captain marvel : the wait is nearly over

Marvel's final original story before the biggest movie of the series and year (Avengers : Endgame) is finally here. How was the viewing experience? Don't worry, the review is going to be spoiler free.

Captain Marvel / amped illustration

Captain Marvel tells the story of Vers, the powerful but impulsive Kree (a powerful intergalactic empire) soldier who while fighting a war between the deceptive shape-shifting skrulls and the noble and dutiful kree finds her forgotten past starting to haunt her. In quest to find out who she was it leads her on a journey across the galaxy and eventually earth. Set in the 90s, Brie Larson plays our lead heroine and does a solid job at it, her character is compelling albeit uneven at times. The real standout performance among the cast is Samuel L. Jackson's Nick fury, younger and less jaded, he is clearly having a blast and alot of fun, he and Brie have great chemistry and bounce of each other well. The opposing Skrull and Kree commanders Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law are fine as are the rest of supporting cast members.

The action and cinematography are well shot but doesn't particularly wow, it does help keep people engaged and is enjoyable enough, and when she gets going Brie's character is an absolute powerhouse to behold. The pacing is quite all over the place in the first half but is more cohesive and flows better in the 2nd half as the script tightens. How engaging is plot ? The mystery is solid albeit quite obvious before the payoff hits, it's still solid story that keeps the audience engaged enough, and gets us to the finished line satisfied.

I do like some of themes, while aren't as powerful as presented in some other movies, I do appreciate and like the anti-imperialist and girl power(feminist?) themes, it adds something. I do feel the time era of the 90s isn't taken advantage enough of and used sparingly but reminds us when needed when the movie is taking place.

All in all I had an all right time watching Captain Marvel , it's a solid flick that fits okay into the well run MCU movie factory, it's not as watershed moment of the the MCU but it didn't need to be.

Final score : 7, Captain Marvel is competent comic book movie, that lays the final foundation before the real treat in Endgame next year, it doesn't wow me on any level but it doesn't need to, it's a decent origin film worth the price of admission, the real game-changer however is going to be Avengers: Endgame coming in a month, and this was a fine appetizer to get us ready.

Minor pet peeves : - If you pay attention to universe details the movie retcons them a bit and the payoff for some things hinted in the past aren't quite worth it (fury's eye, the avengers initiative).