Captain Marvel (2019), directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

There is a lot to like about the first female-led superhero movie in the Marvel franchise. Brie Larsen is warm and witty, strong and vulnerable in the title role. The supporting cast, including Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn and Annette Bening, is uniformly good. It has a killer 90s soundtrack, some clever misdirection about who are heroes and who are villains and a very funny cat. Yet somehow the sum is less than the total of its parts. It’s difficult to identify exactly what doesn’t work. There is an over reliance on CGI from early on and a ton of exposition. Some clunky dialogue and laboured hit and miss humour takes you out of the film rather than sweeping you away with the magic of it. But there is a nice exploration of female friendship and a strong girl power theme that is satisfying to anyone sick of the Hollywood macho ballfest. And we do find out how Fury lost his eye. So overall it’s an ok lead-in to Avengers: Endgame – coming real soon to a cinema near you.