‘The Marvels’ Blu-ray Review

Stars: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh | Written by Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik | Directed by Nia DaCosta

Directed by Nia DaCosta (who helmed the recent Candyman remake), The Marvels is the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and a direct sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), which introduced Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. It’s also a continuation of the events of both the Ms Marvel TV show (2022), which introduced Iman Vellani as Pakistani-American New Jersey teen superhero Kamala Khan / Ms Marvel, and WandaVision, which showed Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) getting light-based superpowers of her own.

The plot is essentially a superhero team-up story, of the type beloved by comics fans everywhere. It begins with Kree revolutionary leader Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) discovering a cosmic bangle that is identical to the one that gives Kamala her powers. Intending to give new life to her home planet of Hala, Dar-Benn uses the bangle to tear a hole in space and time, which causes Carol, Kamala and Monica to unexpectedly switch places whenever they use their powers at the same time.

After a handful of body-swap shenanigans, the trio eventually meet up in the same space and realise that they have to stop Dar-Benn before her actions end up destroying various planets. They are supported by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), along with Kamala’s parents (Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur) and brother (Saagar Shaikh), who are brought into space after Kree warriors destroy their house.

As with any team-up comic, the dynamic between the three leads is the main appeal here. Accordingly, the central trio are so much fun to watch that their entertaining interactions effectively paper over a handful of other problems, whether that’s a momentary lapse in plot logic (Kamala appears to be able to use her powers without wearing her bangle at one point) or something more significant, like a climactic resolution moment that should have been huge, but is instead badly rushed and carries no dramatic weight as a result.

Elsewhere, the film relies on the winning Marvel formula of action, emotion, and strong character humour. As such, the action sequences are decent, if unremarkable. There’s a sense of wasted opportunity there, because although the trio are shown training how to fight while body-swapping (a lovely montage sequence), the resulting body-swap battle ultimately lacks invention when it had the potential to be an expertly choreographed highlight.

There are similar lapses with the comedy set-pieces, most notably a brief excursion to a planet where everyone communicates in song, an idea that isn’t taken nearly far enough in pursuit of laughs, and is quickly dropped. (On a related note, anyone planning to see this film for Korean star Park Seo-joon, as the Prince of said planet, is likely to be disappointed).

That said, there’s plenty of comedy that does work, particularly in the interactions between the characters. There’s also an inspired stand-out comedy set-piece involving kittens that’s certain to be an instant crowd-pleaser, not least because it is exactly the type of joyful nonsense that comic-book movies should be doing.

Similarly, DaCosta nails the emotional aspect of the film, giving Monica (whose character appeared as a young girl in Captain Marvel) and Carol a powerfully moving backstory and creating a strong bond between the members of Kamala’s family. The script also has more thematic weight than we usually associate with Marvel movies – here, it’s Carol’s own actions that have inadvertently lead to Hala’s destruction, and the fact that the Kree – including Dar-Benn – all refer to her as “The Annihilator” isn’t entirely unjustified, leading to some complex material surrounding issues of guilt, atonement, fallibility and the limits of heroism.

Ultimately, The Marvels isn’t entirely without flaws, but it’s still an enormous amount of fun, thanks to its winning performances, DaCosta’s pacey direction and a willingness to properly embrace a comic-book sensibility. Here’s hoping Marvel have similar team-up adventures planned for the future.

Special Features:

• Entangled – Take a cosmic trip behind the scenes with cast & crew
• The Production Diaries – Join Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani for some on-set fun & candid moments
• Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary – with director Nia DaCosta and VFX Supervisor Tara DeMarco

***½  3.5/5

The Marvels is out now on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD.