Mahvelous!

Here we go with a movie nobody was supposed to like - but I did: The Marvels (2023).

It starts with pink Kree Zaweh Ashton and her crew finding a quantum bangle on an airless planet - but wonders where the other is. She uses the power of the bangle to open portals so that she can rob worlds of their resources. The Kree home world has been destroyed by civil war, so it needs air, water, pretty much everything.

Meanwhile, Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani, is in her room drawing comics of her and her hero, Captain Marvel. We didn't watch this series, only an episode or two, but we know that she has to other bangle as a source of her power. Also, Monica Rambeau, Teyonah Parris, is investigating strange portal-related activity in space, using SHIELD's space station as a platform. Carol Danvers, Bire Larson, is off in space, doing Capt. Marvel stuff.

Then they all change places: Carol Danvers winds up in Ms. Marvel's bedroom, Ms. Marvel in orbit in Rambeau's space suit, and Rambeau in the Captain's ship. This is kind of a cute Freaky Friday plot. It turns out that Ashton is meddling with space-time (lot of that going around) causing these three women to become entangled, so they switch every time they use their powers at the same time. 

They even do some training to use this to their advantage in a montage during a sleepover on Larson's ship. Larson plays this Captain Marvel as super-serious and dedicated, but also a little more girly - or maybe that's just her coming through. Parris' Rambeau is very pissed off with Carol Danvers. Danvers left Earth when Rambeau was a girl and just never came back. This is resolved in the movie by her just getting over it. Of course, Vellani just plays the fangirl, coming up with team names, etc.

We get some silly stuff, like a planet where every communicsates in song. Captain Marvel is married to the Prince there (Park Seo-joon), but only for diplomatic reasons. Also, Nick Fury's Cthulu-cat, Goose, shows up all over the place, swallowing and horking up all kionds of stuff - a plot point in the climax. Samuel L. Jackson's Fury plays it light and cool as always. We also didn't see the his Secret Invasion series, but I don't think it was necessay. 

Overall I liked this. It was sort of fun and silly, not so much jokey like Gaurdians, just a little light - even with the universe falling apart (again!?!). Director Nia DaCosta makes the body swapping disorienting at first, then nice and clear. She handles the tones shifts as well, I think.

Actually, I think a lot of people liked this movie, although as a mid- or lower-tier Marvel. That's sort of how I felt - but I like Marvel movies, and grade their mid-tier above the upper tiers of a lot of genres (cf. Eternals). I guess the oversll reception puts sequels at risk, which is too bad, because the previews in the credits looked pretty cool.