Best Marvel Film Yet

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2019)

Captain Marvel is a solid dose of nostalgia for late Gen-X/Early Gen-Y people. Just as Guardians of the Galaxy was a fun romp with a killer soundtrack, Captain Marvel is filled with artefacts of the 90s set to a selection of hits from the early 90s that is thoroughly entertaining.
If you've followed the Avengers franchise of films than seeing Captain Marvel is a no-brainer, but if you haven't seen any of the previous films than you can dive straight into Captain Marvel. You'll get to meet a couple of we'll-loved Agents of SHIELD "before they were famous", as they earn your love and respect by showing the qualities that won over fans previously, rather than falling into the trap many sequels do by just assuming, "you know who this is, so we don't have to do any work to make you care about who they are".
Brie Larson is
Jude Law (Crimes of Grindelwald, Sherlock Holmes, Gattaca) is Veers' mentor, encouraging her to be the best version of herself with Kree, "you must control your emotions", values that would make Kant proud. Ugh! Haven't we had enough, "emotions are evil and must be controlled/repressed" from Star Wars? But despite using the "Passion is Evil" trope, the film is jam-packed with positive messages about getting up after you fall down, and not letting others place limits based on what they think you're capable of.
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Captain Marvel has the fun and nostalgia of the first Guardians, with the sophisticated storywriting and nuance of the first Iron Man film. This is the female action hero movie we've been waiting for; A woman that fights for what's right, defends those that need defending, stands against tyranny, and isn't defined by who her boyfriend is.
Her origin story is told extremely well in that it doesn't show us a blow-by-blow account; it gets straight to the point and just shows us the relevant bits we need without dwelling on them. The story has layers, some of which touch on themes that are very topical. The relationships also have layers which allows you to enjoy the story as it reveals itself to you through these relationships.
And because it's a Disney film, there's even a feel-good message/moral for the audience; girls and boys, young and old alike.
It's a shame Disney can't seem to let a woman direct one of their films more than once every 13 years. Looking at the crew listing, it seems they were unwilling to let women do any of the principal crew roles on this film without a male coworker. But the presence of these women has impacted on the end product, which is probably why every fight scene isn't dominated by cleavage, legs, arse, nor "up the skirt" shots. It's just a woman kicking arse to a killer soundtrack. It's thrilling and it's FUN.
If you've ignored all the Marvel films until now you can watch Capt Marvel and enjoy a damn good film without feeling lost.
If you've watched all the Marvel films then you'll get to learn more about some of the Agents of SHIELD before they got their promotions (but sadly, no Maria Hill).
The casting is diverse without feeling token nor that they were ticking boxes on a diversity scorecard. I had my doubts about Brie Larson being Capt Marvel, but she was great. She worked hard to prepare for this film (after six months of training she was pushing a Jeep up a hill. That's dedication to her role), and it paid off. She was believable as a member of the US Air Force, and as a human that had been given the power to defeat evil aliens while wearing a jumpsuit that pays homage to American patriotism - and in a way that makes sense and isn't sickening to non-Americans.
Several heroes have defeated Thanos in the comics, including Captain Marvel, so I cannot wait to see what role she will play in End Game.