As a lifelong comic fanboy, and as a pop culture junkie, I felt compelled to catch The Marvels while it’s still in theaters. The fanboy in me wanted to see the latest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The pop culture junkie in me had to see if this movie really is the perceived next step in the fall of the MCU.
I don’t think anybody could deny success for the MCU has been hit or miss, post Avengers: Endgame. It seems like everybody has their own reasoning for it: we don’t care about the new characters. There’s too much content to keep up with. The movies are too rushed. Too poorly written. Too woke. One particularly interesting theory for now is the idea that “the new stuff is basically Disney movies that happen to star Marvel characters”.
I think that the MCU is a victim of its own runaway success. Marvel Studios set the proverbial bar so high for itself that clearing it is almost impossible. Any movie that makes less money or doesn’t elicit the same emotions as Avengers: Endgame is seen as a flop.
This is similar to the challenge faced by Michael Jackson when he released the Bad album in 1987. Bad was a bona-fire smash hit. It sold 6 million units and was the first album to produce five number-one hit singles. For any other artist on the planet, this would’ve been career-defining milestone. But since Bad was the follow up to the top selling album of all time, 1982’s Thriller, some saw it as a let-down.
If the MCU had ended after …Endgame, it would still be the most successful film franchise of all time. Movie studios would be chasing the MCU’s success for decades to come. But money talks, as it always does, and Disney decided to keep cranking out more product; knowing that diminishing returns on the MCU would still result in monster numbers.
The first Captain Marvel movie was far from my favorite. It was released in between Avengers: Infinity War and …Endgame. The movie was designed to be backstory; setting up Captain Marvel’s proper MCU debut in …Endgame Something about this movie just fell flat for me. Brie Larson is a great actress. Her Oscar-winning performance in Room particularly comes to mind. But whether it was a poor script, bad directing or half-hearted acting, Larson brought all the charisma of a wet noodle to her first outing as Carol Danvers.
Fortunately, The Marvels exceeded my expectations. It’s a shame, because the movie is struggling at the box office as a result of some slow, advanced ticket, sales and bad Internet buzz. Larson brings her A-game in this movie. The story is not burdened with having to establish her origin; nor those of Monica Rambeau or Kamala Khan, as their back stories were established in the WandaVision and Ms. Marvel mini-series, respectively. There is very little exposition to the story. The action begins almost immediately.
And 1 hour 45 minutes, this is the shortest movie of the entire MCU. The action begins almost immediately, with Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and… Monica Rambeau… mysteriously trading places whenever they use their powers. The Marvels also gives us the next phase in the ongoing conflict between the Kree and Skrull alien races.
Samuel L Jackson returns once again as Nick Fury. In this outing, however, Fury is very much a fish out of water as he spends most of his time in outer space, and babysitting Kamala’s family. This was the first time I truly felt the idea of a Marvel movie being “a Disney story that happens to star Marvel characters“. There was definitely humor in the story, but the dialogue didn’t have quite the bite or sarcasm as bits in the previous MCU entries did.
Larson and her co-stars Teyonah Paris (Rambeau) Iman Velanni (Ms. Marvel) all get the chance to shine. They all carry the burden of moving the story forward equally. However, Velanni‘s Ms. Marvel steals the show, in my opinion. She plays the surrogate role of the audience, fan-girling out at the idea of working alongside her superhero idols. Of the three co-stars, I’m found myself cheering for most in the action sequences.
Like any good MCU entry, The Marvels tells a standalone story but also manages to set the table for the continuing adventures of these characters and the MCU as a whole. Stay for the mid-credit scene, it’s worth it!
FINAL TAKE: The Marvels is definitely worth the price of admission. It is fun, action-packed, and carries some real ramifications for the MCU. It doesn’t devolve into the silliness of Thor: Love & Thunder. See this movie the way it was made to be viewed: in a theater.
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The article “Rob Reviews The Marvels…and wither, MCU?” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob
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