Captain Marvel has been a long time coming for Marvel Studios. Years ago, Kevin Feige stood on a stage and threw the name up there for Phase 3. Given that she would be their first lead female superhero, it did kinda suck that it was so far down the line, but given the nature of the character, it probably was for the best.

The film has now officially screened for critics (our own reviews are forthcoming, but Nick Doll seems to be quite enthusiastic about the movie), and with that, the first reviews are starting to officially roll in. So is this movie going to be everything we hoped? As of this writing, it only has 35 reviews up, and of those, 86% are positive. So it’s not perfect, but it’s not a bad start!

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EW gave the film a mixed, yet still fresh review, saying:

“Captain Marvel is all over the place, careening from far-flung laser-spraying cosmos to the car-chasing streets of ’90s Los Angeles. This latest Marvel Studios expansion pack stars Oscar winner Brie Larson as an amnesiac. (She’s haunted by memories of Annette Bening, as all the best humans are.) So the main character doesn’t know who she is, and the movie around her has a similar problem. Captain Marvel only figures itself out toward the end, when a couple twists I won’t spoil sharpen the spanning saga into a motley-crew errand of mercy.”

NPR was a bit more positive. However, if you’re one who likes to be surprised, you may want to adjust your expectations. The outlet’s review kind of runs down the basic beats of the genre Marvel Studios has helped popularize before saying:

“You know all this not because you saw the trailers (though the trailers give away all the best stuff, including far too much of the plot), but because Marvel has been churning out million-dollar superhero blockbusters for over a decade now. They know how to do them — and you know how to watch them. And that means knowing, for example, that when the Big Reveal shows up to kick off the third act, right on schedule, it’ll be neither big nor particularly revelatory. It never is. And that’s fine.”

Associated Press seems to feel around the same as NPR, though while NPR seemed perfectly content to get more of the same, AP was underwhelmed, calling the film an “average introduction.” Even worse, the writer of the piece seemed to believe the flick did nothing for Carol Danvers as a character.

“I spent over two hours with Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and I still have no idea what her personality is. Sure, there’s a lot more going on in Captain Marvel, but it’s a pretty egregious failing considering that the creative bigwigs at Marvel had 10 years and 20 films to work it out. It’s hard to say whether that’s a flaw in Brie Larson’s performance or a failure of the script, but I came out of the film from writers/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck not caring all that much about her beyond what her dazzling powers might mean for the next Avengers film, which is perhaps the lamest way of all to experience these movies.”

THR dug at the film a bit more, going as far as to say it’s the worst of the MCU films, and stating that the movie doesn’t do for women what Black Panther did for black representation.

“Captain Marvel has two distinctions: It is the first Marvel Studios film to be built around a female superhero, and it is the least of the Marvel productions made since Kevin Feige took the reins and launched the brand into the stratosphere. The picture is not dull, exactly, just mundane, marked by unimaginative plotting, cut-rate villains, a bland visual style and a lack of elan in every department. Or put it this way: What Black Panther did for black representation in the superhero realm is not done for women in Captain Marvel. And if it came down to a one-on-one between rival franchise uber warriors Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, there is no doubt who would inspire the heavy betting.”

So, all in all, here seems to be the consensus: the movie is pretty much what you expect it to be. It follows all the familiar beats, doesn’t really do anything amazing for the character, but is ultimately serviceable for what we’ve come to expect. That being said, this “serviceable” method Marvel Studios has been doing seems to work, because while most seem to be a bit underwhelmed, it thus far seems to be relatively pleasing, with its 86% fresh rating.

This pretty much falls in line with what our own Gig Patta shared with us a couple of weeks back: that the film barely passes the high bar set by Marvel Studios. It’s not bad. It’s not great. It’s just fine.

But, I’ll be the judge for myself when I see the movie this weekend. What do you think? Does any of this have you worried? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: EW, NPR, AP, THR