Originally Posted by
JKtheMac
You could say it was trying to do too much, but it seemed to pull most of your list off very well, which is why I have such high praise for the editing. So many of the scenes could have been baggy and over long, but it was as tight as a coiled spring, with hardly a second wasted. There were scenes where all the camera waits for is an interesting facial expression from Larson, and as soon as we glean her emotion it is immediately cut with split second timing. The edit probably shaves off minutes, keeping everything on track and driving forwards. Every action has her intent carried over into the next cut or scene. Almost forcing us to identify with her.
Your list of things seems to imply that it is doing a lot but it is doing no more than any large story. Most genre movies have a lot of exposition and world building to get through. This movie reminds me a lot of Fellowship of the Ring for example. Plus the Teseract was a spoil of war regardless of who had it when, so no real explanation was needed and I don’t see why that is on your list.
We kind of know who the Kree are in the first mission briefing, we get the full picture laid out in a combination of indirect exposition, the Supreme Intelligence scenes and the clever use of Ronan before he goes rogue, showing an internal tension in their empire. We get our overall impression of the Skrulls from a mixture of indirect exposition and a quick info dump in the set up for the final scene. They masterfully imply that there is more to the Skrulls, and that war leaves blood on Talos’s hands, allowing for a more aggressive Skrull presence if needed later.
As to the eye, I was initially shocked, thinking that can’t be it, but also loved the way he just casually blows it off as a mere scratch. It simultaneously makes us laugh and realise how hard Fury must be. It is almost incomprehensible that anyone could suffer that wound so lightly.