Marvel Studios unleashes it first female led superhero movie and while I agree that it is not amazing, it is still a pretty good film that is a definite recommend.
Let's start with Captain Marvel herself. Brie Larson did, IMO, a very good job in this role. She is not wooden, as some people have said. She has great banter with Fury, shows off snark and cockiness in combat and is still someone that you can still trust. I also very much liked the parts in the film where she is constantly told, mostly by the Kree, that she must conform to what society needs of her, and then later destroys those constraints and lets herself be all that she can be. Now, while this is clearly a nod to feminism in the world, in the movie this is not because she is a woman, just someone with untold superpowers.
The supporting cast for this film was also really good, especially Samuel L. Jackson. First off, major kudos to the effects team for de-aging him. It was interesting to see him as someone who wasn't to ruthless and commanding yet still had the similar Fury qualities we know. Mendehlson also did a very good job as Talos, portraying someone who could at times be sinister and manipulative but other times sympathetic and charming without there being a huge contrast between the two. Law's Yon-Rogg also did good with what he had, portraying his Kree character as someone who has clearly earned his command and respect yet still has traditions to uphold that he has believed and delved out for so long.
I also really liked all of the MCU connections this movie had. The connection with the Tesseract and Project Pegasus was very well done as it showed how SHIELD got a hold of it and how they sort of discovered its potential power. We also get to see a bit more into the Kree and especially Ronan. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan wasn't exactly a good villain because all we know of his backstory is that he is following the traditions of the Kree. This explains more about what those traditions are i.e subjugate. In GotG, the Kree signed a peace treaty with the Nova Corps, so there was some inkling about the Kree being trouble. Also, the galaxy jumping octagons return from GotG 2. I also love how Fury gets the name "Avengers", as it is clearly a kind of unique name to get so the fact that it comes from the first superpowered person he meets was cool. They also kind of solve the whole Captain Marvel pager thing, as she told him only to use it for end of the universe emergencies. So Loki's invasion and Ultron's uprising doesn't count, but people dissolving into ash, yeah that might do it. There was also a possible, surprising Agents of Shield reference. FIrst off, this movie did not break continuity as Coulson only knows the word Skrull, not Kree. And counter to that, due to Danvers' regenerative properties being from Kree blood, this very well have led to TAHITI, which focused on using Kree blood to heal a fallen Avenger.
The effects and makeup for this movie were really done as well. As I have mentioned before, the de-aging of Fury was superb and I also really liked how the Skrulls shapeshifted. The makeup as well for the Skrulls was well done as well as they compare favorably to the comics.
I will also commend this movie for how it handled the Kree/Skrull war. In the beginning, we are sort of easily convinced that the Skrulls are the bad guys, due to their ability to become anyone they want. However, it is wisely flipped showing them to be refugees trying to escape the Kree, and that is also properly shown how the Kree dominate and control those who do not kneel.
Now for the bads, and there are bads. There was no truly memorable scene for this movie. The actions scenes themselves were nothing unique and special. Other MCU movies have memorable scenes, (action mostly), like Winter Soldier's elevator, Civil War's airport, GotG 2 Yondu/Rocket escape, Avengers 1/2 final battle. Yet for Captain Marvel, despite having very good parts to it, never had a scene that made me go "I'm never going to forget this".
Another thing I have to say bothered me was the music placement. The nostalgic things that popped up like Blockbuster, Radioshack and a very slow computer were finely timed and very few. Yet the songs that were chosen, despite being very good songs, came at odd times. For instance, when Danvers unleashes her full power on her old teammates, No Doubt's "Just a Girl" started playing. While this is a fine song to have in this movie and fits the decade sense, it just sort of seemed to come out of nowhere. I can see them trying to adapt to Guardians of the Galaxy, as there are many tie ins to that, yet there music went with almost every fight instead of just one. Doesn't mean they had to have songs during every fight, just placed better.
Also, I have to say. ALL HAIL GOOSE!
+ Larson/Jackson + Supporting Cast +Skrull/Kree war twist +Effects (De-aging) and makeup +MCU Connections - No memorable scenes or moments - Odd music placement
Final Score: 8.0/10
Let's start with Captain Marvel herself. Brie Larson did, IMO, a very good job in this role. She is not wooden, as some people have said. She has great banter with Fury, shows off snark and cockiness in combat and is still someone that you can still trust. I also very much liked the parts in the film where she is constantly told, mostly by the Kree, that she must conform to what society needs of her, and then later destroys those constraints and lets herself be all that she can be. Now, while this is clearly a nod to feminism in the world, in the movie this is not because she is a woman, just someone with untold superpowers.
The supporting cast for this film was also really good, especially Samuel L. Jackson. First off, major kudos to the effects team for de-aging him. It was interesting to see him as someone who wasn't to ruthless and commanding yet still had the similar Fury qualities we know. Mendehlson also did a very good job as Talos, portraying someone who could at times be sinister and manipulative but other times sympathetic and charming without there being a huge contrast between the two. Law's Yon-Rogg also did good with what he had, portraying his Kree character as someone who has clearly earned his command and respect yet still has traditions to uphold that he has believed and delved out for so long.
I also really liked all of the MCU connections this movie had. The connection with the Tesseract and Project Pegasus was very well done as it showed how SHIELD got a hold of it and how they sort of discovered its potential power. We also get to see a bit more into the Kree and especially Ronan. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan wasn't exactly a good villain because all we know of his backstory is that he is following the traditions of the Kree. This explains more about what those traditions are i.e subjugate. In GotG, the Kree signed a peace treaty with the Nova Corps, so there was some inkling about the Kree being trouble. Also, the galaxy jumping octagons return from GotG 2. I also love how Fury gets the name "Avengers", as it is clearly a kind of unique name to get so the fact that it comes from the first superpowered person he meets was cool. They also kind of solve the whole Captain Marvel pager thing, as she told him only to use it for end of the universe emergencies. So Loki's invasion and Ultron's uprising doesn't count, but people dissolving into ash, yeah that might do it. There was also a possible, surprising Agents of Shield reference. FIrst off, this movie did not break continuity as Coulson only knows the word Skrull, not Kree. And counter to that, due to Danvers' regenerative properties being from Kree blood, this very well have led to TAHITI, which focused on using Kree blood to heal a fallen Avenger.
The effects and makeup for this movie were really done as well. As I have mentioned before, the de-aging of Fury was superb and I also really liked how the Skrulls shapeshifted. The makeup as well for the Skrulls was well done as well as they compare favorably to the comics.
I will also commend this movie for how it handled the Kree/Skrull war. In the beginning, we are sort of easily convinced that the Skrulls are the bad guys, due to their ability to become anyone they want. However, it is wisely flipped showing them to be refugees trying to escape the Kree, and that is also properly shown how the Kree dominate and control those who do not kneel.
Now for the bads, and there are bads. There was no truly memorable scene for this movie. The actions scenes themselves were nothing unique and special. Other MCU movies have memorable scenes, (action mostly), like Winter Soldier's elevator, Civil War's airport, GotG 2 Yondu/Rocket escape, Avengers 1/2 final battle. Yet for Captain Marvel, despite having very good parts to it, never had a scene that made me go "I'm never going to forget this".
Another thing I have to say bothered me was the music placement. The nostalgic things that popped up like Blockbuster, Radioshack and a very slow computer were finely timed and very few. Yet the songs that were chosen, despite being very good songs, came at odd times. For instance, when Danvers unleashes her full power on her old teammates, No Doubt's "Just a Girl" started playing. While this is a fine song to have in this movie and fits the decade sense, it just sort of seemed to come out of nowhere. I can see them trying to adapt to Guardians of the Galaxy, as there are many tie ins to that, yet there music went with almost every fight instead of just one. Doesn't mean they had to have songs during every fight, just placed better.
Also, I have to say. ALL HAIL GOOSE!
+ Larson/Jackson + Supporting Cast +Skrull/Kree war twist +Effects (De-aging) and makeup +MCU Connections - No memorable scenes or moments - Odd music placement
Final Score: 8.0/10