PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 23, 2021
Loki is latest success in MCU series
BY TJ REID
For the Keizertmes
When watching fi lms and TV shows
that involve time-travel, I have one sim-
ple rule: Don’t think about what’s going
on too hard.
It seems as if every entry into this
genre has its own rules, and even the
best written ones inevitably abound
with paradoxes. How did Captain
America show up as an old man in
the mainstream timeline of Avengers:
Endgame if the rules already established
that going back in time creates an alter-
nate timeline? The answer is “Shut up,
brain; you’re going to hurt yourself.”
Loki, Disney+’s latest foray into the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a similar
experience; don’t think about things too
hard and you will fi nd yourself enjoying
some glorious acting, some glorious
set pieces, a glorious soundtrack, and
maybe even the unfolding of a glorious
purpose or two.
At this point Tom Hiddleston’s fan-fa-
vorite performance as the titular god of
mischief seems about as natural to him
as waking up in the morning and put-
ting on a pair of pants. He is, as always,
electric (no disrespect to Thor), able to
switch from being deliciously hammy
and broad one moment to quietly con-
templative and subtle the next.
This time he is joined by a cast that
includes Owen Wilson, Sophia Di
Martino, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who
are all phenomenal in their own right
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Tom Hiddleston (left) stars along side Owen Wilson in the show Loki, which is avaiable to stream on Disney+.
and more than capable of keeping up
with Hiddleston’s iconic embodiment
of the trickster god. Everyone in the cast
brings the script to life wonderfully, even
if it does require them to occasionally
spout time-travel nonsense that makes
my brain start to tune out as a defense
mechanism.
Out of all the Marvel series on
Disney+ so far, Loki seems like the
fi rst one to take full advantage of the
obscenely high budget that comes from
being a House of Mouse production.
Every setting, from the retro-style inte-
riors of the Time Variance Authority to
the decrepit castle at the end of time,
looks stunning.
Disney spared no expense on the
CG here, fi lling the small screen with
movie-grade special eff ects and shots
that would make even the show’s big
screen brethren blush. Rounding out
Courtsey of Disney+
the experience is a rousing soundtrack
that easily places within my top fi ve of
the entire MCU with its creepy, other-
worldly theremin, ticking clocks, and
traditional Norse instruments.
Despite all of this, Loki does not
entirely feel like a complete experi-
ence like WandaVision or Falcon and
the Winter Soldier did. This comes, in
part, from the fact that Loki does not
resolve much by its fi nale (granted,