The Marvels (2023)

[CB2001]

I also liked that we saw a hero having to face the consequences of their actions. Acting on what they believe to be the correct decision, that winds up being catastrophic.

The Avengers decimate half of New York in the battle and there’s a parade for them the next week, and half of the male population get their beards cut like Tony Stark’s.

This was the first movie that showed accountability…

Didn’t Civil War not show the consequences caused by Age of Ultron? I mean, that was the whole thing that made Tony want the Sokovia Accords to go through in the first place, because he felt that people like the Avengers needed accountability (because he got guilt tripped by a woman whose son was in Sokovia). Or Endgame showing the consequences of actions taken in Infinity War? Or Thor losing his powers due to his arrogant actions in the first Thor movie? I’m asking because I’m pretty sure there have been other characters having to deal with accountability for their actions on various Marvel films before The Marvels showed it.

 

[Astyanax]

Didn’t Civil War not show the consequences caused by Age of Ultron? I mean, that was the whole thing that made Tony want the Sokovia Accords to go through in the first place, because he felt that people like the Avengers needed accountability (because he got guilt tripped by a woman whose son was in Sokovia). Or Endgame showing the consequences of actions taken in Infinity War? Or Thor losing his powers due to his arrogant actions in the first Thor movie? I’m asking because I’m pretty sure there have been other characters having to deal with accountability for their actions on various Marvel films before The Marvels showed it.

THIS. And let's not forget Tony suffering major consequences of his actions in ALL THREE of the Iron Man movies. Redemption is the point of his entire character arc, culminating in his final sacrifice.

 

[Bloop]

You can give an opinion without having to have a dig at someone else's.

You're right. I was being needlessly combative. I shouldn't have posted what I did in reply to firesprite, it was passive-aggressive (or maybe just aggressive).
I was angry about other things and I let it bleed out here. When you called me out, I was already regretting what I wrote, but instead of apologizing, I decided to double-down.

 

[Cephus]

You're directly replying to mine, so who cares? That's what replies are for. Don't like it? Don't comment.

This is yet another case of "I don't like what you're saying so I want to shut you up" instead of... you know... NOT READING THE COMMENT OR JUST DEALING WITH IT!

Nobody gets to censor you or your opinions. They can just go pound sand.

 

[Bloop]

I guess if you have limited experience in watching movies, you might like this.
I'm trying to watch it now, but it's just not interesting. I liked Ms.Marvel, and Iman Vellani is the best part of this. I don't know how Teyonah Parris got higher billing than her, her character (and acting) is a big shrug.
They keep trying to sexualize Brie Larsen throughout the movie (new tighter fitting costume with countless shots of her from behind, plus the tanktop scenes with a padded bra underneath), I assume it was in hopes of getting the male and gay/bi female audience interested. It just felt cheap.
Costumes and the sets also felt cheap. Not sure where the budget went. Didn't seem like a theatrical release. Directing (including fight choreo) didn't help. Kind of tired of these incredibly powered beings resorting to hand-to-hand combat, just because they can't figure out how to make their powers interesting. Probably should've just been a tv movie/series.
I don't need all characters to be men, but they were really pushing the female casting to the point where it feels exclusionary. You could say the earlier marvel movies suffered from female characters being mostly romantic interests, but they still had depth and held their own (Peggy Carter, Pepper Potts, Black Widow, etc). Nick Fury is the real only male lead in this movie and even he doesn't have much to do. If you flipped the character's genders in this movie, people would say "where are the female characters?"
Above all, the plot isn't interesting. And suddenly Captain Marvel is much weaker than previous appearances? She tells Kamala "we save who we can." She's just standing there, waiting for the ship doors to close while a ton of Skrulls die. Past appearances have showed she easily could've done more.

I just wanted to apologize directly for my comment at the start of this reply. I shouldn't have implied you could only like this movie if you haven't seen a lot of movies. I should have said that I, personally, feel that the more movies and tv shows I see, especially superhero ones, the less interesting I find them, and the more I see flaws in them. I should've just posted my review as a separate post, not a reply to yours.

 

[Bloop]

This is yet another case of "I don't like what you're saying so I want to shut you up" instead of... you know... NOT READING THE COMMENT OR JUST DEALING WITH IT!

Nobody gets to censor you or your opinions. They can just go pound sand.

I stand by my opinions for sure, but I do realize that relpying the way I did wasn't necessary. My review shouldn't read like an attack on someone else.

 

[firesprite]

I just wanted to apologize directly for my comment at the start of this reply. I shouldn't have implied you could only like this movie if you haven't seen a lot of movies. I should have said that I, personally, feel that the more movies and tv shows I see, especially superhero ones, the less interesting I find them, and the more I see flaws in them. I should've just posted my review as a separate post, not a reply to yours.

Thank you, Bloop. Apology accepted.

I appreciate that you took the time and effort. There are a lot of people who would not have had that degree of maturity or kindness.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Didn’t Civil War not…?

Double negative. My editor’s soul couldn’t let it pass.

And yes, they did. I was thinking that The Marvels did a fantastic job of addressing it.

 

[Bloop]

Thank you, Bloop. Apology accepted.

I appreciate that you took the time and effort. There are a lot of people who would not have had that degree of maturity or kindness.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words, though I realize I should've had the maturity and kindness not to make that initial comment at all.

 

[renaissance_man]

Credit to you Bloop for being a decent person and admitting to and apologising for your mistake.

 

[firesprite]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words, though I realize I should've had the maturity and kindness not to make that initial comment at all.

No one can be their best selves all the time, as much as we might wish otherwise. I think in situations where that happens to someone and they apologize as you have, so eloquently, that it's important to extend grace and acknowledge that.

 

[teecrooz]

I watched it with the family. It was relatively enjoyable. I actually find Ms. Marvel and her family’s banter pretty fun. The only part I actively disliked was the planet where everyone sang. It was so unnecessary and lasted way too long for my taste.

An adult telling a teenager to get a strap-on might be a bit “below the belt”, so to speak.

 

[Cephus]

I stand by my opinions for sure, but I do realize that relpying the way I did wasn't necessary. My review shouldn't read like an attack on someone else.

Which is fine, but we've seen people, here and elsewhere, just demanding that anyone that doesn't agree with them should just shut up.

Hell no.

 

[CB2001]

Double negative. My editor’s soul couldn’t let it pass.

And yes, they did. I was thinking that The Marvels did a fantastic job of addressing it.

But, the past Marvel films have also done a fantastic job addressing it also. Nearly every Avenger has had to address consequences, some more so than others, regardless of how direct or indirect they were involved. But that’s just me of course.

 

[Schlegel]

I also liked that we saw a hero having to face the consequences of their actions. Acting on what they believe to be the correct decision, that winds up being catastrophic.

The Avengers decimate half of New York in the battle and there’s a parade for them the next week, and half of the male population get their beards cut like Tony Stark’s.

This was the first movie that showed accountability…

But the invasion is not a consequence of the actions or existence of the Avengers, the Avengers are a consequence of the invasion. In their absence the Earth would simply be conquered immediately. I guess maybe New York specifically might take less damage. Oh, that's right, without them New York gets NUKED.

 

[Schlegel]

Oh, I guess I did think the movie had terrible writing but I liked Ms marvel and her mom. Those 2 actors had actual enthusiasm and vivacity. The mom was probably the favorite character for me. I would watch them in something new.

 

[renaissance_man]

After re-watching Captain Marvel and The Marvels twice this week. I decided to take a dive back into the comics. I dug out my Captain Marvel Carol Danvers TPBs (single issues are boxed up in storage) and also went for the 2019 - 2023 Kelly Thompson run which is also excellent, had to go for the digital run on those, no room left for comics.

 

[Bloop]

I finally finished watching this. It took about 5 sittings to get through it, so I'll admit my viewing experience was less than ideal. I prefer to watch movies for the first time without interruption, since that's how they are intended to be seen, but if I did that with The Marvels, I would've gotten even more frustrated while watching it. At least taking breaks let me try to approach it from a better perspective.
I still think it's not a good movie. The actors do a good job, though I still have no interest in Carol Danvers or Monica Rambeau (or her mother) as they exist in the MCU. I never read a lot of Carol Danvers stories in the comics, but the character was more interesting to me in the 80s, when she had her powers and entire psyche permanently stolen by Rogue (while she was still in the Brotherhood). That's also what I missed from Rogue's character in the X-Men films - her dual personality, with Danvers always there, in the recesses of her mind, and the guilt she felt over it and fear it could happen again. Plus, it added flight, mega-strength and invulnerability to Rogue's powers. But I digress.

As I said before, the whole production looked cheap, less like an MCU film and more like an MCU series on a strict budget. Costumes, sets, fight choreography, lighting, etc., all looked below par. I don't know why it was directed to look like a sitcom. Everything lacked a feeling of depth, and that's not even mentioning the script, which was a mess.

My biggest problem was how Captain Marvel was "Nerfed," for lack of a better term. Previous screen appearances presented her as possible the most poweful hero in the MCU, so much so that they had to basically wrote her out of most of the Infinity saga because she was too powerful. In The Marvels, she can't handle the most basic of bad guys. I know the idea that the thee "Marvels" having their powers intertwined was probably meant to give a rrason why Carol couldn't let loose, but all she should've needed to do is tell Monica and Kamala to sit back and not use their powers so she could take care of things unfettered.
Also, the villain was supposed to be a huge threat, yet they ended up easily defeating her in like 2 seconds at the climax of the film.

And the main motivations for the villain, and also the reason for Carol not returning to earth (disappointing Monica and creating a rift between them) was Carol destroyed the AI the Kree society relied on, causing a civil was that destoyed their environment, which led them to hate Carol, calling her "the Annihilator," which made her felt gulity. Yet, she just decides to fix that at the end, and does so easily - once again demostrating her immense power that was not on display earlier in the film (like when she gave up and told Kamala "we save who we can" when clearly she could've saved more, she struggled against common soldiers and their vehicles, trying to outmaneuver them by piloting a spaceship when she could've just grabbed the whole ship and flew Kamala and Monica away safely). It's not like she had he powers blocked. She didn't suddenly get more powerful - she had the same powers she had since she destoyed the Supreme Intelligence. She could've fixed things years ago, preventing all this from happening, including the rift between her and Monica (which is forgiven pretty quickly).

 

[Bloop]

Also, why do all these superheroes end up fighting hand-to-hand instead of using their powers from a distance? It makes no sense narratively. It's just unimaginative directors trying to make the fights more interesting, or "real," in the only way they know how - by copying what other directors have done over and over before. The first time I saw it, it was kind of interesting. Now, it's played out. If directors can't figure out how to make superpowered fights visually interesting, they shouldn't be directing superhero movies. And to top it off, the fight choreography wasn't even that good.

And how did Kamala start (fighting and beating) trained miltary personnel (who are using weapons) without using her powers, with just a scarf? She has barely any fight training, especially not hand-to-hand. I don't care if the scarf was somehow an alien fabric that made it a weapon (which I guess we're supposed to assume?), she had no training with using it as a weapon. Nonsensical.

 

[renaissance_man]

Also, why do all these superheroes end up fighting hand-to-hand instead of using their powers from a distance? It makes no sense narratively. It's just unimaginative directors trying to make the fights more interesting, or "real," in the only way they know how - by copying what other directors have done over and over before. The first time I saw it, it was kind of interesting. Now, it's played out. If directors can't figure out how to make superpowered fights visually interesting, they shouldn't be directing superhero movies. And to top it off, the fight choreography wasn't even that good.

And how did Kamala start (fighting and beating) trained miltary personnel (who are using weapons) without using her powers, with just a scarf? She has barely any fight training, especially not hand-to-hand. I don't care if the scarf was somehow an alien fabric that made it a weapon (which I guess we're supposed to assume?), she had no training with using it as a weapon. Nonsensical.

You said you watched the film in multiple sittings so you might have missed the bit where they said that the Quantum Bands were charged up by Carol, Kamala and Monica's powers. So The Marvels had to resort to a more hand to hand style of combat to prevent Dar Benn being powered up too easily.