Subversive film that packs in plenty of superhero fun

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2019)

Captain Marvel is on first blush a reasonable addition to the MCU but the more you scratch away at the veneer and this film starts to show a much more radical, and way more interesting, thematic structure which more reflects Boden and Fleck's indie background then Disney's usual universe.
Ambitiously, it tries to give both an origin story for Capt Marvel AND Nick Fury while using memory jumps to reveal that origin story to Carol Danvers in real time. Things get understandably bumpy in a torturous beginning as they set the table so the exposition can fall in place.
Luckily, once the first act is over it doesn't matter much because the charismatic cast do their thing and any missteps are layered over by Larson, Jackson and Mendelsohn (Ok and Goose) even if it some of it seems forced. Ironically, the greatest weakness is the action - the directors just don't seem that interested and want to get back to the story.
So why is this film going to be studied decades from now. It might be the best film since the original Gaslighting in exploring how women are told to keep their power in check, to not be emotional by male mentors only to find perhaps there is another way forward. This is where the film sings in defining the difference between Power and Empowerment. One single montage of a girl becoming a woman told to slow down and not take chances in 8 frames is brilliant storytelling.
On top of that the reversal of the Kree/Skrull power relationship so that we flip our sympathies to the dispossessed again speaks more to 2019 then 1990's.
If you left this film and didn't want to get in the queue for Avengers: Endgame, I don't know what I can do for you....