Moon Knight
You really feel like getting annoyed when a series is super well done, but because emphasis wasn’t placed on some expected element, you feel slight disappointment, but not in the sense that it ruins the overall impression of the series, but more of a comment “Eh, why didn’t they pay more attention to this and that, then the series would have been a bit of a masterpiece…”
Some such feeling remains after finishing the mini-series “Moon Knight.”
From a comic book perspective, there’s long been a view that Moon Knight is nothing but Marvel’s good ersatz replacement for DC’s Batman. Both are masked vigilantes, billionaires, martial arts masters, detectives, use various technological gadgets and the like. However, besides having different motives for fighting and specific psychological profiles, Moon Knight also has mystical powers that manifest through the support of Khonshu, a fictional Egyptian moon god (the inspiration was obviously taken from Egyptian mythology where the moon god named Khonsu is mentioned).
However, the version of Moon Knight in this series doesn’t resemble Batman at all, so a completely different story awaits us here…
Keep in mind, there will surely be (un)intentional spoilers… 😀
Steven Grant is a British mister (belongs to that category of people whose British accent is more irritating than charming) who works as a salesman in an Egyptian museum gift shop. He’s good-natured and very mild, servile nature, and adores and knows excellently ancient Egyptian history and mythology. He leads a quite boring, routine life. Routine job, routine phone conversation with mom, routine confession to the local actor/statue, routine feeding of his fish… However, besides lack of ambition, his big problem is also that he’s often unaware of what day it is and what he said the previous day and always seems tired. The culprit for this is his sleepwalking, which he tries to prevent by tying his leg to the bed.
However, Steven’s sleepwalking is quite specific. It’s not “harmless,” like walking naked through Manhattan, clucking in the middle of Republic Square, or working a night shift at Maxi. No, he often wakes up in other cities in the middle of the street, even in other countries. And all this wouldn’t be so “terrible,” if one day he hadn’t suddenly woken up in the middle of a small town, located in the Austrian Alps, where the cult leader, Mr. Arthur Harrow, surrounded by his fanatical followers, demands that Steven hand over a golden scarab (or scarab beetle), which Steven doesn’t know where he even got. While trying to escape, he loses consciousness several times (and hears some voices along the way)… and the next thing he’s aware of is that he’s all bloody, and several cult leader’s followers are dead.
God have mercy…
Upon returning home, Steven finds a hidden phone in his apartment and notices that among the calls the name “Layla” is most frequently mentioned. He calls that number and a female voice addresses him as “Marc.”
What is happening, our Steven wonders?
The culmination of everything is that the next day our Steven is suddenly visited by the aforementioned cult leader Arthur and reveals to him that he’s a servant of the Egyptian goddess Ammit, and then summons a demonic jackal to, well, eat Steven. After a short chase through the museum, Steven locks himself in the bathroom and then hears the voice again (which he heard before) and sees his reflection in the mirror addressing him. He introduces himself as Marc and asks Steven to give him his body, because he’s the only hope to save them both (and I’m aware how strange all this sounds while I’m writing, yes yes…). At that moment the jackal bursts into the bathroom and attacks… but not Steven, but Marc Spector, who at that moment transforms into the masked hero Moon Knight… and beats up the demonic jackal like a cat.
Welcome to a world threatened by apocalypse if the cult leader finds a way to awaken the goddess Ammit… and our only hope lies in a person with split personality, who’s moreover a superhero whose powers come from the Egyptian Moon God, who’s moreover his advisor, but apparently not a friend?
If this seems twisted to you… well, that was expected. 😀
The brightest point of the series are, (un)expectedly, the actors.
First place goes to the main actor. Oscar Isaac simply shines and successfully carries the series on his shoulders as a split personality (Moon Knight suffers from dissociative identity disorder / DID, which was once known under the term “dual personality”). On one side is the mild and clumsy salesman/quasi-Egyptologist Steven with a funny British accent (Isaac deliberately wanted to give him an exaggerated and slightly bizarre British accent, and supposedly found inspiration in the Jewish community living in England and the legendary Peter Sellers), and on the other side is Marc Spector, the embittered but charismatic former mercenary with a tragic past, who had to become an avatar and the unwilling hand of justice of the moon god and who tries to push people away from himself (he’s something like a more emotional version of Punisher with the accent and mentality of a Chicago resident). Both the audience and critics unanimously agree that the emotions Isaac brought to these two incredibly opposite characters are Oscar-level (Isaac… hehe, get it, same surname as the award, Oscar Isaac, hehe… nothing? Ahem… okay, moving on). Of course, for many James McAvoy in the movie “Split” is unsurpassed, but while McAvoy had a large number of personalities each completely thinking for (and of) itself, Isaac had focus on these two personalities that must cooperate and be more emotionally connected. This enabled the actor to present us with a wide spectrum of (dark) emotions. And he also showed he has a sense for comedy. The younger audience probably knows this actor better as Poe Dameron in the newest “Star Wars” trilogy and Duke Leto in the newest “Dune” adaptation, but he has a few more good films under his belt where he played quite diverse heroes.
We shouldn’t forget the brilliant Ethan Hawke either, who’s quite known for unusual and specific films (like the title “Boyhood” which was filmed over 12 years, or the “Before…” trilogy or “Training Day”). His eerily calm cult leader is a bizarre hybrid of the Dalai Lama, David Koresh, Mengele, Tolstoy, Jung and what not… complete with (un)expected rationality for why it’s okay to summon an Egyptian deity that can kill people even before they (potentially) commit a crime. Simply, he’s not a classic cliché villain, but has some specific depth of his own (like Kingpin in Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance, Hiddleston’s Loki, Brühl’s Baron Zemo or Brolin’s Thanos).
The binding glue is charismatic Egyptian-Palestinian actress May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly, archaeologist and adventurer… and Marc’s wife (don’t ask how that functioned). What was a good approach is that the series creators didn’t want to make her some kind of Lara Croft or Indiana Jones (i.e., go into a typical Hollywood/American stereotype) but to show a beautiful, exotic, vulnerable yet strong Middle Eastern woman as a resourceful fighter and, in a way, Steven’s/Marc’s guardian angel… who would sometimes most gladly strangle this split personality because of the pile of secrets they’re hiding from her. The actress did an excellent job.
Worth mentioning is also the actor who lent his voice to the god Khonshu, and that’s F. Murray Abraham, who has quite a few excellent films under his belt, but is still best known for the role of Salieri in the cult “Amadeus” (for which he won an Oscar).
What sets “Moon Knight” apart (in a positive sense) from other Marvel titles is also the turn toward a darker tone of the series that crosses into mild horror elements, as well as deeper delving into some more serious themes, like personality disorder (there’s a reason why Marc and Steven are in one body, and it has nothing to do with anything mystical, but with the past of one of the two) or whether it’s morally and ethically correct to punish someone for a crime even before they committed it (i.e., thought of it) or only if they do it, as well as some other ticklish questions. Also, along with Loki and Deadpool, we finally got another antihero on the film/TV screen.
Speaking of Deadpool… the series at moments gets that comedic Deadpool vibe, which is a nice refreshment. Namely, Moon Knight is a transformation that occurs when Marc Spector controls the body, but what happens if Steven decides to be a superhero? Well, then he transforms into Mr. Knight superhero, complete with a suit and different set of skills. Although we don’t have juicy, inappropriate comments like with Deadpool, keep in mind it’s still Steven who in panic has quite confusing British comments and reactions to situations, so some action scenes become hilarious, which is a big plus.
The visual aspect of the series is expectedly (standard Marvel) good, and the music is a phenomenal (and again twisted) mix, from WHAM through Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra to music that has a strong vibe of Egypt and the Orient in general. My favorites are definitely the opening and one closing number, which overall leads to an excellent atmosphere in the series.
However, what could be the series’ flaws (though we could put these flaws in quotation marks because the series quality itself is excellent).
Slow tempo – ugh, this is what’s always a risk with superhero (Marvel/DC) movies and series. Generally it’s expected that everything with superhero themes has fast dynamics and character development to get to action and big twists as soon as possible. “Moon Knight” here, however, goes at a quite slower pace. I cite this as a “flaw” because this could put off some viewers, but keep in mind that the slow unfolding of the plot gave Isaac, Hawke and Calamawy the opportunity to dominate with dialogues and some scenes.
Insufficient action scenes where Moon Knight/Mr. Knight appears – for some reason, mainly it’s the episode endings where Steven/Marc’s transformation into the “White Knight” occurs. In those scenes action lovers will really enjoy, but you can’t help but wonder why there weren’t more action scenes featuring Moon Knight/Mr. Knight. However, this is successfully “covered up” like the aforementioned slow tempo, thanks to the actors and overall atmosphere.
Too few episodes – truly, despite quality and everything, six episodes is too few for this type of series that was slowly gaining momentum. We wanted to enjoy the adventures more.
What’s perhaps the biggest shock for the audience is learning that we most likely won’t get a second season of the series, but not because it didn’t meet audience expectations. “Moon Knight” was announced as a limited series (in translation, it had a precisely defined beginning, end and number of episodes). “Moon Knight” was presented as part of the so-called “Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four” (if you didn’t know, Disney plans to film movies/series based on Marvel comics for at least another 125 years) and with this series he’s included in the current group of (living) superheroes. Now, what his role will be in future superhero titles, time will tell. The acting trio is, in principle, interested in another season, but generally only one season was planned from the start. And the series environment itself really opens some interesting questions that would be worth exploring in at least two or three more seasons.
All in all, “Moon Knight” is, at least for me, a superbly done series, and deserves to stand (almost) shoulder to shoulder with titles like “Loki,” “Daredevil” and “Legion.” Even if you’re not a fan of superhero movies, you should watch this series, if nothing else because of the superb acting by Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke.
And I hope a second season awaits us in the future.
And you, dear reader, have you also watched this excellent series? 🙂
Trailer
Imdb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic
Release Date: 2022
Format: Series
Number of Seasons: 1 (6 episodes)
Average Episode Duration: 40-50 minutes
