Dog’s Movie House: “The Marvels” Bouyed By The Chemistry Between Its Three Stars!

“The Marvels” picks up after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” in which we find Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) tootling around space, trying to retrieve some of her lost memories between missions. Her former foster race turned deadly enemies, The Kree, are now on the brink of extinction and a powerful commander named Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) unearths a powerful artifact and uses its power to help rebuild her planet while simultaneously taking revenge on Captain Marvel. On of the side effects of Dar-Benn’s plan is that Captain Marvel’s powers become entangled with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vallani), also known as Ms. Marvel. The three must form an alliance and, with the help of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) must stop Dar-Benn and her Kree forces from possibly destroying the entire universe.

The plot does sound a bit boilerplate, doesn’t it? That is definitely true, but like so many movies, the devil is in the details. Nia Dacosta and her writers Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik make sure the well-trodden journey is one well worth taking. “The Marvels” excells in the building of the relationship between Captain Marvel, Monica, and Kamala, leaning into their respective histories to add the entertaining dymanic between the trio. Monica and Captain Marvel were once close due to Marvel’s close relationship with Monica’s mother, who died of cancer during Thano’s Blip, and in the thirty years that have passed the two have become estranged. Meanwhile, Kamala is a huge fan-girl of Captain Marvel (even taking a version of her name) and the meeting between the two becomes an entertaining excercise in the old “meeting your idol” trope. The script’s dialogue is quick and snappy and the chemistry between the three actresses is the best part of the film.

“The Marvels” also features some nifty action set pieces that show off Dacosta’s skill behind the camera. The moves said camera smoothly and choreographes some creative battles, made all the more intriguing by the trio’s entangled powers which forces them to switch places with each other when they use them at the same time. The special effects are solid and, as in most Marvel films, the story moves forward to effectively set up the next phase of cinematic storytelling.

The primary problem with “The Marvels” isn’t in the movie itself, but in the amount of cinematic research you have to do to get the most out of the film. Vallani is the film’s MVP, but you’d have had to have watched the Ms. Marvel television show on Disney+ to understand the depth of her backstory, such as the hilarious yet heartfelt relationship with her parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur). Vallani’s irrepresible and cute as hell, so she is able to convey her enthusiasm and empathy fairly effectively without the backstory, but it still would help not to have to do so much damned research.

The other small problem is that the villain is fairly one note. Ashton does the best she can, but Dar-Benn is woefully underwritten, especially compared to the heroes of the story, and that lack of balance in the conflict leads to a certain distance in terms of audience involvement in the film, almost like your watching the film with a thin filter between you and the screen. That said, “The Marvels” provides a solid, endearing and entertaining entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and hopefully will be a harbinger of things to come. 4 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

Pages: 1 2