Main cast: Oscar Isaac (Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley), May Calamawy (Layla El-Faouly), Khalid Abdalla (Selim), Ann Akinjirin (Bobbi), Antonia Salib (Taweret), Karim El Hakim (Khonshu), Sofia Danu (Ammit), Saba Mubarak (The Voice of Ammit), F Murray Abraham (The Voice of Khonshu), and Ethan Hawke (Arthur Harrow)
Director: Mohamed Diab
Oops, someone remembered that Disney+ only gives its MCU shows six episodes these days, and there is no time left for more prancing through mindscapes nonsense. Therefore, Gods and Monsters need to wrap things up chop chop, so it does what MCU does these days.
Oscar Isaac walks around still looking like a confused goldfish with bags under the eyes. I used to think he’s hot and I would watch him all day, but after this, I think he and I will need a long break from one another.
Surprise, Layla the Strong Flawless Woman with Daddy Issues slashes around and kicks ass like a boss, while our dude is like ooh, she’s so awesome. I think these people forgot that there is a Moon Knight character in this show.
She and Harrow can inexplicably take on the gods without them even noticing them until it’s too late, and I have no idea why. I guess they probably just want out of this show too so they just play along. “Oh, the human is trying to sneak up on us? Let them have at us; the faster we play dead, the faster we’re out of here!”
Oh, and remember that there is a third personality after Spector and Grant? He shows up in the mid-credits scene, because I suppose there are still ten people out there that want a sequel or something.
This one is a bewilderingly short, rushed episode that exists to tie up as many loose ends as it can in its run time. There are more fight scenes here, but they feel very by-the-numbers, and when things may become too expensive to be shot, this episode uses that always annoying “the hero blacks out, and when he comes to, look, he’s mysteriously won” nonsense to get past the cost.
Thinking back on the whole show, I’d admit that the premise itself holds promise, and the developing relationship of Grant and Spector from antagonism to BFF could have been great… if these people hadn’t crammed everything in the space of six episodes, popped in budget CGI and action scenes, and skimp on everything else that could have fleshed out the characters and the premise more.
Instead, all I get are unevenly paced episodes, Oscar Isaac’s bleary-eyed look of perpetual confusion, lots of exposition masquerading as dialogues, and a rushed and half-baked finale that fits well with the rest of the botched season.
Shame, really. Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are easily some of the biggest names they can get on a Disney+ MCU show, and they just have to end up on Moon Knight.
