The latest entry in the MCU and the appetizer course for Avengers: Endgame was a very enjoyable film. I’ve now seen it 3 times in the theater - once in 3D & twice in 2D (nothing is really added by 3D). This is Marvel’s second prequel film & the 90s makes for a fun setting...especially for those who remember the 90s. The de-aging CGI they use on Clarke Gregg & Samuel L. Jackson was outstanding - it’s a bit more obvious on Gregg, but only if you look for it.
Overall I give it an 8/10.
Things I liked:
• Brie Larson is delightful in the role.
• Great soundtrack - the song choices were almost as on point as those in either Guardians of the Galaxy film.
• Perfect Stan Lee cameo for a movie set in the 90s.
• Goose (the cat) might be the best co-star Samuel L. Jackson has ever had.
• Act 3 has a couple of absolutely fantastic action scenes.
• The origin of her powers is a new take on the comic origin, but still pays homage to it.
• Her absence in the MCU thusfar makes sense. I was concerned it would feel arbitrary or forced.
Things I was kinda meh about:
• Act 2 drags on quite a bit - they had another bunch of mandatory world building plot points from the studio to shoehorn in & is bogs the movie down in places.
Things I was disappointed by:
• Gemma Chan & Djimon Honsou are criminally underused in the film. Hopefully there’ll be deleted scenes on the Blu-ray.
• The writers went to the bench again for a plot device - it felt lazy to me.
FYI, there is a mid-credits scene and another at the very end of the credits.
