I like Ryan George and his comedy but that’s me. He rarely doesn’t work for me.
I have been rewatching the MCU and somehow people survive looking as people when the Hulk rolls a car over them. They are bit more explicit with the Chatauri, alien creatures, but humans just become rag dolls. It is strange.
I also agree that comic book main characters, at least, all have some level of regeneration in that if they don’t die, they can recover. Having had surgery and knowing what it takes to recover, yes, seeing what they go through and can bounce back from is super human.
I liked She-Hulk and if anything, her meta/4th wall solution was too simple. I wanted more explanation of it or more talking than fighting, as that would fit a lawyer. I think her rivalry with Titania is a better look at how her villains should go. She defeats them in combat, so they try other ways to “beat” her that aren’t fights. That made sense to me.
Yes, Die Hard nominally started as an everyman (ish) person getting beat up but Live Free or Die Hard (again, maybe earlier due to beatings he took) had him take down a helicopter with a car, which I don’t think they would have considered in previous movies. At that point, he became that which he wasn’t supposed to be for me. Fun but now different.
I thought Ep.7* was amazing. The MCU haven’t done ANYTHING like that elsewhere.
The one where Jen sits around with the e-list villains just talking. Much like Gunn with his Suicide Squad movie…they actually got me to care about someone. I mean, i care in other movies, but REALLY care!
I don’t think this is an unrealistic take. Especially about the stakes. Yeah thats for sure. But its very much its own thing. A very very colorful take on LA and LA life and rich brunch girls. But like you said, its well cast.
The casting (especially Tatiana) and the production design trumps for me any showrunner toxicity or ‘owning the trolls’. It just works for me.
Welp saw the last ep finally. Im glad i was spoiled cause i was yelling anyway at the events near the beginning. For a show about empowerment and She-Hulk Attorney at Law…Jen being a milk-sop and rolling over to a plea deal for ‘charges’ (What charges??? Some destruction of property?? BFD) would have had me a lot more angry then what Jen actually reset the ep for. Though she was hilariously right. Laughed my ass off about tthe Marvel screen breakthrough even though i knew it was coming.
Nice meta commentary btw having the ‘chads’ talking about ‘the job should go to the person who is most qualified’.
My understanding is this show got the lowest ratings of all the Disney shows so far. Too bad. I’d like to see a season two.
Searching I see viewership data all over the place. It wasn’t a top ten on Nielsen’s list and most Marvel ones get there, but it was a different sort of show. This is a smaller show, not a blockbuster. It is not designed or expected to draw the big Avenger numbers. It is expected to appeal to a specific segment and make them happy paying for the service overall.
I’ve tried to make this point in other threads but viewership numbers are not of the same meaning to streamers that they are to broadcast tv reliant on advertising.
The same is the circumstance with Andor. It isn’t going to have the viewer numbers of The Mandalorian and was never expected to. It is is aimed at a narrower segment but giving them reason to stay happy paying for the service.
There are some similarities to a health club. They don’t need you to use the gym often (for health clubs they’d prefer you don’t); just that you feel attached enough to pay the fee.
I missed the LA-specific references, for sure. I think the casual tone works very well in the comics. It just didn’t seem to translate as well here. And it’s not like I think it’s the worst thing ever. I just really wanted to be wowed, and the fact that it’s mildly amusing at best has been a disappointment to me.
Really? I thought Ms. Marvel knocked it out of the park. I mean yeah, another Bildungsroman about a teenager coming of age, but I thought the writing and storytelling was solid.
Disney is experiencing the same issues Netflix had early on: the expectation that every new show they produced would be groundbreaking and spectacular. Hell, Netflix had that issue with the stellar success of Daredevil (season one) versus the other Defenders shows.
A lot of folks no longer seem to have a category called “pretty good show, wasn’t a waste of my time.”
I thought Ms Marvel was frustratingly inconsistent. I liked the main character and I liked the lower stakes stuff of her just interacting with her family and friends, but I didn’t think the Big Conflicts and Big Themes worked out particularly well. Still enjoyable, but I thought She-Hulk was much more fun through and through.
Exactly. Too many people seem to have two possible reactions, it was awesome or it was the worst thing ever. Many things I’ve watched and enjoyed aren’t award worthy or groundbreaking, but a worthwhile use of time and enjoyable. It doesn’t have to be 10/10 or 0/10.
Just finished the series over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Even my wife, who usually only half pays attention to stuff like this, really liked it.
I got a kick out of how, after most of the music in the series was modern rap/hip-hop/dance music, they threw in a 40+ year old Richard and Linda Thompson song in the final episode (“I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”).
That could be true. But in my case, I enjoyed Wandavision despite some glaring issues, I loved Loki, liked Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I enjoyed Hawkeye. None of them were particularly spectacular, but I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. Ms. Marvel I made all the way to the penultimate episode but I just didn’t want to finish. They lost me.
I think a factor that could also be in play is just flat-out Marvel fatigue. That combined with the fact that they have so many projects on their docket, a number of them seem like first drafts rather than finished products. So you have both at least a slight downtick in quality and a viewership that is growing less tolerant.
I think part of the disconnect has to do with how an opinion is expressed. I’ve made this point before in a previous thread. There is a difference in these statements:
I didn’t like it. It didn’t suit my tastes. It didn’t hold my interest. Etc…
It was awful. It had terrible writing. If you liked this then you have horrible taste. Etc…
I don’t think many people have an issue with negative opinions like category 1. Category 2, however is implying that anyone that disagrees is stupid or has bad taste, doesn’t understand good vs bad writing. It’s an indirect personal attack on everyone else. That is what leads to a lot of fandom conflict these days in my opinion. I don’t think anyone expects everyone to agree on the quality of a show, but nobody wants to be insulted either.
I don’t mean to imply that you fit category 2 above. I didn’t see any of that stuff in your review, but just making more of a meta comment here.
In the MCU, Marvel has released 30 movies since 2008 and 20 different TV series (37 seasons) since 2013. The fact that some fans aren’t gonzo about a few of those is to be expected.
It’s inconceivable that their huge fanbase is going to be universally happy with all their productions, it’s frankly inconceivable that they could make 50 different movies/shows and not have a few stinkers in there. Where I think the fanbase goes awry is to be angry about the stinkers.
I am merely disappointed that they screwed up my favorite superhero. I would describe myself as more resigned than angry. I’m glad other people are getting enjoyment from it. It’s hard to gauge the general reception. Letterboxd gives it 2.8/5 stars, but the negative reviews are brutal.
If this was all I had to watch, okay. I can get by. But with half a dozen streaming services I can watch the best television that has ever been made for pretty much the rest of my life. That’s what the new Marvel properties are competing with. And that’s why I’m about done with Disney.
Many musicians find themselves in the same boat. I have in my pocket almost every song ever made in the last 50 years. Do I listen to this decent new pop band, or The Beatles? The Beatles are gonna win out most of the time.
I didn’t mean to call you out specifically, it was more of a general observation. Your reasons seem reasonable to me even if I disagree with some of them.
Though of course, since this is the internet I’m still obligated to point out that my opinions are subjectively correct and yours are not.
I think where the fanbase goes awry is thinking that they need to watch EVERYTHING. Marvel is really trying different genres and flavors in order to have stuff that appeals to different audiences. If fans don’t feel like they can skip parts that don’t appeal to them, they’re going to dislike a good chunk of what they’re watching.
I agree that’s what they’re doing, and what they should do. But also, if that’s what they’re doing, they need to loosen up on the straitjacket that is the shared universe.
But how is it a straitjacket anymore? Yes, Ms. Marvel (the final scene) leads into the The Marvels movie, but if people aren’t interested in a teen girl superhero, or The Marvels, not seeing it won’t affect their ability to understand other Marvel franchises. She-Hulk had Hulk, Wong and Daredevil, but if you want to follow the further adventures of those characters (except maybe Daredevil), you didn’t really need to watch She-Hulk. Moon Knight was completely disconnected from any other known franchise, although it takes place within the MCU.
Until Avengers: Endgame, there was legitimate concern by fans that missing one movie will hamstring your ability to follow the shared universe. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. More so, now that the entire MCU archives are available forever on Disney plus, if it turns out to be the case, people can catch up pretty easily if they want to, unlike when Disney plus didn’t exist and fans could only see the material as theatrical releases (or DVDs).
