The Marvels – A Lean Installment For Better or Worse

Over the course of a phase that has seen more misses than hits, confidence in the MCU and its direction moving forward following The Infinity Saga has been waning for the most part. The latest installment, The Marvels, delivers on fun but those looking for depth may be a little disappointed with this one. A follow-up to 2019’s Captain Marvel. it goes in a different direction, pairing Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan/Mrs. Marvel. Introduced in 2021’s WandaVision and 2022’s Mrs. Marvel, making the jump to film was the next logical step. When it comes to this film, their dynamic is easily the best part. Led by the chemistry of Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, they do the majority of the heavy-lifting and are an absolute blast to watch together while the story surrounding them does just enough to get by. The leanest MCU entry to date, clocking in at 105 minutes, it certainly makes the most out of its runtime as no moment is wasted.

The Marvels catches up with Carole Danvers/Captain Marvel (Larson) as she continued to reclaim her identity by reclaiming the memories that were stolen from her. However, that mission would need to be set aside as the universe was becoming increasingly destabilized. Tracing the activity to a renegade Kree leader named Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), her powers became intertwined with Captain Monica Rambeau (Parris) and Kamala Khan/Mrs. Marvel (Vellani) as they switched places whenever two of them used their powers at the same time. Knowing what we know about the latter two through Captain Marvel, Wandavision and Mrs. Marvel respectively, their dynamic came with a lot to unpack, both good and bad, on top of their unfortunate circumstances. While their dynamic didn’t come together right away, watching Carol, Monica, and Kamala grow and evolve was so compelling to watch, more so than the rest of the story around them. Though it had its moments, they pale in comparison.

Estranged from each other since she was left behind at a young age, there was some anger and resentment on Monica’s part towards Carol. A super fan of Captain Marvel, Kamala’s enthusiasm and youthful energy meant that she perhaps came on a bit too strong. Not known as big team players, at least Carol and Monica, the three needed to find a way to put their issues and personalities aside and learn to work together as a team. That being said, the contrast between the younger Kamala and the other two just added another dimension to their dynamic as they pursued Dar-Benn and her army across the universe. Holding a grudge against Captain Marvel for destroying her planet, her aim was to destroy anyone or anything she held dear. As that took place, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) was sort of there to provide assistance from S.A.B.R.E. headquarters. Ultimately, S.A.B.R.E. remained largely unexplored as this part of the story served little to no purpose other than providing stakes thanks to Kamala’s family, including her mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff), her father Yusef (Mohan Kapur), and her brother Aamir (Saagar Shaikh), who thankfully played a decent role in the story.

Despite presenting herself as a formidable adversary, the end result was fairly predictable as far as Dar-Benn was concerned. Merely a means to bring Carol, Monica, and Kamala together, the film seemed uninterested in doing anything else. Also very thin as a character, Dar-Benn was arguably one of the biggest victims of the film’s lean structure, making her disposable. In the end, at least 10 to 15 minutes of more character development to better connect it to the titles that led to it would have made the film more impactful and taken it to another level. With any MCU films, most audiences tend to look ahead while they are watching and the film does much of the same and has some surprises that don’t take away from the story as a whole. And for those wondering, expect only one mid-credits scene among other things.

On a technical level, The Marvels offers more of the same which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Though it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, it executes those familiar aspects. The costumes and production design are top notch with an extended sequence foreshadowed in the trailers being the highlight. The CGI-aided action sequences are fine but the added quirk of watching Carol, Monica, and Kamala switch places in the middle of the action made them more exciting. Meanwhile, the performances were the best part of the film, specifically the chemistry of Larson, Parris, and Vellani as Carol, Monica, and Kamala. The only characters given any semblance of depth, they were so fun to watch that it help to distract from what the film was lacking narratively. Out of the three, Vellani was unsurprisingly a scene-stealer as Kamala grew the most as a result of her experience.

At the end of the day, The Marvels doesn’t complicate things by focusing on fun above all else. While an admirable strategy, its flaws are hard to not ignore. It may not reach the heights of the original, it is still a nice change of pace.

still courtesy of Marvel

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.