The Marvels

 

Score:  B

Directed by Nia DaCosta

Starring Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris, Samuel L. Jackson

Running time: 105 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short: The Marvels is the latest chapter in the MCU superhero saga, both a sequel to Captain Marvel and also a cinematic introduction to Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau (first seen on Disney+).  The plot may be hard to follow for the casual movie-goer, but it satisfyingly continues and/or resolves multiple threads from the broader superhero universe.  Still, it's good fun for anyone, thanks to great work from the cast and entertaining (but not overstuffed) action scenes.  Recommended for any superhero fans, and anyone else looking for a nice blockbuster.

When the powerful alien civilization known as the Kree hatches a new plot, three of Earth's superheroes - Carol Danvers (Larson), Kamala Khan (Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Parris) - find themselves inexplicably switching places with each other.  Carol, aka Captain Marvel, has been in deep space on her ship conducting missions; Kamala, aka Ms. Marvel, has been struggling through high school in New Jersey; and Monica, no nickname, works with Nick Fury (Jackson) in a space station orbiting Earth.  The Kree leader, Dar-Benn, is trying to restore her devastated homeworld by any means necessary, and placing the entire universe in danger as a result.  Carol, Kamala, and Monica must therefore figure out a way to stop her before it's too late.

The Marvels is a very entertaining superhero movie and a worthy next step on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) famously interconnected path of films.  It's not among the franchise's top-tier films, but there's still lots of fun to be had for both Marvel fans and newcomers alike.  If you are a Marvel fan who has kept up with not only the movies but the Disney+ streaming series of the last few years, you'll get quite a bit more out of this (and feel a lot less confused).  The Marvels is not just a sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel, which introduced Carol Danvers, but it also continues plots and characters from Ms. Marvel, WandaVision, and Secret Invasion, not to mention including the multiverse again as a key part of the plot.  That might all sound exhausting, but I believe even "newbies" will enjoy this movie, if you just relax and not try to understand all the plot points.  All things considered, the script does an impressive job tying it all together in intriguing and (mostly) comprehensible ways - and in a very reasonable hour and forty-five minutes.  While I can get frustrated when plots like this veer too far from the superheroes themselves, the movie does a particularly nice job of integrating the fates of two alien races - the Kree and the Skrulls - who were deeply affected by events in Captain Marvel and Secret Invasion.  The tone of the movie, which is mostly fun and light-hearted, doesn't allow it to address them perfectly, but I give Marvel credit for continuing to pay close attention to the collateral effects and aftermath of superheroic events (see Captain America: Civil War, Avengers Endgame, and more).

Apart from the intricate plot, there is a lot of visual fun and humor here, too.  The primary theme, which is clear in several trailers/ads, is the superhero place-switching.  This provides both striking visuals and humor, particularly in the initial extended action sequence.  Wide-ranging - from a cramped, sterile space station to the Khan's increasingly-shredded living room - it has a frenetic pacing that keeps you glued to the screen and tests your ability to follow but is not overwhelming.  The final battle is also quite cool - not groundbreaking but also modest and brief enough to fully take in and enjoy.  There's also humor throughout; two elements in particular verge close to too silly - one involving a literal superhero musical scene and the other Captain Marvel's voraciously hungry cat - but both manage to hold it together.

Finally, the characters of The Marvels are worth discussing, as in any Marvel movie worth its salt.  Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, played by Larson, is the lead, and I'd looked forward to a sequel giving her character more opportunity after 2019's original gave us disappointingly little.  We still get little on her background, and thus her motivation, unfortunately; I think the ship has sailed here.  But Larson still gives Carol a nice, distinctive personality that is fun to watch: Tony Stark's sarcastic intelligence, Steve Rogers' sense of duty and caring, yet with a vulnerability and imperfection that is needed considering her superpowers are so strong.  Vellani as Kamala is just as charismatic as she was on Ms. Marvel, even though she is sharing the lead here.  Her spunky cheer is just what the movie needed, and it's also great to see her immigrant Pakistani family continue to play a significant role.  Parris's Monica gets the short end, not really surprising considering she had just a small role on WandaVision before this.  There's not much to her character or personality, and is honestly most important for her relationship to Carol (who was best friends with her mom... long story!).  But the ending leaves opportunity for much more.  The main actors are the film's strongest point and their chemistry and team dynamics in particular were an interesting new version of what the Avengers introduced eleven years ago.

***

Usually, the movies I score a "B" get my shortest reviews - they are neither fantastic nor terrible, with all that allows me to write about.  The Marvels is, thankfully, not a boring good-enough but bland, unambitious movie.  It has some great strengths to it, but it's also weighed down by the combination of them all, along with being a little rough around the edges occasionally.  Still, it's the best addition to the MCU in 2023, what has been a down year (well, I haven't seen all of Loki season 2 yet, though the first episode left me a bit dazed and wary of continuing).  Critics and commentators have been quick to pounce, especially since The Marvels crashed at the box office with a (relatively) miserable $45 million opening weekend.  Sure, there is definitely some superhero fatigue; and following the show-stopping, biggest-movie-of-all-time Avengers finale in 2019, it's been impossible to match those previous heights.  But the new era, which started with streaming in the midst of the pandemic, has many strengths, too, just of a different kind.  I will most definitely be continuing to follow Marvel's stories, on both the big and small screens, for the foreseeable future.  For now, there will still hopefully be plenty of other good things to see at the theater in the coming months!

* By http://www.impawards.com/2023/marvels_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73059469

Killers of the Flower Moon

 

Score:  A

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone

Running time: 206 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Killers of the Flower Moon is famed director Martin Scorsese's latest film, based on the best-selling and widely praised book.  Unfolding over a formidable 200+ minutes, Scorsese manages to keep audiences rapt throughout thanks to a brutal yet fascinating murderous plot and a set of phenomenal performances from standbys DiCaprio and De Niro and newcomer Gladstone.  It earns the awards hype - recommended for all adults, just beware there is plenty of bloodshed.

In 1919, World War I veteran Ernest (DiCaprio) moves to the Osage reservation in Oklahoma where his brother, Byron, and uncle Hale (De Niro) live.  The Osage have been surrounded by a large white community, thanks to the massive oil field discovered on their land; courts have required the Osage (deemed "incompetent") to work with white men to manage their oil revenue.  Ernest, in his job as a local driver, meets an Osage woman named Mollie, and they soon marry.  While they enjoy their lives together, alongside Mollie's family of sisters and others, a number of disturbing mysterious Osage deaths rock the community.  The riches of the land have driven some bad people to horrific crimes, and Ernest is soon forced to choose between the people he loves.

Killers of the Flower Moon is an excellent historical crime drama, superbly acted and plotted to keep you engaged throughout despite an unusually long running time.  The movie is not for the faint of heart, though: it does not shy away from white men's brutality against the Osage tribe.  Scorsese is not gratuitous, like Tarantino, in his images, but there is still plenty of cold-blooded violence and an omnipresent awareness of the despicable, often breathtaking, plots to deceive and loot the Osage.  Still, I did not find Killers to be an overwhelmingly dark movie - personally, I found it far more bearable than the much less violent Power of the Dog, for example.  It is very serious and realistic, but it is certainly no documentary (despite the historical roots) and even sprinkles in some much-needed humor here and there, usually based on Ernest's stupidity.  As riveting and hair-raising as the first three-quarters of the film is, the tone shifts gears for the final act as the wheels of justice finally - blessedly - kick in.  This part often trips up similar films; as cathartic as it is for the bad guys to get caught, it's too often done inartfully (as is the case in the recent streamer The Burial).  Here, the BOI (early version of FBI) does its job methodically and straightforward but it's in the same realistic, restrained tone as the rest of the film.

Bringing all of this to life is a tremendous cast, both the main characters as well as the supporting cast.  Leonardo DiCaprio turns in another great performance as Ernest, the lead, a white man who becomes closer to the Osage tribe than most.  He is technically a villain, yet so well developed and nuanced, thanks to both writing and acting, that he feels fully human and so at least somewhat sympathetic.  His love for his wife also feels real, and his agony over the conflicts this causes are some of the film's most poignant.  He is also a simple man, though occasional moments of cunning seem out of character; maybe that is realistic, too, though?  Robert De Niro, a frequent muse of Scorsese, also does typically great work, here a patriarch of not only his family but also the community.  I don't think it's too much a spoiler to reveal that he is the true villain of the movie responsible for virtually all the evil done (even if others carry it out).  That he ingratiates himself so effectively on the Osage tribe makes him all the more vile.  Lily Gladstone as Mollie is at least as good as those two superstars - but she does so through amazingly understated performance.  She has very little dialogue, yet communicates so much through her eyes and expressions; she is a perfect symbol of why many white men mistook indigenous people like her as simple "incompetents", yet she is so smart, strong, and capable.  One of the film's weaker points is its relative lack of development of her character, but Gladstone's acting still makes it a vital role.  Finally, I did not really mind the long running time of the movie, although it could certainly have been shorter.  Still, I can't blame Scorsese for keeping the length generous.

***

Killers of the Flower Moon was a great way to kick off the unofficial start of Oscar movie season.  Due to the writers' and actors' strikes (which have now ended, with both groups getting important wins!), the release schedule might be a bit different this year.  The Dune sequel was delayed to next year, among others.  Killers went against my concern for increasing length of some movies, but it at least earned the extended time.  Next up will be the latest Marvel superhero release titled, um, The Marvels - which will hopefully end the year on a high note for the MCU after both Ant-Man 3 and Guardians 3 were disappointments.  Be back soon!

* By http://www.impawards.com/2023/killers_of_the_flower_moon_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74421048