Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about something else. The second episode of ‘Moon Knight’, maybe?
Unfortunately, not. See, the problem with ‘Moon
Knight’ is that it is about as detached from MCU, as ‘Morbius’ is; only while
‘Morbius’ is a separate universe from MCU, ‘Moon Knight’ isn’t. Hence, the
notable lack of anything MCU-related in the second episode by now is becoming
kind of grating.
No, seriously, when you compare ‘Morbius’ to
‘Shang-Chi’, the lack of Marvel-related Easter eggs and co. is notable…which is
expected, (see above), but in ‘Moon Knight’? You would think that we would have
encountered at least one Iron Man (or some other Avengers’) graffiti by now as
a minimum; but no – we have a seemingly ordinary world, inhabited by Steven, an
ordinary man, who abruptly finds himself in extraordinary situation, complete
with Egyptian gods. The gods themselves we have discussed in the series’
premiere, and so far, there is little development… but what! The dog-headed
demons are not caught by video cameras and co. so poor Steven got fired!
…Well of course they are not seen by electronic
equipment, (and maybe even by muggles, cough). If they were, the situation in
‘Moon Knight’ would be different, more derived, because not unlike ‘Morbius’,
the plot in ‘Moon Knight’ is also quite basic so far: it is ‘The Bourne
Identity’ meeting Rick Riordan’s ‘Kane Chronicles’, save that ‘The Kane
Chronicles’ have treated the Egyptian gods more respectfully, professionally as
well, but that isn’t the point.
The point is that Oscar Isaac seems to be doing Tom
Hardy’s shtick in ‘Moon Knight’, and then there is also Khonshu doing his thing
to try to cover this rip-off up. The movies in ‘Venom’ series have their
problems, and we’ve talked about this, but they’re also quite successful, and
I’m guessing that MCU decided to emulate them, as Steven/Marc summon their suit
in a manner not unlike how Venom takes over Eddie in the films. I am guessing
that Sony and Disney/MCU have worked out their professional differences for the
latter to try this sort of thing. What is left?
…I got a chance to see ‘The Bad Guys’ in not quite
legal manner cough. Now there is an interesting movie, actually, as beneath the
colorful candy wrapper it sought to talk about such fundamental matters as
good, evil, (ok, badness) and redemption. It is quite Biblical, and there is
even a ‘Mr. Snake’ to further drive that adjective home, since you cannot go
badder than a snake, which stood in for ‘The Great Adversary’ in the original
Book. Yet even he – the Snake character is male in the film – becomes a ‘good
guy’ by the film’s finale. Hurray, but the movie’s message is marred by several
issues.
Firstly, the child-friendly wrapper gets quite heavy
at time from time, so the underlying message gets quite lost. And second, while
venturing bravely to talk about such monotheistic issues in an increasingly
polytheistic West, the movie may not have been brave enough; ‘Mr. Snake’ might
be biblical, but Mr. Wolf and The Crimson Paw, (a fox), are more of fairy
tale/folklore elements, and fairly baseline too. A wolf and a fox, really?! Moreover,
a red fox at that – they could have used an Arctic fox or a grey fox instead;
they could have used a porcupine or a coyote; but no – a fox for a wolf.
In reality, wolves ignore foxes normally, which is
good, because otherwise? The former can easily overpower and eat the latter,
but that is real life, where politicians – no offence, Ms. Foxington – are not
necessarily ‘good guys’, eh? But real life has little connection to children
films, so let’s just accept ‘The Bad Guys’ as a good film – and the ‘Moon
Knight’ as a struggling MCU TV show – and move on.
This is it for now; see you all soon!
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