Somewhat bland

Rating: 7/10 (24 June 2019)

Since I knew there was a contingent of rabid fanboys downvoting this movie for having the temerity to have a female lead, I assumed the movie would be better than its average rating. Alas, Captain Marvel can best be described as an adequate superhero movie that can't match the best examples of the genre although it happily doesn't come near to being the worst.
The movie stars Brie Larsen as Vers, a super-soldier on another planet who comes to earth while fighting her civilizations enemies. Set in the 80s or 90s, She meets a young Nick Fury (it's amazing how films can chop 20 years off a character's age with such ease) and runs around while having flashbacks that make it seem she had a prior life as an earthling.
Larsen's heroine comes across as pleasant but unexceptional, and her pretty blondness makes her seem more like someone you would cast as a brokenhearted secretary who finds love on a vacation to Italy than as a tough action hero. At first I blamed Larsen (who I see won an Oscar a while back), but then I realized that I also found Jude Law and, most shockingly, Samuel L. Jackson, to be similarly humdrum. Which makes me think the problem is the writer and director, who simply failed to bring the characters to life.
Still, the pace is pretty good, there's some good action and nice touches of humor, and it (mildly) pushes all the action picture buttons. The most entertaining part of the movie is the last, effects-driven section, even though one could reasonably object to the movie on over-powered superhero grounds.
It's not trash, like Batman vs. Superman, and it's terrific, like Captain America: Civil War. It's a solid but lesser entry in the Marvel cinematic universe, and if you're in the mood for a superhero movie this is a reasonable choice.