Mission control: Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. Photo / Supplied
Mission control: Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. Photo / Supplied
While the cinema-going world complains about superhero fatigue, Marvel Studios keeps churning out the movies and television shows in the hope they’ll find an audience not worried that they’ve seen it all before.
This one brings together Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), from 2019′s underseen Captain Marvel, herscientist niece Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) who acquired her powers in the WandaVision television series, and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), the teenage-wannabe-turned-accidental superhero from Ms. Marvel, also a Disney+ TV show.
Literally thrown together when mysterious “jump points” appear across time and space, the three must learn to control their newfound abilities to trade places and super powers as they fight against Zawe Ashton’s power-hungry enemy Dar-Ben.
It’s a Marvel movie better understood and appreciated if you’ve watched those shows. And on the big screen, Vellani, the then-teen Pakistani-Canadian, steals every scene as the adorably overly enthusiastic Kamala, especially when she’s fangirling all over the taciturn Captain, or trying to avoid a scolding from her amusingly stereotypical South-Asian mother (The Big Sick’s Zenobia Shroff). It’s a bog-standard superhero fantasy story – it’s all force fields, dying planets and magic bracelets. And the best scenes are a visit to the all-singing planet of Aladna or when the women are hanging out in Captain Marvel’s bachelorette spaceship, dressed in leisure-wear and practising their skills.
But the endearing girl talk is cut short in favour of CGI fight scenes and despite a ridiculous number of people-eating kittens and Ashton’s great British villain, the film’s just not that interesting. Larson is boring and Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury should have retired a long time ago.
Rating out of 5: ★★½
The Marvels directed by Nia DaCosta is in cinemas now.
