely lost the plot. All it can do is clumsily repeat beats from the earlier films and have the characters yell at each other. The action is confused and there's nothing to invest in. In trying to expand the minor characters it reveals they have no interest. It loses focus on Peter and Gamora and in the process is a bore. The vfx are fine but uninspired. Too many pointless subplots, badly handled. A boring villain whose plan makes no sense and who yells through every scene. No light and shade. Bad screenplay and nonsensical plot. Bad music cues.

This show is too slow-moving and the plot/characters are just not as interesting as I'd expect from the MCU. WandaVision was so great, this is not bad but its... kinda ho-hum? I think the writers assume you are way more interested in the moral dilemmas of Sam and Bucky than they give you reason to be. There are some good moments and some good ideas, and some dark scenes, but overall it lacks tension. What would have been REALLY interesting is is Kari had become the new Captain America...

This film is visually stunning and original but it lost me well before the finale and I ended up wondering who the intended audience was. Brilliant performances and moments, but the story leant into nostalgia and sentiment without managing to conjour a true connection to my own feelings. I was at least glad I saw it at home so there was no one to chime in that they loved their mother too.

The first Matrix movie is pretty good, throwing plot surprises and cod philosophy at you with some decent kung fu as well; this sequel is only mind-bending when you try to understand how it can be so bad.

This film is up there with the wildest trip movies you've ever seen. The animation is truly breathtaking. Not really for children, although my 5-year old daughter asked me "why is everything here?" after watching it earlier today. Beyond the basic point that all life is connected and the universe is a mystery, I'm not too sure what exactly was happening. But my brain's desire for narrative order was gloriously irrelevant.

Quick review: The tepid reviews of this film are so revealing. Reality: it's as good as any MCU movie and in fact it's better than most of them. Apparently some people just can't deal with female leads.

Longer version: Wow. The reviews for Captain Marvel are so depressing - even the good ones.

I love Marvel MCU films. I also know they are "just entertainment" for most audiences and, even at their best, they are not especially deep or meaningful. I think of them as a sort of glittering disco ball approach to movie making. If you love comics and science fiction, as I do, then you get some extra geek enjoyment. They have mastered a magic money making formula which seems completely fresh after over 20 films.

Captain Marvel is easily one of the best MCU films, reflecting a decade spent honing the formula and CGI. Yet even the good reviews are decidedly tepid. Worse, some describe the film as "sweet", which seems like about the worst chosen word I can imagine for Marvel's first female led film. Whatever next, "helpful"?

Of course, the MCU is heavily male-dominated. This reflects the comics, the audience, and the creators. While it's clear Marvel have made some efforts to rebalance things, not least this film, there's no doubt that he MCU is running on testosterone. It's also a sort of pre-adolescent world in which relationships and sexuality are mostly absent. It's got its problems, for sure.

But apparently the folks at Marvel are nowhere near as caught up in the grip of patriarchy as some of their audience and, more depressingly, the overwhelming majority of film critics.

Captain Marvel is a pacy, energetic action film that delivers. It's in a similar genre, but more successful than, a host of other MCU films that have won much more enthusiastic reviews.

Yet here it is earning mostly yawns and faint praise. "It's fine" says Mark Kermode defensively. The fan reviews say it is "boring".

I cannot imagine any possible explanation for this other than deep rooted sexism and misogny: It's seen as boring because it is about female characters. Massive face palm.

I've enjoyed this show from the start, but for me season 3 hit a few wobbles. Despite this, Season 4 so far is just knocking it out of the park week after week! Trump and the alt right have never been trolled so hard in their lives. A Superhero show about solving a real and increasingly urgent problem of our times of course feels a little contrived, but the courage of what they are trying to do here is truly admirable. Supergirl being Supergirl, being an alien, and how that makes some people afraid and hateful, is the problem she has to fix. She can't fix this with her superpowers - in fact it's the opposite. The depth and complexity they are giving the story is quite remarkable.