The Art Of Self Defense: Metal Maketh Man

The Art Of Self Defense is a black comedy thriller film directed by Riley Stearns. The plot follows Casey (Jessie Eisenberg), a ‘weak man’ who is constantly abused and victimised by people around him, one day Casey gets jumped and beaten to within an inch of his life and decides he needs to make a change. He then joins a karate class to try and become a ‘proper man’, the type of person who has always scared him, the class then takes over his life. Slowly he realises that his mentor Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), organised the beating that put him in the hospital and that the class is far darker than he ever realised.

I think this film is a tour-de-force in almost every aspect. The humour of the film had me laughing out loud constantly, it very much appealed to my pitch-dark sense of humour. The final joke of Casey shooting Sensei in the head and then pretending to have used a masterful finger technique to defeat him so all the students respect him is inspired.

What’s more I found the film’s conversation about masculinity to be fascinating, the idea of what makes a man a ‘real man’ is not only interesting, but also an important conversation to have. The film portrays the idea of toxic masculinity in a very clever and funny yet also very real way which is a testament to the writing. Moreover, the idea that if you listen to metal music and have a German Shepard it makes you more of a man really cracked me up.

My one issue with this film is that Imogen Poots’ character is criminally underused. Her character was one of sensei’s first students and has been involved in his dark crimes for a long time, she is pushed to the side by Sensei because of the fact she is a woman and is a frequent suffer of his abuse. She is the one who tells Casey about the evils that Sensei does after hours and is left in charge of the dojo at the end. Her character is important, but I thought she could have had more to do.

Overall, this is a fantastic film it is funny, smart and has a lot to say about men in this day and age. Definitely a must watch if you haven’t already seen it!

Pros.

Casey and Sensei’s relationship.

The idea of what makes a man a man.

The humour.

The ending.

Cons.

Poots could have more to do.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Vikings Season 6 Part 1: Ragnarok

Vikings season 6 is a historical drama series created by Michael Hirst. As with many other seasons of this show it is split into 2 parts, so this review will just be of the first half of the season. The plot for this part of the series revolves around Bjorn’s (Alexander Ludwig), reign over Kattegat as well as Ivar’s (Alex Hogh Anderson), adventures in Rus and his plans to retake his homeland.

Most seasons of Vikings follow the same pattern: the first part of the season will end on a sad note and then the second half will see the characters set it right and fix the sadness. That formula is very true here, the ending of this first half is beyond depressing, Bjorn dies, the Vikings are defeated, and the Rus take Scandinavia, this coupled with them killing off Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), earlier in the season, makes for a bleak start to season 6.

However, that said I admire them for their choices this season. I think killing off main characters like Lagertha and Bjorn is an inspired choice, it keeps you guessing as to what is going to happen in the second half of the season, as well as pushes other characters to the front of the narrative; who is the series going to focus on now that Bjorn is dead?

My main issue with this season is that it feels long and drawn out. Clearly these episodes are building towards the invasion by the Rus, but we don’t actually get to see this until half an hour into the final episode. This means we have 9 episodes of build up and there is something interesting stuff in them like the King’s Moot, and Lagertha defending her village, but everything else just feels like padding; it gets really stretched out.

What’s more when you finally get the big battle scene at the end, it is underwhelming. Compared to other battle scenes on the show before this one is a let-down, it keeps cutting between shots of Bjorn and Ivar having a conversation and shots of Bjorn staring out angrily to sea, which really take you out of the tense adrenaline fueled atmosphere of the battle sequence.

Overall, this first half of the season suffers from some pacing issues and the tenth episode battle is a little anticlimactic, but mostly I will commend this half of the series from some incredibly bold story decisions and for giving beloved characters a fitting end.

Pros.

Killing of characters.

Nice endings for beloved characters.

Sets up for a great second half.

Cons.

Pacing issues.

Anti-Climatic battles.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Avengers Endgame: The MCU Reigns Supreme

Avengers Endgame is a marvel superhero film that serves as the culmination to the Infinity Saga and previous 23 films of the MCU. The plot of the film follows our defeated heroes after half of their numbers were decimated by Thanos (Josh Brolin), in the infamous snap, the heroes have to find away to undo the damage done and bring back their fallen friends.

First of the bat I just want to say that it is possible to watch this film without having seen the previous films, or even Infinity War which acted as a part 1 to this film. However, it will be a lot easier to follow and will mean a whole lot more to you if you have seen the previous instalments.

As a film that brings together everything that the MCU has been building towards for years this film is a triumph. Characters that have been with us since the beginning are wrapped up in the most pleasing and emotionally satisfying way and new characters are introduced and remind us of the bright future the MCU has.

The one issue this film has is that it is too good of an ending. By that I mean this feels like the end of the MCU and when you realise that it isn’t it takes away from it a little bit, as well as reducing the importance of upcoming films. If the franchise had ended with Robert Downy Jr’s Iron Man saying, “I am Iron Man” and saving the universe as he dies, it would have beautifully book ended the series, but sadly it kept going.

I think this film achieves something very few other films have, or ever will, and that is have a huge supporting cast that gives each one of their characters a chance to shine. Whether you like Thor (Chris Hemsworth), or Spider-man (Tom Holland), each character is moved forward in a meaningful way and given fantastic development.

The villains bar Thanos are crucially underdeveloped, which is an issue that has afflicted a lot of MCU films over the years, they’re defeated far too easily and don’t actually feel like a threat to the heroes. Thanos however, is a great villain as he isn’t just the evil for evils sake kind of villain, he thinks that what he wants to do will make the universe a better place which adds a great sense of moral ambiguity to this character.

Overall, for better or for worse this film has had a huge impact on the film landscape and beautifully shows what the MCU was building to, it would have worked well as an ending, but we will just have to wait and see how they follow it up.

Pros.

A beautiful culmination.

“I Am Iron Man”.

Wrapping up characters in a great way.

Cons.

Cheap villains.

It makes the upcoming films feel less important.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Current State Of Star Trek: There Is Hope Out There

Star Trek is an iconic science fiction brand that has existed for decades, generation after generation have boldly gone where no man has gone before. Over the years we have had many different series and films based on this legendary franchise. What I want to talk about is where the franchise is in 2020 and does the future look bright?

I remember growing up, my dad used to love Star Trek and science fictions shows like it, but it was never for me I preferred things like The Lord Of The Rings, a different type of fantasy. However, as I got older, I started enjoying the series as well. I have seen all 3 of the Bad Robot era Star Trek films and personally I liked them all; even Into Darkness which was controversial to say the least. I have been eagerly awaiting a 4^th film, but it doesn’t look like we are going to get one; at least anytime soon. The Noah Hawley film has gone through a lot of behind the scenes problems, including losing both Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth, so it looks like it is burning in development hell. Then the Tarantino film seems like a throw away idea, if Tarantino sticks to his planned 10 films that would make this Star Trek film his last and I just can’t see that.

So, if we shift our focus to the TV side of things horizons look brighter. Star Trek Discovery was the first of the modern TV series, now Discovery has had its fair share of problems, including story issues and making episodes overly political and personally I found it very hard to watch, but there is hope there. A lot of the more classic elements work well in this series and I hear that the second season of the show works a lot better. However, it is the other Star Trek series that I think is deserving of praise that series is Picard. This show revisits Patrick Stewarts’ Jean Luc from earlier TV efforts, as of the time of writing this series has only had 3 episodes out, but so far, I am hooked, and I would love to see more content like this.

Overall, Star Trek as a brand needs a firm hand, it needs to decide on what it wants it future to look like, once it has done that then it can decide how to proceed. Personally, I think they will end up rebooting the films as the Pine timeline has too many issues with it at this point, while also keeping the TV side of things alive to fill in the blanks in the universe as well as satiate audiences’ hunger for more from this universe, or at least that is what I would recommend.

Luke

Captain Marvel: Hire Better Writers!

Captain Marvel is a Marvel Comics Superhero film directed by Anne Boden and Ryan Fleck. The plot revolves around air force pilot Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), who loses her memory and gains a new identity as Kree Solider Vers. Once Vers ends up back on Earth her two identities clash together causing the creation of Captain Marvel

A lot has been said about this film, but fear not, I won’t get into that side of it, I will analyse this for what it is, a film, not the political message some people think it is. When I first saw this film, I fell asleep in the cinema, however, that is not an indictment on the film, as I was massively sleep deprived. I rewatched this film recently and found it to be quite an enjoyable experience, it is good as far as dumb fun popcorn film can be.

First things first I thought Larson was serviceable as Danvers, her performance had moments of goodness scattered in there, however I think the writing was criminally weak and lead to her not being all that likeable in her own film. I think if you look at how she was written in Endgame you can see how the writing was to blame as her character is much much better there.

I love what this film does in terms of world building it sets up Krees and Skrulls in the MCU, hopefully leading to a Secret Invasion storyline. What’s more the ending that see the Skrulls turn out to be the good guys, nicely flips the narrative of the film and was genuinely surprising. Moreover, Ben Mendelsohn is fantastic in this film, once again proving that he should be cast in more films, he is a great scene chewing villain and is also hilarious.

I thought a lot of the side characters were underdone and might as well have not been included, Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury doesn’t need to be in this film as his buddy cop relationship with Carol doesn’t really work and I for one would have liked to see him not be in it and then let his time be used giving Carol more development/ personality. Likewise, Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg is necessary in that he is Carol’s ultimate antagonist, but he to feels underdeveloped.

Overall, I think the crimes of this film are because of the weak writing, I think Brie Larson and Captain Marvel the character can be done well, see Endgame, and hopefully we will see more of that in the future with a new and better writing team. There is potential here. Takeaway for Marvel/Disney hire better writers.

Pros.

The Kree Skrull War.

Brie Larson.

The potential for the future.

Cons.

The underdeveloped characters.

The weak writing.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Mandalorian: A New Hope For Star Wars

The Mandalorian is a space western TV show set in the Star Wars universe created by Jon Favreau. The series follows a Mandalorian known as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), who is a bounty hunter and mercenary for hire, one day Din is hired to bring a package to the last remnant of the Empire, but once he learns what the cargo is, a baby, he changes his mind and the rest of the series is Din trying to protect the baby.

First off, my feelings towards Star Wars especially newer Star Wars have been well documented, For the most part I don’t care for it; sure, Rogue One and Solo were okay, but the main instalment films weren’t for me. On the TV side of things, I loved Star Wars The Clone Wars, but I could never get into Rebels, so it was a mixed bag for me. So, I went into this show with relatively low expectations and I am pleased to say I was actually blown away.

This series has real heart and you do end up caring a lot about the characters. The relationship between Mando and the character that the internet has dubbed ‘Baby Yoda’ is not only adorable, but also heart-warming. It is so nice to see it develop over the course of the series. Not only that but this series actually has supporting characters that are not only impactful on the overall story but are also well written. Said characters come in the form of a Resistance shock trooper named Cara Dune (Gina Carano), and a droid called IG-11 (Taika Waititi). Cara starts off as a minor character who grows into a huge part of the team by the end, she is kickass and easily has some of the best action moments on the show, but she also has great chemistry with Mando which I would like to see explored more down the line. IG-11 starts off the series as a villain who is intent on killing ‘Baby Yoda’, but then gets reprogrammed to be a good guy. To that, the moment when IG-11 sacrifices himself so the heroes can get away had me feeling emotions I hadn’t felt since T2.

Overall, despite the poor quality of modern Star Wars there is something special about this show, maybe it is because they have given us characters that you can actually care about, or maybe it’s because it is just so damn cool it’s hard to say, one thing I will say is I can’t wait for season 2 in October.

Pros.

Great characters/dynamics.

Baby Yoda.

Great stakes both in terms of action and emotions.

A fantastic ending.

It made me excited for season 2.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Spider-Man Far From Home: Gone Yet Not Forgotten

Spider-man Far From Home is a Marvel Superhero film directed by John Watts. The plot of this film follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland), and his friends as they go on a European vacation after the world-changing events of Avengers Endgame. In this film Peter considers his place in the world after the death of his hero Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr) and ponders if it’s time to just be a regular kid and give up being the friendly neighborhood Spider-man.

I have to admit I was one of the few people who wasn’t taken with Spider-man Homecoming or Tom Holland’s portrayal of the character. Maybe it was because I grew up during the Raimi era, but Homecoming did little for me and I believe Peter was better used in the Avengers film he appeared in. However, I liked Holland and his portrayal a hell of a lot more this time around, I truly think he has grown into the character over time.

Holland manages to capture the emotion of the character really well ,excelling in the film’s dramatic moments, him dealing with his grief over the death of Tony is a truly moving thing to see. What’s more, I liked how Holland plays the character in the sections of the film that see Peter just being a regular teenager and whenever it is him and his friends interacting on screen it is a joy to see.

The soundtrack of the film really helps with this, Watts is definitely drawing on 80’s Teenager movies like Ferris Buller’s Day Off and other works of John Hughes and it shows 100% in the soundtrack. It feels like this film could easily have come out in that time period and that really enhances the film for me.

The wider connections to the MCU are fantastic and it is nice to see Peter fight classic Spider-man villains like Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), and the dynamic the two characters have is electric. The end credits stingers for this film leave the franchise in a really interesting place and I can’t wait to see where they will take the character from here.

My one issue with this film is that they continue to make Spider-man and Peter Parker feel like Iron Man Jr, I understand the father son dynamic between the two is important for Peter’s arc, but to have Tony so involved in his story makes him feel like he has less free agency of his own and is rather Iron Man’s side kick and I don’t like this for the character, hopefully Spider-man 3 goes another way with it.

Overall, a very solid film, a strong step up from a lukewarm first entry, both Watts and Holland feel more in their respective groves this time around. They need to watch out and make sure to not turn Peter Parker into Iron Man Jr, as that was my main cause of concern when watching this film.

Pros.

Watts is better.

Holland is better.

Gyllenhaal is incapable of giving a bad performance.

The end set-up.

Cons.

Iron Man Jr?

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Narcos Mexico Season 1: A New Era Of Narcos

Narcos Mexico Season 1 is a crime drama series and spin-off to the Netflix series Narcos. The new series as the name would suggest shifts the focus of the program from the cocaine fields of Columbia to the weed fields of Mexico, though some familiar faces do make a return. The series chronicles the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel and Felix Gallardo’s (Diego Luna), kidnapping of American DEA Agent Kiki Camarena (Michael Pena).

To briefly describe this series, it is more of the same, if you liked Narcos and enjoyed seeing the DEA slowly busting drug dealers over a period of years than you will enjoy this. As usually there are some cheer worthy monuments (in this season it is the burning of the weed fields), some sad moments (Kiki’s death), and a hell of a lot of frustration as the corrupt system gets in the way of these agents doing their job.

As someone who loved all of that in previous seasons, I fully enjoyed Narcos Mexico Season 1, I found it to be both captivating and thrilling and it proves the creative team behind the show still has it.

Michael Pena plays against type here, he has done some dramatic work before (End Of Watch, Fury), but he is mainly known for his more comedic work. He played Kiki as a man on a mission, much like characters of past seasons his whole life revolved around bringing the drug lord to justice. My one issue is that the character could be annoying at times and do reckless and dangerous things without thinking about his family, who had moved down to Mexico with him.

I thought Luna’s Gallardo was a villain on the same level of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura), this is exactly what the series needed and was the issue the final series of Narcos was disappointing: because the villains were lacking. My one issue on this side of things was that I would have preferred to see Gallardo’s rise and fall within one series as opposed to two, it just feels more dragged out. A lot of episodes have plot points that go nowhere and feel put into pad out the 50+ minute runtime.

Overall, Narcos Mexico Season 1 is good, the characters are working and that is what made the first two series of Narcos feel so special, I still have a few issues with it, such as I feel like it didn’t need to be spread over two seasons and that I found Kiki’s character annoying at times. Ps. Don’t even get me started on Raffa or more adeptly the worst character ever written.

Pros.

Back to basics in a good way.

Interesting new villain.

It feels fresh again.

Cons.

It is too dragged out.

Some of the characters are annoying.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Justice League Dark: The Mystical Side Of DC

Justice League Dark is an animated science fantasy superhero film. The plot revolves around a team of DC Superheroes, the more mystical ones, who have to investigate a pattern of strange behavior that has turned fatal. The Justice League themselves can’t understand the problem, so it is down to Batman (Jason O’Mara), and his strange collection of allies to save the day.

*Justice League Dark is one of my favourite DC comics, I have read many runs of the team over the years, so when I heard about this project, I knew I had to check it out. I was disappointed, this was an incredibly average film, nothing more, nothing less.

I will admit it was nice to see the team of Constantine (Matt Ryan), Zatanna (Camilla Luddington), and Deadman (Nicholas Turturro), get together; furthermore, it was nice to see Matt Ryan return to play Constantine, he is fairly synonymous with the character to me. However, my issue was the overall story just felt flat. The best issues of the comic have strong horror elements, but I didn’t get that here, other than the shades and a few other things it was mainly without horror.

What’s more though I liked Constantine I felt that a lot of the other characters were short-changed so that he could have more screen time. An example of this would be Swamp Thing (Roger Cross), who has been a major part of the team before in the comics, here only gets a few lines. Worst of all after he gets defeated, he just goes away and we don’t see him again, which feels like a big unresolved plot thread.

As I said before, this film is everything I would expect from a Justice League Dark film, a group of the more mystical DC heroes fighting against a supernatural opponent, but that isn’t enough to sustain my interest across the film’s runtime, I wanted more. More depth to the characters, more scope to the narrative, I don’t know exactly what but, something that felt better than bog standard.

Overall, this film fell short my expectations, it didn’t wow me in anyway, in fact it annoyed me a lot of the time. I wish they had put more time and energy into the characters and the story overall, if they had this might have been something special.

Pros.

Matt Ryan.

It is nice to see all of the characters team up.

A solid foundation.

Cons.

Other than Constantine and Zatanna very weak characters.

How they handled Swamp Thing.

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Avatar: A World Beyond Imagination

Avatar is an epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron. The plot of the film revolves around Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine who arrives on the planet of ‘Pandora’ to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and join the Avatar Program. Once Sully dives into the native’s culture he realises that they are a wonderful people and that he is on the wrong side of the conflict; he then goes native.

The story of his film is one we have all seen before, solider goes undercover and learns about another group of people and then switches sides, think Dances With Wolves. There is a timeless quality to the narrative. The Na’vi’s world is deep and rich and every inch of it seems rife to explore, it is stunningly designed, and each character design is a marvel to look at; James Cameron truly did something special with this film.

Sam Worthington is serviceable as the lead, but he is in no way memorable. It is a surprise to no one that Worthington has been in nothing of note since about 2010, his time has very much passed. My main issue with his performance is that anyone could play that character, he doesn’t make the character his own. This problem is only made more evident when you compare his performance to some of the heavy hitters in the cast such as Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. Stephen Lang plays the film’s antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch, a man who wants to wipe the Na’vi out as he sees them as a threat and as standing the way of what he wants.

Lang is easily one of the best things about the film as he is a great menacing villain and one that has something about him. When Cameron brings out the inevitable 4 sequels, that no one has asked for or wants, I would love to see Lang return; with some type of Science Fiction magic obviously.

Overall, I think the strongest thing about this film is its world. It is this world that I want to see more explored not the characters. I hope the sequels reflect that. If Cameron can show us more of this world then I think they could be hits. The thing that stops me from grading this film higher is the fact that the main character is bland and in no way unique.

Pros.

Stephen Lang.

Beautifully Designed Creatures And Characters.

Fantastic World Building.

Cons.

Pacing Issues.

Sam Worthington.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke