The premise of the film and most struggles in all of hero storytelling is to put the hero behind the eightball. Carol is not at full power in this movie at all.

The powers going haywire, and the need to work together to overcome the antagonist is the point. It's what makes any decent Superhero story good: struggle. Be that struggle one for understanding, fighting back when depowered (why Superman 2 holds up so well), tough choices, etc. It's one of the many reasons The Winter Soldier is the best MCU film, the struggle within Steve Rogers against his duty and his best friend.

It's why Tony in the cave in Iron Man works.

I would love to see a director's cut. It wasn't Top tier, but it was far above average. I don't mind a longer runtime as long as the plot earns it and uses the extra time to fully develop characters and their motivations, biases, etc.

There are obvious missing parts of the story, but the allegory of colonialism on a cosmic scale is fascinating, and could have been elaborated on to elevate this to top tier proportions.

Misfits, yes. But half of the thunderbolts are women, Yelena, Ghost, and Taskmaster.

What they all share is a compelling and unending need to redeem themselves. A redemption arc/storyline is money in the bank- it has been the motivation in part of nearly every hero journey.

Marketing focusing on the emotional thrust of this and the highlighted moments of levity/comedy will (hopefully) translate and bring a much needed boost to the MCU.