[7.8/10] I liked this a lot better than the first episode! It had a real cinematic feel, with some cool direction and cinematography in the approach to the fights, even if the CGI still comes off a bit dodgy. The “Psycho Colonel Sanders” suit is actually pretty darn cool, and the sense of Steven fumbling through the badassery, before handing things over to Marc when the spot gets truly tight, creates a great sense of anticipation and fun to the skirmish.
More than that, I appreciate how this one takes Steven’s plight seriously. His speech to Marc at the end has force to it. This guy just wants to live his life. He’s been roped into this insane plot. And unbeknownst to him, it’s been ruining his life. You feel for him, the little guy wrapped up in something much bigger and more dangerous than he knows how to handle. Delving a little deeper into the problem, and Steven as a sort of pathetic but endearing figure, makes his one click into place.
That's part of why Harrow’s speech works here. Khonshu’s saber-rattling makes him feel like a bully. He’s taken over one innocent man’s life and seems to be exerting a negative influence on another’s. Ethan Hawke does a great job of making Harrow seem magnanimous and trustworthy with just the hint of something sinister. But a lot of it comes down to his pitch -- that he’s survived being Khonshu’s avatar, that the guy is full of hot air, and that there’s a better way. The idyllic neighborhood and good soup he gives Steven doesn't hurt that pitch.
At the same time, we see how Khonshu’s hurt Marc’s life too. Layla isn’t much of a presence just yet, but the sense of Marc trying to separate himself from ehr to protect her, especially from the prospect of Khonshu forcing her to assume his vocation, adds a sense of tragedy to Marc as well. He’s not just a mysterious badass struggling with Steven for control of the body. He’s someone trying to pay a debt to a manipulative god and stop others from coming to further harm. There’s weight in that too.
Along the way, seeing Steven stumble upon truth after truth is fun and endearing. He loses his job. He gets arrested. (Or so he thinks.) He finds comfort and connection with Layla, even if she doesn’t believe he is who he says he is. He even has the stones to challenge Harrow’s inviting philosophy. His comment about “drawing the line at child murder” is darkly funny and biting. As much as a nebbish as Steven seems like, Osaar Isaac gives him humanity, and it’s easy to root for him when he tries to do the right thing even when he’s in way over his head.
On the whole, this episode adds a great deal of depth to the characters involved and to the story engine at the heart of the show. I’m excited to see the race against Harrow to find Amet’s tomb in Egypt, and to see more of Isaac’s great performance in the dual role.
:pray_tone2:70% :thumbsup:16 :thumbsdown:7
THE GOOD:
The episode continues to explore Steven's fractured life, keeping us as confused as the man himself, but slowly piecing things together as Steven begins to chase down his own life. We also see and hear more from Marc, so the plot development feels satisfyingly swift.
Oscar Isaac continues to shine in the role, which feels tailored for him - and this time, there is a bit more humor for him to perfectly play around with. What's great is how well Isaac juggles between the different personalities, making them all feel distinct. We are properly introduced to Layla as well, who proves to be an intricate and mysterious piece of the puzzle and well played by May Calamawy. Ethan Hawke deepens his relationship with Steven and comes across as uncomfortably friendly, but with an underlying sinister quality to him - and he shows surprisingly much understanding about Steven's situation.
Fan-favorite Mr. Knight makes his first appearance here in what is a sort of surprising riff on Deadpool in terms of his comedic aspect. He does look comic-accurate though, even though they've made him the weaker version of Moon Knight by essentially making him Steven's alter ego rather than Marc's, therefore making him less experienced.
We get slightly more Moon Knight action, which is a step in the right direction.
The light horror aspects of the story help add to the tension and excitement.
The visual representation of Steven's DID and the voices in his head is simple but brilliant, and I love how it takes a central place within the narrative. Directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson use mirrors and reflections cleverly to keep Marc nearby at all times.
THE BAD:
The occasional random appearances from Khonshu still feel more like distractions than actual narratively important events.
The entire Mr. Knight sequence feels a bit off. It's not the kind of darker and more serious kind of action scene I had hoped for and feels like a Deadpool variant for kids.
This still doesn't feel completely like a Moon Knight series, as the story is very focused on Steven while Marc and Moon Knight appear briefly. It is also preoccupied with providing more exposition and asking new questions, without providing a whole lot of plot development.
The CGI is a bit wonky at times, but it's not as distracting here as in the opening episode.
Still absolutely in love with this one. Marvel Studios' overall output on Disney+ so far as been exceptional but Moon Knight so far is up there with Loki as some of their best work. Most of this is due to how creative it's camerawork is and how it tries to find the duality in nearly every shot. Steven's, and by extension Marc's, own struggles with DID throughout these two episodes is one of a battle of control while also a need to understand; everybody believes him to be broken and battered but he isn't, this is just who he, or they, are.
Plus it's just a damn good time. Even at it's worst Marvel is one of the better blockbuster studios right now which has been made abundantly clear, and beyond the great character work and stellar cinematography there is also a really great balance of tone here. It's just silly enough to recognize that Moon Knight is, on the record, a somewhat goofy idea premise for a character while also genuinely looking at him and taking him seriously. It's a great mix of the more modern, psychological takes of the character but also embracing the goofiness of the 80s in full force.
The actual plot still hasn't fully hooked me, with its treasure hunt hot potato, the villain falling into a very typical cult leader antagonist, and the CG jackal mummy fight, interesting invisibility gimmick aside, just isn't that well choreographed and goes on too long. Fully accepting the point that Steven is not a trained fighter and is getting his ass handed to him, there's still ways they could have tightened that up from a scenic construction perspective. But I'm still loving the character study of Steven, the way they're setting up the clash and bond as he and Marc are forced to work together. Layla is a energetic presence to add to things, and I like how she quickly subverts the Trinity tropes while also playing into Khonshu's machinations. I like how twisted the servitude to Khonshu is, and how this is all really just a spat between ancient gods who disagree on what justice means and how brutally to hit it in the guise of protecting people. That's the aspect I'm most intrigued by from Ethan Hawke's character, that he's a former Moon Knight who's found a new god, who I hope will be resurrected soon instead of saving that for the climax, because I'd really like to see that clash of gods and avatars play out more expansively for a few hours than wrap it up too quick. The flickers of perception are nice, Steven's descent into paranoia, while still holding onto his humor and bumbling charm. I'm imagining this series starring Rowan Atkinson, and it doesn't really play any differently in my head, and I'd be just as on board for it. And that dapper suit. I love the dapper suit!
Steven: "It's like Area 51, like MI6 bonkers, bruv. Yeah?"
Steven: "I did find things hidden in my flat. I swear. I'm not— I'm not joking."
Khonshu: "Give it back, you fool."
Officer: "Of course you didn't, 'Steven'."
Arthur: "It's all right, it's all right. That's all he can do without your help. Come."
Arthur: "You're a vegan, right?"
Steven: "Yeah."
Arthur: "Yeah, so am I."
Arthur: "I was his former Avatar. Before you, I was his fist of vengeance."
Arthur: "She's out there, waiting, longing to be freed."
Steven: "Hi."
Arthur: "While the cruel masses deserve to face her judgement. And in the wake of their screams, evil eradicated."
Steven: "What about a child? Would she kill a child for something they might do in 30 years?"
Arthur: "...I'm glad you mentioned that."
Steven: "Sorry, is that... Is that what... You're all into that, like, killing children and that? Maybe that's just me, but that's... I kind of draw a line there at child murder."
Marc: "Oy, Steven, what the hell are we wearing?"
Steven: "So this is what it's like? Being on the inside?"
Marc: "...Yeah."
Steven: "It's horrible."
Marc: "It's all right. You're all right."
Steven: "...I feel like I can scarcely move."
Marc: "It's all right, just breathe through it. It gets easier."
Steven: "How long you been doing this?"
Marc: "I don't know. It's... A long time."
Marc: "SHUT! UP! YOU! SHUT! UP!"
Review
Quite the improvement. I'll be honest, I forgot everything that happened in the last episode, but I think I'll remember this one for a while.
Steven's conflict between him and Marc, him and Layla, and him and Arthur is good. Unfortunately, it seems the antagonists are just "the flaw in our ideology is that we kill people", which appears to be the standard MCU trope.
Otherwise, I'm glad we dived into the plot straight away this episode, got exposition and got the coolest moment of Marc stamping out Steven.
7/10
I don’t think it’s necessarily worth piling on this episode because I do like a good bit on display here. Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke primarily. It’s a treat to see two of the top actors of today in something fun like this. And a lot of this is very, very fun.
But this is also the second episode of just general confusion. This was a similar problem with Hawkeye (but that show’s dialogue was much more quippy and fun), but in Moon Knight there’s a lot of heavy lifting to do. We have to introduce an entirely new character and set of lore to the MCU while also not taking too much time so as to skip the origin story tropes. I think it’s a little awkward because it skews the three act structure because MCU television shows effectively do not have pilots. This is a point I’ve been making since Wandavision and it’s still true. It’s a problem because series are a larger commitment and without the hook a pilot provides, I don’t know what to expect. Here, it means that the first act ended in the second episode. With only four episodes left it means you have a ton of setup and the payoff might feel more rushed as a result.
Ah well. I still enjoyed this! And props to Morehead and Benson!
Review by MonkeymajiksBlockedParentSpoilers2022-04-07T06:04:55Z
Not in love with the show at all, and definitely a weak showing over the first two episodes.
The whole dual personality thing is really grating as a device, made all the worse by the poor Frank Spencer style english accent.
The CGI is pretty wonky and the creatures being invisible to everyone but Marc/Steven is lame, it makes each scene feel "more CGI" as everyone is reacting to nothing. There is no weight to the creatures either it just feels so fake, with zero stakes.
So far they have given us zero reason to care about this character, by making Steven annoying we as the viewer empathise less with whats going on. We are two episodes in and don't understand the stakes at all. Wandervision suffered from this but at least it had a mystery to unravel with characters we cared about. It could afford to play with the audience because they had already done the heavy lifting. Here we know nothing, aside that we spend 99% of our time with annoying Steven also clueless. It might be a fun thought experiment. But it isn't entertaining to watch.
On the plus side Ethan Hawke is doing the best he can with "generic bad guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone, but totally hurts everyone because evil reasons" role.