The Marvels (12A)

Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel faces the unintended consequences of her actions against the Supreme Intelligence: a dangerously destabilised universe. She investigates a wormhole connected to the Kree and her fate becomes entwined with Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel and her estranged niece, S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. The three heroines join forces as The Marvels to save the universe.

LondonNet Film Review

The Marvels (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Superheroes are stronger together in The Marvels, a rumbustious jaunt through a delightfully comedic phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kickstarted by Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3. “You can stand tall without standing alone,” a powerful ally assures Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) before she joins forces with Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani) and her estranged niece, S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), to prevent a diabolical Kree plot from destabilising the universe. The stakes are high in a script co-written by director Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik – and laughs are plentiful…

A dizzying opening fight sequence is an eye-popping spectacle, choreographed with verve and matched for giggles only by an escape from a stricken space station soundtracked perfectly by Barbra Streisand’s rendition of Memory from the musical Cats. Interactions between Kamala and her family comprising meddlesome but well-meaning mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff), father Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) and older brother Aamir (Saagar Shaikh) also provide fizzing comic relief – while Goose the alien cat continues to swallow supporting cast and furniture using tentacles deployed through its mouth. Advanced knowledge of the first Captain Marvel film and Ms Marvel TV series certainly helps in terms of backstories, but isn’t essential to enjoy the knockabout irreverence and sisterly solidarity hardcoded into every digitally embellished frame.

Captain Marvel (Larson) receives communication from her “favourite one-eyed man of intrigue”, Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), Director of S.A.B.E.R., about a curious energy surge. She investigates and her fate becomes entwined with Ms Marvel (Vellani) and Captain Rambeau (Parris). Every time one of the heroes uses their powers, they swap places.

This “quantum entanglement” coincides with the rise of vengeful Kree leader Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), who vows to replenish her dying home planet of Hala by plundering other worlds and transferring precious national resources through artificially created wormholes. Captain Marvel, Captain Rambeau and Ms Marvel align to thwart Dar-Benn’s cataclysmic ambitions. The quest takes the trio to the Skrull refugee colony of Tarnax commanded by Emperor Dro’ge (Gary Lewis) and the water-rich planet of Aladna, where perpetually joyful denizens communicate through song except for benevolent ruler Prince Yan (Park Seo-joon). “He’s bilingual,” playfully remarks Carol.

The Marvels fits snugly into the current phase of the MCU, including one additional scene in the end credits that teases the integration of a beloved franchise into this multiverse of wonder overseen by studio chief Kevin Feige. DaCosta and collaborators proudly champion diversity and female talent behind and in front of the camera, but the film’s primary remit is to entertain and delight. In my warped reality, this big-budget popcorn movie laden with impressive special effects hits a sweet spot.

– Kim Hu