While investigating a wormhole in space, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) gets shocked by whatever cosmic energy is in that sucker. Since she, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) all have light-related superpowers, it causes them to switch places with one another every time they use their abilities. They must then come together and learn to work as a team to defeat a hammer-wielding lady (Zawe Ashton) whose bangle bracelet (which is similar to the one Ms. Marvel wears) gives her the power to teleport through space.
The Marvels is a breezy, lean, and most of all, fun romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Most of these superhero movies bend over backwards to be dark and gloomy. This one is refreshingly goofy, with a tone that’s closer to the last couple of Thor sequels.
The power-switching gimmick is kind of neat. It forces the heroines to work together and learn how to coordinate their abilities (not to mention figure out who’s gonna end up where afterwards). It’s sort of like a mixture of teleportation and tag-team wrestling, and the results are entertainingly goofy.
One major debit is the lack of a strong villain. Ashton just sort of swings her hammer around a lot, and her revenge scheme is barely memorable. It also doesn’t help that her character doesn’t have much of a personality.
That said, there’s some fun silliness to be had here. I liked the detour to a planet where the alien language is music, which turns every conversation into a musical number. You won’t find Bollywood dance numbers in a Batman movie, that’s for sure. There’s also a brief, but fun animated segment, and some cool use of split screen too.
The highlight though is Goose the cat. He stole the show in the first Captain Marvel, and he does so again here. The best sequence of the movie almost plays like a homage to the “Trouble with Tribbles” episode of Star Trek that only gets more outrageous as it goes along, ending with a hilarious needle drop, which is the perfect icing on the cake. I know the film was a dud at the box office, but I’d see a Goose spin-off in a heartbeat.
Also, say what you want about The Marvels, but it’s relatively short for the genre. It’s not perfect, but thankfully, it’s missing a lot of the bloat that drags these things down. It also boasts solid performances by the three leads, all of whom have plenty of chemistry together. While Samuel L. Jackson could probably do these movies in his sleep by now, it’s always nice to see him showing up once again as Nick Fury.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Scorecard:
Spider-Man: No Way Home: ****
Avengers: Age of Ultron: ****
The Incredible Hulk: ****
Iron Man: ****
Thor: Ragnarok: ****
Avengers: Endgame: ****
Ant-Man and the Wasp: ****
Spider-Man: Homecoming: ****
Iron Man 3: ****
Captain America: Civil War: *** ½
Ant-Man: *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy: *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: *** ½
Avengers: Infinity War: *** ½
Black Panther: *** ½
The Avengers: ***
Captain America: The First Avenger: ***
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: ***
Thor: Love and Thunder: ***
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: ***
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: ***
Captain Marvel: ***
Spider-Man: Far from Home: ***
Thor: ***
The Marvels: ***
Thor: The Dark World: ***
Iron Man 2: ***
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: ** ½
Doctor Strange: ** ½
Black Widow: ** ½
Eternals: * ½
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