It’s a fun and occasionally funny film, but Brie Larson‘s debut also falls into some annoying traps. Captain Marvel plays overly much to formula - there are no real surprises and some lead characters are literally there only as deus ex machinas. It also takes forever to get into its stride - the opening sequences on Hala quite frankly bored me. Only when Maria and Monica Rambeau enter the frame is there the charm that Captain America: The First Avenger delivered in spades, and it’s annoying there’s such a muddled journey there. The final battles in space are fun (with the Easter egg nods to earlier MCU films), Carol (and Goose) unleashed is awesome, but we find out more about her from other characters’ exposition than Larson’s performance or a more focused script. Sam Jackson’s younger Fury and she are a great double act but he’s oddly laid back and so different to the Fury we know it occasionally felt like this wasn’t even an MCU film. Indeed where Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy knew just what they were from the outset, Captain Marvel is a likeable lead-in to Avengers: Endgame, despite never knowing quite what it wants to be.