A mess.

Rating: 1/10 (8 March 2019)

First, this is a review of the movie itself. I know there has been discussion outside regarding cast comments, and sincerely, I just went into the movie and forgot about those things, as what matters for me is the film itself, and its own merits. I am a big fan of the comics and the MCU, and so although I wasn't familiar with this character, I was looking forward to her introduction and understanding how this will impact the MCU. I also know that having a very overpowering character, like Superman, is harder to relate to, so I went into the movie already willing to give them some slack, but hoping they could pull it off and make an awesome movie.
Unfortunately, for many reasons, the movie is simply bad. And yet, it had many things in it that show it could have been much better, so maybe there is hope for a sequel in the future, and are definitely things that can be changed. Let me explain. I think the easiest way to describe how I felt during the movie was that I cringed a lot.
First, I had heard that the main Actress Brie Larson was a really good actress. I can't comment on that as this is the only movie I saw with her, and I definitely want to see other of her works now so I can get a better opinion. But in this movie, her character was portrayed in a very abnoxious manner in most of the film (you know when a person can't be nice or kind to anyone, but just wants to act like a know-it-all jerk?). I don't know whose decision this was, maybe she was asked to portray it this way. There are though some better moments, in particular in the ship with Fury, and with her best friend's child, that she is more likable. I just wish we had seen more of that. I think the tone for her came off unnecessarily cold and again, the way I felt was that it was just being abnoxious. Now, I think this is something that she and they can change going forward, but it did not help when they are introducing us to a new character. This is even worse taking into consideration that they really need audiences to like her, given how difficult it is to connect with such an overpowered character, as is Captain Marvel's case. So, her acting was way off, and I don't know why, and I don't want to put in question her capacity, hence my wanting to see other works from her.
Anyway, moving on. The second most impactful problem is the production and editing. The movie is a long string of moments that should be of either emotion or great action, but that fall flat. I really feel they wanted those moments to be really grand and epic, and I think they actually could have been, but they just felt rushed and unearned, which actually turned them into really cringy. And this is the problem for me, I think that Captain Marvel's story was actually all there, there were lots of good pieces, which were presented, but the way they brought this together, the timing and presentation was beautiful visually, but was just rushed and felt really off for me, personally. So I really feel that it wasn't a lack of compelling story or character motivation, just the way the final cut flows. Those emotional moments, and the action, they were lacking either some more development, or not to be rushed or so obvious. The Skrulls (and Ben Mendelsohn) were great, it was always nice to have Fury and Coulson (I'm a big fan of the Agents of Shield, Coulson is such a charismatic character). Ok, having been unbiased about the movie, I do need to address honestly the Feminism question. I am a person who really enjoys that there are movie with strong female leads, with great stories to tell. And I think Marvel has a lot of potential they still have not taken advantage in terms of female characters to tell more stories about (I mean, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow have been great until now, and I would love to hear more of their stories, and have them lead their own films, i think they deserve more attention. And the actresses have done great!).
I know that some of the directors and cast were open about the feminism part. I have no problem with that. I just feel that it was cringy to force Director Fury to act dumb in some situations, just to give Captain Marvel an air of "gotcha", hey, let me lead you. That is just not necessary. I think audiences deserve much better. I loved Alita, which had a great female character and was an awesome movie. In this movie, I felt they always had to prove that Captain Marvel was better than the men around her, and sincerely, it was cringy. The movie is bad, because Brie Larson's acting is bad, and the production was way off.
But, I think those are two things that they can turn around I and sincerely hope they do, and if they do, I will enjoy watching what they do in a sequel. Ah, did I mention I loved what they did with the Skrulls? Well done on that point! And yes, that cat it is cool!