The Marvels (2023)

[NakedMoleRat]

I watched it in D+ last night.

It was a fun movie. Still glad that I didn’t pay for it in the theater, but I’m doing that less and less.

I didn’t see any woke agenda as many have claimed.

I also didn’t see any ‘girl power’ agenda where men are stupid.

I saw three heroes that happened to be women. It wasn’t as if Nick Fury was an incompetent idiot that needed the women to help him function as would be that case.

I liked Kamala’s family in this move more so than in the series.

One nit pick, Rambo didn’t need to be trapped in the opposite universe. If she could be on one side pushing, then she could be on the other side pulling.

Not crazy about the X Men having existed in a parallel universe for them to be brought in.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I also liked that we saw a hero having to face the consequences of their actions. Acting on what they believe to be the correct decision, that winds up being catastrophic.

The Avengers decimate half of New York in the battle and there’s a parade for them the next week, and half of the male population get their beards cut like Tony Stark’s.

This was the first movie that showed accountability…

 

[Malibu139]

I also liked that we saw a hero having to face the consequences of their actions. Acting on what they believe to be the correct decision, that winds up being catastrophic.

The Avengers decimate half of New York in the battle and there’s a parade for them the next week, and half of the male population get their beards cut like Tony Stark’s.

This was the first movie that showed accountability…

Haven’t seen this one yet, but wasn’t one of the main themes of Civil War about “super accountability” in the aftermath of age of ultron?

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Haven’t seen this one yet, but wasn’t one of the main themes of Civil War about “super accountability” in the aftermath of age of ultron?

Yeah, but this one showed how Captain Marvel, while having good intentions, destroyed an entire planet.

She realized that she’d been acting on her own personal feelings and not thought about what her actions would do.

It made her search her soul, as it were.

 

[Malibu139]

Yeah, but this one showed how Captain Marvel, while having good intentions, destroyed an entire planet.

She realized that she’d been acting on her own personal feelings and not thought about what her actions would do.

It made her search her soul, as it were.

Ok- will have to give it a watch sometime

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Ok- will have to give it a watch sometime

I was surprised, and impressed.

I had no desire to see it in the theatre and honestly watched it BECAUSE of the negative talk about it and see if it was that bad.

It was a good movie, well acted, with a solid story.

Even the Flerken kitten salvation was fun.

 

[renaissance_man]

I was surprised, and impressed.

I had no desire to see it in the theatre and honestly watched it BECAUSE of the negative talk about it and see if it was that bad.

It was a good movie, well acted, with a solid story.

Even the Flerken kitten salvation was fun.

If only more fans had given it a chance as you have rather than listening to the handful of hate spreaders online then the film might have made a bit more money that some people seem so obsessed by.

I've watched it twice now since it's been on Disney+ and also watched the Assembled episode which was also really interesting. The amount of work that goes into these films is amazing, something I feel is lost in an age of streaming and instant access to a wealth of "content".
The number of extras all in alien makeup and costume for the Aladna part of the film, the SABRE station with its huge set, again not a cheap thing to make.
Kudos to everyone involved in making this film.

 

[wayouteast]

I watched it when it was in cinemas and enjoyed it hugely. I've recently watched it again on streaming and enjoyed it just as much if not more second time around. In my opinion it doesn't deserve any of the relentless negativity and even outright hatred that seems to take over any and every discussion of it.

I have my own opinions about the true sources of most of that negativity which I'll keep to myself, not wishing to poke any hornets' nests, but I will say that there seems to be a recent phenomenon of people gaining more joy from the anticipated failure of the 'franchises' (I hate that word) they claim to love than from ther success. They say that there's a stronger dopamine hit from negative emotion than from positive, and every social media channel now relies on the fact that outrage and anger pays better and gets more engagement than delight and happiness. So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Any new film along with its makers and cast will be immediately engulfed in a wave of hate and vituperation and a concentrated campaign of denigration and bad reviews (sometimes before the film is even out). That is deliberately amplified on all social media platforms by those with vested interests (cultural, financial or otherwise) - witness the inundation of sarcastic 'laugh' emojis, insults, hate and spite on any Facebook or YouTube post about this film or any of its lead actors. That in turn has an effect on a potential audience who might be swayed not go to see the film after all. And lo and behold the much anticipated 'failure' is achieved. Rinse and repeat.

It's happening more and more, to the point where I'm starting to worry about the future of films and shows I love, and I truly don't know what the answer is.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I thought The Marvels was very entertaining, with great chemistry between the three leads (especially Iman Vellani who completely steals the show) and strong support from the other cast. It's spectacular as hell at times, and very funny in all the places it needs to be. I'd go so far as to say it’s got a real Guardians of the Galaxy vibe to it and there's no higher praise in my book. It's got a decent plot, a well-motivated and nuanced villain, some good explorations of deeper themes - especially the 'power/accountability' equation referred to in the posts above - and it expands, sets up and develops some promising future avenues of exploration in the wider 'multiverse' storyline (especially in the mid-credits scene). In my opinion, one of the best Marvel films for a while and certainly didn't deserve its poor box-office showing in any way.

 

[Funky]

I watched it. I didn't notice anything woke about it. It was just a bad movie. The writing sucked, directing sucked, they ripped off the Thanos gauntlet scene from End Game but with just 3 women....the list goes on. If this movie was just 3 men it still would have sucked.

I couldn’t have said it better. I can’t believe this thread is STILL alive!

 

[renaissance_man]

I couldn’t have said it better. I can’t believe this thread is STILL alive!

If you're that bothered, why still post here?
The thread is still alive because people who enjoyed the film want to talk about it.
If you don't like it that's fine, spend your time doing something productive and let those who do enjoy it continue the conversation.

 

[firesprite]

I will never understand why people feel the need to come in and continue to **** on something they dislike when it's clear plenty of others enjoyed it. If you've already said your piece, why bother coming back? You don't see me going into threads like the Walking Dead and continuing to remind people that the show turned into a dumpster fire years ago and I stopped watching as a result. I just don't go into the thread.

Let people enjoy things!

Also, just to be clear, I'm not calling for threads to be echo chambers. It's okay to say you dislike something, or discuss how something could be better, but when your only contribution is "lol, this sucks", you need to just walk away after a while.

 

[Solo4114]

I will never understand why people feel the need to come in and continue to **** on something they dislike when it's clear plenty of others enjoyed it. If you've already said your piece, why bother coming back?

It's cheaper than therapy?

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

It's cheaper than therapy?

Yeah, but it's like wiping your rear end with someone else's shirt & saying that it's cheaper than buying toilet paper.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Yeah, but it's like wiping your rear end with someone else's shirt & saying that it's cheaper than buying toilet paper.

Technically that would still be cheaper.

 

[Bloop]

So, I finally got to watch the Marvels after it dropped for digital purchase today. **** the haters, it was freaking amazing. I had so much fun watching it, and will be watching it again shortly!

Seriously... I would be in heaven if Marvel would revisit the dual release option like they experimented with for Black Widow. I happily plunked the money down to watch at home instead of in the theater, and I would absolutely do it again if it was an option. To me, that seems like a no-brainer to help mitigate losses like we've seen on The Marvels.

Not all of us are willing to roll the dice on compromised immune systems, COVID, and the rest of humanity's apparent desire to tempt fate.

I guess if you have limited experience in watching movies, you might like this.
I'm trying to watch it now, but it's just not interesting. I liked Ms.Marvel, and Iman Vellani is the best part of this. I don't know how Teyonah Parris got higher billing than her, her character (and acting) is a big shrug.
They keep trying to sexualize Brie Larsen throughout the movie (new tighter fitting costume with countless shots of her from behind, plus the tanktop scenes with a padded bra underneath), I assume it was in hopes of getting the male and gay/bi female audience interested. It just felt cheap.
Costumes and the sets also felt cheap. Not sure where the budget went. Didn't seem like a theatrical release. Directing (including fight choreo) didn't help. Kind of tired of these incredibly powered beings resorting to hand-to-hand combat, just because they can't figure out how to make their powers interesting. Probably should've just been a tv movie/series.
I don't need all characters to be men, but they were really pushing the female casting to the point where it feels exclusionary. You could say the earlier marvel movies suffered from female characters being mostly romantic interests, but they still had depth and held their own (Peggy Carter, Pepper Potts, Black Widow, etc). Nick Fury is the real only male lead in this movie and even he doesn't have much to do. If you flipped the character's genders in this movie, people would say "where are the female characters?"
Above all, the plot isn't interesting. And suddenly Captain Marvel is much weaker than previous appearances? She tells Kamala "we save who we can." She's just standing there, waiting for the ship doors to close while a ton of Skrulls die. Past appearances have showed she easily could've done more.

 

[renaissance_man]

I guess if you have limited experience in watching movies, you might like this.

No need to be insulting, especially targeting someone directly by quoting their post.
You didn't like the film, that's fine, move on with your life, do something productive rather than coming to a forum where people who enjoyed something like to talk about it.
Have a word with yourself before you decide to post something like this.

 

[Bloop]

No need to be insulting, especially targeting someone directly by quoting their post.
You didn't like the film, that's fine, move on with your life, do something productive rather than coming to a forum where people who enjoyed something like to talk about it.
Have a word with yourself before you decide to post something like this.

I accidentally posted before I was finished writing (which I've already remidied). At any rate, I wasn't responding to you, so you can go "have a word with yourself" (whatever that means) somewhere else.

 

[renaissance_man]

I accidentally posted before I was finished writing (which I've already remidied). At any rate, I wasn't responding to you, so you can go "have a word with yourself" (whatever that means) somewhere else.

You're directly replying to Firesprite's post, so it looks like you're personally having a dig them.

 

[Bloop]

You're directly replying to Firesprite's post, so it looks like you're personally having a dig them.

You're directly replying to mine, so who cares? That's what replies are for. Don't like it? Don't comment.

 

[renaissance_man]

You're directly replying to mine, so who cares? That's what replies are for. Don't like it? Don't comment.

You can give an opinion without having to have a dig at someone else's.