Movie Review: The Marvels - Just Go With It

 

2023 hasn't been the best year for Marvel Studios. While "Guardians 3" and season two of "Loki" did well overall, "Quantumania" got a mixed response and "Secret Invasion" was a new low. Though it's a bit of a tennis match between the good and bad products, it's clear they're not the unstoppable juggernaut they once were and it appears with multiple projects being delayed that they're undergoing an overhaul which will hopefully rebuild confidence in the brand. With all these troubles, it's easy to understand why people are writing off "The Marvels", the sequel to 2019's "Captain Marvel" which sees Carol Danvers teaming up with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, with Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani reprising their respective roles. While the overall response is mixed but more positive than "Quantumania", the box office hasn't been pretty and seen by some to be the deathblow to Marvel. But does "The Marvels" warrant such treatment? Is there anything of value to be found here? While I think there is, there are problems.

Right off the bat, the best thing about this movie is the chemistry between the three leads. Particularly during a training montage, you can tell the actresses were having a lot of fun on set. Their individual powers also play well off each other, making for some entertaining action scenes. I also like how the theme of hero worship was dealt with on different levels. While Monica looked up to Carol as a family member and eventually became disenchanted leading to a reconciliation., Kamala loves Captain Marvel in a celebrity sense (and her fangirl reactions are hilarious) and is getting to know her past a surface level. I'm just thankful on the latter that they avoid a whole "never meet your heroes" third act break-up.
On the flipside though, I didn't care for Zawe Ashton as the main villain, Dar-Benn. She's about as engaging as her fellow accuser, i.e. Lee Pace's Ronan in "Guardians 1", mixed with the scene chewing of Elizabeth Banks' Rita Repulsa.

I'm a bit mixed on the story.
They said going in they were going for a wacky tone, and along with standard Marvel comedy, they definitely weren't overselling. But it's not as bad as you'd think. It's the kind of wacky where you just have to roll with the punches and embrace how insane something is, whether it be a planet where the inhabitants communicate only in song or a horde of monster kittens swallowing people to save their lives (which is cute and terrifying).
On the bad side though, it does feel like there were portions cut from the film in order to keep it under two hours (which based on "Suicide Squad" and Joss-tice League is never a good sign). The main issue I found is that they kind of breeze through Carol's actions between her solo film and "Endgame" and doesn't delve deep enough into how it affected her.
The Marvels is also another victim of what I'm calling the "Disney+ crutch", where the series on the service are essential to understand the movie. While not as pivotal to the plot like "Multiverse of Madness", watching "WandaVision" and "Ms. Marvel" help add to the context of references made to them in the film. Again, not everyone streams, so you're leaving part of the audience out of the know. Like, it's fine to reference to other stories, but it has to be subtle. Marvel's done it between the films in the past; Falcon recruited Ant-Man in "Civil War" based a past interaction, but they didn't take you out of the main story to go into detail about their fight in the first Ant-Man movie. Please Marvel, when "Captain America 4" comes out, just show Sam established as the new Cap and get to the story at hand. And on a related note, one plot point in this movie also makes "Secret Invasion" even worse and shows that whole story was entirely avoidable.

Overall, The Marvels isn't the worst. I'd say it's just above "Iron Man 2" and "Thor: The Dark World". It's still entertaining with our lead characters and a unique kind of craziness. There are definitely issues present, but there's still fun to be had as well.

TV Review: Loki Season Two - Time of Glory

 

After 12 years, I think it's safe to say people love Tom Hiddleston as Loki. He's stolen the show in every movie he played a major part in, his Disney+ series is widely considered to be the best to come from Marvel, and he's the only character so far to officially get a second season. And that second season retains the glory of the first and takes it to higher levels.

As we saw at the end of last season, the multiverse was born within the MCU. While we've already seen the effects of this with "No Way Home" and "Multiverse of Madness", season two of Loki picks up directly after that as the TVA contemplates how to handle the branches in the timeline. With the revelation that everyone within the TVA is a variant, this makes some want to protect those timelines now knowing the ramifications of their actions while some would prefer to continue the work to defend the sacred timeline, creating a civil war within the organization. There's even an aspect of some TVA employees wanting to return to the lives they lost; it's kind of like a reverse of The Matrix in realizing their life was a lie, only the real world they want to return to is the world like ours.

All the acting is stellar this season from those returning and the new additions.
Tom Hiddleston continues to kill it as the god of mischief. While the Loki we see has officially crossed the line from villain to hero, there are moments he shines when that villainous side pops out, showing he still has that edge to him. There was a moment during the final episode where it got me thinking Hiddleston may have the potential to play the Doctor someday. It could work if you think about it; maybe after Ncuti Gatwa's run. And his chemistry with Owen Wilson's Mobius is still one of the best parts of the series. The two are pretty much partners now, giving the show a sense of a crime procedural with a time travel twist.
New cast member Ke Huy Quan is a real MVP as Ouroboros, or "OB". Quan retains the same energy that put him in the spotlight with "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and brings a lot of fun to the series with his quirky science and interactions with other characters.
Jonathan Majors returns to the series as Victor Timely, giving quite a different performance from what we've seen him do before as He Who Remains and Kang. While his future within the MCU is still up in the air with his legal troubles, it's pretty clear why he was cast as Kang and his variants in the first place; the dude has range. On a related note, there's kind of a weird competition between Renslayer and Miss Minutes for Timely's attention, giving me vibes of Wendy and Tinkerbell fighting over Peter Pan. And if you thought Miss Minutes was creepy at the end of last season, that's just the tip of the iceberg with how crazy this cartoon clock gets here; props to Tara Strong's voice performance.

The final episode gives a solid ending to the narrative of one of Marvel's best series. As for Loki himself, let's just say this version gets a fine conclusion to his arc like other MCU characters who have retired from their roles with an ending in the vein of All-Star Superman (if I could make a DC comparison). I still think we'll see Tom return for "Kang Dynasty" and "Secret Wars" and reunite with Chris Hemsworth's Thor. Until then, there's a bittersweet satisfaction to seeing Loki fulfill his glorious purpose.

TV Review: Doom Patrol Season Four - Weirdpocalypse

Like "Titans", "Doom Patrol" was one of the inaugural original shows for the now defunct DC Universe streaming service that continued over to (HBO)Max for a total of four seasons. Between the two shows, "Doom Patrol" was consistently better with its in-depth character exploration and surreal nature. And it's certainly the clear winner when it comes to the final season as well.

Initially, the season got off to a slow and worrying start for me. I kind of got season two vibes with the barrage of f-bombs being dropped, though now the others were getting in on Cliff's schtick. There was also a fear that the show may be getting too weird with the main threat appearing to be an impending apocalypse brought on by the Werebutts we've seen before on the show (referred to as the Buttpocalypse). That also added a ticking clock aspect similar to "Umbrella Academy"; considering the two shows have been compared to each other since they started, it kind of felt like "Doom Patrol" was leaning into those similarities. Funny enough though, Gerard Way has also written some Doom Patrol comics and they dropped a couple MCR easter eggs this season.
However, as the season went on, many of these fears were alleviated. Along with a more direct threat in Immortus, much of what made the show so beloved shined through again. While having lots of laughs along the way, there were plenty of emotional moments that resulted in scene after scene featuring the best performances of the entire series. Compared to how it felt with "Titans", I think everyone here knew for sure this was going to be the final season, so they wanted to go all out with a story that brought everything full circle and gave our heroes as much of a happy ending as a show like this could deliver.

Two episodes really stood out as the best of the season to me. The first was "Casey Patrol", which was a Dorothy focused episode, showing what she's been up to since leaving the manor in season three and how she's dealt with her father's death. This episode also introduced my favorite new character of the season, Casey Brinke, played by Madeline Zima. While coming off at first as a Captain Marvel pastiche, Zima's performance shows a deep character trying to find her place in the universe. Plus, while brief, I really liked her chemistry with Jane.
The other highlight is "Immortimas Patrol", a holiday musical episode. If you've wondered how a Christmas episode of Doom Patrol would work, this is your answer. It's a holiday special that doesn't deviate from the show's tone and continues the narrative of the season. Plus, who knew everyone on this show, both starring and recurring, was such a damn good singer.

Between "Titans" and the DCEU, this year has seen the clear or potential end to a lot of live action versions of DC characters this year. And I was totally ready to write off this season of "Doom Patrol" too. But props to everyone who worked on this show. They delivered one last hurrah that will remind you why this show was so good and make you miss these characters once it's over.
Now before I go into a show-hole, I'm going to leave you with a moment from season one that's lived rent-free in my head since that encapsulates the meaning of the show.