Impressive, surprisingly well defined characters, yet doesn't forget its role as a lead-up to Endgame

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2019)

I came out of one of the first showings in the world here in Australia, and while I don't know if I would fit it into my top 5 fave Marvel movies, it's up there for quality.
Brie Larson was quite likeable and enjoyable to watch with good screen presence, and her emotions in the role were well defined. The de-aging CGI on Samuel L. Jackson was so slick I barely noticed it after a while, and being set before all other Marvel movies obviously meant the filmmakers can have fun adding lots of fun easter eggs leading into key moments in previously released Marvel titles.
Admittedly it tried to cram a lot into a 2-hour film and did its best, but I think it was done well. I would've liked to see some characters' backstories fleshed out a bit, but for a film that is building up to the most anticipated film in history, I can understand why they wanted to skip to the end so quickly, yet they didn't shove it full of too many fight scenes.
The final payoff with Captain Marvel finally transforms is pretty special, as was the mid-credits scene which ties things in nicely. The twist in the middle wasn't that surprising but was great to watch. I did keep thinking that at any moment it was going to turn again, but I was pleasantly satisfied with the outcome.
Growing up in the 90s, I absolutely loved the 90s music soundtrack, almost exclusively female driven bands and solo singers (apart from that one REM song). I was singing along in my seat!
I also shed a tear at the opening logos, such a nice tribute to Stan Lee.
While the movie has only been released for about 18 hours across the world, it's funny that 89+ reviews have surfaced with many negatives, especially from countries where it hasn't been released. It seems like after Rotten Tomatoes shut down the trolls, they've also congregated here instead. IMDB has been tainted and is becoming a bit of an uncontrolled badly managed joke.