Weekend Watch: Moon Knight, Slow Horses
A troubled hero full of personality and a conflicted team of spies
Image Credit: Disney+
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Oscar Isaac is having trouble with gods and Gary Oldman is leading a group of spies. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been far from staid in terms of trying new things, with its Disney+ TV output, you can really feel the team looking to shove the boundaries.
The latest, and possibly most creative example of that mindset, brings Oscar Isaac properly into the Marvel fold after (whisper it) being buried in prosthetics for X-Men: Apocalypse. Here, though he’s sometimes covered by a super-suit, Isaac is given free rein to act his socks off, playing more than one character within the same body.
Moon Knight’s basic concept introduces us to mild-mannered (and oddly “London” accented) Steven Grant (Isaac), who works at a gift shop in the British Museum. He’s bothered by strange dreams and the fact that he keeps waking up in unusual situations.
Turns out, Steven is just one personality inhabiting his brain – there’s also Marc Spector (Isaac again), a mercenary who is the avatar of Egyptian god Konshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham), tasked with making sure another god doesn’t return to wreak havoc on the world. But how much can Steven or Marc trust the powerful creature? Or each other?
Overseen by head writer Jeremy Slater and a directing team led by Clash director Mohamed Diab plus duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Moon Knight leans into several positive aspects. It is unafraid to be singularly weird, to keep you guessing what’s really going on and, refreshingly, to fully immerse itself in Egyptian culture and mythology. While the comics character draws on those ideas, the series goes all in, feeling authentic and specific.
Isaac is, of course, great in his dual role, and you’ll root for poor Steven to be more heroic while understanding where Marc is coming from. The much-commented-upon accent is a lot more understandable in context, and the Steven character is a real highlight of the show. There is a risk that Isaac’s dual role could consume the air from the show, but fortunately, there are other compelling reasons to watch.
Ethan Hawke, for example, is suitably creepy/unexpected as Arthur Harrow, the cult leader who is much more than he seems. Hawke really digs into what makes him tick, lifting him from the ranks of basic scheming villain. So far in what I’ve seen, though, May Calamawy as Marc’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Layla El-Faouly, doesn’t have quite as chewy and meaningful a character, but she does have her moments. There are hints of more, and hopefully she’ll get some solid material going forward, as she does well with what she has.
The series is visually audacious and makes good use of the usual hefty Marvel effects budget to create some incredible vistas, while also spending time in “London” (technically Budapest, and there are a few giant geographic quibbles I have that rivals Thor’s Tube travels). The mythology aspects are fascinating and fun, and the show leans into the wilder side of the concept.
It certainly won’t work for everyone, but I feel Marvel scored a hit with this latest big swing.
The first episode of Moon Knight is on Disney+ now. New episodes will debut weekly. I’ve seen the first four.
Image Credit: Apple TV+
London location inaccuracy is certainly no issue for Apple’s new series Slow Horses, as the big money spent on the show means that it’s all shot on location in the city. And London is superbly depicted in all its states – from grimy streets and driving rain to shiny glass and metal structures favoured by the main branch of MI5 in the show.
Yet the real action of Slow Horses takes place far from that gleaming, corporate-style HQ.
The series is drawn from Mick Herron's successful, entertaining, and often darkly comic novel series, which follows the less-than-by-the-book behaviour of Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), a brilliant, scruffy, and frequently furious leader of a group of MI5 misfits, who all end up posted to his Slough House facility after screwing up missions (or being maneuvered into doing so by Regent’s Park rivals).
This initial season (another has already been shot) is based on Herron’s first, eponymous tome, and introduces us to the world of the Horses.
Jack Lowden is River Cartwright, the latest officer banished to Lamb's team, and essentially the audience substitute in exploring this world. Olivia Cooke is playing Sid Baker, a sharp agent and River's officemate. Outside the office, Kristin Scott Thomas is Diana Taverner, a powerful, conflicted agent at HQ and Jonathan Pryce is River's grandfather, himself a retired senior agent.
Graham Yost, no stranger to bringing unorthodox literary heroes to life with Justified, is executive producer, while regular Armando Iannucci collaborator Will Smith created the show and oversaw the writers’ room, keeping the British feel intact.
Largely faithful to Herron’s show with the typical few adjustments for the new format, Slow Horses is very much the anti-Bond, showing the drudgery and grunt work of real intelligence (though the “horses” do get in on the bigger case powering the plot and prove to be more adept than anyone in the service truly expects).
Oldman is predictably great – a farting, snorting, slob of a man who hides a keen mind in a slapdash manner, while the rest of the cast offer stalwart support. Lowden has the right feel for River, while Cooke is just as entertaining as Sid. Scott Thomas, meanwhile, can play this sort of ice queen in her sleep, but Taverner has her own layers.
I’ll freely admit I was worried about ant series doing justice to Herron’s book, but Slow Horses is one adaptation that well and truly got it right.
The first two episodes of Slow Horses are on Apple TV+ now. New episodes will launch weekly.