Moon Knight

“Moon Knight” is all about reveling in controlled chaos, as well as superb acting, satisfying action, meticulous production design and measured strains of comedy and horror.

It perfectly blends multiple genres, with a unique mashup giving the series an eccentric vibe that audiences will love. With Moon Knight, Marvel has not only developed its next great superhero but created everyone’s new streaming obsession.

Moon Knight remains wonderfully unpredictable every step of the way.

It's enough of a mash-mash that it probably shouldn't work at all. And yet, Moon Knight eclipses expectations to be wildly entertaining.

Moon Knight rides on Oscar Isaac’s ability to believably inhabit distinct personalities, but that might be more than enough for people to watch this six-episode MCU side story.

Sure, it takes a huge suspension of belief to enjoy this simply as a high-concept caper that keeps more secrets than it reveals – but once you get on board, the ride is fantastic.

Moon Knight is as witty and philosophically interesting as the first two [WandaVision and What If ...?].

The highest compliment I can give Moon Knight is that it often feels more like The Mummy than The Avengers.

Fresh, funny and occasionally batshit, Moon Knight is an MCU departure in both topic and tone, spicing the superhero formula with a cocktail of comedy-horror and a twist of old- school adventure.

Overall Moon Knight seems to be a resounding success for Marvel’s new era of expansion. Full of great action, twists and genuinely spooky sequences, it’ll give longtime fans another corner of the MCU to explore while also delivering an entry-level story that might even appeal to some newcomers.

Exploring other facets of the universe while trusting audience members not to wonder how it all connects has enabled Marvel to make a series that is finding its way towards a genuinely compelling portrait of dissociation, anchored by two terrific performances. The fact that it can be watched on its own terms is icing on the cake.

As directed by Mohamed Diab and the duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, “Moon Knight” is a cinematic, globe-trotting, mind-bending and worthwhile addition to the ever-expanding Marvel universe.

All told, Moon Knight feels limited by that one key choice to start with Steven’s point-of-view. While some of the show’s best moments come from Steven’s ever-present disorientation as to his circumstances, it throws the pacing of the show off to such a degree that by the time the story really kicks into high gear, this highly unconventional origin story feels like it’s drawing to a close.

The opening chapters are thrilling fun as Steven's hysteria mounts upon waking from blackouts and mayhem. When the fantastical intrigue shifts from London to Egypt, the exhilarating actions scenes have a rollickingly slapstick Indiana Jones-like quality. [11 - 24 Apr 2022, p.7]

The narrative flow jolts and fizzes, the pacing variably gallops and stalls, and character motivations are sometimes gossamer thin, other times overexplained. But Moon Knight makes a case for its watchability through its pulpiness and its weirdness.

On the whole, Moon Knight is another in a long line of well-oiled Marvel machines, delivering the mixture of winning personality-driven humor, functional combat, and hit-or-miss CGI—Moon Knight looks fantastic; multiple generic creatures, on the other hand, are habitually hidden from view in murky darkness—that fans have come to expect.

A choppy show through its first four episodes that's still a must-see simply for what Oscar Isaac does in a fascinating dual performance. ... The screenwriting issues with “Moon Knight” never fully derail it because the talents of people like Isaac, Hawke, and Benson/Moorhead keep pulling it back on track. ... More than any other Disney+ Marvel show, I’m excited to see how this series ends and where the character goes from here.

Steven’s and Marc’s dialogue encapsulates the divide between the allure of the two characters: Where the former is as unpredictable as the bonkers British accent that Isaac has concocted for him, the latter speaks in flairless American. But their interactions grow tiresome due to Marc’s overwhelming blandness, as he’s confined to the familiar mold of the tough, emotionally withholding alpha.

There are many interesting aspects to Moon Knight, but neither the comic books nor this TV show named for him quite know what to do with them all.

“Moon Knight” is vaguely different, has no real connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and will be hailed by many as a deeply original chapter in the MCU. But when you look outside that limited worldview and recognize all the aforementioned touchstones it’s drawing from, “Moon Knight” is initially thought-provoking, but hardly the game changer that many devout fanboys will likely declare it.

The resulting Disney+ series starts well enough but becomes messier and more convoluted with each hour, leaving interest waning when it should be waxing.

As a drama, it’s built entirely around the Isaac vs. Isaac cage match, which supplies fair to middling action and sentiment and consistently satisfying laughs. It’s characteristic of the Marvel Disney+ shows that the ability of the performers exceeds the inventiveness of the crew. ... Jeremy Slater (“The Umbrella Academy”), the show’s creator, and its director, Mohamed Diab (the Egyptian features “Cairo 678” and “Clash”), are only fitfully successful at combining psychological drama, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” desert adventure and superhero origin story.

Few viewers unversed in the comic lore will be able to tell you after four episodes what he can or can’t do, and his personality, when it’s exhibited at all, is reheated Deadpool. ... Disappointingly, neither Steve nor Marc is presented as especially nuanced, rendering the contrast between them solely a product of Isaac’s interpretation instead of writing.

“Moon Knight’s” misunderstanding of what makes for a good hero/villain dynamic is only doubly irritating given the great actors kept from bringing them to life.

The first three quarters of this six-episode season is a vague story that takes a long time to go nowhere. There's not enough character for a character study and not a clear enough plot for a satisfying thriller.