Movie Review: The Marvels

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Great superhero fun. 

I admit that I am biased when it comes to this film. I personally love my superhero stories on the lighter and more fun side. Therefore, an unpretentious superhero movie like this is right up my alley. There is so much fun to be found in this film. The action scenes are especially fun. The idea of them switching places whenever they use their powers allows for these action scenes to always be visual fun and stand out from the action scenes in previous MCU films. It also leads to some very clever and fun scenes as they learn to control it. One scene aboard the ship with them mastering this is tons of silly wonderful fun. The whole movie also moves at a fast pace and at 1 hour and 45 minutes, it is never once boring. 

 The three lead superheroes play off of each other extremely well. This is true of both their personalities and the actresses playing them (Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani). There is simply wonderful chemistry here and it is a joy to watch them work together. In many ways this movie is just as much a warm-hearted buddy comedy as it is a superhero film. Yet I feel in many ways the young Kamala Kahn (or Miss Marvel) is the true heart of this film. As the movie starts it seems like she is mostly going to be comedic relief as a teenage girl who idolizes Captain Marvel and becomes very socially awkward around her. Yet she grows a much deeper relationship with her two teammates that is honestly quite touching. Also, the moments that showcase her kind heart make it hard not to love this character. There are times when she is so darn sweet that you simply want to hug her. This movie also does a great job with Captain Marvel herself. This film does a better job at truly delving into who she is than any of her previous MCU appearances. We delve into her flaws and her insecurities here and the result is very well done. This also leads to some very emotional moments with how she deals with these insecurities around an old friend and hero-worshiping fan.

The humor is often funnier when it comes from the characters than it is when the film delves into pure silliness. Some of the best humor comes from the more stoic Captain Marvel who is a wonderful straight woman to the very energetic and excited Kamala. The distinction between the humor that works and the humor that doesn't is perfectly shown when we get to a planet with a strange way of communicating. The idea behind how this planet communicates is the type of comedy that seems to be very funny in a script but falls flat on the screen. We simply don't laugh at all when this is revealed to us. Yet some of the interactions between our three main characters during these scenes are truly funny. 

I also love how this movie teases future MCU projects (some of which I am looking forward to) while still working completely as a standalone film. 

This film does have a flaw that is all too common in Marvel movies. That is the villain is quite bland. This villain seems to be a copy and paste villain from a hundred other superhero films. She has no real personality outside of what her goal is.  

While this movie may have its flaws, I had a great time watching it and I hope you do too. 

P.S. The scene in the mid-credits was simply wonderful.