Netflix Marvel Series Mini-Reviews, Part I

As part of my Marvel re-watch, I'm watching all the Marvel Netflix series in order for the first time.  Here are some thoughts on the seasons as they progressed.

Daredevil - Season One - April 2015

Expected things to be gritty, but didn't expect it to be totally as violent as it was.  Not complaining about that aspect, but I was admittedly a little surprised.  The series has some high points -- Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk and his burgeoning relationship with art dealer Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), Deborah Ann Woll's Karen and her connection with Vondie Curtis-Hall's newspaper reporter Ben (complete with a shocking conclusion to that relationship that I was NOT expecting in the slightest.  But there are also some low points as well -- Charlie Cox is one-note as the titular character, the need for every episode to have a big fight grows weary and tiresome.  As I'd soon discover is typical in all of these series, thirteen episodes feels too long and too drawn out.  Disney gets is right with their Disney+ series going shorter in their episode counts.  Nonetheless, a decent start.

Jessica Jones - Season One - November 2015

I'd heard very good things about Jessica Jones and it never lived up to my expectations.  I think the crux of the problem was Krysten Ritter as the titular character -- I don't say this often in my reviews, but something about her acting just felt awkward and forced, making it quite difficult to initially make my way through this.  As her character got fleshed out a bit more, the series got a little more interesting.  Rachael Taylor as Jessica's adopted sister and David Tennant as the evil Kilgrave were standouts, but even the latter fell victim to the thirteen episode length and the repetitive nature of things.  The finale was also hugely anti-climactic to me for some reason.  This is considered by some to be the top season of all of the Netflix Marvel series, but this just didn't work for me.

Daredevil - Season Two - March 2016

This one just delved too much into the supernatural for me to really get into it as much as I wanted.  The subplot with an Asian group attempting to create some all-powerful being was too over-the-top for my tastes.  That said, the addition of Jon Bernthal's Punisher and Élodie Yung's Elektra both added oomph to a second season that could've felt like a retread of the first.  Again, too many episodes draw this out and cause it to be a struggle.  In the end, I think it's maybe not as good as Season One, but it would be a close race in large part because of Bernthal and Yung who add some flavor to this that season one didn't feel like it had.  On the other hand, the lack of a central villain hurts this.

Luke Cage - Season One - September 2016

This one was a huge surprise.  I started off not thinking I could get into this one because, once again, we have a central character who is a bit of a bore on the acting front.  However, everything else about this season was fantastic.  A mid-season surprise in relation to Mahershala Ali was a game-changing shocker.  Rosario Dawson gets a chance to finally shine, Simone Missick is strong as cop Misty Knight, and Alfre Woodard is a gas as she slowly becomes Lady Macbeth.  Add in some strong cultural notes regarding Harlem (and the most realistic villain) and this was excitingly fun to watch -- the first one of these that didn't feel like a struggle to get through thirteen episodes.

Movie Review - Big Eyes

Big Eyes (2014)

Starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Danny Huston, Jason Schwartzman, and Terence Stamp

Directed by Tim Burton

The aesthetics of Big Eyes are certainly Tim Burton-esque in their 1950s/1960s stylizations although the quirky director has scaled back his trademark oddness, crafting a somewhat bland story out of the rather interesting true tale of Margaret Keane and her conniving husband Walter.  The weird lack of balance between comedy and drama causes Big Eyes to falter and an odd performance from one of the leads disappoints and further exacerbates the notion that this actor is a one-note performer.

That actor just so happens to be two-time Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz who plays the aforementioned Walter.  When Margaret (played by Amy Adams) divorces her first husband, she runs to San Francisco with her young daughter.  Shortly after her arrival, she meets Walter who proposes to her mere weeks after meeting.  Walter purports to be an aspiring artist much like Margaret, although Walter's paintings all focus on the streets of Paris, whereas Margaret creates portraits of big eyed children who often look forlorn and saddened.  This initial artistic kinship Margaret feels is quickly diminished when Walter takes it upon himself to act as if Margaret's paintings are his own since female painters have such a tough time moving product.  Walter becomes a world-wide success, while Margaret is forced to paint images that she can't even call her own.

Unfortunately, the Walter character is oddly portrayed throughout in the kind of maniacal comedic manner by Waltz that we've seen him undertake in flicks like Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained.  Waltz has seemingly proven himself to be as one note an actor as Melissa McCarthy as of late (although Ms. McCarthy changed her tune a tad with this year's St. Vincent).  Another Oscar nomination for his role here would prove that the Academy lacks any kind of ingenuity as this is likely the worst role I've seen from him.  His Walter starts so cloyingly sweet and turns so quickly on a dime into a conniving jerk that his transformation seems implausible.  I'm sure, in all likelihood, there's truth behind this real life man's shift into deviousness, but Waltz (likely admittedly getting "help" from Burton and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski) fails to give Walter any emotional arc from the film's onset to its conclusion.  The two distinct personalities we see that the beginning and the end feel like two different people rather than just one.

Adams fares better, although I also feel like she's simply playing a part we've seen her tackle before.  As the quiet and inwardly emotional Margaret, Adams hides her character's feelings, putting up walls to try and keep her husband from damaging her.  This doesn't allow us to fully connect with her, making the audience feel a bit distant from her desire to make herself be publicly known.  When she finally pushes herself to achieve this goal, it feels much too sudden and a bit uncharacteristic for her subtle character.

Granted, I'm making accusations about characters above who are REAL PEOPLE.  It's entirely possible that these REAL PEOPLE acted just like Adams and Waltz portray them.  However, in the grand scheme of movie, this keeps the audience at a distance because we can't latch on to their stories.  I will admit that despite my review full of qualms above, I wasn't ever bored during Big Eyes as I found its overarching story an intriguing one.  The film was actually better than my seemingly horrible review makes it out to be.  It's just unfortunate it wasn't better as I think there was potential here for something great.  Tim Burton, however, simply isn't able to determine what type of movie he wanted to tell -- light-hearted, serious, comedic, dramatic, biographical, fantastical, courtroom drama.  All of it is there -- just none of it is done up to par.

The RyMickey Rating:  C