"Black Widow" Review (Major Spoilers)
Jul. 9th, 2021 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and Muppet Babies.
Black Widow
I don't know what to think about that.
It was good. But I wanted great. And I didn't get it.
Black Widow is my favorite Avenger. And I desperately wanted this movie to do right by her. I was especially looking forward to the tag and seeing if they would buy back her horrible and pointless death from Avengers: Endgame.
No such luck. Apparently that worthless and pointless death, and literally only thing I didn't like about Endgame has stuck. This isn't the beginning of the Black Widow franchise we've always deserved. This a coda to the character that is imperfect and frustrating.
I'm not going to lie. There are a few interesting things about movie.
The most interesting thing to note is that its tone is far outside any previous Marvel Studios movie. It was far darker than anything we've ever seen before. The subject matter is about as nasty as the Netflix series that I wound up hating. And yet, I didn't hate the movie. The opening titles were horrific but I feel a sense of humanity and optimism attached to Natasha that is totally absent in Jessica Jones. Which makes her easier to root for.
Speaking of Jessica, this Dreykov cat is easily the most horrible villain the MCU has ever come up with. I truly think if Kilgrave were canon, Dreykov would be even worse than Kilgrave. Whatever horrible things Kilgrave did with his mind control, he didn't do them to his own daughter. It bothers me on some level that the craziest evil guy in the entire MCU is just some regular dude without superpowers. I don't feel like he's earned any of the power he's claimed for himself because of that. He's a coward and a monster.
I think Alexei is one of the most unique fictional bad fathers I've ever seen. I've literally never seen a fictional bad father like him before. What's unusual is that he IS one of the worst fictional fathers I've EVER seen. Not THE worst, but up there. But no, the weird thing is that there is absolutely no malice attached to how bad a father he is. He simply viewed the experience differently than Natasha and Yelena did. And the provocative thing is you wonder if he's even wrong for that. He's so messed up, and I'd feel better about hating him if there was any sort of meanness or cruelty attached to him. But in some ways he's as big of a victim of this jive as everyone else is.
That stuff with Melina stopping the pig from breathing is why this movie was FAR outside of my comfort zone. I don't feel comfortable with any movie with that specific level of depraved animal cruelty in it skating by with a PG-13 rating. But the MPAA has always been unfathomably corrupt. Them letting that disgusting scene slide proves it.
I always wanted a Marvel spy-fi movie or show (which Agents Of SHIELD foolishly did not think I deserved) but I have to say, that specific climax is not necessary for a spy-fi movie. It's beyond anything a James Bond movie could reasonably expect to do, which means I felt it was a little over-the-top and not suiting the premise right. Even when Marvel finally has the budget and the will to do a spy movie, they overdo it. It's frustrating. Marvel does NOT need to top itself with every movie. Anybody demanding that is not looking out for the franchise's best interest. And this movie's climax was way too much.
I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that Feige and Marvel Studios have done wrong with my favorite female character in both Endgame and here, and that this apparently is not a mistake they are ever planning to fix. I'm frustrated that after waiting years for Natasha to get her own showcase it ends with a comical character lying to her sister over her grave. I'm just not happy. ***.
Trailer:
Somehow, showing an ambiguous clip from her death in Endgame makes this movie an even bigger disappointment than I already thought it was. **.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch "Devil's Deal"
Interesting. Sort of an origin story for Hera (and Chopper). I know the upcoming Ahsoka Tano show is going to feature Ezra and Thrawn, but really until now, none of the main Star Wars stuff has ever really acknowledged Star Wars Rebels. You'll get a cameo here and there (like Kanan in this show's Pilot) but Rebels never seemed as canon as everything else. This episode fixes that.
Now if someone could actually justify the existence of Star Wars Resistance. On second thought, scratch that. I don't actually want that.
The scene with Omega showing Hera the ship starkly put into relief the show's biggest flaw (and a problem that is shared with most CGI cartoons). The facial expressions on the characters suck. Even ten years later from The Clone Wars' heyday, they still can't make the characters believably emote.
Interesting fact: Before Hera's parents were framed by the Empire for crap they didn't do, Hera WAS actually guilty of the crime she was charged with: treason. We can get into how unfair it was the show was hinting she was going to be executed without a trial, but the truth is she WAS guilty of that specific crime.
Hera must have picked up her American accent from Kanan. She doesn't have it here.
I like the fact that the Bad Batch only appeared once, and the rest of the episode was about characters many people who didn't see Rebels wouldn't be too familiar with. I think the fun of the next two weeks or so will be connecting those characters and stories together. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Robin Digs Deep / Fozzie And The Fairy Tea Party"
Robin Digs Deep:
You might criticize me for actually expecting a preschool show to not be so boring, predictable, trite, and tiresome, but Elena Of Avalor doesn't suck, so this doesn't need to either. It simply chooses to. 0.
Fozzie And The Fairy Tea Party:
Even Rozzie's unending cuteness can't stop that from being totally annoying.
Starting to get fed up with this show. Has it always been this been bad? It doesn't seem like it. *.
Episode Overall: 1/2.
Black Widow
I don't know what to think about that.
It was good. But I wanted great. And I didn't get it.
Black Widow is my favorite Avenger. And I desperately wanted this movie to do right by her. I was especially looking forward to the tag and seeing if they would buy back her horrible and pointless death from Avengers: Endgame.
No such luck. Apparently that worthless and pointless death, and literally only thing I didn't like about Endgame has stuck. This isn't the beginning of the Black Widow franchise we've always deserved. This a coda to the character that is imperfect and frustrating.
I'm not going to lie. There are a few interesting things about movie.
The most interesting thing to note is that its tone is far outside any previous Marvel Studios movie. It was far darker than anything we've ever seen before. The subject matter is about as nasty as the Netflix series that I wound up hating. And yet, I didn't hate the movie. The opening titles were horrific but I feel a sense of humanity and optimism attached to Natasha that is totally absent in Jessica Jones. Which makes her easier to root for.
Speaking of Jessica, this Dreykov cat is easily the most horrible villain the MCU has ever come up with. I truly think if Kilgrave were canon, Dreykov would be even worse than Kilgrave. Whatever horrible things Kilgrave did with his mind control, he didn't do them to his own daughter. It bothers me on some level that the craziest evil guy in the entire MCU is just some regular dude without superpowers. I don't feel like he's earned any of the power he's claimed for himself because of that. He's a coward and a monster.
I think Alexei is one of the most unique fictional bad fathers I've ever seen. I've literally never seen a fictional bad father like him before. What's unusual is that he IS one of the worst fictional fathers I've EVER seen. Not THE worst, but up there. But no, the weird thing is that there is absolutely no malice attached to how bad a father he is. He simply viewed the experience differently than Natasha and Yelena did. And the provocative thing is you wonder if he's even wrong for that. He's so messed up, and I'd feel better about hating him if there was any sort of meanness or cruelty attached to him. But in some ways he's as big of a victim of this jive as everyone else is.
That stuff with Melina stopping the pig from breathing is why this movie was FAR outside of my comfort zone. I don't feel comfortable with any movie with that specific level of depraved animal cruelty in it skating by with a PG-13 rating. But the MPAA has always been unfathomably corrupt. Them letting that disgusting scene slide proves it.
I always wanted a Marvel spy-fi movie or show (which Agents Of SHIELD foolishly did not think I deserved) but I have to say, that specific climax is not necessary for a spy-fi movie. It's beyond anything a James Bond movie could reasonably expect to do, which means I felt it was a little over-the-top and not suiting the premise right. Even when Marvel finally has the budget and the will to do a spy movie, they overdo it. It's frustrating. Marvel does NOT need to top itself with every movie. Anybody demanding that is not looking out for the franchise's best interest. And this movie's climax was way too much.
I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that Feige and Marvel Studios have done wrong with my favorite female character in both Endgame and here, and that this apparently is not a mistake they are ever planning to fix. I'm frustrated that after waiting years for Natasha to get her own showcase it ends with a comical character lying to her sister over her grave. I'm just not happy. ***.
Trailer:
Somehow, showing an ambiguous clip from her death in Endgame makes this movie an even bigger disappointment than I already thought it was. **.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch "Devil's Deal"
Interesting. Sort of an origin story for Hera (and Chopper). I know the upcoming Ahsoka Tano show is going to feature Ezra and Thrawn, but really until now, none of the main Star Wars stuff has ever really acknowledged Star Wars Rebels. You'll get a cameo here and there (like Kanan in this show's Pilot) but Rebels never seemed as canon as everything else. This episode fixes that.
Now if someone could actually justify the existence of Star Wars Resistance. On second thought, scratch that. I don't actually want that.
The scene with Omega showing Hera the ship starkly put into relief the show's biggest flaw (and a problem that is shared with most CGI cartoons). The facial expressions on the characters suck. Even ten years later from The Clone Wars' heyday, they still can't make the characters believably emote.
Interesting fact: Before Hera's parents were framed by the Empire for crap they didn't do, Hera WAS actually guilty of the crime she was charged with: treason. We can get into how unfair it was the show was hinting she was going to be executed without a trial, but the truth is she WAS guilty of that specific crime.
Hera must have picked up her American accent from Kanan. She doesn't have it here.
I like the fact that the Bad Batch only appeared once, and the rest of the episode was about characters many people who didn't see Rebels wouldn't be too familiar with. I think the fun of the next two weeks or so will be connecting those characters and stories together. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Robin Digs Deep / Fozzie And The Fairy Tea Party"
Robin Digs Deep:
You might criticize me for actually expecting a preschool show to not be so boring, predictable, trite, and tiresome, but Elena Of Avalor doesn't suck, so this doesn't need to either. It simply chooses to. 0.
Fozzie And The Fairy Tea Party:
Even Rozzie's unending cuteness can't stop that from being totally annoying.
Starting to get fed up with this show. Has it always been this been bad? It doesn't seem like it. *.
Episode Overall: 1/2.
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no subject
Date: 2021-07-15 04:23 pm (UTC)Yeah, a weird mix.
I wasn't that attached to Natasha as a character, but Marvel definitely screwed her over. The MCU Black Widow is a definite product of the time when Hollywood felt a female superhero couldn't sustain a film by herself, and they took too long to realise they were wrong. I know people rag on DC films, but really... Wonder Woman was handled infinitely better.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-15 07:25 pm (UTC)And yeah, Natasha got screwed over. Freaking Perlmutter.