Hawkeye review: Hailee Steinfeld steals the show in the latest Disney Plus series – CNET [CNET]

November 24, 2021 Thomas Giboney technology

The show opens with a focus on Kate, a new character to our screens who is already a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: She’s one of the many unseen ordinary people whose lives have been touched — and not for the better — by the superpowered shenanigans unfolding on big screens through the past decade. Even the opening titles focus on Kate, deftly sketching in her backstory as she grows into Steinfeld, star of True Grit, Dickinson and Bumblebee.

On the scale of imagination from earthbound punch-ups to cosmic flights of fancy, WandaVision and Loki were dementedly ingenious trips to the more surreal reaches of Marvel lore, while The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was a much more meat-and-potatoes action story. Inspired by writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja’s entertainingly grounded 2012 comic, the Hawkeye series is way down at the earthier end of the Marvel weirdness spectrum, dealing with all-too-human heroes, family politics and grubby street crime. The enjoyment comes not from brain-battering cleverness but from the show’s energy: The fight scenes fizz with kinetic energy, and the whole thing is carried by lead actors sparking off each other.

Kate is a rich kid with a chip on her shoulder, much to the exasperation of her mom, played warmly by Vera Farmiga (last seen in Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark). Kate’s also a talented martial artist and archer, not to mention a Hawkeye super-fan. The best thing about the show is the classic buddy pairing between the enthusiastic youngster and moody mentor, with Steinfeld and Renner sparking off each other to amusing effect.