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Mac Review: Marvels

This is going to be a quick one.

I didn’t realise it until just now when I typed that name out, but it should be about Phil Sheldon.

Anyway:

The movie is abased on the premise of the three main characters swapping places. They don’t really handle that too well; they’re inconsistent about when it happens, and the reason why these three particular people swap is contrived. They try to give us a reason (light-based powers), but face it: it’s because in the comics they all have the name ‘Marvel’ (but Monica doesn’t even have it in the movie). There’s a great training scene, though, when the characters try to turn this bug into a feature.

Anyone named Marvel bodyswaps.

Speaking of things I only just got – Captain Marvel (both Mar-Vell and Shazam) are famous for body-swapping. I’m dumb.

A lot of people are sick of the quippiness / humour in MCU movie. This one dodges that; but at the same time it isn’t too dark or boring, so if you’re sick of that stuff, this might be the movie for you. That said, when it goes to humour, it goes way over the top. That might put you off. You might’ve seen the trailer with what looks like a Bollywood planet.

It’s a Bollywood planet.

More than you think.

There’s also a bit where the villain has a plan that sounds wrong at first – stealing water and air from different planets. (Yes, they took the villain plot from Spaceballs.) I was thinking she could just take them from the same planet – but then they explain it, and it’s a decent explanation.

Air!

The post-credits scene is good. Do you remember when you didn’t know Marvel’s entire release schedule years in advance, so when they had a post-credits scene that gives you an idea of what’s coming and gets you excited? This one is more like that.

Overall, it’s a fine movie. It’s not the best movie ever, but it’s far from being the worst MCU movie.

Would I buy it on home media?

Possibly, but Disney have stopped making home media in my country. I’ll have to order it.

6 Comments

  1. Eric van Schaik

    Because of a review in a Dutch newspaper (which gave it 1 out of 5), I now know who the 3 main characters are.

    Out of curiosity, what is the worst MCU movie in your opinion?
    Mine is the first Black Panther movie. You could see the plot “twists” years in advance. 😉

    I haven’t almost seen any MCU movie after Endgame. It was the perfect jumping off point for me.
    Saw 2 or 3 episodes of WandaVision and that’s it.

    1. Le Messor

      I’m puzzled by your comment about knowing who the 3 main characters are? It’s not a secret or anything? Or are you saying it’s a twist, and it’s somebody else? (I can think of two candidates who it could be.)

      The first 2 or 3 episodes of WandaVision are very different to the rest. After that it turns into a more traditional superhero story.

      Endgame was a good jumping off point, and a lot of the movies since haven’t been great – but there have been good ones.

      The worst? Good question. I don’t have a single answer.
      There still hasn’t been one I outright hated or was totally bored by.
      For me, either The Incredible Hulk or Thor: Dark World is the dullest.
      The Eternals, however, was the first I didn’t buy on home media – while more entertaining than the above, I found it had other problems going against it, and I thought I had to break my collection somewhere. It was a good jumping-off point. 🙂
      That and Thor: Love And Thunder are the only ones I don’t have (that are available).
      Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania was also very iffy. I ended up getting it though, because it was cheap, and (as the review mentions), Disney was about to stop producing home media for me and I thought ‘if I don’t get it now but I want it later, I won’t be able to get it.’

  2. John King

    I saw this
    I also saw Blue Beetle
    I enjoyed them
    I thought they were both good movies
    (I think Blue Beetle is one of the better recent DC movies)
    BUT
    I’ve seen so many superhero movies recently it takes more to impress me
    I feel a little let down that they weren’t more “special”
    (I felt Blue Beetle was so similar to other films that I had almost seen it before)
    I wouldn’t call it “burn out” though maybe a sign of the marketplace becoming oversaturated
    (Though my appreciation of the Marvels may be influenced by the face that I still refuse to pay for any streaming channel so have not seen WandaVision or Ms Marvel)

    1. Le Messor

      I haven’t seen Blue Beetle, and can’t comment. (I wanted to, but the moment passed.)

      I’m not sure how much a comic book reader would need to have seen either WandaVision or Ms Marvel. You’d already know who the characters are, and you can base it on that. (There are differences between the page and screen versions, of course, but I’m not sure they much affect the Marvels movie.)

  3. John King

    I’ll quickly add that I think something has changed on the site.
    I believe before each article at the end said “you must be logged on to post a comment” in text that linked to the logon screen.
    It still says that but doesn’t link so I had to hunt for the logon option in the left margin

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