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infinitecrime · 3 years

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Spoiler-free TFATWS Ep. 1 review:

A strong and promising set-up episode to reintroduce us to these characters and where they’re at now, with plenty of (sometimes a little clunky...) world building, beautiful cinematography and action sequences, and some really likable new characters. Grounded in reality but it still felt big and like everything could kick off at any time. I have some reservations about Sam’s writing so far but got everything I wanted from Bucky’s. 8/10

Spoiler-heavy review:

Plot/Writing:

No big issues with the plot; it was a set up episode so I wasn’t expecting any huge revelations. Everything was very well done.

Sam’s scenes were meant to show the mundane and realistic aspects of being a superhero and the struggles of post-blip life, but at times they felt a little too mundane and repetitive, particularly the bank stuff. I feel like something more substantial could have been done with Sarah to make that plotline more tense and add real stakes - her car getting towed, an eviction notice, a bailiff coming round, for example? We hear that they’re struggling, but we don’t really see it.

There were a couple of moments of exposition that were so clunky and forced that it really made them stand out, because the rest of the script was so smooth and natural. Particularly Torres explaining who the flag smashers were to Sam, Yori suddenly being reminded of his son, and then some of the lines in the loan scene.

The audience isn’t dumb; we can figure these things out for ourselves. For example, the line from Yori about his son could have been cut entirely because it was already obvious. Bucky seeing the photo in the shrine at the end should have been the reveal for anyone who hadn’t figured it out.

In prior movies we’ve had plenty of backstory for Bucky, but no personality, and plenty of personality for Sam, but no backstory. They needed to fill in those gaps in a way that didn’t have us drowning in constant angst with Bucky, or drowning in constant exposition with Sam. I think we were successful with Bucky because he had some light moments, but Sam’s scenes were just a bit too exposition heavy to feel quite natural. I’m forgiving them because it’s a set up episode, but they need to balance this better in the future.

Sam:

Loved Sam’s action scenes, his relationship with Torres, his interactions with members of the public, all the stuff at the Smithsonian with Rhodey, and his banter with his family. Anthony killed the Smithsonian speech scene and his chemistry with Sarah and Torres is great. But most of the reservations I have about this series after the first episode are about Sam’s scenes, even though I liked them overall.

His writing started very strong but then kind of... fizzled out up until the last 2 minutes? Despite Sam being arguably the most charismatic and likeable and emphatic characters in the MCU, his characterisation just didn’t really come across in the latter half, because he seemed a little too out of touch with what Sarah was going through. Having so many scenes of people hero-worshipping him in one short episode definitely didn’t help with this - we put him in a down to earth, everyman setting but didn’t really see him being that everyman that we know he is, especially when we compare him to Bucky who’s living largely incognito. If I had been a first time MCU viewer I would not have been endeared to him or really gotten what his character was about because it seemed a bit all over the place.

I think this could have been fixed by having a darker scene with his family that would have humbled him to the audience and given Anthony an opportunity to flex his range. Like visiting his parents graves, or being unable to connect with his nephew’s because he’s been gone so long they don’t recognise him, or assuring Sarah that everything’s going to be fine with money then looking at an empty bank account and panicking when she was out of the room. Without that scene it just felt like he was brushing Sarah’s reality and struggles off with an “eh, it’ll be fine!” attitude. We got some range from his character at the Smithsonian, but even that felt like it was more about the shield and the symbol than about Sam and Steve, because we weren’t told whether Steve is alive or dead or still in Sam’s life, so we don’t really know what Sam is feeling.

I’m hoping now that the character set up is done and the fight for the shield gets going, this will get better.

Also, while Sam's opening sequence was awesome and really showed the capabilities of the wings and Red Wing and Sam himself, it felt ever so slightly too OP on the tech front. Unless Redwing has semi-sentient AI like Jarvis the way it works is just too unbelievable, and the wings also seemed to be semi-sentient or controlled by his brain somehow? I think they need to figure out exactly how his tech works because right now we’re leaning into ‘magic wings’ territory.

Bucky:

I love that Sam has been trying to reach out to him as mentioned by the therapist. I wish Sam and Rhodey had paused at his exhibit in the Smithsonian or mentioned him to tie the two storylines together more tightly.

This Bucky is my exact Bucky. This is the absolutely perfect characterisation for me. Snarky, funny, smart, kind of a dork, morally grey, riddled by guilt, trying to do the right thing, depths of sadness and rage and loss, barely holding it together, regaining his old sass and personality and memories but forever a changed man. He wasn’t a totally broken damsel in distress, he wasn’t a completely lawful good hero, he was an independent but traumatised man trying his best to heal.

I’m happy that they mentioned his family and the ‘man out of time’ thing was dealt with very well. He’s wasn’t totally lost, just bemused but adapting well. I was worried they were going to sweep it all under the rug because they felt all ground had been covered with Steve, but they didn’t.

It’s also great that they showed he was capable with technology. The Winter Soldier would absolutely have used all kinds of tech, Bucky was always a science nerd, and he lived in high-tech Wakanda for a few years. He’s likely fine with technology, it’s the people and culture he doesn’t understand.

I love him trying to date and being flirty. I will continue to fight the people who say he shouldn’t be dating because he has PTSD - it’s fucking ableist and patronising. Also, he’s been free from HYDRA for almost 5 years (10 if you count the blip). When is he allowed to start dating if not after 5 whole years?!

Sam has previously been the funny one but I think Bucky had better one liners here. I can’t wait until we see both of them together, their chemistry is unmatched.

Seb does all these conflicting emotions and micro-expressions and feelings hidden in the eyes so, so well. You feel it all - the guilt and shame, the desperation to make amends, but also the rage and need for revenge and killer instinct bubbling under the surface that he’s constantly having to fight down. This is a character with a dark side, and no matter how fandom may characterise him, he always has been. Seb really bought the comedy here too.

Bucky having P.W. Hauser in his book was hilarious.

New Characters:

All the new characters felt very real and likeable. Loved the girl in the restaurant (did they actually say her name? I think from the credits she must be Leah), Sarah Wilson, the no-shit taking therapist, Yori, and particularly Torres, who I have a feeling will die but I really love.

I see from the IMDB that Leah is listed as appearing in all 6 episodes, so maybe there will be an actual relationship between her and Bucky? Or she’s a secret super hero or not who she seems? We didn’t actually see Batroc die, meaning he will likely come back too. He’s listed as only having 1 ep on IMDB but so is the therapist and we know she comes back from the promos - maybe IMDB is just wrong, idk.

Other:

The cinematography was really great, some beautiful shots here, especially around Louisiana and the Tunisia stuff.

It’s such a minor thing but I like when people actually get to speak the languages they would speak in that situation, instead of a room full of French people speaking English for the audiences benefit. It feels so much more real.

Even the end credits were beautiful!

#tfatws spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #tfatws

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kamikui · 4 years

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OK so more notes building off of what @ge has for the ibashu spirited away au bc i JUST finished rewatching the movie.......... I’m basically working backwards in these notes forgive me

first thing i want to get down: yubaba ordeal w twin sister, baby all that

hiromasa can be yorimitsus “twin”; kagura can b baby but not like, fucking huge baby, just her regular self.

the curse shuten can have placed on him is one of the things preventing him from regaining his memories, something that yori put on him-- hiromasa’s thing can be something that slowly makes him become more and more ill similar to whats in the original movie, so as the story progresses shuten is getting more and more weak

the thing he stole can just be. the same golden seal thing. put a bow n arrow pattern on it so it’s relevant to hiro LMAO

love can still be what breaks hiromasa’s curse

shuten can turn into a dragon, bc i . i personally think shuten can take any form he wants in onmyoji canon, so why not a dragon-- but he’ll look different from Haku’s dragon.

relevant bc when they’re returning to the bathhouses for the deal he (shuten) makes with yori, ibaraki talks about how he remembers being saved by shuten, and how onikiri accompanied them. Shuten breaks his dragon form all ecstatic about remembering, because all of their memories come back at once

once back, yori and onikiri are there, ibaraki calls to oni by his real name, and thats when it hits oni too-- BUT he doesnt say anything bc yorimitsu Right There, but shu and iba Know that he knows. yorimitsu does not

so like the deal in this case can be like, shuten will ‘return’ kagura to yorimitsu if ibaraki can be sent back to the human realm; bc as of that moment shuten didn’t exactly remember the two of them leading the whole thing

yorimitsus test can basically be a fight to the death, considering u kno, they’re adults in this, yorimitsus a dick, and he needs to die. kagura and shuten obviously fucking hate this test, along with everyone else who lives in the bathhouse, so those in the bathhouse Very subtly help ibaraki kill yori in this fight in different ways

onikiri gets the last blow bc he deserves it.

anyways once that’s done, despite never having owned the bathhouse to begin with, shuten takes that spot over, and both him and ibaraki take back their land, which is all of the area once you go through the tunnel and the like

ibaraki very temporarily returns to the human world to retrieve a few things, but the pull on the bells is so strong he can hardly spend a day there.

and then they’re happy and back to themselves!

but NOW, going to the BEGINNING bc i have some THOUGHTS

in the beginning beginning, ibaraki was also moving to another area when he became curious about one of the side roads. since he had the time, he went down it, and that’s how he ends up at the entrance

the thing that makes him get out of the car is his bell anklet pulling at him. at first he kinda figured maybe he unknowingly shifted and the anklet was just moving bc of that, but the tugging became MUCH more obvious

he gets out, and when his foot is fucking YANKED he’s like “UM. OK”

so then he goes through, he goes through the city, he gets to the bridge, and that’s when he meets shuten briefly, who tells him he needs to get out as it’s getting dark.

it gets dark, he’s still stuck there as spirits go in, etc. etc., basically the same as the movie up to the point of ibaraki getting to the boiler room

i have NO idea who to make Kamaji/the boiler man, so he may just stay the same? unless someone can think of anything

the soot babies r Baby Baby ibaballs, but varying from white to grey to black. ibaraki doesn’t really connect them to himself because he doesnt have his horns (yet)

as Aja said in this post Len/the woman who helped Chihiro is Hoshiguma (referred to as Hoshi as the like. whole stolen name thing)

The Radish Man Is Umibozu. :)

the HUGE ass nasty man that comes in for the large bath can probably remain the same bc idk WHO in onmyoji could replace that. unless i really want to do Orochi dirty but idk how well that would fit.

it might fit.

OH yeah when ibaraki goes up to yorimitsu to get a job, his name is just shortened to Iba bc im lazy

maybe like. downtime of ibaraki in the bathhouse dealing with things, shuten sneaking around to visit him, etc. etc.

im thinking no face can stay being no face.

all throughout this there can be hints of like, old mt. oe, onmyoji lore/world building, cameos from other shikigami, all that, just to flesh out everything

and UHHHH probably a lot more but this is so long as it is i hope it’s like, comprehensible

#SORRY FOR SO MUCH.......I GOT THINKING #i rlly wanna write this i love this au sm..............#i KNOW in the back of my brain i have more to add but its late and i dont want to burn my brain so if i think of more i'll rb with those not #notes*#i forgot how much i love that movie my god #the pig stuff freaked me out as a kid tho #Spirited Away AU

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