Captain Marvel (SPOILERS)

Higher, Further, Faster...

To prep for the arrival of Endgame, Marvel brings us its first female-led feature. In the months before its release, there has been major buzz surrounding this film...and most of it, unfortunately, was not very good. For starters, the trailers were pretty underwhelming and did nothing to garner much excitement, while elsewhere, trolls took to the internet to bash the movie as much as they could. With all this being said, what did I think of it? Well to start, as anyone can already tell you, don't believe the trolls. Secondly, I, like many, was underwhelmed by the trailers, but early reviews promised a solid experience, so I went in holding my head high and found myself mostly rewarded for doing so. This movie is a very enjoyable installment to the MCU, though not without some major flaws. In this post, I will go over what made Captain Marvel work and what didn't:

UPS

1. Brie Larson is great. A big reason the trailers were so frustrating is that they never really managed to showcase their star. How could you do that, trailers?! Well thankfully, Larson does knock it out of the park by providing effortless charm to the role. She's tough, she's funny, and while the writers don't fully flesh Carol Danvers out to the fullest extent that they could have, Larson more than makes up for that. 
2. Besides being great all on her own, Larson has great chemistry with the rest of her cast, in particular, of course, with Samuel L. Jackson. It's no secret to say that the movie really picks up once Nick Fury arrives on the scene, providing a highly entertaining dynamic that provides some of the best moments in the film. Alongside Jackson, Lashana Lynch provides a lot of heart as Maria Rambeau. Though we don't see enough of her and Carol's friendship, the moments they are together really allow it to shine. All in all, the more these three are together, the better the movie is. 
3. Talos and the Skrulls in general. While I do have my problems with the twist (which I will get to later,) I do appreciate the different direction Marvel takes with these characters. Turning them from straight villains into characters with more moral ambiguity provided some neat potential for a truly interesting conflict which we never really see come into fruition. Talos himself is a great character and Ben Mendelsohn owns the role. 
4. Goose the Cat. Just Goose the Cat. Anytime a movie offers us an animal sidekick to tag along, you know you will be in for a treat. While I try not to say she stole the show, it's pretty hard to do so. She's just such a lovable addition to the movie.
5. This. Need I say more?

DOWNS

1. Again, while making the Skrulls morally ambiguous was a smart move, the direction taken afterwards was less than satisfactory. Turning the Skrulls into anti-heroes does not mean that the Kree needed to turn into full-on villains, yet that's exactly what happened. As a result, the conflict became less interesting when there was potential for something more. 
2. The first act takes a while to get going, and during that time there isn't much fleshing out of any of the Kree (they really get the short end of the stick, do they?), their way of life and how that pertains to Carol, or the conflict with the Skrulls. Meanwhile, the last act, well, the twist pretty much explains the issues regarding it, but being more specific, the final battle is a pretty big letdown, with Carol pretty much annihilating the Kree fleet in a flash while Ronan shows up, does nothing, and leaves. Yeah, that's it? It's such a frustratingly minuscule role that I wonder why they even bothered adding him in. He doesn't even look that intimidating this time around. 
3. As I have said before, as great as Brie Larson is, the character of Carol Danvers was pretty one-note in terms of actual character. The movie never really takes the time to flesh out her role in the story nor really explain who she is, having flashbacks to her story pop up every now and then in very minimal doses. I left with the feeling that because I knew so little of who she was, she never feels like she goes on a journey or change of some sort. She's not a bad character by any means and I'm sure she'll get a better showing in Endgame, but considering this is her first solo outing, I was hoping the writers would do more. 

OVERALL

Captain Marvel is definitely worth seeing. The trailers did not do it justice and the trolls will not be swaying anyone anytime soon. While I do have some issues with how some things were handled, I hope to see more of her as time goes on and can't wait to see her tagalong with the OG Avengers team as they work to reverse the damage done in Infinity War...whatever it takes.

And that's it for this post, guys! Tune in for more on the way :)