okay i watched the first ep of noir at work. definitely gonna rewatch it when i’m home tonight on a screen bigger than my phone, and also the 🏴☠️ site i used only had the color version and i want to see it in b&w too for comparison. non spoiler thoughts:
cage does a great job of setting up ben’s character. i like that he turned the typical parker quip-iness into more of a dry wit to fit both ben’s age and the time period
speaking of time period, they really nailed the sets and costuming. it captures the depression era nyc.
and the city feels lived in, occupied. i think this stood out to me more since i’ve been scrolling people’s thoughts on The Boys and a common complaint is how empty S5 felt. in this the city is alive. they got cab drivers and newsies on the corner and the crowds in the day vs the night scenes have completely different feels. even something so small as the different bartenders or the lady in the very beginning who flirts with ben makes you feel like you’re actually looking into a city instead of a show that says it takes place in a city- it’s a matter of scale.
in line with that vintage feel, a lot of characters speak with a transatlantic flair if not outright either the transatlantic or new yorker accent. maybe it’s just cause my family has roots in nyc and jersey, but especially in marvel things when a lot of the characters are born and raised new yorkers i’m always going ‘well you don’t sound like it’ in the back of my head. i’m not asking that everyone sound like joey diaz, but it is refreshing to have actors leaning into accents that fit their roles.
like i said, i did this first watch in color. even with the true tone, you can see how the shots are set up for the high contrast of b&w. if anything it makes it more interesting and gives this show a visual language that i had a blast chewing on.
okay spoilers under the cut- you’ve been warned!