MCU CHAPTERS 33 & 34
It's a two for one sale! The D+ series Moon Knight finished the same week that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened in theaters nationwide! A double dose of the MCU in the same week! So, if Disney can do it, so can we here at Blood Work!
That, and I'm being lazy with these two.
Moon Knight first.
I did not like it.
To be candid, it was as though the show was fighting against the core concept. Simply, there was barely any Moon Knight in Moon Knight. About 15 minutes among the 200 minute runtime of the show featured the titular character. And even at the climactic showdown in the final episode, Moon Knight comes across as a lesser ineffectual hero in his own show. It was as though the people making this show actually hated Moon Knight.
But, you know what the show gave us an abundance of? Steven Grant a.k.a. the most annoying frustrating character in any Marvel film, television series, or comic book ever produced. And this Steven Grant isn't even the Steven Grant from the comics, but essentially a whole new character with the name tag of an existing character.
What little Moon Knight we did get, the 45 seconds in episode one, the minute and a half in episode two, and the four minutes in episode three was pretty cool. But the big battle in episode six just fell completely flat, going too far with the kaiju battle, and relegating Moon Knight to the sidekick of Layla's far more capable Scarlet Scarab (who the show and its characters constantly remind us is better than Moon Knight himself). I liked the Asylum Afterlife episode (ep. five) and the little bit of tomb raiding we get in episode four, but it was still indicative of the show's core problem, mainly that it was interested in everything else except Moon Knight.
I've thought Moon Knight was an awesome character for more years than I haven't, enough to bring me out of hibernation to watch. This was the first D+ MCU show I watched since Falcon & Winter Soldier, almost a year prior. I had hope from the trailers. The costume design is cool too (for Moon Knight, not Mr. Knight). Sadly, this painfully reminded me that the D+ shows are nothing I need to see, rather empty calories. This show could've been to D+ what Daredevil was to Netflix. Alas, the direction of this show is so far afield from what it should be.
Overall Ranking: 4 out of 10
Moon Knight is the perfect example of the MCU at large in this current phase, which brings us to...
Doctor Strange 2
I... really did not like it.
To be clear: I do NOT lay blame at Sam Raimi's feet. I don't believe Sam Raimi is at fault at all. He was hired to do a project and he did it. What that project was was a Marvel Studios/Disney product... not a Sam Raimi film. That said, when Sam Raimi's style and flavor seeps through I genuinely found myself enjoying it. I liked Danny Elfman's score too though Michael Giacchino's score was missed. I liked some of the visuals though they were very inconsistent. And I liked most of the acting, though a few actors here were either plain terrible or wooden and flat.
Beyond that... this is the new bottom of the barrel for me, my least favorite MCU film to date. I understand why Scott Derrickson turned down millions of dollars and walked away. I understand why Sam Raimi refused the title credit "A Sam Raimi Film" during the credit roll, the film credit instead being "A Kevin Feige Production."
And I lay blame entirely on the man whom I once praised as the magic clue inside these gentle walls: Kevin Feige.
The two words that best describe this movie and its effects on the MCU, Marvel Comics, and the creators of these long-lasting and enduring characters are:
"Disrespectful" and "Damaging"
No character or concept was serviced well in this film. At best a lucky few came out no better or worse. But the majority of the elements in this film were far diminished by their inclusion/participation in this film. And, as with Moon Knight, this wasn't really a Doctor Strange story like we were led to believe.
Which plot is the driving force behind this film? Is it Doctor Strange's first film or is it WandaVision?
What does Doctor Strange do in this film that only his character could do, that couldn't be done by another character?
Does Doctor Strange defeat the villain at the end of the film?
If you truthfully answer these questions, not skewing your answers through "another" perspective, should tell you that this is not Doctor Strange's film despite what the title blatantly tells us. And the Doctor Strange in this film is nothing like the Doctor Strange in the previous films (though an argument could be made for his depiction in Spider-Man: No Way Home starting the decline of his character to this point).
Another accurate description of this film is "Subverting Expectations" taken to the nth degree. To me this film felt a lot like the Star Wars: The Last Jedi of the MCU in terms of subverting expectations and script writing, but taken five steps further. This movie jumped the shark in regards to subverting expectations.
The key in making subverting expectations work, at least for me, is by rewarding the audience afterwards, either with an outcome greater than they expect or by giving them what they expect in the most satisfying way. You subvert some expectations while giving in to other expectations. If a film or story subverts every expectation it rarely works, more often though it leaves the audience feeling jilted or robbed. For me, I obviously felt the latter outcome from this film.
Bluntly, this film felt like a giant middle-finger to the audience, the source material, the actors and their characters, and, most egregiously, to Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and everyone who worked on and supported these characters and franchise for nearly 60 years. This movie was as though Marvel took the "Quicksilver / Ralph Boner" joke from WandaVision and stretched it out over the entire film. Disney took our money and kicked us between the legs while doing it.
Overall Ranking: 3 out of 10
I could go on citing everything I disliked about this film for pages, but I'll spare you the pain.
Instead, I'll leave you with a quote from the amazing television show COMMUNITY:
"...all good things, be they people or movie franchises, eventually collapse into sagging, sloppy, rotten piles of hard-to-follow nonsense."
If you made it this far... Thank you and I'm sorry. I would more than welcome a civil deep-dive discussion about these two Marvel projects if you'd like.
For more of my thoughts on all things super hero cinema check out the posts below!
And make sure to leave any comments and thoughts below!
No comments:
Post a Comment