Even before all the "controversy," surrounding this film, I wasn't exactly hyped to see this film. I thought the trailers were just boring and lacked excitement. So I mostly put it off, but I finally got around to seeing it today. And now after having finally seen it... I think it's safe to assume that the film was a little bit better than I was expecting, but not by a whole lot. Most of my fears about what I thought would be wrong with the film were not assuaged, but there were some things about it that I did genuinely like, more than I was expecting.

Most people seem to have an issue with Brie Larson's performance in this film. And yeah, I would say that she is almost completely emotionless and wooden for about half the film. But in her defense, I would claim that's more an issue with poor writing and poor directing more than anything else. The reason I say this is because when she's actually talking with people and having good material to bounce off of, she's actually pretty natural. This is most evident in her interactions with Nick Fury, in which you can buy the mutual respect that grows between the two of them. Carol Danvers, at least in this film, isn't a very interesting character, but again, I suspect this is because, for about half the film, she doesn't really have a personality, because she has no memories of her previous life. I will say, based on the brief flashes of life I saw in both the character and in Brie Larson's performance, I'm not willing to make a final judgment on the character until I see how she works in "Endgame." But there is potential.

There are issues that are far worse than the main lead in my opinion. Before the film came out, people that had seen it claimed that this movie was "different." I honestly don't see it at all. This is a very standard amnesia plot and a very standard superhero story that's been done before and done better. The film doesn't even really take advantage of the fact that it's set in the 90s all that much, barring some quick gags. The plot isn't terrible, but it's just kind of dully presented.

Most of the attempts at humor fall flat. There are continuity hiccups and minor plot holes. But by far the worst thing about the film is the villains. Without giving away too much, I think it's safe to say this is easily one of the weakest set of villains in the entire MCU. Their motivations are not made clear at all, and they were just standard and boring characters.

The directing has absolutely no style whatsoever, and the editing during the fight scenes (barring the climax) is abysmal. The first fight scene is so poorly filmed in the fog and dark, that you can hardly make anything out. And when people engage in hand-to-hand combat, the shaky camera, and very quick edits, make the fights nearly incomprehensible.

Oh, and the explanation for how Nick Fury lost his eye is stupid.

But that's all the bad and meh. But there are a lot of things about the film that I did really, really like. For instance, the effects on Samuel L. Jackson to de-age him are flawless. I mean, if I hadn't have known that that's what they did I would never have been able to tell; that's how flawless it is. I think those effects alone deserve an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Ben Mendelsohn gave a spectacular performance, easily the best in the entire film, and his character was incredibly well written, again, easily the best in the film.

And despite the fact that most of the fight scenes were not well done, a majority of the car chase scene near the end of the first act, and a majority of the climax is fun and entertaining.

And despite most of the humor falling flat, there were some comedic moments that did work, so it wasn't like every joke just fell flat.

By far the highlight of the film was Stan Lee's cameo, which was actually one of his better cameo appearances, which is nice considering this was his first MCU cameo since his death.

Most of the things that are bad aren't that bad. But on the flipside, most of the things that are good aren't really that good either. This is the definition of a very standard superhero film. It doesn't seek to take any risks or stand out from the crowd, and I don't know if that's the writers/directors fault, or if it's the execs fault, but nevertheless, the issue is there. In a decade when the number of MCU films will be doubled, it'll probably be very difficult to distinguish this from the sea of others.

Honestly, my opinion about this film is kind of all over the place. Is it the weakest MCU film? Probably, but then again, I need to go back and rewatch some of the older ones I haven't seen in a while. I can understand why someone would like the film, but I also can understand why someone wouldn't like the film. I can't say I disrecommend the film, but I also can't really recommend it either. This isn't a Marvel film that I would watch all the time unless I was on a Marvel binge, but it's not such a disaster that I would skip it during a Marvel marathon either.

This is an aggressively okay film, which is disappointing coming from Marvel, which usually churns out much better products. It's watchable, and if your curious, I'd say it's worth at least checking out once, but if you're sick of superhero films, this is certainly not going to change your mind one iota (and in all honesty will probably make that sickness worse).

As to whether this is a "feminist," film, I would argue it only is if you choose to watch it through a feminist lens. The only thing I spotted that was overt was literally just one very quick line of dialogue. But other than that, I think the answer is "no." Honestly, I could probably find evidence to claim this film is "anti-feminist" as well, so I guess take that for what it's worth if you care about that sort of thing.