The Marvels

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I do not understand the avalanche of negativity that this movie has received since opening. Critics say the MCU movies have gotten too long; this is the shortest one yet. They say the MCU has become too serious and dull; this movie is nearly non-stop comedy. They say the MCU endlessly sets up future adventures that feel like they never pay off; this one is all payoff, resolving the setup from three previous titles in satisfying ways. What gives? Yes, superhero fatigue is real, due in part to Disney temporarily pressing Marvel Studios to triple their output at the expense of quality, and thankfully we've almost seen the last products from that more-is-less era. And unfortunately, racism and misogyny continue to exist. I get why people are reluctant to buy a ticket to the movie, but I just can't get why the people who have seen it report not liking it.

This is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, with one inspired sequence that parodies Marvel's corporate parent (oh how'd I'd have loved it to go full Barbie and interrogate female empowerment through mega-corporate cinema), and it has numerous fun callbacks to several earlier MCU titles without requiring you to have seen them to follow the story. It's not even close to the MCU's greatest work, but it's certainly enjoyable and worth your time if you've liked the series overall. My only big gripe is how generic the villain and the action scenes feel; Marvel needs to reconsider their policy of handling all action scenes in-house with the same team on every movie, because some talented new action choreographers and cinematographers could really help.

− November 18, 2023 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply