As it turns out, March 9 is International Women's Day, so here are some short reviews of recent mainstream blockbuster films with female protagonists.
The latest movie in the gargantuan Marvel Cinematic Universe takes place in the mid-90's. The Kree warrior Vers (Brie Larson) and her squad is tasked to find one of their undercover operatives, as the operative's location has been compromised by the Skrulls, the shapeshifting archenemies of the Kree. Thanks to a certain series of events, Vers finds herself on Earth, where she discovers a connection to the planet and her mysterious past.
Though the film is a very entertaining two hours, there's not a lot in Captain Marvel that grabs the viewer. As a drama, it's all over the place, the film unable to sustain a good arc. As an action film, it's okay, though the stakes aren't as big as other Marvel movies; this is more Ant-Man than it is Infinity War. As a character study, it comes up a bit incomplete, which is unfortunate considering directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are responsible for character-driven films like Half Nelson (2006) and Sugar (2008).
But while the Marvel house style predominates in this film, there are bits and pieces of Boden and Fleck's earlier work still present. The problem is, the film doesn't really evoke any unique attributes that set it apart from the other Marvel films, which is kind of disappointing considering last year we had films like Black Panther that are distinct yet still present in the MCU. One particular issue is the setting: the 90's were a particularly bland time in history, so visually the Earth scenes reflect that. On the other hand, the film makes up for that visual blandness with a pretty rockin' soundtrack of 90's tunes.
Ultimately, while the film ends up being average, it's the kind of film that teaches something: for one thing, that we should not judge solely on outside appearances, whether it be a woman or a race of aliens branded as terrorists. I can also see young kids watching this, with them perhaps finding someone to identify with, someone that can tell them that no matter how many times people put you down, no matter how many times men try to tell you what you can or can't do, you stand up and fight.
On the other side of the spectrum comes Alita Battle Angel, the long dormant dream project of Avatar director James Cameron. Based on the first part of the long running manga by Yukito Kishiro, Alita is as good a manga adaptation as it gets: it trims the excess fat while staying relatively true to the source material.
Like the other film in this set of reviews, Alita's main character is also an insomniac: retrieved by scientist Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) from a dumpsite, the cyborg has no recollection of her past. It turns out she's connected to a centuries-old conflict that led to the world being what it is.
The original source material is a vast world with strange, even bizarre characters and an abundance of worldbuilding. The adaptation tells enough to keep the film understandable without getting too deep in the nitty gritty.
The action is fun and propulsive, and the characters are all varied and fun. Alita's relationship with Ido forms one of my favorite arcs of the film. The peculiar aesthetic choice of having Alita's eyes larger than normal to emulate Kishiro's original manga style is initially off-putting, but not as jarring as expected. As the movie went on, I somehow acclimated to the uncanny valley.
The film is however bogged down by a romantic arc that doesn't really gel and finds itself gasping for breath by the last third of the film. This arc was present in the original manga, though it was given a little more time to grow. The ending ends with a rather substantial cliffhanger, though enough loose ends have been tied up to the extent that there's at least some degree of satisfaction to the whole undertaking.
I hope Alita Battle Angel gets a sequel, because if the original manga is any indication, things get a lot more crazy from here on in.
No comments:
Post a Comment