The Marvels

This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Marvels is a sequel to Captain Marvel (2019) and is the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this narrative we see the remnants of the Kree use an ancient alien relic to steal resources across the galaxy in an effort to save their homeworld. The only ones standing in their way are Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau and Ms Marvel; a trio of light-based superheroes who have developed the unfortunate ability of swapping places when they use their powers. 

This is a cosmic adventure flick that has nothing but an intent to be fun at its very core. The entire time I watched this film I was so impressed with the genuine energy behind it, the characters all bounced off one another well and the plot was allowed to be wild. The balance of humour and genuine character connection was there. In a film rife with a scene dedicated to alien kittens we also had a very devastating moment in which our heroes could only save a handful from an alien colony. The film juggles tone nicely and this is maintained by the chemistry from the leading trio. Carol, Monica and Kamala are a trio that work extraordinarily well together on screen. These are some very distinctive personalities that just mesh and fire dialogue off one another superbly. I was very impressed with the action and effects beats in the film but the moments in which these three were just hanging out and learning to get along was even better.

The cinematography looks vast and impressive often, particularly in the final confrontation sequence and the way scaled sci-fi battles are captured. I also found the quick, in-motion shooting kept the brisk pace quite lively from a visual perspective. The visual effects looked absolutely great, particularly the details of the alien locations and the epic action set pieces, my personal favourite was Quantum Bands Dar-Benn. The score for the film really heightened the scale of the adventure and the soundtrack was absolutely energetic and really joyful; 'Memory' from the Cats musical was an incredibly hilarious surprise.

 

Brie Larson, who played Captain Marvel, leads this film with exceptional talent; Larson has always been perfect for Carol and I enjoyed seeing the character get to come out of her shell a little more in this one. Teyonah Parris, who played Monica Rambeau, is quite a fun lead who steps into that uninitiated hero space well; Parris really broachs the hurt and conflict between her and Larson's characters well. Samuel L. Jackson, who played Nick Fury, is brilliant as this role and continues to keep pace with the action; watching Jackson lean Fury into a more jovial "I'm getting too old for this shit" direction is a lot of fun. Gary Lewis, who played Emperor Dro'ge, may only be a minor role in this film but kept the Skrull plot quite interesting; Lewis played his role as a ruler completely hollowed out as his people who have already lost so much continue to lose more. Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur and Saagar Shaikh, who played Muneeba Khan, Yusuf Khan and Aamir Khan respectively, are incredible as an on-screen family unit; there is no performer here who steals the limelight from the others because these performances blend and stand strong alongside one another so notably. Tessa Thompson, who played Valkyrie, had a surprising scene that really worked quite well; I think this scene left such an impression because her and Larson have such notable chemistry with one another.

However, the best performance came from Iman Vellani, who played Kamala Khan. This is a performer who may be new to the acting world and to the MCU, but she makes her mark here in a colossal way. Vellani's first major gig was on the Ms Marvel series where she really started discovering the role and how she wanted to capture it. But here she comes to life. Ms Marvel is almost immediately the heart of the feature from her very first scene. Vellani is so full of passion and energy that she grips you every time she is onscreen. But more than that, she really embodies the enthusiasm and optimistic approach of her character that you can't help but grin from ear to ear every time she cracks a line. Vellani also proves she's got the range to really hit home with some of the heavier stuff too; expressing a great scene of outrage in which her character is forcibly told she cannot save everyone. If this is what we can expect from Vellani going forward I can only hope she continues to appear in bigger and better Marvel projects.

The problem with blockbuster Marvel movies that I face as we go forward is that they are definitely becoming less accessible to movie audiences. I'm keeping up as a long time fan of this franchise but I can't imagine most people would follow all the references and cameos scattered throughout this feature. For that reason I grew disappointed that the film kept having to divert to release a whole bunch of exposition that really interrupted the flow of the narrative. There also were a few moments the film attempted to get a bit experimental and not all of these risks paid off. I also wish this film decided to slow down a little. This was an enjoyable story with an even better cast; but the plot would have actually achieved more if it took more time to sit in the emotional weight of a scene or allowed for more dialogue-intensive performance across scenes. I also felt the movie was a bit quick to start and also rushed to the end teaser faster than it needed to. This had all the trappings of a great film but it just needed to feel like it had a bit more trust from the people making decisions behind the camera.

Zawe Ashton, who played Dar-Benn, reminds me quite unfortunately of Christopher Eccleston's Malekith; this is a marvelous performer but a very simplistic antagonist that doesn't afford much opportunity to stand out. Seo-joon Park, who played Prince Yan, was clearly hired for his singing but failed to really standout in his duo/chorus performance piece; outside of his main musical role Park's line delivery was some of the worst in the feature. Abraham Popoola, who played Dag, is an odd side character with more screen time than he really needs; Popoola doesn't really fill a role that is comedic nor dramatic nor stunts heavy nor exposition oriented so it really does become difficult to place why he is put front and centre so often. Daniel Ings, who played Ty-Rone, is quite a dull secondary antagonist figure; the fact Ings' character disappears halfway through the movie is barely noticeable reflects the significance of the role.

The Marvels may not be as good as the first Captain Marvel feature but it has an incredible leading cast that I could watch together for hours on end. I would give The Marvels a 7.5/10.