The Marvels Review: Iman Vellani Soars, But This Cosmic Disappointment Can't Get Off The Ground
Iman Vellani is a movie star, a gravitational field in human form who commands attention the moment she appears on-screen. That much was blindingly obvious as early as the premiere of the Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel," one of three distinct and mostly unconnected installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that "The Marvels" is attempting to pay off. (The others being 2018's "Captain Marvel," of course, and another Disney+ show, "WandaVision.") The decision to forego a straightforward sequel for this latest blockbuster and instead push the chips all the way in on yet another shared-universe crossover has always felt inevitable — this is a movie that literally shares the name of its own brand, after all. But Kamala Khan was a rare exception to that rule. Refreshingly, a talented and character-focused creative team (led by Bisha K. Ali) infused the journey of a young Muslim girl taking her first steps towards heroism with the cultural import, nuanced interiority, and sense of wide-eyed wonder that's all too lacking these days.
Make no mistake: Vellani's big-screen debut singlehandedly makes "The Marvels" worth your while.
The same can't quite be said for the rest of the disjointed and painfully rushed effort, which comes with the metallic aftertaste of a made-by-committee affair. Thankfully, the chemistry between the three leads, the occasionally rousing power-swapping action, and the mercifully short runtime of 105 minutes helps make the messier bits go down easier. However, that does little to disguise a production that appears to have been cut to the bone in the edit. Director Nia DaCosta does what she can to liven up the proceedings compared to the first "Captain Marvel," which was an oddly sedate and blandly symbolic misfire that never played to Brie Larson's strengths. Here, Larson's Carol Danvers, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Vellani make up for that by forming a brilliant power trio, perfectly complimenting one another in what's been marketed as an epic, sci-fi adventure. But, for better or worse, it only really flies higher, further, and faster when settling into the groove of a low-stakes hangout flick.
For the dyed-in-the-wool fans, that will probably be enough. For others, the film's promising start will only make the rest of the comparatively flat and muddled story feel that much more disappointing. Taken together, "The Marvels" feels like a glimpse into an alternate reality — one where it was actually allowed to overcome its own self-inflicted constraints.
Fighting with one hand tied behind its back
Right from the start, "The Marvels" operates at a breathless pace. In no time at all, the script (credited to DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik) breezes through the obligatory table-setting to establish the villainous Kree warlord Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton, a performance that's done no favors by such a paper-thin role). On a quest to save her dying homeworld of Hala and willing to do anything to accomplish it, even if it means waging genocide against their shape-shifting Skrull enemies, her early discovery of a magical bangle that looks suspiciously like the one Kamala wears kicks the rest of the plot in motion. Despite mountains of exposition, largely dumped onto the shoulders of Teyonah Parris, it's never made 100% clear why any of this leads to our three heroes suffering from "quantum entanglement" as they essentially body-swap whenever they use their light-based powers scattered across the galaxy. We're clearly expected to turn our brains off in order to get to the moments of creatively-staged action and that "Just go with it" attitude glosses over a metric ton of nonsense throughout the plot. You'll either be along for the ride or not.
"The Marvels" isn't able to sustain this early momentum, unfortunately, and that becomes clear right from our introduction to Kamala. To its credit, the film effortlessly lays out her story for those who may have missed "Ms. Marvel," largely through visuals of the same hand-drawn animation from the series that felt so charming and made it stand out from the rest of the franchise. (Subsequent attempts to catch audiences up to speed are far clunkier and less character-based, resorting to extended flashback reels of the first "Captain Marvel" or unimaginative dialogue explaining what happened in "WandaVision.") But in a slightly too on-the-nose metaphor for what plagues so much of the movie, those brief flashes of creativity and genuine inspiration are completely dropped and never appear again.
Much like how the power-swapping gimmick forces Kamala, Carol, and Monica to fight at a severe disadvantage, the movie itself can't seem to get out of its own way. Despite its runtime, the script stuffs in almost three hours' worth of story involving the Kree/Skrull war, the Marvels' attempt to come together as a team, a B-plot focusing on Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and all of Kamala's scene-stealing supporting cast of family, and more. By the time the perfunctory third act rolls around, "The Marvels" might as well be on autopilot.
Limping to the finish line
The middle and final stretches of "The Marvels" are where the frantic and oftentimes jarring editing threatens to completely overwhelm the story. Just when audiences are beginning to emotionally invest in seeing Kamala, Monica, and Carol come together and forge a unique team dynamic, the plot rushes ahead to some other corner of the galaxy with barely a moment to pause. It's to DaCosta's ultimate credit that she still manages to find room for highlights like a delightful montage where the Marvels all take the time to figure out how to adapt to their entangled powers, or take an extended journey to a planet of aliens who can only communicate through songs (one of a few imaginative moments that feel like an old "Star Trek" episode brought to life), or develop tension between the three superheroes that gets to the heart of the movie's intended message — that being a hero is about more than living up to some impossible ideal.
But even at its most enjoyable moments, "The Marvels" succumbs to the temptation of franchise-building over all else. Entire scenes and subplots feel hacked to bits, leading to only the latest Marvel-mandated third act filled with energy blasts, poor VFX compositing, and flat lighting (cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, who captures the action early on with a surprising amount of energy, can only do so much in the absence of actual sets). And, quite frankly, the film simply never manages to operate on the same level whenever Kamala isn't the focus of a given scene.
Ultimately, it's a shame that every Marvel installment at this point takes on the feel of a referendum of the entire franchise — if not the superhero "genre" as a whole. Taken on its own merits, "The Marvels" is little more than another mediocre, easily-forgotten effort in a never-ending stream of products. In the context of a shared universe that's been publicly foundering in recent weeks and months, the sequel will likely be in for an undeserved amount of negative attention. That's due to no fault of its own, as it's easy to see what DaCosta and her team originally intended with this movie. It's just too bad that very little of that remains on the screen.
/Film Rating: 5 out of 10