Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe. Serving as both a sequel to the first Captain Marvel and the Disney+ show Ms. Marvel, Nia Dacosta’s The Marvels is the 33rd movie in the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. The premise of Kamala, Monica, and Carol getting their powers entangled with one another and reluctantly working together as a team to fight off a greater threat does admittedly sound intriguing on paper, but how good is the execution of it? I will start with the positives. Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel is a massive bright spot. She exudes fan girl enthusiasm for Captain Marvel, youthful charm, and a great knack for hitting the right comedic beats at the appropriate moments. Kamala’s family members are also quite funny as they are thrown into this cosmic conflict while displaying concern for Kamala’s safety in humorous ways. The interplay and chemistry between Kamala, Monica, and Carol is mostly strong, with the best aspects of their dynamic being shown early on in the film when the three initially meet. There are some neat visuals as it pertains to outer space and the different dimensions that are hinted at.
The “flerken cats” once again steal the spotlight and there is one scene in particular that involves these cats eating people which is all I will say, but it was very fun and made me laugh out loud. Unfortunately folks, this movie is a complete mess in regards to almost every other aspect. First off, it feels like there is an entire movie that took place prior to this one which is only explained via expository dialogue and completely wastes the Supreme Intelligence (a very important character in the comics). We are expected to fully grasp what transpired during that unaccounted for period of time and put the underdeveloped pieces of a puzzle we never saw together. Tonally, the movie does not know what it wants to be. It’s no secret that Brie Larson as Carol Danvers hasn’t been the most popular character with fans and this movie does not know what to do with her. As stated before, her entire development feels like it was done in a prequel movie or series we never saw and this only made her character come off as one dimensional, not to mention the poor script and unconvincing line delivery.
Let me be clear, I do not harbor any sort of animosity towards Larson and I think she’s an immensely talented actress who happened to be miscast in this role (although I do maintain that she was legitimately good in Avengers: Endgame). There are attempts to tie up emotional story arcs with Carol and Maria Rambeau and although I give Dacosta credit for trying, I just did not think their relationship was given enough time to grow to make me care. Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau was not bad per se, but in all honesty, her character is very wooden and whatever connection she has to Maria only makes sense for those who watched WandaVision, and that is just lazy writing. There are some really fun Nick Fury moments, particularly when he is having comedic interplay with Kamala’s family members and the flerken cats, but his role did not add the gravitas that his character did to the first Captain Marvel film.
Perhaps the biggest problem of the film besides the lackluster script and rushed execution is the villain. Zawe Ashton as Supremor Dar-Benn is quite possibly the most cookie cutter generic villain in the entire MCU filmography thus far, which is saying something given the fact that the MCU has some pretty disappointing baddies. She comes off as a 5 dollar discount bin version of Ronan the Accuser from Guardians of the Galaxy but without the intimidation level or unbridled fear factor that Ronan had. The conflict between the Kree and Skrulls is also far more underdeveloped than it was in the first Captain Marvel movie, and that’s a real issue given how it’s such a key element in the comics. The fight sequences involving the three leads and Dar-Benn have some cool moments, but it gets so bogged down by heavy CGI to the point where it feels weightless. There is a scene involving a group of people who communicate by singing and it was so bizarre and we are just supposed to believe that there’s an entire history between Carol and these people that’s never shown to us. This movie is a conveyor belt corporate manufactured production, almost akin to a Disney+ miniseries, lacking the scale, urgency, or stakes of a major MCU movie.
Whereas the first Captain Marvel movie had somewhat of a distinct style with its 90’s era aesthetic and soundtrack, this sequel has a bunch of different styles that are thrown together and don’t quite mesh. There is one VERY IMPORTANT mid-credit scene and it gave the fanboy in me an immense amount of joy. My hope is that Kevin Fiege and the creative team at Marvel Studios can take the constructive criticisms of these lesser MCU entries to heart as a means to improve the movies going forward, because I as a fan want nothing more than to come out of a Marvel movie singing its praises. Overall, despite the charming comic relief in Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, some well placed humorous sequences involving the "flerken cats," and a mid-credits scene that made the fan in me extraordinarily happy, Nia Dacosta's The Marvels is a an extremely rushed, narratively undercooked, tonally confused, choppily edited, and ultimately unexciting entry into the MCU with potentially its most boring villain yet. I would really only recommend this film to families with kids, young girls, and MCU fans who are already too far down the Marvel rabbit hole.
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