A Review of “Loki (2021)”

 

Loki is the 3rd Marvel Disney+ show and it was the one I was most sceptical about. I felt Loki’s last appearance should have been Infinity War but we see in Endgame that a Loki successfully escaped and this is the Loki that this show follows. It meant that none of the character development Loki went through in the movies didn’t matter and that slightly worried me. The premise is “After stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), an alternate version of Loki is brought to the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA), a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline. They give Loki a choice: face being erased from existence due to being a "time-variant”, or help fix the timeline and stop a greater threat". So are my worries unfounded, or is this a bad time?

Firstly, Tom Hiddleston is still amazing as Loki. He doesn’t have the same screen time as other Marvel characters, so him having his TV show allowed him to shine more and he most definitely succeeds. Tom is charismatic and charming but can convey more emotional range due to his character having more emotional moments which was great to see. Tom also has great chemistry with Owen Wilson who plays Mobius, an agent of TVA, with the constant bickering and bonding between the two being the highlight of the series. Owen Wilson with his dry wit and great lines are just a blast to watch thanks to his performance. Tom also spends a lot of time with Sophia Di Martino who plays Sylvie and they also have great interactions. Sophia is surprisingly able to hold an equal screen presence with the amazing Tom Hiddleston and that’s quite amazing. The rest of the supporting cast all do a great job in their roles and I think Marvel nailed their casting perfectly.

Moreover, I love the story and the exploration of the multiverse. Loki being captured by some time organization and being forced to work for them is a great idea. It is also done quite well, with the buddy cop adventure of Loki and Mobius being an absolute blast to watch. The series also succeeds in exploring a different side to his character that we haven’t seen in the movies by giving him a character that perfectly contrasts him in Sylvie. Their interactions are the main soul of this series and I thoroughly enjoyed watching both of them. The movies made me like Loki but this series makes you actually care for him. I also like that they utilized the multiverse and time as the main element for the story being told and for the most part, they use it effectively. They do change things up from other Superhero shows by using different rules to make the multiverse idea interesting as well.

Additionally, the music score in Loki is composed by Natalie Holt and it is amazing. The score is very weird with its combination of electronic, orchestral sounds and weird instruments or sounds mash together which oddly fits the series. I love as the stakes get higher, the score starts becoming more and more operatic which complements the story. I also got to give praise for the Loki series intro as that is a great and iconic theme. I also really love the cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw. There are a lot of vibrant colours and shots that make this series feel out of this world. If anything, Loki (2021) might have the best score and cinematography out of all the Marvel TV series so far.

However, I do have some issues with the series. The pacing of the series is very slow at the beginning and the end. These episodes are more focused on setting up rules and doing info dumps which do take a while and slows the pacing. The thing is that these info dumps are very important for the context of the story but they do bombard with you a lot of info at once which can be a little exhausting. They do this a fair amount, to the point that it feels like the series is more focused on setting up phase 4 than the titular character of Loki.

Likewise, I also have some issues with the action sequence in the series as they are not that impressive. While the music, visuals and story are out of this world, the action feels very tame. Loki has managed to fight superpowered individuals including the Avengers but the action scenes make him struggle against normal human individuals which just feels kind of odd. Although, there is a cool action scene that is filmed like one shot which was cool and a pretty fun CGI battle in another but for the most part, the action scenes are pretty underwhelming. My last point is mostly a nitpick but I am a little disappointed at the TVA as they are kind of lame. They are mostly composed of human-looking individuals. It is kind of disappointing as aliens do exist in MCU and there are none in the TVA. Also, the TVA soldiers are just swat looking people with shiny sticks which makes it hard to believe that they are the most powerful group in the MCU.

Overall, Loki (2021) was quite surprising as it honestly may be one of the best Marvel shows they have done so far. Unlike WandaVision or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki (2021) remained consistently good and even delivered a great ending. This series is very enjoyable thanks to the actors, music, cinematography and story. It does have some flaws but it delivers on every other aspect while also setting up an interesting future for the MCU. I highly recommend MCU movie fans give this series a chance as this is the most important Marvel TV series so far and might even pique your interest in a post-Endgame MCU.