The biggest problem with this movie is that it's a little late in the game for what is a by-the-book origin story. Almost every element of the story, we've seen before. The best origin stories put their own twist on things. Here, they banked on 90's nostalgia, and fell short. Of course, as problems go, there are worse ones to have than sticking too close to a tried and true formula.
The acting is solid. The characters are solid. The plot is solid. The twists are neither shocking nor completely predictable. It manages to be a fun, decent way to kill a couple hours, without accomplishing anything standout.
In truth, the movie is such a distillation of standard superhero tropes that it almost feels like it's on purpose. It certainly helps highlight the sexism behind some of the complaints (that she's overpowered, a "Mary Sue," characters are undeveloped) when you can point to ever item they complain about in a male-led movie and see only a fraction of the same comments, and many of the critics of Captain Marvel falling over themselves to defend over-powered, stoic man-heros.
Standard, but solid, fun
The biggest problem with this movie is that it's a little late in the game for what is a by-the-book origin story. Almost every element of the story, we've seen before. The best origin stories put their own twist on things. Here, they banked on 90's nostalgia, and fell short. Of course, as problems go, there are worse ones to have than sticking too close to a tried and true formula.
The acting is solid. The characters are solid. The plot is solid. The twists are neither shocking nor completely predictable. It manages to be a fun, decent way to kill a couple hours, without accomplishing anything standout.
In truth, the movie is such a distillation of standard superhero tropes that it almost feels like it's on purpose. It certainly helps highlight the sexism behind some of the complaints (that she's overpowered, a "Mary Sue," characters are undeveloped) when you can point to ever item they complain about in a male-led movie and see only a fraction of the same comments, and many of the critics of Captain Marvel falling over themselves to defend over-powered, stoic man-heros.