Reviewed by Jeri Lieberman-Evans, a writer.

The Marvels was an absolute delight of a movie, complete with singing, dancing, fighting, and alien cat monsters.

Marvel remains one of the most popular movie studios, famous for its witty, action-packed movies and dedicated fanbase. Its latest release, directed by Nia DaCosta, follows Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Captain Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) as they navigate their newly interlocked powers and attempt to stop Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) from stealing planets’ resources. 

In recent years, Marvel films have required increasing amounts of homework: each movie requires understanding the MCU’s complicated web of movies, characters and plotlines. The Marvels, for example, is a sequel not only to Captain Marvel, but also to Ms. Marvel and Wandavision (and, in order to understand Wandavision, one has to watch Avengers: Endgame, before which one must watch Avengers: Infinity War, and so on). Still, The Marvels can be enjoyed without a full understanding of each character’s backstory.  Simply be willing to overlook several strange occurrences that will not be explained by The Marvels (if cats start spewing tentacles, just go with it).

With that said, the film was strong overall: entertaining, with a lot of classic Marvel-style witty banter and fight scenes that contrasted with sadder, more impactful moments. Although parts of the ending were rather convenient and unsatisfying (without giving away too much, one simple solution at the beginning could have solved the central conflict), the plot was easy to follow, and the  post-credits scene hints at a highly anticipated development in the MCU.

The Marvels is comedic and lighthearted first and foremost: what other movie would have flerkittens (cat aliens) “eating” an entire space shuttle’s worth of people while “Memory” from Cats plays in the background? Still, the humor did not take away from a couple key emotional moments: the movie still discusses weighty themes of family — chosen and biological — and forgiveness.

Moreover, DaCosta takes advantage of the film’s setting — outer space — to experiment with cinematography, costumes, and music. Production designers Gregory Melton and Cara Brower make planets, whether vivacious or desolate, come to life. The characters finally got their official costumes, which perfectly match their comic-book counterparts. The soundtrack was a step up from Captain Marvel, immersing viewers in the film and the superhero genre while also providing distinctive melodic motifs. Aladna (a planet where residents can only communicate through song) provided a bit of musical humor. 

The Marvels is one of few female-led films in the MCU, both on screen and behind the scenes. While some have labeled it as tokenism, and others as “woke,” I didn’t think it was either. Unlike Marvel’s previous efforts at female empowerment (such as the “female Avengers unite” scene in Endgame), there was no contrivance or back-patting. The main cast happened to be all women, but it was not the central focus of the film. While The Marvels was not spectacular or groundbreaking in any way, it was still entertaining and fun—which is all I look for in a Marvel movie.