Time: 105 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence
Cast:
Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel
Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn
Gary Lewis as Emperor Dro’ge
Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan
Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan
Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Director: Nia DaCosta

Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. However, unintended consequences see her 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 two other superheroes to form the Marvels.

I admit that I wasn’t really excited for The Marvels. I liked the first Captain Marvel movie, and at the time I was at least interested in a sequel. However, like many others, I have been experiencing the growing Marvel fatigue. So when it came time for this movie to release, I really wasn’t expecting much (not helped by the lacklustre trailers). This movie has generally been receiving very mixed reactions, but if it’s any consolation, The Marvels was definitely better than I expected it to be.

First of all, I do get the feeling that some people might be a little lost if they didn’t watch WandaVision or Ms Marvel beforehand. You’ll still be able to follow along with the movie, but you’ll definitely get the feeling that you’re missing some things (mainly the introduction of Ms. Marvel and the adult version of Monica Rambeau, who make up 2/3 of the main characters). One thing I will say about The Marvels: it’s an okay enough movie whenever it’s focussed on anything other than the main plot. This has to be one of the most generic entries in the MCU. Any time it focuses on the main story, it falls flat, and I just couldn’t about everything involving the Kree, Skrulls and the main villain. The movie is quite short at 2 hours, and while it might sound nice to have an MCU movie that isn’t reaching 2.5 hours, the film is paced far too quickly. There’s no time to breathe, and plenty of dynamics, conflicts, and major story beats are brushed past and resolved incredibly quickly. Much of The Marvels felt on autopilot and even dispassionate at points, not helped by the rough expositional dialogue. This is a movie which has planet destruction level stakes, but you feel absolutely nothing. The thing is that there are some potentially weighty story aspects. However, it just rushes through these moments and doesn’t go into any depth with them at all, so it doesn’t really matter. They come across as obligatory story/character beats to include instead of something that the movie is genuinely interested in. The cameos in the movie at this point feel more desperate than cheer worthy at this point, and the mid-credits scene was particularly one of the more desperate scenes in the MCU that I’ve seen. With that being said, its not all bad. When The Marvels is just focussed on being a fun ride, it does succeed. It has some moments of creativity and goofiness, particularly examples include a musical sequence and a sequence involving cats. While they may just be divergences, they do feel like welcome breaks from the main plot. Even the scenes in the first act which play around with the main three characters swapping places whenever they use their powers was fun. While this is another MCU movie where the humour is hit or miss, this is probably the funniest that a recent film in the franchise has been in a while, and again the very silly comedy is refreshing when compared to the stale plot. 

What saves much of the movie is the trio of the Marvels, with Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani reprising their roles as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. Their chemistry is so great and enjoyable, and the movie is at its best when its them just interacting. While much of the story isn’t good, they at least act well in these dramatic moments and elevate them. Vellani particularly gives the movie a lot of well needed energy. The villain Dar-Benn played by Zawe Ashton has to be one of the worst villains of the MCU. She is given a plausible enough and a believable motive, and Ashton is giving everything to the performance, but her character really isn’t given much, is very one note and forgettable.

This movie is directed by Nia DaCosta, who previously made 2021’s Candyman; while I had issues with that movie, her directing work on that was really great. Unfortunately, that talent isn’t necessarily on display here. It follows the rather unfortunate trend of MCU movies feeling like they could’ve been directed by anyone, with very little of the director’s actual style or vision shining through. The visual effects also follow the trend of the recent MCU movies of just being particularly awful, especially when it comes to the green screen. It is so visually ugly that it is bordering on Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man: Quantumania levels. Even most of the action is pretty standard.  That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of enjoyment however. The aforementioned place swapping aspect with the main characters are utilised quite well, especially with the action scenes. There’s even an animated section early on with Ms. Marvel, which is a scene that could be from her own show. In these moments you can really feel the energy, and they feel distinct from the rest of the movie.  

The Marvels is another generic entry in the MCU, which is held back by an average story, rushed pacing, and awful effects. However, it is saved by the three leads, and some fun and creative moments. If you still have some interest in the MCU, you might enjoy this movie. Otherwise, The Marvels probably won’t change your mind. As for me, it is definitely in the lower tier of this now staggering franchise, but I still liked it.