The Marvels (2023)
Director: Nia DaCosta
Screenwriters: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Samuel L. Jackson

Previously on the MCU…

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers became the most powerful woman alive when she absorbed the cosmic energy of an exploding alien reactor. In ‘Wandavision’, astronaut Monica Rambeau gained the power to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum when she passed through a barrier of chaos magic. In ‘Ms Marvel’, teenage superhero fangirl Kamala Khan’s inert extra-dimensional mutant powers were unlocked by a magical bangle passed down through her family. Now…

When three superheroes with light-based powers mysteriously start switching places across the universe, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) must team up to find the root cause of their conundrum and stop fanatical Kree warlord Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) from doing untold damage to the universe.

The debate about whether it’s a good move for buzzworthy indie directors to make the leap to superhero blockbusters so early in their careers continues. Cop Car’s Jon Watts managed to keep some of his directorial voice intact when he swung into the MCU with Spider-Man: Homecoming, ditto Taika Waititi taking up Thor’s hammer straight after Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but other filmmakers like Cate Shortland (going from Berlin Syndrome to Black Widow) and Chloé Zhao (following Nomadland with Eternals) have struggled to make their superhero movies stand out. Nia DaCosta (previously behind the Candyman reboot) seems to find herself somewhere in the middle of that scale, bringing plenty of personality to her story but perhaps having to temper her darker impulses to fit the studio brief.

The sheer charm of the central trio’s dynamic makes you forgive the film a lot of sins. This is what you’re watching for, to see this unconventional surrogate family unit – an absentee aunt, a grieving daughter and an over-enthusiastic younger sister who just wants to be included – puzzle out their predicament and support each other through their trials. The problem is that exactly what Captain Marvel has been doing since her movie debut, referenced in brief flashbacks and confronted directly at this film’s close, sounds a lot more interesting than the film we are actually watching. Rather than grappling with the responsibility of what to do with your near-unlimited power, seeing her make what will prove to be disastrous decisions that impact the lives of billions of extra-terrestrials, more often than not we’re hurtling around the universe searching for space trinkets for undefined reasons. 

There are some admittedly eye-catching sci-fi vistas on display, with glittering futuristic cities and spectacularly collapsing planetary bodies aplenty. There is also, disappointingly, still the odd uninspiring brawl that amounts to repetitive punching with added fireworks, usually in pretty featureless added-in-post environs. 

The action highlight is unquestionably the bravura fight sequence in the first act that is given its lifeblood and rhythm by sterling work from editors Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff, hilariously inopportunely zipping the three Marvels in and out of their brawl taking place at three different points in the galaxy every time they use their powers. This unexpectedly not only puts the Khan family and their Jersey City home in the firing line but also keeps the powered trio physically apart and unable to effectively coordinate a little while longer.

You can’t really accuse DaCosta and co for playing it safe, mostly because of how prominently they feature multiple Flerkens (chaotic alien cats that can consume just about anything with their disguised tendrilled maws). The film also finds room for not one but two musical, or at least musical-inspired sequences to break up its more generic action. The more self-aware of these scenes that references an infamous piece of bad pop culture is the better and most memorable of the two by far and will doubtless be doing the rounds on social media as soon as The Marvels is released digitally.

This is one of the funnier Marvel movies, but most of the humour comes from the performances (especially Vellani’s insatiable excitement levels) rather than what was written on the page. The script could have used another pass for sure, and it contains very little that might be considered quotable. The warm interplay of Kamala and her protective family, the undoubted heart and highlight of her solo show, is always welcome, plus it’s amusing that they gave her parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur, both great value) more to do in this than Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.

The Marvels has probably the most boring villain since we completely lost Christopher Eccleston behind his prosthetics to play Malekith. Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn is literally carrying around her Kree uber-bastard predecessor Ronan the Accuser’s hammer and making foreboding pronouncements, sneering through metal-capped teeth completely straight-faced without the luxury of a Star-Lord dancing to puncture her pomposity. We know she’s after a pair of magical MacGuffins and she wants to destroy a sizeable portion of the universe (which is bad) in order to save her own dying world (which is goodish), but she has no other personality or nuance to make her feel like anything more than a driver of plot.

You do wonder how much this movie was whittled down in the edit and whether DaCosta would have wanted to delve further into Carol’s costly mistakes and dwell on the dark implications of godlike power a little more in addition to delivering a fun space romp driven by sparky interplay between three gifted female performers. As it is, The Marvels is a decent enough time at the movies that doesn’t quite come together as a satisfying whole. Fans won’t need to be told to stick around during the credits for a couple of pleasant surprises. 

Score: 16/24

Recommended for you: MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenwriters: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Ellen Wong, Chris Evans, Brie Larson

Following the success of the first two entries in the critically and commercially acclaimed Cornetto Trilogy, Edgar Wright turned his attention to North American audiences with his adaptation Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novel series. With the film turning 10 in 2020, and with a theatrical release promised by the director himself, now seems like a fine time to revisit one of the filmmaker’s most under-watched gems.

Whilst a box-office flop at the time of release, Scott Pilgrim has gained a steady number of fans in the decade since, becoming something of a cult classic. The New York Times wrote that “Its speedy, funny, happy-sad spirit is so infectious that the movie makes you feel at home in its world even if the landscape is, at first glance, unfamiliar”. The film additionally earned praise in the UK with a five star review from Empire Magazine.

The protagonist of the film is the titular character Scott Pilgrim (Cera), a 22 year old from Toronto who is the bassist for struggling rock band Sex Bob-Omb. The plot focuses on Scott’s pursuit of a relationship with newcomer to the area Ramona Flowers (Winstead), who is trying to escape her past. To earn her affection, Scott must defeat her seven evil exes in a series of fun and elaborate video-game styled fights that could have leapt straight from the screens of classic Pac-Man or Super Mario. As an avid video game fan (as proven by their significant inclusions in ‘Spaced’ and Shaun of the Dead), Edgar Wright delivers in colour, stakes and homage, for a joyful sensory journey through the original material’s witty and relateable content.

As with each of Wright’s other films, the casting of Scott Pilgrim is spot on, and many of the core cast have gone to achieve great success in the years that have followed. Michael Cera is fantastic as Scott, the ‘Arrested Development’ star bringing his blend of humour to proceedings and nailing the empty-headed character with his typically endearing delivery. Mary Elizabeth Winstead offers some great support work as Ramona, with her tough attitude coming across as mysterious and interesting in wholesome opposition to the protagonist. In smaller roles, Chris Evans and Brie Larson (now veterans of the MCU) both excel in playing against type, and we are offered an early glimpse at Kieran Culkin’s talents prior to the smash hit series ‘Succession’.

Similarly, Wright is able to effectively and humourously balance the changes in tone that Scott Pilgrim’s original material has to offer, ensuring that comedy, action and romance exist seamlessly within the same picture. Early scenes with Scott and his initial love interest Knives, as well as his initial interactions with Ramona, seem to come from an entirely different film to the comic-book/video-game hybrid on offer later on, these early moments feeling more like a rom-com than an action-comedy. The juxtaposition of the tone works in the film’s favour, offering a graphic novel adaptation about as unique as you’ll find in pseudo-mainstream English language cinema.

The action sequences of Scott Pilgrim are perhaps its most unique feature however, with each of them illustrating Wright’s unique gift for making absurd situations work, the climactic showdown between Scott and Gideon proving an audio-visual delight. Many of the fight sequences are lifted straight from the pages of the source material, showing Wright’s reverence to the text and translating as unique and enjoyable cinematic inclusions in their own right.

With the film predominantly focusing on Scott and his band-mates, the music in Scott Pilgrim is of course a crucial ingredient as regards the film’s success. Many of the original songs performed by Sex-Bob-Omb fit the alt-culture tones perfectly, and Brie Larson nails her musical number as Scott’s ex Envy Adams – remarkably Larson was only 19 at the time of filming. The indie/alternative artist Beck features prominently on the soundtrack too, and he even composed some original material for the film, illustrating the reach of the novel and of Wright’s music-led directorial approach. There are even several video game pieces from the The Legend Of Zelda video game series scattered throughout.

In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, it was refreshing to see Wright stretch his muscles and begin to show the variety in his releases that would be further demonstrated in his next non-cornetto film Baby Driver (2017). Pilgrim, like Driver, proved that Wright could operate without co-screenwriter and leading man Simon Pegg, and worked to solidify Wright as a trusty filmmaker in the Hollywood realm despite its financial woes. Funny, creative and endearing, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a film very much in the mold of its director.

18/24

Just Mercy (2020)
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Screenwriters: Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham
Starring: Micheal B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Rafe Spall, Tim Blake Nelson

Based on the memoir of Bryan Steveson (Jordan), Just Mercy tells the tale of Steveson’s work with men on death row, and specifically the case Walter ‘Johnny D’ McMillian (Foxx), an African American man falsely imprisoned for the murder of a white woman.

There are a few issues with this film, but none of them are the cast. Everyone in this film is excellent, without exception. The actors, despite being well established stars, transform into the characters. Brie Larson is one cast member in particular who is so convincing you’ll be double checking the cast list after you’ve left the cinema. Comparatively, Foxx has been nominated for Screen Actors Guild award for best male in a supporting role for his role as Johnny D; a truly awards-focused performance that lives up to its high expectations. The characters in Just Mercy feel real and most of this can be attributed to the stellar performances of the highly respected names that make up the cast; a number of whom, Larson and Foxx included, better the written material tenfold. 

The story of Just Mercy explores the complexities of morality, the key theme of which being; that just because someone does something bad one time doesn’t make them a bad person. It shows the all too relevant hypocrisy of the American legal system.

One of the issues with presenting a true story, is that it is just that… a true story.

The picture too often falls back on outdated tropes of “true to life” movies; we see characters looking through piles of papers, through heavy legal documents and leather bound books, highlighting and circling important things – the montages could have been lifted from almost any film of this type for the previous 80 years. The last time this seemed relevant and interesting was in Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight back in 2015.

It’s presented as if a lacklustre means of moving the plot forward; a sort of excuse for the narrative that is lazy and, most importantly for us, tiresome – Michael B. Jordan finds something important; he has a look on his face; Brie Larson asks ‘what is it?’; he tells us (without even a hint of attempting to cover the exposition). This would be okay if it wasn’t so central to the movie that characters get important information for the case in brown envelopes and the plot demands that we just wait to be told – several movies over the past few years have dealt with this trope in inventive visual ways, leaving Just Mercy feeling dated. 

There is a clear attempt to create tension in this film, such as the trailer’s key hook ‘What you are doing is going to make a lot of people unhappy’. The issue is that what the character is doing doesn’t make a lot of people unhappy, it doesn’t even ruffle a few feathers. In fact, the only character to suffer any kind of negative consequence is Rafe Spall’s Tommy Champan, an almost stereotypical “southerner” played  by a Brit and painted with broad, racially motivated strokes. 

The biggest disappointment of the film’s lacklustre presentation is that the true story behind Just Mercy is an important one to hear about. The real-life struggle of wrongly imprisoned African American people is one of the greatest injustices of contemporary America, and the film importantly highlights that, albeit in a manner much less effective than the likes of If Beale Street Could Talk or Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th. Perhaps the story of Just Mercy would have been better suited to being an Asif Kapadia style documentary?

8/24

In this edition of ranked, we’re ranking each of these 9 releases from worst to best based on artistry and cultural significance.

Have an opinion? Make sure to leave a comment or tweet us!

9. Hellboy

Lionsgate
Director: Neil Marshall
Starring: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, Thomas Haden Church

In a year of many highs for the superhero/comic book movie sub-genre, the Hellboy reboot from Centurion director Neil Marshall and Lionsgate wasn’t one of them.

Coming some 15 years after Guillermo Del Toro first introduced the character to the silver screen, the remake was perhaps inevitable, but in the midst of Del Toro’s resurgence as a leading Hollywood creative figure following his Best Director Oscar win in 2018 for The Shape of Water, comparisons were perhaps even more likely to be negative than they may have been previously, the 2019 version opting to take a gamble on gore being its defining factor; perhaps using it as a mask for the missing creativity apparent in its creatures, narrative and action set-pieces.

This was a misfire that may warrant a sequel as being unnecessary.

Recommended for you: 2018 Superhero Movies Ranked

8. Brightburn

Sony Pictures
Director: David Yarovesky
Starring: Jackson A. Dunn, Elizabeth Banks, David Denman

Marketed as a James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) project asking “what if Superman was evil?”, Brightburn excited many a comic book movie fan for its intriguing idea that stood out from the rest of what we had become used to seeing. A superhero-horror movie seemed like a huge step for the sub-genre, but it offered way too little by the way of its superhero promise, the film instead being “structured and paced more like a contemporary possession or haunted house movie”, according to Jacob Davis in his The Film Magazine review.

Shallow in terms of character and world building, and ultimately underwhelming in other aspects given its promising premise, Brightburn was a gamble we’re glad Sony Pictures took, but one that ultimately didn’t pay off in terms of quality of product, critical reception or box office dollars; making it a somewhat unexpected 2019 superhero movie dud.

7. Dark Phoenix

20th Century Fox
Director: Simon Kinberg
Starring: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Dark Phoenix was re-shot and rescheduled in the build-up to its Summer 2019 release, and with issues behind the scenes regarding its studio 20th Century Fox being bought out by Marvel overlords Disney, and the likelihood of Marvel Studios incorporating the X-Men IP into their studio because of that purchase, Simon Kinberg’s passion project seemed sent out to die. Perhaps that’s why they removed “X-Men” from the film’s title…

What Dark Phoenix did right, it did pretty well – there was a fantastic train battle sequence that was reminiscent of some of the X-Men franchise’s greatest moments – but the film suffered from a lack of originality in a number of key aspects (including a finale massively similar to Avengers: Infinity War) and looked cheap; the re-shoots probably being to blame for the massive lack of cinematic qualities on offer in a number of sequences.

To say goodbye to nearly 20 years of the X-Men like this was disappointing, and to still be waiting for a good Dark Phoenix Saga film after two tries is beyond disappointing, but Dark Phoenix managed to offer sparks of something special that at least lifted it from our bottom spot.

Recommended for you: Every X-Men Movie Ranked

For this list, we’ve analysed the contemporary era of cinema (1970 and beyond) for the very best rom-com ensemble casts that came to define eras, surprise audiences and ultimately sell their film, whether the picture could be considered good or not.

As a rule, we’ve avoided films that are firmly attached to other genres, such as musicals like Grease and La La Land or dramas like The Silver Linings Playbook and Shakespeare In Love (all of which have rom-com elements), and have judged all casts based on casts alone – beware, there may be some seriously trash movies in the list ahead!

In no particular order…

1. No Strings Attached (2011)

Starring that year’s Best Actress Oscar winner Natalie Portman and arguably the decade’s most trustworthy go-to rom-com leading man Ashton Kutcher, this early 2010s offering from Ivan Reitman, the director of Ghostbusters (1984), featured a stacked cast of future industry leaders including Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig and multi-time Emmy nominee Mindy Kaling.

Oscar winning actor Kevin Kline played Kutcher’s father, meanwhile Lake Bell, Ophelia Lovibond, Ludacris and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s Jake Johnson offered their two cents in some of the film’s smaller roles, filling No Strings Attached to the brim with some of the decade’s most influential and recognisable names.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Lake Bell, Cary Elwes, Greta Gerwig, Olivia Thirlby, Ludacris, Mindy Kaling, Jake Johnson, Ophelia Lovibond

2. You’ve Got Mail (1998)

The 2nd half of the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks rom-com double bill, You’ve Got Mail, also directed by Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally), peaks its older sister to this slot due to each of its stars (particularly Hanks) being even closer to the top of their game, with the supporting cast being nothing short of a who’s who of top class late 90s names.

Leading male Tom Hanks had won two Oscars between Sleepless In Seattle and You’ve Got Mail (for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump) and was about to win his 3rd for 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, while the supporting cast featured that year’s Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear, award-winning comedian Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, Parker Posey and even Chris Messina in a small role.

Cast: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns, Jean Stapleton, Chris Messina

The current lady-of-the-moment is an Oscar and BAFTA-winning actress with a long list of reputable works. For over ten years, Larson has been working on an array of mainstream and independent movies, as well as her own pieces such as The Arm (2012) which won the Short Film Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival.

If you’re interested in catching up on where our Captain Marvel has been and what we can hope to expect from her in the future, here’s a list of Brie Larson’s best silver screen performances from her career thus far.

In no particular order…

1. Room (2015)

Brie Larson’s staple movie has to be Room.

An adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s 2010 novel of the same name, this piece enabled Larson to bag multiple awards, many for Best Actress. This intriguing and moving story follows a woman who has been held captive for seven years and, in that time, has given birth to her son who is now five. Born in captivity, the boy knows nothing of the outside world and his mother has lost seven years of her life, yet their relationship holds a bond like no other. This is an eye-opening and enchanting narrative, showing the range of Larson’s acting talent.

2. Captain Marvel (2019)

Brie Larson’s recent success comes directly from her achievements with Marvel Studios. Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, is the most recent instalment in the franchise, and ties in with Avengers: Endgame. It is the twenty-first film in the Marvel franchise and is based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers. Portraying an iconic female lead, Larson has branched out to a much wider audience, becoming a solid role model for young girls and MCU fans alike.

3. Unicorn Store (2017)

Larson’s feature-length directorial debut premiered on Netflix in 2019 almost two years after its initial showing at the Toronto International Film Festival. The coming-of-age comedy movie follows Kit (Larson), a failed artist who moves back home after getting stuck between a rock and a hard place. After finding an office job, she receives a mysterious letter inviting her to ‘The Store’, a place that sells “what you need”. Enigmatic and quirky, this movie has been highly rated by critics, calling it a “willfully quirky wisp of a film”; Larson’s direction and performance anchoring every minute of the film.

4. The Glass Castle (2017)

Starring alongside Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts, The Glass Castle shows Larson in another solemn role. Adapted from the memoirs of Jeanette Walls, the film explores the life of the author and her childhood. Although reviews for this film were mixed, the performances from Larson and Harrelson in particular have been highly praised.

5. Short Term 12 (2013)

This independent drama has been recognised for its realism and understanding, with Brie Larson’s performance being greatly received. Grace (Larson) is the young supervisor of Short Term 12, a group home for troubled teenagers. Director Destin Cretton based Short Term 12 on his own experience working in a similar facility and cast a plethora of up and coming names including Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out), Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn 99”) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody). Hard-hitting and emphatic, this movie is a prime example of why Brie Larson is such a reputable actress, her performance here being possibly the most underrated of her career.

Captain Marvel (2019)
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mandelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Akira Akbar

It has been eleven long years since the MCU began, Jon Favreau’s Iron Man rocketing the newly birthed Marvel Studios into the stratosphere, and while female figurehead The Wasp may have been a titled co-star for the Ant-Man sequel in 2018, it has taken until the Universe’s 21st movie for us to finally get a female fronted superhero film from the monarchs of all things action-fantasy-adventure. In Captain Marvel, through the creative visions of screenwriter-director duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (It’s Kind of a Funny Story; Mississippi Grind), the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally has its own franchise-leading female – a woman so powerful she can single-handedly defend planets against invasion, but one whose extra-terrestrial qualities never out qualify her central-most gift: being human.

Told across multiple timelines in conjunction with the heroine’s re-establishing of her long-lost memories, Captain Marvel offers a complex study of repressed grief and overcoming barriers (mental and physical), though it is never dragged into any realm one could consider less than “fun” – fun ordinarily being a lazy word with which to explain superhero movies, but a word entirely encapsulating of this often comedic action film that maintains a “living on another planet” element of light-hearted oddness throughout its run-time.

The picture in this respect isn’t all that deep – it isn’t the sort of character study one could analyse like a Black Panther, for example – but it does ensure that the multi-universe-spanning, planet defending plot of the film remains easy to follow despite the picture jumping between memory and reality. Captain Marvel is easy to invest in and the hero at the centre of the piece, Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel) therefore becomes the hinge around which all thematic exploration and narrative twists and turns tend to orbit – she truly is the star of the film, and Brie Larson delivers a performance worthy of grabbing your attention.

Written with a certain sensibility that separates her from the rest of Marvel’s quietly established female heroes, the character of Carol Danvers was already quite strong on the page, but the work that Brie Larson does in establishing her as a likeable and ultimately relateable superhero is quite the achievement. Larson, whose work on the likes of Room and Short Term 12 is well known for its quality and gravitas, has typically been able to give a legitimately human touch to each of her characters, her portrayal of a character with a lot of self-doubt but inner strength defining her career milestone performances, with her performance as Captain Marvel in this film being no different. In the shape of Larson, Carol Danvers isn’t just an almost all-powerful superhero, she’s vulnerable and sad, though she’s also the sort of person that would spark a smile and tease you for liking the cat if you ever tried to get her to open up. It’s somewhat apropos that Larson offers such vulnerability underneath an upbeat persona in a movie she is supported by one of the very best at doing so, Annette Bening. Few could have argued the choice of her casting when she was announced, but as of now it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else in the iconic super-suit.

So-impressive-it’s-almost-unnoticeable de-ageing and a bunch of 90s nostalgia moments – slow loading times on computers, pagers, even Nine Inch Nails t-shirts – earn Captain Marvel a unique spot in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe from a visual standpoint, though much of the action tends to feel vague in the same fashion we’ve become accustomed to in the less creative of Marvel’s big-budget offerings (we’re not getting Russo Brothers levels of action here, that’s for sure). It seems to be the curse of the franchise-openers Marvel offer, and does tend to make this picture in particular drag on throughout several sequences – sequences that may have been cut by a studio more intent on maintaining engagement.

The length of the film (just over 2 hours) is perhaps the biggest downside to Captain Marvel as it’s quite easy to see where a good 30 minutes or so could have been cut. The elongation of a story that would have satisfied the hardcore Marvel fans as a 90 minute intermediary between Avengers films and offered a quick, fun standalone for those less familiar with the MCU, ultimately damaged the momentum of a picture already struggling to establish meaningful opponents for the would-be hero. It seems like now, even after 20 films, Marvel still struggle to offer antagonists worthy of their screen time, and that the good and the bad of their movies are still presented to us as a part of the story we just have to accept, rather than something we’re taught to believe. At times, this film was bogged down by the necessary action beats the Marvel formula dictated and it seemed more obvious in this film than many others just where the powers at Marvel and the directors had different intentions, with the directors clearly pushing for stronger elements of backstory and drama against Marvel’s typically quippy and action-heavy formula. The disconnect between the two visions was ultimately one of the movie’s most damaging aspects, halting momentum at key points and sometimes derailing trains of thought that developed as the movie went on, though it must be noted that this never quite detracted from the overall positivity surrounding the picture.

It is, after all, the positivity surrounding Captain Marvel that makes it such an important film, and while the finished product is hardly of the standard of the franchise’s biggest breakout hits Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther, it remains a watchable and at times exciting release that has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from Marvel: incredible CG, a strong hero, talented and interesting side acts, and a mild feeling of empowerment. Larson is the hero we’ve all been waiting for and Captain Marvel is the sort of movie that lives up to its billing. This is not only an enjoyable and rewatchable superhero movie, but one that could act as a sturdy springboard for one of our next generation’s most important superhero icons. You won’t have your socks blown off, but it’ll be a fun couple of hours for those expecting Marvel-tinted wish fulfilment.

15/24

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With the fresh stench of blood and gun powder in the air, the lone figure turns and delivers the obligatory one-liner to camera…

“Manly man, I’m a big strong man doing man-man things, yeah, bang bang.”

Okay, so that’s a little juvenile, but this was pretty much the landscape of action films back in the day. The very idea that the figure appearing from the smoke, having just turned a bunch of nameless faces into swiss cheese be a woman, was one seldom heard of. And whilst it’s taken a long time for females to share equal spotlight with the men in the action arena, Hollywood has finally started to throw an extra couple of X chromosomes into the mix.

While female heroes are much more common on the big screen these days, the origins of the female action star can probably be traced back to the 1970s. Blaxploitation movies like Coffy and Foxy Brown made Pam Grier as bad-ass behind the barrel of gun as any Hollywood hard nut of the time.

However, one could argue that Princess Leia was the first widely regarded female action hero, holding her own alongside Luke and Han in 1977s Star Wars, and playing a vital part in the destruction of the Empire.

The late Carrie Fisher’s performance as Leia Organa of Alderaan is nothing short of iconic, and her status is well and truly set in the pantheon of great female heroes, transcending both gender and genre to become one of the most beloved characters of all time.

Jumping to hyper speed and landing in another galaxy not so far away, we arrive in the deepest, darkest corner of space, aboard the starship Nostromo, for Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979).

Coming off the success of Star Wars, Alien was put on the fast track by the studio in the hope they could capitalize on the sudden sci-fi boom – only this time with a horror element thrown in for good measure. But where many were expecting the only non-testosterone-filled member of the crew to meet some grisly, bloody end, and have a male thwart the alien threat as per usual horror/sci-fi fare, the film did the unexpected by having the sole survivor be none other than a wuh…wuh…woman!

Sigourney Weaver played Ellen Ripley over four movies and went on to establish herself as the queen of sci-fi. But did you know that this almost didn’t happen as the part of Ripley was originally written for a male? Director Scott described his decision to swap the role for a woman as follows: “I just had a thought. What would you think if Ripley was a woman? She would be the last one you would think would survive—she’s beautiful.”

Yes, Ellen Ripley proved that women could get just as down and dirty (and covered in alien goo) as the men, implanting, much like a face-hugger would, the notion that a woman could be an action icon too.

In the 1980s everything suddenly got bigger. Power was the name of the game, not just in the political landscape, but also on our movie screens, and no one encapsulated power quite like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Big and bad-ass with bulging biceps became the staple for action heroes in the 80s, and if the women wanted to hang with the guys, they were expected to be the same.

Two women who possessed such qualities were Grace Jones and Brigitte Nielsen (both of whom appeared opposite Schwarzenegger) as tall, muscular, world-weary Warriors.

In Conan the Destroyer (1984) supermodel/singer Jones played the ferocious bandit Zula who joined Conan on his quest after being freed from vengeful villagers. Wielding nothing but a Bo staff and sporting a sweet ‘Fresh Prince’ hairdo, Jones made Zula a stand out character in an otherwise camp, silly and quite frankly boring sequel. It’s worth pointing out that Zula was originally a male in comic books – Conan is a Marvel comics property – but director Richard Fleischer sought to swap out the role for a female as to avoid only casting females in the ‘damsel in distress’ role that was so common at the time.

Jones would later go on to appear in A View to a Kill as Christopher Walken’s evil henchwoman, May Day.

A year later (in 1985), Schwarzenegger would once again pick up the sword, playing yet another bulked-up, prehistoric protector. This time, however, the show belonged to the titular Red Sonja, played by Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen as the female answer to the baby-oiled barbarian.

Red Sonja, although ultimately a camp, cringe-worthy slog of a movie, worthy of any ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ episode, did, in fact, give the world the type of female action hero that it was sorely lacking for the time.

And so came the 90s… and with it an evolution of the action hero.

The notion of super-jacked, six-packs on legs was now an antiquated one, and the public wanted heroes they could relate to. In the men’s corner, we got Bruce Willis as the wise-cracking, beat cop-turned-bad-ass John McClane in the Die Hard sequels (the first coming out in 1988), as well as Nicolas Cage as the overly expressive, slightly coo-coo go-to action star of hit films Face-Off and Con Air, to name just two.

In the women’s corner, there was a similar shift in hero type. Women no longer needed to muscle-match with the men. Instead, filmmakers flipped the script, casting cutesy girl-next-doors as the next big action stars. Sure, there were a few hangovers from the 80s. Sarah Conner of The Terminator series went and got all beefed-up with a machine gun in the 1991 follow-up, but the scales were definitely tipping in a new direction.

In 1992, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ gave us the most unlikely of action heroines. Buffy Summers was a typical young, popular high-school beauty, who one day was approached by the mysterious Donald Sutherland and told of her true destiny as ‘The Slayer’: a chosen one charged with fighting the forces of evil.

Despite the film’s poor reception, the film gave birth to an icon that would later be re-envisioned on the small screen (in 1996) and remain one of the most beloved and influential female action heroes ever.

In The Fifth Element (1997) we were introduced to yet another unlikely heroine in Mila Jovovich’s Leeloo. In the film, Leeloo is a supreme being who takes the form of a beautiful, orange-haired woman to help defeat a dark force known as the Great Evil.

The character became an instant fan favourite (as did the film, earning a cult following for its futuristic aesthetic and humorous tone) as she emphasised a vulnerability and child-like view of the world, all the while making the character strong, funny, endearing, and more than adept at handing any alien its own ass.

This new vision of female ass-kickery was echoed in many other female lead actioners during this time, including a previous Luc Besson film, La Femme Nikita (1990) and the similarly themed (albeit less nuanced, but a lot more fun) The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996).

And thus came the 20th Century…

2001 marked a colossal shift in the political arena, and once again our on-screen heroes felt the shift too, undergoing another transformation in the wake of 9/11. Whereas in the 90s heroes could get away with a fly by the seat of your pants mentality, relying on lucky escapes followed by a perfectly timed one-liner, the movie-going audience now wanted our heroes to be more competent and highly trained. Hollywood responded with male-led action films like the Bourne franchise, Mission Impossible sequels and Taken. All government men, with a specific set of skills, able to nullify their enemy with expert precision. And yeah, the women got an upgrade too.

In Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), not only were fans treated to a much-beloved video game character hitting the silver screen and busting up all manner of ancient rock monsters and out of control robots, but audiences got a new action star in Angelina Jolie who would go on to star in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wanted and Salt. Now, say what you want about the film and its sequel Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (both of which deliver on action, but little else), but there’s no denying the importance of Tomb Raider as a stepping stone in the rise of the female action hero, even going on to spawn a new incarnation in last year’s Tomb Raider reboot.

A year later, another video Game made its motion picture debut in 2002’s Resident Evil. The protagonist of the film, Alice, an amnesiac with mysterious ties to the Umbrella Corporation, was an original creation for the big screen treatment of the zombie-centric franchise. This change in source material gave the series the opportunity to power-up its female star with not only an extraordinary set of abilities but multiple clones of herself to truly unleash a more efficient death toll – it’s just a shame the series strayed from its horror roots in favour of slow motion stunts and dodgy wire-work.

Other notable heroines from this era include Uma Thurman’s The Bride, from Tarantino’s Kill Bill series – a women intent on getting revenge on those who left her for dead – and Kate Beckinsale’s leather-clad Lycan hunting Selene from the Underworld franchise, both of whom became regular entries on ‘greatest female hero’ lists and frequent cosplay choices for fans worldwide.

It’s also worth giving a special shout out to Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who has starred in many action roles over the years, including centrally in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tomorrow Never Dies.

And finally, we come to the tens? Tenties? Not sure what the official name for this decade is. Tennies? Oh, forget it, let’s just say 2010 and onwards.

Enter the superheroes…

While superhero movies have been around for a lot longer, their cinematic origins arcing all the way back to 1978’s Superman, the recent influx of superhero cinema certainly took a giant leap forward when Fox’s soon to be vanquished X-Men franchise kicked off back in the summer of 2000.

There had previously been a few attempts at a female-led superhero film over the years, including Supergirl (1984), Catwoman (2004) and Elektra (2005), all of which failed to live up to expectations. Having tried a couple times and failed, Hollywood was convinced that people didn’t want to see female superheroes, despite making numerous male-led superhero films that bombed equally as bad at the box office.

Still, we did get superpowered women on the big screen, they just had to be surrounded by a bunch of men.

Most notably, we were gifted with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, who popped up first in 2010’s Iron Man 2 and hit big with audiences, playing a huge part in success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the following years.

Surprisingly, only now, years after fans demanded a stand-alone Black Widow feature is the assassin-turned-Avenger finally getting her own solo outing, due to begin production this year for a (presumed) 2020 release.

But in 2017, Hollywood finally blinked, and the world got a female superhero film it could be proud of in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot, who had shown up as a scene-stealer in the much-maligned Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, gave females a true action icon as the amazonian princess, inspiring generations of girls who would now grow up with a kick-ass female superhero to call their own. The film became such a success, in fact, it went on to outperform every other film in the DCEU at the American box office and earn the series its first fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The triumph of Wonder Woman also gave the Hollywood big-wigs the confidence to go ahead and produce more female superhero films, including the 21st entry from Marvel Studios: Captain Marvel (which, to be fair, was in production long before Wonder Woman even came out.)

Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson will play the titular hero come March 8th, hoping to smash both those pesky Skrull’s and global ticket sales in equal measure, and help permanently solidify a female presence in an otherwise male-dominated genre.

From desperately fighting to stay alive, to flat out fighting for the hell of it, the female action hero has broken free of its male constraints over the decades and risen to be a force to be reckoned with. So here’s hoping the future landscape of action films continue to feature progressive male and female characters alike, as well as give audiences worldwide heroes they can truly believe in.

Best Film – The Revenant

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Outstanding British Film – Brooklyn

Film Not In the English Language – Wild Tales

Best Short Film – Operator

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Best Animation – Inside Out

Best Documentary – Amy

Best Short Animation – Edmund

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Best Director – Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)

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Best Actor – Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Supporting Actor – Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

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Best Actress – Brie Larson (Room)

Supporting Actress – Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

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EE Rising Star Award – John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

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Original Screenplay – Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Adapted Screenplay – Adam McKay & Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director, or Producer – Naji Abu Nowar (Theeb)

Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema – Angels

Costume Design – Jenny Beaven (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Makeup & Hair – Mad Max: Fury Road

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Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Editing – Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Special Visual Effects – Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Production Design – Colin Gibson; Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Sound – The Revenant

Original Music – Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

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Fellowship Award – Sir Sydney Poitier

Award Wins: 

5 – The Revenant
4 – Mad Max: Fury Road
2 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
1 – Amy
1 – The Big Short
1 – Bridge of Spies
1 – Brooklyn
1 – Edmund
1 – The Hateful Eight
1 – Inside Out
1 – Operator
1 – Room
1 – Spotlight
1 – Steve Jobs
1 – Theeb
1 – Wild Tales

If you want a movie that is a perfect book-to-film adaption then this is for you. Hell, even if you don’t care about the book, it’s still for you! I’ve been so excited for Room’s release because it’s one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read and truthfully… the film did not disappoint.

Warning! This review contains spoilers!

The beginning’s a little fuzzy, there are plenty of close ups of random objects the crumbling walls of our protagonist’s room, but I think it leads perfectly into the first part of the movie. With nothing but close up shots throughout (let’s face it, the shots with both Jack and Ma in them seem like the characters are struggling to fit into the screen) everything feels so claustrophobic. It’s seems like every angle that tries to create more space is overwhelmed by the presence of a wall or an object or even an entire absence of light. This is one of the things that makes Lenny Abrahamson’s work on this movie so incredible, as his co-operation with the set designers and cinematographer all but force you to feel trapped in the room with the characters, building empathy all the while. What’s more is that the opening sequence has barely any noise at all. There’s no background music, there are no cars, not even wind; just long, silent pauses. Every sound Jack or his Ma make seems so loud as a result. Taps squeaking on and off, cereal boxes being shaken; I think the noisiest thing you hear is when Jack washes a pan. It’s eerie but, again, it only helps to develop a sense of just how isolated and alone the two characters are and it emphasised their isolation.

As the film developed however, Room moved away from this claustrophobic atmosphere as it followed child protagonist Jack from within the room to the outside world, with visions of trees, cars and houses serving as reminders of his suffering and simultaneously the optimism of his future. We see the tininess of Jack’s room in comparison and it’s just all so light. Not only that, but the score also gets increasingly loud. All of a sudden there’s so much going on, there’s the sounds of engines, bright lights, an entire street, all with the music growing louder in the background. Suddenly our senses are overwhelmed, just like we know Jack’s are. Cut to our rescue scene, and then the hospital, and we’re back to our close ups. Now we feel claustrophobic again. We’re overwhelmed by bodies invading our tiny spaces, with our beloved characters stuck in the centre. There are strange noises of which there are so many and are presented as being so loud. The movie makes you feel as overwhelmed as the child, pushing its desire to develop an empathetic connection between audience and character. What started out as intelligent shots showing us the world are now suffocating us, so much so that we quickly feel trapped again. The only wide shot we get is through their hospital window. And, seriously; whose idea was it to put a woman who hasn’t seen the outside world in seven years and a boy who hasn’t seen it ever in a room with windows for walls and a full city view? If you want to talk overwhelming then let’s talk about that!

While this was a perfect way to keep the audience wrapped up in all of the desired emotions, I’m still so glad they kept in Jack’s narration. After all, it was his story to begin with and I was so happy we got to keep his perspective. I enjoyed how they incorporated it, too. Having Jack narrate at each of the key moments in the movie (the beginning, their escape and the end) I felt like not only did we get to retain his cute and clumsy thoughts and ideas, but we also got a first-hand understanding of how it felt to be in that situation. Not as adults, as we are, but as a terrified, yet amazed, five year old boy. What the movie did so well, and perhaps even better than the book, was that it kept these moments short and sweet. I loved the book but Jack’s childish language and sentence structure takes some getting used to. If this element was to remain as strong in the movie as it is in the book, then it surely would’ve been of detriment to the final product.

What I do want to talk about though are the missing, or underrated parts of the film. Lenny Abrahamson did an excellent job of keeping in line with the book and, as mentioned before, it’s one of the most brilliant book to film adaptions I can recall seeing, but there are just a couple of questions I have. First of all; what happened to the other baby? That’s right, for those of you who didn’t read the book, Jack was not Ma’s first child. She previously gave birth to a stillborn daughter. But where was she? There are still echoes of her presence but it was something dismissed by the movie version almost entirely, with the exception being when Ma tells Old Nick he has to take Jack away she says he needs to be taken somewhere nice, “not here. I’ll feel him”. In the book we hear about how her stillborn daughter was buried in the garden and Ma could sometimes ‘feel’ her presence. The sentence still fits into the story because Ma needs a reason for Old Nick to take jack in his truck and Emma Donoghue adapted her novel and wrote the screenplay so I trust she had a good reason to make the change. However, they also diminished Jack’s attachment to ‘rug’. This was the rug on which he was born, which still has a stain from where his Ma gave birth alone at 19. So much of the story is focused on it. The rug is there when he comes into the world once and, later, when he’s taken by Old Nick into the rest of it. Saying that, the film does an excellent job of symbolising Jack’s ‘re-birth’ into the world in the sense that he forces himself out of the ruck in the back of Nick’s Van, as well as in the way all of his initial sounds when he’s first carried outside mimic the sounds you hear on a sonogram. It’s a pivotal item, crucial the plot from beginning to end, and left quite the absence in this particular adaptation.

Finally, there’s the casting. I will outright declare that I am glad they didn’t cast any world famous, appears-in-every-movie, type of actors to play the leading roles. I think it would have taken away from the drama and overwhelming uniqueness of the movie. Brie Larson was a perfect choice and she portrayed Ma beautifully; her Oscar nomination seems entirely deserved. She looked and acted just how I’d imagined and remained faithful to the character so many of us held in our minds. As for Jacob Trembley, well, I don’t know what to say. To see him execute such an emotional role was amazing and he playing Jack in such a wonderful way. Even Old Nick (who was cast a little young in my opinion) performed well – I don’t know if it was the clothes or the attitude that made me want to slap him on sight but; what more can we ask from modern villains?

In conclusion, I want to emphasise how much I loved this film. From its casting, its story and the marvellous way every scene was put together. If you haven’t seen it I suggest you do because it’s one in a million; I came out of the cinema in awe. I’ve never seen a film more true to its book or to its character’s voice in a long, long time. It was put together so perfectly I was ready to applaud them right there in the cinema.

21/24