Film review site Rotten Tomatoes shows that only 36 percent of the audience liked Captain Marvel, compared to 81 percent of the professional critic class who liked it.
Rotten Tomatoes displays two scores for Captain Marvel–one aggregated from reviews of movies critics in different publications, and another from general user ratings.
The list of approved critics handed the new film a high 81 percent mark, but average viewers were less impressed, clocking in at only 36 percent liking the movie.
The film has already faced some controversy on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie-reviewing site shut down audience reviews until the film actually came out, citing their concern that trolls would rig the numbers.
Captain Marvel features the first female-led Marvel superhero, and the film is full of social justice themes.
Star Brie Larson claims her acting in the movie is her “activism” and declared the movie to be about “intersectional feminism.” Larson also kicked off promotion by complaining about movie critics being “overwhelmingly white male .”
Already, Hollywood and the media is circling the wagons around the movie. The Daily Beast accused critics of the movie of being “men’s rights activists and incels,” while a critic for the Wrap openly lauded the film for “evoking a riot grrrl-adjacent feeling.”
Not all professional critics were impressed, however. The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mediocre review, and an Indiewire review summed up the film, saying, “Neither a blast from the past, nor an inspiring glimpse into the future, at the end of the day it’s just another Marvel movie.”
“And not a particularly good one, at that.”