Don't listen to the critics, give 'The Marvels' a chance

The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe release “The Marvels” has not received stellar reviews and did not do well at the box office in its opening weekend last week, but what can I say I have never been one to agree with the critics.

To be fair, I never know what critics want. Critics liked “Howard the Duck” and I thought it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. In fact, it is the only movie I have ever wanted to walk out of but stayed because my college roommate needed me there as her “wingwoman” for a guy she was interested in. Turns out she wanted to leave as well.

Another movie on my list of worst movies of all time is “The Last Emperor” and it won the 1988 Oscar for Best Picture. I could not walk out of that movie as our Thermopolis Academic Decathlon team went (the movie was chosen by our coach not us).

So, obviously I don’t always agree with critics but then I look at movies different than critics.

I want to be entertained, sometimes I want to learn things, sometimes I want to laugh, sometimes I want to feel sad, sometimes I want to be scared, sometimes I want to be enlightened, sometimes I want to be inspired, but ultimately, along the way, I want to be entertained.

I watched “The Marvels” this past weekend and I was thoroughly entertained. Is it my favorite movie of all time? No and it is probably not my favorite Marvel movie of all time; but it was funny, it made me laugh and smile and had a good moral message at the end, reminiscent of all those old comedies in the 1950s and 1960s.

I do not want to play spoiler but a message that lets you know sometimes the best intentions can have life-altering and negative repercussions is a lesson we can all learn. (Think before you act.)

There were a few other lessons if you want to think about them, but really it was just a fun movie.

There are some great one liners and Goose, the cat/flerken is one of the stars of the movie.

I did agree with one reviewer who said Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel played by Iman Vellani is the star of the movie even though she does not get top billing. Trust me, she is the star. She delivers her lines perfectly and her facial expressions are priceless throughout the movie. She is an up and coming star.

One of the things I also liked about “The Marvels” is that if you don’t have Disney+ and had not seen its miniseries “Ms. Marvel” and if you had not seen Monica Rambeau in Disney’s “Wanda Vision” or even if you did not see the first “Captain Marvel” you can still be entertained and follow the movie.

I truly believe a movie needs to stand on its own. Yes it can be part of a series but if you miss one because let’s face it sometimes life gets in the way and we can’t watch every offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series (of which the same can be said for the Star Wars movies, TV shows, animated series, etc.).

This movie does just that, without getting too involved and taking over the plot, you get the back history of each character, as much as you need to for this particular storyline and movie.

So, if you like movies solely for entertainment value then give “The Marvels” a look see. It is at Washakie Cinemas this weekend.