Amph "You think you're the only superhero in the world?" - The Marvel Cinematic Universe

I balance things depending on the intent of the production- or, at least, try to. But that tends to mirror my personal reaction, on the whole.

Of the ones I've reviewed so far, Shang-Chi and WandaVision were the only ones to really instigate a serious emotional response. Meanwhile, She-Hulk really wasn't trying to- it was just having fun, made me smile and probably ended up being the only MS MCU TV series (even beyond the ones I've reviewed so far) that I had to tune into right away because I was looking forward to it that much each week vs just wanting to avoid spoilers (otherwise, almost all the other shows I would have rather waited until the weekend to watch them- with exception, perhaps, to the first half of WV). Hawkeye a close second in that regard, having some of the "good feels" while retaining a solid hook week-to-week.

 

And today's pairing brings us the God-Killers:


Our Queen's poster:

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THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

While it may give some people some tonal whiplash, I found the mix of outright comedy and darker elements to balance relatively decently. On the whole, I enjoyed it almost as much as Ragnarok (though the Zeus stuff goes on for too long), but it also repeats a lot of what happened in Ragnarok, so it loses some points there. It also should have emphasized and utilized the Korg narrative more, since that is the lens all of the sillier parts of the story are originating from. And it severely understates Thor's motivations for his whole arc in this film (his concerns/fears over having a child with Jane and being a father being partially why he broke up with Jane, and where that takes him to by the end of the film), which is probably the biggest shame as it undermines the emotional punch of the ending (which is still decently effective in the absence of that, but could have really landed strong otherwise).

Now, those critiques aside, the humor is generally hilarious (the goats are the GOAT), Mighty Thor's arc is very good (wish we had more, of course) and Bale is downright scary (probably has one of the creepiest moments of the MCU on top of that). And Portman (sorry. Doctor. Jane. Foster.) gets the best part of the story.

(Plus part of the finale is set the epic portion of November Rain, which is something I've long wanted to see used in some fashion, so, bonus points!)

I know there's a lot of talk over how much changed in post for this film and while I don't think those efforts killed the film, I'd love to see a significantly extended cut if the deleted material involves the subjects mentioned above.

Since the bluntness of it can come across more negative than I really intend, I don't want to repeat my whole spiel on my views of Giacchino's music (the short version: the man can pump out good single themes, but my opinion of what the "average" Giacchino score is isn't very high), but he's had a range of success in the MCU- from the really-not-so-good Doctor Strange to the surprisingly-great Spider-Man film scores (though those sort of built upon each other).

TLAT's score also manages to surprise. It's really pretty great- and does so without any previously-existing foundation to build upon (none of the themes from the prior films appear here, AFAICT). I don't know what the exact level of contribution with Nami Melumad was (seems like he handled the more "godly" themes, while Giacchino took on the more "Ragnaroky" syths and main theme), but the results offer a very nice variety and range you don't within single Giacchino scores that often.

I guess, in short, Giacchino is really starting to find a good groove with his MCU work and this is just the latest example (and the second in less than a year).





And, yes, the track title puns are still here. A track near the end titled "Bawl and Jane"? Twist the knife, you dirty sunnuva-!


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MOON KNIGHT

So, fun fact: Moon Knight is connected to TLAT (kinda)! Turns out that when they were making the show, they thought they weren't going to air until the fall of 2022, after TLAT came out (kinda makes sense, really- MK having creepier elements to it would fit a release closer to Halloween). So, they intended MK to be taking place during, or just after TLAT. And that Gorr is the reason why only part of the Egyptian Ennead show up in the temple.

However, when the airing date of MK (and the release date of TLAT) ended up in flux, they didn't know if they would be debuting before or after TLAT, so the line(s) of dialogue connected them were cut. Still, an interesting anchor point to consider, even if the specific link is technically no longer canon. But the results (and overall intent) can still be inferred.

As for the show itself- it's such a damn peculiar mixture. It was definitely harmed the most by being released weekly (it should have had at least two episodes dropped at a time) and, to be clear for context, I haven't had a chance to rewatch the series since the original airing, so my view of the series is still clouded by that weekly release experience. I really do hope to find time to revisit it 2 episodes at a time in the future, which may elevate it substantially (it will, at the very least, benefit somewhat from experiencing it through that lens).

Further, it has a really fatal flaw for a superhero story: whenever the hero "suits up" (a moment that should be a "get hyped" situation), it's almost always a letdown. Even for heroes where the actor playing the role has tremendous charisma, like RDJ or Charlie Cox, where they're just as interesting without their suits, getting to see them suit up still adds some variety of hype to things. not so with Moon Knight.

On the pro side of things, one of the reasons (but not the sole reason) that that is the case, is because Oscar Isaacs is so captivating and puts on a real show between his character's different personalities and past traumas. Ethan Hawke also brings a interestingly nuanced villain (at least at first- he does get a less so as the show goes on). Also, you get mummy creatures in a tomb raiding adventure and a kaiju fight between gods. So, a lot going for this show's favor.

Weirdly enough, despite probably being the series I least want to revisit frequently, it's probably the series that most needs a Season 2 based on where its going (Note: not the show I most want to get a Season 2, as that is She-Hulk ). It's got a lot of good stuff going for it, and it just needs to find the right balance it is on the cusp of to really take off.

Oh, while we're here: just define the dude's powers better while we're at it. Him flying at the end just felt random and out of nowhere (even if it is under special circumstances, still).

The score by Hesham Nazih isn't bad. There's a definite Mummy/Stargate/Decepticons-adjacent sound to it to give it that ancient Egypt vibe. I'm not sure if it's super memorable, but it does feel much more distinct that She-Hulk's. It's setting a tone and, well, a vibe, man. And some other moments stand out as well, like the turning-back-the-night-sky scene. It's maybe not my favorite thing to listen to end-to-end, but I definitely like long stretches of it. And it's only 1 volume, so it was affordable .

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Because of the similarities to Ragnarok, and the minor things here and there that prevent TLAT from really sticking the landing as hard as Ragnarok did, I have to rank it a little lower on the list. Gorr's story is on the opposite spectrum of successful villains from the Clandestine, so it just has to go above Ms. Marvel by default. But it's almost pure-comedy style and a feeling that "doesn't really add much" (which isn't really true, but this does have a "side adventure" vibe to it, despite the events depicted) makes it feel less consequential than WandaVision. So, while in the middle sounds about right, I have to admit that there are parts of this movie I will absolutely rewatch more than WV (Mjolhares for everyone!), so it has to get a boost there.

MK is in that weird pickle of being worthy of revisiting but lacking the motivation to do so. So I think I'm going to put it below BW. That isn't to suggest that MK is that much worse- as you may recall in my first Phase Four review entry, I described BW as a mid-tier entry in the MCU as a whole. So it's in the neighbohood. It's just lower within Phase Four itself. That said, the whole "hero suit up moments are lacking" thing is a real detriment here.

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Hawkeye
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-Moon Knight
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-Ms. Marvel
-Hawkeye
-Moon Knight
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-WandaVision
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

And now we have passed the halfway mark for Phase Four!

Honestly, these two entries (alongside Eternals once we get there) can be the hardest to rank for multiple reasons. And, on top of all of that, are probably the most divisive. Those three, I feel, will end up being the source of why people’s personal Phase Four rankings will vary so much, more than anything else.

 

No argument there.

 

Also meant to post yesterday that it would have been Stan Lee’s 100th birthday:

If this were following up Infinity War, I might agree. But following up Lebowski Thor in Endgame (minus some trauma) doesn’t seem much removed. Throw in his pre-Civil War girlfriend and I think some additional reversion is justified.

Curious- how are there too many villains? Opening scene hyper-muppets aside, isn’t it pretty much just Gorr and his shadows the whole movie? He doesn’t even have a notable henchman/lead creature. Maybe Zeus for one scene (and even then, not really a villain)? TLAT might actually have the fewest villains of any MCU film .

Just a theory but there are Celestials in Omnipotence City, and they predate the gods. Celestials program the Eternals to retell these tales and/or contextualize actual Olympian appearances on Earth as stories.

That kinda touches on an observation I had back when the film came out- it relies heavily on about 3-4 reoccurring jokes (hammer/axe, goats, catch phrases & maybe Zeus’s showboating to a lesser degree). So, if those jokes don’t hit with an individual, a large swath of the film is going to be a lot drier/emptier.

So, was the catch phrase thing like “I don’t find this funny” or “that’s funny but a shame this is being done for laughs” for you? Or something else?

That could be- but I think it has more to do with WF’s length and more somber tone. It feels more like a funeral and that doesn’t encourage folks to go back to see it in theaters as much as the more upbeat original.

 

Today it is time to welcome a new world of gods and monsters- oh, wait, sorry. Wrong "cinematic universe"!


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ETERNALS

This is a film that definitely aims big in its scope. It's a celebration of all of human history and how far we've come as a people. It is also a collection of love stories woven through it all. And it is a grave moral quandary of an unbelievably cosmic scale that can only truly be approached by outsiders to our world. And it must introduce and develop a team of 10 characters (and their support cast) within the same runtime as all of the above. And invite you to have a very different experience watching the film upon subsequent viewings.

We all know the story should have been a TV series. Maybe think of this as the efficient, edited-down movie version of that non-existent series. It's not necessary to do by any means- it's still a very well crafted film on it's own as-is, but it does make it easier to sort of read between the lines on it.

Should Feige have tried to push this one as a Best Picture nomination? No, he shouldn't have. You can see why the thought may have occurred to him (aims of the subject matter, less competition due to fewer releases in 2021, etc), but he shouldn't have followed through. It brought down a lot more criticism and backlash than it would have otherwise.

With all those grand aspirations, the film was not likely to accomplish them all. But it comes admirably close. Some elements, like the Deviants, are underdeveloped and, in the modern context, unnecessary to the story, for instance. And, yet, it is easily the most successful origin story for a superhero team of this size ever told. The X-Men couldn't do it (they narrowed the focus to 3-4 characters). The Avengers couldn't do it (they used multiple films to set their roster up). The Guardians couldn't do it (again, a small team built up over multiple films). The Justice League and Justice Society definitely didn't do it.

But, here? We get almost entire chapters dedicated to each character and their different relationships to one another. And what isn't dedicated to that is shown in small parts stretched out over the span of history to add up to a whole. And they're all almost entirely likeable** in one way or another. We connect with them. Gilgamesh and Thena being a good example of one relationship that only really gets 3 scenes to be told yet is very much endearing.

At the same time, you can easily see why this divided people. Besides the long run time and slow pacing of scenes within a fast-paced story (in order to cover so much of history), it has a very somber and reverent tone to it (despite the moments of familial humor), often feeling cold and distant and more like a DC film than a Marvel film. It is probably the most different-feeling MCU film produced yet. As mentioned earlier, the Deviant subplot remains underdeveloped. A couple moments in the film could have used some more explanation to make their presence feel less out-of-nowhere during one's first viewing (such as what allows what happens to Sprite to be possible).

**

(even Druig has some fascinating motivations for his actions that make him at least approachable or semi-justified)

The score sees the return of the original MCU composer, Ramin Djawadi, and it is a pretty powerful work. It has a cosmic touch mixed with a sense of holiness, reverence, love, grand accomplishment, somber meditation and the march of time. That can lose you in the middle on it's own, but it feels like a complete work- not just stand out tracks and filler. Even moreso than Moon Knight, there's a vibe here- and it's more successful. It truly is a beautiful piece of work. I can only embed 5 videos into a single post and I wish I could embed even just half of this score.









WEREWOLF BY NIGHT

The directorial debut by Michael Giacchino nails the retro Universal horror style it aims for, while still staying in it's own adjacent little corner of the MCU (for now). Even more exciting is the debut of Man-Thing.



it's short, sweet and to the point. Something fun to spin up on Halloween. And the opportunity to do Crypt Keeper-like puns in the story is probably what summoned Giacchino to set through a supernatural portal (or maybe Man-Thing just did it).

Giacchino, naturally, brings his musical talent to this project as well. It stays within the genre it's trying to evoke. While that doesn't make for much in the way of a catchy theme, there are some fun retro horror flairs and a surprising amount of variety in sounds (from blasting horror tubas to acoustic Spanish guitars to a mixture set to synthetic beats).

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Not everyone will agree, for sure. Sometimes its flaws can overtake the overall film in some people's eyes. But Eternals is really good. It's not near-perfect like Shang-Chi, nor do I love it as much as She-Hulk, but I can definitely see myself revisiting this one more often in the future than TLAT or Hawkeye.

WWBN makes for a fun Halloween viewing but, at the moment, isn't something I'm going to go back to often. It's just a very specific thing. So was the GOTGHS, sure, but even that felt like an installment in something larger.

Score-wise, as beautiful as Eternals is, I tend to prefer returning to the heroic musical fanfares more often. So, Shang-Chi, TLAT and Ms. Marvel edge it out in that department. But the overall quality raises it above Hawkeye. WWBN, meanwhile, fully achieves what it is trying to be- it's just not the type of music I'm going to listen to that often (though I'll nab a track or three for a playlist). But it still has more to it than BW's.


PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-Moon Knight
-Werewolf By Night
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-Ms. Marvel
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Moon Knight
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-WandaVision
-Werewolf By Night
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

With his frequency of output, on thuu it s list, Giacchino wins and Giacchino loses.

My understanding is the "good" Zeus was shot first, but they felt like he was too much of the same thing Odin was. And that they eventually revised the script to the version was see now.

As I mentioned earlier, Moon Knight was going to have a minor connection to the events of TLAT (with some Egyptian gods dead or hiding [presumably in Omnipotence City]). But as far as pay off goes? The one thing we know we are definitely getting in some form at some point are the Young Avengers or Next Avengers. All the children and young adult characters are either coming back directly in 5+ years as the next generation of heroes or we're going to see future adult versions of them time travel or some such due to Kang, etc.

 

Even after just watching the film, I thought that making the Deviants simply Eternals who had “decayed” the way Thena was beginning would have made so much more of an impact, justified their presence, and raised the stakes of disobeying their creators… and for the Earth in the long run.

 

Today we encounter the Dora Milaje, the White Wolf and the passing of mantles.


Character posters:

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THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

What was to be the debut Marvel Studios TV series also ended up being the one most affected by the pandemic. Intended to be the first to air, the pandemic first hitting hard overseas shut down the heavily on-location production and forced WandaVision to rush production to complete its finale in time for it to be bumped up into FALWIN's place as the MCU's D+ launch series. It then ran into further issues with story content and the ever-expanding real life events (not the best time to be telling a story involving viral outbreaks and vaccine shipments).

And, as a result, it suffered the most due to those compromises. I try not to hold that against the show, but still need to judge the final product for what is, not for what it was supposed to be. But the changes to the story definitely rendered the Flag Smashers' motivations and plans muddy at best, which drags down the finale's impact somewhat and even rendered a notable actor's role down to playing a corpse at a wake. Probably can't blame the pandemic on the Power Broker subplot being rushed, though.

But, those issues aside... the show really is pretty damn good. Sam and Bucky's Lethal Weapon-esque friendship, Sam's family/community, Sam's strengths as a counselor, Bucky's attempts to make good on his past through certain friends, Isaiah Bradley, Bucky's fireside flashback, Zemo dancing, Dora Milaje, US Agent... these are all elements that work very well and give it a grounded, human quality we often overlook. Really looking forward to seeing where these characters go in the next Cap film.

The score by Henry Jackman is much in the vein of his Winter Soldier and Civil War scores. In that it's mostly accompanying the action and not really meant to stand out that often (though it does quote some of his previous themes as well). But it does have its stand-out moments- they're just mostly at the end of vol 2 and a little at the start of Vol 1. Everything else in-between is mostly uneventful (but not to the degree that Black Widow's score is- this is basically what the BW score was trying to do). You could take the top 3 or 4 tracks from each of his MCU entries and have a pretty great Best of Henry Jackman MCU playlist.





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BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER

I'll try to keep this one brief- my (relatively) recent review is in the BP thread. But this is a film that fires on all engines end to end. It often feels like a funeral, which might dag down the fun, but the complex balance between Wakanda and Talokan plays out nicely here. Namor, Shuri and Queen Ramonda really anchor the film- a film that could have easily gone off the rails with all the moving parts its trying to include and balance (hey, Ironheart! Love you in Marvel Snap! You really need to meet up with Wong and Odin, just sayin').

Pulling off a BP sequel after losing Chadwick should have been impossible. At best, you'd think all they could hope for would be an awkward changing of the mantle and try to course correct to cover up that bump in the road. But they pulled it off amazingly.

Ludwig Goransson returns to the music for the sequel. And it's pretty damn awesome. While it keeps the flavor and some of the themes from the first film, it doesn't just repeat them and hope that that is enough. There's a lot of expansion and reworking of themes of all the new elements. It even semi-retires the original Black Panther theme (though there are small quotes of it here and there), instead giving Shuri a new, appropriately-technological-in-sound theme that conveys her more angry nature (and would feel right at home in a Tron Legacy spin-off ). A blending of new types of sounds and instruments feature throughout. Even the call of the Sirens is part of the score.

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

This was kinda tough. I really prefer Shang-Chi still. But BPWF doesn't have that disconnect between the first and second halves of the film that SC has. It's a stronger film, end-to-end as a result. So it has to take the top slot. Meanwhile, FALWIN tops WV with its more grounded characters and family dynamics (and is, overall, stronger in its finale and resolution to character arcs). But, I still enjoyed Hawkeye much more and TLAT is still more fun (and its "middle film" problems aren't as problematic as some of FALWIN's late-game issues). And has goats.

Score-wise, BPWF also has to take the top slot. It has more notable tracks end to end than SC, so it edges it out. Though I still prefer the highlights of SC more (it definitely has my favorite new MCU theme). FALWIN does what BW tried to do, but way better. And it's bigger moments do outshine WV by a bit, even if there is a lot of kinda-nothing to get to them. She-Hulk has some more notable stuff throughout, so I give it the win here.


PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-Moon Knight
-Werewolf By Night
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-Ms. Marvel
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Moon Knight
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-The Falcon and the Winter Solider
-WandaVision
-Werewolf By Night
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

Yeah, I don't have the deep love for the monster horror of the era- I appreciate them, I enjoy them from time to time, but there's no deep connection. WWBN is the perfect bite-sized homage to the style, however. So I certainly consume with it with glee, I just don't feel the need to return to it often.

That would be a pretty neat concept. Though past lives coming through from memory wipes and the Eternals being a newer model of something that rebelled against the creators also introduces interesting dynamics- as well as motivation/reasoning for why some would carry out their mission.

 

Nobody told me they were hiring! .

This will either help fix a lot of things (looking at you, D+ timeline. No, wait, I’m. It. Your errors offend me and cannot stand to look at you! ), or cause all new problems (since it’ll almost certainly not touch on Phase 1-3 TV shows, and a lot of movie placements depend on them).

On the upside, the Infinity Saga is basically locked as this point, with those already being factored in previously. So, they should be pretty safe and we probably won’t have to worry about a cascading timeline chain of errors in their absence.

 

Hey, y'all- let's go past the red lines and explore the birth of the mul-tee-verse!


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LOKI

Man, how do you summarize this one? It's Loki- and a lot of him .

Even though there are many little side adventures here (but, like, what do you expect with a premise centered around a "control over the flow of time and the multiverse" bureaucratic authority and enforcement agency trying to contain the god of mischief?), this might be the most consistent Marvel Studios TV series so far. A few minor questions here and there (and the limits of a stage's size exposed in one sequence), but it maintains a high quality pretty much end to end. Maybe the RenFair and its awkwardly poor use of Holding Out For a Hero (the worst of 3 pop culture uses of that song within the same week) was the only unnecessary thing?

Natalie Holt, meanwhile, kills it with the score for the series, spread cross two volumes. It may not seem like it at first as you watch the series, but going back through the score, there are a lot of good tracks in here. It can just seem like it may be overtly long given the amount of material and double volume releases. I can't really show off the variety here- not enough embeds allowed in one post to truly showcase that (but the weird and epic fun of "Miss Minutes" to the retro-hip "DB Cooper" to the sorrow of "Frigga" just to name a few off of the first volume). So, for now, let's focus on the two main themes and awesome "Classic Builds" tracks.






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WHAT IF...?

An animated, semi-connected anthology series exploring the newly-formed MCU multiverse. Harder to judge as a whole because of how things can vary episode to episode. The weakest is potentially the first episode, where it just retells on of the movies with a different character (that character, however, is very, very awesome). The fourth, with Strange Supreme, is probably the strongest. And the more-connected story with Infinite Ultron is horrifying and insanely epic (I never considered the possibility of The Watcher fighting a being directly, nor the notion that it would be so badass- "You cannot compute the power of my will."). Everything else in-between will fall somewhere in-between, often showing characters in new scenarios or forced along different path.

But that's also what makes this series kinda brilliant: despite being a series of literal "What If?" scenarios, since we know this connected to the same multiverse as the films, it is still giving us insight into the characters of the Prime Universe (that's Earth-19999, K.E.V.I.N.!!! ). These are choices and behaviors the characters we know and love could/would potentially make. In some cases, they even foretell choices our characters will make (or be confronted with the choice of) in the future.

And, in a particularly neat twist, showing just how horrifyingly scary Ultron's goals really were if he hadn't been stopped in Age of Ultron. In retrospect, AOU should have opened up with that possible future- show what Ultron would be trying to do in Vision's body with the bombs dropping, then cut back to the Hydra base attack and allow the tension of how they will (or will not) prevent that future that we, the audience, have seen from coming to pass to further intensify that film (there'd be more questions by us about Vision, etc). Kinda want to cut at least part of this episode into a prologue to AOU somehow...

The score by Laura Karpman (who also did Ms. Marvel's score) is another delightful surprise. Unfortunately/fortunately, they released one for every episode, despite most tracks being only 1-2 minutes long. That's great for completists such as myself, but also makes it a very poor value for the money (that's $90 for something that shouldn't have cost more than $20-30).

Those financials hurt more because it's a really fun score. Obviously not as fully orchestrated as a feature film or a premium TV series, being as it is for an animated anthology experiment. It also makes it hard to choose samples since there's so much variety across the different stories. But Laura has quickly become an overlooked gem of a composer from this Phase- and has given us some musical work that surpasses the contributions of some veterans. Here's a couple of the longer tracks that lets her implement some more complex work rather than brief musical pieces:

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Loki has to rank high. I kinda want to give Eternals an edge still, but Hiddleston as Loki has to win out in the end, no? What If...? is a little harder to rank because of all the singular episodes. But I think, taken as a whole, it's something that I'm going to go back to at least parts of more often than WV, but it holds less overall importance than FALWIN, as well as having less character depth.

Score-wise, I may enjoy TLAT's heroic themes more, but Loki's variety and unique overall sound allows it to one-up that release. But still below SC's themes, which I'm still heavily drawn to. What If...?, again, is a stranger beast to rank. It deserves to be near Karpman's other work, but doesn't have the same level of catchy themes as MM's score does. And Eternals is still more beautifully complex and meditative that WI has to stay below it. But right above Hawkeye sounds about right.

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Loki
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-What If...?
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-Moon Knight
-Werewolf By Night
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Loki
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-Ms. Marvel
-Eternals
-What If...?
-Hawkeye
-Moon Knight
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-The Falcon and the Winter Solider
-WandaVision
-Werewolf By Night
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot


Tomorrow: We bring it home with the final pair in this Phase Four retrospective! "No way!", you say? Yes, it's madness, I know!

 

With the multiverse now opened up thanks to Sylvie...


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SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

The movie is great. It's perfect? It's almost perfect? Doesn't matter. It simultaneously brings closure and redemption to the Raimi and Garfield films, while also bringing the Holland trilogy full form and giving fans of Doctor Strange the closest thing to a sequel film we've had ( ). That's a lot to pull off. Black Panther was ambitious in what it strived for- and it succeeded. Eternals was also incredibly ambitious and fell short of the mark. This film could have easily gone either way and, yet, they nailed it. And the "they" in question was Sony? And what is really the end point of an insane series of real-world events that allowed Spidey to join the MCU (and stay in the MCU) to begin with.

The longer version released to theaters has some fun little tidbits here and there, but, generally, has some pacing problems with a few misfire gags (or ones that go on for too long), even if you do get the extended Spider-Bros scene as a benefit. So, stick with the theatrical version.

Giacchino's best work has usually been his Spider scores, which makes NWH's score a surprising disappointment. The backhalf is still decent, and there's a few moments here and there- but it's mostly material from the previous films. Not as much building on those entries, so it lacks the (re)inventiveness of the previous two in that regard. It's even more surprising because the score felt much more prominent and catchy while watching the film (which I saw in theaters several times), so it is a bit of a let-down.

It's not a total disappointment- the recurring material is still fun, and the ending is touching. But it's just not as full as the previous two. but it is nice to hear him work in his Doctor Strange themes and sound into those sections of the films. Giacchino is really good at bridging things together in that regard.







Additional posters:

Spoiler

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Abandoning the tone and characterization that had built up the interest and demand for a second Doctor Strange film, Multiverse of Madness is less "Doctor Strange 2" and more a film that just happens to feature Doctor Strange. Fans of the first film are most likely to be immensely disappointed by this entry (for the less personal, less serious story). Fans looking forward to a follow-up to WandaVision are likely to be left out too (for potentially questionable shifts in Wanda's character between the series and the film). And fans of the multiverse concept are also left in the wind (since the film only really visits two universes).

But Sam Raimi fans get to feast. And it is his stylistic flairs that contribute to some of the best moments of the film (a couple of Wanda's creepier moments, the souls of the damned) and some of the worst (the campy delivery surrounding America's final pep talk/bug moment is just awful and empty and robs the film of any emotional resonance). And, taken as a Sam Raimi film, it's actually quite enjoyable. It's just a shame that it took the place of why the film was made in the first place.

All in all, the film feels like a cross between Evil Dead and a superhero film made in 2005 not featuring Batman. And that's a type of superhero film we left behind with good reason. We were hoping for a nice steak, but got a burger from Wendy's instead. It's not even the best fast food burger, but there's enough bacon on it to make you forget about it.

Giacchino's score to the first Doctor Strange was, and still is, one of the worst scores in the MCU. It established a decent theme (which was basically just Giacchino's "Enterprising Young Men" theme repurposed) and a unique sound to it (the harpsichord). But the score overall didn't do anything with it outside of the end credits to the film.

With MOM's score, Danny Elfman takes an approach similar to his Age of Ultron score: throw in small quotes and nods to the previous film's themes, but mostly concentrate the score's focus on new ones. It definitely changes the vibe (mirroring the change in tone of the actual filmmaking), and while it never contributes anything as beautifully epic as some of the tracks found on AOU's score, it's definitely more entertaining than the first DS's score.

But I don't think it really does much on the whole, with three stand-out exceptions: the dreamwalking by Wanda, the musical battle between Stranges (which makes for a lovely back to back with Classic Builds from Loki) and the main titles/end credits. There's a little bit more to it than just that, but those are the true highlights and not much else is really their equal. But, yes, hearing that little theme nod in that one scene for the first time in the MCU was a delightful little nugget.

Spoiler

(My) RANKINGS (so far):

NWH takes the crown, no question. BP is a great movie- possibly even a better one. But NWH is inarguably more fun. And Peter Parker actually trying to save/fix the villains of his multiverse past is just such a Peter Parker thing to do. Grabbing onto the core of what makes the character so special and focusing the film around turns what could have just been a cameo fest into an instant classic.

YMMV on MOM. Despite the length and scope differences, WWBN achieves its retro horror homage more effectively than MOM works in the Raimi horror. It also doesn't have the baggage of reinterpreting a character/series or working its way upstream against expectations. But, despite the camp, it is obviously much more meatier than IAG.

I could be persuaded to bump it up a couple slots to be above Moon Knight (if I go with a "would I rather watch X or Y?" approach), but i think I'm going to keep it 2nd to last. Still, if your worst film is MOM, it says something about Phase Four that it is doing something pretty special.

For the scores, I think MOM manages to do enough stand-out stuff to edge it over the somewhat similar in vibe Moon Knight. Meanwhile NWH falls down to below She-Hulk's fun elements but above the drabbier FALWIN score.


PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Spider-Man: No Way Home
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Loki
-Eternals
-Hawkeye
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-What If...?
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-Moon Knight
-Werewolf By Night
-Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Loki
-Thor: Love and Thunder
-Ms. Marvel
-Eternals
-What If...?
-Hawkeye
-Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
-Moon Knight
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-Spider-Man: No Way Home
-The Falcon and the Winter Solider
-WandaVision
-Werewolf By Night
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

And that does it for the look back at Phase Four! Tomorrow I may do a brief overview of my rankings, but we've finished looking back at every project. It's a lot of content, for sure- but I'm also pleasantly surprised at how well things broke down into linked or thematic pairs. It's almost as if they plan these things or something.

I will say one thing about this project that I didn't expect going in was the sheer variety of posters these films have come to have. Used to be you'd have a teaser poster, a final poster and maybe a 2-4 character posters. But now there are chain-exclusive posters, multiple format-exclusive posters, give-away freebie posters... they should really put an art book together of all of them.

Some of the MCU films may have had criticism in the past for generic floating heads and montages, but a lot of the teasers and variant specialty posters have been pretty amazing. It'd be great to have them all in one place, instead of scattered to the winds of the internet.

 

Which Avenger am I?