“The Marvels” Fun Romp if You Take it As it is [Review]

With the nominal box office results emerging after the first weekend for “The Marvels,” the typical collection of The Sky is Falling on Disney clickbait emerged like clockwork. Their typical range of histrionics is at least tempered by their editors doing their best to mitigate their writers’ varying levels of misogyny and racism.

Is “The Marvels” the standout entry of the tail end of the MCU‘s Phase 4 thus far? Well, at the moment, that’s not a terribly high bar. It kind of depends on whether one prefers “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” or “The Marvels.” it’s straightforward enough to say that both leave “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” in their rear view mirrors.

One challenge the film faces is that it has to bridge the gap in tonal elements between the more serious “Captain Marvel,” and Disney+’s lighthearted “Ms Marvel.” Overall, the script penned by Nia DaCosta and Megan McDonnell does a decent job of balancing Iman Vellani’s youthful fangirling over Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers. Vellani’s unabashed excitement about meeting her hero, let alone getting to go on an adventure together, plays true to tone for anyone who has had or known a teen in the throws of full-blown hero worship. It’s actually Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, whose introduction to the trio seems the most awkward as the story, attempts to set up a tension dynamic between Danvers and Rambeau.

As the MCU tends to do, they will draw out storylines as long as they can squeeze scripts out of them. This time, again hanging the adventure around the ongoing Kree / Skrulls conflicts. Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is a Kree warrior seeking to save the Kree homeworld Hala, from the destruction inadvertently brought about by Captain Marvel.

The three Marvels find their powers have become entangled so that whenever two of them use their powers at the same time, they will switch physical locations. This forces them to band together to try to save the effects Dar-Benn is wreaking on other worlds in her attempt to save Hala.

The actresses do fine within their roles, and the action sequences are satisfyingly impressive, with consequences sticking beyond the end of the film’s 105-minute running time. One does have to feel some level of empathy for the Skrulls and the Kree since the writers’ room seems to be intent on pummeling them out of existence.

It’s an enjoyable way to spend a few hours. It’s a straightforward superhero story. Not every film can be “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” or “Guardians of the Galaxy.” There are plenty of MCU films that lack feelings of adventure or joy. “Iron Man 2” and “Thor: The Dark World” are two easy ones to point towards. “The Marvels” is a fun ride, and worth a watch.

The $25 question is to see it in a theater, or a wait for it at home. In the case of “The Marvels,” I would have to say that there isn’t anything compelling enough to see it on a big screen unless you are inspired to do so. One won’t regret the trip to the theater for it, but missing it isn’t a loss, either. There are those films where the collective experience of seeing it with a huge crowd on a massive screen with epic sound – “The Marvels” doesn’t fall under that category. [Editor’s Note: although experiencing the post-credits scene with an audience who GETS it was pretty awesome.]

Disney, and in fact the rest of the studios, have to continue to evaluate the changed post-pandemic world with its reduced theatrical windows to determine what films will wind up getting people into theaters and which ones will not. That this one isn’t thus far getting butts into theaters isn’t much of a surprise, as the marketing campaign hasn’t really sold the audience on there being a reason.

Overall, “The Marvels” gets 6 stars out of 10. There is one mid-credits scene, which is highly important, but after that there is nothing else, so you can bolt for the restroom right afterwards.

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