Captain Marvel: Where's the Love

This is a really interesting project. To paraphrase, Tremault's thesis for the project was to make Carol a more likable character, and to remove what she considered "anti-male" scenes and moments. I would characterize the original movie's take on feminism is the typical mainstream dumbing down; encouraging the oppressed to take on the role of the oppressor. To me, truly meaningful feminism rethinks gender roles and power structures altogether. To do that, it's important to remember to love and care for our fellow human beings. (And other alien life forms haha) A take on this material that centers that is a great idea, and I appreciate all the work that Tremault put in.

When I watched Tremault's edit of Captain Marvel, I hadn't seen the original version in a little while. My experience was just enjoying it as a movie, rather than looking for changes. It was really great! Overall, as just a viewing experience it was really positive. Tremault's changes were seamless, and nothing jumped out at me as awkward, missing, or superfluous. She even added some visual effects when Carol's implant was subduing her powers. Again, seamless, and very impressive.

The scenes were color graded entire movie to reflect Carol's emotional state. This is the one thing I wish I had been watching for, and I might give it another spin just to have a look at this.

Towards the beginning of the movie, Tremault re-inserted some deleted scenes (either replacing scenes from the original movie, or sometimes just adding them in), and this is mostly effective. There were a few moments that may tip audience off to the villain reveal later in the movie, but the reconfiguration of these early scenes is a net positive, as it establishes a more believable bond that Carol has with her fellow Kree soldiers, including Yon Rogg.

Throughout the movie Tremault makes snips a lot of ham-fisted "girl boss" characterization. This serves to make Carol a more competent character who is not defined by her "failure" to live up to the expectations of men. Instead, Carol's relationship to her collogues and loved ones is is emphasized, without taking anything away from her arc of self-discovery.

Tremault also did several small but cool cuts that give the movie more even pacing and suspense. I was very impressed by that and I definitely noticed it even though I hadn't seen the original in a long time.

Most importantly, Tremault replaced "Just a Girl" by No Doubt with "Violet" by Hole. Hell yes. The song is much more appropriate vibe-wise, and so much less on the nose lyrically. I'm kind of joking, but a big part of me walked away from the original movie feeling like it was corny because that dopey song plays at such a pivotal moment. It's a shame that the filmmakers put dialogue in this scene because I would have preferred a musical montage with nothing but Carol kicking ass. But what can you do? There's only so much footage to work with on a project like this.

I might have a few quibbles with some cut lines here and there, but I respect Tremault's vision for this project and that's all down to personal taste. Plus, I might not even like those moments anymore if I saw them put back in.

So... super well done! I thank Tremault for her hard work and dedication. I don't take for granted the work that all the editors out there put in to enhance and expand our enjoyment of these movies, and this is a good example of someone putting in a ton of work to pull off what seems like a magic trick to me.

First, to establish a bit of background for my viewing of this edit:

I never saw the original. I collect all MCU, but I hadn't gotten around to this.
This edited version of the character is my first impression of Danvers.
Consequently I can only evaluate the edit on its own merits.

The plot of this thing was on the weaker side, but overall serviceable.
The pacing was somewhat plodding and could use some refocusing.
I'm unsure if the editor tweaked the internal structure, but this was mostly fine.
It wasn't difficult to watch, nor did it prevent me from appreciating the changes.

I understand the editor wanted to portray Danvers as likable and warm.
In this goal the editor succeeded. Danvers was easy to root for and a badass.
There is an emotional underpinning to her powers that I kinda dig.
Her connection to the people around her is evident and clear with this cut.

Visual quality is good. Added-in footage is noticeable but not absurdly so.
The editing was seamless with exception to some music that needs leveling.
I understand the film was color graded to reflect Danvers' emotional state.
It helps to illustrate the kind of narrative that the editor was going for.

Overall this was a nicely-done film when considering the goals it set out to do.
I would say it's a worthwhile addition to the MCU timeline.
Would I watch it again? If cuts were made to help the plot get to the point.
But I definitely recommend this version of the film just on its own merits.

Captain Marvel Where's The Love have a great pacing and overall a better one than the theatrical version. The editing is amazing, it made Captain Marvel be a likeable character. All her quip which felt like everyone is beneath her is gone.

As someone who has been indoctrinated for six years to keep the emotion in check. Stoic military-type fit perfectly with Captain Marvel. With a touch of humanity, she gradually regains herself again.

For information, I have watched the theatrical version, almost forgot most of it. But, there's are several scenes in the theatrical versions that don't sit well with Captain Marvel as a superhero. such as [SPOILER ALERT?]:
1. The bike thief.
2. Captain Marvel regain her full power from superintelligence.
3. Yon-Rog (short) final duel.
4. The story behind Nick Fury's eye.
This edit fixes all of that. Suggestion, a clip when she and her friend hang out in a bar might be a good addition to the emotional scene in Captain Marvel regain her full power from superintelligence.

[SPOILER ALERT]
Although this is almost perfect, I think the fight scene in the third act could be better. Captain Marvel just regain her full power, she shouldn't be able to use it with ease. The fight in the ship (remember they are elite soldiers) should overwhelm her a bit before she were able to fend off the attacker. Maybe remove the part in which she broke a sword. Another one is when At-lass said "don't make me do this" can be removed, to make the enemy more menacing. Ronan's scene should be removed entirely. Captain Marvel is able to destroy so many warheads at once, even destroy one giant starship on its own. No matter how much I love her binary form, is too much for her first flight. How can she know the limit of her powers? Flying head-on against warhead is showing too much confidence bordering on arrogance. Suggestions, when Captain marvel punches Yon-Rog's ship scene, can be followed up with her landing near Yon-Rog. Of course, it might leave the audience clueless about how strong Captain Marvel is when she shows up in Avengers End Game.

[SPOILER ALERT END]

I can say confidently, this is the best version of Captain Marvel we can watch. It elevates Captain Marvel to the role model we can aspire to be.

Thank you very much Tremault for your marvellous work.

A solid edit that finds the "feels" within this movie!

I didn't hate the original, but I still found it one of the few obviously flawed MCU entries as it was more "fun" than engrossing. This edit unfolds in a more natural way, skipping needless parts of shallow mystery setups to stay focused on a theme of empathy and an overall better introduction of Carol! Lower Quality inserted scenes were barely noticeable.

Great work!

Tremault has single-handedly saved one of the worst and most indifferent films of the entire MCU with this edit. Obviously, nothing could be done about Brie Larson’s smug face, but thanks to some very clever cuts, Carol Danvers comes off as a much more likeable character than she originally was. And she actually has an arc! She is no more the all-powerful being kept at bay by mere deception. She now has to unlock her true potential through human relationship and, I have to say, the montage which establishes that is brilliantly done by the editor.

But more importantly, this edit gets rid of one of the worst MCU jokes ever; Fury losing his eye by an alien cat! It’s ridiculous and, sadly, that’s a new standard in latest MCU additions. So, thank you for that, Tremault! Just some food for thought if there’s ever an updated version… You can, maybe, further improve that with some scene rearrangement; having Fury cursing and Rambeau asking him if he’s okay just as Yon-Rogg fires against their plane, pass it off as some kind of injury because of the hit.

Technically, all changes are well-done, and I could only spot two minor things: First, the added scenes were of a slightly lower-quality, but that’s to be expected, I guess. Secondly, the whole sound mix during the newly orchestrated Violet scene is a notch louder than it should be, I think, but I would take that instead of that in-your-face “Just a Girl” soundtrack any day of the week! Finally, I must confess that I wouldn’t mind if a couple more jokes were missing, especially when it comes to Fury, keeping him more in line with his older self. But that’s just me, wanting a more serious experience with my superhero films.

All in all, this is a vast improvement over the original and a must-see!


UPDATE: I had to take the audio/video quality up a point -from a nine to a ten- after watching Tremault's newest version with the enhanced deleted scenes integrated into the film. It's always been a minor point, but the update was more than welcome!