The latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the franchise’s first female-led film, and a breath of fresh air before the arrival of Avengers: Endgame on April 26. Captain Marvel was released in theaters on March 8, which is International Women’s Day. This follows with the film’s underlying theme of female empowerment, which while a bit heavy-handed at times, was well-meant and nondisruptive to the film.

I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this movie very much. While I had tried to keep a blank state of mind before entering the theater, I couldn’t help but have a few doubts due to the flood of negative attention that the film received both before the movie even released, and the response from those who were allowed to see it early. The former I was grateful to brush off as simply a misogynistic response to a female superhero movie, but the latter stuck a bit more, as they had less to do with Captain Marvel’s existence as opposed to the composition of the movie itself. However, once I exited the theater, I completely disagreed with these reviews. While Captain Marvel is not a masterpiece, nor as heavy hitting as Marvel films before it, it is a funny and enjoyable movie which is definitely worth seeing in theaters.

There wasn’t anything about this movie that I necessarily disliked. The plot was solid, with a twist that managed to be both unpredictable but not completely out of the blue, Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson’s characters (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and Nick Fury respectively) had a fun dynamic and meshed well together. The special effects were convincing, the music and setting unlocked my nonexistent ‘90s nostalgia, and maybe most importantly, the jokes landed well. All around, the movie hit all the right beats in all the right ways.

However, as previously said, it was no masterpiece. I left the theater remembering fewer standout moments than I attribute to my favorite movies. There wasn’t anything wrong with this movie, but I can’t necessarily say that it hit it out of the park. I didn’t find myself laughing out loud or crying, which is saying something because I’m both sensitive and a sucker for happy endings and heroic triumph. It’s not my favorite movie I’ve seen recently, and there are definitely better films in the MCU, but it’s still worth the theater visit.

Ultimately, it was a movie you can have fun seeing, and that’s really all you can ask from a superhero movie. While I probably won’t return to the theater to watch it again, Captain Marvel is certainly worth seeing once, especially if you were looking forward to it. If not, I’d still recommend going to see it in theaters, particularly if you’re as eager for Endgame as I am.