The Marvels Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs
Another middling offering from the MCU.
Some four and a half years after her last major appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is finally back for a sequel the Internet just can't stop talking about - for better or worse.
The Marvels is out now, and so following months of hand-wringing over both dubious test screenings and concerning box office projections, critics and fans alike can actually assess for themselves.
The wildly mixed early reviews certainly haven't painted the most encouraging picture for an MCU that's struggled majorly with quality in recent times, and no, the critics aren't being harsh - The Marvels is every bit the aggressively uneven bag you've heard.
Nia DaCosta's fizzy superhero sequel is packed with interesting ideas but stumbles repeatedly on the execution front, while also leaning back far too complacently on the series' well-trod formula.
This is a tough movie to get excited about in retrospect, and even its more tantalising teases for the future leave one wondering whether Kevin Feige and company can actually pay them off long-term.
So before we get to what The Marvels actually gets right, here's where it unfortunately falls down...