Reminiscence: This Is Why Westworld Isn’t Good Anymore

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Nick, Hugh Jackman, analyses his memories of the one who got away, Rebecca Ferguson, and realises that he has been played. Nick then sets out to track her down to get answers.

My this one was bad.

Before I slate it I’ll say this, Ferguson and Jackman have great chemistry together, really its electric, and they need to make more films together and carry this thing on as their seems to be a real passion there between the two, they play off each other really well.

Ok, moving on to the bad.

This is what happens when you have everyone praise your deep intellectual show, Westworld, for years and you have a brother who is known by some as one of the best working filmmakers in the game, and you try to rip-off his style. To be blunt, you make pretentious tosh that is about as deep as a puddle and is laughably bad.

The narration throughout the film is the best example of this, it asks all these deep philosophical questions about humanity and the self with all the intellectual sincerity of a teenager going through an emo phase. The writing is really bad.

The mystery is passably okay, however the longer it goes on for you realise all the ways it doesn’t make any sense and how the memory tech writes the film into a corner. Almost everything Nick does in this film is superfluous by the rules and laws set up by the tech, he didn’t need to do anything, yes he would have lost the memory card, but would that really have changed much?

Overall, bad science fiction.

Pros.

Jackman

Ferguson

Cons.

It makes no sense

It is so utterly pretentious

It is poorly written

The ending

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The Bad Batch: Kamino Lost

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch have to escape a sinking Kamino.

Meh.

For a season finale this is pretty bland. Nothing much happens and there is minimal action, the ending feels like more of a mid-season ending rather than the end of a season. There is no big cliff-hanger or tease to set up the next season.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Crosshair. I thought by having him not join the Batch at the end of the episode and still aligning himself with the Empire it makes him far more interesting than his brothers. I think the complexity to Crosshair’s character is one of the best things about the series as he can be both an outright villain and an antihero in equal measure.

Omega was once again an annoyance. The series is trying here to make us care about her by saying that she effectively watched the Batch grow up and that they were her only friends, but still you just don’t care. This is mainly due to the fact that she constantly makes dumb errors that are infuriating, like going back for the droid and then not really seeming bothered with him once she has saved him. I think the show would be infinitely better if it just focused on the Batch and she was not a part of it.

I was also hoping for more of a tease of what the Empire plans to do with the Kaminoians… but we get nothing.

Overall, watchable but fairly anti-climactic.

Pros.

Crosshair

It is watchable

The animation

Cons.

Omega

No action or anything special

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What If: T’Challa Became Star Lord?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

T’Challa becomes Star Lord instead of Peter Quill, and maybe even does it better?

I think this was a very average episode. Nothing really blew me away about it, really it just feels like they are recycling the plot’s of other Marvel films for extra profits, yes with a few changes but the story structure feels much the same.

I thought the idea of space Black Panther was interesting, Chadwick Boseman has a lot of fun and it is nice to see him back in the role, even if it is bittersweet when you remember. Moreover, I thought the idea that Black Panther was in fact a better Star Lord than the one we have come to know quite amusing, I liked how even Drax liked him more.

The biggest issue with this episode is by far its plot, because once it gets past the initial charm of T’Challa in space, it is just a generic heist plot that has no stakes at all. Once the episode switches to the heist my mind just turns off, I don’t care about some McGuffin that the characters are trying to steal that likely will never come back in the MCU again.

Moreover, I thought the sting at the end about how the Peter Quill of this universe is getting on was actually more entertaining and interesting than the story we got.

Overall, though Boseman is strong the rest of the episode isn’t, and it feels incredibly mediocre.

Pros.

Boseman

The concept

Thanos but as a good guy

Cons.

The heist plot

It is very generic

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Rick and Morty: Rickternal Friendship Of The Spotless Mort

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We finally get an episode of Rick and Morty that builds on the ending of last season and feels like a true continuation. In this week’s episode Rick ventures into Bird Person’s mind to bring him back to the world of the living.

I feel like this should have been the first episode of the season. Now it feels like the seven other episodes we have had before this were just meaningless filler, and this is the true continuation of last season. In terms of episode placement, the creators definitely shot themselves in the foot with this one.

I like that this episode is entirely Rick centric, Morty is off doing something with the family, and he doesn’t even get a B plot. The idea of Rick having friends is one that the series has flirted with but never really committed to on a big scale, the only exception to that is with Bird Person. It was nice to have an episode that was entirely about their early years and friendship- or even perhaps more than friendship at least on Rick’s side.

I think the reason this is such a good episode is because it takes a break from randomness and sperm jokes and instead just focuses on the characters and tries to analyse them as people. There is a lot of cannon here, around Rick’s early years, his time as a galactic freedom fighter, and his friends. It answers a lot of questions that fans have been asking for years about the show, but also gives us a lot more questions to replace them. There is a throwaway line about Beth being dead for example, that will need addressing at some point. Moreover, Bird Person’s daughter needs to be freed. I would like the next episode to directly follow on from this and give us more cannon, but I know it won’t. I know I am too greedy.

Overall, this and the Mr Nimbus episode show that the series still shines when it wants to, when it isn’t distracted by a teenage sense of humour focusing on giant incest babies or space sperm.

Pros.

Rick’s history

His complicated friendship with Bird Person

A lot of new questions to be explored

Removing Morty and the family from the equations

Cons.

Seeing a good episode like this makes some of the other offering this season look incredibly lazy by comparison.

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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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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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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 Bad Batch: War Mantle

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch go on a rescue mission, to horrific results.

This was a sad episode on multiple fronts, but also one that feels like it has real stakes.

My first thought after finishing the episode is that it is good they finally have Hunter and Crosshair in the same location with no way out. The confrontation between the two characters has been needed for some time, it feels very much that since the first episode the Batch has pretty much turned their backs on their former brother, even when they realised that he was being mind controlled: as such there always needed to be an explanation for why Hunter and co acted this way- and it looks like we will get it next episode.

Moreover, the Clone rebellions are starting to feel more and more like something we will see on the show, as we are now being shown the Empire phasing out its Clone forces in favor of Storm Troopers. I am excited by this prospect and would like to see what is going to happen to all the captive clones, will the Empire wipe them out, will they escape, will they start a doomed rebellion: these are all questions that the series could and should answer.

I thought for the most part the story of this episode was tight and interesting however I could have done without the cut back to Omega and Wrecker where she complains that she is worried about the other members of the group and he makes a joke. This scene does nothing for the episode, but kill time, the joke is not needed and undoes the well built up tension and Omega once again adds nothing to the episode. I feel like unless the writers have some big endgame for her character she should just be written off as clearly they are struggling on a weekly basis to find things for her to do.

Overall, a strong episode with good tension and an intriguing ending.

Pros.

The ending

Setting up the Clone Rebellions

Where will the series go from here?

The tension

Cons.

The Omega cut away

The slow start, with the first five minutes being dull

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Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Quest For The Ultimate Mix Tape

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Peter Quill, Chris Pratt, is abducted as a child and taken into space. Years later he has become a rogue of the galaxy going by the name Star Lord, this all changes when his quest for an infinity stone brings him into contact with a group of people who would go on to become his family.

I think the often complained about, even by myself, Marvel sense of humour really helps these films on a rewatch. This is my first time rewatching Guardians Of The Galaxy since I first saw it in the cinema all those years ago, and you know what it actually holds up fairly well.

I think the strongest element of the film is certainly the family dynamic between the characters with each having key emotional moments along the way that really help to open them up as characters and help us the audience relate to them. Each character is loveable in their own way, each has the potential to easily be someone’s favourite.

Sadly however, the same can’t be said for the films antagonists who are left fairly cookie cutter generic. I don’t think anyone will ever say that Ronan is their favourite Marvel villain because he just has no personality beyond being evil and wanting to commit genocide. The oversimplification of the villain’s motivations really is the issue here and with a lot of early Marvel films. To have an interesting film you need an interesting and compelling villain.

The jokes I thought worked mostly well here, though I would say the film isn’t as funny as something like Antman, certainly there were more misses here and a few scenes that should have been played for laughs really weren’t.

Overall, a good Marvel film though one let down my a poor villain and not always hilarious jokes.

Pros.

The emotion

The family dynamic

Yondu

The soundtrack

Cons.

A weak villain

Inconsistent jokes

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Transformers The Last Knight: Everyone You Have Learnt About In History Class Was In Fact A Transformer

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Transformers meets King Arthur Legend Of The Sword.

What is this film? To me this film feels like about three or maybe even four separate film pitches crammed into one film, because why not. There is no reason at all that this film is on for over two and a half hours it does not have the story for it, and it is beyond indulgent. A tip for time conservative readers, start the film from about forty five minutes in, you wouldn’t miss much, and you will easily be able to work out what is going on- which is nonsense bang bang.

However, that is not to say this film is all bad. For reasons I don’t fully understand or want to think much about, I actually found parts of this enjoyable to watch. It helps if you take this film as a joke, view it as a comedy or a parody and it becomes much easier to watch. I found the idea of Transformers throughout time to be interesting and I would like to see more of that. Moreover, when the film finally allows us to spend some time with Optimus Prime, when he is not evil, he hits the emotional heart strings and the nostalgia just right.

Mark Wahlberg is fine. However, the real star of the show is Laura Haddock. Haddock has been excellent for some time now however she is yet to make it big in Hollywood, yes, she was in this and Guardians, but in this she is second fiddle to Wahlberg and in the latter she is in the film for all of five minutes. Cast her more because she is excellent is my point, watch Da Vinci’s Demons. She does scene steal a lot and has quite a few funny and memorable lines. My one criticism is that the camera does like to ogle her and she is dressed for parts of the film in a way to appeal to Michael Bay’s core audience, teen boys, and I wish this wasn’t the case. The character is actually quite well written and funny, it is a shame the film objectifies her, but this is a Bay film so what did you or I expect?

Overall, not as bad as you have heard but certainly not good either. My main take away from this film is that I would like to see an actually good King Arthur film, preferably with Laura Haddock in a large role.

Pros.

Haddock

Optimus Prime, when he is good

The ending/ the dumb silliness of it all

Cons.

It is way too bloated

It is icky towards Haddock

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