THE MARVELS (2023) review
me. I don’t even wish to call it a film; a film implies there was an infrastructure and a methodical process behind it, created by people who may not be the most expressive artists but still have something to discuss with the crowds they show it to. An ounce of an impact would at least suffice. The Marvels is far from the bog of eternal stench Quantumania was but it is indicative of the MCU’s current rut. Its pacing, script, look and even acting all feel like it was rushed because Fiege and Co. needed to fill the usual third slot of the year. That, on top of its leaked production troubles, makes it the most stitched-together and, above all, lifeless outing Marvel has spewed out. On this occasion, the rating isn’t from pure animosity as it is apathy. From beginning to end, inside and out, this is proof that not just Marvel, but superhero content under the pressure of corporations is saturated and lifeless and has lost its fire.
I don’t like the first Captain Marvel by any stretch, amidst the online warfare that it created. Erase that and it is Marvel at its most generic with a miscast Brie Larson in the role. To be fair, the way the character was written doesn’t allow any actress to produce much finesse. Needless to say, seeing her again was not at the front of my anticipation queue and with the MCU in the rut that it’s in, you can imagine how empty my bucket of intrigue was. Despite the controversy surrounding the first film, at least it felt like… a FILM! It was something clear humans made, from its duet directors to Fiege, when the latter clearly had a map beneficial for the story rather than content. This is exactly that: content. Its editing and green screen are indicative of how little care there is anymore. The camera frames are stacked together with any cohesion, and characters pop from one place to the other, Captain Marvel will be on Earth one second then in the very next scene she has arrived at a different corner of the universe. It reminded me horrifyingly of Love and Blunder, it’s that bad how evidently they rushed to get this done. But the script, in terms of being chopped up and stitched together, really is something to be desired. Like Love and Blunder again, you can tell there was a midsection that was entirely erased so the heroes just jump to the climax after their ‘low point’ segment. There are three false starts to introduce Carol Danvers, Kamala Kahn and the villain who don’t fit to ally aesthetically with each other. Above all, there are potential conflicts between the characters that remain only a potential. Without spoilers (if you care), Danvers has implied baggage from her time in war, which briefly teases a smack from reality to Kahn’s hero-worship of her as well as Monica Rambeau considering the two have history. But no! Once again, the MCU safe zone demands this conflict be silenced because it’s adored to tread new grounds. This happened with Black Widow and Janet Van Dyme and now once again. This isn’t me bashing a female-led superhero film, it’s me bashing an establishment in entertainment that evidently has a problem with female leads - they wave potential faults to their characteristics in our faces but do nothing with them, whilst the males are stripped down and problematised, like Ant-Man or Dr Strange or Thor recently. It’s pathetic and offensive and I’m long done with it because female-led superhero movies (or blockbusters in general) deserve better!
It’s an even bigger shame because the team itself is perfectly decent, but that mainly is due to the charisma of the three leads. Iman Vellani you’ll hear from all critics and fans who stole the show and, even as someone who hasn’t seen and Ms Marvel, I couldn’t agree more. Considering this is all she’s done so far, she’s 21 and doing what I would love to be doing: dressing as a superhero in the main role in a big movie and getting paid millions for good measure. She has an infectious sweetness that proves she’s destined for better things than what Feige and Co are currently giving her and I wish her all the best. Teyonah Parris too is superficially charismatic and even Brie Larson looks as though she’s settled into the role more, with more personality and a better costume. She doesn’t come across as that mean girl from a '90s college film masking Sarah Conor, she feels like an actual hero. It’s just sad that none of their characters go through any development that’s worth noting because the film itself is not aiming for any development beyond set up for future content. Don’t believe me? Watch the film and see what Kamala and Monica’s last scenes are and then get back to me. Sam Jackson is at least in a better form of Nick Fury than he was in Secret Invasion but you could have erased him and nothing would change. Plus the fact that he goes from a feckless sad sack in that abysmal show to a more fun but firm father figure is a testament to post-Endgame Marvel’s lack of care with continuity (as if each entry really is a different chapter in the multiverse). The villain is AWFUL… I mean truly abysmal! This makes Jude Law from the first film look like the High Evolutionary. It has an actress looking dazed and confused as to what direction she’s supposed to take her character along with an embarrassing costume and a pathetically underdeveloped backstory.
Honestly, seeing Captain Marvel, the character and aspect of the franchise, in this state is more tragic than aggravating. Once promised to be the face of the MCU going forward, she instead had a four-year gap because they patched it up with extensive reshoots and reworks. And now she arrived on stage like an over-the-hill sports champ who is only in the game to keep the bankrolling. The difference is that it feels like we skipped the points where she was in her prime and indulging in success. Marvel has, like almost everything recently, ravaged what actually could have been a good character to invest in, especially with Larson seeming more at home with the role this time around, with her two Co-stars and had a blast. So I cannot get mad and frustrated like I did with Quantumania because whereas that felt like Marvel at its most arrogant, this is Marvel at its most desperate. Over the last few months, it’s become clear people are sick of the universe that once seemed unstoppable and guaranteed a million-dollar jackpot. Even parts of this Multiverse slog-fest have seen success. But the tide has altered and now even the high table is admitting its mistakes, hence all the schedule changes and reshoots taking place. And this movie is shamefully the current state of Marvel shown in a less than two hours Frankenstein patch work of unnatural pacing, non-existent character development, ugly aesthetic, community script writing and lazy marketing. Oh, and an entirely pointless and toe-curling side quest to Planet Les Misérables… that’s where we are now with Marvel! So this is not so much a rant as it is the requiem of the MCU and although I wish Vellani all the best for what’s to come, I wish also for Marvel to stop and rethink its approach.
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