The Marvels [Review]
Living in the world of the MCU must be something else. You have all of these Earth-shattering events, a legion of various superpowered entities that may or may not be interested in saving the world from the non-stop bombardment of threats, and you’re supposed to just live a normal life in these conditions?
One thing’s for sure: it certainly impacts the concept of “hero-worship”, which is one of the themes The Marvels titular characters, Kamala Khan (AKA Ms. Marvel), wrestles with as she finds herself working alongside her idol - the fabled Captain Marvel - as well as Captain Monica Rambeau on an intergalactic journey to conquer a threat which could destroy the fabric of space-time itself.
Sounds like a lot for a 16 year old to handle, to be honest.
Thankfully, Iman Vellani brings her trademark charm to the film, able to balance silliness and excitement (visiting a planet with a language of song, or orchestrating cats to support an evacuation mission) with moments of emotional weight and interpersonal connection with her new sisters-in-arms.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) work through a bumpy family reunion of sorts, as “Aunt Carol” left the young Rambeau behind decades prior, promising to make a quick return, only to get entangled in the ongoing struggle with the Kree and leaving her to face immense personal and familial struggles alone.
Larson and Parris have some decent on-screen chemistry, but the film really shines in their respective relationships with Vellani. We can see Captain Marvel struggling with her past mistakes, and simultaneously struggling under the weight of being admired and idolized by younger heroes like Kamala. Meanwhile, Monica serves as a partner-in-crime to her young counterpart, particularly enjoying teaming up with her to tease Carol.
In terms of the antagonist, Zawe Ashton does a fine job as the Kree leader Dar-Benn, though I was more annoyed by her “right hand man”, who offered a couple sentences but otherwise was a throwaway character. Either have the bad guy with a handful of lackeys, or make the Lieutenant-figure more impactful. I didn’t like the lukewarm approach.
However, where the film really shone for me was in its action sequences and choreography. The nature of The Marvels partnership is that their powers become “entangled” at the start of the film. When two of them activate their powers simultaneously, they switch places. This results in a wild first action sequence, and the subsequent training montage was a delight to watch.
The end-result of their coordination and training is some of the most exhilarating fight sequences in an MCU film in quite some time.
It’s been discussed before, but the sprawling nature of the MCU into TV shows is making it harder and harder to keep up. Admittedly, I’m quite a bit behind when it comes to the TV side of things, which made me feel like elements of the film didn’t quite connect the way they would have if I were more familiar with the background.
As a final note, the mid-credits scene is incredible. MCU films have characteristically featured mid and/or post-credits scenes since its inception, and in the broader context of this phase, I think The Marvels mid-credits scene is a jaw-dropping revelation. I can’t say it raises the overall score of the film, but the doors that it opens are very exciting.
Ultimately, I believe that Iman Vellani is a promising foundation for the next phase of the MCU, and the implications of the mid-credits scene are hard to overstate. While some throwaway characters and hollow interactions weaken the film, overall, The Marvels was a great time at the movies.
