UNITED STATES: Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac, is all about Steven Grant, who has dissociative identity disorder. Steven, torn between dream and reality, finds himself in an unexpected situation where his simple character as a gift shop employee contains more of his super aggressive persona.
As Steven finds himself in precarious circumstances with cult leader Arthur Harrow, things take a wild turn, resulting in the unleashed chaos of his hyper-violent personality, branded as Moon Knight.
Synopsis:
In the third episode of Moon Knight, The Friendly Type, Marc navigates his way across Cairo to prevent Arthur Harrow from obtaining the Armit’s Tomb. On the other hand, Layla travels to Cairo as well, presumably to assist Marc.
Marc expects to be the most potent personality among them all. Still, he quickly loses his hold on reality when a strange third personality emerges that is even more vicious than him.
The same old Marvel problem
The use of a slow-paced action sequence and the avoidance of graphic violence turns Moon Knight into a typical Marvel superhero rather than an anti-hero. The expected action sequences from the character are entirely avoided in a PG-13 Disney fashion, thus defeating the objective of the series.
Moon Knight claims he’ll unleash a blood bath on the thugs in one scene, yet during the battle sequence, all scenes move in a cut-and-drag fashion without revealing any violence. At the very least, it was expected that this series would be hyper-violent and not R-rated, but based on this episode, it’s safe to assume that Moon Knight will stick to its ludicrous tone-down version.
Violence is the only aspect that distinguishes Moon Knight from other Marvel vigilantes, and if that aspect is removed, his character will be rendered useless.
Mr. Knight, Marc’s whole fearsome persona, has been reduced to a farce. Hopefully, the series continues to develop him properly. Still, given how the show is currently going, he won’t be as badass as represented in the comics.
Senseless plot points and unnecessary character reactions
The dumbest thing that happens when Khonsu summons the other Egyptian god avatars to pursue a trial on Harrow is that he quickly escapes the trail by claiming some stupid reason to render all the Egyptian gods purposeless and helpless entities. This trial sequence is the most inexcusable fact depicted in the entire series.
Marc does not allow Steven to take over his body in the direst of circumstances, but while a fierce fight is in progress, he enables Steven to take over his body. From the combat sequences, it appears that the show’s creators were attempting to impose humor, but it fails miserably, turning the entire scene into a meaningless narrative.
Only Oscar Isaac’s performance carries the whole burden of the episode
The only positive aspect of the show was Oscar Isaac’s performance, which was excellent as usual. He is the only one who is responsible for delivering his best. He tries his hardest to give his character the most remarkable performance he can, but what would his performance be like if Marvel’s hyper-violent vigilante were turned into a sluggish fighter?
The final sequence, in which Khonsu and Mr. Knight alter the sky to obtain the coordinates, is exquisitely produced, and it is reasonable to believe that the whole CGI budget was spent on it. The entire scene is a feast for the eyes.
The episode concludes unexpectedly, piquing viewers’ interest in the hopes that something huge will happen in future episodes.
Verdict:
A senseless narrative at some point with cut and drag action sequences turns the Moon Knight into a slow-pace fighter.
Transcontinental Times rating: 2.5/5
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