Disney+ has been doing rather well with the various Marvel Cinematic Universe shows so far, but to date, all of them have been spin-offs for various characters from different movies. Marvel has many characters to play with, so when would the streaming service bring up a character with absolutely no connections to any of the big screen adventures. Said character would probably need to be a hero that would be at least somewhat recognizable to comic book readers even if he or she wouldn’t be too well known to others. Then again, Marvel has had success with even some of their more obscure heroes to date, so why not try out Moon Knight, a vigilante with a distinctive look that is known mostly for suffering from multiple personality disorder. I mean, as a comic fan myself, I can’t say that I can name a single, solitary Moon Knight antagonist or storyline.
But if Groot can be a household name, Moon Knight probably can too.
Timid British Museum employee Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) loves all things ancient Egypt, but he’s something of a clumsy dork. But of late, he’s been losing time, blacking out and waking up, occasionally to nightmarish scenes that suggest there have been some sort of violent scuffles, ones where he might have been the one dispensing the violence. He also sometimes spots a tall figure with a bird skull for a head that apparently is the ancient Egyptian moon god Khonshu (voice of F. Murray Abraham). Steven doesn’t quite know what’s going on, but a mysterious man named Harrow (Ethan Hawke), a fellow with some sort of scales tattoo that seems able to judge people with simple contact, condemning to death people who claim they haven’t actually done anything wrong. Steven wilts when confronted by violence, but then his own reflection seems to be talking to him, claiming to be former mercenary Marc Spector. Marc is the Moon Knight, the Fist of Khonshu in the waking world that dispenses justice in the name of the moon god, clad in a mystical armor and equipped with numerous weapons.
The thing is, Steven doesn’t know what’s going on, and it looks like Marc isn’t much more knowledgeable about Steven’s existence. But if Marc/Steven can be avatars for an ancient Egyptian god, then there must be other gods out there. Harrow, for one, wants to revive the crocodile-headed death goddess Ammit. Ammit was banished to another plane by the other gods for a reason, and it will be up to the Moon Knight to stop him. Too bad he keeps flipping back and forth between two different personas, each with their own skills, but the transfers are unpredictable, and Marc and Steven don’t even get along too well with each other, a problem considering they share a body. They’ll need to get their act together and deal with Khonshu, not the most honest of deities, if they’re going to save the world from Harrow and his plans to bring Ammit back from wherever she is.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of this one. Isaac is great as both Steven and Marc, even if Steven’s accent is a little…questionable. Hawke is sufficiently creepy, and May Calamawy has some good action girl chops as Marc’s wife Layla. The way the show presents the general mystery of what’s going on with Marc and Steven mostly works, with the show flashing around as initially the audience only sees Steven and Marc’s moments happen between scenes.
But this story didn’t really work for me. Having fight scenes happen during black-outs when the audience can’t see them is fine the first couple times, especially in the first episode, but the longer that goes on, the more anti-climactic it all is. Likewise, Harrow as a villain is kinda dull. Hawke does OK as the character, but there isn’t much to him aside from a general sliminess. I wasn’t even sure what he was trying to do or what Ammit wanted for a while there. If all I got is “Ammit is evil,” but not much else, why should I care? Now, granted, it could be the villain’s plans were revealed at some point I missed or forgot, but if that’s the case, the show wasn’t really all that compelling then, was it? I wanted to like Moon Knight, if for no other reason than I have yet to see Oscar Isaac turn in a bad performance even in crappy, underwritten movies, but somehow, I didn’t find this show all that compelling the longer it went on.
Grade: C+
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