I just came back from seeing The Marvels and this was the second time I viewed it this weekend and upon two viewings this film gets a 4 out 5 from me. This is how a comic book movie is done. All the actors gave great performances. The story is quick paced and hits what it needs to in a relatively short run time. The effects and choreography were entertaining and looked good on screen. I honestly can’t give this movie anything but high marks for being what a superhero movie should be.
The movie opens where Ms. Marvel ended. I’m seeing a lot of chatter about you have to be versed in some other series to be caught up with this movie but honestly no. The characters’ introduction does well to tell you who these people are, a bit of their backstory and where you can probably find out more about them if you choose. But the story progression is the strong point. They have a lot to say and a limited time to do it so let’s get to it. No wasted momentum, no dragging the trip to get there is awesome.
Let’s talk about characters. Brie Larson as Captain Marvel got a lot of time to develop her character, something that was lacking post the first movie. We see the character’s flaws and some growth as well. Loved to see her grow more and the scenes where she was doing Captain Marvel stuff were awesome. Having read a lot of comics I have to say the portrayal was spot on. Teyonah Parris was the straight man for a lot of scenes, the brains of the trio, and the one that keeps things grounded. It was nice to see her character again after WandaVision because I liked her in that as well. But Kamala Khan played by Iman Vellani is the one that I think got her character right off the page of the comic. Look, this lady grew up reading comics. She’s writing comics now. I am so ready for her to bring this franchise forward because I think we’re in good hands. Iman is funny and genuinely has a presence on screen that brings joy. And with that the three actors that play her family are enjoyable without stealing any scenes. Samuel Jackson is back to the Nick Fury character I like. Kind of serious and in charge but joking. Mr. Jackson is clearly having fun in this, and it comes out. Now Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn is an interesting villain because she’s most certainly damaged and is willing to sacrifice anything including herself for her cause. But without any of that sympathy for the bad guy stuff cause no matter the cause it’s turned her evil to be sure. Excellent casting and acting.
Effects and fight scenes really shine in this movie and the camera work that captures it is superb. There’s a lot of coordination especially during scenes where the characters are trading places. Visually I like what they did here. But the fact that they put a musical number in here honestly got a laugh out of me. And to that I laughed a lot in this movie. But there were some great moments that made you feel real sadness considering what Monica and Carol have been through with the Maria Rambeau character passing. This movie was able to do a lot in a runtime of 105 minutes. Oh and no spoilers but there’s a mid-credits scene you can’t miss because the future of the MCU is hinted at here.
I stand by the 5 out of 5 rating due to how much enjoyment I got out of this movie. This media is supposed to be fun and that’s what it was.
Jason The X