Starting with an episode 1-5 review:
I went in without any spoilers, but with the "knowledge" that I supposedly had to sit through the first 3 episodes and that episode 4 and 5 would be "better". I binge watched the first 5 episodes and I'm not overly impressed.
It becomes clear pretty quickly that the show we are watching in the first 3 episodes is one of Wanda's creations, obviously constructed as a coping mechanism and a safe space of simpler times where Vision isn't dead, and where Wanda doesn't have to worry about anything. Anyone with even a little knowledge of Wanda and how she deals with grief, probably saw this coming a mile away.
I understand why a number of people didn't like the first 3 episodes, but they are well made and needed as a setup for the rest of the show. Without that setup, there wouldn't be much of a show to build on. For what they are supposed to represent and how they are made, I'd even argue the first 3 episodes are better than episode 4 and 5.
I reckon a lot of people just really wanted to like the show and because they didn't like the first 3 episodes (probably mostly because they really wanted it to be something else), they just overrate and overhype episode 4 and 5, which is exactly what those episodes are: very overrated.
With the cat seemingly mostly out of the bag by episode 5, there doesn't appear to be much left in terms of mystery and we will probably step into regular action show territory, stuff we know Marvel for and that's probably what most people expected of the show in the first place, and what they will enjoy. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there will be (cameo) appearances of certain characters, so the viewers can overhype and overrate some more.
The episodes are about 30 minutes each in length, but feel shorter, and sadly not in a good way. The Mandalorian made these short episodes work rather effectively, but this just falls short, especially considering there are only 4 episodes left (and assuming they are about the same in length).
I guess this will end with Wanda letting Vision go, giving their ride together an appropriate ending, also (mostly?) because the movies didn't do this much justice, at all. That, or some multiverse crap will emerge, where everyone lives happily ever after. I hope not.
The show is rated PG, and as another reviewer aptly noted: that is a shame. A big shame indeed, because a heavy dose of violence in how Wanda deals with her grief, would have been very appropriate, and likely even needed.
All in all, not a bad show at all and it's quite likeable, but really nothing special. Unless they really step it up for the second half of the season, my rating of a 7/10 will stick.
Episode 6-9 review addition:
Binge watched the rest of the season. This show turned out mostly as expected. All in all I'm still not impressed and I feel the show in its entirety is a bit of a letdown in the sense that it could have been a lot better. The PG rating really didn't do it much justice; it's all too clean and sterile, almost as if we're watching a show for kids. It feels like a chopped up movie and it's best to be binge-watched.
Some of the characters didn't make a lot of sense to me. The motley "FBI crew" lead by Jimmy Houdini feels shoehorned in for some reason or another. This addition is just a huge waste of time, especially considering the short runtime of each episode. In the end they did nothing and accomplished nothing of note, it's 100% odd filler.
The Monica Rambeau character and her motivations to help Wanda make no sense at all and are not believable in the slightest. Why was she even in this show? Is she getting a movie role or her own show? Is that why she's here? Or perhaps it's to appease the woke crowd, so they can be happy when she's sticking it to the evil white guy, another unnecessary, simplistic and silly villain role in the shape of director Hayward. All he did was be at the recieving end of her stick, so I guess that was the point of that.
The "let me hack into the most secure system on the planet in.. tap, tap, tap, done" character with the unfunny jokes and uninterested and bored attitude was exactly that: unfunny and uninteresting. Zero thought or creativity went into the creation of this character. My god.
So, come to think of it, everything and everyone outside of the sphere is all just unneeded filler. There was no need for any of it, apart from reasons that have nothing to do with the show and story itself.
That probably also means we will see them again in the future!
Agatha Harkness, who I liked better as Agnes, as the "evil" witch, another silly villain role of sorts, in the end just there to provide backstory and to explain -sometimes literally and mostly by exposition- to the audience why and how certain stuff happened. By doing it this way, I can only come to the conclusion that the creators think the audience consists of 8 year old kids. Not good, really cheap and again: no creativity here. We even have to deal with the ancient trope of the villain explaining the entire plan and motivations right before finishing off the lead character, which of coure doesn't happen. Lame writing. And before you say "inception" in relation to Wanda's creation: no.
The fight scenes in the final episode look more like dances than actual fight scenes. Again, too clean and sterile, no sense of any danger. It is as if we're watching Sabrina the teenage with with better CGI. Returning issue: no creativity whatsoever.
The ending was a decent conclusion to the story that was initiated, but as expected it was incredibly predictable. Quite frankly it all felt a bit (too) immature, almost childish and superficial in its way of dealing with grief and how to wrap that part up, as if this was not aimed at adults but teens at best.
Considering the lenghty and in depth introduction that lead up to how Wanda would eventually deal with the real loss of Vision, they sure managed to wrap that up rather quickly, almost as if it was just an afterthought or a case of "oops, we only have 5 minutes left, we'll do it live!". In any case, it didn't do the build up and the show as a whole much justice. It was over, cue the mandatory tear, and that was that. It was forced and not convincing at all.
Meh, meh, and some more meh. Not good enough, Marvel, or should I say Disney. You could have just focused more or completely on Wanda and Vision, instead of adding silly and unneeded characters and villains. Because really: you had the best villain already, guess who. But you didn't dare to really go there. Such a shame.
Acting-wise, I think Elizabeth Olsen did a great job and performed convincingly. Paul Bettany was solid but nothing special. No one else really stood out either good or bad.
Visually it was mostly pleasing. I liked the creativity with the transformations in and out of the sphere. Other than that it was nothing special, with lots of red stuff and red pew pew.
There are quite a few loose ends, dead ends and unanswered questions, plus a post-credit clip that, I guess, promises more. We'll see. The show is entertaining at least to some extent, worth a watch once for most people, but in the end pretty forgettable and nothing special. I hope for something better next time.
My rating is a 6,5/10, rounding it up to (and keeping the) 7/10.
I went in without any spoilers, but with the "knowledge" that I supposedly had to sit through the first 3 episodes and that episode 4 and 5 would be "better". I binge watched the first 5 episodes and I'm not overly impressed.
It becomes clear pretty quickly that the show we are watching in the first 3 episodes is one of Wanda's creations, obviously constructed as a coping mechanism and a safe space of simpler times where Vision isn't dead, and where Wanda doesn't have to worry about anything. Anyone with even a little knowledge of Wanda and how she deals with grief, probably saw this coming a mile away.
I understand why a number of people didn't like the first 3 episodes, but they are well made and needed as a setup for the rest of the show. Without that setup, there wouldn't be much of a show to build on. For what they are supposed to represent and how they are made, I'd even argue the first 3 episodes are better than episode 4 and 5.
I reckon a lot of people just really wanted to like the show and because they didn't like the first 3 episodes (probably mostly because they really wanted it to be something else), they just overrate and overhype episode 4 and 5, which is exactly what those episodes are: very overrated.
With the cat seemingly mostly out of the bag by episode 5, there doesn't appear to be much left in terms of mystery and we will probably step into regular action show territory, stuff we know Marvel for and that's probably what most people expected of the show in the first place, and what they will enjoy. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there will be (cameo) appearances of certain characters, so the viewers can overhype and overrate some more.
The episodes are about 30 minutes each in length, but feel shorter, and sadly not in a good way. The Mandalorian made these short episodes work rather effectively, but this just falls short, especially considering there are only 4 episodes left (and assuming they are about the same in length).
I guess this will end with Wanda letting Vision go, giving their ride together an appropriate ending, also (mostly?) because the movies didn't do this much justice, at all. That, or some multiverse crap will emerge, where everyone lives happily ever after. I hope not.
The show is rated PG, and as another reviewer aptly noted: that is a shame. A big shame indeed, because a heavy dose of violence in how Wanda deals with her grief, would have been very appropriate, and likely even needed.
All in all, not a bad show at all and it's quite likeable, but really nothing special. Unless they really step it up for the second half of the season, my rating of a 7/10 will stick.
Episode 6-9 review addition:
Binge watched the rest of the season. This show turned out mostly as expected. All in all I'm still not impressed and I feel the show in its entirety is a bit of a letdown in the sense that it could have been a lot better. The PG rating really didn't do it much justice; it's all too clean and sterile, almost as if we're watching a show for kids. It feels like a chopped up movie and it's best to be binge-watched.
Some of the characters didn't make a lot of sense to me. The motley "FBI crew" lead by Jimmy Houdini feels shoehorned in for some reason or another. This addition is just a huge waste of time, especially considering the short runtime of each episode. In the end they did nothing and accomplished nothing of note, it's 100% odd filler.
The Monica Rambeau character and her motivations to help Wanda make no sense at all and are not believable in the slightest. Why was she even in this show? Is she getting a movie role or her own show? Is that why she's here? Or perhaps it's to appease the woke crowd, so they can be happy when she's sticking it to the evil white guy, another unnecessary, simplistic and silly villain role in the shape of director Hayward. All he did was be at the recieving end of her stick, so I guess that was the point of that.
The "let me hack into the most secure system on the planet in.. tap, tap, tap, done" character with the unfunny jokes and uninterested and bored attitude was exactly that: unfunny and uninteresting. Zero thought or creativity went into the creation of this character. My god.
So, come to think of it, everything and everyone outside of the sphere is all just unneeded filler. There was no need for any of it, apart from reasons that have nothing to do with the show and story itself.
That probably also means we will see them again in the future!
Agatha Harkness, who I liked better as Agnes, as the "evil" witch, another silly villain role of sorts, in the end just there to provide backstory and to explain -sometimes literally and mostly by exposition- to the audience why and how certain stuff happened. By doing it this way, I can only come to the conclusion that the creators think the audience consists of 8 year old kids. Not good, really cheap and again: no creativity here. We even have to deal with the ancient trope of the villain explaining the entire plan and motivations right before finishing off the lead character, which of coure doesn't happen. Lame writing. And before you say "inception" in relation to Wanda's creation: no.
The fight scenes in the final episode look more like dances than actual fight scenes. Again, too clean and sterile, no sense of any danger. It is as if we're watching Sabrina the teenage with with better CGI. Returning issue: no creativity whatsoever.
The ending was a decent conclusion to the story that was initiated, but as expected it was incredibly predictable. Quite frankly it all felt a bit (too) immature, almost childish and superficial in its way of dealing with grief and how to wrap that part up, as if this was not aimed at adults but teens at best.
Considering the lenghty and in depth introduction that lead up to how Wanda would eventually deal with the real loss of Vision, they sure managed to wrap that up rather quickly, almost as if it was just an afterthought or a case of "oops, we only have 5 minutes left, we'll do it live!". In any case, it didn't do the build up and the show as a whole much justice. It was over, cue the mandatory tear, and that was that. It was forced and not convincing at all.
Meh, meh, and some more meh. Not good enough, Marvel, or should I say Disney. You could have just focused more or completely on Wanda and Vision, instead of adding silly and unneeded characters and villains. Because really: you had the best villain already, guess who. But you didn't dare to really go there. Such a shame.
Acting-wise, I think Elizabeth Olsen did a great job and performed convincingly. Paul Bettany was solid but nothing special. No one else really stood out either good or bad.
Visually it was mostly pleasing. I liked the creativity with the transformations in and out of the sphere. Other than that it was nothing special, with lots of red stuff and red pew pew.
There are quite a few loose ends, dead ends and unanswered questions, plus a post-credit clip that, I guess, promises more. We'll see. The show is entertaining at least to some extent, worth a watch once for most people, but in the end pretty forgettable and nothing special. I hope for something better next time.
My rating is a 6,5/10, rounding it up to (and keeping the) 7/10.