The Marvels: not as bad as everyone says

Luca Fontana

8/11/2023

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

In truth, I was fearing the next big Marvel flop. But to my surprise, The Marvels isn’t only one of the better Marvel films in recent years – it’s also the shortest!

Let me start off by saying that my review contains no spoilers. Any information stated here is featured in trailers that have already been released.

So. The Marvels. I expected nothing. «And you were still let down». I hear you finishing the sentence – we all know the famous meme. After all, Marvel is rarely covering itself in glory these days. Especially [its movies], even if the comic juggernaut managed one of the most memorable Marvel films ever with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 earlier this year.

What’s more, the protagonists either lack popularity (cough, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, cough) or are hardly known. For example, people who haven’t seen the charming but not outstanding series Ms Marvel won’t be aware of Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan. The same applies to Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, who so far has only been seen in WandaVision. Many interpret Marvel’s near-lack of publicity as an admission that the movie isn’t actually good.

But you know what? The Marvels isn’t bad at all. And certainly not the shitshow feared by fans. On the contrary.

What The Marvels is all about

Strange things are happening in the universe. For example, wormholes used for intergalactic space travel won’t close again. One of them right next to Earth. And when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) goes to investigate the phenomenon with S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Monica Rambeau, things get even crazier. Rambeau disappears, and in her place a young girl from New Jersey suddenly appears: Kamala Khan.

But that’s not all. When Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel is sent to investigate the other end of the wormhole, she too is teleported away – to Kamala Khan’s bedroom! And where Danvers was before, Rambeau suddenly appears. It soon becomes clear that the three of them have unintentionally swapped places.

No one knows why. All they’re sure of is that a kind of bond has been made between their powers. And that the unsealed wormholes were created by a certain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), the new leader of the Kree. She still has unfinished business with Captain Marvel. After all, the heroine destroyed the Kree Supreme Intelligence – and caused great damage to the once glorious Kree empire.

Fresh and lively production – my compliments, Marvel

I really didn’t expect anything, I’ve already said as much. But maybe that’s why The Marvels surprised me all the more. The movie is simply far too entertaining and neatly produced to trash. The action scenes in particular are some of the most refreshing Marvel has produced in recent times – and I was still worried after the first few trailers.

I mean, there’s the three heroines who switch places uncontrollably every time they use their powers. I was already predicting disastrously chaotic production, with incessant cuts back and forth between Danvers, Khan and Rambeau. Think Jason Bourne, wild and making my head spin as a viewer. Mentally, I was chomping at the bit to punish the movie with a devastating label of «tiring».

But director Nia DaCosta proves me wrong. Check out this 1-minute clip that somehow manages to honour the brilliant bus scene from Shang-Chi in its own way without just copying it:

The good news? This is just a small taster – Nia DaCosta knows how to stage fights in a varied but never tiring way throughout almost the entire film. In fact, I’d argue that Marvel has rarely been as creative in its fight choreos as in this movie. All the more so when I think back to the soulless CGI action in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It’s unfortunately become more and more standard at Marvel recently.

When it comes to creativity, The Marvels hardly pulls its punches. Remember Goose, the orange cat from Captain Marvel who isn’t a cat but a Flerken? Yes. She’s got a few memorably absurd appearances – offspring included. Or then there’s a planet on which all dialogue is sung. A «singsong» language, apparently. For a few minutes, The Marvels becomes a Broadway musical. But it isn’t satire as in this scene from Hawkeye. It’s actually good. And funny. And cheesy. And… simply great.

Character work? Yeah, a little

With such varied staging, it’s difficult to get bored. This is also in part thanks to the run time. The movie only lasts 100 minutes – no Marvel superhero flick has ever been this short. In that time, it’s almost forced to be entertaining. Sometimes at the expense of characters, but not as badly as I feared.

Carol Danvers, for example, is much more likeable and approachable than she was in Captain Marvel. There, she presented herself as a flawless, hyper-confident heroine. A superhuman, too perfect and incorruptible to be believable. In The Marvels, this near-legendary status is broken up a bit. Only a bit. But enough so that I can identify with her better.

Kamala Khan as Ms Marvel, on the other hand, remains as scatterbrained and likeable as she was in her series. And not in that overly childish Disney Channel way. The talented Iman Vellani makes sure of that. But when a joke lands in the movie, it’s usually because of her. Or because of her family. They were already hilarious in Ms Marvel. Especially the squabbling between her pushy yet warm mother and caring father. They’re given much more screen time than I’d have thought. Nice.

Monica Rambeau comes off somewhat flat. Not that the chemistry between the three heroines isn’t right. It’s actually really solid and carries the movie all the way. But there’s an implied grudge against Captain Marvel, for example. As a child, Rambeau was abandoned by «Aunt» Danvers, who would wholly devote herself to fighting evildoers and never showed her face again. But then, 20 years later, the resentment somehow just dissipates within a short conversation. This helps the flow of the movie. But it’s just not logical, and Rambeau’s credibility as a well thought-out character suffers.

But the villain – Dar-Benn – really comes across as bland. True, her motives are understandable, but Zawe Ashton gets so little screen time that even the Dark Elf Malekith from Thor: The Dark World looks straight out of an oppressive Swedish psychological thriller in comparison, complete with a profound character study. Ultimately, Dar-Benn really only seems to be a means to an end, a reason for the three protagonists to join forces against a common enemy. That’s it.

Verdict: The Marvels is better than I expected

Who’d have thought it? The Marvels actually isn’t the worst movie in Marvel history. There are other releases that deserve this title more, all from Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In The Marvels, on the other hand, I can feel the love for the genre and a sense of curiosity in every single frame. It’s one of the biggest compliments I can pay Marvel at the moment. I’m not saying The Marvels is in the same league as, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. Not at all. The superheroine movie simply doesn’t have anywhere near as good a script for that and simply too little depth. And by the time the credits roll – yes, stay seated, the mid-credit scene is really something – the movie is almost forgotten again.

But before that, time flies by. And it doesn’t feel wasted, like I’ll never get it back. Not every Marvel movie has to be as earth-shaking as Guardians 3. A bit of fun in between that doesn’t take me for a fool also works.

I’m satisfied.

The Marvels will be in cinemas from 8 November 2023. Run time: 100 minutes. Age rating: 12.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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