You guys seem to have missed that the only reason I brought up Harley Quinn was because an user with a Harley Quinn avatar tried to tell me that people prefer subtle performances in their comic book movies, and I was just pointing out the irony in their statement given that Robbie, unlike Larson, was universally praised for her Harley.
At no point did I say that I want Captain Marvel to be like Harley Quinn… at no point. What I said is that I wanted Brie Larson's performance to be more energetic and less stiff and restrained.
But I can see this is going nowhere. I'll leave you guys to discussing Larson's subtle eye acting that so many peasants like me are apparently failing to appreciate. I'm out.
First off, I'm sorry to spark such passionate bickering haha. I really didn't mean to upset or offend anyone with my comments, or one sidedness. I was just stating that I think acting in these types of movies do need to utilize subtlety, to be effective to the viewer, especially origin films or first impressions. RDJ does show it, plenty of times. The best actors in the MCU do show it, that's why a few of those movies are great. Thor in Infinity War on the ship talking to Rocket is a key example, without the subtlety that scene could have been written off as another comedic Thor scene, joking about how everyone has died but him and he’s amazing and strong. BUT through all of that, you feel his anguish, through this facade that he puts on, over his extreme hurt. That scene alone justifies Thor: Ragnarok’s existence. There are many layers at play. Brie puts this on display many times. She plays her part in this origin perfectly, at least as it was meant to, as it even plants seeds for blooming later. We will see how she does in Endgame, now that she is more sure of herself and has broken free from her inner turmoil and controlling relationship with Yon Rog and the Kree. She will be written much differently, and I have confidence that Brie will bring it.
Now, me having a Harley avatar is indeed for the irony, like you mention. I love her expression, like she's trapped in a bad movie and knows it. Though I thoroughly hate that film, I do love Margot's Harley, as she represents the comic book character well. If you examine her performance, it is cartoonish for the most part, as is precisely called for, but she does show subtlety that really helps her connect with the audience. There needs to be a balance respective to the character, and that's one of the reasons she is so praised, along with RDJ as Stark because there’s a balance. Pictured below is the scene that won me over because through the "2deep4U subtle eye acting", we as an audience connect with her and feel along with her, in her loss and struggle with identity in a mere 10 seconds.
Harley is a larger than life personality even for the pages of a comic or animated series, and for Margot to go this far with a ridiculous role in an AWFUL movie, is why she's praised.
Much like Brie Larson and how she respectively represents Captain Marvel. Now I'm no expert on Captain Marvel, but I know she isn't as outlandish as Tony Stark, or as wild as Harley. She does have a sarcastic, playful personality, but is reserved and stoic. She’s a warrior and leader. So the subtlety of her performance may be slept on by many. I understand that. But the balance is there. Here is how I feel… I so deeply appreciate Larson's performance in this movie because it resonates so much with me. It's as if I was watching myself on screen. This is the first time ANY MCU character has accomplished that for me and been so relatable. If I had no memory of the past I wouldn't know how to carry myself, I wouldn't know what to do. I’d always be fighting with my outgoing side, because I'm an extreme introvert and refuse to show emotion at times, but I have a fantastic sense of humor and warmth. I put up a brick wall to protect myself when people challenge me. Especially when I'm dealing with inner turmoil. The perfect example of this is when Carol and Fury are in the records room looking at files, Fury misunderstands the situation. She is so overwhelmed with what she is finding, she then sees herself in the photo, she shuts down in near disbelief. It's exactly something I would feel. Fury asks "you good?" or something to that effect, and she replies with a simple "mmhmm" and a subtle eye movement that says her thoughts are “I need to be alone, I need time to process this, but I’m also being level headed, controlling my emotions like I’ve been groomed to by the Kree“. There’s layers to it. The music builds and builds as we see her struggle to come to grips with what she is seeing. There's no room for a quip or an overly expressive face, because it defeats the purpose of the meaning. This is the turning point where her natural humanity comes into play. She’s starting to realize she was a normal human. (which all comes full circle in the climax). The whole theme of the film is humanity, finding the humanity in yourself. Cartoonish/exaggerated shallow expressions are not going to be as relatable to the audience. There's just no need for it beyond what's called for. Otherwise it would feel gimmicky, like how some of the Guardians, Dr. Strange or Ant-Man films do.
Due to what I've experienced, the past feels like shackles holding me down. The way the movie curates Carol's rise to ownership over her identity connected with me so much that it brought me to tears. A freaking silly marvel comic book movie did that, without me really being a fan of the comic character, nor a HUGE fan of most of the MCU. Carol breaks her shackles when she realizes she IS human, and is capable of so much more now because of her finding herself. She was lost, her new found power is relative to her new found identity. Without that subtlety in her performance leading up to that, people like myself would not have connected with her going Binary. Now, I totally understand if you can’t relate, everyone has different life experiences of course, and different people want different things out of their comic movies. but this is exactly the kind of emotional response the movie was actually aiming for. Her performance is very particular in that way. It is intentional. I’m not trying to say her performance is “too good” for this movie, it’s not, but it’s of higher caliber than most would like to give it credit for. That’s how I feel anyway!
I could talk about this movie and Brie’s performance for days on end, and if anyone is willing to rebut and discuss any of my feelings I’ll gladly do it in a more respectful manner than I may have with my post before! And thank you if you did happen to read my lengthy post haha. I tend to ramble a lot, but that’s when my deeper thoughts tend to bubble up.
