By Dimithri Wijesinghe
Photos Indika Handuwala
The movie will be screened islandwide in 3D – both English and Tamil – in more than 40 cinemas, including Savoy 3D in Wellawatte, New Savoy Premiere, and Savoy Metro Cinema in Gampaha.
Savoy Cinemas, being the official importer and sole distributor of Disney and Marvel movies in Sri Lanka, hosted a select number of fans for a special pre-screening at Savoy 3D, Wellawatta, a day after its official worldwide release on 7 March.
To sum up the premise of the film, to anyone who somehow did not get the memo, it is the story of the origin of Captain Marvel who starts off as a Kree warrior named “Vers” played by Brie Larson, who visits Earth on a mission to stop a shape-shifting alien infiltration by a famously evil Skrull.
The film was “fine” and at times good, but the character of Captain Marvel which was brought to life by Oscar-winner Brie Larson undeniably deserved more than fine.
The film was overhyped and Disney manufactured its winning opening weekend to an extent by forcing any and all competition off the board. The film was attached to varying headlines – some going so far as to say that “it could change the way you look at the world forever”, it was being set up for a loss in the court of public opinion.
Despite the semi-hysterical press surrounding its release, many were hopeful that at least it would deliver an interesting female character women could look up to, and what we got was a near-perfect woman with no flaws except a fleeting rebellious streak, in perhaps the perfect representation of how suffocating modern feminism has become.
The film offers several positive messages related to perseverance and integrity, but mostly we saw the portrayal of unattainable perfection. What was taken from it was that the reality of being a strong woman sounds somewhat exhausting and less fun.
Regardless of the obviously major gripes on a personal level, the film does fit securely within the MCU, but also functions sufficiently as a stand-alone entity. It sometimes had elements of humour, and Samuel L. Jackson truly shone in every scene – worth watching just for that.
However, final thoughts remain that girls and women everywhere looking at “Captain Marvel” with wide eyes and high hopes for seeing themselves on screen deserved a game-changer, and this wasn’t it.
What fans thought
-Achira Wickramaratne-
-Shenu Tiffany-
The film was actually really good, better than I expected. It really connected itself well to the overall arc the MCU is going for, and I really believe that Brie Larson did a fantastic job! The reviews, I feel, are very subjective anyway – I have always believed that the MCU knows what they’re doing and they’ve not let me down so far. I highly recommend it!
-Shemal Anthony-
It was really good! So many things going through my mind right now! I was just amazed!
-Nimra Savanghan-
-Sai Sudan Rajakaruna-