The Marvels
Year: 2023
Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Zawe Ashton, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris & Iman Vellani
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 13/11/23
Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Zawe Ashton, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris & Iman Vellani
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 13/11/23
The internet sure does hate The Marvels doesn’t it? Almost every review I’ve read brands it as a total failure and one of the worst MCU films yet. Strange then that when I left the screening I’d actually had a good time, and my friends did, and by the sounds of it the other audience members did. So, is The Marvels actually bad, or is it just another case of franchise fatigue kicking in?
When Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) becomes the leader of the Kree she dedicates her cause to saving the homeworld of Hala, and to do so she must find both of the Quantum Bands. She has one band in her possession, but the other is hidden somewhere in the universe. Following a strange reaction with an anomaly discovered around the orbit of S.W.O.R.D., Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) finds herself swapping bodies with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) whenever any of them use their superpowers.
As Dar-Benn begins to strip worlds that are important to Danvers of their natural resources, the trio must work together to save Earth, and reverse the body-swapping effect they are all experiencing.
When Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) becomes the leader of the Kree she dedicates her cause to saving the homeworld of Hala, and to do so she must find both of the Quantum Bands. She has one band in her possession, but the other is hidden somewhere in the universe. Following a strange reaction with an anomaly discovered around the orbit of S.W.O.R.D., Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) finds herself swapping bodies with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) whenever any of them use their superpowers.
As Dar-Benn begins to strip worlds that are important to Danvers of their natural resources, the trio must work together to save Earth, and reverse the body-swapping effect they are all experiencing.
To put it plainly, The Marvels isn’t great, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the internet would have you believe it is. It’s just dumb fun, the same kind of dumb fun that I enjoyed so much in Thor: love and Thunder. I was able to turn my brain off and enjoy some zany superhero antics for an hour and forty minutes without it taking itself too seriously, or trying too hard to fit into the increasingly complex MCU storyline.
The concept of the story is great and echoes classic family movies like Freaky Friday. The first action sequence in particular highlights how great an idea this is in practice as each of our heroines is engaged in combat in different places, and they keep getting transported between each other’s battles. I would have liked this aspect of things to have been more prevalent later on in the film, so I don’t feel like the premise was used to its fullest, but it did allow for some awesome combat sequences where our trio would have to work together and communicate in a fight unlike ever before.
The film was also really funny, and a lot of that comes down to Vellani’s excellent and endearing performance. I loved Vellani in the Ms. Marvel show, so I was excited to see her big screen debut alongside her idol, Captain Marvel. It worked out exactly like I hoped it would with Vellani being burned by her hero not being the woman she thought she was, and the two having to work together to work through their differences. Vellani embodies Kamala so well, and she really is the best part of the entire film, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her in future projects (Young Avengers maybe?) because honestly, she feels like the heart and soul of the MCU right now.
The film was also stuffed with straight up bizarre moments that might not go down well if you weren’t a fan of the zany comedy of Love and Thunder, but for me I had a great time with it. Side note: needs even more cats!
The concept of the story is great and echoes classic family movies like Freaky Friday. The first action sequence in particular highlights how great an idea this is in practice as each of our heroines is engaged in combat in different places, and they keep getting transported between each other’s battles. I would have liked this aspect of things to have been more prevalent later on in the film, so I don’t feel like the premise was used to its fullest, but it did allow for some awesome combat sequences where our trio would have to work together and communicate in a fight unlike ever before.
The film was also really funny, and a lot of that comes down to Vellani’s excellent and endearing performance. I loved Vellani in the Ms. Marvel show, so I was excited to see her big screen debut alongside her idol, Captain Marvel. It worked out exactly like I hoped it would with Vellani being burned by her hero not being the woman she thought she was, and the two having to work together to work through their differences. Vellani embodies Kamala so well, and she really is the best part of the entire film, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her in future projects (Young Avengers maybe?) because honestly, she feels like the heart and soul of the MCU right now.
The film was also stuffed with straight up bizarre moments that might not go down well if you weren’t a fan of the zany comedy of Love and Thunder, but for me I had a great time with it. Side note: needs even more cats!
The biggest problems I had with The Marvels though was that Monica feels like a third wheel a lot of the time. She doesn’t have an awful lot to do in the film, and whilst there is some of the runtime dedicated to repairing the relationship between her and Carol, ultimately the focus is placed on training Kamala to be a superhero. Carol’s also going through her own crisis as she continues to piece together her past. So, Monica feels like an accessory to all of this, and she’s really only needed for one moment in the whole film (which happens to be right at the end). It’s easy to feel like this should have just been about Carol and Kamala, rather than all three of them.
I also felt that Dar-Benn was one of the weakest villains in the MCU’s history. It seemed as though the character had been written to be Ronan the Accuser from the first Guardians of the Galaxy (she even uses his hammer as a weapon), but because he’s been killed off, they just filled his place with a random and obscure villain that few people would ever recognise and could just make her the new Ronan. I didn’t feel like Ashton was ever really given a moment to shine, and it’s a shame because her beef with Carol could have been great villain material.
I’m going to keep this vague but the mid-credits sequence does reframe the MCU in a very interesting way and sets up some very exciting stuff going forward. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be a long time before we actually get to see it come to fruition, but it’s nice to see the ball rolling on what may be the most exciting this to happen to the MCU since Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Marvels was fine. It was a middle of the road, safe, and neatly packaged piece of MCU content. I love Vellani, and I did enjoy the comedic elements, but there were some pretty big issues with the characters and their development which will mean it slips into that muddy middle ground of MCU content where it’ll likely be forgotten about as it’s neither offensively bad, nor outstandingly good. I’d happily watch it again on a slow Sunday afternoon, and I think that’s a fitting enough assessment of the film.
I also felt that Dar-Benn was one of the weakest villains in the MCU’s history. It seemed as though the character had been written to be Ronan the Accuser from the first Guardians of the Galaxy (she even uses his hammer as a weapon), but because he’s been killed off, they just filled his place with a random and obscure villain that few people would ever recognise and could just make her the new Ronan. I didn’t feel like Ashton was ever really given a moment to shine, and it’s a shame because her beef with Carol could have been great villain material.
I’m going to keep this vague but the mid-credits sequence does reframe the MCU in a very interesting way and sets up some very exciting stuff going forward. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be a long time before we actually get to see it come to fruition, but it’s nice to see the ball rolling on what may be the most exciting this to happen to the MCU since Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Marvels was fine. It was a middle of the road, safe, and neatly packaged piece of MCU content. I love Vellani, and I did enjoy the comedic elements, but there were some pretty big issues with the characters and their development which will mean it slips into that muddy middle ground of MCU content where it’ll likely be forgotten about as it’s neither offensively bad, nor outstandingly good. I’d happily watch it again on a slow Sunday afternoon, and I think that’s a fitting enough assessment of the film.