Marvel Studios has returned to the cinematic landscape with their latest entry “The Marvels”. The film features the pairing of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Harris), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
While the last two characters were recently featured in Ms. Marvel and Wandavision on Disney+, the Captain has been busy with her own agenda and
the film sees her dealing with the consequences of her past as well as trying to recover missing memories and dealing with a fractured relationship with Monica who has grown up and become a hero of her own despite the absence of Captain Marvel who to her is still Aunt Carol.
A Kree leader named Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is obsessed with finding a second Gauntlet which she is using to open portals all over the universe to raid various planets in her path. Unknown to her is that the second Gauntlet that she seeks is actually owned and worn by Ms. Marvel.
When a freak incident causes Carol, Monica, and Kamala to switch with one another whenever they use aspects of their powers; chaos ensues as time and space become twisted and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); and Kamala’s family find themselves drawn into the developing conflict.
Kamala finds that her hero worship of the Captain makes Carol even more socially awkward than usual and combined with the tension between her and Monica; and uneasy team is formed as they travel through space to try to stop Dar-Benn from completing her mission of death and destruction.
The movie deviates from the usual Marvel formula in that while there is action it is not of the epic and tension-laden type that we have seen in many prior films. There is a considerable amount of comedy as well as character and some music thrown into the mix as in many ways it would appear that the film is a mix of catching up with various characters as
well as setting the stage for future adventures.
There are some interesting cameos along the way and audiences will want to
see the mid-credit scene that opens up a slew of questions and possible ideas for future storylines.
The movie was supposed to release prior to ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and it does appear that the extra time did go to good use to make the effects return to Marvel standards.
I think my wife summed up the film best when she said it was more Disney than Marvel but we both agreed that for younger viewers as well as established Marvel fans it does serve as an enjoyable enough adventure even if it lacks the epic and intense action and spectacle of many prior films in the MCU and does open up some interesting possibilities for the future.
3 stars out of 5
