The Marvels is everything the first trailers promised — a charmingly fun, silly, action-packed intergalactic ride led by three charismatic superheroes. And tons of cats.
Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan are back in the MCU for a team-up adventure that is pure, joyful entertainment.
As the shortest movie in MCU history, it goes straight to the point, skilfully dealing with bigger franchise storylines while offering character development and unforgettable musical moments.
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All in all, The Marvels owns three key elements that make a Marvel movie shine — it doesn't take itself too seriously, yet it reaches emotional depths while delivering game-changing bombs for the future of the MCU.
The movie starts where Ms Marvel's credit scene left it — with Carol Danvers being transported into Kamala's bedroom in Jersey City.
As we find out soon enough, Carol, Kamala and Monica's powers are getting tangled because of their light-based nature, forcing them to join forces in order to prevent a major cosmic disaster.
Each one of them has a journey to go through.
Carol has to open up to other people in order to leave behind her lonely space existence wearing multicolour Crocs, Kamala needs to learn the difficult choices that come with being a high-stakes hero, and Monica still has to find her purpose as a newly born superhero in a post-Blip reality.
As expected, Vellani is a huge standout in the movie, proving the likability and sheer charisma she displayed in Disney+'s Ms Marvel wasn't a fluke.
Alongside Carol and Monica's unfinished business, Kamala is the heart of the story, blessing every scene she's in with contagious enthusiasm and incredibly cool fighting moves.
Director Nia DaCosta — the first Black woman to direct a Marvel movie — strikes a marvellous balance between epic action scenes and some hilarious music-based sequences.
Every time the protagonist trio switches places while using their powers, the fights end up driven by unexpected, phenomenal choreographies offering a different flavour to your usual Marvel action. It feels different and exciting.
At the same time, The Marvels never loses sight of the fun, whether it's Kamala's mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff) using a roll of kitchen paper to fight off intruders or simply having Goose the Flerken causing mayhem in the background.
In fact, these cat-looking creatures are essential to the story, which is a wise storytelling choice since everything is better with cats. As a general rule.
One of the greatest things about the movie is how it doesn't let itself be dragged down by the many MCU settings it's working with.
While there's nothing overly complicated in terms of the franchise's big story, you should get ready to remember what happened in the first Captain Marvel, the current state of the Kree-Skrull war, and what SABER stands for.
However, all of that feels like necessary background, the same as Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury being a constant ally on the sidelines and characters like Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie showing up for some occasional assistance.
The strengths of the movie lie elsewhere, particularly in the parts where the movie feels like a fan fiction written by Kamala Khan.
The movie's sense of humour is not miles away from James Gunn's in Guardians of the Galaxy, and yet it still feels unique to this newly improvised superhero team.
Its wackiness probably won't click with every viewer, and that's okay — DaCosta's playfulness is admirable.
Still, in the year that Barbie has smashed the box office with a wildly hilarious feminist satire, The Marvels could have gone all-in with its unapologetic, female-focused fun vibes, which it doesn't – but it still offers enough to charm us.
Perhaps the main takeaway here is how the movie reminds us this was all about having fun. Also, that it's not necessary to take the story too seriously in order to reach some emotional depth.
As long as Kamala Khan is in it, The Marvels paints a bright future for the MCU.
The Marvels is released in cinemas on November 10.
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over eight years. Based in the UK, she is a former deputy movies editor at Digital Spy, and previously worked for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas. Mireia's work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema and GamesRadar+ in the UK. She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. LinkedIn
