CAPTAIN MARVEL

Release Date: Malaysia, 06 Mar 2019

Genre: Action / Adventure

Running Length: 2:04

Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Annette Bening, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Chan

Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Screenplay: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet

CAPTAIN MARVEL ranks at the bottom half of the MCU standalone movies. It's not as weak as the recent Ant-Man and the Wasp but it's no Black Panther. To be fair, it's because the bar is already set so high up for an already overcrowded field of MCU movies, this film felt...generic.

The movie opens in outer space. When we are first introduced to Brie Larson's character, she is part of the heroic Kree team (led by Jude Law's character) looking to take down the shapeshifting villainous tribe called the Skrulls in the Kree/Skrull war. We soon learn that she has no memories of her past except the occasional flashback of her in various ages on planet Earth.

During one of her missions to take down a group of Skrulls, she ended up on Earth (the year is 1995). That's when she meets the younger looking Nick Fury (Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Gregg). By the way, the de-aging effects is amazing.

Wanting badly to know her past, she goes on a journey to discover who she really is and ended up uncovering more than she expected.

I'm not doing a one-piece bathing suit costume like in the comics.

As far as Brie Larson is concerned, the actress is fine as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. She has the dramatic chops for the quieter moments. In fact, I find her performance much more interesting during her character's amnesia stage as her powers were still repressed. But once she learns how to "unlock" her seemingly limitless powers, Larson somewhat lacks the charisma to carry the god-like presence of Captain Marvel.

That said, the most inspiring part of the movie is during the "unlocking" of her powers moment, represented by a montage of Carol Danvers suddenly finding her inner strength.

  

There are plenty of big visuals and actions with humorous quips; thanks to a very youthful and animated Samuel L. Jackson. And speaking of Jackson's Fury, we learn a lot more about his character here and how he ended up wearing the signature eye patch. Plus, the 90s music throwback is a nice touch especially one fight scene choreographed to the tune of No Doubt's Just A Girl.

Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.

There are some nice tribute scenes too; one involving a Star Wars chase sequence (accompanied by a John William-ish soundtrack) and an Indiana Jones moment played to laughs.

In summary, Captain Marvel is no Wonder Woman (the most obvious point of comparison). And Brie Larson is no Gal Gadot. The latter movie has heart, vulnerability and power and as a result, it could easily connect emotionally to its audience. Nevertheless, Captain Marvel is still an important watch as it gives us a clue to how next month's Avengers: End Game would come to an end.

  

(Just like any MCU movie, stay back for two end credit scenes; one mid-credit and the other right at the end involving Goose the Cat)

RATING: 7/10

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (Malaysia, 22 Aug 2018)

Genre: Romance / Comedy

Running Length: 2:00

Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Pierre Png, Lisa Lu, 

Director: Jon M. Chu 

Screenplay: Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the book by Kevin Kwan 

What's this movie about?

CRAZY RICH ASIANS tells the tale of New Yorker Rachel Chu (Wu) who follows her boyfriend Nick Young (Golding) to his home country of Singapore to attend his best friend's wedding. She soon learns that Nick comes from a super filthy rich family.

Before Rachel can even wrap her head around the near royalty lifestyle, she meets Nick's icy mother (Yeoh). And the "queen" is not impressed with her.

This movie is your typical poor girl who finds her Prince Charming, but featuring an all-Asian cast.

Highlights!

• The near perfect casting. By placing the right actors in the right role, the director could draw out the best from their limited acting range (this is Malaysian-born Golding big screen acting debut). Speaking of performances, I personally enjoyed watching the legendary actress Michelle Yeoh as Nick's mother - her background is pretty complex and audience would understand why she has this tough personality. A shout out to Gemma Chan too as Nick's poised cousin but is actually going through her own set of domestic problems. 
• The strong women characters. Thanks to Malaysian writer Adele Lim, she understands what it takes for an Asian woman to be both strong and vulnerable. She injected enough of such subtlety to her female characters to make them believable.  
• The romance is believable. Like all romcom, the success of the movie is dependent on the chemistry of the couple and thankfully, they have it.  
• Just enough comedy. We agree that Awkwafina and Ken Jeong's brand of comedy could be too in your face at times, but they are amusing here in small doses.
• Visually beautiful. The cinematography successfully captures the grandeur of Singapore, the glitz of the high society and the close-ups like the food scenes. The wedding scene had the audiences swooning! 
• Soundtrack. A smart choice of using recognizable English language pop songs but sung in Chinese language to appeal to the Western cinema goers. 

Lowlights

• The ending. It somehow seems abrupt and too neat with a ribbon bow and all. 
• A certain minority group played for laughs. It was unnecessary. 
• Feels like a Singapore Tourism Board ad. Especially in the beginning and the end - it was just too heavy handed.

In summary

CRAZY RICH ASIANS is actually a modern-day fairy tale. It's an escapist fantasy that entertains. And more importantly, the hype and publicity is real - this movie is indeed going to go down as a piece of history which has the potential to open doors for more Asian-led commercial motion pictures in Hollywood.

RATING: 8/10