Don't listen to the haters

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2019)

Quick review: The tepid reviews of this film are so revealing. Reality: it's as good as any MCU movie and in fact it's better than most of them. Apparently some people just can't deal with female leads.
Longer version: Wow. The reviews for Captain Marvel are so depressing - even the good ones.
I love Marvel MCU films. I also know they are "just entertainment" for most audiences and, even at their best, they are not especially deep or meaningful. I think of them as a sort of glittering disco ball approach to movie making. If you love comics and science fiction, as I do, then you get some extra geek enjoyment. They have mastered a magic money making formula which seems completely fresh after over 20 films.
Captain Marvel is easily one of the best MCU films, reflecting a decade spent honing the formula and CGI. Yet even the good reviews are decidedly tepid. Worse, some describe the film as "sweet", which seems like about the worst chosen word I can imagine for Marvel's first female led film. Whatever next, "helpful"?
Of course, the MCU is heavily male-dominated. This reflects the comics, the audience, and the creators. While it's clear Marvel have made some efforts to rebalance things, not least this film, there's no doubt that he MCU is running on testosterone. It's also a sort of pre-adolescent world in which relationships and sexuality are mostly absent. It's got its problems, for sure.
But apparently the folks at Marvel are nowhere near as caught up in the grip of patriarchy as some of their audience and, more depressingly, the overwhelming majority of film critics.
Captain Marvel is a pacy, energetic action film that delivers. It's in a similar genre, but more successful than, a host of other MCU films that have won much more enthusiastic reviews.
Yet here it is earning mostly yawns and faint praise. "It's fine" says Mark Kermode defensively. The fan reviews say it is "boring".
I cannot imagine any possible explanation for this other than deep rooted sexism and misogny: It's seen as boring because it is about female characters. Massive face palm.