'Moon Knight' episode 4 review: Cliffhanger too huge to handle
What's the story
For MCU's latest superhero tale, Moon Knight, things just went unthinkably crazy in its fourth episode. We go from an extremely exciting Mummy-like adventure to a complete overturn and the cinephile in me loved every moment of it (barring pieces here and there, of course). Here's a review of the episode that premiered earlier on Wednesday on Disney+ Hotstar.
Story
Delicious dose of typical Egyptian tomb adventure
To recall, Steven (Oscar Issac) and Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham) altered the night sky in the last episode to find the location of Ammit's tomb. Khonshu gets punished for this and Steven/Marc is/are left without his protection. Anyway, he/they continue(s) the search with Layla (May Calamawy) and we get an Egyptian adventure inside a Pharaoh's tomb. There are mazes, mystical guards, and death traps!
Twist
There's nothing that prepares you for last 15 minutes
Finally, Layla gets sufficient focus and her past gets highlighted. Despite the criminally good run so far, there's nothing that prepares you for what's coming in the last 15 minutes. If you thought the twist in WandaVision was big, this is humongous. It subverts anything we've learned till now and brings Moon Knight into the world of "obviously illogical" (I won't spoil how/what).
Technical
This cinematographic after effect was deliberate but doesn't impress
Most of the episode (Egyptian adventure bit) is extremely dark and you'd have to squint or rewind to completely make out every detail. In stark contrast, the last segment is unbelievably bright. This was deliberate, as per co-director Aaron Moorhead. Despite the respect I have for the surreal, I'm not a fan of straining my eyes, so this trick felt off for me.
Verdict
Wait for episode 5 just became tough
But other than the lighting, the entire episode is a goldmine for Marvel lovers as well as anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers/horrors/adventure sagas. Ethan Hawke as antagonist Arthur Harrow, again, does well with his perfect-mannerism-and-velvety-voice act. The biggest question now is how do we wait for one week to know what happens next. The penultimate episode premieres next Wednesday. Verdict: 4.5/5 stars.