“CAPTAIN MARVEL” directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is finally coming to Blu-ray and home entertainment this week and it’s stacked full of special-features. Like most Marvel/Disney releases this Blu-ray features a host of tightly edited and insightful featurettes. It delivers a small collection of deleted scenes, a gag reel, and commentary track so let’s get into this movie and all the bonus-content included.
As for the film itself I thought it was engaging, interesting, and tons of cinematic fun. Going in I was expecting the traditional origins story framework, but I thoroughly enjoyed the fact this movie twisted that template up. The trailers gave me the impression of a procedural introduction story to be honest. With some flashbacks, the first wave of adversity, and then the current day mission to round-out the plot-line yet that wasn’t the case for this one, despite delivering on all those facets.
I loved the fact that the writing took a new approach in how it told its origins story. The information we are accustomed to is all there. But it’s sectioned up and delivered in nice timely doses that for me kept the intrigue and interest at high levels. The film starts out very strong. It ends with gusto and charm. I enjoyed a bulk of the second-act but there were lulls in the pace at times. It does get a little explanation heavy in sections as well, but for the amount of backstory they needed to fill in prior to “Endgame” it didn’t bother me as much as it normally would. I still felt like I was continually growing a stronger bond with the character. Connecting to her feelings about the powers she has, and the gradual acceptance of who she was. So, for me the dialogue being on the heavy side in terms of world-building worked for me.
Below is the link to my full review of the film now let’s breakdown the large collection of special-features.
https://silverscreenanalysis.com/captain-marvel-2019-non-spoiler-review/
First up is a collection of six nicely edited featurettes that provides film clips, behind the scenes footage, and insightful commentary on each topic. The first was called “Becoming a Superhero” that explores the mindset behind casting Brie Larson in the role. Larson shares her thoughts on the preparation she took for this character, and directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck expand on what Larson meant for the role and the efforts she went through to capture a true superhero presence onscreen. The next one was called “Big Hero Moment” a lengthy segment that explored the powers of Captain Marvel as well as her backstory. It provides more foundation to Captain Marvel being the most powerful hero and I enjoyed how this featurette incorporated the filmmaker’s mindsets behind many pivotal scenes in the film.
Another was called “The Origin of Nick Fury” which was a segment I had a good time with as it explored the subplot of Nick Fury in the film. Like Larson says in the commentary this was also Fury’s origin story as well to set the foundation for this character we have seen repeatedly in these films from the beginning. It covers the backdrop of Fury as the catalyst behind everything that has happened in the MCU which was intriguing to see because I think Jackson was at his best as Nick Fury in this film and I felt like I was able to connect with him more than any of his other entries as the character.
Next was a vignette called “The Dream Team” that talks in length about choosing Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden as the directing team, and as two of the three writers of the screenplay alongside Geneva Robertson-Dworet. This was an interesting feature as I always enjoy seeing the thought process of selecting directors as well as what connects a project to those directors. And it was endearing to hear the passion in Boden and Fleck as they spoke on their experience with this film. The last two featurettes were also enjoyable as they gave in inside-look at the films other characters. First was “The Skrulls and the Kree” that dove deeper into the mythology of each race of being as well as their backdrops and how Carol Danvers was tied in. And the last one was “Hiss-Sterical Cat-Titude” that expanded more on Goose the cat and his presence in the film.
Also included is six deleted scenes. One in particular called “What, No Smile?” was a comical one that showed the charisma of Larson in the role. There was another called “Who Do You Admire Above All Others” with Jude Law’s character that I thought would have been nice to see left in the film. Other than that, some were extensions and others didn’t move the story forward so it was easy to see why they hit the cutting room floor. Finally, there was the traditional gag reel with the usual onset antics to capture the chemistry of the cast behind the scenes as well as some hi-jinks that took place working with Goose the Cat that delivered some genuine amusement. And that wraps up this Blu-ray review. “Captain Marvel” was a solid film and with this heavy collection of features it’s easily worth adding to your home video library.
