Opinions, I have them

[selenak]

I'm feeling a bit cranky, and it's about a month or so until Avengers: Endgame, so, a few less than popular MCU opinions by yours truly:



1.) For all that Infinity War is overcrowded, etc. etc., it gave me more emotional substance when it came to Thor than the entirety of Thor: Ragnarök. Which I found an immensely entertaining movie of relentless jokeyness and almost pathological avoidance of anything else; back then I had conversation with trobadora about that movie in which we expressed the wish for a version with 90% of the jokes removed, everyone's attitudes 90% less flippant, and the horror of what was actually happening being proper emotional weight. I realise this isn't what the majority of viewers wanted, but it's one reason why Infinity War basically scratched that particular itch for me. The scene between Thor and Rocket en route was the very one Ragnarök never gave me and proved you could do it in an action-heavy movie with a lot of other things going on.

2.) Speaking of Rocket: one reason why I didn't watch Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2, for the longest time was that I responded to Volume 1 very similarly: too much relentless jokeyness and avoidance of any "breathing" scenes allowing emotional impact, which made for an entertaining movie, but also one I had no desire to rewatch or follow up on. Infinity War changed this. Despite being overcrowded, it made me care about the Guardians in a way their own first movie did not. Which is why I finally got around to watching Volume 2. I found it far less relentlessly joke-joke-joke-joke-joke; the Nebula and Gamorra relationship and the body horror of Nebula's life really came into focus there, the awfulness of what Ego did was allowed to come across instead of being covered up in gags, and ditto for the resolution to Peter's relationship with the man who raised him.

3.) Otoh, something both Thor: Ragnarök and Avengers: Infinity War had in common was hardening my suspicion that so far the only MCU writer who is interested in Bruce Banner as a character (as opposed to the Hulk), or, if you want to put it differently, in whose version of Bruce Banner I am emotionally invested in remains Joss Whedon. When I listened to the audio commentary to Infinity War by the Russos, said suspicion gained additional fodder because they actually say that Bruce had to learn not to whine about the Hulk and solve his problems without him in their movie, which.... Yeah. It comments itself. Head. Desk.

4.) I really hope Loki remains dead. I don't think he will, because he never does, and also I'm told Disney wants to do a Loki series, but I'd be 100% on board with dead Loki. (Heimdall, otoh, along with the other Asdardians, are another matter.) While we're talking about fan favourites whose (temporary) deaths I'm indifferent about: Bucky Barnes is protected by Stan being contracted for more movies and Marvel wanting to do a series co-starring him, I hear, but he's still the Ianto Jones of the MCU to me, more blank slate onto which fandom projects characterisation than character of interest to me.

In non-MCU news, I marathoned the first season of Derry Girls, which consists of solely six episodes and has been reccomended to me a couple of times. It's a Northern Irish sit com, set in ye early 1990s, in the titular city. Our heroines are a couple of school girls plus one boy (James, first boy on an All Girls Catholic school because due to his being English, it's feared for his safety on a boys school), there'sa lot of black humor, sharp dialogue, and it manages to be very funny without prettifying the setting (of border controls and bombs, you know, all the joyful stuff the Brexiteers want to return to). In the course of the season, one of the girls comes out as gay, without this being given the "very special episode" treatment. And the headmistress is one of the best nun characters this side of Call the Midwife I've seen on tv in recent years, falling neither into the saintly nor in the evil abusive category; instead, she's a deadpan, matter-of-fact joy and further endears herself to me by wearing a post Vatican II habit instead of the full habit costumes US tv inflicts on its nuns more often than not, no matter when a show takes place. I hear the second season has just started, and hope next year Netflix will put it up as well.

Comments

[davetheanalyzer]

I can agree with the humor thing. It's funny how some stories can mix in the humor and the dramatic moments still hold their punch, while for others, the humor can be distancing for those moments imo (Speaking of Ianto - I listened to a Bf audio starring him can be very funny since it involved getting a telemarketer to help to a space plan crash but when the dramatic moments happen, they still have a punch). I appreciate the importance of Taika Watiti as a Maori person directing such a big blockbuster film and some of the good I hear he does (And I like some Ragnorak moments, i.e. Valkyre and Loki's comedy moments), but his stories mightn't be for me.

Guardians 2, yeah, I enjoyed it. It still allowed some drama to breath and I enjoyed the moments there, especially the increased focus on Gamora and Nebula (I heard a rumor the 3rd one might focus on her even). If you have time and inclination, this video essay goes over the many aspects about why Guardians 2 worked for some people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VulkN5OLEM

With Bruce, yikes. Him not being able to access Hulk is a interesting conflict, but maybe they could have executed that better.

I can see with Bucky not being interesting, but it was a wise move to pair him with Falcon, since Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie have such good chemistry (I'm not interested enough to subscribe to that platform though. I don't know if it's a wise move for everyone to make paid subscription platforms where they air exclusive online shows)

[ratcreature]

Endgame opens next week though?

[eye_of_a_cat]

Derry Girls is an absolute gem. The second season just finished on Channel 4 here, so hopefully that'll make it to Netflix soon if the first season has.

I can't even put into words how I feel about the possibility of violence in Northern Ireland returning through Brexit via sheer callousness and carelessness of our politicians. I'd like to call it unthinkable, but by this point in our ongoing political puppet show I can think it all too well.

[selenak]

Same here, along with everything else in recent years I'd have called "unthinkable" only a few years ago - the Orange Menace, the bloody AFD in our parliament...

Good to know about Derry Girls continuing in style, though. Here's hoping Netflix puts up the second season quickly!

[saturnofthemoon]

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't care about Bucky. On paper, he could be an interesting character, but there's a very dull, lifeless quality to his portrayal.

[pujaemuss]

Me too. I know a fair few people who rave about Sebastian Stan, but I just find his Bucky acting to be like he was smacked in the face with a 2x4 shortly before every scene and is still dazed.

[selenak]

Yeah, that. The one time Sebastian Stan really surprised me (in the positive sense) as an actor was in I, Tonya, because his role there was utterly unlike the teary-eyed rebels without a cause I've seen him play in Kings, Political Animals or Once upon a Time on the one hand and Bucky on the other.

[selenak]

It's also that so far, there wasn't much there there, so to speak, at least for me. In the first Captain America movie, he's the standard best friend. As to who he is post Winter Soldier, the most interesting scene he had was telling Steve "but I still did it", and yes, the by play with Falcon in the backseat was amusing, but that's about it. I mean, I have absolutely no sense of his personality, his likes and dislikes, which, okay, makes sense if he spent those decades as a brainwashed zombie assassin, but it still isn't very interesting.

[callmesandyk]

I never had the exact words for my mostly whatever feelings about Bucky but your line about projection so perfectly sums it up. It has been something I wondered about since on paper touch of amnesia like and physical appearance would be right up my alley but really, nothing.

[selenak]

I'm reminded a bit of Ianto in Torchwood who for most of the show (imo, as always) struck me as not having much characterisation and being a perfect case of projection for much of the fandom precisely because of this. As for Bucky in theory vs pratice for me, I think I prefer either: a) assassins atoning for something they actually decided to do, not something they were forced to - I mean, Natasha was conditioned by the Red Room, yes, but not to the point where she had no free will, or the capacity to learn new information - or b) characters who when they're forced to do evil things against their will via some sci fi takeover method had a distinct personality before this happened, and were someone I already cared deeply about, and we then get to see the aftermath for them in a way that enhances their characterisation (think Picard as Locutus of Borg and the aftermath). Bucky in the MCU is neither.

[watervole]

You're not alone. Bucky bores me. Now Heimdahl I love (and I had initial reservations about a black actor in Asgard)

[owl]

I'm a little young to be a contemporary of Erin and co, but they're the right age to be my older siblings. Their schoolbags and the way they roll down their uniform are particularly evocative of my own schooldays.

One of my friends remarked recently how hopeful it is, and how sadly little we seemed to have moved on since then.

[watervole]

I shall look up Derry Girls - thanks for the rec.

[selenak]

It's delightful, and you're welcome!