‘The Marvels’ Review: Iman Vellani Tries Her Best to Salvage a Disjointed Narrative
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
At least it was better than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? It’s sad that this is where we’re at with Marvel these days, as the days of Captain America: Civil War or Thor: Ragnarok seem from a lifetime ago. Films like Black Panther or Avengers: Endgame are what Marvel fans hold as a shield to protect themselves from a loud minority that likes to make noise whenever their latest art-house film is coming out. Films like The Marvels are pretty much what those people actually see: mindless entertainment where you must not hold dear any editing or filmmaking rule if you wanna remain sane, and where the pointless action is not nearly enough to make up for a lackluster narrative.
Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels picks up years after the events of the first Captain Marvel (a film I shamelessly like a lot more than the average fan), but stitches together storylines from Disney Plus series WandaVision, where we meet Teyonah Parris’ Captain Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel, where the true star of this film, Iman Vellani, was introduced. It’s already a bit of a head-scratcher that Marvel feels the need to recap at the beginning of the film the events of the 2019 billion-dollar hit, as opposed to properly explaining why Lieutenant Trouble now has (light-based) powers, or that Kamala Khan is actually a mutant. Kamala’s introduction is solid enough, but the fact that she doesn’t really need the bangle she found in the Disney Plus series to use her powers is never addressed, even though that comes into play at one point and left me slightly confused until I remembered the events of a show I saw over a year ago.
The Marvels has an extremely disjointed narrative, which is oddly threaded by a plot where the instantly forgettable villain played by Zawe Ashton is seeking revenge against Captain Marvel and also is looking for Kamala’s bangle. Monica Rambeau just happened to be in the neighborhood, pretty much like Teyonah Parris. It is a 100-minute runtime focused on some resemblance of a plot but that seriously lacks a story. Character arcs are not continuous progressions from one scene to the next, but instead need some suspension of disbelief from the audience as the script occasionally stumbles into some meaningful moments. But even when those come, they are so rare they just don’t really hit.
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
The heart of the film lies in the relationship between the characters. Carol (Brie Larson, who feels like was at some point the lead of the film only to be rewritten into just another character in her own sequel) hasn’t seen Monica in years, which has caused a great disconnect between the two. Monica is angry at her for pushing her and her mother aside, while Carol has her own reasons for not returning, revealed later.
But none of their character interactions hold the weight they probably should have. Case in point, the first time the two meet. It should have been a huge moment for the two of them, but director NIa DaCosta didn’t really inject the life that scene needed, and the dialogue was just impossible to deal with. When Monica later reveals why she’s angry at Carol, and the two have a small moment, there isn’t really a moment of forgiveness or understanding on Monica’s side, yet none of those concerns are ever brought up again until Carol explains herself much later (and not because Monica, but rather Kamala, pressured her).
However, the final cut of The Marvels has its heart in a different place, since the family angle, found or blood-related, didn’t really work. It’s Iman Vellani, obviously. She’s the light that powers the entire film and it’s her joy and enthusiasm that really sell us on the character — mostly because she’s playing herself a lot of the time. The film does have a lot of funny moments, and she’s the source of the big laughs most of the time; if only that had been met with a meaningful arc for her. Her story is about overcoming her own fanatism for Captain Marvel and seeing her as an actual person rather than the icon she holds in her head. And for what it’s worth, it actually works. Her relationship with Brie Larson’s character seemed genuine by the end as well.
Vellani’s lightheartedness, combined with some creative action sequences, make for at least a sort of fun time at the movies. As previewed in the trailers and teased at the end of Ms. Marvel, our titular heroes spend the entire narrative switching places every time they use their powers. That bit alone is enough to make for refreshing action sequences, ones that otherwise have nothing going for them. After all, there are many scenes in this movie that are just ladies punching each other or CG characters/ships shooting laser beams at each other. Long gone are the days of Civil War, where Marvel was not only creative with their action scenes, but those also acted as a significant part of the characters’ arcs. Think of the final arc of No Way Home, which has its own three-act structure where our Spider-Men go from being three solo heroes to actually working as a team.
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
Kamala goes from nerdy high schooler to fighting off trained Kree warriors and not getting knocked down, in the span of less than a few months, according to the MCU continuity. And that is never even addressed. It’s implied that Monica is familiar with her powers now, so her fighting abilities can be sort of explained. But the point is, Carol Danvers is so much more powerful than any of her teammates, and her need for assistance is not ever explained. Not to mention the fact that Nick Fury is pretty much a different character than what little I remember from this summer’s Secret Invasion. Is that really the movie’s fault? Not exactly, but it is Marvel’s.
Ignoring the continuity errors between this film and Secret Invasion, Samuel L Jackson is actually genuinely funny as Fury, but mostly because he’s playing himself at this point. He doesn’t have any character arc either, of course, so at least he’s there to make us laugh (?). And speaking of Fury, The Marvels has a sequence so stupid it sounds like Marvel got wind of The Flash microwaving a baby in its opening sequence and said “Hold my beer”.
If nothing else, the film is definitive proof that Brie Larson is an acting force of nature, because even when she’s not even trying like here, she is genuinely charming and can really sell us some key moments. If you want a good performance from her, though, check out Lessons in Chemistry. But will she continue in the MCU? It seems like Marvel isn’t even sure, because the film ends by giving Kamala and Monica proper send-offs, but not really addressing Carol’s future. Again, not really the movie’s fault, but worth noting nonetheless.
The Marvels opens in theaters on November 10.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
