The MCU's 33rd film serves as further proof that the once thriving comic book juggernaut is now running on fumes. For reasons not explained very well, the world-weary Carol Danvers, scientific Monica Rambeau, and youthful Kamala Khan form a trifecta when their electromagnetically altered powers put them in a switchy entanglement situation. With all that going on, they then tangle with the villainous Dar-Benn (looking like the illegitimate daughter of Ronan--cough, cough) who's using her hammer thingy in the name of Hala to siphon atmospheres as vengeance against the "annihilator." The production costs of this Marvel Comics misstep may have been a king's ransom but the results certainly aren't worthy of royal adulation; tonally it's all over the place with familial sentiment, goofy humor that belongs in a sitcom, random song and dance, and other poorly developed subplots. Vellani has the most pep in her step, Larson looks a bit aloof, Parris does what she can do, meanwhile big bad Ashton clenches her teeth a lot but doesn't get to do anything interesting. The lowest grossing MCU picture to date generated some controversy as perturbed cast and crew members insinuated that external factors contributed to its downfall, but given the quality of the finished results it's pretty easy to balk at that. Memo to Marvel: you may want to revamp your product, otherwise you'll continue to disintegrate and put out subpar showings like this one. **
Review of The Marvels
