My rating: 4 stars
The following review may contains some mild spoilers. Nothing major (I don’t think) but if you prefer to go in with a completely blank slate, you might want to skip reading the whole post. In a nutshell: It was good. You should go see it!
Finally got to see Captain Marvel last week. We were going to see it the previous week, but I was not feeling well, so we postponed. We go to these usually in the afternoon for the matinee prices, and we were the only two people in the theater. Nice!
It was good. Brie Larson was fine as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. She played the unsuspecting pawn role decently. Jude Law played the Kree bad guy with style. Samuel L. Jackson was his usual excellent self, playing the young Nick Fury dead on pitch. And Clark Gregg was, well, Coulson.
The story was also a good one. It had me confused for a bit in the beginning, thinking “But aren’t they the bad guys?” until the “Oh, yeah, still the bad guys” moment. As Vers, Larson is convicted and sure of her role. After landing on Earth, meeting Nick Fury, and beginning to understand the flashbacks to her life as Carol Danvers, she becomes perhaps a bit confused, but determined to follow the path to the answer, no matter what that answer is. And when she determines she’s been duped for so long, she becomes unstoppable. Through it all runs a thread of a strong, independent woman, capable of thinking and acting on her own, and who can change and grow with unfolding circumstances. She leans on Fury, yes, but she doesn’t need him to figure herself out. And Goose, the cat (well, sort of) stole the show more than once!
My problem with it is that it took a while, maybe too long, to really get going. The empowering woman aspect of the story is important, of course. Getting Carol to there was mostly the point, of course, and it makes this one of the recent group of female centered movies at the top of the best of list. But the story did drag a bit in some places. Not for long, and it picked right up and got rolling again, and once the main action started, it was a basically non-stop ride to the final battle. There were just a couple spots where the exposition got in the way a little. Not enough to make me feel the movie suffered a lot from it, but it was there.
Despite those few moments, this was a Marvel action movie all the way and well worth seeing if you want to see a tough and determined woman, whose superpower isn’t just her ability to harness and control energy. With bonus cat.
======================================================
Medusa “Deuce” Grainger is smart, confident, and as good a pilot as she is a poker player. A freelance shuttle jockey working for an independent terraforming company, she’s left her former life, and her father, behind. Mostly.
Now, her AI has downloaded another Personality off a wrecked ship, and he’s acting oddly ever since. Someone wants to sabotage her friend’s company out of business, evidence of tampering is being corrupted, and people have died. With an investigation looming that could shut down the company and cut off her main source of income, it’s up to Deuce to figure out what’s going on, and how all the pieces fit the puzzle. Along the way, she reconnects with an old friend and discovers someone is stalking her. Deuce will need to connect all the dots fast, because more lives are at stake than anyone suspects.
Learn more here.
After five years away, Kaili is coming home for the ceremony to install her sister as head of the family business. When an old rivalry threatens the family, Kaili and her partner need to use all their skills to save the sisters’ lives. Learn more here
A collection of six short fantasy stories set in varied worlds of magic and mayhem. Learn more here.
A short novelette set in a dystopian Earth after the final environmental collapse. Sam is a genetically engineered chameleon who may hold the key to mankind’s survival. Learn more here.
In a world reeling under the effects of severe climate change, food shortages are common, and arable farmland is scarce. Unscupulous distributors like Beni Oligowma take advantage of the shortages for their own gain. When a promising new technology for growing food even under the harsh conditions is unveiled, grocery store owner Frank is determined to see that everyone is able to benefit from the results, not just the Benis of the world.
Feed My People is a short story, set in a dystopian science fiction world, and is free. Learn more here
Demon hunters Johnny and Cerise travel to the small town of Carroll Fork where they find a demon-possessed thrift store, a sweet old lady who is more than she seems, and an army of underworld inhabitants. Can Johnny and his trusty yo-yo save the town from a devil of a problem?
Five and Daemon, the Yo-Yo Files #1, is a short novelette in an urban fantasy setting, with elements of the supernatural and humor. Learn more here
Things have been quiet. No demonic possessions, no otherworldly intrusions, nothing. And then Lucifer shows up in Johnny’s living room, claiming that two archangels are missing, and something is definitely not right in the heavenly- and other- realms. Saying he has nothing to do with it- this time- he asks Johnny and Cerise to help him find out what’s happening, and who is behind the disappearances. While they are trying to do just that, Lucifer is devilnapped by a larger-than-life serpent. He manages to get a clue to Johnny before he disappears. Johnny and Cerise are left to puzzle out the disappearances and try to find the missing angels. Oh, and stop what could mean the ultimate destruction of pretty much everything.
Snake’s Alive, the Yo-Yo Files #2 is an urban fantasy novelette with elements of the supernatural and humor. Learn more here.
And So On... 