Weekend Watch - The Marvels

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and (now that the studios have agreed to pay their writers and actors what they deserve) recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is Marvel Studios’ The Marvels – the latest release from the MCU, featuring the team-up of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Miss Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) who currently has no official superhero alias in the cinematic universe. In addition to its leading ladies, the film also sees the return of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury to the Marvel films, the big-screen debut of Kamala Khan’s family portrayed by Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh, reprising their roles from the Miss Marvel Disney+ show, and sees the introduction of the villain Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton, and Prince Yan of Aladna, portrayed by Park Seo-joon. The film opened this weekend to what looks to be the lowest box office debut of any MCU film to date. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B-; it’s a great time at the movies, and the leads help make the film really fun, but many of the important story beats break down under any kind of close examination.

Should you Watch This Film? If you are a fan of any of these three leading characters from the MCU, this film does them justice, and you’ll find your fandom rewarded. I don’t know how much this film impacts the overall continuity of the “Multiverse Saga”, so it’s a “maybe” for any other Marvel fans. People who haven’t enjoyed the latest offerings of the MCU probably won’t have their minds changed by this one, either.

Why?

                The Marvels, like most of the MCU films post-Endgame, is a mixed bag of good ideas, fun characters, decent effects, and a thin story. In the case of this particular outing, the good ideas come in the form of creative action sequences and a very fun team-up. The effects feel a little bit more consistent than in some of the recent outings; though, at times, the CGI of Captain Marvel flying around doesn’t look overly lifelike. The characters don’t have overly complex arcs in this quick film, but their interpersonal relationships take center stage and make for some solid fleshing out of the three leads. In a broad sense, the story works – forcing Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers to actually address the fallout from her past actions and do her best to patch things up, both with the Kree and with Monica. Unfortunately, the finer details of the story are where it starts to fall apart with more plot-holes than even I am comfortable with in a superhero film.

                Starting with the positives, it’s very fun to see all three of these leading characters on the big screen, and having them work together as a team is the icing on that particular cake. Aside from a tertiary role in Wandavision, we haven’t gotten to see much of Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambeau, and in this film, she proves to be quite a welcome addition to the team. Beyond actually figuring out what her powers can do, she provides a human connection for Carol/Captain Marvel to wrestle with, which wasn’t as fully present in the first Captain Marvel film, and she brings more of a grounded perspective to the trio, acting as the voice of reason between Carol’s brashness and Kamala’s fangirling. She’s a fun character that has potential to be even more important as the second of the MCU’s sagas unfolds. Kamala Khan/Miss Marvel at least had her own show leading into this film, but Vellani’s character finds her stride here as she becomes part of a team, realizing that she has more to contribute than just being a sidekick to more famous heroes. While Monica is the brains of the operation and Carol is the main character and strength of the trio, Kamala serves as the team’s heart, reminding them time and again of their individual and collective greatness, becoming the best part of the film in the process. Her interactions with each member of the team, with Jackson’s Nick Fury, and with her own family serve as the comedic heart of the film but also the emotional core of the film, as her arc from fan/b-lister to mainline superhero comes to full fruition. Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, in contrast with Kamala’s heart-on-her-sleeve passion, has to be brought out of her shell some in this film, benefitting greatly in this regard from Kamala’s outgoing nature and her emotional connection to Monica and her deceased mother. She’s obviously still one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, but her character gets to play in that space a bit more, as she’s forced to reckon with her inextricable connections to those weaker than her and to come to appreciate those connections rather than shy away from them and the vulnerability that they bring. Those connections offer a much-needed depth to her character that makes her a more integral part of the universe moving forward.

                On the flipside, the story surrounding these three great characters lacks a solid narrative framework and feels like a shell that was built around the awesome team-up. It’s a film that makes for a great time while you watch it, but when you look back and think about it, you’re puzzled by the logic and many conveniences that happen in the midst of it. Zawe Ashton does a commendable job as the villain Dar-Benn, coming across as the desperate world leader that she’s asked to portray, but many of the character’s decisions feel more like they were meant to bring the characters to certain locations and set pieces rather than the coordinated actions of the leader of an entire planet (empire?). Don’t get me wrong, those set-pieces are mostly pretty solid – the musical planet with Prince Yan, the cat rescue, and the initial entanglement sequence all make for highly entertaining film – but it’s again not the most logical in terms of story development. Likewise, I found myself wondering multiple times about how Monica just knew certain bits of information about the universe and physics that pertained to their specific situations and how the trio moved on so easily from witnessing multiple potentially world-ending events in pretty rapid succession. The processing scenes are either missing entirely or much too short to be fully satisfying. But that also speaks to my initial point that this film is here to showcase the trio rather than explore the universe that they inhabit, which may or may not work all the time.

                The Marvels is at its best when its leading team is on-screen, working together, and interacting in fun and fresh ways; unfortunately, much of that fun comes at the expense of a cohesive story, with the writing feeling more constructed around the characters as opposed to the characters developing around the story. It probably won’t work perfectly for most audiences, and a bit more time spent on story development could easily have made this one of the best MCU films. As it stands, it’s still a very fun superhero film with memorable characters, some original action sequences, and lots of heart that just misses the mark on some of its story logic. I think it’s worth your time if you’re looking for a lighthearted action flick that’s currently showing in theaters. Otherwise, you can probably wait for this one to hit streaming if you’re a Marvel fan or skip it if you aren’t because I’ve seen too many people dumping on this film for not being “cinema” for me to tell those people to watch it. They’ve already made up their minds because Scorsese told them to, and they’re not changing for a Brie Larson superhero film. If that’s you, just don’t see it rather than wasting time trashing people for doing their jobs.

Weekend Watch - Loki Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating and review. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the opening episodes of Loki season 2 from Disney+. This new season of the show (the first to get a second season from the MCU Disney+ shows) sees the return of Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Eugene Cordero, and Wunmi Mosaku in their respective roles from season 1, joined in this season by Ke Huy Quan, Kate Dickie, and Rafael Casal in the new roles of OB, General Dox, and Hunter X-5/Brad Wolfe, respectively. This season is releasing weekly on Thursday evenings on Disney+. Let’s get into it.

Rating: B+; it maintains the solid production design and frenetic pace of the first season well, and the performances have only improved, but a lack of direction has me hesitant to call this new season a full-on improvement from the first.

Review:

                As far as season openers go, Loki season 2 has had two solid first episodes in terms of introducing its new characters and resolving most of the unresolved threads from season 1; however, it has so far done very little to bring in a compelling new conflict to fill the void now that Loki and Sylvie have convinced the TVA to accept branching timelines. (Also, this is not a show where you can jump in at the start of season 2 without having watched the first season and be fully in the know, so there’s that as well.) It feels like we’re moving toward either a showdown with Miss Minutes and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer or with some new version of Kang/He Who Remains, but all of those characters were notably absent from these first two episodes aside from a few statues of Kang (who seems to still be played by Jonathan Majors despite his arrest and accusations of abuse). On the positive side of things, the show continues to improve in its production design and casting/performances, giving audiences more of that dingy brown retro TVA vibe that they loved in the first season and more of Hiddleston playing the complex anti-hero that Loki has become.

                With the story picking up basically immediately after the end of season 1, we are thrust very much back into the middle of things and are introduced to a new complication for Loki – he is experiencing time slippage while in the TVA, jumping back and forth between the past and present. This comprises the main conflict of the first episode, as Wilson’s Mobius and Mosaku’s Hunter B-15 are able fairly easily to convince most of the TVA leadership (aside from General Dox and her hunters) that branching timelines are acceptable. Their quest to anchor Loki in the present leads them to Ke Huy Quan’s OB (Ouroboros) who runs all the tech for the TVA and knows a lot about the flow of time. The resolution of that episode then leads into the second episode’s conflict, which is stopping Dox and her hunters from getting Sylvie and reverting the timelines back to a single timeline. This gets the band back together as Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie have to team up to stop this from happening, which ends up being fairly easy – much easier than any of the resolutions from the first season, and with such limited consequences as Sylvie leaving again, I’m hesitant to fully commit to the rest of the season.

                What bolsters this season opener, though, are the performances from the characters – old and new. Wunmi Mosaku turns in another solid performance as Hunter B-15, this time on the side of Loki and Mobius, delivering her stoic but inspired lines with just the right amount of camp to match the show’s energy. Sophia Di Martino doesn’t have quite as much to do in these first two episodes as she did down the stretch in season 1, but her portrayal of Sylvie still holds up as the jaded, powerful, witty Loki variant that she is, and I’m glad she’s still in the show. Kate Dickie gets to do a lot with her limited screen time as the “villain” of the first two episodes, and it’s always frustratingly fun to see her get to lean into that loathsome side of herself (like in Game of Thrones and The Witch), which she does again here, giving the audience someone to root against in the early goings of this new season. Owen Wilson’s Mobius hasn’t gotten as much into the actor’s surprisingly complex bag this season as he did, especially toward the end, in last season, but his buddy cop repartee with Hiddleston’s Loki forms the backbone of the show, and it’s still just as good here. Ke Huy Quan joins the show in the role of OB, which feels like a character that’s always been there, showcasing how seamlessly the actor fits in with the energy and vibe of the rest of the cast and the show, bringing levity, lore, and some level of stakes to these first two episodes, and I look forward to seeing more of him as the season progresses. Hiddleston is in his bag here in these first two episodes, getting to be more villain and more hero than he was even in the show’s first season, really leaning into the anti-hero side of the character. In these first few episodes, he feels more established and in control than he’s ever felt as the MCU’s iteration of the Norse God of Mischief, and it anchors the whole show, offering (for me at least) the most compelling reason to see where the rest of this season goes.

                As the show leans more heavily on its namesake, Loki season 2 has opened with a solid foundation of characters, performances, and production value that helps it overcome its somewhat lackluster stakes and conflicts through its first two episodes. I look forward to it hopefully amping up as we jump into the middle third of the season, and if the performances are any indication, I think we’ll continue to see why this show was the MCU’s first to get a second season. It will release weekly on Thursdays for the next four weeks, wrapping up on November 9th if you’d rather wait until it’s all out to binge it.

Weekend Watch - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the third (and final?) installment in the quirky trilogy of films following the interstellar band of misfit heroes within the MCU. This film sees the return of Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, and the vocal talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel in their respective roles in the franchise, joined this time by Will Poulter as the superpowered Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the diabolical High Evolutionary, Elizabeth Debicki reprising her role as Ayesha the Sovereign High Priestess, and the voice of Maria Bakalova as the Cosmo the (telekinetic) Space Dog. The film hit theaters this weekend to some mixed-positive critic reviews and overwhelming love from audiences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; the threequel can’t outshine the originality of the trilogy’s first film, but it makes enough fresh decisions while staying true to the formula that it remains a great watch.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes, but there’s a caveat. This is a much darker PG-13 than Marvel usually goes with – I would recommend giving this a screening before going with kids under ten because of how specifically dark it goes with exploring Rocket’s backstory.

Why?

                I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to be a little bit higher on Marvel releases than a lot of people, but I really think this is one that won’t be too against the grain. The issues of bloating and excessive interconnectivity are notably gone from this installment of the MCU, allowing the film to focus the entirety of its story on the development of its own characters and giving them satisfying conclusions to their character arcs. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delivers an excellent conclusion for its players with plenty of wacky hijinks and fun music cues to excuse its darker deviations, particularly thanks to the excellent work of Chukwudi Iwuji in the role of the villainous High Evolutionary.

                The story of Guardians 3 focuses on Rocket’s backstory, establishing his connection to the High Evolutionary while also giving the team the motivation they need to take on the embodiment of science without ethics. For the most part, this feels like a return to the trilogy’s roots, featuring ill-advised heist attempts motivated by personal choices that then puts the Guardians in a spot to save many more people than just themselves. While familiar, the lovable characters at its heart, the despicable villain on the other side, and the originality of the settings help keep the film from ever feeling overdone or derivative. Within this story are a few flashbacks that provide some insight into the plans of the High Evolutionary and Rocket’s development into the character he was at the start of the trilogy that feature some pretty intense emotional moments regarding violence against animals that might keep some viewers from fully embracing the film.

                That villainy in the backstory and his continued performance in the present helps make Iwuji’s High Evolutionary one of the best in the MCU. His stakes aren’t quite as high as some might want from a film about the Guardians of the GALAXY – focusing mainly on reclaiming his lost property (Rocket’s brain) and the fact that he’s just a bad guy – but Iwuji fully goes for it and elevates the character to true villainous greatness. Marvel has had a run of “good” villains in the midst of their somewhat middling run of Phase 4 – Namor in the overstuffed Wakanda Forever, Gorr in the overly light Love and Thunder, Scarlet Witch in the story-light Multiverse of Madness, and even Green Goblin and Xu Wenwu in the fairly solid films No Way Home and Shang-Chi respectively – but they’ve all shared the same trait, choosing redemption to bring about their defeat. Marvel went with the Doc Oc formula from Spider-Man 2, and it worked for their villains, just not their stories. Iwuji’s Evolutionary is just really and truly evil, not twisted by any tragic backstory, just a bad dude with a lot of power who uses it to do unethical things, and Iwuji plays him excellently. This is not the generic “bad guy” of Guardians 1 or the chipper god/dad/planet of Guardians 2; the High Evolutionary is the answer to the question, “What if Victor Frankenstein had the future technology and the powers of a god?” and that answer is a terrifying blend of mania, ego, genius, and cruelty. This is a villain that you will absolutely love to hate in the best way.

                With such a great villain, the Guardians have an easy job of making the rest of the film memorable and enjoyable, with each getting their time to shine. Zoe Saladana’s new Gamora has to find her place in the galaxy following her five-year jump into the future, and she does so in a surprisingly impactful way. Groot gets to feature in some truly creative action set pieces that allow him to shine in brilliantly creative ways. Pom Klementieff’s Mantis gets to show off her own emotions and some real fighting skills as she truly finds her footing as an individual in this film. Dave Bautista’s Drax gets to actually show off his more tender side, still serving in many ways as the film’s comic relief, but with a more emotional impact than even his quest for vengeance in the first film. Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill finally gets to come to terms with his obligations to Earth while also processing the grief of his lost love and general relationships with women in a deeply positive way. Karen Gillan’s Nebula might be the true anchor of the film, reminding the Guardians of their roles while forging her own ties with the team separate from her estranged sister. Obviously, Rocket is the centerpiece of the film, and Cooper’s voice acting really lends a lot to the emotional beats of the film, and his story is brought to full fruition by the film’s end.

                With its weakest links being Poulter’s Adam Warlock and an inability to fully live up to the expectations set by the first Guardians film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still manages to stand solidly on its own thanks to the trilogy’s best villain and satisfying ends to its characters’ story arcs. Some of its darker aspects make this a film to screen before showing your younger kids who might otherwise love the MCU films, but it really is a refreshing return to form for the franchise, and I’m excited for the future again. Check this one out in theaters when you get the chance.

Weekend Watch - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Marvel’s latest film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film is the launch of Marvel’s Phase Five, introducing the new big-bad of the universe, Kang, to theatrical audiences after he received a soft-launch in the Loki series back in 2021. The film sees the return of Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man alongside Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne/Wasp, Michael Douglas’s Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne. In addition to Jonathan Majors’s Kang the Conqueror, the film also introduces Kathryn Newton as the new actress for the now-teenage Cassie Lang and features cameos from Bill Murray, William Jackson Harper, and Corey Stoll. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; there’s no denying that the film has issues, but there’s a lot to enjoy here that makes it better than the current critic consensus.

Should you Watch This Film? If you enjoy the MCU or comic book films, this is a great watch for you. If you don’t like that type of film, there’s not enough here that will change your mind.

Why?

                Marvel’s introduction to Phase Five gives audiences a clear vision for the future of the franchise in the midst of a muddled story in the present, fitting for a film set predominantly in a region that exists outside of time and space. The film is unquestionably high on its new characters (the future of the franchise) with an excellent villain performance from Majors and one of the better “teen” outings in the franchise from Newton. Unfortunately, their performances and the rightly directed focus on Pfeiffer’s Janet can’t save the film entirely from the odd shift in direction for the Ant-Man films and a story shot full of holes.

                In terms of performances, Quantumania benefits from some of the best in recent MCU history with actors fully committed to their characters, even if their writing and story are imperfect. Rudd has truly come into his own as Lang and Ant-Man, making the character in his own image as a recognizably lovable celebrity who also happens to have saved the world a few years ago. He brings the same lightness to this film that we have become used to but also manages to rise to the physicality that this story requires with believable results. Michael Douglas is tasked with the role of comedic side character typically filled by Michael Peña in these films and actually does an admirable job. Is it as iconic or likeable as Peña’s Luis? Absolutely not, but Douglas manages to turn his supergenius into enough of a relief to keep the film moving. In my opinion, “the Wasp” referred to in this film’s title has to be Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne because she has so much more to do than Evangeline Lilly in this film and carries that burden well. Having played a fairly minimal role in the last Ant-Man film, Pfeiffer comes to the front as the expert on the Quantum Realm and Kang, giving plenty of backstory and explanation even as she struggles to cope with the consequences of her past mistakes. It’s easy to see that she enjoys the role and is fully capable of carrying the yoke of secondary protagonist. Kathryn Newton takes her role as Cassie Lang head-on, again managing to turn the loss of a fan-favorite character into a net neutral (and perhaps even gain in this case) as she serves as the heroes’ moral compass for most of the film, reminding Scott of what heroes are supposed to do at every turn. Finally, Jonathan Majors goes to work as the new Big-Bad of the saga – Kang the Conqueror. He plays the character as this malevolent force, offering to save the multiverse no matter how many people and universes he has to destroy in the process. His writing is perhaps the strongest, and Majors takes advantage, delivering line after line of despotic dialogue with weight and excellence.

                All the strong performances can’t do enough to salvage Quantumania’s overly expository and underwhelming Star Wars-lite story. From the first scene in the Quantum Realm, the inspiration from Disney’s other major franchise becomes clear, complete with desert scavengers, a cantina, and an evil empire fighting against rebels. From there, the story takes too long to get where it wants to go (introducing Kang) in order to get a frankly underwhelming Bill Murray cameo into the start of the second act. Unfortunately, for all of Majors’s greatness as Kang, the film’s third act does him pretty dang dirty – having him lose in fairly embarrassing fashion multiple times. His performance does enough to keep me excited for his future in the MCU, but the contrivance for the heroes to win in this film makes me wary of future underutilization of the villain’s genius, charisma, and physicality. We’ll see.

                Great performances from most of its leads don’t fully salvage Quantumania’s mess of a script, resulting in a mixed bag in Marvel’s first Phase Five film. Its visuals and charismatic leads help keep it enjoyable enough to warrant watching in theaters, and I think it probably would be pretty solid in 3D if you want to pay extra for that. As it stands, it’s not the best that Marvel has ever put out. It’s not the worst, either, and I think that with Bob Iger back at Disney, they’ll be able to return their focus to producing quality over quantity again.

Weekend Watch - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where, each week, we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the follow-up to 2018’s wildly successful Black Panther. This film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Dominique Thorne in what is easily one of Marvel’s best outings since the end of Phase 3 (Endgame and Far from Home). Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; the overall feel of the film is great, even if there are some minor flaws.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes, and do it in a theater if you are able. It looks and feels great, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, even if you didn’t love the first one.

Why?

                Wakanda Forever is a culturally and emotionally rich film, paying beautiful tribute to the passing of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, while also giving its ensemble of characters plenty of space to establish themselves as the new players in the MCU. Its runtime can be a bit daunting at 2 hours and 41 minutes, but it fills its time well and never seems to drag. It paces itself well, bouncing back and forth between scenes of mourning, action sequences, introductions of new characters, and scenes of plot development, keeping its audience engaged in each with gorgeous cinematography, quality acting, a brilliant score, engaging characters, and fun action sequences. Visually, aside from some minor CGI issues here and there, this film is as stunning, if not more so, as its award-winning predecessor, showcasing director Ryan Coogler’s capabilities as a director on an even greater scale.

                The performances that go along with the visuals go a long way in making this film as great as it is. Most of them are not giving anything awards-worthy, but they play their roles well and make the characters come to life. Letitia Wright gives a performance that makes the character of Shuri legitimately likable with emotional depth and reasoning behind her decisions. Tenoch Huerta plays Namor with all the charisma, power, and even menace that the character requires. Even Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o bring real character to their portrayals in a way that some MCU side characters don’t always get. Dominique Thorne as the newly introduced Riri Williams might be the film’s low point in its acting, though not for lack of trying. Her character feels a bit more shoehorned in, and so her performance feels out of place and gets a bit lost at times, but her potential is definitely there. The film’s best performance comes in the form of Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda. She dominates the screen every time she is on it, bringing a new weight to the character as a mother in mourning for her family who also happens to be queen of one of the most powerful nations in the world – it’s a brilliant performance that rightfully has been receiving some fringe-level awards buzz.

                Through all of its length and characters, Wakanda Forever’s through line is an engagement with the concept of mourning, which allows the film to serve as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman in the process. I was not sure how the actor’s tragic passing would impact this sequel going in, but having seen the film, I can say with surety that the filmmakers and performers pay homage to the actor and his character in a way that is both moving and true to the film’s story, weaving Shuri’s, Ramonda’s, and Nakia’s grief into the fabric of the narrative, celebrating Chadwick’s/T’Challa’s life without dwelling too heavily on his death. The film moves its audience, giving them the opportunity to mourn as well while looking forward to the next phase of the Black Panther saga – waiting to introduce a new figure to the costume until everyone has reached something close to acceptance.

                Wakanda Forever shines in this new phase of the MCU thanks to some of the best acting Marvel has yet produced, an engaging story that pays tribute to the past and looks forward to the future, and excellent technical work on the part of Coogler and the rest of the production team, all of which far outweigh the film’s perhaps excessive runtime caused by some mildly unnecessary additions to the plot. This currently sits in my top five films of the year. I anticipate some of the more “film-y” films to knock it out by the time it’s all said and done, but this was a phenomenal time. Go see it if you have the opportunity.

Weekend Watch - Werewolf by Night

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s subject, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Marvel’s first “Special Presentation” Werewolf by Night. The hour-long special features performances from Gael Garcia Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Kirk R. Thatcher in what amounts to an MCU Halloween Special that draws heavily on 1930s and ‘40s monster movie influences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+, heavy on style and content, but slightly lower on substance, this is one of Marvel’s most successfully unique offerings in a while

Should you Watch This Television Special? If you already have a Disney+ subscription, then yes. It’s imperfect but thoroughly entertaining for a quick spooky season evening watch.

Why?

                Werewolf by Night relies heavily on its stylistic flair to entertain with a fairly basic story and characters that may or may not interest you, depending on your sensibilities. The use of black and white film, a plethora of practical effects, limited CGI, intensely violent sequences, and simple sets allows the special to be a thoroughly original homage to the monster flicks of the 1930s and ‘40s that happens to also be set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (implicitly). The cinematography, fight choreography, and production design for this special are remarkably well-executed, immersing the audience well in the world and mood that the filmmakers wanted to create – particularly in the moment when the werewolf is finally revealed. Michael Giacchino’s direction and musical score come through beautifully, blending a few superhero tropes (generic armed guards, a crystal that’ll solve most of the problems, and a will-they/won’t-they relationship between the two leads) with a predominantly original concept, introducing Marvel fans to a part of the universe that had only been hinted at up to this point. With an entirely new cast of characters, most of which are throwaways, Werewolf by Night still manages to achieve buy-in thanks to its production value – something shows like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel have struggled with to some extent. The characters that make it out of the special are certainly worth exploring further, and the performances across the board, while basic, were solid. Gael García Bernal shines as Jack Russell, bringing his own take to the character, hinting at his tortured soul while also delivering some of Marvel’s textbook wittiness. Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodborne works well in the combination role of femme fatale and damsel in distress, succeeding at being both action star and potential love interest, it’ll be fun to see whether her character is revisited in the future or not. Finally, Harriet Sansom Harris fully commits to the role of Verussa Bloodborne, the host of the evening and seemingly sinister cult leader as well. I say that their performances are solid but basic because these actors are not given much to work with in terms of story, which is the special’s biggest weakness. Because they were shooting for that hour-long runtime, the story beats come quite quickly, and a lot of character development has to be told rather than shown to keep the action moving along. The story is not a total failure, however, because it does give the audience enough to care about the characters and showcases their roles in the universe well enough that by the end of its time, you do want to see more of them. Overall, Werewolf by Night is a successful introduction to this new style of production from Marvel thanks to its good casting choices and unique production design that pays homage to classic monster flicks. I’m excited to see where they continue to take these particular characters and to see what they do in the future with this particular mode of production. Check it out, now streaming on Disney+.

Weekend Watch - She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 1

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch, where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a review and recommendation. This week’s Watch, chosen by votes on the Instagram account, is about the new MCU Disney+ show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law whose first episode dropped this week and will run for another eight weeks on the streaming service. It stars Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk as well as featuring Mark Ruffalo, Ginger Gonzaga, Jameela Jamil, and Steve Coulter. Future episodes are also supposed to feature Tim Roth, Charlie Cox, Benedict Wong, Josh Segarra, and Griffin Matthews. The show follows the origins of She-Hulk and Jennifer’s efforts to maintain a normal professional and social life as she gains these new powers; let’s get into the review.

Letter Grade: A-; for what is essentially a pilot episode, this might be one of the MCU’s best so far.

Should you Watch This Show? I’m gonna say yes. This show feels like it has a lot of potential to take its characters in fun directions and it feels worth checking out.

Why?

                This first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law serves as the hero’s origin story. It starts as Jennifer is prepping her closing arguments for a case against some powerful individual. She then breaks the fourth wall (as the character often does in the comics) to cut and acknowledge that she is in fact a “Hulk” and then goes into the back-story. The origin involves a trip with her cousin Bruce Banner where she becomes a Hulk and then a long training journey where he teaches her how to be a Hulk. Along the way, we get a lot of development of both characters, delving deeper into Bruce’s connections to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in some fun and even briefly emotional ways. At the same time, we see a little bit of what makes Jennifer tick, learning about her love for her job and her hesitancy to become a superhero in spite of her new powers. The threads that are set up in the flashback provide some nuggets for strong character development as the show goes forward. The CGI, which was a problem for many when the show’s trailers first dropped, has been touched up surprisingly well, especially for a T.V. show on a streaming service. It’s by no means perfect or “movie-quality” but it’s better than most of the other MCU shows for sure. I have seen people complaining about Maslany’s characterization of Jennifer and She-Hulk as too abrasive or “feminista” or whatever, comparing her to Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and I cannot disagree more. Yes, she has some talking points that should be expected in a show featuring a female superhero (only the fourth Marvel project to do so in a solo endeavor, I might add), but the character is legitimately funny and doesn’t feel overconfident or disingenuous at all to me. She is a New York attorney whose job is prosecuting powerful people (maybe even superpowered people), confidence and an ability to adapt on the fly are incredibly necessary in that world. I will also say, the show’s comedy harkens back to some of the more classic MCU days in a way that is highly reminiscent of the Iron Man franchise and even the first Avengers, and I didn’t hate it. In fact, this episode’s post-credits scene might be the best that Marvel has ever done, in terms of comedy; I was dying laughing when it went to black. Overall, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s first episode sets the tone for a solid superhero origin story featuring a mix of likable original characters and familiar MCU favorites with some quality topical comedic writing thrown in to top it all off. I’m excited to see where the rest of the show goes. Follow it as it releases each week on Thursdays on Disney+.