very by-the-books Marvel origin stuff which is to say it's boring and looks awful

H O W E V E R

I spent the first 30 minutes of this being like, "haha, oh fun, Ben Mendelsohn is in sicko mode, I guess," and then very quickly realized he was giving one of the top three best performances in a Marvel movie of all time, and thEN

I burst into tears during the scene where he reunites with his little alien family because... he's so tender... with his wife?

I would love for this to be some kind of extremely arch bit, but in actuality, Mendelsohn is doing the kind of performance that reminds me of some of the great Buffy/Angel villains(ish). goofy, personable, with a surprising amount of emotional depth and sensitivity. what the hell???