Exciting, funny and occasionally powerful!

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2020)

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is trained up to use her new mysterious power to its full potential by the Kree after being found by them. When escaping from another alien group, she returns to Earth and discovers there's much more to her past and origins than initially thought. Marvel Studios have absolutely got it in the bag and have done for a long time; setting a high benchmark with Infinity War in 2018 and just flawlessly pulling off action spectacle and superhero integrity in everything they do. Admittedly through the first half of this one, I did find it strangely slow burning and not as engaging as previous episodes despite the spectacle and heart that was clearly being poured into it. Nevertheless, I started gradually feeling it more as it progressed and I came out of it feeling energetic and happy! I think the humour and soundtrack had a lot to do with my involvement in the film; it's hilarious at times (Goose the cat is one hell of a creation!) and the music references from Carol wearing Nine Inch Nails and Pixies shirts to the song choices being perfect, made for really brilliant sequences. The film has a lot of substance underneath its surface which I felt more in the final half which has moments of epic beauty and the realisation of Captain Marvel's beginnings is stunning. I'd like to watch the film again and discover more from the early stages too (other than the beautifully incredible opening paying tribute to Stan!) which I may have missed. Performance wise the ever reliable and amazing Brie Larson delivers totally and brings another fresh and exciting character to the MCU. This is Nick Fury's finest hour on screen also as Sam L Jackson is fantastic as always! Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson, It's Kind Of A Funny Story) inject a unique style into the film particularly in the Earth sequences which are full of laughs; it's a promising and enriching start to Carol Denvers' story