What Is the Story About?
Katherine Bishop AKA Kate loses her father during the Battle of New York. However, after seeing Clint Barton fight the Chitauri army on top of a roof, she becomes inspired. For the next ten years, she trains as hard as possible to emulate her favourite Avenger by learning different forms of hand-to-hand combat, how to use swords (through fencing) and of course, archery. However, when a rogue ruthless vigilante turns up in New York, it brings both Clint and Kate together.
Performances?
The show has only a few characters, but it primarily focuses on our lead duo – Clint Barton and Kate Bishop who are played by Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfield respectively. Renner plays a more broody version of the character we have come to love over the years – and for good reason; his best friend is dead and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. The character is going through inner turmoil and Renner does a very good job of portraying it on screen. Steinfield’s portrayal of Kate Bishop is decent, but she is mostly hampered by the screenplay. Vera Farmiga is another surprise addition to the cast, who we can’t help but feel is wasted in this role. The actress doesn’t have much screen time and barely has any acting to do. Unless this character is going to play a larger role in the MCU, Farmiga was unnecessary to the role.
Vincent D’Onofrio’s surprise reveal as The Kingpin deserves a mention. While he only appears in the last episode and has very little screen time, he wastes little time in intimidating us – while wearing a Hawaiian shirt with his suit. The actor hasn’t lost his touch from his ‘Daredevil’ days and that is good to see.
Analysis
As we have mentioned at the beginning of reviews regarding any MCU direct-to-OTT released project – you need to be an MCU fan, or a person who has watched certain Marvel films to fully follow all that is happening in the ‘Hawkeye’ series. That said, unlike shows like ‘Loki’ and ‘WandaVision’, this show still has the capability to be viewed by a person who has never watched an MCU series before and they will still understand the main plot. But it won’t be as entertaining as them and a few important plot points will fly over their heads.
‘Hawkeye’ starts off pretty great. We learn about Kate Bishop and how she learnt about Clint Barton. She then took inspiration from him and has been trying to emulate him since the Battle of New York. Clint, on the other hand, is finally spending some time with his family. After years of “Avengering”, he gets a chance to visit New York with his kids and they go to see a play – which so happens to be a play about the aforementioned Battle of New York. The setup for their eventual meeting is quite good. Even the setups for Maya, Jack Duquesne and Yelena in the series are worth a mention. However, there are so many problems with the screenplay, with the main problem being that the final episode has made the entirety of the series obsolete. Let us explain.
The first three episodes of the series have been setting us up for a few things – an epic fight between Maya and Clint, Kate taking on Jack Duquesne and Kate’s mother accepting her for who she is. Surprisingly, all of these things happen by episode five of ‘Hawkeye’. This is why, according to us, the second last episode of this series is quite good. Especially the Kingpin reveal at the very end. However, the Maya and Clint fight is anti-climactic, with Maya changing her mind about Hawkeye and aiming for the head of Fisk. Kate fights Jack, but it turns out that he was innocent (which might have been a tad obvious) as well as somewhat ignorant about the things happening around him. And Kate’s mother didn’t truly believe in her. Only this last one had any real impact on proper character development and plot progression. This is because the fifth episode set up even more things for the season finale that the final episode became a mess.
Kate and Clint taking on dozens from the Tracksuit gang is actually quite boring. Even Yelena and Clint’s fight/exposition is not worth watching. We understand Clint not wanting to talk about Natasha’s death, but we do not understand why Yelena is not trying to kill Clint, especially since she is so sure that Clint got Natasha killed. And since she stuck around and listened to what Barton had to say in the season finale, she could have done the same at the end of episode 4 as well. The surprising part of the finale is that the best fight is between Kate Bishop and The Kingpin, which is actually only a minute long and is heavily edited along with the Yelena/Clint fight.
There is also the fact that the show tries to be funny all the time. We saw this happen a bit during ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’, but Antony Mackie and Sebastian Stan had some good onscreen chemistry and that somehow worked. While Renner and Steinfield have good chemistry as well, some of their jokes and meaningful conversations are forced and sometimes come out of nowhere. Especially Kate’s analysis of Clint after knowing him for only a day. The funny scenes between the Tracksuit gangsters are also a little ridiculous as well. Also, Maya kills off the Kingpin at the very end. While we do not think this truly happened, since it happens off-screen – it is ridiculous to bring a very important character onto the show only to kill him off half an hour later.
Still, not everything about the show is bad. ‘Hawkeye’ has some decent music, but nothing groundbreaking like the Avenger’s theme. The CGI is excellent and stunt work is quite good as well. Since this is an MCU show, there are a lot of Easter Eggs, callbacks and references in every episode of the show – so it is a definite treat for hardcore MCU fans.
Overall, ‘Hawkeye’ is a good show. It might be the worst show out of all of the MCU shows that have been released so far, but it is still a good show. It ties in a few important MCU projects while introducing a few characters that will likely have an impact on future MCU projects. Vincent D’Onofrio and Alaqua Cox’s performances are worth watching.
Other Artists?
Surprisingly, Alaqua Cox features in this list. The actress who was supposed to play one of the major antagonists of this series, Maya Rodriguez, finds herself in a reduced role after episode two. Cox is one of the few good things about this show, so it is ridiculous that her character got relegated to side-character status. The first time actor does a brilliant job, but her character eventually becomes useless for the plot. Florence Pugh’s portrayal of Yelena also deserves a special mention as well.
Music and Other Departments?
As we mentioned earlier, the music is good. The CGI and stunt work is even better. The cinematography, editing and direction are all great. However, the screenplay could have been much better. Particularly for episode 6 AKA the season finale. While there are a few bright spots in the episode, it is mostly boring.
Highlights?
Vincent D’Onofrio’s portrayal of The Kingpin
Episode
5 Renner & Steinfield’s Onscreen Chemistry
Alaqua Cox’s Performance
Drawbacks?
Season Finale
Wasted A Good Cast
Many Setups Did Not Pay Off
Trying Too Hard To Be Funny
Did I Enjoy It?
It was okay.
Will You Recommend It?
Sure, for MCU fans.
Hawkeye Review by Binged Bureau