Shazam! VS Captain Marvel

two captain marvel movies both released in 2019 and both released one month apart from each other but which of these two superheroes is the true captain marvel we are about to find out let the battle commence the story for shazam opens with our main character billy batson who through troublemaking techniques tries to find the location to his mother who he got separated from when he was a child meanwhile a wizard who is reaching the end of his life chooses to pass his powers onto billy batson so he can use them to fight off evil and save the world from any potential threats being a 15 year old kid he of course use the powers in many childish ways until he eventually experiences some very harsh life lessons and realizes just how much of a gift he has been given which up until this point he has immaturely been using as a means to show off and get attention so from here he uses his powers to stop the evil doctor savannah so he can save his foster family and prevent the evil doctor from accomplishing this goal and the story for captain marvel is that our main character carol tanba i mean veers has lost her memory she has been taken in and trained with a race called a cree and as well as training her to control her powers and keep her emotions in check even though she barely has more than one emotion she is partaking in this intergalactic war that the cree have with another race called the scrolls during their battle she gets captured by the skrulls who try to gain access to her memories she wakes up and escapes their ship via an escape pod and crash lands to earth she gets approached by a young nick fury from shield yeah i'm not making any mistakes here shield is actually fully established in this movie as shield even though in the first iron man movie which takes place by a decade later they keep using the longer version of the name and they constantly make a point in saying that they are coming up with a shorter version of the name which by the end of the movie concluded with this you'll be hearing from us from the strategic homeland and just call us shield right so yeah i am just describing the story and already we have come across a plot hole anyway captain marvel teams up with nick fury and they both tried to stop the scrolls from invading and taking over earth now from a structural point of view i think the story for captain marvel was passable for the first 30 minutes i was able to sit through the movie fine without getting overly bored as soon as carol danvers and nick fury go on the road however that's when the movie just started to get boring to me as at this point the main story had been established and i just didn't find myself caring about what was going on and the countless plot holes and inconsistencies this movie was making to the rest of the marvel cinematic universe didn't help me get invested either not to mention that i wasn't even that fond of our main hero but let's not get ahead of ourselves now with shazam pretty much as soon as the movie started with a horror-like opening scene i found myself enjoying the story very quickly and that is down to the fact that narratively everything the movie tries to juggle with a story is phenomenally well done and wonderfully paced even tonally shazam is able to incorporate comedy genuine emotion and even horror and it manages to balance out all of these three tones and not once do any of them feel out of place in captain marvel however it has its main tone that it uses throughout most of the movie but then it very strangely decides to adopt the tone from guardians of the galaxy and it feels really out of place and it really does baffle me that shazam is able to perfectly incorporate three completely different tones with one director at the helm whereas captain marvel has two directors and it can't even naturally incorporate two tones that is really baffling to me so both movies have very different stories and whereas captain marvel tries to tell us an origin story by having our character piece together her identity shazam tells its origin like a coming-of-age story with the core of the story being about family and not a typical biological family but by an adopted family which presents its own unique problems of fitting in for billy batson and this provides an extra layer of meaning to the whole family element of this film additionally the pacing tone and overall structure for shazam is far superior to that of captain marvel so the movie with the superior story is shazam [Music] now shazam is a character that is just full of life and what's amazing is that the actor who plays shazam zachary levi does a phenomenal job of imitating his co-star archer angel even though we have two different actors playing the same role i honestly felt like i was watching the same person interestingly however the movie actually gives shazam all the funny scenes and it gives billy batson all the emotional scenes and both actors pull off both sides to this character extremely well anytime billy batson is dealing with the emotional baggage of searching for his mother i always felt for him and i was always rooting for him and the fact that he firmly believes his mother is out there is one of the reasons he hasn't fully embraced his foster family and this feeds into his character arc throughout the majority of the film and it is beautifully conveyed now it's time to talk about carol danvers and the word that always keeps coming to me when i think of her character or even see her character is dull her expressions as dull the way she delivers her lines is dull the way she tells jokes is dull the way she poses is dull even her tone of voice is so dull and whenever she smiled it came off as insincere now believe it or not but i am actually going to give brie larson a huge compliment now i have not seen any of her previous movies the only film i saw her in was kong skull island and she was very unmemorable in that film although i do hear that she is very good in a film called room now i have not seen this film but i have been told that she can act and i'm going to second that i believe she can act she just wasn't acting well in this film but in the mid credits scene that took a scene from avengers endgame she had a few seconds of screen time and in that few seconds she delivered a much better and more genuine performance than she did in the entirety of her own film and that is because the russo brothers directed her in that scene and they know how to get the perfect performance out of their actors and it just goes to show when you don't try to limit an actor's range by writing and directing them as a strong feminist character then they are able to let loose and deliver a proper human emotion so i'm not giving her my blessings as most of the footage we see of our end game trailers is noticeably lifeless but i trust that the russo brothers will be able to pull a great performance out of brie larson but that being said the feminist direction her own standalone movie takes is so up its own ass that it really did compromise her character both from a performance standpoint and a development standpoint they even damaged her character arc for example shazam feels like a very different character by the end of the film than he was when the film started and he made several mistakes throughout the movie and as time went on he learned from them and even when he didn't confront his mistakes someone else confronted him about the mistakes he made and how much he is wasting the gift he has which eventually makes him take a good hard look at himself whereas in captain marvel all everyone does is tell her how great she is and as much as brie larson says in interviews the importance of making mistakes her character doesn't make any mistakes so feminists like brie larson actually believe in the importance of making mistakes why doesn't her character ever make any mistakes and why is she giving captain marvel character traits that her character doesn't even have that's what you call false advertising and it just makes her come off as a fake the character of carol danvers is just dull lifeless and devoid of weakness and vulnerability and as a result instead of watching an actual character on the big screen it felt like i was just watching someone's ego instead whereas with shazam i was convinced that i was watching a fully developed character and someone who earned the title of superhero with captain marvel i never got that feeling and as a result the movie with the superior superhero is shazam [Music] now there are several side characters in shazam whereas in captain marvel we have about three we'll start with shazam now the little girl i initially thought was going to be a problem because her first couple of lines felt very unlike what a kid her age would say but pretty much immediately after her first couple of lines she became a cute and innocent little girl who acted her age even to the point where she gets manipulated into keeping a secret for her brothers as a matter of fact when they tell her that if she keeps billy's secret that ishazam then that means she is a good sister that is a form of manipulation tactics that kids would actually use if they didn't want their younger sibling to rat them out i should know because this movie actually made me remember that i did this to my younger sister about 20 years ago when i was a kid so really i can't stress enough how great these kid characters are and the kid actors who are portraying them all do an excellent job and you really can't help but adore this family and they act like real people and that is something this movie as a whole does so well is that the characters feel very human and they don't come off as kids who are written for a movie the odd time here and there they do but most of the time they don't now the only three real side characters in captain marvel is carol danvers long time friend and her daughter and of course nick fury now nick fury is meant to be a rookie behind a desk at this point and only just came out onto the field and this immediately goes against the continuity of the previous films as it was constantly hinted at that nick fiori has been deeply involved in shield for decades since the 70s and 80s but this movie just ignored what the previous marvel movie set up and just decided to include him as the inexperienced child-like and easily distracted rookie to be a side character to captain marvel and although samuel jackson puts his all into this performance you look at him and think wow nick fury was really kind of lame wasn't he and that is not what i thought nick fury would be like in the 90s the previous mcu movies have given you the impression that he was a badass for decades and has built up countless connections over the years with people that are now very old but this movie just retcons that and like i said ignores what the previous film set up so nick fiore was probably the most fun character in this movie but he really doesn't feel at all like a younger nick fiore it just came off like samuel l jackson was playing any random character and not nick fury and the more i think or watch this movie that is the conclusion i keep drawing with his character carol danvers friend to me was just an average character i was just bored by her i said this in my previous captain marvel and wonder woman versus video it feels like the movie is trying to endear you to these two's friendship but i honestly feel like i've seen so much better friendships before and this one just came off as flats to me the final side character is the daughter and oh my god if you have seen the flash season 5 you will see that there is a little girl who gives her uncle parenting advice and the way she delivered it was so clearly scripted by an adult and believe it or not but they do the exact same thing in captain marvel and when a child actor is handed dialogue by the language that an adult speaks it is so obvious and it completely deprives them of the innocence that they naturally inhabit and what is this adult dialogue well she actually tells her mother to go fight and save the world with captain marvel and that she should do this because she should think about setting a good example for her daughter now any normal and well-written child would be terrified of the notion that her one and only parent will go to battle and possibly never come back or even if her mother does come back she would still be afraid of being home without her mum that's what kids usually feel and in shazam when billy batson sacrifices himself to dr savannah the little girl is upset and tells him not to go and billy says i have to because that's what big brothers do not only was this an emotional scene but it showed just how much billy had grown as a character but in this movie and in the name of female empowerment the daughter actually wanted her mother to go and said that it's better than sitting here watching fresh prince with your daughter you should think of setting a good example for your daughter it was so corny and it really took me out of the movie the message of female empowerment was just so heavy-handed that even the little girl is devoid of any childlike emotions and that is a big problem to me especially when you compare it to the kids in shazam who like i said are 100 down to earth and fully showcase the correct emotions for kids their age and they are not used as props to make the main superhero look good they are treated as actual characters they each have their own levels of development and they are very likable the whole family is likeable so is the foster parents i mean i can't even remember a movie where i saw the foster parents being good people so shazam actually treats the side characters like normal human beings who look at their new foster sibling as a member of the family whereas captain marvel uses side characters to spew social justice propaganda rather than treating them as well developed characters so the movie with the far superior side characters is shazam [Music] now i am not going to act like the action in shazam is so awesome because it isn't it's great for what it is and it perfectly manages to illustrate how a kid with superpowers would handle his first fights against a super villain but nothing about it is as good as the action from say aquaman or man of steel it's certainly a lot of fun and for david sandberg's first action movie he has done a damn good job but there is nothing really impressive or overly creative with the choreography of the fights so although the action in shazam isn't great it is still very enjoyable and filled with plenty of laughs that don't distract from the tone the action scenes are trying to convey and the action in captain marvel starts out with potential but unfortunately its execution is very dull dark and is all around very mundane especially when compared to the action in the rest of the marvel cinematic universe i mean even ant-man and the wasp did a much better job with his action than captain marvel in captain marvel the action wasn't memorable i didn't even find it entertaining it was watchable but that's about it when she fully unleashes her powers i was expecting it to be so cool and it sort of was but the scene started and pretty much finished in no time and somehow i still wasn't sold on her being the most powerful of the avengers this fight should have given me that education as to how strong captain marvel is and i felt underwhelmed i genuinely was unimpressed with the action in this movie one of the things i really loved about the action shazam however is that it actually showcases a lot of character and at one point much like a kid shazam decided to run away from a fight and that made room for a lot of smart and funny comedy and it even led to a reference to the movie big which didn't overstay its welcome and it led to a great literal punchline and the action was all around very fun and very nicely shot whereas in captain marvel everything about it was just boring mundane and uninspired i mean i can pick from older comic book movies from 10 to 20 years ago and the action in those is far more entertaining and well thought out than the action in captain marvel that's how disappointing and unsatisfied i was so the movie with the superior action is shazam so when you get down to it shazam is a very fun movie that feels like dc's version of a more light-hearted character rather than just a copy of marvel's more light-hearted characters and after wonder woman aquaman and now shazam i really am looking forward to what dc releases in the coming years as warner brothers now seem to be taking a back seat and letting talented filmmakers have full control over these characters and like any effective origin story when i finished watching shazam i felt like i really got to know this character with captain marvel i watched a two-hour movie and by the end of it i knew nothing about the character of carol danvers that i didn't know already and my knowledge going in was very little and on that basis alone captain marvel completely failed at what it was supposed to be an origin for the most powerful hero in the mcu and the movie didn't even convincingly illustrate the full extent of her strength as far as i'm concerned i would say the strongest avenger is still thor by the end of the movie i was told that she is the most powerful superhero but i wasn't shown it and that's the best way to sum up this entire movie you are constantly being told how important captain marvel is how great she is how strong she is but in the end i didn't see any of it it's time for the scores shazam gets an eight out of ten and captain marvel gets a below average four however when you take into account all the plot holes and inconsistencies this one movie has made throughout the entire mcu as well as the out of character nick fiori and the downright inexcusable use of goose the cat my score has gone down to a 1 out of 10. captain marvel is a below average movie on its own but when you factor in how it connects to the other movies it completely fails and it also made a mockery of my number one favorite movie in the mcu and i cannot forgive it for that and another reason i believe captain marvel has severely suffered is because it was made with the intention of being a feminist movie now whenever a movie is declared as being a feminist movie i immediately know that the female characters particularly the main one is going to be either boring or straight up bad and at this point some people usually tell me so what if this is a feminist movie the character can still be just as good as any of the other popular characters out there you need to see it before you start judging it and my answer to that is no i don't when a writer goes in with the intention of making a feminist movie then that means that the women of the movie are going to be the feminist's version of empowered that means overly serious stiff body language and facial expressions which results in no personality and a couple of small microscopic flaws just so they can give you the illusion that she is a complex character when really she isn't because at most those flaws will only be touched on they won't be explored and put into focus because that will take away from her empowerment that's what happens when a writer and director apply the word feminist to their movie and characters they become less human more arrogant more full of themselves and more like terminators and if terminator 2 has taught us anything is that even a terminator needed to be more human in order to become a more likable and interesting character and the proof is in the movies just look at all the other female characters in and outside of the mcu they have been praised and universally loved by fans because they are humble down to earth and have this very graceful presence to them while still being a complete badass something that captain marvel completely lacks so feminism and movies don't go together all it does is the character's ability to have depth and consequentially they are not able to reach their full potential and i would rather have more female characters like wonder woman black widow scarlet witch gamora and nebula rather than stiff and boring characters like captain marvel but now that captain marvel has made a billion dollars that will most likely result in marvel making more characters like her and that is very unfortunate that being said captain marvel only made this much money at the box office because of the marvel brand and because of the hype leading up to end game so hopefully marvel will recognize that and make carol danvers more human and likeable in her future endeavors otherwise i will just stop watching her movies altogether it's as simple as that captain marvel's next appearance will be in avengers end game and my final message to brie larson is don't screw it up don't screw it up don't screw it up yeah okay so if you haven't watched it already be sure to watch shazam it is a great movie with a ton of personality a boatload of hearts and very charming and likable main and supporting characters this movie really is the surprise of the year and this is the first movie since christopher eve superman that brings me a feeling of joy and excitement any time i reminisce about it and i cannot say that for any other superhero movie there that's two captain marvel vs videos and let me tell you having to write and talk about it for two videos straight with a bunch of my additional thoughts on the cutting room floor makes for about an hour and 30 minutes worth of my thoughts on this movie and i honestly can't take it anymore thankfully i won't have to talk about captain marvel anymore until end game comes out damn it i really do hope that brie larson pulls off a genuine performance in endgame and doesn't just act like an arrogant piece of wood anyway that's it for this video guys i have another versus video coming soon of avengers infinity war vs avengers end game if you want me to compare end game to a different movie when it comes out then be sure to post your suggestions in the comments below thank you very much as always for watching guys and i will catch all of you next time take care

Channel: Eric Carter

Views: 79,931

Rating: 4.7867346 out of 5

Keywords: Shazam VS Captain Marvel, Is Shazam stronger than Captain Marvel, Shazam Review, Marvel VS DC, Is Shazam better than Captain Marvel

Id: wtafMIM5aE4

Length: 19min 30sec (1170 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 25 2019