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Another month another series from Marvel Studios - Moonknight, which is a fast-paced mystery thriller that blooms into an action-packed series. Let's check out what this great series has to offer.
Plot of Marvel's MoonKnight
Moonknight opens with sleep-deprived gift shop employee Steven Grant ( Oscar Isaac) working at a museum in London. This quickly devolves into Limitless style blackouts that lead to him waking up in exotic locales across Europe and finally Egypt.
The plot turns out with an apparently simple premise of an Egyptian god taking over a person with a disassociative identity disorder. Things get wrapped in more layers of mystery with each episode.
MoonKnight is the persona that Marc takes on through the blessings of the Moon-God Khonshu. As the mysterious white caped-crusader, Marc gains enhanced strength and accelerated healing ability along with other abilities such as flight and manifesting weapons.
The first episode does not relent until the very last minute and uses non-linear storytelling to introduce us to Steven Grant and Marc Spector. Steven Grant's transformation into Marc Spector reminds me of what I go through once every few months where I throw up bad food.
The special effects and CGI for MoonKnight are spectacular and really well done, with lighting and shadows being a key element in the visuals.
In his blackouts, Steven first comes across the big bad of the series, Arthur Harrow: the cult-leader-like persona who poses a direct threat to Moonknight. Ethan Hawke plays the role of Harrow, the fallen angel of Khonshu who changes loyalties to the Egyptian god Ammit.
The next person he encounters is far more pleasant - Layla el Fouly who is played brilliantly by the stunning May Calamawy, as the adventurous wife of Marc Spector. She is a brave archeologist who holds a special interest in egyptology. Layla is no damsel in distress and you get to see her kick some serious baddie ass in episode 4.
Layla's fight scene is really badass and reminds me of Kelly Reilly's Mary in Sherlock Holme's Game of Shadows. Turns out that the stunning piece of neckwear she wore to a tense meet up with shady characters turns out to be a moon-shaped weapon!
There are also two scenarios where she uses nothing but her agility, reflexes, and some large flares to fight off something undead along with a gang of guys with guns - pretty cool.
The Moonknight theme by Hesham Nazih is particularly well done with one being able to visualize the ancient heritage behind Moonknight and also the conflict within him to a certain extent. The day and night theme (remix of Kid Cudi's song) is a little less subtle and points to Marc and Stephen's duality that will shortly grow into further chaos.
Cast and Characters
The cast is great with Oscar Isaac doing a great job of playing the psychologically afflicted Marc and Steven. May Calamawy kicks almost as much ass as Oscar as the daring archeologist Layla.
One of the strong points of the cast is the Moon God himself played by Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham whose voice is perfect for the surreal role. Khalid Abdalla of The Kite Runner fame plays an elder Egyptian god here and Ethan Hawke turns in a quietly malevolent performance as Harrow.
Should You Watch It? - Yes!
This is a highly entertaining series that is definitely worth a watch on par with Loki, Wanda Vision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and more. It has amazing action sequences, well-placed CGI, and special effects along with plenty of comic canon. Go watch it!