Well, the Captain Marvel verdicts are flooding in and as of right now, it has a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's a damn good start but if you look closer, you'll find that the vast majority of "Fresh" verdicts are of the 3* variety with the odd 4* here and there.
That's not a bad result by any means, but the biggest takeaway here is that while Brie Larson and the rest of the cast are excellent, the story isn't that strong, something which could be blamed on relatively inexperienced filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Unlike Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler, it just doesn't sound like they've done anything truly spectacular with the material.
Ultimately, it sounds like it sets the stage for Avengers: Endgame in an effective manner and much to the disappointment of some trolls, it's not going to be a critical flop by any means.
Below, we've rounded up nearly 40 reviews for you from a variety of outlets; on the one hand, we have entertainment/geek websites and on the other are more serious "critics" from newspapers and the trades. We've even thrown in some video reviews so there's a broad spectrum to check out.
To see this list in its entirety, though, all you have to do is hit the "View List" button!
Captain Marvel is enjoyable enough as popcorn entertainment. You can’t help but admire the dextrous way the filmmakers fit the movie and its many protagonists within the Marvel cinematic universe or the humour with which they take us back to the 1990s. Larson makes a thoroughly engaging superhero, witty, courageous and with a sensitivity you don’t always find in characters trying to save the world. The film, though, is one dimensional. It’s the 21st entry in a cycle that began with Iron Man in 2008 and signs of rust are now beginning to appear. [3/5]
SOURCE: The Independent
So what does a best actress Oscar winner bring to a performance as a Marvel superhero? Larson makes Carol/Captain focused, solid, ever-alert to what's going on around her, a quick learner, a determined and unafraid warrior. In other words, she's everything you'd want and expect in a soldier, intergalactic or otherwise. But all of this is more or less prescribed by the role. What's lacking is humor, a hint that she might get off on the action and violence, or the indication of a deep desire or spark to ferret out evil and right the world's wrongs. The performance is fine, if not exciting or inspiring.
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
The all-too-familiar MCU background palette of secret bases, spaceships, hangars, and underground complexes (but this time with crappier computers) contributes to the impression of anonymity. But at least the film has a sense of humor—admittedly faint praise, given how many of its predecessors in the MCU have been funny enough to qualify as ensemble comedies. Here, two characters strike up an unlikely partnership, whup alien ass, make some corny jokes, uncover secrets, and come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, superheroes are something the Earth needs. It’s everything you might expect a sci-fi superhero movie to be, if you hadn’t seen one in a long time.
SOURCE: AV Club
Yet Captain Marvel itself has none of that rebellious spirit. It takes very few risks in the way that something like Thor: Ragnarok did, beyond the fact that it is the studio’s first blockbuster with a female hero in the lead. Personally, I like my movies about rule breakers to actually break some rules. [6/10]
SOURCE: Screen Crush
Amidst all the scenes with intergalactic warships and fireball-flinging, co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck wisely find plenty of room to take the foot off the accelerator and cede center stage to Larson, Jackson and the rest of the greatly talented cast. It’s a real treat to see Carol Danvers find her footing and her wings, so to speak, while at the same time Nick Fury is taking the first steps toward becoming NICK FURY. [3.5/5]
SOURCE: Chicago Sun Times
It’s all about whether or not they can sell this Captain Marvel as someone who, later, even the mighty Avengers can call to someday help them save the world. In Brie, they have a star who is more than up for the task. You’ve seen this movie before. But you haven’t seen her. [B]
SOURCE: Paste
Everything you want from a Marvel movie, you get - and more. There is an easiness to Captain Marvel - watching the film is exactly what watching a superhero movie should be - fun. Captain Marvel offers its audiences a chance for escapism, and to imagine a world in which one woman can change the course of the future. [5/5]
SOURCE: Daily Express
Moreso than any other movie in the back half of Marvel’s first decade, it’s tough to shake the feeling that “Captain Marvel” is an extended prologue to a story that is still off on the horizon. This character has the potential to be Marvel’s answer to Superman, with all the questions about power and ethics that implies, but her story is rushed here, and sometimes forced. With “Avengers: Endgame” waiting, there’s a universe to save, whether or not Carol Danvers is ready. [B-]
SOURCE: The Playlist
Still, the final act reveals richer textures for the characters, converging its sprawling cast into unexpectedly tight quarters. At a moment of high tension, Mendelsohn’s Skrull says: “I get it! We’re all a little on edge!” We sure are, and no movie will rescue us. Captain Marvel is Not Bad, is the unthrilling point I’ve been circling here. But Not Bad is better than where we’re coming from. B
SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly
That said, it took three “Thor” films for Chris Hemsworth’s thunder god to find his groove. Although Larson’s heroine is still a work in progress, “Captain Marvel” lays a solid foundation to follow her wherever she flies next. [3/4]
SOURCE: USA Today
While the film veers into Marvel’s tendency to make light of Big Superhero Moments, Captain Marvel is a very much a sincere film. It’s a Superman film with a sense of cosmic fun, an origin story in which the origin is as much a mystery to the audience as it is to the character. Captain Marvel doesn’t quite become the powerful feminist movie it purports to be, but it is empowering. And that is enough to raise it to be one of the better Marvel origin movies. [7/10]
Without a doubt, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is going to be one of the anchors of whatever phase of movies we are about to enter. And, if Captain Marvel is any indication, these movies are about to get a little more weird.
SOURCE: Uproxx
Captain Marvel only gently dips into what could have been a more engaging look at female rage and how emotion is currency, possibly afraid of alienating male viewers if its too overtly feminist (that ship has already sailed). Even sexism within the US military receives only a cursory nod. It feels less visionary and divergent next to Black Panther, which stood so firm in its convictions. Perhaps if this film had been released in 2008, it would have felt genuinely groundbreaking (in the comics Danvers was ‘Ms Marvel’ until 2012). But it’s 2019 – and we deserve a superhero movie that’s not just coasting by on autopilot.
Like Alita: Battle Angel (which also feels cemented in its mid-1990s development process), Captain Marvel shows how far we’ve come in terms of scale and blockbuster scope while shaming us over the uniqueness of its female superhero. Captain Marvel is super, but Captain Marvel is merely so-so.
SOURCE: Forbes
If Captain Marvel can't quite match Marvel Studios at its very best, if it feels a bit like a franchise in need of an identity, it's still a rock-solid introduction to a new character — who, judging by her immense power, may just turn out to be the Thanos-killer that the Avengers need in Endgame. Just as the Marvel makers wanted, I left the theater pleased to have met Carol at long last, and eager to see her again.
SOURCE: Mashable
The fact that I've gotten through almost this entire review without mentioning Goose -- the scene-stealing, incredibly adorable orange cat with a few massive surprises of his own -- should show how much Captain Marvel delivers as a cinematic experience. It does still suffer some of the origin movie drawbacks (as always, particularly noticeable to those familiar with the source material), but it also avoids enough of them to still feel like a standout compared to, for example, Doctor Strange or Ant-Man. Overall it marks another tremendously exciting addition to the expansive big screen universe, the anticipation for her next adventure is immediately at maximum. [4/5]
SOURCE: Cinema Blend
Larson has the natural body language of a superhero: that mixture of innocence and insouciance, that continuous clear-eyed idealism and indignation combined with unreflective battle-readiness, all the things that give MCU films their addictive quality. I wanted a clearer, more central story for Captain Marvel’s emergence on to the stage, and in subsequent films – if she isn’t simply to get lost in the ensemble mix – there should more of Larson’s own wit and style and, indeed, plausible mastery of martial arts. In any case, Captain Marvel is an entertaining new part of the saga.
Taken on its own merits, Captain Marvel comes up short as a superhero origin story. By trying to find a fresh approach, the screenplay deprives its lead character of an arc and some of her humanity. The film itself lacks the energy and vision of Black Panther or even Captain America: The First Avenger. But when it comes to making you root for its superhero and eager to see her in more Marvel movies, Captain Marvel passes with flying colors. [B-]
SOURCE: Collider
As a Nick Fury buddy comedy, it’s fun. As a feminist fable it’s essential. This takes a while to really get going, but when Carol Danvers takes off she is unstoppable. [4/5]
SOURCE: Empire Online
Captain Marvel is another entertaining, quality MCU instalment. But those who were hoping that this Marvel landmark would knock their socks off might be left feeling unsatisfied. [3/5]
SOURCE: Digital Spy
I don’t need to implore you to see the film; the box office tracking records are doing well enough on their own. Still, go see it and admire the direction in which the MCU is going. If our new core characters for the franchise will be T’Challa, Peter, and Carol, then the universe is in good hands. I cannot wait to see where Carol’s story takes her next, and where she’ll soar to on her next adventure.
Still, the inevitability that Captain Carol will fly and fight another day, way beyond the next Avengers instalment, means there should be opportunities to put a little more meat on her character’s bones. She’s a welcome addition to the aforementioned Marvel family tree; let’s just hope she’s given a sturdier branch next time. [3/5]
SOURCE: Radio Times
This film’s message is all about empowering women. It’s almost as if every single scene is a conduit for positive female thinking. While the visual effects are heavy, the story is still there. At no point are we made to ever think less of her or her female counterparts. Captain Marvel may not be the strongest but she will continue to get back up to fight for what’s right. [4/5]
SOURCE: Black Girl Nerds
Captain Marvel takes up that torch anyway. To paraphrase the words of Marvel’s first female superhero to star in her own film: She doesn’t need to prove anything. And nevertheless, she does.
SOURCE: Polygon
After a slow build-up, once Captain Marvel starts to grasp her powers and untangle her past, the film soars, delivering in terms of epic action and emotional resonance. If it doesn’t quite go higher, further and faster than recent standout standalones Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok, it also more than lives up to the brand name that it wears with pride. [4/5]
SOURCE: Total Film
The small-bore nature of Captain Marvel’s story, featuring less of more recent Marvel outings’ supersized galactic sweep, calls for more nuanced character work and a neatly chiseled screenplay to help set it apart. Neither of those are on display. There is, however, a very cute cat with a very cool secret. That’s something Captain America never had. [2/4]
SOURCE: Slant
It’s a prequel that casts its gaze way forward. Yet in its sturdy and standard-issue way, it invests Carol Danvers with a heroic majesty and heft that moves her, as a presence, right to the forefront of the series. The climactic sky battle is a spectacular vision, a “Star Wars”-style dogfight that takes place over sun-washed canyons, and Carol herself becomes a heroine suffused with light. She doesn’t gain any powers, but she learns, at last, how to harness them by listening to something new: the light within.
SOURCE: Variety
Captain Marvel was supposed to be, well, marvelous, a chance to present a woman coming into her own destiny just as Tony Stark did in the first Iron Man. In-jokes about the Avengers aren’t firepower enough. [3/5]
SOURCE: Time Out
Having raised the bar on expectations, Marvel is, in this case, victimized a bit by its own success. By now, though, that's an inevitable byproduct of being part of a guiding intelligence from which "Captain Marvel," in this guise, never quite breaks free.
Larson's Captain Marvel will of course return in next month's Avengers: Endgame where, one assumes, female empowerment will take a back seat to powers of the zappy-explodey kind. In the meantime, we've got Captain Marvel — a little bit The Right Stuff, a little bit Top Gun, a little bit Guardians of the Galaxy, a little bit Men in Black.
SOURCE: NPR
Captain Marvel continues to prove just how good the MCU is at expanding its universe in new ways that still feel integral to the larger world. Experiencing the film's final moments is not unlike the experience of watching the final moments of Rogue One, so cleverly does the film weave its way into existing canon, informing what has already happened in the franchise (and what will eventually happen in the world of the MCU) in emotionally-resonant ways. After Captain Marvel, the MCU feels more complete. [3.5/5]
In a sense, you can equate the tone (and some of the form) of “Captain Marvel” with that of something like Paul Verhoeven’s ahead-of-its-time, anti-fascist sci-fi picture “Starship Troopers,” also a self-reflexive, blatant metaphor. Going too deep into this comparison may reveal a few spoilers, but suffice to say both lean into fairly obvious symbolism and the idea that superpower nations and planets are often corrupted and on the wrong sides of history.
SOURCE: The Wrap
These are all good reasons to root for Carol as she becomes the newest member of the MCU. But Captain Marvel doesn’t highlight any of them in a rousing, snappy way. I was hoping for something higher, further, faster, and more.