The Marvels, 2023.
Directed by Nia DaCosta.
Starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-jun, Samuel L. Jackson, Mohan Kapur, Zenobia Shroff, Saagar Shaikh, Daniel Ings, Gary Lewis, Leila Farzad, Abraham Popoola, Tessa Thompson.
SYNOPSIS:
Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, The Marvels wouldn’t exist.
At one point during director “Nia DaCosta’s” The Marvels (quotation marks book ending her name because it’s hard to believe that this is the movie about three women superheroes, two of them being minorities, someone as talented as she wanted to make and that isn’t the result of crippling studio tampering), Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) superfan Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) apologizes to her idol for her starstruck hero-worship while inside and outside battle on an impromptu galactic mission together, stating that she is sorry for not letting her be a real person.
It’s an unintentionally hilarious piece of dialogue with no self-awareness that no one in this film gets the opportunity to act like a human being since the script (co-written by DaCosta alongside Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik) is primarily a sludge of story and CGI-soaked chaotic collapse without any compelling characterization or emotional weight behind any of it (and that is accounting for a scene of heroic self-sacrifice).
There is practically no narrative structure to speak of here, with The Marvels often resembling a Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries squished down just under two hours, smashing plot elements together, desperately hoping something stands out. Supervillain Dar-Benn (Dawe Ashton) has clear motives of siphoning off resources from other planets and galaxies utilizing teleportation points made functional by uncovering a magical bangle similar to the one Ms. Marvel discovered within her family (on the Disney+ show of the same name) to restore her Kree homeworld known as Hala.
Apparently, the planet spiraled into unlivable conditions following Captain Marvel (also a Kree) destroying the supreme AI overseeing the land (previously seen in Captain Marvel, where she physically manifested in front of Carol Danvers in a performance played by Annette Bening.) However, it never feels like we are witnessing the birth and evolution of a new character in this universe, but rather someone from one of those TV shows (she’s not) finally getting her villainess spotlight moment.
Aside from an admittedly nifty central action gimmick that sees Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, and Teyonah Parris’ now enhanced S.A.B.E.R Monica Rambeau (having acquired those abilities on a different TV show, WandaVision) trading places through teleportation after one of them activates their light-based superpowers (all a result of Dar-Benn messing around with teleportation points and bringing them together), The Marvels also doesn’t seem to know what story it wants to tell about the heroes.
Estranged and reuniting on this urgent mission, Monica expresses her frustration with Carol for abandoning her to continuously save the cosmos instead of returning to care for her, somewhat chastising her for pushing away someone who idolized her. Instantaneously, one assumes this will become a tale of redemption with Carol/Captain Marvel embracing the well-intentioned teenage Kamala/Ms. Marvel and her believably cringe obsession with being “twinsies,” but whatever drama or tension could have been is shoved aside for repeated flat massive-scale sequences of destruction and rescuing.
Not that knowledge of the Ms. Marvel miniseries should be necessary to enjoy this film (and it technically isn’t, although one will be missing out on numerous references and who entire cameo characters are if they haven’t caught up with the movies, TV shows, and without spoiling anything, a series of superhero films before the MCU), but the grounded charm and goofy family sitcom humor of watching Kamala balance teenage life with being a superhero is largely done away with for yet another standard save the universe flick.
That’s a shame considering, on a comedic level, the proceedings briefly come alive whenever Samuel L. Jackson’s beloved Nick Fury is interacting with, hell, anyone, but especially Kamala’s parents and older brother (all once again played by Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh) on a spaceship, attempting to protect them from the danger their daughter has found herself wrapped up in.
It also wouldn’t be accurate to say that The Marvels doesn’t ever break away from its comfort zone with some bizarre happenings. However, whatever point a musical sequence on a planet where its inhabitants only communicate through song, dance, and lyrics, with Carol Danvers serving as an honorary princess for once coming to their aid, is a bit too baffling. The sequence plays like someone at Disney demanded a creative way for a Marvel superhero to become, technically, a Disney princess. Also, if you think that’s the strangest thing here, that’s nothing compared to what the story has in mind for alien cat Goose and his kind. But that is a cleverly weird sequence that works.
There is also one fairly entertaining action sequence early on, with the three superheroes unaware of why they are teleporting every time they try using their powers, pinging between Kamala’s home, outer space, and a Kree ship, which sounds like a daunting task to stage and execute, yet Nia DaCosta pulls it off. Also fun is a training montage of the superheroes working together to understand the mechanics behind the swapping and how to pick up the action without skipping a beat upon exchanging places.
It’s also worth pointing out that the light-based powers, especially Ms. Marvel’s ability to materialize light physically, come with much more color definition and detail. Even the opening shot of her bedroom makes clear that the budget has been significantly raised from the TV show (that or her parents started excessively spoiling her after she saved New Jersey).
Then again, visual effects improvements were always inevitable. The real question would always be if The Marvels would bring the MCU out of its quality slump where none of these stories seem to be exciting or satisfying anymore, with emphasis on the storytelling part since the actors playing these new heroes are not the problem and have been crushing their roles. They continue to do so here, with Iman Vellani standing out as the bubbly but tough and dedicated Kamala/Ms. Marvel.
It’s disappointing that The Marvels barely feels like a movie, but rather an assortment of ideas rushed along with no time to explore characters and worlds or have fun. Instead, it’s another movie setting up something else, which is basically what the last four or five MCU entries have done, generally without telling a worthwhile story.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
