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superhero film

Captain Marvel – Putting the Super in Human

March 7, 2019 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“There is nothing more dangerous for a warrior than emotion.” (Yon-Rogg)

A new superhero comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain Marvel brings us the MCU’s first woman superhero, a soldier in the midst of an intergalactic war who ends up on earth and becomes ground zero for that war. Ah, but all may not be as it seems at first.

We first meet Vers (rhymes with fears, played by Brie Larson) in her dream. She seems to be haunted by some dreams that come from her past, which she doesn’t remember. All she knows is that the last six years she has been training as a warrior for the Kree. She trains with her commander and mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) who keeps pushing her to not use her ability to throw proton beams, except when needed.

She is being sent on her first mission to rescue another soldier from the enemy Skrull. But before she goes, she has to meet with the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence (Annette Benning). Vers ends up captured, tortured as the Skrull leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) seems to mine her mind for information from her past (which triggers bits of memory in her), escapes from their ship and crash lands in a Blockbuster store on earth in 1995.

Once she communicates with Yon-Rogg, who starts a rescue mission, she is discovered by young S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Eventually Vers realizes that she must team up with Fury to trace back the mystery of her past. She discovers she was an Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers who was part of a secret project and was killed in a crash. She traces down her friend Maria (Lashana Lynch) who was also a pilot. But Talos is also trying to find Vers again. At this point the twists start coming into play. Oh, and there’s a cat (sort of).

The journey from Vers to Captain Marvel requires her to rediscover who she is and what she is. It also requires that she come to terms with the very emotions that Yon-Rogg has been trying to have her bury. It is only after she finds her human side that she is able to make the transition from soldier to superhero. It is not so much a matter of power as it is of confidence, attitude, and compassion.

A part of that transformation is not just discovering her humanity, but embracing it. That means accepting the emotions that come so naturally to her—including fear, compassion, and even love. These are things that Yon-Rogg tried to suppress in her, but they become a kind of liberation as Vers becomes more than she knew she could be—and discovers that she has already been more that she knew.

The phrase “only human” comes up at one point, but for Captain Marvel the idea of being human is not about being “only” human. Her humanity opens up for her a new range of possibilities. It is only in being human that she becomes superhuman. This is emphasized visually near the end when Captain Marvel hangs in space in a pose very similar to paintings of the Ascension.

Within the Judeo-Christian creation story, humankind is created in the image of God. It just seems wrong to think “just human” when we have that understanding. Instead we should consider that fully understanding our humanity allows us to see the divine within ourselves—the superhuman.

Note: There are two scenes embedded in the credits. The first, midway through the credits, sets the stage for Avengers: Endgame. The second, at the very end, is a humorous scene, which may or may not have something to do with Endgame. There is also a montage of Stan Lee at the very beginning of the film, which got a bit of applause at the screening I attended.

Photos courtesy Marvel Studios

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Annette Binning, Ben Mendelsohn, Brie Larson, Clark Gregg, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios, S.H.I.E.L.D., Samuel L. Jackson, science fiction, superhero film

GIVEAWAY: Infinity War Lego Set!

April 28, 2018 by Steve Norton 2 Comments

Now, you can assemble the Avengers yourself!

In Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the team unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.

In honour of the biggest action epic of all time, we’re giving away the brand new official Lego set, “Thor’s Weapon Quest”, featuring Thor, Rocket and Groot!

(Incidentally, click the links to check out our interviews with actors Sean Gunn (who plays Rocket) and Terry Notary (who plays Groot.)

To enter, simply like or share this post on Facebook and tell us in the comments section which Avenger you think is the most like you and why?

For a bonus entry, like or retweet this post on Twitter or Instagram.

All entries must be completed by 11:59pm on Thursday, May 3rd, 2018.

 

Avengers: Infinity War will be unleashed in theatres on April 27th, 2018

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Giveaways Tagged With: Avengers, Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity War, Iron Man, Marvel, MCU, Rocket Raccoon, Sean Gunn, superhero film, Thanos, Thor

3.22 Celebrating WONDER WOMAN

June 11, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/3.22-Wonder-Woman.mp3

This week, Steve welcomes actor Amanda Jane Smith and pastor Judith McCartney to enter into the battle with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.  While the film has scored with both critics and fans, there seems to be something much more significant about this particular moment.  Is it true that Diana’s story provides a proper role model for young women?  Does the strength of her character really create something unique or is there a veiled sexism at the hands of the male gaze?  In a lively discussion, they dialogue about equality, feminine identity and the nature of evil.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.22 Wonder Woman

A special thanks to Amanda and Judith for joining us on the show!

Filed Under: Current Events, Film, Podcast Tagged With: Batman, Chris Pine, DCEU, empowerment, equality, equity, feminism, Gal Gadot, Patty Jenkins, superhero, superhero film, Superman, women, women's rights, Wonder Woman

3.14 Losing LOGAN

March 12, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/3.14-Logan.mp3

This week on the show, Steve reconnects with Arnaldo Reyes and Peter Adourian to talk about purpose and hopeful death in James Mangold’s LOGAN.  (We may even answer the eternal question: Why Arnaldo doesn’t like Jackman’s Wolverine!)

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.14 Logan

Thanks to Peter Adourian and Arnaldo Reyes for joining us on the show!

Filed Under: Film, Podcast Tagged With: Academy Awards, Hugh Jackman, Logan, Marvel, Oscars, Patrick Stewart, Professor X, superhero, superhero film, western, Wolverine, X-23, X-Men

Logan – Will the Real Wolverine Please Stand Up?

March 3, 2017 by Arnaldo Reyes 1 Comment

There’s much to be said about an actor playing a particular role in film nine times.

In a way, he/she must’ve done something right and even made that particular role nearly iconic. Hugh Jackman has done that, to my dismay (or dislike, however you want to call it). It’s not that I’m not a fan of his. It’s just that I’ve never been a fan of his portrayal of Wolverine. Only twice have I felt that the character that I grew up admiring and loving was captured as he should be, but most of the time it was someone else. This is probably more on the studio and scripts than it is on Hugh. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I completely gave up on them. (In fact, it wasn’t until two weeks ago that I finally saw The Wolverine because there was nothing else to watch on TV and, even then, I found myself playing games on my phone rather than watching the movie.)

So here I am, I paid to see the film on a Thursday night for two reasons: It was Hugh Jackman’s last hoorah and it was the live action appearance of my second favorite Wolverine…X-23 (aka Laura). When I first heard she would be in the film, I cringed. I felt that, not only had they ruined Logan, but now they were going to ruin Laura as well. When the trailers came out, I felt a little more optimistic yet still apprehensive. With all this, I bought my tickets, went to the theater, leaned back the comfy recliner and, finally, I saw the real Wolverine.

Logan is set in a distant future. Mutants are basically no more (as was said in the trailers) and Logan himself is a mess. Running away from a life he wants to forget, his life is turned upside down with the discovery of a young girl just like him. Throughout the film you see a man that has taken everything life has thrown at him and quite frankly doesn’t want to live anymore. Yet, even in a broken state, there is the kind, good man. I felt previous films failed to show Logan’s brokenness but this film finally captured it extremely well. He isn’t the prototypical hero and, even with healing factor, he isn’t invulnerable. Logan is a multi layered character that basically has dealt with crap his whole life and has always survived. In this film, we finally see that Logan: the one that wentthrough hell and back and yet still shows why he is the best at what he does.

However, Logan really isn’t the highlight of this film. X-23 gets the origin story in film that Wolverine never really got. I won’t sugar coat it, she is extremely violent, she is hurt, abused and, later, redeemed. She is everything like Logan, and if you know her history then you know why. Throughout the film, she is trying to fight what she is while also trying to figure out who she should be. She’s chasing freedom, but discovering something much more. Her life has been nothing short of awful, yet the hero she is meant to be runs through her blood. She is the one that helps Logan find his way back and remind him just who he is and she also finds out who she should be. She’s Laura and she’s not a mistake. She’s her father’s daughter and she’s the best at what she does.

In such a bloody film (yes, it’s bloody, that’s why it’s rated R), it’s amazing to find so much heart. ]Logan is a film that teaches us that life is rough and no matter how hard it gets, we need to remember one thing, the importance of family. Family is the rock we can lean on to get us through this journey called life. It’s no wonder Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters, because He desires us all to be family and He understands the importance of it. The Lord created family for a reason because without it we are nothing. Logan and Laura discover it and in their way teach us what truly matters.

Logan is a great film that was well done in every way. I would say I only had two complaints that I won’t spoil since they serve major roles to the actual film, but I really felt on those two parts they should have expanded a little more.

Furthermore, there is an amazing short film (if we want to call it that) right at the beginning, so don’t miss it. However, there is no end credits trailer, so don’t bother staying till the end. All and all, I will again say that, even though it took nine attempts, the real Wolverines did stand up.

And they were amazing.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Hugh Jackman, Johnny Cash, Laura, Logan, Marvel, Patrick Stewart, Professor X, superhero film, western, Wolverine, X-23, X-Men, X23

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