The Marvels Review - It's impressive to think that just over four years have passed since Avengers: Endgame, the blockbuster that closed Marvel's first film cycle, breaking all kinds of records. In these four years, the House of Ideas has not been particularly lucky: it was already difficult to replace such an iconic cast of actors and characters, starting practically from scratch, let alone if in the middle we had to face a pandemic with consequent closure of cinemas, slowdown of the works and fragmentation of the narrative across multiple media, mainly to try to launch and support the Disney+ streaming service.
The result is that Kevin Feige and his companions have struggled to keep the pieces together and above all to re-involve a large audience which, between "minor heroes" and the difficulty in following all the plots of the multiverse on multiple media, has lost its love for this kind of film. What is impressive, we were saying, is that a new fundamental piece of the Marvel cinematic universe comes out almost quietly, without the streets decorated with billboards, or events in Fortnite as a support.
The Marvels arriving in Italian cinemas starting from 8 November, should be a real blockbuster: not only does it feature one of the few Avenger survivors of the Final Game, but it also resumes two of the most successful TV series in these years of experimentation on Disney+, namely WandaVision and Ms. Marvel.
How did things go? Let's find out in the review of The Marvels.
What you need to know to watch The Marvels
Before talking about the film, let's give some coordinates so you can be ready to watch The Marvels. Not that the new Disney film isn't understandable even if you're not familiar with the Marvel universe, especially due to its simple plot and some brief explanations inserted between the dialogues, but to understand all the nuances of the film it's better to have some knowledge preliminary.
Let's start, obviously, with Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, the superhero played by Brie Larson. The former U.S. fighter pilot Air Force is one of the most powerful members (if not the most powerful) of the original Avengers and was the protagonist of both the latest Avengers films and her film, Captain Marvel. This should be the obligatory starting point to better understand The Marvels, especially the relationship between Danvers and Monica Rambeau, as well as the conflict that propels the adventure.
It seems strange, but it may not be essential to see the Ms. Marvel miniseries to understand the likable heroine played by Iman Vellani. Of course, thanks to that we would know better the history of the bracelet and how he obtained his powers, in addition to the fact that the gags with his bizarre family would be more laughable, but The Marvels manages very well to explain everything needed about Kamala Khan in very few sequences. Also thanks to the talented Canadian actress, capable of literally piercing the screen with her kindness.
The vision of WandaVision, pardon the pun on multiple levels, is instead fundamental to knowing who Monica Rambeau is and how she obtained her powers. Most of her will remember her as Carol Danvers' little niece and not as a superhero capable of absorbing light and using it for multiple purposes. Furthermore, it might not hurt to watch the forgettable Secret Invasion, especially to delve deeper into the character of Nick Fury and his relationship with the Skrulls.
Three superheroes in search of an author
Given these premises, The Marvels is a very light film, which doesn't take long to get to the heart of things, especially because its plot is not particularly articulated, with complex pseudo-scientific explanations aside. It all revolves around the three protagonists Marvels, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, three completely different profiles from each other, but which for this very reason work quite well.
We have a rigid and tormented Danvers who finds herself having to share her space with the exuberant and cheerful Khan and with Rambeau, with whom she hasn't had any contact for years, despite her familiarity. This diversity, after an initial moment or confusion, will become a strong point of the trio and will give life to a series of rather successful comic interludes throughout the film.
These three characters, so distant, even geographically, find themselves having to collaborate because for some strange reason their powers, all centered on light, make a sort of "contact" when they are used at the same time, causing the two heroines involved to instantly exchange the position. Ms. Marvel might be teleported into the middle of deep space, while Danvers finds himself having to manage Kamala's intrusive parents when a moment before she was fighting the enemy of the moment.
To glue everything together is Samuel L. Jackson's omnipresent Nick Fury, a more relaxed and amused version of the former director of SHIELD. This super team suddenly finds itself having to face the usual threat that endangers the entire universe and must be fought with super energy and good feelings.
Finding the way again
We must admit that the 105 minutes of The Marvels passed rather quickly, between a well-choreographed action scene and some comic gimmicks that were truly over the top but rather successful in their absurdity. Nia DaCosta's direction tries to put the various pieces together in a coherent manner, even if her screenplay, written in collaboration with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik, sometimes handles some passages that could have been explored in depth in a slightly too superficial manner Better.
Not that the film is short in itself, but it is the shortest Marvel film in recent years, and, having to act as a link between many different productions, the story could have taken more time to better introduce the three protagonists to those who don't know their story. past, but above all to give more space to the friction between Captain Marvel and Dar-Benn, the antagonist of the film played by Zawe Ashton.
In the end, we understand the hatred that the Kree warrior feels towards Danvers, and the reasons that pushed the Avenger to act in that way are explained, but it is difficult to feel empathy for Dar-Benn and his people just by watching The Marvels. A few more minutes to tell what happened in the last 4 years of Captain Marvel's life could have given much more depth to the antagonist and to the whole plot, which loses a bit of bite in the ending after the fun beginning.
As it is, however, the film can be watched without jolts, it entertains without much effort, especially due to the comic interludes, sometimes a little forced, but still successful, and some pleasant action scenes.
Are there any post-credit scenes in The Marvels?
One of the most iconic elements of Marvel films is the presence of what are called "post-credits scenes", that is, sequences placed after the credits which are usually used either to anticipate the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or to better integrate the film inside it.
In the case of The Marvels, we have a rather important and very successful scene at the end of the main titles and a decidedly smaller, even superfluous, one at the end of the music.