The Marvels' Critics Consensus - A Mediocre MCU Movie But A Boon For Phase Five

So far, critics' reviews for "The Marvels" are flying neither high nor low. As soon as the film's embargo lifted on November 8, the film landed a 58% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reflects a mixed bag of reviews, with some calling it the best Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie. Others declared the MCU film an all-time low for Marvel Studios. However, the reviews have shared universal praise for the lead actors' work here. Still, it's not enough to quiet the various complaints about the film's muddied storyline and confusing continuity.

Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Line praised the film's silliness, calling it "[A] fun, funny and snappily paced, but ultimately slight, movie outing." Meanwhile, Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com declared: "It brings me absolutely no joy to report that "The Marvels" is terrible, and the worst film yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe." Looper gave the film high praise despite citing a weak villain and a shallow story. What do these disparate and contradictory reviews mean? Before its release, we're here to give the overall critical consensus about "The Marvels."

To the film's credit, "The Marvels" brought a lot of joy to several critics. "Fun" is a frequently echoed sentiment within several reviews. Cleveland.com's Joey Morona compared the film to 2019's "Cats" — praising its sense of camp. USA Today's Brian Truitt noted that the film "enjoyably soars when it centers on its core trio and dares to go gonzo." The Financial Times praised the movie's sense of charm and vitality. The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey claimed that the public criticism director Nia DaCosta has faced is unwarranted, stating: "While Marvel's been busy flooding us with endless, exhaustive content, DaCosta's movie offers us the one thing that made this franchise work in the first place – heroes we actually want to root for." The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye praised DaCosta as a director, comparing her style to cinema verite. The movie's humor frequently comes up as a net positive in reviews, including those from Collider and CinemaBlend.

Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani received widespread praise for their acting chops, with Vellani earning frequent compliments for her work from critics such as /Film's Jeremy Mathi, who declared Vellani is a star in the making.

Still, plenty of critics had issues with the film overall. Owen Gleiberman of Variety complained about the episodic nature of "The Marvels," while The Irish Times' Donald Clarke bemoaned the film's editing and poor CGI. "Our brains are not sufficiently evolved – or perhaps they are too evolved – to make sense of this audiovisual chop suey," Clarke said. Total Film's Neil Smith noted the disjointed nature of the visuals on display here and declaimed the plot as confusing. 

The Associated Press' Lindsey Bahr found fault with the film's approach to telling a women-led hero story, stating, "It's supposed to be a big deal that this movie has all women fighting a woman villain, but as is often the case with Marvel's girl power attempts, it feels a little pandering in all the wrong places and doesn't really engage with any specific or unique female point of view." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post noted the film's formulaic nature, confusing plotline, and inconsequential stakes. A frequent critical complaint involves the film's pacing, inability to hold a tone, and frustrating reliance upon a vast knowledge of the MCU. Several critics noted that they felt lost while watching the movie, which requires previous knowledge of several of Marvel's Disney+ shows like "Ms. Marvel" and "WandaVision."

But are the critics right? We just have to wait to see what the general audience has to say too when "The Marvels" hits theaters on November 10.