Mr and Mrs Fisk.
Not quite the bang I was hoping for but it's still a great end to the season. My only problem is that it's a very 'Marvel' type ending, in how the villain is defeated and the heroes have a happy ending, but have more trouble to come with a predictable ending that reveals a new villain for next season...and also, I'm disappointed Fisk didn't die. I thought that was what the whole season was setting up, because of Matt's whole separation from faith. I really thought Matt would kill him, but he's just done the same as he did in season 1. I'm sure all the corruption won't happen again because of his love for Vanessa, but man I'll admit I'm disappointed he wasn't killed.
Anyway, as you can see from the rating, I still really enjoyed this episode. Dex finally learning that Fisk has been abusing his emotions and manipulating him was a highlight for me, as well as the the brutal fight scene at the wedding. Other things I loved about this episode was how it gave Father Lantom the send-off he deserved, and the moment the title of the episode refers to: when they decide to start the law firm again, but with Karen as one of their attorneys.
If you compared the dark and depressing premiere to this feel-good finale, you would think it was two completely different shows, but it was still very enjoyable.
Season 3 episodes ranked:
1. Blindsided (episode 4)
2. The Perfect Game (episode 5)
3. Karen (episode 10)
4. The Devil you Know (episode 6)
5. Resurrection (episode 1)
6. Upstairs/Downstairs (episode 8)
7. A New Napkin (episode 13)
8. One Last Shot (episode 12)
9. Please (episode 2)
10. Revelations (episode 9)
11. Reunion (episode 11)
12. No Good Deed (episode 3)
13. Aftermath (episode 7)
Season 3 Rating: 8.3
This show is something truly special.
After watching last week's episode, I thought Amy was written off and we would no longer see her again (seeing as she had not appeared in this season so far, it felt a bit like they were dealing with a loose end). However, she did "return" as we were treated to what other versions of David would be like, had he made different choices at certain points in his life.
This episode was quite a ride. It starts in a confusing note, taking you completely off the usual happenings of the show, but you are relatively quick to find out where you are once you get a little more information. In between David's various lives, they very subtly added events from our own David's life, I guess to show us that these were all possibilities... but then we get a "season 1 recap" and see the final moments of the previous episode again, reminding us that this is our reality.
This episode needs to be watched again to get every detail properly, but I gather that regardless of how terrible another life could be for David (from getting killed to becoming a rich prick), anything beats a reality where his sister is gone, which is incredibly sad and beautifully done.
Between this episode and the one focused on Syd's life, what a glorious show. (The Syd one is probably my favourite of all)
"- Well, we'll need some stopping power. Too much?
- Not unless you're going grocery shopping in Texas."
What an ending! They seriously need to stop arresting Jessica. It seems that she ends up in handcuffs every damn season. It's becoming a weird tradition.
I love that even in the middle of a blazing hot summer, Jessica still wears heavy boots and her leather jacket everywhere. Hey, I get it. She needs to maintain that dark aesthetic. I just think it's super funny.
Vido is such a cute kid, and I enjoy his dynamic with Jessica so much. I'm pretty meh about Oscar for now. We'll see what they do with his character.
Jeri's storyline is breaking my heart. And giving me major anxiety because I can imagine doing exactly the same if I were in her situation.
Can Pryce just fuck off already? I despise the guy.
This show is filled with heavy themes and storylines, but Jessica's fear of becoming the monster that this other lady is hit me especially hard. I was almost in tears when she kept saying "That's not me". That's what Oscar got wrong about her: she's not a misanthrope. She may not have the patience to deal with other people's bullshit, and she may not be a particularly nice person, but she wants to protect people. That's what led to her brief stint as a superhero. And after all the shit she's been through, her first instinct is still to save others. I just have a lot of feelings about Jessica Jones, okay? She deserves the world.
I have to say, mad props to the writers for never dancing around what Kilgrave did to Jess and calling it what it was: rape. Remember, kids, sex without explicit consent is always rape. It shouldn't even need to be said in goddamn 2018, but looking at what's happening in the world and everything that went down in Hollywood in the last few months, some people just still don't get it.
“Death is the enemy. The first enemy. And the last.
But we all die.
The enemy always wins but we still need to fight him.”
That's what the white walkers are, Death. There is no reason for them wanting to kill everyone, they don’t want the iron throne, they just want to bring death. The battle scenes were intense. Jon and his crew did fight but it is not without death. Thoros, Uncle Benjen (he was on screen for like 10 seconds) and most importantly Viserion. RIP sorta. The night king has an arm and he now upgraded from an undead horse to an undead dragon.
I’m glad Jon decided it is more important to swallow his pride and bend the knee. I was surprised it was Tormund who kinda talked him into it. I’m sure another near death experience also put some things in perspective. Side Note: How did he not die of hypothermia, I mean he was under a frozen lake for a while and then had a long ride back to the wall in wet clothes?
Daenerys is really going on the offensive recently but one of these times Tyrion is going to be right and she won’t listen to him. She already lost one of her dragons. Will that slow her down? It looks like Jon and her really have some strong feelings for each other now. Once they find out Jon is a Targaryen will she be happy about it or mad since he has a greater claim to the iron throne?
I really enjoyed all the chatter from everyone north of the wall before the fighting. I loved the hound and Tormund going back and forth. Especially when he brings up Brienne. “Ah, dick. I like it. I bet you do.” It's crazy how intertwined everyone is and how they all came from different places to fight this one battle.
The whole Arya and Sansa fighting is a little strange. I don’t know why Arya would just want to kill Sansa? I mean does she really think she is going to betray her family now? When Sansa found the faces it made we think was Arya acting as Littlefinger earlier in the episode? Was she acting as Sansa when she sent away Brienne? Why is Sansa needed in King’s Landing? Does she need to kill them before she can use their faces?
You can really see with the shorter season where the budget is going. The special effects are amazing with all the wights and dragons and undead polar bears. They aren’t cutting any corners. Now the long(er) wait for the finale begins.
This movie almost made me think DC was actually going to make a great movie.
ALMOST.
Wonder Woman can be summarized as a great interrupted nerd coitus.
The starting was really enjoyable, everything was going smooth as butter. Movie was fun, was interesting, was hyping as fuck. Gal Gadot is phenomenal, Chris Pine made me gay (again), Elena Anaya converted me back to being hetero... but then... the inevitable happened.
Something I was expecting all along, something I expect every-single-time a movie about a DC character gets announced.
SOMETHING - FUCKS - UP
(badly, very, very badly)
In other movies like... BVS or Suicide Squad, wait a minute... I admit it's not entirely fair comparing it with those two, considering at least Wonder Woman was a bit enjoyable for the first 2.5/4 of it.
Anywho, in this case, what bothered me a lot - interrupted nerd coitus - was the ending.
The movie transformed from a breath of fresh air to the same overbuilt, overcheesed, oversped, overfucked, overterribilized™ piece of stinking shit that DC (Or whoever fucks their characters up) accustomed us to.
Why you ask? Well... it's simple.
The major problem was in fact with the speed they clearly made the ending to be.
I can explain this with a simple equation:
Lover("I love you"+Suicide)+(Terrible cgi)=Angry Gal Gadot=God Wonder Woman=????????????????
She kills Ares, but it wasn't Ares (no shit) - then Ares appears (no shit) - then he's way too powerful (no shit) - BANG! BIG SECRET REVEALED (no shit) - Gal Gadot is so confused she hit herself (no shit) - Big Jim does a Captain America and saves everyone (no shit) - Gal Gadot becomes god -- "INSERT HERE STUPID PHOTOGRAPHY, CGI, POINTLESS GLORIFYING WALKING SCENES" - Ares is dead (no shit).
That said: I must say that I enojyed this movie more than... scratch that, this is the only DC character movie I enjoyed following the current DCCU (DC Cinematic Universe)[God Bless Christopher Nolan's soul]. It truly had meaning and potential, but I guess they ran out of minutes.
Sad.
PS:
Gal Gadot is hot as fuck.
Wow. For perhaps the first time in my life, I am completely speechless. I just got back from an early screening of the movie (we have early screenings in Poland! Who knew?). I'm going to try and collect my thoughts as I write, but I'm just buzzing with excitement, so I make no promises as to how this will turn out. I hope you'll stick with me regardless.
After BvS and Suicide Squad were poorly received by critics (and audiences too, although here the opinions were more divided), a lot of people were afraid of how this movie would turn out. And I swear, no one was more scared than me. I didn't grow up with Wonder Woman - hell, I wasn't even aware of her existence until like two years ago, but I so desperately wanted her movie to succeed. A female superhero in the title role and a female director? That is huge. That's something I've been waiting for since I was a kid. And I spent the last year kind of holding my breath, hoping with all my might that this movie would be good.
And it is. Thank the gods, it really is.
Oh, and before I forget: this review will be spoiler-free, I don't intend to ruin any of the important plot points for anyone.
So, let's get to it, shall we?
First of all, the plot. The plot is simple, linear, without unnecessary storylines shoehorned in there for no reason. That doesn't make it any less engaging or exciting, of course. If anything, it allows you to really immerse yourself in the story. And boy, is the story great. There's plenty of cliches there, but honestly, there is something to be said about cliches. If done correctly, they are amazing. And they definitely are done correctly here.
The movie looks gorgeous as well. There are actual colors there, along with some stunning shots. The editing is on point, everything flows pretty much flawlessly.
The music is sick. I mean, they managed to incorporate WW's theme in there, with all of its electric cello glory. And it's just... insane.
The action scenes will make you want to fist pump and yell "Hell yeah!". Whatever you're imagining, I promise you, the movie will exceed your expectations. I still have goosebumps and it's been like an hour since I left the theatre.
As for the acting, everyone does a wonderful (no pun intended) job. I want to talk about Gal Gadot for a second, because I feel like a lot of people had doubts as to whether or not she could handle such a huge role and such an iconic heroine. Worry not. She's got this. It's actually kind of jaw-dropping how much she's got this. She pours everything she has into this performance. Her Diana is layered, a perfect balance of innocently naive and fiercely badass. She brings heart and humanity and a range of emotions to the character. She will make you laugh. She will make you cry. And most importantly, she will make you feel the sheer power and confidence that she radiates while still having moments of vulnerability. She's glorious. She IS Wonder Woman.
Everyone loves Chris Pine, and he does a great job here as well. Steve Trevor keeps up with Diana without once trying to overshadow her and they make a fantastic duo. And he has his fair share of cool moments as well. Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright manage to do a lot with the few scenes they're given. Lucy Davis is super funny. Overall, a pretty awesome cast of supporting actors.
And finally, what struck me the most about this movie was how heartfelt and genuine, and just... good it was. I mean, it's a brilliant movie, but it's also good in the sense that it inspires you and fills you with hope and optimism, which I think is something we rarely get in movies nowadays. It warms your heart and makes you feel so many different things. It hits all the right notes. There's no shortage of dramatic, incredibly emotional moments that will bring tears to your eyes. But it's also often hilarious and joyful - I laughed out loud more than once, and so did the rest of the room.. And when it wants to be epic, it is larger than life, powerful and spectacular.
I recognize and respect the fact that to many people, this movie won't be perfect. But to me, it is. It's everything I wanted it to be and then some. Hats off to Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot and everyone else involved. They created something truly incredile. I'm seeing it again on Saturday. And quite possibly a few more times after that. If I blow all my money on tickets for this movie, it will be worth it. No regrets.
Now, time to go to bed and cry about how much I love Diana. I hope everyone has as unforgettable an experience with Wonder Woman as I did.
UPDATE: Having seen this movie 4 times in 2 weeks, I can safely say that it's insanely rewatchable. Also, I'm an emotional mess who's cried at least 3 times during each one of those 4 screenings. I'm fairly certain that this movie actually gets better the more you watch it.
