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What If...?: What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath? (2021)
Not complete crap, just too many damn plot holes and issues
So, let's go over the flaws, strengths, and then final verdict as I usually do
- Strengths
- The humor is fine. Marvel doesn't tend to have to many issues with humor(except the Black Widow movie)
- Seeing them use every character from the previous episode was interesting
- The Zola payoff was consistent
- The animation was good
Flaws
- Why the hell did they bring in Killmonger? This dude is a proven murderer, and you trust him? (Evidenced as he betrayed them)
- How can Killmonger, a human, weird all 6 stones with ease when it nearly killed Hulk?
- Remember when Ultron blew up a universe with a single bite? Why can't he do that here? He tanked hits from the Watcher, but can't survive a punch from Captain Carter?
- of all the people Uatu chose, he chose Captain Carter, Party Thor, Gamora with a big sword, T'challa Star Lord, and Killmonger? Strange makes sense, Nat makes sense, but these other guys are borderline useless. Where's Captain Marvel, who's a Bloody Mary Sue? She'd be useful here.
- why doesn't the Watcher help? Couldn't he have helped fight too?
- Why did they think Zombies would work on a robot? They give you like ten seconds, and Wanda's actual form might be useful.
- Why is Gamora in this episode? She was supposed to have an episode, but it feels rushed.
- Loki made it clear Infinity Stones don't work outside of their reality, but hey, screw consistency.
- Why didn't Ultron ask help from his army of robots? Moron
Final Verdict
The episode is supposed to be about fighting Ultron, and stopping him. But it just feels underwhelming, and after the absolute menace Ultron was in the last episode, in this one Thanos was more impressive. This show I think suffers from a lack of runtime. It wants us to connect to these characters, but it doesn't last long enough to fully flesh it out. Other episodes have suffered from weird changes that don't make sense at all, and major inconsistencies.
I have seen people giving reviews about how my expectations were too high. Why are you blaming the audience for being invested in a story, and hoping for good stuff, and then it doesn't pay off meaningfully? People want more, and that's the issue with Marvel. They churn out so much stuff so quickly, and it works at getting money. But at this point it's quantity over quality. Marvel doesn't flesh out their ideas, and rush, and that is how you get things like What If? Loki, Black Widow, Fatws, and WandaVision. I think there is good ideas, the MCU just isn't thinking it through enough to get them to work. Overall, What If had an interesting premise, but at the end of the day, it falls flat on it's face.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Victory and Death (2020)
The end of an era
The episode begins where the last one ended. This ending really is just about every single core pillar of the series.
Watching Rex realize his brothers, and our beloved clones who we've grown alongside this entire series, are going to die was heartbreaking. This whole season was building up to this. The bad batch capped of Echo's arc, along with the line it's hard to be the one that survives. Fives, Heavy, Tup, 99, Echo, and now Jesse are all dead. Only Rex and Ahsoka remain. Watching Vader pick up Ahsoka's lightsaber was a true representation of the broken family. I loved this series, but now it truly has ended. It's over, and the galaxy will never be the same again. They did well with Rebel's finale, and somehow did even better. 10/10 definitely.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Infested (2021)
Some of this series's filler I tolerate. Here I just go why.
Why does this episode exist? There's not even Omega Character development. I get they want to do worldbuilding, which is better than the sequel trilogy, but honestly, this was just boring.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)
Overall: A dissapointment and a lesson
I'm not going to do a massive in depth review, but I will state what I believe is the biggest issue with this tv series: I don't think they had a good enough story to tell. Every episode was fun (with one exception) but I don't think this series had enough backbone. The Mandalorian had a small, tight story that it followed, with minimum filler. The Clone Wars gave way to a ton of story telling possibilities while following a main cast of the 501st. Rebels had issues with filler, but they grounded themselves around a goal of freeing Lothal. This series didn't have enough: So here are my three main reasons why this series failed. Anything I do not include you can call a positive:
- Bad character balancing
- Lack of overall plot structure
- Lack of reason to exist
1: Bad character balancing
In Mandalorian, we focused on 2 main characters, Mando and Grogu, and Moff Gidion as the villain. That series focuses on developing Mando and Grogu, and while Moff Gidion was less present in S1 he played a major role in S2. In this series, we have 5 main characters: Echo, Tech, Omega, Hunter, and Wrecker. We had 1 main villain, Crosshair, and then 2 minor villains, Fennec Shand and Cad Bane. My issue here is that of the 5 main characters, Hunter and Omega get the most development, as they develop their father-daughter relationship. Interesting characters like Echo get shafted, whereas previously very caricature characters like Wrecker (basically the hulk) and Tech don't get expanded upon. Tech is just a smart guy with Tech, and Wrecker is basically the Hulk.
Also, the villains are lacking. Crosshair was always shady, and when he appears, he always intimidates you. But Crosshair really only had 6 episodes where he starred as antagonist and 3 where he might as well be a cameo. He get's interesting in the final 2 episodes where it is revealed he is acting of his own accord, but that's all we get. Cad Bane and Fennec Shand appear in 2 episodes, but they never get expanded upon or really developed. They are formidable but feel like they were forgotten about. The character balancing was really poor.
2: Lack of Overall Plot Structure
Star Wars Rebels grounded itself with the plot to free Lothal, and that was the main goal. This series doesn't seem to have much of a main goal besides survival, which while interesting has been done before. 7 of these 16 episodes feel like filler. I think the series wanted to tackle the transition from Republic to Empire, and Clones to Stormtroopers. Fine, but you can't drag that out with 16 episodes. The Bad Batch were interesting in their 4 episode arc, but I never really wanted to see them again. I just don't think there was a good enough plot to justify the series. The final 3 episodes Hunter get's captured, but we don't know what they plan to do with them, and we find out they want him to join the Empire. Which he will never do, obviously. They have a cool episode where the batch rescues him, but I don't think they knew what to do after Hunter get's rescued. They did the same thing in Rebels, but with Kanan. Except the final episode had Kanan defeating his fears and the main villain, the Grand Inquisitor. The only one who get's developed in the last episode is Crosshair, but it's the same stuff from last episode. The reason finales are some of the most popular episodes is that the entire series builds towards it, and it's the emotional payoff. I don't get any payoff. They just escape Kamino.
Part 3: Lack of Reason to exist
If you wanted to explore the switch from Republic to Empire, cool. But that could have been done in 2-3 episodes. If you wanted to follow the Bad Batch's new adventures, cool, do a set of six episodes of them traversing the galaxy. The issue is, no one cared enough to justify this series. The Bad Batch arc was good but honestly I cared little about their continued adventures. I just accepted the Republic was now the Empire, I didn't need to see it happen. I don't think this series needed to exist, and their wasn't good enough story potential for 16 episodes. Maybe a nice series of 6 could have been fine, because I would have come away going, ok, fun filler, I enjoyed this, now I'll forget it.
Final conclusion
To be fair, I did enjoy this series, but it isn't anything special. I won't remember this like I will Clone Wars or Rebels, and I think they need to learn something at the devs. Filoni makes many good tv shows, such as Rebels, Mandalorian, ATLA, Legend of Korra, Clone Wars, and more, but he isn't perfect. Neither is Favreau. Recently, Star Wars announced a new series of shows to be posting:
- Kenobi
- Andor (who?)
- Ahsoka
- The Acolyte
- New Republic Rangers
- Mandalorian Season 3
- Bad Batch Season 2
- The book of Boba Fett
- Lando
All of these are mainly headed by Favreau and Filoni. 9 projects, all coming out. Before Mandalorian Season 3 was even finished we got the Bad Batch. I also noticed the same thing with Marvel recently:
- Eternals
- Spider Man: No Way Home
- Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania.
- Wandavision
- The Marvels
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3
- Falcon and The Winter Soldier
- Loki
- Black Widow
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The issue with making so many new shows and movies right after another is quality starts to waver. All of Marvel's recent products haven't exactly been great, and I fear the same will happen to Star Wars. Filoni and Favreau are good, and I know they like paychecks, who doesn't, but if you make that many products in a row, your quality will waver. The Bad Batch is completely overshadowed by the Mandalorian, because half of these products there is not a good enough story to tell. If you limit yourself to a few products at a time, maybe just 2, then you can easily keep quality. I think the issue with Bad Batch is Star Wars is being milked of it's cow udders far too much, and eventually the milk will be foul. The same issues of Bad Batch could plague Kenobi, Andor, The Acolyte, Lando, Bad Batch season 2: There simply isn't a good enough story to tell. When the original trilogy and prequels came out they took time, not all at once. I hate to say it, but let Star Wars die. Maybe keep it one TV show at a time, but stop giving so much content. Take a break, or you'll overshoot yourself.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Whole World Is Watching (2021)
Best episode of the series
Ok, so let's go through all the pros and cons, pacing, then wrap up with final verdict
Pros
- Action packed. Nothing was wasted, everything was meaningful and the action was great.
- Phenomenal performances from everyone.
- As a Black Panther fan the part where the Dora Milaje show up and beat the crud out of Walker was amazing
- Seeing Zemo's softer side was cool
- I love how they used Bucky's past with trauma and Sam's history as a counselor as part of the plot was really cool
- The real best part was Walker. We can see that he has been dealt a bad hand, all leading to him cracking. He is just losing, and the rejection of Bucky and Sam is getting to him, all leading to that climactic moment with the Flag Smasher. RIP that poor guy.
Now, for my only con:
Karli. At the beginning, we see her lose a friend and mentor, so oof. But I think Sam put it perfectly: I agree with her cause, and understand where she is coming from, but she did the wrong means. I don't sympathize with Murderers. I understand self defense, but she killed INNOCENTS. I won't sympathize with her or call her tragic. (Same with Walker.)
Pacing
No moments were wasted, so I am very happy with this episode's pacing.
Final verdict
Look, it is no secret I am not a fan of FATWS. I find it disappointing, but this episode nearly proved me wrong. It did nearly everything right, and my only flaw is really a few of the series as a whole in my eyes. Stand outs: Walker, Dora Milaje, Zemo, and Battlestar. I think it was stupid to kill him off because of how great he was, but it was understandable.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: One World, One People (2021)
Forgettable finish to a Forgettable series
As always, I will go over the Pros and Cons, episode pacing, before delivering the final verdict.
Pros:
- The show had an interesting dilemma in the Flag Smashers ideals, which has no real right or wrong answers.
- I loved Isaiah Bradley's ending.
- The action was good as always
Cons
- So, does Bucky just not matter anymore? While Falcon was getting cheered on in the sky, Bucky was doing just as much work, but nobody cares about him. Bucky's arc got screwed over in favor of more Sam, and when it comes to its conclusion, it feels rushed. This series is supposed to be equally about Falcon and Bucky, but all they care about is Falcon.
- Same with Walker. He had an interesting set up of being a villain, but after five minutes of being villainous, he has a change of heart and becomes good. And just when he's about to save lives, he get's stopped so Falcon can do it! UHHHH!
- I was supposed to care about Karli's death. But I didn't. She was a murderer, and basically said, "They're on the wrong side. They deserve to die." Are just gonna take a decent villain with interesting ideals and throw it out the door? What the heck? Are you kidding me. Oh, but it gets better.
- This episode was too much Sam. I get it, he's the new Captain America, but he and Winter Soldier have EQUAL parts, supposedly. All the interesting action is for Sam, and when Walker or Bucky are about to do something heroic, he just swoops in and steals the spotlight, and gets cheered on. Like I said, he hogged the spotlight too much.
- Speach
So, the speech Falcon makes was horrible. Have you ever heard Nelson Mandela, JFK, or MLK speak? It is well written and poetic. Falcon's speech feels forced and not well written at all, plus telling us to sympathize with Murderers and Terrorists. It feels like a rant. Also, get this: Half the world dies, and as things become more normal post snap, everyone comes back. The GRC has to figure out how to settle this, and what to do. They have to piece together families. I haven't seen Falcon helping them out. Meanwhile, Karli and her hang stirs up trouble for them to deal with. Near impossible. So here comes Sam, who has done nothing to help the GRC, and he tells them they suck at their jobs and need to "Do better." I feel bad for Anthony Mackie, who had to say that speech and wear that costume.
Episode Pacing
It was very fast paced, and thus I have no qualms.
Final Verdict:
It was ultimately, forgettable. None of the fights were actually cool. They keep trying to make Sam perfect and shove in a last minute character arc, but it just falls so flat. I believe this series would have been better if it was twice as long, as six episodes made the build up to the finale just not good. It doesn't round off the Flag Smashers meaningfully. It doesn't give Bucky anything to do. It misses all the wrong emotional beats (excluding Bradley). So, it was bad.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Truth (2021)
Sam Wilson's guide to build a boat
Hey guys, its Sam Wilson here. So, I recently was out wrestling with my buddy Bucky and my other good buddies the flag smashers. But then, I decided to have a tug of war contest with Bucky and Me vs Good Ole John Walker. We won. Then, I talked to Bucky's Old war buddy Isaiah Bradley. Good Chap, that Isaiah. But you know what, with all the crazyness of the last few days, Bucky and I got our neighbors together to fix a boat, so I will tell you how to fix a boat. So, first, you need to check on the pipes, to find a leak or not. Then, you have to nail in parts of the mast, and wrench together the engine. Then, you put together all the appliances, wash some paint over it, and... hold on a minute. BUCKY! STOP FLIRTING WITH MY SISTER! Okay, now where was I? Okay, so Bucky and I finished the job. So, while we give the Flag Smashers time to recuperate and plot, Bucky and I will go and play frisbee with our borrowed shield from my good buddy John Walker. Man I wonder what those Flag Smashers are up to. Anyone seen John Walker? AND BUCKY, STOP FLIRTING WITH MY SISTER!
Thank you, I hope you enjoyed my guide.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
So, I am interested, but hoping this get's somewhere faster.
So, I will hit the pros and cons for this (I will update this review over the shows run)
Pros:
I like the actors, they do good with their script and their onscreen chemistry is great
I like a lot of the loose plotholes this show is tying up. There were a lot of them left dangling and so they should be wrapped up. (Zemo, Other Winter Soldiers)
I like they are shedding light on forgotten Avengers like Winter Soldier and Falcon. It was good when they did that in Wandavision and it is important to remember supporting characters
Now, for my least favorite/favorite part of a review: the cons
(I will try to be quick as I am fond of this show and while it has flaws my low rating will get higher)
It is taking a long time to build up. For Wanda Vision it worked well, but for such a quick paced show it needs to get somewhere faster
We kind of skipped over Sam's family issues and Bucky's trauma in favor of more action. While I like action, those were important story elements.
There are too many names to keep up with and it isn't explained well what is going on. That I think they could have done better.
Final thoughts:
It is too early to review this show. I am leaving my review so far and intend to update it, so most of the issues will probably get addressed. If you are questioning the authenticity of my review, be aware it is of the quality of the show itself and how I feel, for clarification, so this is my opinion and please feel free to disagree.
WandaVision: The Series Finale (2021)
I expected it to be more... unique
I thought this episode would be so much more. I didn't care for the theories, but for a show so unique, so boundary pushing: it fell flat.
The pros:
1: Wanda and Visions goodbye was beautiful and heartbreaking
2: Both post credits
3: Wanda is the Scarlet Witch
The cons:
1: They really screwed up Agatha and made her 1d
2: The fights were generic and... ok, I guess
3: Vision vs Vision talk was boring
4: Why did you waste so many characters? Jimmy, Darcy, Hayward, White Vision, even Monica to some extent
5: No consequences for Wanda
6: A generic MCU episode
The problem I really had is that the series has been building up so much to this episode, and it was so unique, but if fell flat. New villain Agatha? One dimensional and already done with two episodes after her introduction. They wasted characters, and for a show I've loved so much and expected so much of it fell flat.
WandaVision (2021)
A review of every episode and the series as a whole
Alright, so first things first: I am sorry I almost gave up on this show. It has turned out to be worthwhile, and while it doesn't top some of my favorite shows (Cobra Kai, Avatar) it is pretty good.
Episodes 1 and 2: 2 stars
I got bored after episode one, and hoped the 2nd would be better, but no. The sitcom was boring and not balanced out by mystery enough. I know some people like Sitcom, but I don't like it much. I understand why so many people quitted after the first 2 episodes.
Episodes 3: 6 stars
The Sitcom is more tolerable, and the mystery is good. Not yet good, but with the rising quality of the show, this hooked me for episode 4. I'm glad it did.
Episodes 4,5,6: 8 stars
In episode 4, there is no sitcom, only Mystery, and while I may not care for Sitcom, I do love a good Mystery. Five was even better, as although it had a decent amount of Sitcom, some action finally happened! Yes! And episode 6 was even better. The Hex moved, Vision tried to escape, and Pietro was the best.
So, now I will review the whole series: 8 stars. The Pros:
- The Mystery is enthralling, and makes me want to keep watching
- The actors are amazing
- It's such a wacky and weird show and I love it.
- Pietro Maximoff.
- The Sitcom is too much at times
- It doesn't come out fast enough!
- The first too episodes.