Ms Marvel: Time And Again

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Kamala, played by Iman Vellani, learns about her family’s history with the Djinn and the Nor dimension.

Despite this being one of the shortest episodes of the season I also thought it was one of the best. I really enjoyed the interpersonal family relationships here, such as between Aisha, played by Mehwish Hayat, and Hasan, played by Fawad Khan, as well as between Kamala and her mother, played by Zenobia Shroff. I thought in the case of the former their love story was incredibly sweet and effecting and in the case of the latter their mother daughter relationship finally felt satisfying as the two come to an understanding.

I thought the ending of the Clandestines, was perhaps a little premature as their final battle with Kamala felt a little rushed. However, I am sure the ending will right this and might even bring them back once again. I am still resolute that the weakest part of this otherwise great TV show is its villains, as they continue to be woefully underdeveloped, but that is par for the course with Marvel Studios productions.

Finally, I just want to once again say what a great job Vellani is doing in the lead role. She radiates charm and genuine enthusiasm throughout and it is almost impossible to not instantly warm to her character, she may be the best new character Marvel has introduced anywhere in the last two phases.

Overall, another strong episode.

Pros.

The history

The relationships

The ending and tease for the finale

Vellani

Cons.

The Clandestines continue to be weak villains

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Star Trek Strange New Worlds: A Quality Of Mercy

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Captain Pike, played by Anson Mount, must come to terms with his future or risk the lives of his crew as he partakes in a journey into the future.

I am not denying that this season finale had some great moments, it did. Nor am I saying that the reintroduction of the Romulans was unwelcome, it really wasn’t. However, what I found to be the central issue with this episode was that it was trying to do too much. It was expanding the Pike future plot line from the first episode, it introduced a new version of Captain Kirk, played by Paul Wesley, it reintroduces the Romulans and it advances the Una, played by Rebecca Romijn, genetic modification storyline from earlier in the season. All that happens in one hour long episode, to say it is overstuffed would be an understatement.

Though these plot elements do give us a lot to be excited about with the show going forward, here and now they just feel forced in as they are not really fleshed out and instead seem to only serve to set up the second season.

Another thing that bothered me about this episode is that it mainly focused on Pike. Now I think Mount is doing a terrific job as the character of Captain Pike ,however, I think the character is at his best when he is bouncing off of the other characters on the Enterprise, whereas here he gets a lot of focus with barely any of the supporting characters stealing attention away from him but this just leads to the flaws with his character’s writing and personality becoming ever more apparent.

Overall, the first season ends on a mixed bag but teases an interesting tomorrow for the show.

Pros.

The return of the Romulans

A few great moments

The tease of what’s to come

Cons.

It feels overstuffed

The second season set up feels a little heavy handed

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Only Murders In The Building: The Last Day Of Bunny Folger

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The last day in the life of Bunny, played by Jayne Houdyshell.

Honestly I am not really digging this season of Only Murders In The Building, and I think that it is just being stretched out for the sake of stuff to put on Disney +. As I have said in earlier reviews the mystery this time around is not particularly interesting and unlike with the first season you don’t care about what is going on. To be frank I could stop watching this show right here and not miss it at all.

However, something that I will give this episode credit for is that it at least takes a chance and tries to do something new. Rather than focus on the central trio we get to see a day in the life of a fairly important side character, and not many shows would dedicate a whole episode to a supporting character in this way so that was pretty cool as it helped to flesh out the wider world of the show.

Although through this focus on another character this episode highlights our central trio in a less than stellar light. I do understand that the point of this episode’s shifted perspective is to reframe things, but it does this a little too well and clearly illustrates all the worst traits of our lead characters and makes them unlikeable. The charm of the show is really gone after this episode.

Overall, I might stop watching as I don’t want to continue watching a once promising show continue to drag itself through the mud.

Pros.

Be brave enough to focus on a smaller character

It is watchable

It makes you care more about Bunny

Cons.

It is fairly dull

The mystery doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere

The leads are unlikeable

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Minions The Rise Of Gru: A Surprising Good Time

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Telling the tale of Gru’s early life, as he tries to become a member of the Vicious Six.

Full disclosure I did not like the first Minions film, so I went into this with incredibly low expectations, but found myself pleasantly surprised. To my shock the film was actually quite funny, it had me laughing on several occasions, and I also thought it was mostly sweet throughout as well, I liked the emotional core of the story.

Moreover, the more gimmicky and irritating elements of Illumination’s style, the dumb jokes and over abuse of license music, didn’t strike me as being so egregious here though they did still show up on occasion.

The minions themselves each had their own moments to shine but I would say the real stand out was Steve Carell’s performance as Gru. Carell really is the heart and soul of this franchise and I would say that without him this film wouldn’t have worked even half as well, I think seeing his character at this younger stage really allows for us to explore a different side to him and see him in a whole new light.

Overall, a welcome treat that is both funny and sweet.

Pros.

Carell

The ending

The minions themselves, especially when they get powered up

The humour and the emotion

Cons.

A few little irritating nostalgia baiting moments

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The Boys: The Instant White-Hot Wild

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The big fight between Homelander, played by Anthony Starr, and Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles, finally comes to fruition.

Before we get into all the things I like about this episode I want to talk about two things I didn’t so much, firstly the politics and the clear elusions to real world events feels incredibly on the nose which breaks from the more intelligent use of social commentary throughout the rest of the season, and secondly Ryan as a character is stalling the story and causing things to drag on. My issues with how they used Ryan here is that it deprived us of the big fight we wanted and instead lead to Butcher, played by Karl Urban, fighting Soldier Boy and Queen Maeve, played by Dominque McElligott, fight Homelander. Also I don’t really care about the Ryan/ Butcher relationship as it feels unnecessary to me.

In terms of things I did like, I enjoyed seeing Homelander rip apart, verbally, his remaining team members it was fun to see him fully tear each one of them down. I would have liked for Homelander to have gone a little bit more off the deep end by the end of the season, but no doubt that needle to the brain will cause him to lose it even more next season. Moreover, I like that they are transitioning the Victoria character, played by Claudia Doumit, into the shows own version of Vic the Veep, I am interested to see where that storyline will go next season and whether it will lead to Homelander and co trying to fully take over the USA.

I also thought the interpersonal moments where really strong here, with Mother’s Milk, played by Laz Alonso, and his daughter’s scene at the end being particularly touching. I think the best thing the show has done compared to the comics is really flesh out the personality and inter play between its cast of characters which means we get all these great moments.

Also just an aside, Starlight, played by Erin Moriarty, joining the Boys at the end of the episode was a deviation from the comics that works and feels rad. Very excited to see where things go from here and how the team dynamic works going forward.

Overall, a fairly strong end to the season.

Pros.

Queen Maeve’s retirement

Homelander fully laying into his remaining teammates

Starlight becoming one of the Boys

The ‘maniac’ dance/fight scene

Cons.

Ryan

The finale Homelander scene feels a little too on the nose for me

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Elvis: Tom Hank’s Worst Performance

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An Elvis biopic featuring a career worst performance from Tom Hanks.

Who thought Tom Hanks character here was a good idea? Whoever that person is should be fired, being subjected to Hanks’ performance here is nothing short of cruel and unusual. From the horrible over the top accent, that moves around constantly, to the awful facial prosthetics that become hilariously distracting at times, Hanks is destined for a Razzie nomination for this one.

Moreover, though I enjoy Baz Luhrmann’s style to a degree it is too much here. With the awful pacing and frequent needless asides this reeks to me of a director who was given carte blanche over proceedings and decided to fully embrace their style to the detriment of the film more widely, sometimes it is good to reign in a director. Truly, I think the most egregious thing about this film is its runtime, which is frankly absurdly long.

On a more positive note, this film does include all of the classic Elvis numbers that many of you will be coming to this film to hear, and in that respect you will be happy for the film’s obscene runtime as it gives you a chance to hear more of them and even to hear some totally needless remixes of them as well.

In addition Austin Butler gives one hell of a performance and manages to salvage this film from being a total dumpster fire fueled on by an unchecked director. Butler really becomes lost in the role and by the midpoint in the film you almost entirely forget that he isn’t Elvis himself. To further push that point home, up against Hanks’ ghastly performance Butler looks like he should be winning next year’s Oscar.

Overall, a good time if you like Elvis, otherwise fairly mixed.

Pros.

Butler

You get to here all your old favourites

Quite a detailed look into the life of Elvis

Cons.

Hanks’ performance and everything about his character

The runtime

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Falling Inn Love: A Good Way To Kill Off Your Remaining Brain Cells

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A symbolic representation of Netflix failing in the most basic concept of quality over quantity.

Honestly, if I were not reviewing this film I would have turned it off at the twenty minute mark. It was more than a slog to get through and at times became actively annoying for me.

This film perfectly encapsulates the idea of the irritating entitled American abroad who thinks that it is okay to talk down to the locals and who is a baffled that they don’t have the latest technology that she is used to. Christina Millan plays the lead character as such a brat that you will find it hard to feel anything towards her other than contempt.

Moreover, the story structure is beyond basic and feels copied and pasted over from countless other Netflix romance films that do the exact same thing: with some slight variation. You know right from the offset where the film is going and it doesn’t surprise you in anyway.

In addition the usual toxic messages and creeping sexist undertones of the romantic comedy genre are here in spades, and again it makes the film even more unwatchable.

Overall, Netflix just makes trash now.

Pros.

You can dare your friends to try and sit through it, that might be some fun as long as you don’t have to watch it back.

Cons.

It is sexist

The lead is awful

It is generic

You can guess all the plot points at the start of the film.

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Thor Love And Thunder: Thor Gets Paternal

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, is forced out of semi-retirement when Gorr The God Butcher, played by Christian Bale, goes on a killing spree. Along the way he runs into his old flame Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, who is now the Mighty Thor.

I have to say a lot of the early responses to this film that I saw were quite negative and so I went in with pretty low expectations, thinking to myself surely it can’t be worse than Dark World, however, in the end I found myself really enjoying the film, and think though it has a few minor issues it is on the whole a strong Marvel outing.

Straight off the bat I think this film really does some great character work with Thor, having him get the chance to see Jane again, then losing her, then having to raise a kid on his own- he goes on a journey. Some out there on the more incely sides of the culture war will say that Thor is humiliated and ruined, however, their toxic masculinity is showing. I think it is possible for Thor to be both a badass action hero, which this film shows off on multiple occasions, as well as a sensitive guy who can be open and also poke fun at himself. At no point did I find he was being dominated or out done by the female characters and I think such takes usually arise from those we insecure masculinities themselves.

I thought the supporting cast all had their moments to shine especially Port, Thompson and Waititi, the latter especially had a lot of great lines. However, I will say that I would have liked Sif, played by Jamie Alexander, who makes a big return here, to have been given more to do. I think for me the stand out performance of the whole film was Russell Crowe as Zeus who instantly became my favourite character of the picture.

In terms of the humour, which has proven quite divisive, I think it is peak Waititi and if you enjoy his style of comedy, which I do, you will find it funny and if you don’t you won’t. Personally I found this film had me laughing more often than not. Moreover, again in rebuke to some of the criticism I have seen out there about the humour of this film, I found that it didn’t take away from the dramatic moments at all, and I think the film has a very strong emotional core. If you aren’t tearing up as Jane dies in Thor’s arms then I question whether you are even human.

Finally onto the few minor things I didn’t like about the film. The CGI in the post credits scene with Hercules, played by Brett Goldstein, was quite poor and possibly on a par with the Pip scene from Eternals. Moreover, the film’s pacing was quite noticeably off and the film as a whole felt very rushed with a lot of big things happening in a short space of time without much room for you to take them in. In addition, Christian Bale’s Gorr performance was all over the place, sometimes being quite frightening and sullen and other times being almost camp, this mismatch created quite a jarring viewing experience. Lastly the ‘Lady Thor’ line was horribly cringe and felt far too meta and on the nose, it really didn’t need to be included.

Overall, though it is not perfect there is a lot to like about this film.

Pros.

Thor’s journey

The ending

Zeus

The supporting cast all get their time to shine

Cons.

The pacing

The ‘Lady Thor’ line

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Bride Wars: This Wouldn’t Get Made Today, Be Thankful For That

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rather than have a civil conversation about their thoughts, feelings and concerns, two women, played by Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, are forced into a showdown for a frankly out of date and overly thought of practice, marriage. The sexism in Hollywood is fairly rampant in this one.

The whole premise of this film from having both girls spend their whole lives dreaming of getting married to having to tear each other down just to get the better big day is simply toxic. Some may say that I am overly sensitive, but I thought the idea that all women really want to do is get married died years ago and that we have all moved on to a more progressive dawn, was I wrong?

Hudson and Hathaway are fine, but neither of them are giving the performances of their career and both are fairly easily forgotten about. I feel like because the writer of this film knew it was a romantic comedy they thought that they could peddle out any old tripe and people would just gobble it up, as that is the only explanation I can think of for why the two leads are written as deeply out of date cliches.

Moreover, the ending sentiment feels predictable and like a bygone conclusion from the outset. There is nothing that shocks you or presents even the most simplistic of challenges, it is all incredibly generic.

Furthermore, this film features Chris Pratt which for me just adds to its list of issues, but some people like him so I won’t be too critical of that.

Overall, a widely sexist out of time romantic comedy.

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It is sexist

It is generic

Neither of the leads are particularly good

Chris Pratt is his ever unlikeable self and that become distracting after a while

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Stranger Thing Season 4 Part 2: More Hand Raising And Nose Bleeds

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The second part of the season sees the gang truly face off against Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower.

The two episodes that this part is made up of are on for over 3 and a half hours combined, that right there is a red flag. I am glad to see that the Duffer Brothers are saying that the episodes for the final season will be shorter as the over two hour finale is honestly quite hard to get through in one sitting. I think because of their length and the fact that Netflix clearly gave the Brothers free reign to stuff as much in as they wanted this leads to awful pacing issues that really plague this season.

Moreover, though I do admire the slow motion ‘epicness’ of the finale to a degree, as who doesn’t like slow motion right? I ask only partially seriously, I think that for me this was let down by a lack of stakes. Much like Captain America Civil War this finale is build over the course of the season to be a big event with massive stakes yet really no one of any importance dies, a new character and that is about it.

I do like where the series ends on however, with everyone back together again and the upside now fully spilling out into reality, I think this sets up a lot of very interest directions for where things could go next time around.

Overall, not as strong as it has been in the past but there is still some promise there.

Pros.

The final shot

The slow motion

The Russia set subplot

Cons.

The pace

The lack of real danger or stakes

The incoherent logic

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