An unexpectedly deep and important Marvel series that sometimes gets in the way of itself.
While the Avengers from the Future were making a fuss in New York in 2012, trying to collect the stones of infinity, the god of deception whistled a tesseract and disappeared in an unknown direction. But his free life did not last long: as soon as Loki teleported somewhere to Mongolia, some people in black came for him and unceremoniously dragged him into some kind of dungeon. It turned out that Loki came into the field of view of TVA – a powerful organization that protects the Sacred Time Line from any encroachments, both from the outside and from the inside. To put it simply, this is such a police of fate. You do everything as it is intended by the Time Lords – well done. Voluntarily or involuntarily moved away from the script – let’s go through. And Loki, having escaped from the custody of the Avengers, pretty much screwed up. Anyone else would have been instantly atomized for such self-will, but Mobius, a good-natured TVA agent played by Owen Wilson, vouched for the trickster. He believes that the rebellious Asgardian can improve and, more importantly, help them catch an even more dangerous violator of the universal order.
Loki trailers give many commentators the impression that Marvel is aiming somewhere to the side. “Doctor Who”… Some also recalled Brazil Terry Gilliam, others – “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”… And all these references are appropriate, but only in relation to the entourage. It turned out that under the cover of stylish retrofuturism hides, you will not believe, an existential drama.
For the first time, Loki has the opportunity to look at himself literally from the outside, to see his past and future, in order to eventually ask a simple question: why is all this? What kind of role did he choose, and why do higher powers so want the trickster to play it to the end – with defeat, re-education and death at the hands of Thanos? After all, can Loki change who he is?
Yes, those who assumed that Marvel would turn their only anti-hero into a knight in shining armor were partly right, but not everything is so simple. The son of Odin makes a reassessment of values after a couple of episodes – but this is only the beginning of the path. The series reminds that correction is not an event, but a process, sometimes long and painful. In many of the situations shown on the show, Loki would have been much more comfortable being a selfish scoundrel. After all, revealing your soul to other people is risky. It sucks to be good. Doing the right thing is hard and unprofitable. But otherwise darkness.
Miss Minute is a TVA mascot, and part-time the most creepy offspring of Marvel dreamers.
All the spiritual searches and transformations of the great deceiver take place against the backdrop of a colorful genre kaleidoscope. “Loki” pretends to be a detective thriller, then an adventurous comedy, then a buddy movie, and closer to the finale it turns into philosophical fiction. And all this has been implemented in a sufficiently high quality. The series looks no worse, and sometimes even better than theatrical releases (I’m looking at you, “Black Widow”), but it sounds like that on a completely different level than the whole of Marvel before it – Alan Silvestri with his theme of “The Avengers”, of course , a genius, but the soundtrack of Natalie Ann Holt sometimes just aches my heart. The problem, if desired, can be discerned precisely in the inconsistency of the plot, which each episode makes a turn, if not 180, then at least 90 degrees. Wanda / Vision also constantly changed the surroundings, but everything was connected with the leitmotif of the sitcoms. Loki, on the other hand, perfectly matches its logo, where the name is made up of completely different fonts. The creators constantly change the pace and tone of the story, pull the viewer out of the comfort zone, which may not be to everyone’s liking. Let’s say you liked Episode 2 and decided that Marvel finally did something for you – but no, you won’t see anything like it until the end of the season.
We have to use such streamlined wording in the review because Loki relies heavily on its regular twists. And we must pay tribute, they really came out spectacular. Along the way, the status quo breaks down not only for the series itself, but for the entire MCU. It is in “Loki” that we are given to understand what the events of the entire fourth phase will revolve around and who will be the main antagonist in it. Yes, like that on the sly. In the third series on the stream service. And this, on the one hand, benefits the project, adds status to it, actually makes it mandatory for viewing, and on the other hand, it interferes with history. All the scrapes of a gargantuan scale often do not complement, but overshadow the main thing – Loki himself. And it is sewn into them, frankly, with white threads. You can, of course, assume that the trickster has knocked out a special role for himself in the world order thanks to his constant resourcefulness and extreme perseverance, but this will already be a game of giveaway with the writers. The truth is that they tried to mix a very personal and chamber plot with a global one, and they did not succeed completely.
You could hardly imagine that at some point, “Loki” will mow under Fincher’s “Zodiac”
What you can’t find fault with is Tom Hiddleston. In previous Marvel projects, one of the best actors of our time could often fool around and twist, the role of an operetta villain allowed, but truly emotional scenes were not enough – the material was not the same. But the show provides Hiddleston with the opportunity to win back for the entire ten years. And he uses it already in the first episode, in a matter of seconds moving from buffoonery to a reliable and piercing spiritual layer. With his acting skills, he draws out even the most dubious moments of the script.
The second main decoration of Loki is Owen Wilson. One of the main stars of the 2000s in recent years has somehow disappeared from the radar, leaving for festival and low-budget films. But the comeback with the support of Marvel was definitely a success. It turned out that Wilson looks great in the role of a mentor and senior friend. The dialogues between Mobius and Loki, the clash of their worldviews and the thorny path to friendship adorn almost every episode.
There are a couple more outstanding acting works in the series, but, as in the case of Wanda / Vision, they cannot be especially praised, because these are already spoilers. So let’s just agree that Hiddleston and Wilson aren’t the only ones pulling this show on their humps.
“President Loki” was featured in almost all of the previews. But in fact, this is a shameless clickbait.
Of all the new Marvel TV series, Loki is the best and most important. Unlike the previous two projects, he is not afraid of his own ideas and is not afraid to give the viewer food for thought instead of reducing everything to the final fight of “bad” with “good”. This does not mean that everything is smooth in it. As already mentioned, sometimes “Loki” steps on his own heels and with a grandiose performance drowns out sometimes interesting reflections on emotional trauma, trust and free will. However, for Marvel, with its love of simplifying complex conflicts, this is a noticeable step forward. Hopefully not the last one.
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