CAPTAIN MARVEL (podcast)

Guest on The LAMB Podcast

Lambcast #470: CAPTAIN MARVEL

w/ Rich Kirkham, Jeannette Ward, Doug Jamieson, Marya Gates

By Le Anne Lindsay, Tinsel & Tine Editor

Now and again, particularly when Marvel movie related, I take a turn guesting on the Lambcast – The Large Ass Movie Blogging Association’s podcast.  The 5 of us had a lively time first giving our overall impressions without spoilers, then with fair warning to the listeners, moved into a deep dive look at Captain Marvel, the 21st entry of the MCU.

I wish I were good at just speaking off the top of my head, but improv is not my strong suit; so when I’m on the radio or a podcast I tend to write out a little script or notes to chime in if certain topics arise. I don’t always say it exactly how I’ve written it, but this way I don’t get caught off guard – like I did at the beginning of the podcast, as I didn’t know that each Lamb Member has been rating the Jurassic Park franchise in order of best to worse, and it was my turn.  I have seen all 5 Jurassic movies and love them, but I don’t have them all catalogued in my head, as you’ll hear.

Anyway,  I’ve included my preparation material below the podcast player:

Overall: I wasn’t expecting it to be a nod to the 90’s Buddy Cop movies. I knew Nick Fury would play a part, but surprised at how big his role actually is, as we’re used to seeing him mainly in cameos in the other Marvel movies – so, I liked getting to know a more light-hearted Fury who even as a SHIELD Agent hadn’t yet come in contact with aliens and freaky stuff. And of course, I’ve been loving what they can do now making actors look years younger, each movie I think they’re getting better and better at that. Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson do make a good team, after making 3 movies together they’re actually friends in real life (Kong Skull Island, Unicorn Store and now Captain Marvel) and it comes across. Although, he has an even better chemistry with the cat (Flerken) Goose.

Some don’t think Brie Larson brings enough personality to the character,
but I think she definitely shows spunk and humor. Yet at the same time,
she’s been trained as a Kree warrior, with no past, having taken on the
beliefs of an organization that she didn’t remember choosing. So I
think she was right at times to be a bit of a blank slate.

I think the movie does a good job of straddling being both a prequel link to the MCU’s past and a lynch pin to what’s coming in End Game. All the 90’s old technology stuff I thought played well. Especially that old Alta Vista search engine before our lives were run by Google.

However, the structure of her not knowing who she is but we basically do, may keep the movie from having as much payoff as it could in that respect. The reveals are just okay. But I do like that we get surprised as to where her power actually came from.

Having Maria and her daughter be the emotional part of Carol Danver’s character, instead of an old flame, was a good choice.  The feelings Maria conveyed at losing her friend twice, first in what she thought was her death and then when she realized Carol no longer shared their bond of friendship, were believable and heartfelt.

There’s a lot said about this movie being the first female lead since it became the MCU in 2009 and how that speaks to female empowerment. Last year we talked about Black Panther and the sense of pride the black race experienced seeing us reflected as so much more than a side kick or side character. In regard to all this, I was reading an interview with comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick who rebooted the Captain Marvel comic in 2012, and she summed it up like this: “When we see authentic culture reflecting back at us, we realize that heroism is not exclusively the domain of white masculinity. There’s nothing inherently masculine about power, sacrifice, the power fantasy, the sci-fi aesthetic or about the ethical ideals of these superheroes. When you actually see, what you didn’t quite let yourself realize you were missing, it is a shockingly emotional experience”.

Although I totally identify with this statement, it also made me think – we as a society have to be careful of over-correcting, not in deed, but in thought – making white males feel marginalized should not be the goal. Yet at the same time, we have to continue to level the playing field for everyone else. How do we strike a balance?

I left it open to the others to chime in with their opinion, of course it’s a touchy subject with a mixed race / gender panel, so at first it landed like a lead balloon, but later we came back around to it when we talked about the male Trolls who tried to derail Captain Marvel. This part is in the Rants & Raves section of the podcast.

Kree Supreme Intelligence – this part of the movie seemed a little rushed to me, why was it important for her to meet with SI at that point in the story, and why hadn’t she had a chance before then? After all, she’d been living on Kree for years.

Then I asked each of the panel members who they thought they’d see when visiting the Supreme Intelligence?
My answers were: Reba McEntire just because I’ve always loved her vibe & music. OR like in the movie “The Shack” (click for T&T review) Octavia Spencer, who did a great job playing God, she does seem very sage and kind.

I wonder what Tony Stark/Iron Man will think of the fact that actually Captain Marvel is the first Avenger and the inspiration for the name? Fury creating The Protector Initiative” after learning there are extraterrestrial threats out there. Then renaming it, The Avenger Initiative” after looking at a picture of Carol Danvers by her jet, nicknamed Avenger.

Bottom Line: Captain Marvel may not be as all encompassingly thrilling as Black Panther, or Infinity War, not as humorously entertaining as Guardians of the Galaxy or Ragnarok, but I like Brie Larson as an actress, so I was open to her convincing me she’s Captain Marvel, she did, and I had a good time.  T&T’s LAMB rating 4 outta 5

For My Rant & Rave – which is the section of the podcast where you can either praise or condemn something you’re currently feeling in the entertainment arena. I chose THE MAGICIANS: it’s a series based on Lev Grossman’s New York Times best-selling fantasy trilogy, “The Magicians”. This SYFY Original Show (show creators Sera Gamble & John McNamara), is on Netflix  (seasons 1-3) It was suggested when they knew I was going through withdrawal for the series Travelers.

The Magicians is about a college for those chosen to learn real magic, not Penn & Teller tricks. The school is called Brakebills – kind of like Hogwarts meets Princeton, and in the beginning, I despised every single character, dismissed them as whiny post-millennials, but because it dealt with magic, I stuck with it, and about 5-6 episodes in became completely hooked, to the point of ordering a $50 Brakebills sweatshirt from the SYFY store.

I just love that the show takes such unexpected turns and the dialogue is full of off the wall pop culture references. It moves very quickly in and out of adventures which all build upon themselves. And best of all, I can tell they deliberately made the characters kinda unlikable at first because with each journey they grow spiritually and emotionally. The only Rant is the show is now on Season 4, but without cable I can’t see it on SYFY, so I have to wait until the season’s over and it comes  back to Neflix.

Captain Marvel - Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck |Writing Credits (WGA): Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet (story by Nicole Perlman & Meg LeFauve)

Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace

THE MARVEL MOVIE MARATHON DREAM JOB – (No sleep till Endgame) CableTV.com will PAY a lucky candidate $1000 plus tons of MCU prizes for bingeing 40+ hours of ALL 20 Marvel movies!

Criteria:
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