Marvel Watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning...

[Mel O'Drama]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier​

The Star-Spangled Man / Power Broker​

As hoped, Bucky is emerging as a more interesting character than he’s been before. Sebastian Stan’s performance - all clenched fists, clenched jaw and clenched buttocks - is really starting to work for me, and I like that his quiet intensity is balanced by Sam’s straight talking. Scenes where he and Sam - and sometimes others - end up shouting over one another with chaotic overlapping dialogue feel like they’re already becoming a trademark of this series, and that’s a good thing. The (slightly homoerotic) therapy scene where they had something of a breakthrough was great.

With this feeling like a more conventional series than WandaVision, it makes sense that returning supporting characters such as Sharon Carter and Helmut Zemo feel quite logical for this offshoot of Captain America’s world. Even Ayo made her debut in what was officially a Cap sequel.

As for characters introduced to the MCU in this series, Christina Raynor continues to interest and I still haven’t decided whether or not I trust her. Isaiah Bradley - the ageing super-soldier - shows great promise.

The new Cap storyline is working for me, and I like that the audience gets to share the feeling of wrongness and sacrilege that comes from seeing him in the uniform and using the name without any experiential understanding of who Cap was. His arrogance isn’t oversold. It’s reigned in just enough to understand why he’s viewed as a viable replacement and why it wouldn’t be a good look for Bucky and Sam to simply object or physically remove his shield and uniform.

It does seem credible that the super soldier serum would be used by a bunch of ASBO teens who enjoy the violent rebellion. Nonetheless, as antagonists the Flag Smashers haven’t exactly set the screen alight. They’re just not very interesting. Despite attempts at humanising Sulky British Girl with tears as her love is shot dead and more tears at the deathbed of what seems to be her mother, she’s simply a Sulky British Girl and indistinguishable to me from the equally bland Sulky British Girl in Ant Man & The Wasp.

 

[darkshadows38]

this one is considered one of the MCU's best a friend from her if i recall his i think Nephew if my memory is correct is an extra in this when it was filmed in Cleveland i dunno where in the film but part of it was filmed there i have no idea where in the film i don't know Cleveland that good since i don't live there

 

[Crimson]

I guess I already dragged the cat out of the bag that we're now entering the "rough patch" I alluded to early on; since, as clear at this point, our tastes align and diverge in equal measure, I don't think there's any risk in prejudicing you against Phase 4 projects. Of those 2021 MCU films/series released after WANDAVISION, I found them to be: adequate; mediocre; subpar; and terrible. (Those adjectives are not aligned to the projects' release order.) In truth, I thought my interest in the MCU had come to an end, but then there were two projects later in 2021 that reignited my enthusiasm; both skyrocketed into my Top 10. Hopefully that's all sufficiently mysterious.

As you have said in earlier reviews, external forces can impact perception of a movie/series. There were such forces at play when I watched TF&WS. Maybe I was still buzzing from the weeks of excitement of the WV theorizing, and the more conventional TF&WS felt like a letdown. Maybe I was still sour from what I considered a disappointing resolution to WV. And maybe my expectations of TF&WS were too high. Despite the absence of Steve & Nat, this had all indications of being, if not a direct sequel, at least of direct lineage of CA:TWS which is, of course, my favorite MCU project.

And so, it was to my surprised that I watched those first two episodes with total apathy. Not only was I uninvolved, I found myself impatient for them to be over. On the plus side, there were some very good action scenes. While I'm sure there was plenty of CGI at work, these scenes felt fairly 'grounded'. And that, alas, is about the extent of what impressed me in the first few episodes. I had to resort to Google to remind myself who some of the characters were that you referenced, they had left so little impression on me.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Of those 2021 MCU films/series released after WANDAVISION, I found them to be: adequate; mediocre; subpar; and terrible.

Oh dear.

In truth, I thought my interest in the MCU had come to an end, but then there were two projects later in 2021 that reignited my enthusiasm; both skyrocketed into my Top 10. Hopefully that's all sufficiently mysterious.

It is, and that will keep me going if I find it a struggle.

As you have said in earlier reviews, external forces can impact perception of a movie/series. There were such forces at play when I watched TF&WS.

On this note, the reason I watched two episodes last night instead of three was because the latter part of Power Broker was afflicted with the distracting colour problems I experienced with The Avengers, where it alternates every few seconds between the usual grey hue and a pink tint. The resume at the beginning of the next episode had the same problem and I just had to switch it off for the sake of my blood pressure.

Here's hoping it's fixed itself for when I next watch.

Despite the absence of Steve & Nat, this had all indications of being, if not a direct sequel, at least of direct lineage of CA:TWS which is, of course, my favorite MCU project.

And so, it was to my surprised that I watched those first two episodes with total apathy. Not only was I uninvolved, I found myself impatient for them to be over.

Yes, that link to the first Cap sequel is a double-edged sword. It promises a lot, but there's every chance it won't live up to it.

Taken on its own merits, I'm finding the series a perfectly decent watch, but it's far from the best the MCU has to offer. I'm certainly not experiencing the resonance and excited anticipation I felt in between WandaVision episodes.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier


The Whole World Is Watching / Truth​

OK - with these two episodes I’m invested in this series.

It feels nicely structured, and I like the way there are so many characters’ arcs happening at the same time. Unlike WandaVision, where everything felt very tightly connected, this feels more disparate, but not necessarily in a bad way. It feels like a good soap opera, where there are several different storylines to keep track of, some of which don’t feel related at times. It’s impressive if the writers manage to bring them together, and that seems to be happening here.

With each arc coming to a natural head, some are converging and all are playing their part in the greater whole, and it feels as though actions come with a very severe consequence.

With The Whole World Is Watching, the “Dark Cap” arc got grim and bloody. While some of the fighting in this series has felt at times a tad too busy, it hits the mark more often than not and manages to feel genuinely brutal. There’s a sense of reality to the violence that has allowed me to stay far more invested compared with the more showy CGI stuff from some earlier projects.

Poor Lemar, he was fated to die by virtue of the fact that he was important to John Walker, but (because he was given barely any screen time) not overly important to us or the writers. Despite its inevitability, John Walker losing it and killing Sulky British Girl’s sidekick felt genuinely shocking, reinforced by the silence of the moments after the crowd had witnessed it all, and the final upshot of Walker holding his bloody shield.

Sam’s journey towards taking the shield himself has really held my interest. It’s also felt important that it’s done this way. If it was as simple as Steve handing him the shield and Sam becoming Cap it would have felt less meaningful. The way it’s played out it really does feel as though it’s Sam’s destiny, no matter how hard he fights it. I loved the moment where, after a violent battle with Walker, Bucky retrieved the shield and threw it down at Sam’s side. I couldn’t help thinking of the little nod of approval he gave Sam when Steve originally gave him the shield.

Bucky has clicked with me through the course of this series. It’s taken a long time, but I get him, and I’ve changed my opinion on Sebastian Stan’s performance as well. Whether it’s him clicking with me, or him begin given more suitable material, he’s coming across well.

Post-fight, I absolutely loved the tone of Truth. There’s very little superhero action and costumed stuff. It’s simply a series of human dramas that shows the calibre of performance and writing. There are some bigger moments with Walker being stripped of his title and Bucky confronting Zemo before the Dora Milaje take Zemo away. But even these felt very intimate and character-driven.

Even more intimate was Sam’s visit to Isaiah where he spoke about being experimented on for decades while his wife sent letters he never received, and he never saw her again before she died. His understandable aversion towards the super-soldier serum and Captain America, the blonde-haired, blue eyed poster boy. When he declared that no self-respecting black man would ever take the Captain America mantle, I believed him, so I can understand the internal wrestling going on for Sam.

I enjoyed the bonding with Sam and Bucky as they helped restore Sarah’s boat. And Sam’s discomfort at Bucky flirting with Sarah was a nice touch. It all felt very much like the kind of conversations Mack would have with Ben or Frank as they discussed an investigation on Knots Landing.

With Sam’s decision to take the shield and John Walker creating his own shield from medals and malice I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier


One World, One People​

Once again, the series has proved that it works in shades of grey rather than black and white.

Rather than simply dispatching them, “nasty” characters like John Walker and Sulky British Girl have been given a form of redemption. Well, OK, Sulky British Girl said “sorry” as she was about to conk out forever, but she had some sense of journey. An episode or two ago it seemed unthinkable that John Walker would be working with Sam and Bucky, but here we have it, and it worked. It all fits in with the series’ motif that anyone can become a hero if they just make the right choice. There’s something very hopeful about this series that means someone is never beyond some form of salvation.

On the flip side of that is the evolution of Sharon Carter whose choices have led her to become the Power Broker. It feels like a shame to taint such a likeable character in this way, but it’s certainly played with expectations.

Despite the plot leading naturally to this point, Sam as Captain America still feels momentous. I’m really happy with him taking the name, but I’m torn on the uniform. It’s nice that it combines his Falcon heritage and the Cap uniform, but it just looks a bit wrong. Apart from it being strange to have Captain America sprouting wings, there’s too much white on it. It might look good in comics but not so much in real life (not to mention it being a terribly impractical colour for someone engaging in battle and flying at speed through skies). It might look better if the white was more of a light silver. However, I’m happy to report that I didn’t even notice the series name change at the end, so that’s a job well done.

There was a symmetry to Sam and Bucky’s most emotional arcs both coming from their interactions with older men who’d endured loss and tragedy.

Sam had Isaiah, and their conversation about him taking on the Cap name. Isaiah’s approval felt important to me as a viewer because his previous speech saying no self-respecting black man would take the name felt so definitive. The moment where Sam took Isaiah to the Captain America exhibition to show him the bronze statue of Isaiah was just beautiful. It’s been so good to see Carl Lumbly again as I loved Petrie in Cagney & Lacey. He’s still got it.

Meanwhile, Bucky broke Yori’s heart by confessing to the murder of his son, which felt strangely freeing. I like that it brought each of them a kind of peace, in much the same way that Bucky reached an understanding with Zemo while handing him over to the Dora Milaje to be taken to the Raft, with Zemo having already crossed through his own name on Bucky’s amends list in acceptance.

The final episode didn’t quite have the impact of the previous two for me, but for me this series has felt more about the journey than the destination. FWS did something I associate with the very best of Marvel Comics: grounded these people in a world that feels realistic, where the superheroics are almost a by-product. The real interest comes from spending time with these characters, understanding their thoughts and feelings and seeing how they respond to their challenges on a very human level.


I think I enjoyed this series far more than @Crimson did, and I'm sure it helps that earlier discussions about the series lowered my expectations a little.

 

[Crimson]

Sometimes I can reevaluate a movie or series in my head; WANDAVISION slid upwards in my estimation considerably after my first reaction. I find it hard to even think about TF&WS without ...

My reaction to each episode never rose above tepid, and often times leaned towards annoyance. IMO, this should have been a movie. Maybe in a streamlined 2 hour, uninterrupted narrative this could have worked but there wasn't enough plot or characterization to drag this out to six episodes. This all felt like my most dreaded of TV writing: all motion with no movement. Sharon and Zemo -- two intriguing characters -- were brought back with a twist. But for what? Did either of them really do anything?

The series brushed up against a few ideas it was too timid to explore. Superhero fiction as social commentary isn't my favorite, but it can be done well (see HBO's THE WATCHMEN or Amazon's THE BOYS). TF&WS was too Disney-fied tepidness to explore its basic themes except, I guess, for that knee-slapper of a "You need to do better ..." scene, which played liked the most heavy handed sermonizing of a 90s Very Special Episode.

Nothing made me laugh more than Sam's wings being bullet proof. So what does he even need the shield for? In a better written series, I might ponder if there's some deconstructive symbolism going on, but I'm pretty sure it was just an intentionally revealing the complete emptiness of the entire concept for this series.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Avengers
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. WandaVision
12. Black Panther
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home
14. Doctor Strange
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
17. Thor
18. The Incredible Hulk
19. Ant-Man
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp
21. Captain Marvel
22. Iron Man 3
23. Iron Man 2
24. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier
25. Thor: The Dark World

Updated: MCU Ratings on Google Sheets

 

[Mel O'Drama]

My reaction to each episode never rose above tepid, and often times leaned towards annoyance.

Oh, shame. The turn it took in the fourth episode made it worth the investment alone for me, and I actually felt excited by that cliffhanger.

I do agree that it could have worked better as a leaner film but for me I felt there was enough going on with the strands to keep me interested.

The series brushed up against a few ideas it was too timid to explore. Superhero fiction as social commentary isn't my favorite, but it can be done well (see HBO's THE WATCHMEN or Amazon's THE BOYS). TF&WS was too Disney-fied tepidness to explore its basic themes

Yes. I was left feeling it could have gone deeper (or left well alone). Had I been watching for this element in particular I'd have possibly have felt quite disappointed, but I didn't find it particularly bothersome.

Nothing made me laugh more than Sam's wings being bullet proof.

Same here. It just made me think of Batfink.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Avengers
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. WandaVision
12. Black Panther
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home
14. Doctor Strange
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
17. Thor
18. The Incredible Hulk
19. Ant-Man
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp
21. Captain Marvel
22. Iron Man 3
23. Iron Man 2
24. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier
25. Thor: The Dark World

This is one we're divided on, which might bode well for me when it comes to watching future series:

1. Captain America: Civil War
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Iron Man
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. Black Panther
7. The Incredible Hulk
8. Thor
9. Spider-Man: Homecoming
10. WandaVision
11. Captain Marvel
12. Spider-Man: Far From Home
13. Ant-Man
14. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
15. Avengers: Infinity War
16. The Avengers
17. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Doctor Strange
19. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
20. Guardians Of The Galaxy
21. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
22. Thor: The Dark World
23. Iron Man 2
24. Thor: Ragnarok
25. Iron Man 3

For me, the tone of FWS was right. The lighter moments weren't forced, and there was a nicely dark undercurrent. As said, I also loved how it felt very much about the people behind the mask.

(I think on reflection I might move Captain Marvel down just below FWS, as I can barely remember it now).



I'm not at all excited about the next series in Phase Four. But I'll try to keep an open mind.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Loki (2021)

Glorious Purpose / The Variant​

While I began this series with some serious reservations, I’ve found myself enjoying it despite myself.

Other than the few little teasers in this thread, I had no idea of the plot of Loki. I’d half expected it to be set in a big city (London, New York, etc.) with Loki interacting with average people. But there’s nobody average here.

Using the archive footage from The Avengers (and Endgame, if I’m not mistaken) to open the series created not only an interesting chronology for the series (I’m so relieved this isn’t a Loki resurrection post-Infinity War as that felt definitive), but it also creates a sense of scope and familiarity and makes this series feel instantly impressive. I’m guessing there aren’t tens of millions to pay out in actor’s fees with this being archive footage, but I also have little idea how these things work.

In a way, the Avengers and Asgardians’ appearances throughout the first episode reinforced how unfamiliar the entire cast of characters of this series is to the MCU. Other than Loki himself, I think everyone else is new, and seem to be made up of mostly unknown actors (unknown to me, anyway). The only face I recognise is Owen Wilson (the Sofology guy). Not that this is necessarily a bad thing.

Topping the list for me in attraction is the Mid-Century Modern design of everything from sets to the beautiful end credits. I’m a fan of MCM, so the whole look of interiors at Time Variance Authority HQ - right down to its old-fashioned TV sets and computers - is as appealing as the MCU has looked to me.

This feels, too, as though it has some of the weirdness of film and TV from the era, and in terms of premise, plot and presentation there are plenty of parallels to be found with the likes of A Clockwork Orange and The Prisoner. Like WandaVision, I like that this format seems to encourage things to be a little more experimental and out there.

Naturally, everyone at TVA speaks with an American accent, despite one of them not knowing what a “fish” is. With Loki being away from Asgard, Tom Hiddleston’s contemporary RP is acceptable enough, though I do still wince whenever he says “OK”. Still, I’m sure it’s just Loki’s way of blending in.

Loki hunting a Variant of himself is a nice idea and holds promise, and the time travel aspect should be fun. I’ve already enjoyed the little jaunt to Pompeii, and am keeping fingers crossed we’ll be able to visit another real-life apocalyptic event or two.

 

[Crimson]

I liked LOKI more than TF&WS , although my interest wavered from episode to episode.

Topping the list for me in attraction is the Mid-Century Modern design of everything from sets to the beautiful end credits.

This, I admit, irked me. The idea of time keepers as bureaucrats in early 20th Century aesthetics had already been done by UMBRELLA ACADEMY; I was honestly shocked to see a series display such blatant derivativeness.

Thematically, I had much bigger issues with LOKI although I won't be able to talk about it until, of all things, HAWKEYE.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I liked LOKI more than TF&WS

Great.

The idea of time keepers as bureaucrats in early 20th Century aesthetics had already been done by UMBRELLA ACADEMY; I was honestly shocked to see a series display such blatant derivativeness.

Oh, that's a shame. This is where my lack of knowledge around recent shows is probably beneficial.

Thematically, I had much bigger issues with LOKI although I won't be able to talk about it until, of all things, HAWKEYE.

How intriguing. I'd better get watching so I can find out more.

Loki seems to build on the idea of a multiverse which has cropped up in a number of projects. I'm curious to know if this will lead to something.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Loki
​

Lamentis / The Nexus Event​

​

Well, I may not be familiar with The Umbrella Academy, but with its third episode break from the TVA, with Loki battling and bonding with other incarnations of himself while travelling through time and space it’s suddenly become apparent that Loki feels very much like Marvel does Doctor Who. The look, the tone and feel of the series feels very Whovian to me, from the alien planets to the villainous Time-Keepers and their lair. Sylvie - perhaps by association - even resembles the current Doctor somewhat.

I’m not sure how to feel about the Doctor Who aspect. It certainly feels a little derivative. However it does also feel somewhat appropriate for an Asgardian character since the last time I observed similarities to Who in the MCU was with Thor: The Dark World.

It helps that the relationships are genuinely interesting, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the angle that the TVA bods are all Variants themselves without knowing. Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15 has been very watchable throughout, and her discovery and switching sides felt very satisfying.

Loki’s now encountered several more Lokis, including Richard E. Grant. This could go either way, but once the novelty quickly wears off I’m worried it may end up a little silly.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Loki




Journey Into Mystery / For All Time. Always​

As the first four episodes have gone by I’ve really warmed to Loki as a concept, which surprised me in the nicest possible way. This makes it doubly disappointing that these last two episodes have failed to deliver.

Some of it’s been watchable enough. The many Lokis weren’t as terrible as they might have been (thanks, mainly, to Richard E. Grant. Though it has to be said I could happily have lived without them all). And some of the stuff at the TVA worked for me - particularly where Hunter B-15 and Mobius have been concerned.

For me, the series went tits up with the CGI battle with Alioth in the penultimate episode and never recovered. At the time, I viewed this boring, endlessly long battle through the prism of hope: it was a turning point for the character of Loki and I was also glad that the inevitable obligatory computer game battle was getting over and done with in Episode Five rather than dragging down the finale. But it was all for naught.

I’d hoped the finale would get back to basics with stuff at the TVA and delve into character. This mostly felt surface, however. Ravonna Renslayer was an average antagonist, dully portrayed. I didn’t care enough about her to be particularly invested in her betrayal or any inner conflict she might be going through.

The thing that ruined the finale, though, was the reveal of the primary antagonist, which - even with the fate of the universe in the balance - brought no sense of genuine threat. The actor had no presence and it felt as though he was trying to make up for this by feigning quirky eccentricities to hold interest during the character’s lengthy monologues. The episode was incredibly verbose which - with this calibre of performance - really went against it. I missed a great deal of the exposition because the way it was delivered was so distracting and irritating. There was the Chad Michael Murray/Jeff Goldblum thing of playing round with punctuation in every single line. Putting emphases where there should be no emphasis. Pauses where there should be no pause. Jumping on desks. Grinning. In place of genuine gravitas and charisma we get tedious upstaging tactics. It felt like he was playing to the cheap seats which, when the audience is front row, centre, makes the performance an absolute trial. This is possibly the most irritating MCU performance since Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer.

Compounding the disappointment, I know the identity of He Who Remains (though if this was mentioned somewhere in between pauses and grins I missed it) and while he’s never been a particular favourite villain of mine, his arrival is particularly significant due to his familial connections to the Fantastic Four. This is, I believe, the first Richards to appear in the MCU, paving the way for Marvel’s First Family. I also understand that he’ll be returning in a number of Phase Four projects which at this moment fills me with dread. And not in a good way.

Back to Loki as an overall series, things might have been so much different were this a one-off series like WandaVision. The fact that a second season was planned even while putting the first together means there’s very little sense of closure or even resolution. All of which would be acceptable if I felt any kind of enthusiasm or even mild interest in watching a second. Sadly, I just don’t.

 

[Crimson]

While I liked LOKI more than TF&WS, not by much. My interest wavered throughout, peaking during episodes 4 & 5 only to end on disappointment with the finale. In truth, I barely remember either series which is fairly unusual for me. I have a growing suspicion about these Disney + series (and I'm including the STAR WARS shows): they're the worst kind of modern "content", inconsequential filler. Did anything really happen in these shows? Fortunately an upcoming series is a wonderful exception to this observation.

Aside from a slack narrative, my main issue with LOKI was the casting. I wasn't wild about Owen Wilson, an actor who can never disappear into his role; this made him a bit of a distraction to me, much the same as Goldblum and Stallone. However, I had serious issues with Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie and Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains. I agree entirely about Majors; it's a terrible performance;. It's an impressive achievement to somehow be hammy and dull simultaneously, but he accomplished it. He shlepped out his actors' bag of tricks, but the mannerisms never felt connected to the character. It's notable to me that you mentioned Sylvie only in passing; I don't want to make assumptions, but this leads me to believe she didn't make much of an impression on you. If so, I agree. I found her to be a drab and uninteresting character. Although never called as such, I worry that she may be the only Enchantress the MCU will give us. Since the series often felt skewered in her direction at the expense of Loki himself, this was a fatal flaw for me. (And the aspect I can talk about better after HAWKEYE.)

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Avengers
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. WandaVision
12. Black Panther
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home
14. Doctor Strange
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
17. Thor
18. The Incredible Hulk
19. Ant-Man
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp
21. Loki
22. Captain Marvel
23. Iron Man 3
24. Iron Man 2
25. Thor: The Dark World

Updated: MCU Ratings on Google Sheets

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I wasn't wild about Owen Wilson, an actor who can never disappear into his role; this made him a bit of a distraction to me, much the same as Goldblum and Stallone.

That makes sense. I never forgot he was Owen Wilson while most other actors (Richard E. Grant excepted) had the benefit of being completely unknown to me.

I agree entirely about Majors; it's a terrible performance;. It's an impressive achievement to somehow be hammy and dull simultaneously, but he accomplished it.

Very true. It made for a very long episode.

It's notable to me that you mentioned Sylvie only in passing; I don't want to make assumptions, but this leads me to believe she didn't make much of an impression on you. If so, I agree. I found her to be a drab and uninteresting character.

In her first full episode I was surprised to like her more than I'd expected from her brief part in Episode Two. I liked the angle that Loki was genuinely attracted to a version of himself, but yes - as the episodes went on my interest waned. It felt as though they were being pushed as a double-act, but I quickly lost interest and didn't find Sophia Di Martino at all interesting and the character felt very derivative: like a generic mashup of the Thirteenth Doctor and Buffy.

Although never called as such, I worry that she may be the only Enchantress the MCU will give us.

When her enchantment ability was referenced several times I started to wonder if she was meant to be The Enchantress. I'm relived she wasn't but - like you- fear that the similarities makes the arrival of the actual Enchantress seem less likely.

(And the aspect I can talk about better after HAWKEYE.)

How intriguing. I hope this bodes well for Hawkeye as a more solid series.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Avengers
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. WandaVision
12. Black Panther
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home
14. Doctor Strange
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
17. Thor
18. The Incredible Hulk
19. Ant-Man
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp
21. Loki
22. Captain Marvel
23. Iron Man 3
24. Iron Man 2
25. Thor: The Dark World

I see you've willed FWS out of existence.


Here's my current status:

1. Captain America: Civil War
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Iron Man
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. Black Panther
7. The Incredible Hulk
8. Thor
9. Spider-Man: Homecoming
10. WandaVision
11. Captain Marvel
12. Spider-Man: Far From Home
13. Ant-Man
14. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
15. Avengers: Infinity War
16. The Avengers
17. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Doctor Strange
19. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
20. Loki
21. Guardians Of The Galaxy
22. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
23. Thor: The Dark World
24. Iron Man 2
25. Thor: Ragnarok
26. Iron Man 3

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Black Widow (2021)

​

My last MCU feels like a long time ago. While Far From Home was just over two weeks, that is a long time when I’d become used to watching a film almost every day.

For as long as I was aware of a Black Widow film, I’d imagined it to be a prequel that serves as a belated story. This was only reinforced by the white costume I’d seen her wearing in the poster (a training or early mission costume from the Red Room, I guessed) and - of course - Natasha’s death in Endgame.

I wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of a Black Widow origin story, and so the film’s concept of telling us about her background while structuring the main storyline to fit between the events of Civil War and Infinity War (I think. Some of the Avengers films tend to blend together for me) worked really well for me. As I remember, Natasha showing up in Infinity War seemingly from nowhere with her blonde bob seemed a bit jarring, so I really appreciated having some of those gaps filled in.

The attention to detail seemed pretty good to me. From the story behind her acquiring the vest from Yelena and dyeing her hair to Yelena’s teasing, wry observation about Natasha’s tendency to strike a photogenic pose when landing.

This kind of humour is something I enjoyed with this film: most of it came from character and fitted in naturally without feeling forced. Yelena was a great character in this regard. The smart-mouthed sidekick role is a bit of a tradition in the MCU - I could see similarities between Yelena and Thor’s Darcy Lewis - and it can go either way. Yelena stayed likeable and human and provided a great energy for Natasha to bounce off.

One character I found a bit of a struggle was Alexei. He was great in the flashbacks, but once he was rescued from prison I just couldn’t take to him. There was simply too much going on: the accent, the full on comic costume, the jokes about his weight gain and man smell. Was he meant to be comic relief? An object of ridicule? A sad has-been to feel sympathy towards? A tragic man who’d lost everything? All of the above? While a lot of events happened to him, I didn’t really find him a well-developed character so much as a series of tropes at odds with one another.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Black Widow


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This leads me to what could be considered the film’s biggest stumbling block. I found it a very enjoyable, watchable film, and then Ray Winstone’s character proved he was a big baddie with that moustache-twirling line about coming “out of the shadows using the only natural resource that the world has too much of. Girls”. This just felt too one-note for me and drew attention to the problem with what I felt to be the film taking a stance on sexism: it’s a one-way street.

The women in this film are survivors. They’re strong and they overcome a lot. And that’s great - it’s a story that needs to be told. But reflecting on it after Dreykov’s sledgehammer line I also realise that there’s a double standard here. The men in this film are shown to be - by MCU standards - inferior. There’s the nasty, misogynistic bully. The slightly comic, slightly sad, slightly overweight buffoon who has aged far less gracefully than his screen partner and who is repeatedly rescued by the women in his life. Then there’s the supportive, subservient ally - Rick - who is there to provide for the protagonist, all the while basking in the glow of being permitted to do so. There’s a little more to the story than that, but not much.

I appreciate these are historically functions that might have been problematically fulfilled by women - think Marvel Girl, pushing Professor Xavier around while the other four original X-Men got their hands dirty. Or poor Sue Storm and her passive powers, forever feeling she can’t keep her invisible force field up much longer and hoping Reed rescues her in time. Thank goodness we’ve moved on from these Sixties Marvel tropes. Or, at least, we should have done. Because inverting the roles isn’t true equality or empowerment. It’s not even feminism. It’s simply another, more socially acceptable form of sexism. At best it’s gynocentric. At worst, misandrist.

Natasha deserves better than this. Again and again, working with - and up against - men (and women) who are physically stronger and/or endowed with more impressive powers, Natasha has proven herself and come out on top. When Yelena makes a snarky comment about the God from the sky not needing to take Ibuprofen after a battle, it actually reinforces how strong Natasha is. She’s fought on despite her humanity and vulnerability and pain. In this moment, the film got it right because it showed that she arguably does have preconceptions and limitations to overcome and she does have to work harder to prove herself. But surrounding her with a cast of inept or inferior men, and clunky, sledgehammer lines from misogynistic arch villains doesn’t do her justice, despite the enormous odds that she overcame during the course of the story.

The film’s other flaw was that the effects were lacking at times. During the climactic battle when the Red Room was destroyed and flames were all around they were distractingly poor, and that battle on debris in the sky felt most unconvincing.

I’ve ranted on a fair bit about what I didn’t enjoy, however this isn’t a reflection of my strength of feeling for the film itself. Truthfully, there’s more to enjoy than not and the story is compelling enough to overcome its shortcomings.

I liked the writing and its attention to detail, such as the teasing over Yelena’s vest with all its pockets, the aforementioned references to Natasha’s posing and Natasha and Rick’s little back and forth over the pronunciation of “Budapest (which I loved). Despite my retrospective issues with Rick Mason’s role in the scheme of things, I found him engaging and very watchable as a character and I’d be happy to see him in future MCU projects.

The film has a genuine heart to it and some touching moments. Barring the climactic battle, the action sequences are mostly gripping and engaging. And I like that it seemed to set the stage for the Hawkeye series. If Yelena is appearing in it (which I’m assuming she is), that’s a strike in its favour.

It's also worth mentioning that Black Widow delivered my biggest MCU jump scare when Natasha's car was hit.

It’s perhaps a flawed gem, but a gem nonetheless.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Here's how they rank:

1. Captain America: Civil War
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Iron Man
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. Black Panther
7. The Incredible Hulk
8. Thor
9. Spider-Man: Homecoming
10. WandaVision
11. Captain Marvel
12. Spider-Man: Far From Home
13. Ant-Man
14. Black Widow
15. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
16. Avengers: Infinity War
17. The Avengers
18. Ant-Man And The Wasp
19. Doctor Strange
20. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
21. Loki
22. Guardians Of The Galaxy
23. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
24. Thor: The Dark World
25. Iron Man 2
26. Thor: Ragnarok
27. Iron Man 3

 

[Crimson]

I thought BLACK WIDOW was fine; it felt like a Phase One or early Phase Two project and if it had been released earlier, I might have been more impressed with it. It's a bit too little and a bit too late for me to consider it more than kind of adequate. As bold as the MCU has been from the beginning, it's a retro-weakness that Black Widow and Hawkeye were sidelined as secondary characters. From the beginning, I thought it was odd that they didn't launch with Ant-Man and the Wasp, if it was thought Natasha and Clint weren't strong enough characters.

My biggest gripe with the film is that it never quite landed on a consistent tone; the extremely broad Red Guardian, in particular, felt like he wandered in from another movie. There's a huge difference between a 'serious' movie organically inserting some levity and a movie shifting its tone; the later tends to snap me out of the narrative.

I agree with all of your critiques of the film, but will add one more that rubbed me wrong. There's been a slight feeling through much of Phase Four of it being built by tearing down the earlier phases. Whether it's the Infinity Stones being played as a gag in LOKI, or Loki himself being sidelined and treated like a buffoon in his own series, or here Yelena (admittedly, good naturedly) mocking Natasha, there's been a vague but recurring feeling of scorn towards what came before. Now it's true all of this is fairly subtle and on its own probably wouldn't have bothered me much, but it fits into a bigger trend in pop culture of building something new by trashing what came before it (see: the STAR WARS franchise). This will pop up again in subsequent MCU entries and also what I'll be able to talk about more fully after HAWKEYE. I think too that this runs very much in parallel to your comments about the inversion of roles; this all feels like a specific type of poor, even agenda-based, writing.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Avengers
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. WandaVision
12. Black Panther
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home
14. Doctor Strange
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
17. Thor
18. The Incredible Hulk
19. Ant-Man
20. Black Widow
21. Ant-Man and The Wasp
22. Loki
23. Captain Marvel
24. Iron Man 3
25. Iron Man 2
26. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
27. Thor: The Dark World

Updated: MCU Ratings on Google Sheets