Film Review: "The Marvels"
The newest entry in the ever-growing Marvel franchise puts some of the old magic back into the hidebound MCU formula.
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I’m like what I like to call a casual fan of the MCU. That is to say, I know the broad strokes of the various Phases, I’ve seen a fair number of the movies and TV shows, but I don’t feel the need to religiously watch every single thing. I’ve found the franchise to be remarkably rich and textured at times and utterly banal and frustrating at others, and in recent years I’ve skipped far more of the movies than I’ve seen.
Which brings us to The Marvels.
Like many other people, I’ve been feeling a bit of Marvel fatigue of late, but when my friend invited me to go see this installment I figured: why not? After all, I enjoyed Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, and I like to support projects that give women and BIPOC a chance to finally have some of the spotlight. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much fun I had; in fact, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this is the most enjoyable time I’ve had seeing an MCU movie in literally years.
When the film begins, Kamala Khan is trying to lead a moderately normal teenage life, but things quickly take a turn for the bizarre when it’s revealed that using her powers causes her to swap places with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau. Soon, the three of them are racing against Dar-Benn, a sinister member of the Cree who wants to get revenge for the damage Captain Marvel inflicted on her planet.
As many reviewers have noted, there’s some truly fantastic chemistry among Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani. Each of these extraordinary actresses more than understood the assignment, and it is truly such a pleasure to see them bouncing their energies off of one another. Larson, as she has from the beginning of her time in the MCU, imbues Carol Danvers with a potent mix of nobility and sadness, as she has to contend with her own complicity in the devastation faced by the Kree while, at the other end of the spectrum, Vellani is sprightly and evanescent as the starstruck Kamala. Somewhere in the middle is Parris’ Monica Rambeau, who has to grapple with her own mixed feelings regarding Carol and their shared past.
Indeed, I was particularly fascinated by the way the film engages with scale, particularly when it comes to destruction and human relationships. One of Captain Marvel’s quandaries in this film centers around her identity as the Annihilator, the person responsible for bringing destruction and ecocide to the Kree planet of Hala. As the film unfolds, we see destruction continue on both a large and a small scale, ranging from the practical demolition of the Khan’s house to the draining of the oceans of Aladna. Meanwhile, all three characters have to contend with their own bonds, and Monica and Carol in particular have to reckon with the latter’s “abandonment” of the former, something Monica is loath to forgive.
Kamala, meanwhile, feels herself torn between her loyalty to her family and her hero worship of Captain Marvel. As she was in Ms. Marvel, Vellani is nothing short of a revelation. She has impeccable comic timing, and there’s an earnestness and genuineness to her performance that really endears her to the audience. She might have been brought into the superhero fold at a young age, but she has certainly learned how to keep her feet. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Zenobia Shroff, who plays Kamala’s no-nonsense mother Muneeba. If there’s anyone who deserves her own movie, it would definitely be her.
Formally, The Marvels captures so much of the kinetic pleasures that are key to the genre as a whole. Nia DaCosta has a keen eye for how to make an action set-piece truly sing, and the camera movement does wonders in both the tightly-constructed action sequences and in the scenes set in the vastness. Likewise, there’s not an ounce of fat on this particular MCU film, which is kind of a miracle, given how many of the franchise’s offerings are bloated monstrosities that struggle to earn or justify their 2-hour-plus runtime.
At the same time, I must admit that this rather abbreviated duration does lead to some storytelling blips, and this is particularly noticeable when it comes to Dar-Benn, the film’s big bad. Zawe Ashton certainly does the best she can with the material, and while she isn’t in the upper echelon of MCU villains, she is compelling in her own way. Like many of the other recent MCU villains she has good reasons to behave as she does, even if her actions end up replicating the very thing that she opposes. Her demise happened so quickly that I almost missed it, and I found myself wanting more. It’s as if the writers just didn’t know what to do with her in the end, and so they ended up giving her a rather ignominious sendoff (I had the same complaint about Lee Pace’s Ronan in the first Guardians of the Galaxy).
Overall, though, I found this to be one of the better recent offerings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a fun little adventure film, and it’s a timely reminder that not every superhero movie has to be this weighty philosophical tome. There are stakes here, to be sure, but The Marvels never loses sight of the fact that unapologetic silliness and good humor has always been one of this studio’s greatest strengths. This film has a little bit of everything, from a musical number (which no one seems to want to mention) to a horde of kitten-like Flerken who proceed to devour the various staff of the S.A.B.E.R. space station.
There’s going to be a lot of ink spilled over “what went wrong” with this film, since its opening weekend was a bit of a disaster. However, I would urge everyone to ignore the brouhaha and judge and enjoy the film on its own merits. If you do so, I think you’ll have just as much fun as I did.