Marvel Studios has been on a string of success over the last fifteen years. A lot of their films, such as Iron Man, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers have done quite well.
Some of the movies, such as Black Widow and Eternals, struggled to find an audience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and changing moviegoers’ tastes. Black Widow was seen as being too late for a solo film about a founding Avenger. The Eternals film was praised for its acting performances, themes, and visual effects, but it was also criticized for its complex storyline, vast number of leading characters, and long running time. Shang-Chi, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guardians Volume III were commercially successful and critically well-received among critics and audiences. By contrast, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder were financially successful but critically mixed for their varying tones of combining action with comedy. Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania received mixed reviews and middling box-office returns.
The Marvels is the latest offering from Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company. It is the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, which was a huge hit and the first Marvel film to be based around a female character. Needless to say, the movie led to a sequel being given the green light.
Set a few years after Avengers: Endgame, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) is fighting a war against her adopted Kree allies. While she does destroy their Supreme Intelligence supercomputer, Carol’s actions also plunge the Kree empire into the chaos and disarray of a civil war. Despite the victory, Carol is left feeling troubled over her actions, because she does have compassion for the Kree despite having to fight against them. One of the Kree factions is led by the leader Dar-Benn, who comes to acquire a Quantum Band. She is determined to restore her home planet of Hala to how it was before the destruction. This results in her ripping a jump point in the time-space continuum. However, the only way she can gain more control is if she requires the second Quantum Band.
Meanwhile, Carol is investigating the source of the anomaly that Dar-Benn caused, while Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is trying to negotiate peace between the Kree and their rivals, the Skrulls. Carol is revealed to have a troubled relationship with her unofficially adopted niece Monica (Teyonah Parris), who is currently on the outs with her. It seems that Monica’s mother Maria died during the five-year time gap between Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and Monica was “dusted” (or blipped) out of existence during that time. Upon returning to life, Monica was devastated to learn Maria had died in her absence, and she resents Carol for not coming back to see her.
Into their midst comes Kamala Khan (Imen Vellani), a Muslim Pakistani-American teenager with mutant superpowers whose origin was depicted in the Miss Marvel Disney+ series. While Carol and Monica are a bit bewildered, they quickly decide to help Kamala, who has the second Quantum Band that Dar-Been is seeking. Further complicating things, whenever they use their powers, the three women end up involuntarily swapping places with each other, thus teleporting to different locations in time. As a result, the three have to work together to stop Dar-Been from destroying while coming to terms with their past.
Brie Larson gives a solid, dimensional performance as Carol Danvers. She’s more comfortable in the role and confident in her abilities. Having shot to fame in character dramas like Room (2015), Larson is now established in the action genre. Her dealings with the cast are nicely done, and she seems keen on sticking around for the foreseeable future.
Teyonah Parris does well as Monica Rambeau. Since the character was previously introduced in the first Captain Marvel film, we have seen Monica grow from a child to an adult, and it makes for an interesting dynamic between her character and Carol. Parris succeeds in balancing conflicting emotions towards Carol for not visiting her after the death of her mother. These moments are among the more heartfelt, sincere aspects of the film, and it makes one wish the story fleshed them out a bit more.
Imen Vellani makes an impressive cinematic debut as Kamala Khan. Having starred in her own Miss Marvel series, the actress is likable and easygoing in the role. She serves as the buffer and surrogate younger sister figure to Carol and Monica. Kamala’s joy at meeting the latter two is one of a pure fangirl, and it is quite amusing to watch her geeking out over being a hero.
Zawe Ashton delivers a world-weary and desperate portrayal as Dar-Benn. While she is the main antagonist of the film, one cannot help but empathize with the character’s desire to help her people. She does not want to destroy any worlds or take over the galaxy. No, her main focus is to restore the Kree empire to prosperity. This makes her actions understandable and even sympathetic to viewers. While she does hold Carol responsible for the collapse of the Kree empire, her views are ultimately misguided. Unlike past Marvel villains (such as Christian Bale’s Gorr in Love and Thunder) who were given little to work with, Ashton makes the role her own, and she gives an interesting take on what could have been a cliche performance and elevates it to a fare more memorable one.
Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury in a more interesting way. Rather than manipulating events or doing action scenes, he is trying to bring the conflict between the Kree and Skrulls to a peaceful resolution. Viewers have seen Fury the super-spy, Fury the administrator, and even a younger Fury as a desk jockey throughout the MCU timeline. It makes for an interesting progression of the character, and hopefully, Jackson can continue to develop the role for years to come. His frustrated reactions in having to deal with the teenage Kamala are comedic gold.
The film’s pace is faster than more recent films like Eternals. At one hour and forty-five minutes, the story clips by at a fast pace, but it does make the viewer ask if an extra fifteen or twenty minutes could have fleshed out the plot and characters a bit more. For instance, a beloved Asgardian character from the recent Thor movies shows up to provide a helping hand, but it’s never fully explained how the famous Bifrost Bridge has been reconstructed. One can’t help but wonder how much better the film could have been if it were half an hour longer.
Another factor of the film is the tonal shifts. While the first part of the film is pretty serious and gripping, the second part of the story is more playful and even comedic. Perhaps the most jarring sequence is where the three women arrive on a planet where everyone bursts into song. The result almost feels like the famous Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical episode “Once More With Feeling.” It’s not often that Marvel has done a musical sequence- excluding montages or action-sequences set to popular music, a la the Guardians of the Galaxy movies succeeded in. The post-credit scenes (yes, there are two) set the stage for major shake-ups in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one of these teasers features a certain scientist of the blue-furred variety.
Overall, The Marvels is a brisk, playful action film. While it is shorter than most films in the Marvel catalog, the story does hint at a possible direction in which future movies could go. Larson, Parris, and Vellani are definitely comfortable in their roles, and the comedic, friendly banter between them is spot on. Three out of four stars.
