"The Marvels" is the sequel to 2019's "Captain Marvel", a continuation of the Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel", and the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, it represents a painful look at the downward spiral the MCU has found itself caught in since the end of Phase 3.
Sometime after the events of "Captain Marvel", Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) has unintentionally started a civil war among the alien race known as the Kree. The leader of the Kree, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), soon finds one half of the Quantum Bands and later seeks out the other half, which is in the possession of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). At the request of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Carol teams up with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) to negotiate peace among the Kree, but as the two investigate a wormhole in outer space, Monica, Carol, and Kamala start mysteriously switching powers with one another. Realising something is amiss, the trio are forced to work together to figure out what is causing this strange phenomena and hopefully put a stop to both Dar-Benn and the warring Kree.
It's becoming harder and harder to call myself fan of the MCU, given the array of serviceable to terrible projects they have been churning out lately. To be fair though, it is a tall order to top something as ambitious as the culmination of over ten years worth of universe building after both "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" pulled it off so effectively years ago. For the longest time, I have been willing to defend the post-Endgame MCU for trying different things, as I was under the impression that all of this would be leading to exciting new projects on the horizon. However, after sitting through "The Marvels", I can say with a hint of heartbreak that practically all of my optimism for the MCU's future has all but disappeared, as it contains next to nothing worth defending from a creative standpoint.
Perhaps the best way to describe my viewing experience with this film would be "apathetic", because at no point does it ever feel like anything important is at stake. This is mainly due to either our three heroes being too overpowered or there not being enough information provided about the ones who need saving. Whenever a horde of enemies are swarming the trio, we watch as the three of them effortlessly take them out without even breaking a sweat. Action-packed moments like these that once elicited excitement have now been reduced to a series of bland fistfights and generic CGI blasts that have all been done before in better MCU films.
We see Carol Danvers quickly blast everyone away with her energy beams and block punches with her hands, never once showing any signs that she is in real danger. Her accomplice Monica Rambeau does pretty much the same thing, only with less time on screen. Even Kamala Khan, who is the biggest fish-out-of-water in this situation, has no major trouble dealing with foes coming at her from every angle, always using her half of the Quantum Band to her advantage. How is it possible to keep the audience on their toes if the enemy forces are so inefficient that even an inexperienced child can wipe the floor with them this easily? On that note, it also doesn't help that none of these three heroes appear to have any physical weaknesses or personal insecurities holding them back, which causes all of the tension to evaporate instantly.
In addition to this, we are barely shown anything interesting about the Kree that will keep the audience invested in their role in the story. As far as the film is concerned, they are nothing more than a stock species of extraterrestrials that are causing problems simply because the plot demands it. The original "Captain Marvel" film established that the Kree were the ones who inadvertently gave Carol her powers and took her in among them. Yet, this film never reminds the audience of that, instead opting to throw them right into the thick of the conflict without any important context. As a result, I just did not care at all about what happened to any of these people.
It's also worth mentioning that this film is rife with obvious re-edits and tonal inconsistencies. One scene where this is most evident is where Carol Danvers is opening up to both Rambeau and Khan about her relationship with the Kree. What could have been a good method of showcasing Danvers's humanity is instead brushed aside for something completely unrelated after less than two minutes. I couldn't help but assume that this scene was supposed to go on much longer but was cut in post production for whatever reason. To add insult to injury, the scene is then immediately followed by a strange attempt at comic relief which fails to raise even a single laugh. Although Marvel films are known for their blending of comedy with drama, a moment like this felt like a rather tacky addition to the film that only hampers the already poor narrative structure. Worse still, there are other similar occurrences like this throughout the rest of the story.
One of the biggest problems with the original "Captain Marvel" film was how weakly written the title character was, with her lack of likeable character traits and overly serious demeanour being a major reason why she is not viewed favourably by fans. You'd expect the filmmakers to remedy this problem for the sequel, but you would be wrong. I'm not sure whether it's Brie Larson's underwhelming performance or just plain old bad writing but I have never once felt any fondness for Carol Danvers as a person. As mentioned above, she efficiently fights her way through many bad guys with no issue whatsoever, never once showing any emotional weakness or other potential vulnerabilities. Because of this, Carol Danvers never feels like a real person, being nothing more than a one-dimensional superhero that is practically impossible for anybody to identify with. Her character has not changed or grown since the first film, and it looks like she won't be doing so anytime soon.
I keep trying to remind myself of Monica Rambeau's contribution to the story but nothing memorable ever comes to mind without doing some kind of online research. Like Brie Larson, there is nothing especially remarkable about Teyonah Parris's performance, as her character is as bland as she comes. Though it is established that Rambeau looked up to Carol Danvers as a child, her role in this story is nothing more than playing second fiddle to an already dull lead protagonist. Yes, Rambeau is very strong and yes, she is more than capable of taking care of herself in a fight, but beyond that what else does she offer? Most of the time she just goes along with Danvers's orders without ever questioning her or giving her personal opinions, making her nothing more than a blind follower. I was hoping to have seen some kind of opposing dynamic between Danvers and Rambeau, as that would have given their characters an important amount of depth the distinguish the two from one another. No such luck I'm afraid.
The only character I sort of cared about was Kamala Khan, whose childlike naiveté made her the most relatable of the three leads. In her feature film debut, Iman Vellani does carry over many of Khan's human traits from the Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel", being that she's still young and coming to terms with mastering her powers. Unfortunately, she does not achieve this through the character herself, but rather due to how woefully underwritten her two co-stars are in comparison. I wanted to see the three as kindred spirits, fighting as trio but standing out as individuals. Instead, all we get are two dull, stoic, overpowered adults and a young kid working together for no other reason than because the writers said so.
As depressing as it sounds, the once mighty MCU is showing no signs of improvement as "The Marvels" just may be the worst film in the series so far. There simply isn't enough reason to justify its existence outside of some kind of contractual obligation by the higher ups at Disney, and I fully respect many people's decision to skip it altogether. At this point, I seriously doubt the MCU can ever return to its former glory, as this film is set to become the series' biggest box office bomb to date. I can only hope in vain that Disney will learn an important lesson from this film's failure, but knowing their track record that seems unlikely.
I rate it 4/10.
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