Ms. Marvel (2022) TV Review

Cast:
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel
Matt Lintz as Bruno Carrelli
Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia Bahadir
Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan
Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan
Laurel Marsden as Zoe Zimmer
Azhar Usman as Najaf
Rish Shah as Kamran
Arian Moayed as P. Cleary
Alysia Reiner as Sadie Deever
Laith Nakli as Sheikh Abdullah
Nimra Bucha as Najma
Travina Springer as Tyesha Hillman
Adaku Ononogbo as Fariha
Samina Ahmad as Sana
Fawad Khan as Hasan
Mehwish Hayat as Aisha
Farhan Akhtar as Waleed
Aramis Knight as Kareem/Red Dagger
Creator: Harry Bradbeer

Kamala is a superhero fan with an imagination, particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel; Kamala feels like she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home, that is until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s looked up to.

I was not sure about how Ms. Marvel was going to be. With shows like Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, Disney+’s Marvel shows focused on characters already in the MCU. Not so much with Ms. Marvel, and I only knew that she was somehow connected with Captain Marvel. Still, I heard some fairly positive things going into it, and it ended up being much better than I expected. In spite of its flaws, its one of the better Marvel shows so far.

Ms. Marvel starts off on a high note. The first thing you notice is the tone; it is very light hearted, in fact almost like a Disney channel show (especially with the effects) but in some ways it gave it a distinct personality outside of the usual MCU stuff. That’s not to say that MCU has shortage in being lighthearted (in fact that’s where they mostly operate). Still, Ms. Marvel felt different, and had plenty of genuinely fun moments. It also aims to capture the Pakistani-American experience especially with its lead character Kamala Khan, and with that the perspective is different from what we’ve seen from the prior movies and shows. It is a coming-of-age story and focuses on the challenges of high school, while adding upon Kamala discovering that she now has powers, and exploring what she can do with them. Those first couple of episodes were surprisingly good and I liked where it was going. Sadly, the show does lose some steam as the story comes into play. This is most notable in episode 4 where it uses the scenery change to Pakistan to just have a lot of exposition dumped onto Kamala and the audience. As the scale and scope gradually expands, it really loses what I liked so much about its earlier episodes. Despite a strong start, the story isn’t really that good or interesting. It was quite predictable and I found it hard to be invested in what was happening. A big part of this shift is that it loses the enjoyable tone established in the first couple of episodes and becomes just another autopilot Marvel story. The humour is also a bit hit or miss, but I didn’t mind it as much here compared to some other Marvel projects. Thankfully, the finale brings the show back to what I liked about it. While there are larger displays of power, it really brings it back to that heartfelt coming of age story, the high school setting, and the focus on Kamala becoming a hero. All the prior MCU Disney+ shows ended in disappointing ways except for Loki. However, Ms Marvel has the second-best finale of the shows so far. Finally, I’m going to take yet another moment to complain about yet another MCU show being 6 episodes; every MCU show up to now (except for WandaVision) does this and its annoying because it feels like a movie stretched across 6 weeks. They really could’ve moved things around and refined it into a potentially better feature film.

(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan and Matt Lintz as Bruno in Marvel Studios’ MS. MARVEL. Photo by Daniel McFadden. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Overall, I think the cast did quite well. The standout to me was Iman Vellani who is perfectly cast as Kamala Kahn/Ms. Marvel. She’s charming, likable and fun to watch, not to mention well written, well-capturing a teenage girl who is a fan of Marvel superheroes and then finds herself becoming one. I also liked the dynamic she has with the rest of her family, and it felt very believable. The central antagonists aren’t very good. While they aren’t the biggest issue with this show, they are so unmemorable that they could end up being some of the worst villains in the MCU.

The look, feel and style of the show is vibrant and colourful, making it stand out from other Marvel projects. The occasional use of animated sequences was entertaining too. Much of the effects (mainly with Kamala’s powers) looks very goofy, but with its tone it gets away with that. When it doesn’t go for the goofy Disney Channel style and attempts to be more serious however, it does suffer.

Ms. Marvel is one of the more refreshing Marvel projects I’ve seen. I liked the coming of age/high school focus and approach, I enjoyed the tone, and the cast are generally good, especially Iman Vellani as the title character. There’s also plenty of problems from the villains, to the drop off after the first couple of episodes, to the fact that they easily could’ve made this a 2 hour long movie. However, I think the fact that it does stick the landing at the finale makes it one of the better shows in the MCU.

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The Big Sick (2017) Review

Time: 120 Minutes
Age Rating: Offensive Language
Cast
Kumail Nanjiani as Kumail (based on himself)
Zoe Kazan as Emily Gardner (based on Emily V. Gordon)
Holly Hunter as Beth
Ray Romano as Terry
Adeel Akhtar as Naveed
Zenobia Shroff as Sharmeen
Anupam Kher as Azmat
Director: Pete Travis

Kumail Nanjiani is a Pakistani comic who meets an American graduate student named Emily (Zoe Kazan) at one of his stand-up shows. As their relationship blossoms, he soon becomes worried about what his traditional Muslim parents will think of her. When Emily suddenly comes down with an illness that leaves her in a coma, Kumail finds himself developing a bond with her deeply concerned mother (Holly Hunter) and father (Ray Romano).

The Big Sick was a movie I heard about only recently, I heard that it was a romantic comedy that a lot of people really loved. I really didn’t know what to expect, the trailer was funny and looked like it had potential, so I was cautiously optimistic before seeing it. The Big Sick surprised me on many levels, it surprised me how funny it was, it surprised me how emotional it was, and it also surprised me how great it was overall, this is probably one of the best romantic comedies I’ve seen (then again it’s not saying a lot).

I won’t lie, I really am not a fan of romantic comedies, save for a few like 500 Days of Summer. In order for a romantic comedy to really get me to like them, they have to really be well written and something different from all the countless generic romantic comedies that are dumped out every year, and it really does. The Big Sick is a very unconventional romantic comedy. This movie is written so incredibly well, the movie is absolutely hilarious with every joke hitting hard, the dialogue fantastically written. At the same time though you actually care about what’s going on with these characters. It felt so real and genuine and not fake at all. To summarise, this movie isn’t pretentious, it doesn’t succumb to any typical lines or moments that are in typical romantic comedies movies. Like don’t expect a montage of someone being sad with a cheesy sad song, when the film is emotional, it feels earned. The Big Sick also has some social commentary about many things including interracial relationships and religion, especially with Kumail’s family, and how Kumail has to abide by his family’s rules, as otherwise he might be removed from the family and never spoken to again. The drama and comedy are balanced out very well. If there are any potential flaws with the movie, the 3rd act does go on for a little too long. As for how accurate it is (as it’s based on a true story) I can’t comment, but given the people who wrote this movie, I’ll just say that it’s highly likely that its true.

The acting overall was really good for the movie. Kumail Nanjiani was hilarious and likable in his role (as himself), but also handles the dramatic scene very well, you really care about him. Equally as great is Zoe Kazan as Emily, Kumail’s girlfriend. The chemistry between the two is perfect, they are so likable and fun to watch. The supporting actors are also great, particularly the parents of Emily, played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. They were also so entertaining and also have some great moments.

I am truly surprised at how much I loved The Big Sick. It is fantastically written, hilarious, emotional, real, unpretentious and its just so great overall. If you don’t like romantic comedies, I still recommend seeing it, as someone who doesn’t like romantic comedies either, I thoroughly loved this movie, it is a lot different than you’d think this movie would be. The Big Sick is one of the best films of 2017 and is definitely worth checking out.