Aug 03, 2021
This. Was. Fun! Welcome back Marvel -- oh how we missed ye.
Florence Pugh as Yelena is just fantastic. When I first saw her in Midsommar, her uncontrollable sobbing in the beginning annoyed me. But she grew on me as the movie went on. She looks almost exactly the same but is transformed here and is frankly perfect as Natasha's willful younger sister.
"You're a total poser."
- Yelena mocking Natasha's hair-flip fight stance.
David Harbour is just as good. This is the Hellboy we deserved. The scene where he's fat and disheveled breaking out of the Siberian prison is awesome. He's as gruff as he is in Stranger Things but in a more gleeful "I just don't give a fuck" way. There's are a few scenes where I busted a gut laughing at him.
And then there's the tender moment with Pugh where they sing Don Mclean's classic "American Pie:"
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
There's a bit of Fast and the Furious unbelievability in the big action sequences but that may just because there's no Norse God's, Iron Men or super soldiers flying through steel girders anymore.
This is the first MCU movie where the 2 hour plus time wore on me. But that was likely to do the padded time for "family" building. They could've cut a lot of that out, but leaving it in added some depth to the storyline. And the tonal inconsistencies and odd joke placements were more noticeable than usual, especially some that made me cringe.
Overall more backstory and flashbacks on the Red Room would've helped a lot. It wasn't explored enough to bring enough dramatic heft to its evilness.
Yes, this was derivative -- major Bourne and Mission Impossible vibes, TaskMaster is basically Snake Eyes from GI Joe, everybody has Captain America shields, and so on. But that didn't bother me a bit.
In conclusion, I'm glad the MCU movies are back. It made me realize how much the TV shows pale in comparison to the pure spectacle of a movie juggernaut. Or maybe its just watching an honest-to-God MCU summer blockbuster on my 4K HDR Dolby Atmos home theater system. While its 115 degrees out -- in freaking California.
P.S. There's a scene where they are drinking vodka like water. I can confirm having been to Russia a bunch of times that is pretty typical and I have the lost liver cells to prove it.
MCU Smackdown (in a booming Michael Buffer announcer voice).
MCU #24: You made me wait two freaking years Marvel.
Verified