An unimpressive attempt to retcon the origin of the Avengers

Rating: 6/10 (18 February 2020)

It's been a while since Marvel produced a mediocre superhero flick, but they've managed to do it again.
Carol Danvers fails to convince as a compelling character. In the comics she has one of the less interesting origin stories, so the film tried to make things more dramatic by giving her amnesia and having her rediscover her past life, but as a result, a large part of the runtime revolves around recovering her memory, leaving less to develop her character.
The plot is derivative and predictable and humour is overdone to the extent that it drowns out tension or drama, which detracts from the emotional impact of what should be a tragic origin story.
The narrative suffers from a weak antagonist who is underused and feels miscast. The film also wants us to believe that Danvers is caught in the middle of an intergalactic war, yet we see no evidence of this, with most of the small scale action taking place on Earth, so the stakes never feel as high as they should. Consequently, the pivotal moment when she comes into her own, rings hollow and feels unearned.
Perhaps we've been spoiled by the writing of the Russos in TWS (Cap 2) and CW (Cap 3) and should lower our expectations accordingly, but this film feels like a misstep after the impressive Black Panther. Unfortunately, Captain Marvel is one of the worst films in the MCU so far, alongside TDW (Thor 2) and IM 2.
Summary: A mediocre attempt to retcon the origins of the Avengers which fails to impress.