NOTHING GROUNDBREAKING, BUT A GOOD, FUN MOVIE

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2019)

I'm going to say because of all the "true Captain Marvel" claptrap I've seen on social media, I found it amusing the trailer for SHAZAM! opened up CAPTAIN MARVEL at my theater.
I've seen a lot of reviews say that this movie is completely devoid of humor. While it's true that there's less jokes per capita than other Marvel offerings, there were one-liners and humorous interactions a-plenty. It was played like a buddy cop movie akin to the LETHAL WEAPON franchise. Plenty of laughter in my rather-full showing.
I've heard people denounce the movie because of gender politics. Yes, it's a movie that stars a woman. Annnnnd that's pretty much as far as it goes for gender. If you want to analyze its political implications, I think the current migrant/refugee crisis we've got going on in this country would be a better descriptor (crisis as in how this country has chosen to handle it, being poorly).
I've also heard that the acting is either wooden, uneven or completely absent. I think given the situations, the theme and the narrative, the acting was just fine on all parts.
CAPTAIN MARVEL is a good movie. I can't say that it left me with the same feelings my first viewing of WONDER WOMAN did, but I can say I enjoyed the hell out of it. Larson and Jackson made quite the pair and played off each other well. They borrowed heavily from the comics' lore from every era and blended it well. The special effects were amazing. I mean, Marvel's de-aging technology is nothing short of witchcraft (not that Gregg and Jackson have visibly aged all that much to begin with, but still...daymn). As reported elsewhere, Goose totally stole the show. He had a couple of the best scenes. Mendelsohn was good, but not really a scene-stealer. And some of the fight scenes were spectacularly choreographed. Also, the opening Stan Lee tribute...didn't quite bring the tears of SPIDER-VERSE's, but it was a heart-stabber.
Bottom line: if you like Marvel movies, you'll like this. It doesn't really reinvent the wheel or bring anything of epic scale to the table (it doesn't go anywhere near INFINITY WAR), but it does tell a good story with some good action and fun interactions to go along with it. I didn't find it slow or boring in the least.
However, if you're of the camp who believes the misinformation that this movie is pushing some kind of SJW agenda or have an issue with who does or doesn't have the Captain Marvel name, this movie is not going to be for you. You're already going in wrong-headed and the movie will fail for you before it even begins. All I can do is remind you all that the movies do not follow the comics, and haven't for the last 20 years. They are their own thing.