The Marvels review

It was just 4 years ago that Captain Marvel came out, enraging the incels to such an unprecedented degree that many of them decided to devote their entire lives to hating on Brie Larson, and developing insane conspiracy theories to explain away the movie's billion dollar box office.

Now the character is back for The Marvels, a team-up movie that looks like it may wind up being a bona-fide box office bomb. You can't go anywhere online these days without seeing 100 people insisting the Marvel is over. So it's almost like people have bought into this narrative that they can't watch the MCU anymore. And you just know that if the film does bomb, it will only embolden the grifters.

But to the surprise of not me, The Marvels is a lot of fun. It's inferior to the original, and is definitely a lower tier entry in the MCU, but we are talking about a 30+ film franchise (not even counting adjacent stuff like Spiderverse) that really doesn't have anything in it that is below about a 6/10. 

The Marvels brings together Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris's Monica Rambeau (last seen in Wandavision) and Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel. Plot circumstances have the three of them switching places whenever they use their powers. The reasons have to do with the film's villain, Dar-Been, a new Kree leader with a real hatred for Captain Marvel.

Samuel L. Jackson is back again as Fury. Goose is back, and feels unnecessary until later in the movie with a bizarre sequence that's one of the MCU's absurdist peaks. Ms. Marvel's family is appealing in a surprisingly large role. And of course there are a couple cameos.

Dar-Been is maybe the MCU's worst villain. Zawe Ashton gives one of the worst, dullest villain performances in any Marvel film. But the 3 leads are all super charismatic and fun. Vellani completely steals this thing with her infectious energy. What a find Marvel made with her. 

The Marvels makes great use of the body-swapping hook for a few terrifically clever action sequences. It's a fun movie. It's definitely not the most consequential or epic MCU movie, and zips by in 1:45. It does feel shortened in a couple places. But like the 32 previous MCU movies, The Marvels is a good time. 

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