Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Samuel L. Jackson  
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 105 mins

The Marvels is the latest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a sequel to Captain Marvel. Although Captain Marvel received positive reviews, the response wasn’t as rapturous as other Phase 3 titles. Other than a so-so first act, I thought the film really stood out with its 1990’s, fish-out-of-water approach with some thrilling twists. Director Nia DaCosta replaces the original pair of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and is an exciting choice after her excellent, smart Candyman sequel. In the film, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) finds she begins swapping places with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) every time they use their powers. 

Unfortunately, The Marvels has been in the press for poor reasons, from reports of negative test screenings to DaCosta leaving mid-production to work on her next project, Hedda. Debates have ensued as to whether these reports are accurate, but coupled with the increasing saturation of the superhero genre, prospects look poor for The Marvels.  

It’s a real shame that The Marvels misses the mark, both as a Marvel and a Nia DaCosta film. The finished product seems to be bereft of DaCosta’s fingerprints and is completely misguided. It doesn’t help that not only do you need to have seen Captain Marvel to be up-to-date before watching this film but you also need to have seen two Marvel television series – Ms Marvel and Secret Invasion. The trademark quippy humour of Marvel films rears its ugly head here and it’s missing almost all of the ingredients that made its predecessor a success. There’s next-to-no character development for Danvers and the film doesn’t capitalise on her relationship with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – the interplay between them was one of the main ingredients that made it work. 

Teyonah Parris fails to make an impression as Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) in the original film. Unless you’ve watched WandaVision (another Marvel TV series), she receives no development whatsoever beyond the fact that Danvers failed to return to her as a child. Iman Vellani fares better as Kamala Khan but the arc of being inspired by your childhood heroes is a well-worn trope. 

The Marvels also suffers from a poor villain in the form of Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree warrior who is trying to restore her homeland after a devastating civil war. Ashton’s a fine actress, impressing in films such as Nocturnal Animals and Velvet Buzzsaw, but her villain is one-dimensional and has typical destructive antics. Both of Marvel’s two other entries this year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 left me feeling rather indifferent, but you can’t deny they were both excellent in the villain department. 

The final performance worthy of mention is Gary Lewis as Emperor Dro’ge, the leader of a Skrull company. I haven’t seen him in a film in quite some time and knew he was going to be in this but he is yet another casualty – completely wasted under a lot of heavy make-up with no development. 

Laura Karpman’s original score does nothing to add to the proceedings and the use of songs like M.I.A’s Double Bubble Trouble and Skrillex’s Ratata in action sequences are grating. Captain Marvel wasn’t the first film to rely on a soundtrack from the time period it was set in, but the use of tracks from Nirvana and R.E.M, among others, complemented Pinar Toprak’s original score nicely. 

I was excited to see Sean Bobbitt would be lensing The Marvels, Bobbitt being most famous for his collaborations with director Steve McQueen with films such as 12 Years A Slave and Widows. Unfortunately, The Marvels doesn’t have single memorable shot and is uncharacteristic of Bobbitt, whose works typically rely on dark contrasts, long takes and natural light. It doesn’t help that The Marvels is overly reliant on CGI, although at least it isn’t quite as visually ugly as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, although that’s damning with faint praise. 

Overall, The Marvels is a complete failure as a Captain Marvel sequel, a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry and as part of the wider superhero genre. It’s painfully anonymous despite a stellar director at the helm, its story misguided and cringeworthy in places (especially an out-of-place-scene on a planet where everyone converses through song), visually drab and fails to develop any of its characters. 

It may even be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worst entry yet – the other two contenders would be the smug Avengers: Age of Ultron and the boring and formulaic Black Widow. However, the former has a compelling villain and the latter has an interesting first twenty minutes that suggest a new direction for Marvel before settling into convention. I suppose what The Marvels has going in its favour is it’s the shortest film yet in the ever-expanding franchise at 105 minutes, so it’s a brisk affair and it also isn’t mean-spirited. Still, what a shame considering the talent involved. 

⭐⭐ (Poor)