Captain Marvel Reviews: 10 Early Reactions You Need To See

7. It's Fantastically Feminist

"'Captain Marvel' is only the second Hollywood movie to feature a female superhero at its center, but it’s a savvier and more high-flying fantasy than 'Wonder Woman,' because it’s the origin story as head game. Larson’s Vers is like someone trapped in a matrix — she has to shake off the dream of who she is to locate the superwoman she could be. And that makes for a rouser of a journey." - Variety

"Carol Danvers’ final battle offers a radical message and becomes a powerful metaphor for what could happen if we stop waiting to be told that we are enough; if we stop believing the people who tell us we’re too emotional or too weak. Captain Marvel says that, when we stop looking for approval, we can become literally godlike. This is not another cheap girl-power cliché; it’s an explicitly feminist apotheosis." - Empire

"Carol's struggle against forces that want to delegitimize her becomes the recurring theme of Captain Marvel. Everywhere she turns, she’s facing down someone who doesn't think she's worthy of the power she has or doesn't think she belongs in the position she's in – and yet, again and again, Carol finds a way to prove them wrong and keep fighting regardless. Higher, further, faster, as the film's tagline goes." - IGN

Shockingly enough, Captain Marvel is an intensely feminist film which makes no apologies for that fact and has no time for people who might dismiss it as "SJW bait."

Though a number of reviews have mentioned that it lacks a scene boasting the fist-pumping charm of, say, Wonder Woman's excursion to No Man's Land, the consensus is that it delivers a solid first female-led superhero flick for the MCU.

Some did feel that the writing sometimes felt a little too on-the-nose, in turn effectively preaching to the choir, but that it'll nevertheless mostly satisfy young girls looking for more big-screen role models.