As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to test the patience of the best of us, we’re left with little to do except light exercise, heavy eating, and distracted binge-watching.
With streaming stalwarts Netflix and Amazon Prime joined by newer players like Disney+, Crave, Paramount Plus, and HBO Max, there’s never been a better time to sign up for a free trial, binge the crap out of the things you like, and then cancel the service before their billing department gets the better of your credit card.
In that spirit, and for lack of anything positive to write while Ontario enjoys its worst daily Covid-19 case count ever, here are some random thoughts on recent pop entertainment I’ve consumed as part of my pandemic depression avoidance strategy, or PDAS.
Wandavision (Disney+) – A surprisingly thoughtful meditation on grief, Wandavision stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprising their titular roles as Marvel superheroes Wanda Maximoff and The Vision as they live together through decades of television tropes in small-town America. It’s weird and heartwarming; menacing and melancholy. Come for Kat Dennings as Doctor Darcy Lewis, stay for scene-stealing Kathryn Hall as the nosey neighbour (and something more, because of course), and try not to toe-tap to the catchy theme songs crafted by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. (B+)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+) – Taking a page from the best and most grounded Marvel film (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in case you are ill-informed), writer Malcolm Spellman and director Kari Skogland explore the post-Endgame world of former Cap sidekicks Sam “Falcon” Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as they struggle to uphold the spirit of Cap’s legacy while a government-endorsed replacement Captain America (Wyatt Russell) takes care of business with ruthless ambition. I’m four episodes in and completely impressed by the world-building and well-rounded, relatable characters. When you find yourself able to agree with the show’s villains, you know the creative team has done something right. (A-)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max, Crave + HBO) – When writer/director Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, The Avengers) took over for director Zack Snyder back in 2017, it was in part due to a death in Snyder’s family. The other reason, once only gossip and now well-established fact, was that studio Warner Bros. wanted significant changes to Snyder’s vision for his third DC Comics-inspired film following the lukewarm reviews of 2015’s Batman V. Superman. When Whedon’s cut was released later that year, the film was greeted with a collective “meh” and Snyder fans began an energetic (often toxic) social media campaign to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Four years later, the fruits of that labour arrived in the form of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a four-hour assembly cut packed with everything Zack Snyder could say about superheroes while expecting to never direct another DC film again.
The verdict? It’s good. Really good. Each of the six superheroes that form the league (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg) get great moments of character growth and super-powered setpieces, but I also get why the studio execs balked at the film in the first place. Somewhere between the two-hour mess we got in theatres and the four-hour epic we got on HBO Max (Crave + HBO for the Canucks) is a three-hour movie that could have been superhero cinematic perfection. Let’s hope the latest pack of studio execs at Warner Bros. have learned their lesson. (B+)
Godzilla vs. Kong (Streaming Rental) – A giant lizard that exists as a stabilizing force of nature starts attacking random cities. When no one can understand why, stupid humans decide to drug and kidnap a giant ape from his home to fight said giant lizard in the hope of saving humanity.
They fight.
And fight.
And fight and fight and fight.
Make no mistake, Godzilla vs. Kong delivers on its promise, but Shakespeare this ain’t. Tune in, turn off your brain, and enjoy the king-sized stupidity. (C+)
-JW