Captain Marvel is the first Marvel film to have a solo female lead and has been long-anticipated, with the first day’s advance ticket sales in January being the third-highest in the Marvel film series. It more than lives up to the hype.

The film opens on the Kree Empire’s capital planet, Hala. Carol Danvers/Vers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) packs a formidable punch, having trained under her mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). She, unfortunately, suffers from an ongoing series of nightmares involving a supposed earlier mentor, Mar-Vell/Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Benning). This causes Vers to have trouble controlling her emotions and by extension abilities.

While on a mission to rescue an operative inside a group of Skrulls, shapeshifting aliens whom the Kree at in contact conflict with, she is captured by Skrull commander Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). Vers escapes and crash-lands in a Blockbuster Video Store in 1995 Los Angeles. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) soon arrive on the scene but Skrulls attack before they can determine what is happening. Vers and Fury team up together to defeat the Skrulls before it’s too late. Vers also works to uncover more about her past and hopefully understand the significance of Dr. Wendy Lawson in her life.

There were so many things to love about Captain Marvel. Stan Lee’s usual cameo was delightful. The late comic book icon appeared during a chase scene as a train passenger. Lee was holding a Mallrats script and practicing for one of his first movie cameos, repeating “Trust me, True Believer!” several times — a very heartwarming moment. Marvel also paid tribute to Lee at the beginning of the film by changing the Marvel Studios logo. Clips of Lee’s Marvel cameos were shown rather than characters from previous films.

Another special touch was the digital de-aging, by 25 years, of Jackson and Gregg’s characters. This marks the first time Marvel has done so for an entire film and adds a touch of realism to the 1990s atmosphere. Captain Marvel enjoys a stellar cast, especially Goose the cat, who stows away with Vers and Fury on a cargo jet when they leave a U.S. Air Force base. Goose was the real star of the show. Captain Marvel is an extremely entertaining film with a lot of humor and fantastic visuals. It really intensifies the excitement as we wait for Avengers: Endgame, which is slated for an April 26 release.

I give Captain Marvel four out of five stars.