The Bad Batch: Return To Kamino Finale Part One

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch head back to Kamino to save Hunter and whilst there have to atone for the sins of their past.

I have thought for a long time the Batch needed to face a reckoning for what they did to Crosshair and this episode finally delivers on it. They talk a lot throughout the show about loyalty, but they left Crosshair behind, even when they realised that he was being mind controlled by the inhibitor chip they still didn’t act, they needed to be asked why they behaved like that and they are here. However, the answers we get are fairly weak, they left him behind because he started shooting at them, even though he was mind controlled……. Or so they think.

I thought the twist of the episode that Crosshair was in fact never mind controlled and had his inhibitor chip removed years ago, raises a lot of interesting questions. Furthermore, it adds to the shades of grey for the series, as Crosshair even says something to the extent of we are soldiers, so he had no issue switching sides and carrying on. It makes the Batch question there own morality, and interestingly for us it recontextualises the show.

I do think the worst thing about this episode much like the rest of the series is Omega, whether it is her having a tantrum about going and rescuing Hunter, as if his friends did not want to go and get him back, or her turning on all the battle droids to try and help which instead almost ended up killing the Batch. Moreover, they try and write some drama into her arc in this episode by having it be emotionally hard for Omega to return to Kamino, but you just don’t care because the series has failed in its efforts to make you care about her character, as I have previously said a Grogu she is not.

Overall, a strong penultimate episode that sets up a big finally, ruined only slightly by Omega once again.

Pros.

Crosshair

The Batch finally facing some accountability

The ending

The twist

Cons.

Omega

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The Avengers: The Film That Changed Hollywood

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The phase one heroes finally assemble, and we get to see the birth of the Avengers.

Rewatching this now, all these years later the magic is still there. There is just something about seeing all these heroes interacting on screen for the first time that just resonates no matter how many times you have seen it. Each character and even the main supporting characters are all given their moment and it truly does feel like an ensemble, a team building activity.

The reason I didn’t give this a five as you might have expected me to, is because of Loki and the strange characterisation he is given. Up until this point the only other time we have seen the character is in Thor, so that is what I will judge him off, in that film he is villainous sure, but he is also redeemable and remorseful by the end, he is more along the antihero line. Here however, he is uncharacteristically evil, wanting to ‘crush the ants’ and basically make humans a slave race, and yes you could say it was Thanos messing with his head or the mind stone, but to me it seems like bad writing. Maybe originally a different villain was supposed to be used here, one that would make more sense as being a purely evil character and he was rewritten to be Loki as the character proved popular. A few comedic scenes thrown in here and there can’t distract from the noticeable change.

I think my personal favourite thing about this film is Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson. Coulson was always there is the background in most of the early films and yes here and there he got a witty one liner or had a memorable moment, but it was not until this film that he really came into his own as a character. He is the heart and soul of this film, and the choice to have him die here is simply a master stroke as it ends up with you feeling the same way the characters do which helps you to connect with them more and give greater meaning to the Avengers forming. Moreover, as a moment it is surprising as you quickly learn just how much you care about this fairly average background character.

Overall, a film that does nearly everything right.

Pros.

The character work

The set up

The character interactions

The final battle

The humour

Cons.

Loki

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What If: Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An Elseworlds tale that answers the question what if Peggy Carter got the Super Soldier Serum rather than Steve Rogers.

Personally I am loving how political phase four of the MCU is getting, with this first episode, Black Widow and Falcon And The Winter Soldier, all addressing worldly issues I feel the MCU is finally in a place where it can start making statements. This episode goes hard on how Peggy up until this point has been shut out and overlooked because of her gender, I like that by doing this and then having her become Captain Carter it allows the character to feel far more like a feminist icon. I enjoyed seeing how she played off the other male characters after she had the serum, especially when she said to the, deeply sexist, general character that he was ‘lucky to even be in the room’, that was a cheer worthy moment for me.

I liked how this episode gave us moments that would already be familiar to us as MCU fans but put a twist on them, we get to see Bucky not fall off the train, no one getting frozen in ice and Steve Rogers becoming a totally different superhero. I thought this was fascinating and by far the biggest selling point of the show, as the idea of what if this changed is always one that keeps you coming back.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Peggy and Steve, showing the romance more from her point of view. I thought it was just as sweet and as heart-breaking as it was the first time we saw it in The First Avenger, hopefully Captain Carter will get to go back in time and get her dance with her sweet heart just like Steve Rogers did in the main timeline- just hopefully with a few more adventures before that for us all to enjoy.

My only issue with the episode and it is only a minor thing is that Chris Evans is not back to voice Steve Rogers. It is strange as almost everyone else is back Hayley Atwell is back as Peggy, Dominic Cooper is back as Howard Stark even Toby Jones is back as Zola, so it seems like a pretty big deal that Evans isn’t back in the role. Maybe they couldn’t afford him, maybe he didn’t want to come back but to me it felt a little jarring to hear someone else voicing the character. Hopefully I won’t have the same issue when we get to the Iron Man episode.

Overall, a really strong starting episode that introduced us perfectly to Captain Carter hopefully we get to see tons more from her in the years to come.

Pros.

Captain Carter

Getting political

The monster at the end

The same but different

Cons.

Not getting Evan’s back

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iCarly: iTake A Girl’s Trip

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Carly, Miranda Cosgrove, and Freddie, Nathan Kress, head out on a girls trip that quickly becomes more intimate than either were expecting.

This might be my favourite episode of the revival series so far. I certainly found it to be the funniest, with the episode making me laugh consistently throughout: at both A and B plots.

Moreover, I liked the dynamic between Carly and Freddie in this week’s episode, I thought the two actors played the scenes well and had a strong back and forth together. I think the show is heading in the direction of them getting together, and I am becoming more and more okay with that and if anything this episode suggests that they would actually make not only a good couple, but an interesting one to watch as well.

Furthermore, the series finally seems to know how to use Harper, Laci Mosley, after a long time of giving her nothing much to do. I enjoyed the jealousy angle they had with her character this week when her best friend/cousin becomes romantically involved with Spencer, Jerry Trainor. I think the dynamic between Harper and Spencer has been used already quite a lot by the show but even so there is still a lot of ground to cover and more depth to explore.

Overall, this is probably the best episode of the revival so far, it is fun to watch and funny.

Pros.

Carly and Freddie

Finally giving Harper something to do

It is funny

There are a number of sweet moments

Cons.

We need deeper exploration of the Spencer Harper dynamic beyond surface level competitiveness

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Captain America The First Avenger: Lying On Top Of Grenades

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Little guy Steve Rogers, Chris Evans, is given a super soldier serum because he is pure of heart, once this happens he is sent over seas to be the US poster boy for the Western Front conflict.

I the Captain America movies are always the best or amongst the top tier of any MCU phase, certainly this is true of phase one of the MCU. What I enjoy the most about this film is the earnestness of Evan’s performance, you buy him as this guy who has been picked on all his life but who never gives in and who always stands up for what he believes in. Moreover, what separates Captain America from someone like Iron Man is the fact that he wholly just a good person that tries to see the best in people, whereas Iron Man is the loveable rouge, which can be grating.

I think of Phase one the Red Skull is easily the best villain; it is a real loss that Hugo Weaving does not want to come back. Weaving brings a lot to the role, he plays evil well whether it is through facial acting, subtle mannerism or line delivery. I thought his character was just as menacing before he took his face off and that is all on Weaving.

Furthermore, I liked seeing the formation of an early Shield team. I thought Hayley Atwell was superb as Agent Carter, I am glad that What If is bringing the character back there is a lot more there to explore and the series didn’t do her justice- though that is more the fault of the cancelation than anything else. Moreover, I thought Dominic Cooper was a strong Howard Stark, who I liked more than the other version we get. Additionally if you’re reading Disney executives you should make a young Howard Stark show with Dominic Copper back in the role, it would be fantastic to see him in the war setting and during the cold war, you could have him age into the later version of the character.

Overall, the best of the origin movies.

Pros.

Chris Evans

The likeability

Hayley Atwell

Dominic Cooper

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The Exchange: In Search Of A Similar Soul

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A small town teen, Ed Oxenbould, sets out to get a sophisticated French pen pal in order to find someone else like him. However, the exchange student he gets proves to be more than he bargained for.

Beneath the teen coming of age comedyiness of this film there is actually something quite soulful and human there. For every joke about sex, or some other teenage cliché, there are several deep comments about self-acceptance, racism and finding your place in a world where no one is like you.

I thought the cast across the board was strong, Oxenbould has come a long way since his days rapping in The Visit, and here he manages to capture acute social anxiety and embody the outsider better than any other actor I’ve seen in a teen film in a long while. Moreover, Avan Jogia is a delight here, he is the heart and soul of the film, and his character is beautifully written. Though he might seem like a young man with everything he could ever want in the world, he is actually far more troubled than that. I thought it was an ingenious choice to never really elaborate on what Jogia’s Stephane has experienced back home, but rather elude to it.

I would say the film’s humour is hit or miss. For the most part I didn’t find the teenage humour particularly funny, but I did find Justin Hartley to be hilarious. Hartley is truly an underrated talent; I found his man child character to be easily the most broken and most amusing character of the whole film.

Overall, a surprisingly insightful comedy film with a lot going on under the surface.

Pros.

Jogia

The deeper trauma

The coming of age elements

Oxenbould

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

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American Horror Stories: BA’AL

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A woman finally gets pregnant after months of trying, however, once she has the baby things start to unravel as she begins to worry about otherworldly forces trying to take her baby away.

So this is basically just Rosemary’s Baby with a few tweaks. Rather than have a demon be the literal father of the child they have it be a fertility totem, though she does have a demon baby at the end of the episode. Moreover, rather than have those around her be part of some sinister demonic cult they are now instead trying to gaslight her into signing away all her money to her husband, those two things aside this is almost a carbon copy with a slightly different ending.

I like Billie Lourd and think that she has a lot to offer the right project, however, this isn’t it. Her talents go mostly wasted for a large part of the episode and when she finally gets to have some fun the episode soon ends, which is sad as that is when it is at its best. I thought the final scene when Lourd’s character had managed to control the demon and was using it to get her pregnant was hilarious and easily the best scene of the episode, sadly the rest wasn’t of the same quality.

Finally, more of a throw away point, but there is a line in this episode that feels really clunky and out of place. When Lourd’s character is searching for a way to rid herself of the demon she talks to a young woman who claims to be into magic and know a thing or two, she doesn’t and is trying to gaslight the lead, and when she starts discussing the various grimoires she has she comments how they are all written by ‘old white men’. Now why is this line needed? What social cause does is serve? Surely the answer to both of these questions is that it is not, and it does not, there is no point in hating on works of art or literature or whatever because the person who wrote it is not the same race as you or the same gender as you, it seems incredibly limiting to be this way. I would guess the line was just to stir the pot, but it really ends up derailing that scene.

Overall, a lazy episode that is a bit too familiar.

Pros.

Lourd is trying but they give her nothing to work with

It is watchable

Cons.

It is overly familiar

The ‘old white men’ line

The twist reveal

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Iron Man 2: Poison In The Heart

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr, has to answer the sins of his father and hold off the US Government from stealing his property.

So to many this is one of the worst films in the MCU, however, I enjoy it. I enjoyed it when I first watched it in cinemas, I enjoyed it when I first watched the DVD and I enjoyed it when I rewatched it recently. There are a plethora of reasons for this.

Unlike a lot of people I actually find Mikey Rourke’s Whiplash to be an interesting villain and Sam Rockwell is a lot of fun as Tony’s jealous rival. Are they the best written of all the MCU villains? No of course not, but I enjoyed Rourke’s cartoonish evil performance, and Rockwell’s pathetic yet trying to pretend not to be character. I found both amusing.

Moreover, I really like what they do with Rhodey, Don Cheadle, here. I am a big War Machine fan and I like when they have the final showdown with the two of them just going to town on all those drones. I think across the tapestry of the MCU Rhodey has been deprived of anything even close to a cool moment, and this is as good as it gets for him. I thought the final scene of Tony, Rhodey and Pepper, Gwyneth Paltrow, on the roof together was hilarious and a good indication of things to come.

However, something that does become more uncomfortably apparent when rewatching is just how much of a creep Tony Stark is. As a kid watching these films in the cinema Tony was my favourite character but watching them again now you notice how he is around women. Not only is he a misogynist, but he also literally only sees the women around him as sexual objects, for an example of what I am talking about one simply has to look at how he treats Natasha Romanoff, Scarlett Johansson, when they first meet, and he thinks she is just one of his employees. He is a creep.

Overall, I like it a lot more than a lot of other people, but I can see its flaws.

Pros.

Rhodey

The final fight

The roof top scene

Cons.

Tony is a creep

How they introduce Black Widow

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Rick And Morty: Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rick replaces Morty with Summer who decides to keep enabling her Grandfather’s bad behaviour as a means of connecting with him and getting approval. Meanwhile the family all become pilots of an interlocking space robot- think Voltron.

This is easily the worst episode of season five so far for a number of different reasons. Worst is the fact that this episode is very reference heavy, as have been several episodes this season, which quickly becomes an issue if you are not aware of what the show is spoofing, which was the fate that befell me. The problem with these kind of episodes is that they feel lazy, rather than come up with a fresh concept or gimmick, they just take preestablished films/cartoons/tv shows etc and make fun of them: which requires far less effort.

Moreover, I have been hoping for some kind of reference back to the cannon or to earlier seasons for this year’s whole run, and we finally got it in a big way here. Except, not quite. Rather than bring back an important or impactful storyline from seasons gone by, like Space Beth just off the top of my head, they instead decide to bring back the giant incest baby from a few episodes prior- because that’s a character we need more of right? Honestly, the giant incest baby character was just a throwaway joke in that episode and bringing it back here does not make it anymore impactful, rather it just feels like the writers were looking for an easy way to tie in previous episodes.

I also found the constant narration to be grating.

Overall, one of the worst episodes of the show to date, please don’t bring giant incest baby back again.

Pros.

It is watchable

There are a couple of funny lines

Cons.

The narration

Bringing back giant incest baby

Another lazy spoof episode

Most of the jokes don’t land

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The Visit: The Grandparents Aren’t All Right

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two children who have never met their grandparents before are send to go and stay with them for a week, however, once they get their they start noticing their Grandparents behaving strangely- this quickly escalates.

In my mind this is Shyamalan’s best film, easily. Yes, there will be many out there that will make a case for Signs or The Sixth Sense, but I truly believe this is the man at his finest. Every aspect of the film works in perfect harmony, with the film feeling like something other than the twist is being built to. This is a common issue with Shyamalan’s work as often the films feel built around the twist and as such can’t function without it, which is bad writing, however, here the events of the film could work without the twist and the twist itself feels like it only enhances the strangeness further.

I enjoyed the tension and the slowly growing unease throughout. I thought the film showed great promise when it made seemingly every day activities that anyone would do with their elderly relatives feel some how off-kilter, this is of course ramped up as the film continues but never ends up feeling over the top.

The performances are mostly good. With Child actors one never goes in expecting much, but I thought both leads were passable. The one thing I will say is Ed Oxenbould does have moments where he becomes annoying, such as the rapping scenes or when he has to call out a female singers name instead of swearing, though there is some unintentional comedy in there to.

Overall, probably my favourite Shyamalan film.

Pros.

The twist

The tension in the seemingly ordinary

The ending

A few solid jokes

Cons.

The rapping is annoying

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