The Marvels

Last night I saw a Thursday preview of The Marvels and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!  Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree leader who is trying to restore her planet after it was damaged by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) when she defeated the Supreme Intelligence, locates a Quantum Band and uses it to create a jump point in space.  Carol Danvers/ Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) are enlisted by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate the jump point and their light-based powers become enmeshed with each other and with those of Kamala Khan/ Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) because she has the other Quantum Band.  This causes the three of them to switch places when they use their powers (and provides endless amusement and some great action set pieces).  Eventually they realize that Dar-Benn is creating jump points to plunder the atmosphere, water, and sunlight from planets that are significant to Danvers and the three of them must work together to stop her.  I have been vocal in my criticism of the MCU for becoming bloated with too many characters, stories, and timelines for the casual movie fan to keep up with but, honestly, as someone who has only seen WandaVision, I didn't find the story hard to follow (I thought Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was much more convoluted).  Obviously a familiarity with the TV shows (particularly Ms. Marvel) will provide a greater appreciation for the subtleties of each character but I found the quick recaps to be sufficient for my own understanding and enjoyment.  I really loved the deeper exploration of Danvers as a character, especially her relationship with Rambeau and her developing role as a mentor to Khan.  Larson, Parris, and Vellani have really fun chemistry in their scenes together and some of these scenes are absolutely bonkers (in the best possible way).  I laughed out loud so many times!  I think Dar-Benn is fine as the villain because her motivation is understandable (she reminded me of Killmonger in this respect) while Goose the Flerken and Prince Yan (Park Seo-joon) steal the show!  Finally, this movie has the second best use of a Beastie Boys song this year and the best use of a song from the musical Cats ever!  I had so much fun with this movie and definitely recommend it!

Note:  It goes without saying that you should stay for a mid-credits scene.  It's a good one!