Let's get this out of the way right from the start: While The Marvels obviously suffered at the box office because of the Screen Actors Guild strike, which prevented the cast from promoting it, the larger hit it took from the "anti-woke" crowd is ridiculous and short-sighted. The only thing "woke" about the movie is the female and non-Caucasian protagonists and, given the vast assortment of superhero movies featuring white men in the leading roles, that's a ludicrous argument to make.

That said, The Marvels is the best movie the Marvel/Disney team-up has produced in quite some time. While it doesn't hit the high notes of pre-End Game titles such as the first Iron Man, all three Captain America movies and the Avengers series, it beats anything we've seen from Marvel in the last couple of years -- with the possible exception of Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

The movie focuses on a galactic threat and, because of some mystical-science stuff, three heroes instantly exchange places when they use certain powers. They are Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who has been featured prominently in her own movie and Avengers: End Game; Kamala Khan/Miss Marvel (Iman Vellani), who starred in her own limited series on Disney+; and Monica Rambeau/Photon (Teyonah Parris), who was introduced (as an adult, after appearing as a child in Captain Marvel) in the Disney+ series WandaVision.

The "switchy entanglement situation," as Kamala calls it, is rife with comedic potential, particularly for the young Miss Marvel who still lives with her parents. But it also leads to some of the movie's most exciting action sequences, with some dazzling fight choreography in several three-way battles. There's a learning curve for the heroes, which involves a surprisingly cool training montage.

The supporting cast is strong, including the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur and Saagar Shaikh as Kamala's suffering but surprisingly feisty family. But it's the three main heroes who carry the film, and they do it with zest and just enough emotion.

There are some misses among the hits. The planet where everyone communicates through song and dance is a trifle odd and feels out of place ... although it turns out Captain Marvel is a Disney princess! But only one scene felt over-the-top silly, and that one involved a whole lot of alien kittens, tentacles and a hit song from the musical Cats.

But overall, The Marvels is a fun, colorful, superhero romp that furthers the new direction of the MCU. Anyone who skips it because of the ravings of some internet hotheads is missing a really good movie.