The MCU hasn’t been doing quite so well of late. While various streaming series and movies have actually been good, there have been more than a few that have been disappointing or even outright bad (lookin’ at you, Secret Invasion). Has the MCU lost its luster? Well, probably not. I suspect it’s more like after the highs of movies like Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home that subsequent movies setting up the next big storyline, including the fact that many of the original Avengers and other characters were slowly being cycled out as different actors’ contracts end, was probably going to be at least a little disappointing. But honestly, the early trailers for the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels looked rather fun.
Was it? Well, circumstances kept me from seeing it as quickly as I would have in the past, but I did get out to see it.
Kree leader Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) has a plan to fix the Kree homeworld Hala. It involves using a bangle much like the one worn by Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) on Earth, and whatever she’s doing is causing harm to the jump gates that allow for various alien civilizations to travel great distances in a short amount of time. At about that time, Kamala is wearing her bangle while Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) are both using their light-based powers to investigate separate jump gates at the exact same time. Somehow this causes the three women to get their powers entangled, essentially causing them to switch places any time at least two of them use their powers at the same time. That is a problem by itself, but it doesn’t explain what Dar-Benn is up to.
After a some issues involving characters swapping places at the worst possible moments, the three realize they’re going to need to work together to stop Dar-Benn. Carol is used to working alone. Monica has some issues with Carol’s distance after the two were close when Monica was a child. Kamala is a huge fan of Carol’s and can’t stop gushing. Can these three actually work together to stop Dar-Benn, especially when they don’t even know what she’s doing, and they tend to swap places at the worst possible times?
As MCU movies go, The Marvels is fine. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and there’s some nice creative moments involving Goose the Flerkin and at least one planet that Carol and her pals visit. Sam Jackson returns as Nick Fury, and Velani seems to carry the movie at times. Kamala’s fangirlish enthusiasm really sets her apart from the rest. The problem, such as it is, is Carol and Monica are not as interesting as characters as Kamala is. The conflict between the two feels forced and somewhat easily resolved though the chemistry between the three leads really works even if Aston’s villain is something of a step back towards the more bland sort of villain that the MCU used to trot out all the time.
I think the issue is Carol Danvers as a character. Brie Larson is an incredibly talented actor, but after two movies (plus her Endgame appearance), I don’t see much here that sets Carol apart from any standard superhero. What I think the problem is is that Carol hasn’t been as well-written as she could be. She spent arguably most of the first movie with amnesia, so she arguably isn’t really herself for most of the runtime. I get the impression that Carol has replaced Steve Rogers as the moral center of the MCU, or she is supposed to. But it takes an actor with a certain sort of talent to play a character like that. Chris Evans and Christopher Reeve both pulled it off. I’m not sure Larson can, and I really like her as an actress. My hope is that whenever she returns, she’s given a bit more to do in a way that gives me a better feel for her character. She comes close here, but given this movie isn’t even two full hours and she’s splitting screentime with Vellani and Parris, she hasn’t been able to do so yet. Larson is not the problem: the writing for Carol is. The Marvels is still a fun movie, largely because of Vellani. I just can’t say it’s a great one.
Grade: B-
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