Not Marvel's best, but still plenty fun

Rating: 6/10 (9 March 2019)

I went into this film purposefully ignoring all the political backlash and agendas people have surrounding this movie. I just want to see an entertaining Marvel film. And, for the most part, that's what I got.
The first act of the film is pretty rough, if I'm being honest. This whole section takes place in outer space and different plants, and it is easily the weakest part of the film. Within the first 2 minutes, we visit 3 different locations and are introduced to at least 4 characters we've never met before. It felt very messy. While I was impressed by some of the unique shots throughout the film (especially in the first act), the majority of the film feels very bland in terms of its cinematographic style. This is especially apparent in an early fight scene at night on a dark planet where it was quite difficult to even see what was happening. This first section of the movie is also where Brie Larson was at her worst. Her acting is wooden and the lines she is given are pretty horrible. Thankfully, she gets better as the film goes on. Once Carol arrives on Earth, the film becomes WAY more enjoyable, and the pacing certainly picks up. The chemistry between Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson is phenomenal and they were very entertaining to watch. As well, the CGI de-aging technology they used for Fury and Coulson was very effective. While some of the action was edited strangely, a lot of it was fun to watch, especially a train/car chase scene early on in the second act. The Skrulls were interesting antagonists and were done very well. The makeup and design of them looked great, and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos was a definite highlight. In fact, the supporting cast in this film was surprisingly excellent. Jude Law as Yon-Rogg was very good, as well as Carol's friend Maria, played by Lashana Lynch. The only member of the supporting cat that was bad was Maria's daughter who, in her defence, was given some of the worst dialogue in the entire film. The use of a non-linear plot helped the film stand apart from other Marvel films, even if it didn't always feel completely utilized to its full potential. As well, Carol's cat, Goose, was entertaining, if a little overused. The 90s nostalgia certainly felt overdone to me. Between Radio Shack, Blockbuster Video, pagers, and floppy discs, it felt like the 90s was the punchline for every other joke. Speaking of which, many of the jokes just didn't work for me. They fell flat for the most part, except for two lines from Fury which genuinely made me laugh. When Carol shows off the full range of her powers, it's hard not to be impressed. She's so immensely powerful, it's a lot of fun to watch her fight enemies like they're nothing. One of the things that bothered me the most, and in fact pissed me off, was--and I won't outright say it since it's a spoiler--the reveal of how something that had been built up to for a while ended up happening. It was stupid and now it's canon. Finally, Brie Larson's performance was the thing I was most worried about going in. The trainers certainly did her no favours, but I'm happy to say I really enjoyed her as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers. Of course, there were lines here and there that didn't work for me, and her performance in the first act leaves a lot to be desired, but her performance improves drastically as the film goes on, as does the writing for her character. By the end, I cared about Carol significantly more than I thought I would, and I'm excited to see her interact with the Avengers this April.
So, all in all, I enjoyed Captain Marvel. It's a flawed film (and certainly not one of Marvel's best), but it was fun and I was never bored. I don't ask too much more than that from these films.