Moon Knight

 

Being unfamiliar with the character, and since he hasn't been mentioned in previous MCU films/shows, I almost passed on this show. However, after I read some headlines staying how the show was pretty good, I decided to give it a watch. It was an intriguing show, keeping me guessing until the last episode.

Marc Spector serves as an avatar for the Egyptian lunar god Khonshu, acting as his human representative, punishing people for evil deeds. There's an entire back story on how Marc becomes Khonshu's avatar that is explained in the show, but the interesting part of the story is Marc's personalities. He flips between himself and the much milder Steven. I spent the entire series trying to figure out if Steven was a real person, until it was revealed at the end of the series.

Oscar Isaac is fantastic in this series. He does a great job switching between Marc and the idiot Steven. Since they are two completely different people, it really showcases his ability to act. Ethan Hawke also does a great job portraying Arthur Harrow, avatar of Ammit, as the main antagonist. 

This show is darker than other Disney+ Marvel shows, even scary at times. I'm OK with this, however, as there are enough light-hearted moments included that even out the darker parts. Sarah's favorite part is when Khonsu calls Steven "the idiot", which admittedly is pretty funny coming from such a scary character. Khonshu is voiced by F. Murray Abraham. I spent the first couple of episodes wondering why his voice sounded familiar, until I figured out that it was C.W. Longbottom from Mythic Quest. 

I hope to see Moon Knight in future MCU shows or movies. He is a cool and complex character. When reading about the comic character, his personality changes with the lunar phases, a concept that wasn't explored in the show. At the end of the last episode, Khonshu meets with another one of Marc's personalities named Jake, so I expect to see more of Moon Knight at some point in the future.

Eternals (2021)

 

This movie got mixed reviews and thus I almost skipped it. I decided to watch it since it is a part of the MCU, incase these characters make future appearances in Marvel movies. This movie suffers from a lack of character development. Since this was likely most people's introduction to the Eternals, it was difficult to have much emotional attachment to any of them when you are unfamiliar with their character. With that being said, the movie looked great visually, and sounded great as well. Movies like this make me glad that I put the effort (and money) into expanding my sound to surround sound. It's well acted as well, with an all-star list of actors starring in the film. I forgot Jon Snow was in the movie (you know nothing!).

While lacking character development, the film did do a good job of introducing the Eternals and their story. I wouldn't be surprised to see their characters in future MCU films, or at least discussed, so having some background knowledge of who the Eternals are will be beneficial for upcoming films.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

 

The girls and I just finished playing through the main story of the Lego Skywalker Saga. What a fantastically fun game this was, especially being able to play 2-player with the kids. I had been looking forward to playing the game for over a year. The ability to play through all 9 movies just sounded cool. I played the game on PS5, and it looked fantastic. The gameplay had been improved from previous Lego games I've played, with damage points differing based on where you shot the enemy, you could take cover, etc. There were flying missions which were fun (these can sometimes be frustrating on games), and many fun, though not too challenging, boss battles. Plus, the ability to play as all the various Star Wars characters from the movies was fun as well.

After finishing the main story of all 9 movies, we actually only completed 20-30% of each movie's available tasks. Of course, most of what remains are random side quests, collection of kyber bricks, etc. It remains to be seen if I go back and work on any of this. My kids, however, have already spent some time putzing around. One really wants to play as Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is a playable character on the game, but wasn't utilized at all since she isn't in any of the movies. My other kid has taken a liking as playing as Rey, since for some reason she has a jetpack. We will see if they actually complete the game anymore than what we already have, or if they will mostly just putz around. Probably just putzing. The game did have periodic glitches, sometimes requiring a Google search to figure out how to get the game to progress, other times requiring quitting the game or stage and restarting. They were few and far between, but did exist. Every Lego game I've played (which is only two others) have had random glitches, which is interesting. But overall, this game was a blast to play through. I could see myself picking it up and playing it again at some point, either alone or with my kids again.

City Journal: London - High Density Zones

 

After finishing the outer boroughs, I shifted my focus back to the city of London. My entire region has been developed using medium density zones. This allows for a combination of individual family homes and businesses, as well as larger apartment buildings and office towers in the 10-20 story range. It does not allow for high rise buildings. The real city of London, being as old as it is, doesn't have a ton of skyscrapers or that large of a skyline. However, that is changing as the city is becoming more modern. I felt like in order to push my city & region to its fullest capacity, I needed to add some high density zones. I decided to make the entire city of London high density, as well as portions of select other boroughs. The above pictures show London and the surrounding region before high density zones were placed. The city of London has a population of 350,000, with a regional population of 2.6 million. 

The pictures below show the changes that occurred after placing high density zones. The regional population increased 400,000 to 3 million. The city of London's population increased from 350,000 to 500,000. As you can see, the cityscape changed drastically, becoming much taller and now looks like a more modern city. On the south bank of the River Thames, I built the Shard, an iconic skyscraper in London and the tallest building in the UK (and in my region) at 1,016 feet tall.

I was also able to modernize Canary Wharf, a financial district in London that has the highest density of skyscrapers. Unfortunately, the way the area is laid out in the game makes it difficult to have a high number of high density buildings, but I was able to include a few well known skyscrapers. This includes One Canada Square, the third tallest building in the UK. In my city it is represented by the Columbia Center, a 933 foot tall skyscraper located in Seattle, WA. This is now the second tallest building in my region. 8 Canada Square was also built. At 656 feet tall, it is now the third tallest building in my region.

Venom (2018)

 I almost skipped this movie, but decided to watch it after Venom appeared in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Plus, I enjoyed the scenes where Venom used Peter Parker for its symbiotic relationship in Spider-Man 3. I really did not like this movie too much. The plot felt rushed. I wasn't sure who the actual bad guy was. The scientist who collected Venom is for sure bad, but is Eddie Brock bad also? He seems like a nice guy, but when infected by Venom he bites people's heads off, so are we supposed to be rooting for him to get better despite this? Who is the hero in this movie? I found Venom's voice overlay to be annoying too. At times this movie felt like a 1980s B rated horror film.

If Venom goes on to become a character in the MCU, at least this movie did a good job of introducing his character. Though, I feel like I had a good enough understanding of Venom after Spider-Man 3. I'll pass on Venom: Let There Be Carnage and catch up with the character if/when he appears in the MCU.

Daredevil: Season 1

 

At times I feel like I'm the only person in America who doesn't have access (paid or unpaid) to Netflix. I was excited when it was announced the Marvel shows from Netflix were going to be moved to Disney+. However, there are a lot of them and I wasn't sure how many would involve the MCU, so wasn't sure how many of them I would watch. Once I learned that Matt Murdock's character appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and hear rumors of a new Daredevil series in development, I decided to watch the Netflix show. It didn't hurt that the show got good ratings as well. From reading about other Marvel characters, I knew Daredevil was a major character in the Marvel universe. Much beyond that, however, I knew very little about the character since he hasn't appeared in the MCU. Luckily, the show does a good job of mingling the main plot with Matt's background, explaining why he is blind and how he got his heightened senses and fighting skills. It was a great introduction not only to the Daredevil character, but also to Wilson Fisk. Fisk is also a major Marvel character. His appearance in Hawkeye was my introduction to the character, and that appearance was another reason why I wanted to watch this show, to get better background on him as he is likely to appear again in the MCU.

This was my first non-Disney Marvel show, and it is dark. Most of the MCU shows to date on Disney+ have been light-hearted. This one is the complete opposite: violent and dark. In fact, it is often times so dark you can barely even see what is on screen. There were times when I literally asked myself why they didn't just turn on the lights. The violence can be over the top, which sometimes is a bit of a turn off for me. However, generally speaking this show was quite good. Its genre on Disney+ is listed as film noir, and is almost more of a gangster show than a superhero show. Both Charlie Cox as Murdock, and Vincent D'Onofrio as Fisk, were fantastic in their roles. While most of the superhero villains are fun, they can be a bit over the top at times. It was refreshing to see an antagonist like Fisk, who has exceptional strength but otherwise is just a normal person. It made the entire story feel more real and gritty.

Season 1 was well written, well acted, and the plot was good. It was a great introduction to some major Marvel characters, and now that they are appearing in the MCU, there is incentive to continue to watch. I'm going to take a detour to watch Moon Knight, but I'll be back for season 2.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

 

As you all know from the rave reviews and headlines about how much money this movie made, Spider-Man: No Way Home is fantastic. There are a lot of enjoyable moments in this film. This movie is like an All-Star game for Spider-Man, with all of the previous Spider-Man actors and villains appearing. At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio reveals Spider-Man's identity. In an attempt to hide his identity, Peter consults Dr. Strange to see if he can cast a spell to reverse Mysterio's actions. While doing this, he inadvertently opens the multiverse, allowing previous villains and versions of Peter Parker to appear on the same timeline. Below are some of my favorite aspects and thoughts about the movie.

• Matt Murdock's appearance. I'm in the process of watching Daredevil, and really enjoy Charlie Cox's portrayal of the character, so the timing of this cameo was spot-on for me. Had I not seen Daredevil, his appearance would've went right over my head.
• As previously discussed, Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin character is spectacular. Any opportunity to have him on screen should be taken advantage of.
• Same goes for Dr. Strange. His character is great, and I'm really looking forward to the Multiverse of Madness.
• Glad to see Zendaya have a bit more of a prominent role in this movie. I feel like in the other films she doesn't get to say much.
• I can't see Peter's friend Ned without thinking of Sandra from Superstore.
• Obviously the appearance of Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's versions of Spider-Man was great, but I particularly enjoyed the banter between the three Peter Parkers. My favorite scene was when they were questioning Tobey's ability to shoot web straight from his wrist and not rely on an external device.