Quarantine Control #202: Marvelous Cats Hotel
It’s been nearly four years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. But that really doesn’t matter now, does it? No one can be expected to continue taking COVID-19 seriously if the CDC isn’t, who all but said that COVID is fully over with their newest isolation guidelines, if you want to call them that. If you don’t feel sick, then you aren’t sick. The guidelines feel like they’re made for a population that largely took the virus seriously from the start and never stopped, but it’s clear who they’re really meant to appease. Good luck out there.
Geoffrey Barnes
The Marvels (2023)
Source: Disney Plus
Episodes: 1 movie
I feel very badly for The Marvels.
The movie never stood a chance on the market, first made clear when its box office prospects looked so dire that Disney and Marvel Studios were already looking for excuses before it arrived in theaters. I feel even worse for director Nia DiCosta, who it seems like both studios wanted to throw under the bus, and who herself implied in interviews that this wasn’t her movie. But I feel the worst of all for its central cast, who couldn’t be out there promoting their roles in the film until hours before it released thanks to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The three central actresses, and perhaps the villain’s actress, could have had more great banter together on the pre-release interview circuit if studios only sought to resolve the strikes sooner, or outright prevented them from happening.
But I also feel bad for how this movie was screwed from the start, not in terms of the active campaign the Internet’s Biggest Chuds attacked it for, but through how flawed it was conceptually.
The movie tells the story of how the three Marvel-branded heroines in the Marvel Universe, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) take on Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton). Dar-Benn takes over the Kree, and seeks revenge after Captain Marvel inadvertently started a civil war on their home planet several years ago (around the events of the first Captain Marvel film). She seeks to achieve this through acquiring the Quantum Bands, one’s eerily similar to those the titular Marvels team wears. Turns out there’s a reason for that, as it causes the three to continue switching places upon using their powers, following up on a twist from the end of the Ms. Marvel series. Will our heroines win!?
Let me clarify that it’s both the concept and execution that are problems here. The Marvels are introduced as if the audience is intricately familiar with their prior plights, and can sympathize with them as they team up for the first time. But… we’re not. Danvers received little more than an introduction in the 2019 Captain Marvel movie before she was thrust into a massive crossover film, and has only made cameos since. Rambeau fared even worse, with her only previous appearances being as a kid in Captain Marvel and a supporting character in WandaVision.
Danvers could have used another solo film at least, one that could have also further developed the initially-strained relationship between her and Rambeau. A very clear idea for an interquel film was inherent in this very movie’s flashbacks.
Kamala Khan is the only one here who had solid development, though even hers could have been better thanks to how rushed the Ms. Marvel series was. Ideas that could have been used for two seasons were jammed into one six-episode series. She’s been treated better, but even that’s not the best considering how important she’s planned to be for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It probably wasn’t a good thing for this movie’s prospects that the series was likely the least-watched Marvel show on Disney Plus.
It further doesn’t help that this movie inherits the same problem with the villain as other recent MCU works. Dar-Benn doesn’t receive anywhere near as much character development as she should, making her barely above a one-note vengeance-driven individual despite her understandable plight with Carol’s actions. She suffers from the same issues as the likes of Gorr the God Butcher from Thor: Love and Thunder and Kaecilius from Dr. Strange to a lesser extent.
You might think that really didn’t like this movie upon reading all of that. I’ll say that I didn’t hate it. The Marvels is a fine-enough movie; the problem is that it’s nothing more than that despite its potential. It’s a big disappointment that could have avoided this fate if the overarching MCU roadmap had better planning. As it is, the movie is entertaining, but hardly anything spectacular. It was an enjoyable film in the moment as I was watching it, and I never felt like shutting it off. But it’s largely forgettable outside a couple of scenes, particularly those that teased events for other films and shows.
Even with all that, I feel very badly for The Marvels, and the repercussions its failure will have. The movie has put the Marvel Universe in a considerably more tenuous position, but it could yet claw its way out of this. The bigger issue it could create is for female-led superhero films entirely, considering just how badly it performed. The fate of its heroines in future live-action works is on even more tenuous footing, particularly Carol and Monica. There’s at least a solid back-up plan for Ms. Marvel/Kamala. The Marvels didn’t entirely deserve its fate, but it’s easy to see why it came up short in its critical and commercial reception.
Angela Moseley
So my Four in February challenge is coming along nicely. I managed to finish Streets of Rage 4 with some help in co-op mode from my husband and Geoff when he visited us last week. Right now I’m currently working my way through Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness. The game is brief and even with my short play sessions, I’m already at the halfway point. At this rate, I’ll just need to finish one more game on my list to make the challenge.
Hazbin Hotel (2024)
Source: Amazon Prime
Episodes: 8
At the recommendation of a friend, I saw the original Hazbin Hotel pilot in 2019. The animation was good, and the character designs were exceptional. The overall plot struck me as a compelling subversion of what one would expect from the princess of Hell. That said, I kept my expectations grounded, as it was a pilot episode from an indie animation studio. Tons of indie projects have burned out before they ever really got started. With Spindle Horse, it was clear that dealings were happening behind the scenes. Years went by after the pilot episode, and instead we got episodes of a spin-off series, Helluva Boss. (A very good show in its own right.) To the surprise and delight of many, news resurfaced regarding Hazbin Hotel. It had been picked up by Amazon Prime. The indie studio’s main series had gone big.
Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen) is the Princess of Hell, and as the daughter of Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan) and Lilith Morningstar, she has ambitious plans. Hell is currently overpopulated, and once a year exorcists angels come from Heaven to purge a portion of the residents. However, Charlie seeks a more peaceful solution. Creating a hotel where demons can check in, become rehabilitated, and be sent to Heaven. Most of Hell mocks her idea as unrealistic, but thanks to the help of the Radio Demon, Alastor (Amir Talai) her hotel is built and staffed. The porn star, Angel Dust (Blake Roman) becomes her first resident. She’s also supported by her girlfriend, Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz).
Additionally, Charlie has a meeting with Heaven to pitch her hotel idea as a way to stop the yearly purges. Adam (Alex Brightman) the representative and leader of the exorcists, rejects the idea and moves the exorcisms up to every six months. In reality, for the first time ever an angel exorcist has been killed by a demon in Hell. Adam isn’t about to let the residents of Hell rebel against Heaven, and plans to use the purges to eventually exterminate all the sinners and demons.
I immensely enjoyed Hazbin Hotel, but I found the first episode of the show to be puzzling. It didn’t explain how the hotel came to be and barely touched on Charlie’s motivations for the hotel. Granted the original pilot episode explains the premise of the show, but I was surprised the pilot wasn’t remade for the Amazon Prime series, especially since the characters were given slight redesigns. To get better context of how the hotel idea was received by Hell, Charlie’s original struggles, Alastor’s help, and even getting Angel Dust to join, one has to watch the pilot elsewhere. To be fair, it’s free on YouTube and has nearly 100 million views. Even, so I’m having a hard time getting over why it wasn’t either included or redone with the updated character designs. Having that missing episode from Amazon is by no means a deal-breaker, but I imagine someone might come into the series without ever having watched that pilot and will be slightly confused.
Going into this show, I wasn’t sure what to expect plot-wise with a hotel created to redeem sinners in Hell. The murder-happy exorcists of Heaven and citizens of Hell just trying to survive made for great conflict. It’s always exciting to see new twists on Abrahamic mythology. Lucifer’s role here has a nice complexity. He’s presented not as a demonic overlord, but a fallen angel who’s estranged from his daughter. He’s also depressed about being cast into Hell. His wife and the queen of Hell, Lilith did most of the rallying of the demons and sinners before disappearing suddenly. She left her husband and daughter behind without a word. So Charlie feels a responsibility to save the residents of Hell from the wrath of the angels. Despite being born in Hell, she’s the most virtuous character of the show.
Contrasting her sharply is the main representative of Heaven for this season, Adam. Yes, the first man who also became an angel when he died. He’s an evil man, who probably breaks all seven deadly sins, yet is tasked with purging the souls of sinners. It doesn’t get more ironic than that. With his attitude, he’d be right at home in Hell. The juxtaposition between him and Charlie is amazing, and it gives you the impression that all of Heaven is corrupt if he’s the one representing the place. Fortunately, we are allowed to see more of Heaven and learn that not everyone is an asshole like Adam. Nevertheless, certain people in high places will turn a blind eye to his actions in order to hold on to their own power.
The question of redeeming a sinner’s soul is brought up early, and it is revealed that not even those in Heaven know. Worse, they don’t care to know, putting the crux of Charlie’s plan in even more danger. By season’s end the question gets partially answered, meaning there might be a greater power above Heaven’s. I sincerely hope this fact is explored in future seasons.
Another aspect of Hazbin Hotel that caught me off guard was the series being a musical. Considering the heavy nature of some episodes and the series itself being set in Hell, it took some time to get adjusted to the format. Once I realized I could expect roughly two songs per episode, I began to look forward to them. The song themselves were damned good with “Poison” being my absolute favorite from the season. The most eye-opening song was “Loser, Baby” as we’re treated to hearing Keith David sing. I can’t recall hearing him sing in any other animation I’ve watched, and it was a treat. After years of watching adult animation, I’m used to musical numbers being the exception rather than the rule. Hazbin shows that songs in every episode can be an amazing rule.
I do believe Hazbin Hotel was overhyped to unhealthy degrees by some fans, and some were bound to be disappointed that the show didn’t live up to their unrealistic expectations. The show isn’t completely flawless, as there are places where the pacing is too quick as Hazbin rushes to get its biggest plot points out within its eight episode allotment. Ten episodes including a redone pilot and more breathing room before the season finale would have been perfect. Minor flaws aside, the first season of this series does a fantastic job of building its world, making you care about the main cast, and builds excitement for future seasons. Thankfully, Hazbin has been renewed for a second season as its premier broke streaming records on Amazon Prime. Needless to say, this series is highly recommended. Let’s just hope season 2 receives more than eight episodes.
Joseph Daniels
Another week and we’re gifted with more fuel for our anti-digital fire. I should probably clarify that we’re not against all digital distribution, we’re just against companies using an all digital future to negatively impact their customers. Whether it’s taking away digital content that we paid for, giving “forever” copies of digital goods an expiry date, or even going so far as to remove digital only content from streaming services with no way to watch them again once they’re gone, the promise of a digital future is more like a threat that we will never own what we pay for.
One good thing that has come about because of this is that I’m finally sitting down and watching all of the movies that I purchased on DVD and which I’d always meant to watch. I had some unfinished business from 13 years ago that I finally resolved this week, and you’ll probably never believe me when I tell you what it is I watched.
African Cats (2011)
I’m 100% serious. Anyone who has known me for years probably thought I’d seen this movie before now but nope, I hadn’t. I finally sat down and watched it this week and I’m glad I did. I watched the North American version which featured Samuel L. Jackson’s narration; for some reason, they had Patrick Stewart record a version for the United Kingdom market. I wonder if this means that Nick Fury is played by Patrick Stewart in the United Kingdom as well. Maybe the Patrick Stewart version of A Christmas Carol has Samuel L. Jackson play him in the United Kingdom. Come to think of it, has a black man played Ebenezer Scrooge yet?
I’m getting off track here. Samuel L. Jackson narrates an unspecified amount of time in the lives of a pride of lions in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, living parallel lives alongside a family of cheetahs. Sita, the mother cheetah, must raise five cubs on her own, as is the cheetah way. Meanwhile, the pride of lions is led by an old lion named Fang, named by the filmmakers due to the broken fang he got during a fight. The fang never fully broke off, from the looks of it, and it honestly makes him look like he’d be weak and easy to overthrow. He can still intimidate crocodiles, but who knows how long that’s going to last? He should count himself lucky that he didn’t do anything to earn the name Dick.
African Cats explores life in the Maasai Mara and showcases the various animals that live there, mainly through interactions with the cheetahs and lions. Despite the name of the documentary, not a single leopard made it into the film, although the cheetahs do play with a distressed serval at one point. They also played with a family of jackals, and the jackals sounded like they were certain they’d be killed at any moment. They survived the encounter.
That’s more than can be said for Fang, though. Whenever rival males arrived to try to take over the pride, he would flee rather than try to fight. He was pretty much a coward and if not for the cubs that his lionesses were trying to protect, I’d have suggested that they were better off letting a younger male take over because at least the younger male would’ve stood his ground and protected his ladies and offspring. Fang cut and run at the first sign of trouble, every single time. In fact, late in the film, he flees from a potential fight and then never returns and during the end credits, it’s revealed that the filmmakers never found him again. He probably died in a ditch somewhere. At least the boy cubs had all grown up enough at that point that they could flee and make it on their own, and the girl cubs were old enough that they weren’t in danger of being killed.
The end credits are fun to watch because the various species of animals shown in the documentary are given credits of their own, along with a bit of a humourous job title, while one of my favourite Jordin Sparks songs plays.
Nature documentaries like these can sometimes pleasantly surprise me. I was not expecting them to weave a tale of two mothers of differing species experiencing the many challenges of raising young in Africa, but it was told well and featured a fantastic score to accompany it. It was filmed beautifully as well, and I would certainly recommend this to anyone who likes nature documentaries. If you want to stream it, it’s currently available on Disney+, but if you want a physical copy, you may be able to find a brand new copy if you really search.
This Week’s Short Film
Demon’s Love arrow (2024)
Perhaps it’s worth still taking the virus seriously, considering your health is at stake. Medical experts who say you should still wear masks when too many people are around and get vaccinated are still worth listening to. Until next week, everyone.
About The Author
dcstaff
The collective will of the Damage Control staff combined into a single article.
