The Marvels (Mini-Review)

The Marvels is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Monica Rambeau and Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) both examine odd space events when their powers become intertwined. Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) finds her powers also intertwined with the others. Now the three of them must discover why this is happening and how to stop it. While they struggle to figure those questions out, Dar-Benn threatens the galaxy with her quest for revenge. The Marvels was released in 2023. It was directed by Nia DaCosta. It stars Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, and Zawe Ashton.

There is one mid-credits scene and one post-credits scene. The mid-credits scene shows what happened to a character. The post-credits scene is audio only.

I didn't like Captain Marvel (2019) as I felt Carol's character arc wasn't well done. She should have started the movie being extremely stoic and only slowly start turning into her sarcastic self. Luckily in this movie she has something much more interesting going on with her. She is revealed to have done something extremely shameful and didn't return to Earth because of that. Through the course of the movie she both overcomes feeling ashamed and also corrects her past mistake.

This movie contains one of my favorite scenes in any movie. Is it because the scene in question speaks to my very soul? No, it's because of how overly absurd it is. Nick Fury and his crew find themselves in an intense situation. Their solution is ridiculous even though it works. The thing that truly elevates this scene, though, is the music choice. I lost control of myself once I recognized the song.

I find that this movie examines Carol. Monica resents Captain Marvel because she never returned. This woman had to go through the loss of her mother and everything that happened in WandaVision. If you haven't watched that show, this movie doesn't explain the whole situation clearly. Hence, Monica is having trouble reconciling her childish beliefs about Carol with viewing the woman as human. Kamala is an absolute fangirl of Captain Marvel. So she has to reconcile her idealized version of Carol with the fact she is as frail as everyone else.

When the Marvels get their powers entangled it is a very frantic scene. Each character is doing their own thing when suddenly getting pulled to entirely different situations. Kamala is caught off guard more than the other two. She is in her home being a total fangirl. She's drawing and making up stories about finally meeting Captain Marvel. So she is not ready to be thrown into a fight. Yet even unprepared, she does her best to rise to the occasion. She might be silly, but she is not one to be underestimated.

I would recommend The Marvels to fans of the MCU. I would also recommend The Marvels to those that just want a fun time.