'Moon Knight' rises
Oscar Isaac joins the MCU in a fast-paced, fun Disney+ series.
As much as I enjoy a cinematic release from Marvel Studios, I would have very few complaints if they just focused on streaming shows.
On the big screen, the MCU’s modus operandi is “go big or go [far from/no way] home,” and their accomplishments largely seem focused on how much IP they can wrangle and which big stars they can mix and match for various adventures. It’s fun but shallow, a roller coaster ride that doesn’t try too hard to reinvent the wheel.
But the studio’s Disney+ programs have shown they’re willing to challenge expectations for what constitutes a Marvel property. WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier have dealt with deeper themes, such as trauma and institutional racism (even if Falcon and Winter Soldier slogged through four meandering episodes and a whiff of a finale to get there). Loki embraced the weirdness of the comics’ cosmic side like no other Marvel adaptation had, and reinvented Tom Hiddleston’s character without undoing what had made him so compelling in the films. Even Hawkeye played with its longer format to give the worst Avenger a winning personality and delivered some of the series’ most fun and inventive action sequences to date.
The trend continues with Moon Knight, a six-part limited series debuting tomorrow on Disney+. A combination of Batman and Indiana Jones by way of The Bourne Identity, it gives Oscar Isaac an action-packed entry into the Marvel universe and has a lot of fun delivering outlandish set pieces while also playing games with perspective. I’ve seen the first four of six episodes, and unless the show crashes and burns in its final two (which is entirely possible), it’s more proof that Marvel should continue to use the longer format of streaming when bringing its comic books to life.
Steve Grant (Isaac) is a meek, clumsy and forgetful clerk at a London museum, possessing both a litany of information about Egyptian culture and a knack for coming into work hours late. But that might be because he has a tendency to wander off at night and wake up in unexpected places; that’s why he shackles himself to the bed and tapes up all his doors before going to sleep. He soon learns there’s more than simple sleepwalking going on, and it involves ancient Egyptian gods, a mysterious alter ego, and a soft-spoken but sinister cult leader named Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke).
I can’t say much more, as Disney has requested critics not to reveal the variety of twists and turns taken in Moon Knight. But the show has a great deal of fun with Steve’s fades in and out of consciousness, and their tendency to place him in dangerous situations. Directors Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead trade off duties throughout the series (Dia directs the pilot and four other entries, while Benson and Moorhead team up for episodes two and four), and deliver a fun and inventive series of shootouts, chases and fist fights that seem intent on proving that, yes, the MCU can deliver some fun action when it feels like it. A mountain-side car chase in the pilot set to “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is the high point, but every episode features at least one engaging action sequence.
Isaac is a smart addition to the MCU, a movie star who is also a capable actor, able to bring humanity to the outlandish situations Steve finds himself in. Without going into too many spoilers, the show requires a good deal of Isaac, requiring him to shift between a variety of different personalities and accents. He ably handles both the sweeter and more comedic moments he’s put in while also tapping into a gruffer, darker and more fraught side than the MCU usually dabbles in. He’s given a solid foil in Hawke, whose Harrow is the best kind of villain: an evil man utterly convinced he’s doing good. May Calamawy is also enjoyable as Steve’s reluctant partner, potential love interest.
Visually, Moon Knight joins Loki and Hawkeye in pushing the MCU aesthetic into more interesting and cinematic directions (I wish Spider-Man: No Way Home had taken notes). Filmed in a variety of locations around the world, it has a tactile and exotic feel that is more akin to an Indiana Jones adventure than an Avengers movie, and the show lingers on some iconic visuals for its titular hero, who wears a mystical suit with a cape that looks great when he dives in from above. Moon Knight also explores some of the weirder sides of the MCU’s cosmic and spiritual corners, pulling in trippy lunar action, mystical healers and villains, and an Egyptian god who looks like something rejected from The Dark Crystal or some other bit of fantasy.
The plot is a typical globetrotting archaeological adventure, and it remains to be seen how its approach to mental illness will ultimately play out; so far, it’s respectful even if it’s fantastical. And its central mystery struggles at time with cliches; other characters in better films have been in these situations before. But Isaac creates a character who’s compelling and likable, and the show knows when to lay off the gas and explore some of Steve’s backstories and troubles. At other times, the show tiptoes closer to the horror genre than Marvel films usually do, and it could be setting up an interesting tonal shift for the franchise just as Sam Raimi prepares a Doctor Strange sequel that promises a harder turn into genre.
The show’s fourth episode contains a development that I’m sure will get fans talking, and while I can’t go into details, I’ll say it was bold enough to make me sit up a bit straighter in my chair while also setting off alarm bells that the show might be preparing to unravel. We’ll see; for now, Moon Knight is another winner from Marvel and proof that there’s still a great deal left to explore with this library of characters.
Briefly
Just a few quick bits…
…I quite enjoyed Richard Linklater’s news film, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, which I reviewed for CinemaNerdz.
…I don’t think I mentioned that I was a bit split on the new erotic thriller Deep Water, starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. It’s a trashy movie that knows how trashy it is, which helps. And I imagine couples looking for something a bit more risque might head over to Hulu to check it out. I reviewed it a few weeks back for CinemaNerdz.
…My wife and I had the opportunity to check out The Lost City over the weekend, taking advantage of an anniversary date night. There’s no much to say about this, but I had a good time with it. We used to get one of these high-concept, star-driven romantic comedies every month, but now it feels like a throwback. But Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum are both as fun and reliable as ever, and I enjoyed Daniel Radcliffe as nerdy, petulant villain. There’s nothing to this Romancing the Stone homage that you haven’t seen done better elsewhere, but it’s been a long time since it’s been done at all and I’d like to see more of it.
…I didn’t mention the Oscars at all here, but my podcast co-host, Perry, and I talked about it at length for We’re Watching Here. Give it a listen on Spotify or iTunes and listen to us chat about the slap heard around the world, our thoughts on the nominees, and whether there was anything worth redeeming from this lackluster night.