Captain Marvel II (DVD) Review

A sequel of sorts to Brie Larson’s eponymous 2019 Marvel Studios smash, this sci-fi superhero action-comedy is a blippy, bubbly blast. It’s packed with high-flying combat, a few wry smiles and enough jovial but insipid banter to resemble a slightly more feisty version of Charlie’s Angels without the postmodern wit.

It’s also a film that ups the representation ante by pairing Carol with two distinctly different sidekicks. Pakistani American teen Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) – who debuted in Disney Plus spinoff Ms Marvel – idolizes Carol’s superhero alter ego. And Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambeau, who starred in the earlier film and its upcoming WandaVision sequel as Photon, is a tough-talking Jersey City crime fighter.

Bringing the three together, director Nia DaCosta finds some genuinely interesting dynamics. The trio form an impromptu team and engage in plenty of swapping and teleportation. But while there are a few scenes that ring true, others seem to be tossed in purely as plot convenience.

The biggest problem is that it feels like the villain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) was added in order to give the film a three-person conflict. Otherwise, the movie feels too much like a retread of the first one. But if you can get past that, there are a lot of things to enjoy about the film. It’s fun, fast and easy to follow. And it has some beautiful visuals. Jan Bazaldur and Bryan Valenza’s backgrounds take a page from traditional manga, with the use of color and dynamic framing helping the action to pop.