WANDAVISION (2021)
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| Critic - No. 200 |
Created by: Jac Schaeffer
Director: Matt Shakman
Produced by: Marvel Studios
Casts: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Debra Jo Rupp, Fred Melamed, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Randall Park, Kat Dennings, Evan Peters
Language: English
Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance
SYNOPSIS:
Set three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019) Wanda Maximoff and Vision are living an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview, New Jersey, trying to conceal their true natures. As they begin to enter new decades and encounter various television tropes, the couple suspects that things are not as they seem.
REVIEW:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has always been successful in getting the essence of its source material right. Despite its frequent reliance on formula, it manages to connect various sets of timelines and characters with a neat coherence. However, MCU’s first true venture into a miniseries is bold and experimental that constantly morphs between surreal sitcom, puzzle box mystery, and superhero dramatics, indicating Marvel’s confidence in a post-Endgame world and the wonderful depths of the characters. With freeform writing, WandaVision uses its episodic structure and television tropes to explore themes of the grief and love between Wanda Maximoff and Vision.
Excitingly highlighting the styles of '50s, '60s and '70s TV, the first 3 episodes show us Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband Vision (Paul Bettany) in a series of homey suburban stories about bosses coming over for dinner, nosy neighbors, and suddenly going into labor. The inciting incident kicks in from the third episode, hinting at the wider story that would come to dominate the series by the end. I really liked the way the story travels from the 50s to 2000s, accurately grasping the technicality and style of each (even aspect ratio!). The undertones of comedy and mystery, ensure that we are thoroughly engaged by the uniqueness of each episode.
For a person like me who has not read through all the chapters of the Marvel comics, I have always felt that there were not many opportunities to understand Wanda through the MCU films. WandaVision really enables the viewer to really understand her from a different perspective. Not only Wanda’s character is enabled to reflect upon and grow off of her experiences from previous MCU works, her minor backstories (e.g with her brother Pietro) are explored and alluded to as an integral part of the narrative here. Elizabeth Olsen has given a stellar performance of portraying someone who is weighed down by their past and finding a foot back to embrace her future and fate. She literally lifts the series with her earnest performance throughout. Paul Bettany also provides an excellent show as Vision who is looking for a sense of identity within this idealized life created by Wanda. Their chemistry is amazing.
Another plus of WandaVision is the excellent grasp of its thematic elements. The central theme of grief is scattered throughout the story, particularly how it contrasts Wanda Maximoff and Monica Rambeau. The former has experienced great trauma throughout her life, both in her backstory as well as from previous movies while the latter has experienced a loss of a family member. While Wanda refuses to surrender to the loss and goes into a state of denial, Monica continues to press forward and also helps others - like Wanda.
The idea of moving on is also brilliantly represented by the evolving generations of sitcom-style to portray the life between Wanda and Vision. Kickstarting from the style of the 50s, as revelations kick in, the show’s visual style changes to match the evolution of sitcoms such as the live audience being substituted for a laugh track for a couple of episodes. In the last few episodes, it even breaks the four walls and enters a mockumentary region to depict both the growth of the TV-style and the audience’s reception. Of course, by the time it reaches the finale, the series switches to a 2:40:1 aspect ratio and adopts the traditional lighting/color we see in MCU films. The idea of using TV tropes to present the theme is simply mindblowing!
On the flip side, I felt that the series could have been even shorter and some episodes feel overly stretched. After watching the finale, one might also feel that there are so many dangling subplots and characters. I personally felt quite unsettled and the post-credit scene does give us some hope to know more, perhaps in the MCU films or the sequel of this miniseries itself. Despite the minor shortcomings, WandaVision is an excellent addition to the MCU that shouldn’t be missed!
VERDICT:
Backed up by Olsen and Bettany’s stellar performance, WandaVision is a striking entrance into MCU that plays with some innovative and exciting storytelling techniques to stir up the nostalgia of TV history.
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