‘Marvels’ offer purrfect antidote to recent stream of superhero flops
Cat lovers rejoice, the Flerkens are back and finally get their time to shine. Despite her best wishes, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson, Kong: Skull Island) didn’t get to fly solo in The Marvels. Instead, audiences receive the comedic team up of her, Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris, They Cloned Tyrone), and Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
The Marvel’s villain, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton, The Handmaid’s Tale), is hell-bent on restoring the glory of the desolate Hala. After the events of Captain Marvel, the planet was wrecked with drought, unbreathable air, and even lost its sun due to the destruction of the Supreme Intelligence.
Dar-Benn found the quantum band matching the one donned by Ms. Marvel, which leads to the “entanglement” of the three stars of the movie because of their similar light-based powers. She proceeds to run around the galaxy, creating unstable jump points between planets to steal resources in order to rejuvenate the once thriving Hala.
The chemistry among the three leads proves both spectacular and engaging throughout the entirety of the movie. The Marvels has a great balance of emotions, with a well-timed mix of comedic and serious scenes. Danvers and Rambeau finally talk through their issues stemming from Captain Marvel, which provides much needed insight into them as individuals. Danvers’ desperation to fix things with Rambeau rings out clearly from the second they first talk, and it has great pay off later in the movie. Viewers finally learn more about the often closed-off Carol Danvers and her preference for solitude, as she breaks down her walls a bit more to let others in.
Obvious parallels can be made through the comparisons of Danvers’ relationship with Khan and Rambaeu. Danvers and Khan’s relationship started off on a rocky foot, as Danvers was hesitant to fully embrace the energetic and fangirling teen. Larson does a great job at portraying the internal toil she was struggling with regarding the possibility of letting down another person who looks up to her.
Toward the beginning of the movie, there’s a cartoon montage of Ms. Marvel and the friendship she dreamed of having with Captain Marvel, the inspiration for her superhero name and costume. This fun, animated section proves a great introduction to set the tone of the movie and carry on the stylistic elements that made Ms. Marvel such a good show and so different from other Marvel series.
The Marvels faced a challenging concept to successfully execute and they pull it off wonderfully. “The Marvels” constantly jumping around and switching places with each other could have felt over-done, overwhelming, and overall confusing, but it doesn’t. There is also an impressive improvement in the quality of the CGI compared to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, one of the most recent cinematic installments in the MCU. The effects from their light powers create aesthetically beautiful scenes that make The Marvels stand out so well compared to other recent releases.
One aspect that could have been improved upon are the action scenes and overall plot of the movie and the noticeable lack of confusion over their situation of switching places. Most of the characters brush it off like a typical Tuesday, though this may just be contributed by the fact that they are in space, or otherwise have some familiarity with the supernatural, and odd is the true normal for them.
Another problem the MCU has faced as of late are villains with weak payoffs and conclusions. Dar-Benn has a compelling backstory with her relationship with Captain Marvel, or “Annihilator” as she refers to her, but, without getting too much into spoilers, the way her story wraps up leaves a lot to be desired.
Parts of the movie feel slightly rushed, but they did take their time to feature a long montage of cats swallowing humans and being herded into escape pods. Fittingly, in the background of this scene, is Barbara Streisand’s song “Memory” from the 1981 musical Cats. While yes, the Flerkens are slightly disturbing with octopus-like tentacles randomly springing out of their mouths to capture and temporarily consume people and objects, at the end of the day, they’re just adorable cats living their best lives. The reproductive process of these Flerkens is also particularly questionable as Captain Marvel’s cat Goose laid over 100 cat eggs, which is unusual in itself regardless of the fact that said eggs look like they resemble brains.
The Marvels ably portrays these absurd storylines without coming off as too cringy or ridiculous to watch, although that may just be due to the overwhelming cuteness that comes from over a hundred kittens running around and doing all of the silly, loveable things that kittens do.
The Marvels is a great standalone movie, but like nearly all installments of the MCU, the larger relevance is lost on the audience until the end-credit scenes, one that sets up where the characters are heading next and what Marvel fans have to look forward to.
A+ The Marvels is a visually pleasing breath of fresh air after the recent streak of mediocre Marvel movies with well-written jokes, dynamic characters, and a successfully laid out storyline.
by Addi Isely
Published November 27 2023
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue II