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Watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning...
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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 313574" data-attributes="member: 23"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Loki</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><u><em><span style="font-size: 18px">Journey Into Mystery / For All Time. Always</span></em></u></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">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. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">Back to <em>Loki</em> as an overall series, things might have been so much different were this a one-off series like <em>WandaVision</em>. 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. </span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 313574, member: 23"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]Loki[/SIZE][/B] [COLOR=#000000][U][I][SIZE=5]Journey Into Mystery / For All Time. Always[/SIZE][/I][/U][/COLOR][/CENTER] [COLOR=#000000][SIZE=4]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 [I]Loki[/I] as an overall series, things might have been so much different were this a one-off series like [I]WandaVision[/I]. 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. [/SIZE][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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