I did not have the highest hopes for The Marvels. I was worried it would require audiences to have seen both Ms. Marvel and WandaVision. The trailers did it no favors. In particular, the humor looked like it was going to be cringey and completely unfunny. While some of my fears were realized, it was not to the extent to which I was expecting. On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised. That’s not to say it’s a great movie. But it’s fun and surprisingly self-contained (something more Marvel movies need to do a better job of). I realize that’s not overwhelming praise. But hey, sometimes you just want to have a good time at the movies.
Starting off with one of the weaker aspects, there isn’t really much of a plot to speak of; nothing all that interesting at least. While investigating a new jump point (basically a worm hole), Carol Danvers’ (Brie Larson) powers become entangled with those of Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani). The trailers would have you believe the “why” of this is a critical plot point. It’s not. While it does play a part, this entanglement is mainly the impetus for bringing the three leads together.
The main plot is the Marvels having to find a way to work within this entanglement to stop Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree warrior, from destroying multiple worlds in order to save her own. The MCU’s “villain problem” has been long-documented, with generic villain after generic villain (with a handful of standouts sprinkled in). Unfortunately this is another case of an underdeveloped, generic antagonist who you do not care about at all, for any reason.
The stakes aren’t enormous here, but they’re big enough. But with such poor character and story development, it still feels much smaller than it should. And when Dar-Benn is as bland and uninteresting a character as you’ll find in the MCU, it’s hard to get truly invested in the larger plot. The Marvels tries to set up some history between her and Danvers. It at least gives some motivation for why Dar-Benn has a personal vendetta against her. But there’s nothing unique about it. There’s no interesting angle or unexpected spin.
The most positive aspect of the story is how self-contained it is. This has been a huge problem with the recent run of Marvel movies (and TV shows). Every project has been saddled with tying into what came before, telling its own story, and being a preview of what’s to come (not counting the standard-issue credit scenes and teasers). The Marvels is able to avoid that pitfall. There was nothing included that felt like it was only present to set up some potential future storyline (again, except for the usual stingers). Any future setup work done here still had a valid place in The Marvels story. Unfortunately, with the weak story anyway, it wasn’t as beneficial as it could have or should have been. But still, credit where credit is due.
With the plot a dud, most of the heavy lifting falls on our three leads. And this where The Marvels shines. If you didn’t watch Ms. Marvel and/or WandaVision, you might have to play a little bit of catch-up with Monica and Kamala and their stories up to this point. But it’s not as bad as it could have been. You might be a bit lost at the beginning, but you should be able to get enough of the gist at the beginning to keep up easily enough for the vast majority of the movie.
But thankfully Larson, Parris, and Vellani have great chemistry and the movie really zips along when the focus is the lead trio. Each one brings something different to the table, which makes their interactions more engaging and ripe for jokes. There are no big laughs, but there’s consistent humor throughout – thanks to Vellani for much of it. Kamala has big time “little sister tagging along with the older sisters she idolizes” combined with “young person meeting and hanging out with their hero” vibes. It could easily come as corny or cheesy, but Vellani sells it all perfectly. All three have their moments to shine, but Vellani is the star here.
The power entanglements also make for some truly fun action pieces. The three discover they switch places with one another when they use their powers at the same time. We get a classic training montage for this, always a plus. Director Nia DaCosta uses this plot point to showcase some of the more creative fight scenes in all of the MCU. The MCU gets dragged a lot (and often rightfully so) for having so much “sameness” in their fight scenes. It was beyond refreshing to finally see something new again. I wish we got even more.
As great as the three leads are, though, there’s simply too much working against The Marvels for them to overcome it all on their own. Going along with the villain and plot problems, the ending doesn’t land as well as it should. There are a couple gags that overstay their welcome that could, on their own, turn some moviegoers off all the way to the reset of the movie. Some of the more emotional moments don’t feel as natural as the more lightweight interactions. But again, it comes back to the lead trio of Larson, Parris, and Vellani. They are absolutely terrific and are reason enough to make the trek to the theater.
Score: 73/100
