So, being unable to go on a quiet Friday morning meant (if we were to see Captain Marvel before the internet exploded with spoilers) a Saturday trip.
A Saturday. A time when people generally aren't at work so have time to do the fun stuff in life. Usually with their children in tow.
Hey, come on, be brave, deep breath...
Sure, there were already more than 70 people in there. Yes, people kept coming in and sitting worryingly close. Yes, the drive home involved a surprising adrenaline come-down.
But the two hours in the middle?
Sweet mother of....
We don't know how Marvel have managed this.
While the road here has been bumpy, and Iron Man 2 exists to remind us of the studio's fallibility, from Homecoming onwards there has been a continual raising of the bar.
Ragnarok? Amazing. Panther? Awesome. Infinity Wars? OMFG. Ant Man And The Wasp? A welcome change in pace and tone, but then that ending....
All of which brings us to Captain Marvel, teased to us in the closing scenes of the last Avengers outing.
But this is just an origin story, right? A fluffy place-holder before Danvers comes to play with the big boys, yeah?
No no no no no.
What we have here is story of depth and complexity, heart and passion, of weight and importance. With added cat.
And the cat is important.
In simple terms, this is an origin story — but Carol Danvers' history is neither simple not straight forward, and the writer/director team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have pulled out all the stops, bells and whistles to craft a tale that ties several loose ends up while delivering the newest piece in the Marvel puzzle.
And it's a piece we didn't even know was missing. Until now.
At the heart of it is Brie Larson, the award-winning star of Room who may also have been in Kong: Skull Island (but that's not her fault).
Larson appears born to play this role, so naturally does she feel playing a woman with very few memories who has flashbacks hinting at a life before the life she knows.
And she owns this flick, from first frame to last.
Which when you factor in the Marvel heavyweights she's alongside (this is not Samuel L Jackson's first superhero rodeo), knocking them into second place shows just what a turn she has put in.
In fact, the only cast member who outshines her is Reggie (or, in some scenes Rizzo, Gonzo or Archie) playing Goose. The cat. Who is just scene-stealing awesome. Or pawesome, if you will.
No, you shut up.
Best cat in a movie. Ever. Fact. Period.
Sorry, where were we?
Oh right, yes, the humans.
Larson is ably supported by Lashana Lynch, Anette Bening, some young up-and-comer called Jude Law and Akira Akba (who is simply brilliant).
The story is a simple one of space travel, Skrulls, Kree, some people you're met before, others you haven't, and how one man lost an eye.
All of which is traditional Marvel fare.
But the themes are deeper and darker, and also very on-point for 2019.
As well as putting kick-ass female characters (not our words, the views of the young girl behind us as we left) front and centre, Captain Marvel deals with racism, refugees, personal identity, right and wrong, truth and lies and what you can put in a Fonz lunchbox.
And it's these themes that elevate Captain Marvel to the high echelons of the very best Marvel has served up so far.
It's has huge emotional weight, it has heart, it has soul and depth, and that's before we get to the special effects and the soundtrack.
Because for a film designed to be 3D'd and IMAX'd to death, in good ol' plain, as nature intended, flat 2D this things is as bold, busy, bright and brash as you'd want, with even the close-up fight scenes not getting too scrambled in the mix.
Then, yeah, the soundtrack. Not the score Marvel has already put out, but the songs that sit so perfectly alongside the action — Elastica, Hole, Garbage, No Doubt, it's basically the best '90s mix you're ever gonna hear. With added Heart.
This film also has the best Stan Lee cameo, and in context the perfect one. The one we'd all have shot and wanted to star in.
Oh, and the opening Marvel graphic....
Did we mention the post-credit sequences? Especially the final one?
As you can tell, we're struggling to find any faults here.
There was welling up, there was laughter, there was tense silence, and for a little over two hours Captain Marvel took us into another world and was all that mattered.
Even if you're not a Marvel fan, this film has something to say on just about every level, but if you don't fancy thinking the action scenes will keep you happy.
Bring on Endgame.
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