‘Moon Knight’ – ‘The Friendly Type’ – Review
The events and action of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight are moving quickly now and having found himself in Eygpt, Marc Spector/Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) is soon to come in contact with some ancient powers as his quest moves forward.
Finding himself transported to Egypt, split-personality mercenary Marc Spector (Oscar Isacc) is trying to narrow down the resting place of the demoness Ammit, which fanatical cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) is eager to find. Finding a partner in his estranged wife Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy), who happens to be a skilled archeologist, the two of them venture out into the desert in search of the resting place of Ammit. But things don’t go according to plan, and soon Spector finds himself brought before the gods for judgement.
Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight takes on the epic scope of both ancient and contemporary Egypt as Marc Spector/Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) finds himself in this exotic location eager to track down and stop fanatical cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke). Director Mohamed Diab once again returns to the directing chair and he’s very pleased to be back in his hometown of Cairo, and he pumps up the action quickly. Whether he’s battling a host of dangerous mobsters who are assisting Harrow, coming face to face with the mysterious and capable antique collector Anton Mogart (Gaspard Ulliel in his final performance) or being brought forth before the gods of Eygpt themselves, the events of Episode Three ‘The Friendly Type’ move at a firm pace and there’s plenty to be intrigued within this episode.
I for one was interested to again see Diab drawing on Spector/Grant’s split personality in the episode’s demanding action scenes and this again is brought into the narrative which keeps the visuals and excitement of ‘The Friendly Type’ jacked all the way up. ‘The Friendly Type’ also gives us a taste of what Spector is like in his Moon Knight guise when he has to take on actual human combatants and not just mere demon creatures. And it’s fun to see Isaac cut loose in the suit. His combat style as Moon Knight is fast paved and dynamic, and there’s a great fluidity to his aerobatic fight style and he uses his curved crescent moon shaped blades to deadly effect. We’ve been yet to see Moon Knight really cut loose and it’s a lot of fun to watch him go to work here in this latest episode.
‘The Friendly Type’ is also an important episode to the larger context of Moon Knight as it gives clarity to the importance of the greater gods in the MCU and the power that they still control and contain. While the belligerent Khonshu might be an outcast trouble-maker, his power and lack of decorum draw him into the line of sight of the other more powerful gods and Spector is brought before to answer for Khonshu’s trouble-making. It’s a very interesting scene that has some very big implications for the greater MCU as a whole, and the episode’s final moments, which are some of the most visually astonishing we’ve seen so far, will have your eyes open with wonder and amazement.
Episode Three, ‘The Friendly Type’ ends on one hell of a cliffhanger and it’s about to get very interesting for Marc Spector/Steven Grant as we move forward into this next part of Moon Knight.
Moon Knight streams every Wednesday on Disney+
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
