First off, I don't think this show is all bad. The characters are charming and likeable, and there are good bits of humor sprinkled throughout. There are also several moments of earnest and sincere emotion that I found refreshing in an MCU product (especially after watching Thor: Love and Thunder). The showrunners clearly cared a lot about the characters and their culture/history.
The problem, however, is in the writing. The plot is an absolute mess. In the finale, for example, characters who've had zero importance to the plot just randomly show up out of nowhere to help Kamala. In the rest of the show, one character suddenly gets superpowers, there's time travel, a secret society of ninjas (basically), the main villain's arc is resolved in the penultimate episode, the list goes on. (Not to mention, the show at one point turns into a straight-up historical drama.) It's all over the place and makes little to no sense.
What's worse is how the show tries to tie in other MCU properties. Apparently, Kamala's bangle is somehow tied to the Ten Rings, and in the final scene of the show, her friend Bruno tells her that she's able to use the bangle not because she's a djinn, but because she's a mutant. If that wasn't enough, in the mid-credits scene, Kamala transforms into Carol Danvers!
Honestly, all this is starting to give me a headache. One of the things I appreciated about Moon Knight was how little it was connected to the rest of the MCU. It felt like its own thing, and you didn't have to watch a whole bunch of other movies/TV shows for it to make sense.
To be fair, I thought the directing was pretty solid throughout the whole show, but it would've worked much better as a 2-hour film, as a lot of it felt like filler, like they were desperately trying to find ways to justify the 50-minute runtime for each episode. (It's also worth noting that the total amount of time Kamala spends using her powers is less than the length of one episode. She doesn't even officially become Ms. Marvel until the finale. I guess it's my fault for expecting more superhero action in a superhero show...)
Overall, as entertaining as the characters are, it's not enough to save this loud, colorful mess of a show. I don't know where the MCU is headed, but if this is any indication, I don't think the creators do either.
The problem, however, is in the writing. The plot is an absolute mess. In the finale, for example, characters who've had zero importance to the plot just randomly show up out of nowhere to help Kamala. In the rest of the show, one character suddenly gets superpowers, there's time travel, a secret society of ninjas (basically), the main villain's arc is resolved in the penultimate episode, the list goes on. (Not to mention, the show at one point turns into a straight-up historical drama.) It's all over the place and makes little to no sense.
What's worse is how the show tries to tie in other MCU properties. Apparently, Kamala's bangle is somehow tied to the Ten Rings, and in the final scene of the show, her friend Bruno tells her that she's able to use the bangle not because she's a djinn, but because she's a mutant. If that wasn't enough, in the mid-credits scene, Kamala transforms into Carol Danvers!
Honestly, all this is starting to give me a headache. One of the things I appreciated about Moon Knight was how little it was connected to the rest of the MCU. It felt like its own thing, and you didn't have to watch a whole bunch of other movies/TV shows for it to make sense.
To be fair, I thought the directing was pretty solid throughout the whole show, but it would've worked much better as a 2-hour film, as a lot of it felt like filler, like they were desperately trying to find ways to justify the 50-minute runtime for each episode. (It's also worth noting that the total amount of time Kamala spends using her powers is less than the length of one episode. She doesn't even officially become Ms. Marvel until the finale. I guess it's my fault for expecting more superhero action in a superhero show...)
Overall, as entertaining as the characters are, it's not enough to save this loud, colorful mess of a show. I don't know where the MCU is headed, but if this is any indication, I don't think the creators do either.