MARVEL-ous Larson & cast keep things from going full-tilt in the empowering additont to MCU

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2019)

CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019) *** Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace (Cameos: Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo) Game-changer for the MCU with Larson (amiable and in control) as Carol Danvers who finds herself smack dab in the middle of an ongoing galactic war with Earth in jeopardy, while she discovers unknown, hidden super powers. While the screenplay by committee (6 credited scribes) occasionally goes off the rails with its mix of humor and big-scale visual effects extravaganzas (the direction by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck; ditto) the ensemble grounds it with the help of its circa 1995 setting (with a killer jukebox soundtrack laden with female empowerment tunes).