Okay, I went and took a gander this evening to see what all the fuss was about.
To preface, I really couldn't give two ****s about the over politicalization of this film, and quite frankly, I really think that has influenced a LOT of the opinions I've read over, notably here. I'm pretty middle of the road in that regard so I'm not going to get myself riled up over something being more left or right. So if that's the sort of thing you choose to let severely drive your input and interpretation of film, then I may have just lost your attention here. With that, it's clear to me that whatever agenda that is being presented or perceived by whichever side has been magnified by 10 fold now that I've seen the film.
Furthermore, my favorite MCU films are TWS and Ragnarok, for reference.
I would rank it right alongside with the phase 1 and "starter" films (Iron Man notwithstanding). It is not a Thor Ragnarok or a Winter Soldier by any stretch, but it feels right at home alone with Thor, The First Avenger, and Spiderman Homecoming. Had this movie came out 5 years ago, I think it would have had a much different response. All of these films share the same thing, the first time their respective cast stepped into the shoes of that character, and since then they have only improved. In those films there are things that work, and things that aren't perfect.
That tangents straight into Larson's performance, which I honestly think was just fine. I had no qualms with it. There's a lot of hate on the stiffness, but I feel like those who are doubling down on that aspect have never been around truly deadpan people. I think that's what they we're aiming for with Carol's attitude. And again, Evans, Hemsworth, Johansson, and the like all have had time to grow into their roles. Their first outings all were not that of where we have them now.
I really liked world building the film explored. In fact, the first half of the movie was really exciting where the latter tails off to a more invested and 'curious where it goes' carrot to dangle.
The Skrull prosthetics were awesome. I can't stress that enough and I really want a Talks figure now. I'm so happy to have seen some nice, practical sfx being used like that. Fury, Coulson, and a certain little friend all had very good vfx. Fury in particular I think sets a standard for future franchises to achieve.
Samuel L. Jackson is 110% the **** as always. Loved all of his screentime.
I want two more of these movies before Endgame. That's the issue I have. I feel I can become invested in Carol as I have with other characters, but I need more time before I get excited for her showing up in Endgame. This movie should have come out 3 years ago, in other words.
They call her the most powerful character but I think that's going to be as variable and retconnable as every character's power level. Everything we've seen her do was something Thor could have, or honestly even Iron Man. If anything, that tagline is a whopping amount of buzzword. I highly doubt she'll deliver the final blow to Thanos, and I highly doubt she'll usurp anyone's perceived power going into Endgame. She'll just be a tank character like Thor.
This tries to be Marvel's Wonder Woman and I think from a stand alone character, DC honestly wins in that comparison; I like Diana better. But I do think their amount of character development ultimately is about the same. But what Captain Marvel does do is continue a trend of at the worst good, at the best fantastic films that have an air of quality and enjoyment through them. Wonder Woman falls apart in it's third act, while Captain Marvel hangs pretty consistent once it levels out from it's excellent opening. In some ways, the character progression reminds me a bit of Alita.
Tl;Dr: I enjoyed it, think the politics around it have been exacerbated, had fun with what it had to offer, and don't think it'll spoil your Marvel palate if you've been invested this long. I wish I had more time with the character before Endgame. Probably a 6.5, 7 when I'm feeling generous. Go see Captain Marvel, have fun. Go see Alita and have fun too. Be excellent to everyone. Let movies be movies.
Some spoiler ramblings:
-I thought the Skrulls were handled in a very interesting way. I don't know the history comically, but I wonder if this will split their race into friends/foes. I specifically remember how there was a comment about one major character being a Skrull, so I'll be interested to see if that ever pans out. This sort of divided motivation for a main character is great storytelling and I hope that this impacts her interpersonal relations in future MCU interactions.
-I thought the emotion and character that Talos brought was very good and I WANT to see more of him in the future. Truth be told, if they gave him a little more time to marinate in the narrative, I think we would have had another Killmonger discussion going on.
-I do forsee the Skrulls getting politicized as analogies for current refugee arguments, though I don't think that's what it is meant to be. But again, people will make way bigger deals of things than they should. And to that, I feel like they took a fairly neutral stance given Carol stands to help them find a home rather than assimilate them.
-****ing. Hell. The bitching about "I'm Just a Girl" playing at the final fight is the most immature and absolutely emasculating argument I've heard about a movie in years. Had I not heard that some folks were getting their panties in a twist over that, it wouldn't have even crossed my mind. She's a girl. She's kicking ass. Whoop-de-do.
-The Fury eye thing was a little on the nose. I do wish it would have been Talos as Fury's boss who had done it. But at the same time, the tall tales that Fury can tell actually works for the mystery of the character. If they commit and stick the landing on that idea, I have no problem
-While I had feelings about Yon-Rogg from the start, I didn't expect the Skrull plot twist at all. So that was a pleasant surprise and I do believe that helped me stay engaged. I have no background about any of these characters though, so that may have helped me enjoy it more just as I did with Alita.
-More Ronan! That role could have been filled with anyone or any background character. I wonder if we will see the actions of Carol and her message to Kree society be the catalyst for his inevitable splintering into radicalism. It would be very cool to see him be the primary antagonist in a sequel, maybe even have Yon-Rogg return and work with him. They would be wise to maintain the 90s time period such that they can take the time to capitalize on opportunities like that.
-Goose was good fun. Nothing there for me to complain about. They didn't overuse the character and I really appreciated the reactions of the audience as they unveiled what Goose actually is. The only flaw here is that there wasn't an audible "nonononono" I could hear across the house before the Tesseract gets spit up.
Spoiler: 
I agree with everything you said. 
