Just came back from seeing the film for the second time and I have to say I love it even more now.
The depression theme hit me harder this time around, especially when Yelena and Bob talked about his mental health in the third act. That's what makes this film so good. It took relatable issues that ordinary people deal with and feel
shame about and demonstrated that heroes deal with those same issues in a believable manner. I greatly appreciate how the film handled mental health in a positive manner and helped destigmatize the shame around the those issues. The introspection is still is only a little more than surface deep but what the film does explore felt right.
How Yelena's journey paralleled Bob's journey stood out even more this time around. Going from her complete sense of emptiness to meeting and slowly befriending her fellow teammates who brought her a little bit of light (as directly noted by Alexei during the limo scene) to her heartbreaking conversation with Alexei how her grief and trauma and regrets aren't what define her. And then she turned and used those lessons to help Bob out of his own Void.
But best of all, I still love how hugging it out was the way the team won the day and not the Marvel standard of punching out your issues (looking at you, Tony...and Bucky...and Bruce...and...). The team came together and showed Bob that he is cared for and the best way to show that was a group hug (and John was the second person to join it!). I think that's perfect. And not just because how that moment
recontextualized one of the posters.
Another thing that stood out to me in my second viewing was how Bucky utilized his past skills as an assassin in his job as a congressman. He quickly zeroed in how Mel was on the fence as you can see him picking up on her body language during the hearing. While he was a bit clumsy in the socializing aspect (which is its own irony), he was able to bring her in as an asset, aided the fact that Mel quickly realized how over her head she was. I liked how he used those skills the best he could to handle Val the proper way with due process before the situation developed into something beyond Washington's capabilities.
I hope haven't seen the last of Geraldine Viswanathan's Mel (regardless of whether or not she's Songbird, a character who I have no familiarity with). I've been a big fan of Viswanathan's for years and I loved every moment she stole in this film. She managed to hold her own against some pretty big heavyweights and I can only hope that's a good sign of her return (with or without Val).
And before I forget again, I have to say that I really loved the Void's effect of disappearing people. It was simple yet terrifying. A part of me wished it had been a permanent result but that would've been too dark for Marvel. Once the little girl was nullified (right after Alexei saved her, fuck!), I knew it wasn't going to hold. They had to walk that back and they were quick to do so once they left the Voidspace (I'm sticking to that umbrella term for the entire plane that held the shame rooms).
...and the film maybe needed to have a bit longer to show Valentina crafting Bob into Sentry, it seemed like that all happened in a few hours...
The fact that her crafting Bob into Sentry was a rush job is part of the point, along with the awful costume and hair job. Val was super desperate to make him her model superhero and she only had a limited amount of time to do it. She had the blueprints to make it happen but there was only so much time she had to pull it off with the impending impeachment hearing. She already called the press conference for later in the day and she had to present something fast.
