SamuelLJackson – Credits Rolling

Having reclaimed her identity from the Kree, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) finds herself on a new space mission. While there, her powers become entangled with those of her niece Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and fangirl Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). The three are left with no choice but to team up in order to take down a new foe.

This next entry in the MCU is one that fans have been waiting for for awhile. Unfortunately I didn’t quite feel like it held up to the hype. There was a lot about the story that seemed off to me and while it wasn’t terrible, it’s certainly one of the least impressive of the franchise to date.

With a run time of only an hour and forty five minutes, this is the shortest Marvel yet. I feel like this could have benefitted from some extra time to flesh things out. For example, new villain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) was given literally no backstory. She just showed up and we were supposed to figure her out as the plot progressed. She would have been so much more multidimensional with some extra scenes to fill in those holes. The shortened length also impacted a lot of the flow. There were scenes that occurred in the second half that seemed random and like they weren’t supposed to be there.

The shining light here was Kamala Khan. She truly stole every scene she was in. All of her one liners had me laughing out loud and I loved how she was always unapologetically herself. Her family was another bright spot, especially the scenes in which they shared with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). I also got a kick out of Goose the cat. Sadly, I couldn’t get on board with Larson’s performance as Carol this time around. It felt flat and like there was no passion there at all. I also got rather annoyed by the beef she and Monica shared with one another. Luckily all three balanced one another out well and made a good team.

It’s a pity that The Marvels left a lot to be desired, but I can’t help but think that Marvel may be having somewhat of an identity crisis. A lot of fans have claimed there hasn’t been a decent installment since Endgame and I’m starting to agree with the,. It seems like they’ve been preferring quantity over quality which is not always a good thing. Though the mid credits scene did peak my interest, I hope they work out the kinks and get back on track soon.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

Unlicensed and under scrutiny, bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) decides it’s time to take a break. All seems to be going well until hitman Darius Kicaid’s (Samuel L. Jackson) wife Sonia (Salma Hayek) tracks Michael down and asks for his help. Soon, all three find themselves in a mission to save Europe from madman Aristotle Papadopolous (Antonio Banderas) and his evil scheme to get rid of Europe and change the world as they know it forever.

I had been looking forward to this one. 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard was a ton of fun and I thought that this would be similar. Having to wait for more than a month to see it was tough and I couldn’t wait until it hit Demand so that I could finally check it out. Sadly my excitement was short lived.

First of all, there was way too much going on plot wise. More than half of the time I was confused and had to ask my husband what was happening. Also, I know for movie purposes that certain things are heightened, but it seriously bugged me at how unrealistic some of the scenes were. Unfortunately, a lot of eye rolling occurred.

Ryan Reynolds is hilarious and I have seen the majority of his films. That being said, I’m starting to think he plays himself in his various roles and I’m not sure if I mean that positively. It is as if they are starting to all blend together into one with their similarities. I did think that Salma Hayek was the best part even though she was seriously over the top. If I close my eyes, I can still hear her screeching voice. I must add that it is also always a treat to see Morgan Freeman.

While Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was a letdown for me, there were some parts where I found myself laughing out loud. I also enjoyed the action sequences and thought they didn’t let up for one second. At the end of the day though, the movie was a mess and I kind of wish I had just given it a miss.

Rating: ♥♥