Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels is a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel. Despite the online hate campaign against Captain Marvel, it had a worldwide opening of $456M (6th of all time) and was the 5th highest grossing film of 2019 – of course it was getting a sequel.
A lot has happened in the MCU in the past four years. The shows Ms. Marvel and WandaVision added two new characters that find themselves thrust into Captain Marvel’s (Brie Larson) newest adventure.
Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is a teenager that is new to being a superhero. She’s also a Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel fan girl who dreams of teaming up with her hero one day. Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) is a superhero/astronaut who has a history with Captain Marvel. Carol and Monica both investigate a jump point anomaly that seems to appear out of nowhere. When Monica touches it, she, Kamala, and Carol switch places. Once they return to their regular lives, Monica realizes they will switch places when their light-based powers are used. The trio’s powers are linked through “quantum entanglement”.
The big bad the trio must fight is Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree warrior with an Accuser’s hammer (fans will recognize it from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1) and a quantum band identical to the one that gives Kamala her powers. Dar-Benn is using the quantum band to create unstable jump points and wants the one Kamala has to strengthen her powers. She’ll use both to restore her dying world while destroying others in the process. The Marvels team up to stop Dar-Benn before she destroys the fabric of space and time.
To be fair, the plot sounds very serious. Thankfully, the film never makes an attempt to be serious. The Marvels is as fun and silly as any MCU movie to date. Yes, the film features superhero powers, dystopian worlds, quantum bands, and a civil war. The story focuses on how fun the three main characters are and how funny and silly comic book movies can be.
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan is the breakout star of the film. She’s the person that injects the film with comedy and energy when it’s needed. Vellani’s comedic timing, one-liners, and facial expressions are scene stealers. Vellani carries and innocence and bewilderment in her portrayal of Kamala Khan that’s important to the character and the dynamic between the three superheroes.
The Marvels succeeds at being fun. It’s a self-contained superhero film that focuses on humor and the charisma of its three leads. Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, and Brie Larson are the engines that drive this film. The three of them bantering together onscreen is as engaging and enjoyable as fans hope it would be.
There are a lot of comedic moments in the film; the best comes courtesy of the trio’s trip to Aladna. The entire sequence is something I never thought I’d see in a superhero film but it’s the kind of ridiculous comedy that fits in this film. It reminded me of one of those Holodeck episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are few directors bold enough to put this in a film and pull it off.
The action scenes are very well done. The fight choreography is really well done, especially during the body swapping fight scenes. The transport sequence with Goose is one of the funnier and entertaining action scenes we’ve seen in a while.
The weakest link in the film is the villain. Zawe Ashton performance not the problem. Her performance is good and will make audiences want to see more Kree warriors in future projects. The issue is Dar-Benn’s motivations are ones we’ve seen multiple times. The Marvels suffers from the same villain problem that many superhero have.
The Marvels will surprise a lot of moviegoers. It’s a lighthearted film the entire family can enjoy. It’s the first MCU film that did a masterfully job bridging the Disney+ TV shows with the cinematic universe. The end film and the post credit scene will leave fans filled with hope for what might ahead for the MCU in the future.
Grade: B+
the people's critic 