Marvel’s headline female superhero has arrived! After a long time of anticipation and hype, Captain Marvel dropped on Friday, March 8th, 2019. It was originally projected for a 125 million dollar debut, however, it highly surpassed that figure with a 153 million dollar opening, placing third all-time in March debuts in box office history. The global debut was projected originally to be around 305 million dollars, yet again, “Captain Marvel” bested all predictions by taking home 456 million dollars. As of March 24th, it has hit an absolutely incredible 760 million dollars worldwide and has 1 billion dollars in its sights.

Yet despite these eye-popping box office numbers, the movie scored a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes from top critics, many split with ratings ranging from 2 stars to 5 stars and just a mere 62% audience approval rating. “Captain Marvel” was a box office hit for sure, however, it didn’t take enough risks and just stuck to “The Marvel Formula” –  the most effective formula created for superhero movies, using comedic dialogue and character development to get the audience to love the respective hero/heroine. It follows the typical hero story arc: the hero grapples with their identity, faces challenges and difficulties, and emerges as a new transformed super individual ready for what comes next. Nevertheless, Marvel fails to use their formula effectively this time as the movie unimagined, dull, and trying at times.

The performance from Brie Larson who played the main heroine, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel, felt uninspiring, flat, and just tiring in general. “Captain Marvel” is all about breaking barriers for women, yet it feels like Marvel holds their lead actress back for the majority of the movie. Brie Larson is a very talented actress who has spent most of her career working on indie films and this was her breakout opportunity. She seized her opportunity, yet this performance from her felt too muted and unlike her. The lack of character development on Marvel’s part and the thrusting of her on-screen greatly decreased her appeal to the normally crazed fans of Marvel. Normally, Marvel’s character development is outstanding and the audience can really feel and relate to the heroine, but this time around it just wasn’t the same.

However, the cinematography and the Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) were created to near perfection as with most Marvel movies, and the movie wasn’t completely over the top making the viewer feel like the experience was fake or less genuine. The development of the Kree Civilization, the setting of the movie, through the picturesque images filled with vibrant colors, the colorful Kree suits, and the painstakingly etched details of the Skrulls created a vivid, brilliant storyline that pulled the viewer in and held their attention till the very end.

Overall, the conflict of Captain Marvel and her battle to grapple with her demons and discover her true self felt relatable and open, and the comedic dialogue between a young Nick Fury and Carol Danvers all made this movie worth watching.

Overall I would give this movie a 6/10.