“Marvels Movie Review: A Sweet Surge of Charm Elevates a Film with Tonal Complexity”
Marvels Unleashed: Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, and Extraterrestrial Felines Shine in a Film Where Brie Larson Falls Short
Is Marvel going retro? Four years post-Avengers: Endgame, the once-dominant studio faces scrutiny for its trajectory away from glory days. Accusations of too many spin-offs and too few innovative ideas abound. The Marvels, the latest project, only fuels this debate, embodying a sense of a studio in chaotic motion, as if herding cats—an echo, perhaps, of director Nia DaCosta’s own struggles.
The movie serves as a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, albeit with Marvel’s increasingly complex web of connections. Brie Larson reprises her role as the former fighter pilot Carol Danvers. The Marvels now include the super-powered Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and teenage Desi-American fangirl Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), injecting thematic musings on family into interplanetary sci-fi. Villainous Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) snarls about Skrull betrayal amidst actors resembling sentient globe artichokes.
The film boasts moments of sugar-rush charm. DaCosta, known for directing the smart horror remake Candyman, infuses vibrancy into the sitcom-like Khans and injects energy into fight scenes. A running gag with footloose cats (Lovecraftian aliens) remains surprisingly amusing, with Parris’s stellar performance overshadowing Larson, who appears in need of coffee and purpose.
However, the film’s chaotic tone requires more than caffeine. While the archetypal Marvel hit felt like a cohesive blockbuster, DaCosta’s approach turns The Marvels into tonal spaghetti—a mix of group hugs, playful montages, and earnest self-reflection, accompanied by odd musical interludes and questionable effects. The running time breezes by, but as a potential model for Marvel’s corporate future, you sense the cats are still un-herded, leaving company president Kevin Feige facing an uncertain path.”
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