Finished up Moon Knight last night. Put more detailed thoughts in the TV Show thread, but overall it's the weakest Disney+ exclusive so far, IMO (and I'm counting the Star Wars stuff too when I say that).
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I’ll have to agree with @nessisonett that the movie didn’t really do much to create any momentum for the post-Infinity saga MCU. It was a slight let-down after No Way Home.
But the film is not completely a waste and I’d probably place it in the 3rd quartile of MCU movies — not quite among the worst, but not quite average either.
The issues lie with some of the acting, and also the overall storyline. Acting-wise, some of the new characters come across poorly due to flat performances, and even some of the returning characters just don’t feel like they are selling their parts. Cumberbatch and Olsen are actually good, especially Olsen as she appears to have mercifully abandoned her bad Sakovian accent permanently.
As far as storyline, weaving together a multiverse concept is never easy, and this movie unfortunately doesn’t solve the challenge of balancing narrative threads to make the multi-dimensional story flow easily. It just feels a bit messy, and ultimately unsatisfying, from a narrative standpoint.
A highlight is the visual presentation, and specifically the artistic spectacle. The CG is hit-or-miss, but I really enjoyed a few of the big sequences with dimension travel and the traditional neon light filled battles of the sorcerers and magic wielders. The movie is worth it just to see these parts, imo. At one point I thought I was watching Fantasia 2022.
The mid credits scene teased some future directions, and I guess it has me curious, but not as fired up as I would have expected, given that Dr. Strange is one of my favorite Avengers.
@Th3solution Yeah, it’s definitely a visual spectacle but I’m just not sure that’s enough for me anymore. I agree about the post-credits scenes, I’m already not a fan of Charlize Theron so I groaned when that popped up on screen. There’s just not that much to be excited for that they’re building towards. Thanos was teased as far back as 2012 but there doesn’t seem to be the same forwards momentum these days. I wish they’d just hurry up and confirm the Young Avengers, it’s really obvious from the projects going forward and the characters introduced that they’re heading towards a merged Young Avengers/Champions team. There still needs to be an overarching baddie though, Kang would be perfect but they’ve not teased him as much as they could have. I guess they’re trying to do it with Julia-Louis Dreyfus but I’m not convinced that a random rich woman poses that much of a threat.
@nessisonett Yeah, I actually thought that Scarlet Witch functioned as a formidable antagonist, despite the way she becomes corrupted and obsessed with her non-existent children came off as a little hokey. But as a villain with scary powers and an axe to grind with Strange, I thought she was good in that role. However, the convenience of her switch back to ‘the good side’ means she’ll probably sink back into obscurity.
The current MCU hasn’t really found its ‘Iron Man’ moment. No one is as likable and scene-stealing as Robert Downy Jr yet, except maybe Tom Holland. But I agree, also the lack of a Thanos / Infinity Stone arching integration is just keeping these from having the excitement film-to-film for me.
I’m not familiar with the comics, so hopefully there’s good source material to draw from with the Young Avengers.
Really really hope the CGI is improved before She-Hulk comes out. Dear Lord, it’s rough. It looks bad enough in shots but in motion it’s a strange overly smooth mess plastered on top of real scenes.
@JohnnyShoulder I enjoyed the film but agree I've not been a fan of all aspects of the 'Tom' version. I thin it could be interesting for the next one with how it all finishes though.
Now that there isn't a whole bunch of people who know his identity and he no longer has access to Stark tech I feel it could be much closer to the character I'm used to from the era I read. I was never a fan of him talking to his suit like Iron-man though kind of understand where it helps with narrative. Although I did find the 'interrogation mode' in Homecoming very funny.
Maybe they will jump forward a few years for the next film seeing as Tom is actually older than he plays.
Have they said anything about introducing Miles Morales into the MCU? I get all my Marvel properties mixed up. 😅
Miles has become so synonymous with Spider-Man lore through the video game and Into the Spider-Verse that I don’t know if there are plans for a live-action Miles to swing in and maybe save the day from Tom eroding away Spidey’s novelty.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Who knows, maybe when Holland decides to stop playing Spider-Man we might get Miles Morales instead? His uncle Aaron Davis aka the Prowler was in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Finished watching the WandaVision series and I absolutely loved it. I think the concept of the show was quite unique and interesting. The more I watched, the more intrigued I became. It was really good.
I think this is also a perfect example of why I prefer TV shows over movies. If this had been a 2 hour movie with a lot of stuff cut out, I definitely wouldn't have liked it as much as I did. The fact that it was nine episodes where you had time to grow attached to the characters, it made you care more about them towards the end, which I wouldn't have done in a shorter span of time. This makes me more excited to watch other Marvel shows, it's just a much better format than movies for me.
I'm also watching Ms Marvel weekly and that's another really good show. Disney really knows how to draw you in to their service.
Just finished watching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wow what a great movie! Just like the previous Doctor Strange movie, it had absolutely stunning visual effects. Because of the surrealistic motif they go with with these movies, there are so many cool scenes with very impressive visual effects. These scenes always make for such good spectacles. I can't imagine the amount of work that's been put into them.
I also liked the other Marvel characters that showed up. Obviously there's Wanda but also several others who I did not expect at all! I was absolutely blown away by Charles Xavier being in the movie. The X-Men theme that played during his entrance, the fact that he was in his floating "wheel-chair" that I believe is from the animated show and that Patrick Stewart reprised his role again, absolutely brilliant! I mean that guy is around 80 years old now, it's so cool seeing him play as Prof. Xavier again! This makes me want to continue my X-Men marathon, of which I only have like 3-4 movies left to watch. Moreover, the scene where Wanda said "What mouth?" as she literally removed Black Bolt's mouth and his sound waves ricocheted to the back of his head and killing him is definitely one of my favourite moments of the movie. That was absolutely brilliant! I also really liked that Hayley Atwell got to be in the movie and play as Captain Carter. That was so cool. Really hope we get to see more X-Men and Fantastic Four in the MCU in the future.
On a side note, I'm super glad that I finished watching WandaVision just a couple of weeks ago so that I was caught up with Wanda's story and could watch Multiverse of Madness without being spoiled. Such a perfect timing as I didn't even know she was in the movie until afterwards!
Anyway, Multiverse of Madness is definitely up there as one of my favourite MCU movies. Absolutely loved it!
Lots of exciting stuff coming from Marvel during the coming years! I'm personally very excited for the new Daredevil show with Charlie Cox as I absolutely loved the previous one with him. Hopefully they can revive more of the Netflix Marvel shows. Would love to see a return for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
I watched Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness again, after seeing it in theaters. I think it was a touch better on the second viewing. Still not particularly sold on some of the direction of the franchise, but the storyline made a little more sense this time around.
Not sure where this leaves these characters now. Especially Scarlet Witch. She’s in a weird place now after the events of the movie. Also American Chavez.. what’s her future in all this? I’m not familiar with the comics enough to know, but the character wasn’t all that exciting to me. I think the performance and direction of the actress was a bit “meh” so I don’t really have any desire to see the character highlighted down the road. Props to Marvel/Disney for getting new and lesser known performers though. Miss Xochitl Gomez is apparently only 16 yrs old, so it makes sense that the role was a bit too big for her right now, but maybe she’ll grow into it over time and sell it better on screen.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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