Review: The Marvels

About THE MARVELS

Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as “The Marvels.”

What We Thought:

The Marvels is the first MCU film I feel like I missed something because I hadn’t watched the previous Disney+ shows. I had seen WandaVision prior to the second Doctor Strange film, but I have not seen Ms. Marvel or Secret Invasion and I think there are a few things I would have understood more if I had. I’m not saying I was completely lost, but I do think I might have gotten more out of the film if I had seen the shows. I’ve only watched Captain Marvel the one time at the theater and I probably should have done a rewatch of that prior to remind me of what actually happens in it.

That being said, The Marvels is most certainly not Captain Marvel 2. Yes Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is in this film, but it brings in Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Captain Monica Rambeau as a three-headed lead. They literally change places multiple times throughout the film. Carol’s past actions drive the film through the antagonist of the movie, but it is called The Marvels and not Captain Marvel 2 for a reason.

As for the film itself, it is watchable. I didn’t love it and it’s all over the map in terms of tone and story, but I did laugh at times and some of the action was pretty standard MCU action sequences. The stuff that works is when it sticks to the MCU formula. Kamala Khan is a teenager gifted with powers who looks up to a superhero and gets to go to space and is all wide-eyed and wonderous. She is Peter Parker with Captain Marvel being her Tony Stark/Iron Man. It’s a tried and true formula that works because everything is new to Khan and Carol is the aged veteran trying not to get the kid killed.

When it wanders from that formula, it falls flat. If I actually wrote spoilers you’d think I was lying or on drugs because they are kind of shockingly ridiculous. There is one planet where everyone sings and dances and I have no idea what the point of that was other than to have a Bollywood type musical number or to remind people Brie Larson has a music background. Then there’s the way people get saved that I won’t even hint at because, well wait and see that thing. The body swapping subplot grew tiresome quickly and even the villain’s reasons for doing what she’s doing felt played out. Actions of superheroes have consequences, but we’ve seen that plenty of times already. Captain Marvel is an intergalactic traveler, you couldn’t come up with something better than wanting revenge for something she did that I didn’t even remember or might not have seen?

The Marvels feels much longer than its runtime because of huge chunks of subplots and exposition dumps and you forget about characters and stories until they pop up again later on. I can’t say that it’s good, but I think having really low expectations helped. I don’t know if I’d ever watch it again, but I remember walking out of Captain Marvel just annoyed and frustrated not having anything positive to say. At least with this film I walked out calling it watchable. The mid-credit scene is fantastic, but I expect most viewers to bypass this at the theater and wait for it to hit Disney+.

Marvel Studios’ “The Marvels” stars Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Seo-Jun Park, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, and Samuel L. Jackson. Nia DaCosta directs with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Mary Livanos Jonathan Schwartz and Matthew Jenkins serve as executive producers. The screenplay is by Nia DaCosta and Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik.