Movie Review: Marvel Studios’ ‘The Marvels’

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The Marvels featured image
The Marvels Key Art

The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been in the doldrums lately. The last few movies and miniseries have not created the financial windfall studio execs were hoping for in the post-Avengers era.

It could be Superhero fatigue, or it could be due to a lack of creative writing, but whatever the reason is, the folks at Disney remain vigilant in pumping out more big-budget, VFX-filled super-powered adventures with no end in sight.

The latest manifestation at a theater near you is The Marvels, a sequel of sorts furthering the escapades of the magnificent Captain Marvel, and she actually has help this time around.

Will her assistants prove to be marvelous at the box office, or will Marvel Studios need a marvelous miracle to make more money? Let’s go!

Look at me. Look at me! I’m the Captain now. The Marvels stars Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, and Samuel L. Jackson.

In a time where Superhero movies are either being scrapped or not feeling love from the audience, the sequel to Captain Marvel attempts to reinvigorate interest in the failing genre.

Unfortunately, this film ain’t the one that does it.

The main antagonist, Dar-Benn, is on a mission to restore her world due to an incident caused by Captain Marvel.

As fate would have it, Monica Rambeau and the teenaged Kamala Khan join forces with Marvel to stop Dar-Benn from producing imminent doom.

Here’s the trick: Their individual powers unexpectedly transfer from each other without warning, making for a funny experience.

Yep, Marvel Studios still haven’t realized that fine line between comedy and drama, or that less is more. 

I’m not blaming the actors, I’m not blaming the VFX squad, the set designers, or the caterers.

Nah, this misfortune falls clearly on the writers and director.

This film is too jumbled with three superheroes none get any adequate backstory, a lackluster storyline, and unnecessary scenes that are bizarre and misplaced.

There was a plot embedded in this movie which would’ve been super fascinating, but for some reason, writer/director Nia DaCosta and her team decided to add two other heroes who you would only know about if you watched their shows on Disney+.

When I found out the Captain Marvel sequel would include Ms. Marvel and Photon, I knew problems would arise.

The lead character needs her own sequel.

She still isn’t well-known and in the first movie, didn’t get a chance to display her full range of powers.

The two sidekicks need time to develop and bring them along slowly when being introduced to an audience.

Don’t assume they watch those TV shows on streaming services.

A more formidable villain was needed as well.

The fact that Dar-Benn had a certain weapon already made famous by a previous bad guy made her look like a lesser version of the previous bad guy. 

I keep hearing statements such as, “It was a fun movie,” or “It was better than I expected.” Whaaaaat??? If I tell you John Wick was a “fun” movie, you’d look at me like I was crazy.

Hey, that Superman movie didn’t have a lot of action and the script really wasn’t cohesive, but it was fun.”…c’mon, y’all.

Two scenes involving cats and singing will bother you immensely.

The climax is excellent, and the very ending as well as the mid-credit scene are filled with intrigue, but a bad dinner followed by a superb dessert doesn’t make up for the fact that the dinner was lousy.

I’m giving The Marvels a straight-to-streaming Co-sign.

They did Captain Marvel dirty.

She could’ve re-ignited the MCU in a major way, but for some reason, folks decided to make it “fun”.

Playtime is over, Marvel. You need to get serious. 

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