New Delhi: It is undoubtedly appealing to witness female characters who have hitherto only backed the main male superheroes by offering a helping hand step into the spotlight. I'm all for women's power. However, a solid screenplay and a compelling premise must back up the effort. Sadly, 'The Marvels' falls far short of its promise of keeping you curious and urging admiration for the trio.
This film could be thought of as a sort of sequel to 2019's 'Captain Marvel', which gave a glimpse of Brie Larson's superhero backstory. Still, it's fairly obvious that the most recent Marvel film did not live up to hopes if you turn away from the screen and instead surf Instagram during its running time (as many people did in the theater).
The 'prodigal child of the Milky way' does much of the grueling work in the Brie Larson-led film. Nonetheless, a good deal of male superheroes have been carrying out it for decades, but that was long before the multiverse theme's expansive boundaries. As she teams up with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), an astronaut, from WandaVision (2021) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) from Ms. Marvel (2022), Captain Marvel ensures she defends the world despite her personal battle. The recent Marvel series exposed fans to both of the new characters, but as a whole, there was not enough of 'The Marvels' to live up to the name.
After making what may be deemed an unwitting move that weakens the Kree cosmos, Captain Marvel leaves with a grieving heart. The new foe, DarBenn [Zawe Ashton], is now back to life and wants to wipe out the Captain so as to seek vengeance. When the bracelet—which is identical to Kamala's—ends up in the hands of the spiteful Dar-Been, their paths meet.
In the midst of all of that, Captain Marvel, Monica, and Kamala Khan's powers fuse with a "glowing thing" (as described by Nicky Fury) to form an enormous force that poses a threat to DarBenn. Even so, the flick's main antagonist is perhaps one of the less potent antagonists in the Marvel universe.
Once Kamala settles down, her fangirl antics become a bit more bearable and she starts to show off her comic timing. The young hero plays off of Larson and Parris with outstanding acting chops. She is backed by her entertaining yet conservative family, whom even Fury finds difficult to handle (and the guy leads an army of highly adept superheroes).
As Prince Yan, the monarch of the unfamiliar Aladna world, Park Seo-Joon makes his movie debut in Hollywood. It's still a mystery how Captain Marvel made her way down to that planet. There, songs are the main forms of speech, so the musical interlude is unavoidably sort of annoying at times. The fact that the Korean superstar gets neglected and rather made a spectacle of in a completely unwarranted cameo role is even more upsetting. Those who have witnessed him shine in Korean dramas and films would be outraged if they saw him. Much like the creators, though, others will not give a damn about Prince Yan.
The screenplay, penned by DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik, struggles somewhat to lay out the story's arc. Not every time do the ties mesh in smoothly with the characters' respective plots. One of the most absurd scenes in the film (and worth watching) features Captain Marvel's magically endowed cat Goose. Aside from that, it's advisable to stick around for the post-credit scenes since, dare I say it, they're far better than the almost two-hour movie.