I was not expecting a noir thriller, but I am not going to complain.
Film noir has a very specific aesthetic, and it was such a clever idea to work that into the story itself. After five years of constant dark, no wonder people's moral fiber decayed. It's hard to follow the light when it doesn't exist.
We hit all of the greatest hits, from a lower level Corpsman with a checkered past, to getting information from a powerful bar owner, to the inevitable triple cross... I'm not sure if they were mimicking a specific movie or not. It was well done, though.
The animation was gorgeous, especially the use of color and the interplay between blue and red. So many images just looked like art if I paused on them.
I mean, it's just so pretty! And there were so many other moments like this. It made it a treat to watch, even if the story left me a little cold at times. Which is not a reflection on Nebula. Some of her monologuing was cheesy, but it was very in keeping with the genre, so I didn't mind that. Outside of that, I was very happy to follow Nebula for the episode. It was interesting to see her so devoted to a cause after losing Thanos, but it made a lot of sense that she would cling to a purpose. Any purpose, especially if it had saved her life.
If I have one complaint, it's the same complaint that I kept having last season: it felt more like a CliffNotes version of a story as opposed to anything fully fleshed out. I know that 30 minutes isn't a lot, but shrinking down a full length movie into less than a third of its runtime is very noticeable. Some stories don't have this issue (I'm thinking Party Thor, for example), but this one did.
My biggest question going into this season was going to be if and how they continued the overarching plot with the Watcher. So far, it seems like they aren't. We barely had any Watcher at all. Even his opening monologue was overtaken by Nebula. Of course, this is only the first episode. There's plenty of time for him to become a larger presence.
I'm also curious to see if any of the characters from last season will make an appearance. It wouldn't be the MCU without some kind of end of arc team up, though, and I know the name of the final episode strongly hints towards at least one character coming back.
Random Thoughts
Think the God of Stories could make an appearance now? Nah, probably not.
I love the end credits. The painted stills remind me a lot of The Mandalorian's. Very pretty.
Rock, Paper, Scissors made me laugh more than it should.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
I was very pleased with this episode, and was a good start to season 2. I wonder if this series will progress beyond this season, but we'll see. Nebula is such an interesting character, and I love all the things they have done with her. Seeing her with hair last season was interesting, and I'm not surprised that she could carry an episode here. I actually just wanted more, like you said this was too short.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the sort of Quasi-Guardians vibe they had going with Howard, Groot and Korg. Plus, giving Nebula the control fin for Yondu's arrow was inspired.
I was surprised to see Jude Law reprising his role as Yon-Rogg, but of course Gleen Close didn't return for Nova Prime. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, and it looks like most of them are almost released already.