While the Marvels is quick and witty, it can’t make up for what is feeling like a stale formula.

Score: 2.5/5

I left the Marvels thinking the movie was okay. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t painful to watch. Then I sat with it for a week. The Marvels is bad. It’s bad to the same level as Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, yet for different reasons. It relies on the viewer having watched two shows and remembering 2019’s Captain Marvel to give any sense of character growth. It’s so quick that it doesn’t do much, if any, of that work in the movie itself, and the lessons learned feel hollow.

The Marvels has a few fun moments, but the one major highlight is more of Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan. Ms. Marvel on Disney+ was a delight, and all those elements pulled into this movie are some of the best parts of this Marvel mash-up. Vellani’s energetic and wholesome performance fits Kamala perfectly, and I want more of her in the MCU going forward. The other amusing gag involves a bunch of cats, which is also fun. It’s one that actually feels like it was left on the cutting room floor of a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The last thing that really stuck out to me was the fun action involving the three main characters swapping back and forth during fights. Outside these pieces, the film feels far too empty to be a good time.

I like Brie Larson. Carol Danvers is also interesting, just not enough in this movie, nor in The Avengers, and just enough in her original starring film. This goes for most of the returning characters beyond the Ms. Marvel crew. They all come off as very one-note as if they are just going through the motions. This movie does a disservice to whatever Captain Marvel world-building they had in place and punted the interesting Monica Rambeau to the side.

I usually would bring up the villain problem, which is here in all of its glory, but the movie has so many other issues that an inoffensive, dull villain like Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn is nearly a highlight. That’s all to say: The Marvels feels like a rushed, out-the-door mess of bullet points sent by Kevin Feige and company. It’s a movie that gives another example of all the issues plaguing the MCU to the point where it’s questionable if it can return to form. The Marvels isn’t the worst of the MCU, but it’s another flat note after years of misfires. It’s good that they are taking a break from these movies because they need to take a breather.