The Marvels Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

3. The Short, Snappy Runtime

Much as it might sound like a back-handed compliment to praise a movie for being short, in an era where it feels like blockbusters just keep getting longer, a disciplined 105-minute runtime is a damn oasis.

The Marvels may have plenty of problems which may or may not pertain to its post-production woes, but in the very least it moves fast, maintains a pacy clip throughout, and never sticks around in one place for too long.

Whether this being the shortest MCU movie is more a symptom or cause of its problems will certainly be debated in the days to come, but with so many tentpoles being so tiresomely bloated these days, one that just gets to the point feels like something to applaud.

It's a shame the movie as a whole isn't more persuasive, but in the very least it's efficient and sprints from beat to beat in a manner sure to leave few checking their watches.