The Marvels Review
Theatrical movie review - Comic Book Movie - MCU
The television show “The Boys” is a satire about superheroes. In one scene, three female superheroes pose together and one says, “Girls get it done.” It is a fairly strong swipe at some of the pandering that happens in a lot of superhero movies that include women without featuring them as the lead. But in Nia DaCosta's latest feature, "The Marvels," three women take center stage in a fun, light-hearted comic book movie.
Both Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) are investigating an anomaly in the jump points that allow people from different worlds to travel quickly to another. When they touch it at the same time, their powers become entangled with each other, and with Kamala Kahn (Iman Vellani), whose bangle is tied to the source of the anomaly. As these women team up, they discover that Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is scouring planets for natural resources, targeting worlds where Carol has a personal connection. With the help of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the Kahn family, and an army of kittens, they must try to rescue these planets and keep the entire universe from collapsing in on itself.
I haven’t laughed this much during a Marvel movie since “Thor: Ragnarok.” DaCosta was joined by writers Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik and they played to the strengths of the three leads, giving dialogue that allowed them to showcase their unique perspectives and experiences. The story has some big implications, but for the most part, this is a smaller film in the MCU, allowing it to focus more on the relationships between the three leads.
And the three leads all do an amazing job with their characters. Parris reprises her role as Captain Rambeau, and of the three, her character felt the least developed. Larson continues in her role as Captain Marvel, and the more she does it, the more comfortable she seems with that character. But the absolute star of this movie is Vellani as Kamala Kahn/Ms. Marvel. In a movie featuring three characters with light-based powers, she shines the brightest. Whether she was fangirling over meeting her hero or trying to convince her family that it was important for her to save the world, Vellani was pitch-perfect in her delivery.
My primary disappointment with this movie was the villain. Ashton played the character well, but she just felt underdeveloped. I wish there had been a little more time spent developing her character. This is one of the shortest MCU films, and I think it could have used a few more minutes fleshing out Dar-Benn’s story.
Overall, however, I found this a truly enjoyable time at the movies. It has one of the best needle drops maybe since “Captain Marvel’s” “Just a Girl” track. It features humor and music and dancing. It showcases the importance of remembering the humanity of everyone, whether our heroes or our enemies. What can I say except girls get it done?
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on November 12, 2023.