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James Marsh

2/5 stars
A trio of female superheroes find themselves cosmically entangled in The Marvels, a direct sequel to both the 2019 film Captain Marvel and the Ms. Marvel television show, as well as the 33rd instalment in the long-running comic-book screen franchise.
Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, and Samuel L Jackson all reprise their previously established roles, alongside newcomers Zawe Ashton and Korean superstar Park Seo-joon in the film, directed by Nia DaCosta.
The Marvels arrives at a turbulent time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After boldly reinventing the superhero genre and pushing the boundaries of what an interconnected series of films and television shows can achieve, both creatively and financially, the franchise has started flailing.


Recent cinematic outings such as Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperformed at the box office, while Jonathan Majors, who plays the MCU’s newly established supervillain, has become embroiled in legal troubles that may threaten his further involvement.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that The Marvels underwent substantial last-minute reshoots following unfavourable feedback from rare public test screenings.

Suffice to say the record-breaking days of Avengers: Endgame feel like ancient history, and the odds of The Marvels repeating the US1 billion box office performance of its predecessor are almost unfathomable.
That’s especially the case when audiences are now required to have seen entire seasons of television that exist exclusively behind a subscription-based paywall if they are to follow what is going on.
In short, banal alien warrior Dar-Benn (Ashton) retrieves a quantum-powered bangle that enables her to create wormholes through space-time. The corresponding bangle belongs to Jersey City-based teenager Kamala Khan, also known as Ms Marvel (Vellani).

Dar-Benn’s antics create an electromagnetic bond between Kamala, S.A.B.E.R. operative Monica Rambeau (Parris), and Captain Marvel herself, Carol Danvers (Larson), causing them to switch places whenever they use their powers at the same time.
On the plus side, the dynamic between the three female leads works surprisingly well. Their interactions feel genuine, organic, and their imposed collaborative crime-fighting yields some genuinely entertaining moments.
Unfortunately, in almost every other aspect, The Marvels is a tired hodgepodge of muddled storytelling and wearisome superhero clichés.

Park’s much touted involvement amounts to little more than a brief walk-on. This takes place during a truly baffling off-world sequence that devolves into a full-blown Disney Princess musical that’s certain to enrage the franchise’s more testosterone-fuelled fans.
That said, a baffling homage to Andrew Lloyd Webber, featuring a litter of alien catlike Flerkens running amok on a space station, is so staggeringly bizarre it actually comes as a welcome respite from the tedious drudgery of this by-the-numbers adventure.
There is a genuinely intriguing mid-credits reveal that will undoubtedly set fanboy hearts aflutter at the possibilities to come, but it may yet prove too little too late for a franchise that has become a tired, worn-out pastiche of the innovative, escapist behemoth it once was.
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The Marvels movie review: Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel join forces in a female-led adventure, the latest wearisome sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in a still from “The Marvels”. Photo: Laura Radford/Marvel

Brie Larson (left) as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in a still from “The Marvels” (category IIA). Teyonah Parris co-stars, while Nia DaCosta directs. Photo: Laura Radford/Marvel

Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in a still from “The Marvels”. Photo: Marvel

Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn in a still from “The Marvels”. Photo: Marvel

Iman Vellani (left) as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan and Goose the Flerken in a still from “The Marvels”. Photo: Marvel

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Culture

Film & TV

The dynamic between Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Ms Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Captain Rambeau is this film’s saving grace
A baffling Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute, barely a walk-on part for Park Seo-joon, and a muddled, clichéd story adds to the woes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe


The dynamic that develops between the characters played by Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani is the only saving grace for The Marvels, a tired, clichéd and sometimes baffling film.


Film reviews

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Marvel

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


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Review | The Marvels movie review: Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel join forces in a female-led adventure, the latest wearisome sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe