What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?

 "Wow! That chemistry was hotter than the Hindenburg!"

I love the style of this, all late '30s Hollywood with opening titles to match, a massive contemporary musical number, pop culture references like the above and the Hollywoodland sign (not Hoyywood, yet) as a nice touch. And it's interesting to mix up Agatha Harkness with the world of Eternals and Celestials and the rapport between Howard Stark and Jarvis that we know so well from Agent Carter.

I'll be honest, though: I've only seen The Eternals once and there hasn't since been much follow-up. I just about remembered the Dreaming Celestial and Arishem's secret agenda to treat Earth as expendable. And if I'm a little vague on this stuff, surely many others, even those who try to keep up with the MCU, like myself, willbe in a similar situation?

Still, this works. I wouldn't say it's an absolute triumph, but it works. Kathryn Hahn can elevate anything just by being herself, and the script has lots of fun and clever touches- I love the bit where Howard casually and cheerfully reveals that he's well aware that Agatha is using real magic and Kingo is a powerful alien robot thingy, but it fine with it as it saves him money on special effects.

Overall, then, a nice little curiosity. And heavy hints that other Celestials will be back for a sequel. I wonder... is this a hint that the Eternals and Celestials will be used again in the MCU at some point?

Eternals (2021)

 "I thought we were heroes. Turns out we're the bad guys."

This is, I can't deny, the worst MCU film up until this point, and quite a disappointment. One may be tempted to blame it on the great Jack Kirby. Genius though he was, his genius had left the building, and the concept of the Eternals and Deviants was developed by him in a limited series at a point when his mojo was a thing of the past.

Other creators integrated this cuckoo into the Marvel Universe in creative ways, but a cuckoo it remains. So there we have the original sin of the concept, cool thouth the Celestials are- and the realisation of Erishem.

The effects and visuals are cool. So is the direction, in a scene to scene sense. The film looks good. It's also an intriguing and respectful treatment of the mythos, with deviants, the Uni-Mind, and characters like Sersi, Ikaris, Sprite, Makkari and Gilgamesh all well treated.The Mahd Wiri (from Bob Harras' run on Avengers?) is well handled with Thena. And the bid reveal about the Celestials' plot- to destroy all life on Earth but to do so in the aid of seeding life elsewhere- is presumsbly nicked off of a comic after my time, butb is cool.

But... it doesn't flow. Perhaps it's because the main stars are character actors who don't suit such big roles. Perhaps the script underwhelms. Perhaps it's because the second post-credits sequence has some pop star playing Starfox, although Pip the Troll is cool.

But it's probably Kirby. And this is the least good MCU film.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part VI

 "It's not about us, is it? It's about you and him."

This is the perfect finale to a series which, well, has no pretensions to greatness in the same way as The Mandalorian, and could be fairly well described as what we Doctor Who fans call "fanwank", in that ot's the sort of thing that a talented fan might do as fan fiction, only on Disney Plus. That's what this is. It isn't high art. 

But there's nothing wrong with not being high art. Not being a clever pastiche of a Western like The Mandalorian is no crime. This isn't great, but it's bloody good fan service, and that's ok.

So I'm going to sing the phrases of this awesome final episode. It's jolly good, after all. The fight scene between Obi-Wan and Darth is superb, despite how predictable ot inevitably has to be in a serial where the scaffolding of continuity already exists. The scene where Vader's mask is punctured, and Hayden Christensen's voice replaces that of James Earl Jones, is effective. Somis the late moment where the Emperor (77 year old Ian McDiarmid) rebukes Vadervfor his obsession with Kenobi, conveniently enabling to eke out an existence on Tattooine until Star Wars.

Reva's redemption arc is touching: I hope we see her again. Unable to kill Anakin's son Luke as revenge, she is freed from the prison of her past, and able to be who she wants to be. This is a powertful message; abuse as a child or young person need not define you as a person.

The parting between Obi-Wan and Leia is lovely. And it's incredibly predictable- as is much in this episode, not that it's a bad thing- that Qui-Gon Jinn's ghost shoud appear at the very end.

Ah, thos is fanwank, pure and simple. But fanwank doesn't get better than this.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II

 "You're not a Jedi any more, Kenobi. You're just a man. And you're bleeding all over my floor."

Episode two... and we leave Tattoine to a markedly different, and much more studio-bound (if CGI-heavy) hive of scum and villainy. The plot works out as we expected- Obi-Wan rescues Leia, who turns out to be a cheeky little minx, and ends up being successful despite the inquisitors, especially the impressive Reva, who seems to have a chip on her shoulder.

Ewan McGregor is good. Flea is excellent. Moses Ingram is increasingly impressive. And some interesting stuff happens- Reva kills her annoying boss for being a snob; she reveals to Obi-Wan that she's working for Darth Vader- and Anakin lives; Obi-Wan uses his Jedi powers to save Leia having not used them at all until this point; and at the end we see Vader himself (er, Hayden Christensen!) in a flotation tank.

It's good. It's entertaining. It's just pretty standard, Joseph Campbell stuff- admittedly not inappropriate for Star Wars- and so far doesn't have the creativity or take the risks of those spin-offs whose protagonists wear Beskar.