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Loki
Jan 19, 2021 18:41:05 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Jan 19, 2021 18:41:05 GMT -5
Shang Chi might not be as street level as we expect though. I've been geeking out over the idea of a cosmic, MCU take on Mortal Kombat. If the rumors have any truth to them, we could get just that.
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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 5, 2021 14:33:45 GMT -5
New Trailer:
This looks like it could be the best yet of the MCU shows. Kind of crazy to say that since we're only half way thru Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but this looks like unfettered madness whereas Falcon and the Winter Soldier is somewhat run of the mill thus far. It has had it moments and some big reveals, so we'll see how it ends up. Regardless, it's clear that Marvel has held nothing back financially in producing these shows.
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Loki
May 8, 2021 15:37:17 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on May 8, 2021 15:37:17 GMT -5
I just want to take a moment to appreciate the settings that have been teased in the trailers and recent sneak peak that dropped. There's a futuristic city, a scorched earth, a medieval setting, etc. They all look great.
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Loki
Jun 16, 2021 14:47:44 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Jun 16, 2021 14:47:44 GMT -5
So far, I've loved episodes 1 and 2. The music is great, probably my favorite of the 3 shows so far. The design of the TVA headquarters, the technology, just everything fits together so well. One thing I didn't expect from the Disney+ tv shows was for them to take us into a new world unto itself, and with this show they've certainly done that. It just feels like it's a level or 2 above the other 2 shows, and I love it. One thing that this and WandaVision do/did annoyingly well is leave the audience wanting more at the end of each episode. I'm less frustrated with the Loki though, because the episodes are double the length of WandaVision, but still, I cannot wait for the next episode.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jul 31, 2023 15:38:39 GMT -5
I really like the flavor they're bringing to the table in this trailer. The quality and production value here looks better than their other shows thus far. It's hard to trust anything that Disney+ puts out these days, but if they can focus on a few key points in time and do them justice, I think we'll have a solid season on our hands. I'd love to spend some quality time in the 1800s.
In reference to my comment above, looking back, Loki episodes 1 and 2 were the highlight of the series for me. They started out really strong with this season. I don't think the rest of the season maintained the level of quality the first two episodes brought to the table, but I think Loki turned out to be the best of all Marvel's D+ TV shows. It's certainly the most impactful in that it has had some major ramifications for the overall direction the MCU has went. Marvel has to start stringing some wins together. Not just 1 great project followed by a "mid" level project. They need like a year of hits. Hopefully Loki S2 crushes it.
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Loki
Sept 16, 2023 14:26:23 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Sept 16, 2023 14:26:23 GMT -5
Bump! We're getting close and I'm actually getting pretty excited for the show to return. Enough to do a rewatch actually. Maybe I'll appreciate the show as a whole a bit more upon rewatch. I read an article the other day about how Sylvie ends up at McDonald's in the 70s. Something about wanting to experience simple happiness, and McDonald's at that point in time was a place where people would have birthday parties and it was still a real treat to go there with your family. Something about that just seems so cool and a change of pace than anything else that's been out there as of late. As always, keeping my fingers crossed for this one. The cast is certainly impressive.
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Loki
Oct 1, 2023 12:20:06 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 1, 2023 12:20:06 GMT -5
Just rewatched episode 1. I think it's the best episode of tv on Disney+ regarding the all of the MCU shows. I'd have to rewatch Moon Knight Episode 1 again, but episode 1 of Loki was perfect. It may have been the best from Loki we've seen in all of the MCU.
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Post by mr. excellent on Oct 4, 2023 23:00:57 GMT -5
Early reviews are looking good!
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Loki
Oct 6, 2023 18:30:20 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 6, 2023 18:30:20 GMT -5
I loved episode 1. Some people have said it feels like an HBO show was dropped onto Disney+, and the first episode certainly does feel like that. I hope it continues, I was blown away. In a similar way that GOTG Vol.3 hit a lot of people hard, not just because of the animal cruelty, but because it was just so good and it came in the middle of what many have deemed to be mid level offerings... I will admit to feeling that the change of quality was jarring, in a good way. I'm kind of getting a similar feeling here. This is coming from someone who has still appreciated all of Marvel's shows and movies, in spite of the range of quality.
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Post by mr. excellent on Oct 8, 2023 23:10:51 GMT -5
It would seem that Loki is being received pretty well, but the climate surrounding Marvel projects is so different now than it was a couple years ago. It seems clear that this is the best show they have put out in a couple years, and yet, if the show had come out a couple years ago the reception undoubtably would've been better.
A couple years ago, the good will of the swell of good projects from Phases 2 and 3 afforded just about every project with praise, even when that praise was undue. I mean, look at "What If" and "Hawkeye". Looking back, I'd hardly call either of those good shows. There were the occasional good episodes and there was some fun, but their RT scores are so high that it indicates near universal praise.
All that goes to say, episode 1 was a real banger. While episodes 2 and 3 have fans a bit divided, it seems episode 4 is every bit as good as episode 1, and that puts us in an interesting position for episodes 5 and 6. Will Marvel stick the landing? I honestly don't know. Loki S1 had a fairly compelling ending in a series that started out very strong, was *for me* just okay in the second act, and then finished a bit stronger than its second act but not nearly as strong as it started. I sincerely hope that they have done better than that this season. I was a defender of Secret Invasion's first five episodes, but what they did for the 6th episode boggles the mind. Totally makes the show unwatchable for a rewatch, and that's rare for me. So there are some nerves and trepidation with this season.
Connected Universes: You take the good with the good, and the bad with the bad. I believe Marvel can come back from this, but damn does it suck to go through the rough patch we're going through as a fan. If the franchise can recapture the good will of the masses and hit a stride, then once again you'll have decent to mid shows and movies getting more praise than they deserve, and I think that's fair. Especially when good will is lost and good projects get trashed on because of the overall state of the universe. Hell, look at the way Andor was received by people who struggled to separate it from the rest of the subpar Star Wars fare. So yeah, if good projects get trashed on when the GE or even the fandom has lost faith, then projects that are just "ok" getting good reviews shouldn't break the universe either. It all balances out in the end, and nothing lasts forever regardless. I digress for now.
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Loki
Oct 14, 2023 15:55:08 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 14, 2023 15:55:08 GMT -5
Loved episode 2, but less so because of the cinematography and directing choices and more so because of the cast. The cast is really carrying the show. The McDonald's product placement didn't bother me as much as it did other people. I think there were only 15 minutes left in the episode before they even got to McDonald's, and based on earlier reactions, it was being made to sound like the entire episode was just a huge commercial. I didn't see it that way though. What I liked most in this episode was Loki's return to being villainous, even if it was for a heroic purpose. I'm definitely hooked in a way that I haven't been hooked to an MCU show since... the first Loki and to a larger extent WandaVision. I hope the next episode is a banger. My wife and I certainly enjoyed this one.
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Loki
Oct 22, 2023 12:52:06 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 22, 2023 12:52:06 GMT -5
So, I watched this episode 1.5 times. Late nights, had difficulty staying awake. Last week I missed episode 2 on the night it dropped and had a heck of a time trying to avoid spoilers. This time, I tried not to do that but it didn't work out so well. I fell asleep with 20 minutes to go and a lot of the big twists were lost to me. That said, I went back and rewatched the final 20 minutes and I'm actually pretty happy with it. What somewhat surprises me is that I'm not thrilled with Jonathan Major's acting choices. He was fantastic in Quantumania, one of the movie's few bright spots. I don't think anyone would say he was the problem with that movie, similar to Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield in the Amazing Spider-Man movies. Here though, he's just really off. To see him perform so tremendously in Creed 3 and then come back to do this? The internal barometer at Marvel is definitely not working the way it used to because this simply wasn't it. It just didn't match what the rest of the episode was doing, which I liked. I grew up watching Westerns, and seeing them in the 1890s on an actual set with no expense spared on the costuming was wonderful.
Now, all that said, Major's performance did start to ware me down by the end of the episode. While still not a fan of it, I can see myself flipping in the next episode if what I've heard is true... which is that episode 4 just might be the best of the bunch. Season 2 of Loki is said to not be the product that brings the MCU back, and I can see why. With somewhat divisive 2nd and 3rd episodes, and people only having seen the first 4 episodes, it has been somewhat of a mixed bag. Overall though, it seems to have peeked people's interest, and I suspect that a spectacular episode 4, 5 and 6 would really grab people's attention.
The things that really shined for me this episode were, once again Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson's chemistry and performances. They are dynamite on screen and have some of the best interactions in all of Geek TV at the moment. Gugu Mbatha Raw and Tara Strong also get major points for their return in this episode. They really brought on the creep factor and their co-workers turned frenemies dynamic really saved the episode for me. It completely saved Major's performance for me in making his character sympathetic instead of merely an overdone experiment in performance art. Seriously though, the twist with Ms. Minutes wanting to be a "real girl*" and the promise of revealing more about Ravona's relationship with He Who Remains, first teased in the recording Loki discovered in this season's opener? I mean, come on! Even when this season misses, it still hits. For me, I think this season is a definite winner and I hope that episodes 4,5, and 6 prove to be all killer and no filler. Let's go Marvel, ball is in your court.
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Loki
Oct 27, 2023 21:35:50 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 27, 2023 21:35:50 GMT -5
Episode 4 might be the best episode of the season, and there's an argument to be made that it's in the top 3 of the 9 that we have from this series thus far. If episodes 5 and 6 are this strong, this is for me is a big win for the MCU. I get that people aren't watching it in droves, but I'd be willing to bet that down the line the work done this season does a lot to restore the Marvel brand. Obviously they have to keep the momentum going from there, but this episode just saved the season. Episode 2 was good IMO, but definitely not on the level of the first episode. Episode 3 was fun, but Major's performance just didn't do it for me until the back half, making his performance uneven for me at best. This episode totally redeems that character for me in terms of entertainment and being able to sympathize with him, and it has me more hyped to see next week's episode more than I have been in a long time for Marvel TV.
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Loki
Nov 5, 2023 14:37:47 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Nov 5, 2023 14:37:47 GMT -5
So, I quite liked episode 5. It wasn't as good as it could have been, but it was definitely fun. I enjoyed Ouroboros's back story and the pacing of it all. Mobius's backstory was a little disappointing though. A lot of fanfare has been made of Mobius not wanting to look back on his life that once was. Now that we know, I think it was better before we did. He had a perfectly good explanation as to why it was easier not to try looking behind the curtain of his own life. That said, I still liked this episode. The special effects, music, and set design continue to be real bright spots for me, and the way the story of the episode unfolded was a real bright spot too. Loki has been highlighted as one of the smartest, most resilient and resourceful characters in all of the MCU. After this season, he may just be THE most resilient of the bunch... who would've ever thought we would be able to make that claim?
For me, unfortunately, I continue to dislike Sylvie as a character. Conceptually there's nothing wrong with her and I don't dislike the actress. I suppose she has just been at odds with the audience? Loki has been this changed man, this guy who has done a complete 180 beyond what just about any other MCU character has had the opportunity to do (save for RDJ's Tony Stark). Sylvie has sort of become this barometer, that we use to compare Loki to so we can see just how much he has changed. It's frustrating, and perhaps effective, but you just want to shake her. It's like, most of the things she is blaming Loki for this season are things that SHE caused. Zero accountability, and it's annoying.
That said, I'd put this as my third favorite episode of the season. Episodes 1 and 4 volley back and forth for season 2 supremacy, but I really liked this one. The way everything gets spaghettified is even more compelling to look at than the dusting of the snap. I'm definitely "here" for it.
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Loki
Nov 10, 2023 13:46:38 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Nov 10, 2023 13:46:38 GMT -5
They did it, they stuck the landing! Aside from episodes 2 and 3 which had many fans divided, episodes 1,4,5,and 6 were great. They contained some of my favorite Marvel moments, were emotional, cinematic, and fun. As a whole, I think this is the best season of tv Marvel has put out, period. The thing about episode 2 is that while it had its detractors, there were a lot of people who liked it. Interesting enough, a lot of the people who disliked episode 2 enjoyed episode 3, whereas those who enjoyed episode 2 disliked episode 3. I fall in the "enjoy episode 2" camp myself, but IMO the strongest episodes are the aforementioned episodes 1,4,5,6. I honestly didn't think the 4th episode could be topped, but episode 6 just blew me away.
Loki, for me, has become the new Tony Stark, and on a cosmic level he's infinitely more important. That doesn't mean I like Tom Hiddleston more than RDJ, I'm just saying that as a character I never expected them to do this much with Loki. The ball is in Marvel's court to keep pressing down the court and make up for the deficit they've gotten themselves into, but dammit I think Loki just may have saved the MCU.
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