The Marvels, the shortest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, is also the least successful in terms of box office. It didn’t even recoup its production costs on its theatrical run. I wonder if posterity might be kinder to it than fickle cinema audiences, because whatever you think of the 33rd movie in this gargantuan MCU run, it is at least trying something new and of courting an entirely different audience this time around.
Women, in short. This is a fluffier, more touchy-feely, from-Venus-not-Mars kind of superhero movie, and while that might seem, to some, to shortchange women, it looks like that is exactly the direction that Marvel high command have set director Nia DaCosta and co-writers Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik off on.
In any case, how many more movies running on the old template – jeopardy, quippery and biff-bang-powery – can anyone take?
And so to the plot, which factors in three levels of superhero. There’s the soldier, Captain Marvel, again played by the mighty Brie Larson. The cadet, Monica Rambeau, played as she was in the TV show WandaVision by Teyonah Parris. And the absolute beginner, Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani. They’re pitted against evil genius mastermind supervillain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), scar tissue and a vainglorious sceptre clutched in her hand indicating she’s a bad thing in case we’d not got it. What does Dar-Benn want? The annihilation of the Earth, or the use of its sun’s energy, at any rate.
This would make for a fairly straightforward MCU movie, a kind of mini-Avengers Assemble many-against-the-enemy affair, but the ingenious plot wrinkle has Captain Marvel, Rambeau and Khan all swapping location with each other every time a superpower is used – so one minute Khan is in her New Jersey teenager’s bedroom idolising Captain Marvel from afar, the next she’s in deep space floating about with no idea what the hell is going on. Three people constantly swapping positions, A with B with C and all the various permutations, makes for a hellishly busy movie, especially when you factor in that these characters are going to be switching places at precisely the moments of maximum confusion – the action sequences.
So, DaCosta and co dial down on that a bit, to save our sanity, and dial up the feelgood and humour instead. This is a warm bath of a superhero movie, with lovely interaction between Larson, Parris and Vellani, with Samuel L Jackson also doing his thing with a funny line, plus Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur and Saagar Shaikh working the concerned-Indian-family shtick for all its worth as Khan’s bewildered New Jersey clan, the comedic mundane counterpoint to the spectacular superhero stuff.
There is a show tune and a song and a dance number, believe it or not. They’re just about convincingly shoehorned into the narrative by having the threesome visit a planet where people communicate via the medium of song and dance, plus Captain Marvel’s pet ginger pussycat, plus the odd “mentor moment” when Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) arrives to add a temporary sisterly hand.
There are tie-ins to the TV MCU – Ms. Marvel most obviously (which stars Vellani) – but no previous knowledge, either of TV or theatrical iterations of the MCU, is required to enjoy this outing. There are the familiar MCU moments – a showdown in space with much fighting, and later one a one-on-one struggle for survival requiring a heroic act of self-denial – but the film is at its best when it stays away from the template and plays up its differences.
Towards the end Hailee Steinfeld arrives for another sisterly moment. She played Kate Bishop in the Hawkeye TV series but here her job is to pave the way for a follow-on Captain Marvel movie. Considering how badly this did at the box office, that might never happen. Which would be a pity. Time, I’m guessing, will be kinder to The Marvels and its vibe of sisterly feelgood.
The Marvels – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
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© Steve Morrissey 2024
