I think that might have been the best ever depiction of on-screen texting. The idea to literally make it part of the fabric of the characters' lives the way that texting has become part of real life was gobsmackingly smart and was just as well executed. There aren't any little bubbles that pop up around our heads when we text, it's just something that kind of happens as we're going about our day.
That sequence summed up everything great about this episode. It was clever, it was unique, and it was rooted in a specific viewpoint, but one that was not so specific as to cut it off from universality, as Myles rightfully pointed out. Kamala is going through things that anybody who has been a teenager could recognize, but she's going through it in a way that makes sense to this specific character. And I suppose it's a sign of the fact that I'm not a teenager anymore that I could absolutely see her parents' point of view (and think that her dad going to the convention in Hulk cosplay was a perfectly acceptable and non-embarrassing compromise). Just solid, relatable family dynamics all the way around.
Very nice review, Myles, thanks for all the insights! I particularly like when you pick some specific shots, discussing angles or stuff like that. I was a huge fan of the Polite Fight videos on AV Club for that reason...
I had very strong vibes of Ramy meets Scott Pilgrim watching this, which is a very positive thing in my opinion!
Both the visual style and the tone of the story felt very organic and I really hope they manage to keep that the whole season. I especially liked the sequence when they are biking and their ideas of costumes appear as street art on the various buildings. And showing Kamala doodling all the time made it feel totally earned.
I took a chance and fired up this episode last night. I really enjoyed it! It reminded me a little bit of Never Have I Ever. I saw that the comic is available on Comixology so maybe I will check it out. Glad you will be covering this one.
I'm so glad they left in all the unsubtitled Urdu, especially since it's pretty basic stuff that's either easy to pick up in context or not actually relevant (like the auntie walking in asking if her clothes are ready).
What a stylish and fun introduction to this character and story! Just when I thought I was over the on screen texts things Ms. Marvel finds a way to make it cool again. I hope they can sustain this tone and level of inventiveness as they move into fighting bad guys.
My one gripe is that Kamala's parents forbidding her to go to the con and then being disappointed when she disobeyed felt so familiar. We know she's got to go out and do stuff or else there isn't a show; putting her parents in the way of that does nothing but sour me a little on otherwise charming characters. I get that some level of conflict between traditional parents and less traditional teenager is probably a realistic part of life in a family like Kamala's but it felt more heavy handed than it needed to be here.
It thought it was fun. Almost disappointed when we got to the “she gets powers” stuff, as I was enjoying it so much as a show about being a teenage Avengers fangirl in the MCU.
Any thoughts on Disney's decision to release this at the exact same time as the latest episode of Obi-Wan?
AFAIK, there's going to still be a month without Marvel or Star Wars between the end of this and the start of She-Hulk, so they could have held it back three weeks. I'm guessing Disney is releasing them simultaneously to gather data on how it affects when people watch Obi-Wan, which show people watch first, if they wait a day or two to watch Ms. Marvel, etc, and might change their day-of-week release strategy for Andor/She-Hulk if they think they'll hurt each other.
I loved this so much, especially the visual style of it all and how much they've really captured both Kamala and Bruno's personalities onscreen, but since you have not read the comic, you didn't get the immense thrill I got when SHE DID THE STRETCHY ARM YAAAAAAAAY. I'm very interested in this new origin of her very different powers, but as long as they embiggen some shit every now and then to appease me, I'm good.
A little confused: "Does Kamala Khan want to be the good girl she was raised to be? Or does she want to bemic?" I assume 'bemic' is a typo? Also, the next line wrote 'ris' rather than 'risk'.
I think that might have been the best ever depiction of on-screen texting. The idea to literally make it part of the fabric of the characters' lives the way that texting has become part of real life was gobsmackingly smart and was just as well executed. There aren't any little bubbles that pop up around our heads when we text, it's just something that kind of happens as we're going about our day.
That sequence summed up everything great about this episode. It was clever, it was unique, and it was rooted in a specific viewpoint, but one that was not so specific as to cut it off from universality, as Myles rightfully pointed out. Kamala is going through things that anybody who has been a teenager could recognize, but she's going through it in a way that makes sense to this specific character. And I suppose it's a sign of the fact that I'm not a teenager anymore that I could absolutely see her parents' point of view (and think that her dad going to the convention in Hulk cosplay was a perfectly acceptable and non-embarrassing compromise). Just solid, relatable family dynamics all the way around.
Very nice review, Myles, thanks for all the insights! I particularly like when you pick some specific shots, discussing angles or stuff like that. I was a huge fan of the Polite Fight videos on AV Club for that reason...
I had very strong vibes of Ramy meets Scott Pilgrim watching this, which is a very positive thing in my opinion!
Both the visual style and the tone of the story felt very organic and I really hope they manage to keep that the whole season. I especially liked the sequence when they are biking and their ideas of costumes appear as street art on the various buildings. And showing Kamala doodling all the time made it feel totally earned.
I took a chance and fired up this episode last night. I really enjoyed it! It reminded me a little bit of Never Have I Ever. I saw that the comic is available on Comixology so maybe I will check it out. Glad you will be covering this one.
Apropos of nothing… did anyone else find the sound mixing weird?
I had to turn captions on. I’m also old.
I'm so glad they left in all the unsubtitled Urdu, especially since it's pretty basic stuff that's either easy to pick up in context or not actually relevant (like the auntie walking in asking if her clothes are ready).
What a stylish and fun introduction to this character and story! Just when I thought I was over the on screen texts things Ms. Marvel finds a way to make it cool again. I hope they can sustain this tone and level of inventiveness as they move into fighting bad guys.
My one gripe is that Kamala's parents forbidding her to go to the con and then being disappointed when she disobeyed felt so familiar. We know she's got to go out and do stuff or else there isn't a show; putting her parents in the way of that does nothing but sour me a little on otherwise charming characters. I get that some level of conflict between traditional parents and less traditional teenager is probably a realistic part of life in a family like Kamala's but it felt more heavy handed than it needed to be here.
It thought it was fun. Almost disappointed when we got to the “she gets powers” stuff, as I was enjoying it so much as a show about being a teenage Avengers fangirl in the MCU.
Any thoughts on Disney's decision to release this at the exact same time as the latest episode of Obi-Wan?
AFAIK, there's going to still be a month without Marvel or Star Wars between the end of this and the start of She-Hulk, so they could have held it back three weeks. I'm guessing Disney is releasing them simultaneously to gather data on how it affects when people watch Obi-Wan, which show people watch first, if they wait a day or two to watch Ms. Marvel, etc, and might change their day-of-week release strategy for Andor/She-Hulk if they think they'll hurt each other.
I loved this so much, especially the visual style of it all and how much they've really captured both Kamala and Bruno's personalities onscreen, but since you have not read the comic, you didn't get the immense thrill I got when SHE DID THE STRETCHY ARM YAAAAAAAAY. I'm very interested in this new origin of her very different powers, but as long as they embiggen some shit every now and then to appease me, I'm good.
A little confused: "Does Kamala Khan want to be the good girl she was raised to be? Or does she want to bemic?" I assume 'bemic' is a typo? Also, the next line wrote 'ris' rather than 'risk'.