Walking into the theater, I knew something extraordinary was about to happen. The first MCU movie to be led by a female superhero and the last piece of the puzzle before Avengers: Endgame. Captain Marvel is also the first MCU movie to be released since the November death of Marvel icon, and cameo wizard, Stan Lee.

I’ll give Marvel credit, they handled Lee’s death in a beautiful way. Replacing the opening Marvel credit scene with clips of Lee’s cameos, instead of the traditional clips from the previous Marvel movies. You could hear the popcorn fall to the floor as this clip rolled, immediately capturing the viewers attention and locking it in with three simple words: Thank You Stan.

In its opening weekend, Captain Marvel sold out theaters and left viewers waiting for an Avengers: Endgame themed post credit scenes. Captain Marvel made $455 million globally in it’s opening weekend becoming the top grossing movie of 2019 in only three days.

*If you haven’t seen Captain Marvel, now would be a good time to bookmark the page until you see the movie*

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Captain Marvel differed from its 20 predecessors by seamlessly combining Carol Danvers’ past with her present. We’re introduced to Danvers, played by Academy Award winning actress Brie Larson, as Kree Starforce member Vers as she navigates a Skrull invasion with her Commander Yon-Rogg, played by Jude Law. At the start of the movie we learn that Vers came to Hala, the Kree home planet, as a half dead amnesiac. After an ambush, where the Skrull take Vers, the Skrull hack into her mind and set off her memories from before her accident six years ago.

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By far the best part of the mixing the past with the present in this movie, is the fact that we’re learning about Danvers’ past as she is. Throughout the rest of the movie, Danvers’ sets out to learn about the life she had on Earth. At one point, she walks into a bar she used to frequent with her best friend Maria Rambeau. As she walks into the bar, she sees flashes of the fun and chaos she used to be a part of.

Even though Captain Marvel is set in the ‘90’s, it has the best production quality of all the Marvel movies. Between the CGI, vivid colors and camera work, Captain Marvel is light years ahead of her predecessors. At first I was worried about the CGI, especially in the scenes like those below, but Marvel did an amazing job making it seem as lifelike as possible. Captain Marvel’s battle helmet didn’t look nearly as fake as I thought it would and it seemed like Larson could already shoot photon blasts out of her hands.

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Another thing that astounded me was was the camera work. One of my favorite scenes in the movie comes from the camera work alone. Without getting too much into spoilers, in the train fight scene, Captain Marvel flips out of the door onto the top of the train and the camera just rolls right with her body movements. It’s done more throughout the movie, especially in flashback scenes and the ending fight scene, but the train was my favorite use of that technique.

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Another integral part to the movie, besides photon blasts and aliens, the friendship shared between Danvers’ and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Fury, with Samuel L. Jackson reprising the role. Larson and Jackson’s on screen chemistry was off the charts, at one point it seemed like I was just watching two people go on a road trip, rather than trying to save the world. Larson and Jackson both compliment each other in the typical funny Marvel fashion. Larson’s comedic timing was fantastic and was unprecedented, especially by those who only see her as a serious actress.

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One of the last things that Captain Marvel did was empower female audiences. Captain Marvel is the strongest superhero. Captain Marvel fought for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. Captain Marvel fell down, but got up again and again and again. Marvel didn’t make feminism it’s key point, it was that you can always come home, no matter how long it takes you to get there and no matter who is waiting for you. I think that’s something the world can Marvel at.