Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) came back stronger than ever, bringing a motley crew together this time in The Marvels. Comic book connoisseurs would be quick to know that the powers of Carol, Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Monica Rambeau (Photon/Captain Rambeau) made sense to have their powers intertwined. In much of the Marvel Comics lore, their powers all have some connection to Mar-Vell. It was a nice spectacle to see these characters from their respective shows, Ms. Marvel and WandaVision, finally find their way to the big screen!
The story of The Marvels began with New Jersey’s number one hero, Ms. Marvel, as she fangirled about Captain Marvel. It also showed how Monica used her newfound powers to help Nick Fury and S.A.B.E.R., primarily teased as Fury’s space station in the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. Then, Carol had troubles with the Kree soldiers led by Dar-Benn. The challenge arose when Carol and Monica touched a small jump gate tear, causing Carol, Monica and Kamala to switch places whenever they used their powers.
The plotline to solve their switching fiasco and take out the big bad for this film, Dar-Benn, could simply be summarized as a rollercoaster space adventure. It had its ups and downs, from visiting a singing civilization to utilizing Goose and its Flerken abilities for a purpose I never would have thought of. The main issue I had with the story of Captain Marvel, as a whole character, was that her power scaling still appeared to be a significant issue.
“While The Marvels was not a major disappointment, I thought it could have gone bolder and bigger with its ideas and complexity.”
This woman has enough power to reignite a dying sun but actually loses a lot of her fights. Her battle with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame was exciting, but she still somehow managed to get a little applause. This film was no exception, where she faced Dar-Benn and seemed to struggle and get beat up a lot – even with the help of Monica and Kamala. It just seems that Carol needs a better portrayal of how powerful she really is, as it remains wishy-washy in the MCU.
The villainous role of Dar-Benn was a bit cool, with her hammer resembling Ronan the Accuser from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1, but otherwise, she was a lacklustre villain. Another great thing was the way they humanized her by making her desperate to help her people but quite unguided. The fight choreography of the Marvel fights was on point, though.
I thought the film did an excellent job of making the challenge of the three heroes switching and fighting at the same time a real achievement. The transitions were as good as some anime fights like the one in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 between Yuji Itadori, Aoi Todo and Hanami. The way Carol, Monica and Kamala had to fight through the random changes in location when they used their powers was superbly shot. I felt like it could have been a few quick shots of it happening, but the fights were actually quite long!
Similarly, the synergy between Larson, Parris and Vellani was off the charts for me. I felt that all three women shone in their own way, from Carol’s stoicism and wit to Monica’s quirkiness to Kamala’s simping-for-Captain-Marvel energy. It was almost exactly how I imagined the team-up would be. Marvel fans can definitely expect to see plenty of easter eggs and some potential cameos throughout.
Another thing that was lacking in this film was a coherent score or even hype music to keep the viewer excited. I definitely caught hints of the themes of each Marvel female lead, but I thought it could have incorporated a blend of their themes, or a more epic version. The music used matched the vibes at other times but did not hit as hard as other Marvel hero films like the Thor films or Guardians of the Galaxy films. I get that The Marvels was a little different, but the space vibes were definitely adjacent to the other two space-heavy hero movie series.
While The Marvels was not a major disappointment, I thought it could have gone bolder and bigger with its ideas and complexity. The strong sisterhood energy and hype was definitely there, yet the movie still felt lacking in some respect to the grand scheme of things. I really hoped this would be a game-changing film for the MCU; however, it still delivered a good mashup of impressive heroines. Do not forget to stick around for two notable post-credit scenes in this one.
