ReelBob: ‘The Marvels’ ★★½

By Bob Bloom

“The Marvels” dashes toward absurdity, stops at the edge, leans over, then — smartly — steps back without tumbling into the abyss.

How else describes a movie that features a planet whose inhabitants act like the cast of a Bollywood spectacle, complete with dancing and singing, including the song “Memories” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats”?

This latest Marvel Cinematic Universe feature tries to offer a balance between its goofiness and expected superhero tropes. Sometimes it succeeds; at other junctures, it strikes out.

The movie, though, is more about the relationship between its trio of main characters, with the storyline being a secondary consideration.

The interactions between Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) make up the driving force that keeps us engaged.

The three are tossed together when the movie’s villain, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree warrior, unearths an ancient and legendary artifact. The relic’s power causes Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Monica to swap places whenever they use their light-based powers.

The movie’s real superheroes are editors Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff, whose intercutting between the three characters as they jump through time is seamless, exciting and, often, funny.

For those needing a bit of background, Vellani’s Ms. Marvel was introduced in the Disney+ streaming series of the same name, while Monica received her powers during the same service’s “WandaVision” series.

Not having seen either show will not affect your understanding of “The Marvels.”

The miniscule plot is a basic revenge story with Dar-Benn seeking retribution against Captain Marvel, who, after the events in her solo movie, left Dar-Benn’s home world of Hala barren after a civil war she caused.

Dar-Benn wants to target worlds that have meaning to Danvers.

The movie mostly works because director Nia DaCosta and her fellow writers, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik and Zeb Wells, flaunt and embrace the absurdities that crop up throughout the feature.

The three leads have their moments to shine: Vellani is all heart as the teenage fan-girl who gets gushy and overly excited about meeting her idol. At first, she is too overly and annoyingly enthusiastic, but as she slowly learns the responsibilities attached to being a superhero, she begins to mature and grow.

Larson carries guilt for her seeming abandonment of a very young Monica, as well as her actions that led to Dar-Benn’s catastrophic fury.

Parris reveals the emotional scars linked to the death, from cancer, of her mother, as well as her Aunt Carol’s broken promise of not returning as quickly as she had assured the child.

Others in the cast include Samuel L. Jackson in his recurring role as Nick Fury, who seems livelier than he did a few months ago in the “Secret Invasion” streaming series, and Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur as Kamala’s loving, concerned and confused parents.

“The Marvels,” at 105 minutes, moves along nicely with very few dead spots. It is an enjoyable outing — not among the best in the Marvel franchise and definitely not among the worst.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE MARVELS
2½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), science fiction action and violence, language