by May Honey, Contributing Writer
Superhero and comic book adaptations as a genre don’t always have to be about the spectacle and vastness of their science fiction/fantasy chops. I would say we can all agree they are at their best when they tell undeniably human stories, no matter how elevated the theatrics and world building around it can get. This leads us to the newest Disney+ offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ms. Marvel, a show that despite its sloppy roll out, a poorly-thought-out release schedule, and endless toxic online discourse perseveres through it all. Resulting in giving us not only a delightfully funny and dramatic story, but a new and essential part in the modern iteration of the most expansive film franchise to date: Iman Vellani as the titular hero. Ms. Marvel is a triumph.
The show follows a Pakistani-American teenager, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), from Jersey City who is a massive fan of superheroes, and after realizing that she might have powers, has to come to harsh realities of how hard balancing superhero life and normal family life will be.
When the final credits of the last episode aired, I was absolutely buzzing. I feel that the most complimentary thing I can give anything in a cinematic universe at this point is that when it was over, I was craving to see more. From moment one, I was completely endeared to Vellani’s energetic and passionate portrayal of Kamala. She has such an exuberance and passion that are essential to the character that anyone who loved superheroes as a kid should instantly relate to. She also carried the dramatic heft and weight of the character as well. Every step forward to success, mistake made, or massive setback was grounded and delivered in a way that made it easily translatable to the audience. Doing that without losing anything from the individuality and specificity of your character is no small feat, and she pulls it off beautifully here.
She is also bolstered by a fantastic group of side characters to boot. My personal favorites being Bruno (Matt Lintz) and Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher), who create the primary friend group of the story, and I’d also be remiss to mention the entire Khan family, who all give such genuine and heartfelt performances. For example, Kamala’s mother (Zenobia Shroff) feels more in line with Rosemary Harris’ portrayal of Aunt May from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy than Marissa Tomei’s lighter and less present form of the character in the “Home” trilogy (no shade to Tomei though). Unfortunately, it’s also worth noting that character-wise there is an extreme lack of memorable presence from the antagonists. In fact, as the story goes on, it almost seems to just land on certain characters as the antagonists only because its convenient for these characters to be here currently. They weren’t exactly the point of the story, and there was thematic relevance, but beyond that the physical story and presence was quite lacking.
The other most notable thing about this show is that I feel it separates itself quite easily stylistically and filmmaking-wise from a lot of the other entries into the MCU. I don’t quite mean that it’s simply inspired by separate things, a la Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsbeing inspired by Kung-Fu and martial arts films. I mean more that it seems to deliberately pace itself differently and use a generally different visual language than other Marvel projects as of now. One of the most immediately noticeable changes is the color palette, which is thankfully changed from the grayer tones of the main-line movies to a more colorful spectrum. The reds, oranges, and yellows from decorations really pop in the set design, and the blue and purple coming from Ms. Marvel’s “hard light” projections are so bright and otherworldly in the best way. The contrast from the blacks to whites are just generally stronger, which I very much appreciated. It seems also inspired heavily by Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the first two episodes, using the environment and set design for a multitude of fun storytelling tricks like the scenario that two characters are talking about coming alive as moving graffiti on the building above them, or neon signs appearing throughout a long tracking shot showing what texts the characters are sending and receiving. Little flourishes like this made any given scene feel like it had that much extra care put into it. It’s just a more enjoyable watch overall because of these elements.
I’ve saved the most important thing for last, though. This show has so much heart, and even as a defender of a lot of Phase 4 Marvel projects, heart like this is something I’ve been truly missing. Kamala’s journey of finding a way to balance superhero life and family conflicts, her group of side characters each providing so much to her story and world, and her general drive to always trust in her heart and do the right thing is so beautiful and empowering for me. Not only just as a woman, but as someone who saw so much of myself in her passions and struggles. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this attached to a superhero character introduced for the first time on screen, and that gives me hope for where this is going. In whatever projects Kamala shows up in from now on, all you’ll have to tell me is that she’s in it and I’ll be there opening day.
Score: 9/10
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