A backward step for the amazing women of the MCU

Rating: 1/10 (9 March 2019)

As a massive fan of the many strong female characters in the MCU, Captain Marvel was a sad disappointment. There are so many amazing female characters in the MCU who have carried and invigorated the franchise - Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, Nebula, Wasp, Hela - even side characters like Pepper Pots and Maria Hill have delivered powerful moments. But after seeing Captain Marvel, I'm really concerned that End Game will be an utter anticlimax. Here are just a few problems:

Carol is unlikeable. She comes across as arrogant (without Hela's charm), bland and completely detached.

Carol has no tangible vices. Whilst she has had frustrating experiences with men, this pales into insignificance compared to Black Widow's training in the red room or Nebula and Gamora's brutal upbringing with Thanos. A strong hero needs a strong vice to overcome.

None of the characters are sufficiently developed. For an origin story, there is very little by way of explaining anyone's origin. And there was a lot of confusing retconning.

Nick Fury, a beloved, strong black character since the inception of the MCU, was reduced to comic relief. This was a real disservice to Jackson, who worked well with the cards the writers dealt him.

Before launch, the directors and actors were transparent about this being a feminist movie, and that's great! Unfortunately it was a missed opportunity in my opinion. A lot of the dialogue used to bring in feminist themes was truly cringe-worthy - it felt forced, unimaginative and awkward. Compared to the powerful female moments we've had before, such as Scarlet Witch 'becoming an Avenger' (Age of Ultron) and sacrificing Vision (Infinity War), or Pepper Pots destroying the villain in Iron Man 3, or Nebula and Gamora fighting and bonding throughout GotG 2, Captain Marvel feels like a backward step for feminism, where contrived dialogue tries to replace true sacrificial heroism and realistic emotion.

Some positives:

Great CGI.

2 funny moments involving one of the Skrulls.