things i liked and didn't like about tog2 under the cut (after watching the movie once, this morning)
what i liked
the opening action scene! reminiscent of the comics, great character moments and dynamics, especially joe and nicky being silly, nile being badass on the boat, copley being part of the team
joe and nicky in general; they got to be their own characters and be in disagreement but they were also sweet and flirty and worked together in sync and affirm their bond for us
nicky's very pronounced italian accent
tuah as an addition to the team! he had good chemistry with the characters and i like the idea of an archivist immortal
nile being a badass. she got her own new weapon and looked hot doing it. AND she got to do the sao paolo 1834 move
quynh my love. my queen who has suffered more than jesus. fantastic portrayal by veronica ngo (shoutout to the breathing sound in the boat scene before they open the iron maiden)
"what if she doesn't recognize me" / "what if i don't recognize her"
immortal wives. could mention every moment between them, they mean so much to me. and now they're a unit again and it felt fitting despite their changed dynamic and history
in general, a lot of introspective and emotional andy moments i enjoyed, also her conversation with booker was beautiful. and her finally admitting she can't go first hit me hard
fight choreography was solid and really fun, nile's new weapon, andy's axe of course, especially joe kicking a guy onto nicky's sword like,, get it
that scene of andy walking through rome. CHILLS. she's so old and has seen so much and that was a gorgeous representation of that, especially when it culminated in quynh waiting for her there
what i didn't like
the new lore. none of that shit made sense and it didn't even line up with the first movie. i don't mind that it departed from the comics but i feel like there was some mamma mia 2 level of gaslighting when they told us andy lost her immortality when nile stabbed her. SHE HEALED FROM THAT. she stopped healing after the church fight scene, THAT'S when she was stabbed in the shoulder (again). and considering that in the case of booker and quynh, the wound not closing was instantaneous, it just doesn't add up. then the whole thing about the last immortal. i like nile being important and special, that's my girl, but discord was an awful addition to this cast of characters (as was to be expected) and none of her lore drops were adequately explained or made sense in the movie. maybe i need to rewatch but idk how they transferral of the immortality worked
that brings me to the dreaming (basically same complaint as above but it was getting too long). i'm trying to explain all this through nile not dreaming about discord because she's mortal now and only dreaming about tuah when he got stabbed because she only notices/realizes that's it's an Immortal Dream when something traumatic happens (such as quynh drowning) but it doesn't add up with none of the others knowing about discord and tuah for centuries.
everything about discord. fuck off. quynh should have been the main and only antagonist and we don't need uma thurman with unclear motives
0 emotional resonance in the third act. none of that hit i can't even put my finger on it but it just felt unearned. even the setup with the joenicky conversation didn't sell me on the weight of it. boring setting for the climax that has no relevance to the characters. i love these characters deeply and have thought about them every day for 5 years, i should feel more when they are in danger and when they.well
BOOKER DYING. a character death can feel earned and make sense even when it's sad. but this was just bullshit. suicidal character finds a way to kill himself yay! hope he and quentin coldwater reunite in the heaven of done dirty sacrificial depressed characters
cliffhanger. you can't do a movie like that and then bank on a sequel, you just can't. not with the production delays and keeping everyone waiting for 5 years. we're not going to get a third movie, i know netflix. they should have given us a real ending with potential for more
nile was underused as hell. sure she got the last immortal title but we deserved more of the literal protagonist. how does she feel at being 6 months immortal. how does she feel about her family. how does she feel about whatever discord is talking about. how does she feel about anything
the camera work. i'm not sold on all those shaky little zooms. it doesn't fit the mood of the film imo. also the cgi in the boat scene was uhhhh questionable
conclusion
not good. still love the characters and i loved seeing them again but i wish it was under better circumstances. and i assume that i won't get more. justice for my immortal family
