Star Wars Visions: Lop And Ocho

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

On a distant world a family is driven apart by the influence of the Empire, with one young alien Lop, voiced by Seiran Kobayashi, forced to take up arms to keep her family together.

I enjoyed the focus on family here, I always think Star Wars is at its best when it is telling familial tales of fractured families. In that regard I really bought the father daughter dynamic. However, I struggled to believe the sister dynamic as I thought it did not receive enough development. In the final shots of the episode when such a key focus is placed on family and sisterhood the payoff doesn’t land as the two characters have not really spend much screen time together.

In terms of animation I thought this one looked good and I enjoyed how stylised the battle scenes were, particularly the when the lightsabre got involved. The battle sequence felt just the right length to convey the importance of the moment and the emotion, without beginning to feel repetitive.

My main gripe with this episode comes back to things I have already said here, the pacing is off. This episode could have done with being ten minutes longer, it could have scored higher if it had been as it could have devoted more of its runtime to the sister dynamic and shown the sway of the dark side more than just implying it. However, as it is it just feels like it is missing something.

Overall, a good episode, but one that could have been improved by being longer.

Pros.

The father daughter dynamic

The animation style

The focus on the Jedi and Lightsabres significance

The ending

Cons.

The sister dynamic needed more work

It felt like it was missing something on the whole

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Star Wars Visions: The Elder

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A Jedi and his Padawan discover a Sith whilst investigating a disturbance in the force.

I am a big fan of Studio Trigger and was disappointed with their other episode The Twins, so I am glad to see that they make up for it here. The Elder is easily one of the best episodes in the series, as it meditates on what it means to be Jedi and Sith, and explores how easy it is for one to fall down a dark path.

Furthermore, this is also the best episode from an animation standpoint as it is the most visually interesting and unique, the animation of the former Sith lord is incredible especially what they do with the facial animation. Moreover, the battle scene and later the dissolving scene are also really well done and striking. I would say of the seven episodes I have seen so far it probably has the best fight scenes, or is certainly in the same league as the first episode in this regard as they both have great sequences.

I think the concept of exploration is often underused in Star Wars as a whole, with the same few worlds recurring, as such I like the idea of this Jedi and Padawan just exploring the Outer Rim looking for dangers and I think it would make for an excellent solo TV show. Each week a new planet and new characters.

Overall, a strong episode that nails the animation and perfectly taps into the spirit of Star Wars.

Pros.

The fight scenes

The animation/ particularly the facial animation

The ending

The sense of exploration and freshness

Cons.

It leaves too many questions unanswered

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The Eternals: The New Gods Of The MCU

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A race of space faring beings known as Eternals have been on Earth for thousands of years and now they are finally stepping out into the limelight in order to save the world, naturally.

Major Spoilers Incoming

The trailers for this film did it no favours. Then the critics reviews came in and savaged it for the most part. I went in with incredibly low expectations, however I was pleased to say this might have been one of the best MCU films so far.

To address the main concern up front the action in this film is used sparingly, as in to say there is less here then in other Marvel films, however what is here is used well. The action scenes often carry with them a large amount of tension and stakes that help them to feel more than just the standard mashing of two CGI figures together. A good example of this is the jungle action sequence in which the Deviants have tracked the Eternals down and ambush them this feels incredibly tense.

A lot of people have said that this film has pacing issues, is too long, and is too talking heavy. I disagree with all of those statements. I enjoyed the character focus, it was a nice change from the bang bang nature of most MCU films, the conversations were mostly always incredibly impactful either to establish MCU lore, which this film does beautifully, or to create a connection between us the audience and the characters.

Speaking off, every character here is done well and you become attached to them. Over the course of the film you really do become enamoured with the character drama and are excited to see where it goes. Even bit characters like Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman aka Black Knight are given moments to shine. Speaking off make sure to stick around until the second post credits scene as there is an incredibly exciting one teasing out the future of Harrington’s character and Blade?

My one complaint of this film would be the Deviants. This complaint is threefold, firstly the Deviants all look the same, bland CGI heavy baddies that feel cut and paste with a deeply uninspired design. Secondly, the film does nothing interesting with them, midway through it plays with the idea of Deviants being a sentient race who are just trying to stay alive, just like the Eternals themselves which creates a nice dichotomy however the film does nothing with it. Thirdly, in the final act of the film they just abruptly kill off their leader and that is the end of the Deviant threat as other characters and beings rise up to become villains of the piece.

Overall, one of the most meaningful and impactful films in the MCU a real gem in its hat, if only the Deviants could have been used better.

Pros.

The characters and performances

The post credits scenes, mainly the final one

The emotions and the powerful dialogue scenes

Using action in a smart way

Breaking the MCU formula

Cons.

The Deviants

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The Amazing Spider-Man: Why Do The Police Always Hate Spider-Man?

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

You all know the story by now, Peter Parker, played by Andrew Garfield, gets bitten by a genetically altered spider and becomes Spider-Man, this time facing off against the Lizard, played by Rhys Ifans.

I would say that of all three of the big screen adaptions of Spider-Man these films are probably the ones that the least amount of people like. That is not to say they are bad films, this one certainly isn’t, but really they never could live up to the Tobey McGuire films and that is what killed them.

Many people say that Andrew Garfield is too cool for the awkward nerdy role of Peter Parker, however I think he does fine. I enjoy his outsider/loner persona and think he does a good job of nailing both the heart and the comedy of the character. I thought Garfield’s Spidey had a number of good one liners that land well. Moreover, I think that Peter and Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone have terrific chemistry, better even than McGuire and Kristen Dunst did in the previous version of the character. I think Stone really makes the character her own and I would like to see her show up in the MCU through multiverse shenanigans.

It is nice to see this film move away from using the Green Goblin, even though the sequel would, and instead feature a lesser known Spidey baddie in the Lizard for the film’s villain. I thought the effects of the Lizard were quite good, and I enjoyed the fact that the finale had more to it then just a big CGI punchout.

However, that is where the positives end.

This film has a real issue with pacing, I know they were trying to cram a lot in but honestly watching this film in one sitting is oppressive, it doesn’t feel like two hours and a bit instead it feels more like five. I am left asking did we really need to see Uncle Ben’s, played my Martin Sheen, death again so soon after we saw it in the McGuire films? Surely there must have been ways to trim this down.

Overall, a good Spider-Man film but no one’s favourite.

Pros.

Garfield

Stone

The Lizard

The heart

Cons.

Uncle Ben’s death again

Pacing issues

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Star Wars Visions: T0-B1

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

In the days after the Jedi Purge a droid dreams on a distant world of one day becoming a Jedi Knight.

This along with Tatooine Rhapsody are the worst episodes of Star Wars Visions for sure, this is mainly due to the fact they don’t seem to understand the tone of the show, and instead try and pitch a small children alternative. I am not saying Star Wars isn’t for kids but a lot of the franchise’s content has a certain grit to it, think of The Mandalorian or the live action films, this just doesn’t translate into fare for toddlers which is what this episode goes for.

This is furthered by the art style which again doesn’t fit the aesthetic of the series, of the first six episodes this is easily the worst as everything just looks too clean. Of all the art styles across the episodes I have seen so far this was the hardest one to adjust to.

The story itself aims for heart, but there is nothing of substance here that you have not seen before, and done better. I didn’t really care about any of the characters and found myself questioning just skipping the episode several times over whilst watching.

Overall, poorly judged and certainly a lack of understanding of what Star Wars is.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

None of the characters are memorable

The plot feels been there and done that

The art style is jarring

It doesn’t fit

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Star Wars Visions: The Ninth Jedi

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A Jedi ruler summons a group of force wielders to his planet in hopes of rebuilding the Jedi Order.

I thought this episode had a lot of promise, it could explore the ideas around what it meant to be a Jedi, as well as the pros and the cons of the order itself. Moreover, when the twist of the episode happened and a lot of the force wielders turned out to be dark-side plants there was a lot that could have been done with it: who is this order hunting down Jedis? Are they working for the Empire and or The New Order? However, the episode chooses not to explore any of these themes or ideas and instead just leaves them as they appear at face value which is unsatisfying.

There are some strong moments of tension in the episode but even these are undercut by a sense of unbelievability. Lah Kara, voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki, is supposed to have never swung a lightsaber before yet during the final fight sequence she is easily holding her own against more skilled opponents, this is an issue as it takes away from the peril in these scenes as we know she will survive as she evidently has strong plot armour.

Overall, an episode with promise and good aspects primed for further exploration, but taken as a standalone episode one that is underserved.

Pros.

Interesting questions raised

Strong animation

A few strong action sequences

Cons.

A lack of tension

Underdeveloped ideas/characters

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Venom Let There Be Carnage: The Odd Couple Split Up

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, and Venom, voiced by Tom Hardy, are back and this time they are fighting a new evil symbiote in the form of Woody Harrelson’s Carnage.

I was sorely underwhelmed by this film.

The first was by no means a masterpiece of the craft but it was better than this. The first really cared about its body horror elements and its mature themes and subject matter, this however feels like it is going out of its way to ditch them. The age rating card said there were scenes of horror in this film, and I ask you where were they? I didn’t see them, were they cut? This feels so safe that I don’t see why it didn’t get a lower certificate. Clearly this is being done so they can bring Venom into the MCU.

Continuing on in that form this film feels a lot sillier than the first film and I mean intentionally so, there is far more of the MCU style of humour here and much like with Star Wars it is all the worse for it.

Tom Hardy still feels like he is trying his best but everyone else around him is either underused or just terrible. The near always fantastic Stephen Graham is entirely underserved and is given such a weak part that anyone could have done it, the same can be said for Harrelson’s Carnage. Now I don’t know if Harrelson’s performance wasn’t good or the character was poorly written but there was just nothing to Carnage, the tragic serial killer angle has been done better before and the CGI monster fight at the end has been to. Any actor could easily have taken over the role and probably matched what Harrelson was giving off here.

Finally, the post credits scene is perhaps one of the weakest and most blatant I have ever seen. Going so far as to show us Tom Holland as Spider-Man, and force in a weird scene of Venom licking his face on the screen. In my mind entirely needless.

Overall, don’t waste your money seeing this in a cinema wait for it to come to a streaming platform.

Pros.

Hardy

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Carnage

Why bring back Michelle Williams and then give her nothing to do?

It feels toned down in the worst way

The humour mostly doesn’t work and feels too much like a copy of the MCU

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X-Men Apocalypse: Ripping Up And Ruining Comic Books Over The Space Of Two Hours

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Apocalypse, played by Oscar Issac, awakens in the mid Eighties and tries to take over the world.

This film takes a steaming dump all over the X-Men in many ways. Firstly it brings in fan favourite characters such as Psylocke, played by Olivia Munn, Angel, played by Ben Hardy, and Storm, played by Alexandra Shipp and then barely uses them. Worse still in the case of Angel the film just kills him off. This shows almost a contempt to the lore or the universe as Angel is a character that has had a long and storied comics history and has many places to go, not that this film cares.

Likewise, the film had the perfect inspiration in the Age of Apocalypse storyline from the Nineties yet it doesn’t even bother to draw an influence from that, and instead gives us a mess riddled with needless Eighties nostalgia and horribly used CGI. The final battle in this film is one of the worst realised of any superhero film in terms of its use of CGI, it looks visually repulsive.

The cast across the board isn’t very good with two key exceptions that I will get to, the young actors brought in to play the new version of the X-Men are all terrible with no exceptions, Tye Sheridan and Sophie Turner are particularly poor. Jennifer Lawrence clearly doesn’t want to be there and though normally he is terrific here James McAvoy is sorely underused and as such can’t deliver.

The two good performances and the reason this film doesn’t get lower are Michael Fassbender as Magneto and Evan Peters as Quicksilver. I thought the exploration of the father son dynamic between these two characters was interesting, I would have liked to see the film commit to it rather than just dance around the subject but it framed the film nicely. Of course the slow motion scene with Peters is cool to look at, but it is the emotional scenes where his character shines.

Moreover, the scenes with Magneto as a family man, who then loses his family and breaks bad again are very well done and easily become the highpoint of a deeply mediocre affair.

Overall, the clear start of the decline for the Fox X-Men films.

Pros.

The father son subplot

Fassbender

Cons.

Wasting Oscar Issac

The young cast

The CGI finale mess

A weak plot

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Beverly Hills Cop: In Need Of Sneaking In Somewhere? Bring A Floral Bouquet

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A maverick cop from Detroit, played by Eddie Murphy, heads to Beverly Hills to avenge his friend who was recently killed.

I can see how this was popular and how it inspired a larger franchise. Murphy is at his most charming and likeable here, with enough jokes and heart to keep you engaged throughout. Not all the jokes landed, though enough did that you stayed entertained. Moreover, as far as ‘cops who don’t play by the rules go’ Murphy’s Foley is one of the nicer ones, this makes rooting for him far easier especially now in the era of us questioning the power of the police.

My issues with this film come from the fact that it did nothing new. It felt like just another buddy cop film, if you take out Eddie Murphy the film becomes so generic that it would simply fade to the background of the genre. Throughout the film I was hoping for something to shock me but it didn’t, the film played out exactly as I thought it would.

Overall, it is a fun buddy cop film because of Murphy without him this film is incredibly generic.

Pros.

Murphy

The heart

A few good laughs

Cons.

The supporting cast is largely underused

The film is predictable

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Injustice: Superman, From Boy Scout To Fascist

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Adapting Year One of the Injustice comic run this film imagines a world where the Joker, voiced by Kevin Pollak, gets the last laugh on the heroes by killing Lois Lane, voiced by Laura Bailey, and turning Superman, voiced by Justin Hartley, into a murderous tyrant.

Having read most of the Injustice run I can say that this film gets a lot right. It keeps things simple for the most part, as the comic itself goes into all sorts of crazy directions, which I find works in the film’s favour as you get a neat narrative that is easy to follow whilst also keeping in most of the memorable moments from the comic run.

I enjoyed seeing the Injustice world realised on screen and seeing these groups of heroes facing off against each other, it is a fun game of cat and mouse that is constantly adapting and switching positions. My one complaint in this regard is that the ending of the film wraps things up neatly and doesn’t leave a whole lot open for a sequel, which is a shame as this film could be the start of a few films.

I am glad to see the brutality and gore from The Killing Joke has carried over into this, as the tale really can’t be done justice in a bloodless and child friendly way. This is a dark story for an older audience.

I have two issues with this film that have kept it from achieving full marks, firstly I don’t like the Green Arrow, voiced by Reid Scott, Harley Quinn, voiced by Gillian Jacobs, scenes and secondly it bugged me that this film left out Aquaman, voiced by Phil LaMarr. I understand why they kept in the Green Arrow Harley scenes as the two get a lot of time together in the early days of the comic run but their scenes together really add nothing to the narrative and only feel like they have been included to kill time. Moreover, missing out Aquaman seems like a huge oversight as he is important in the comic run and also leads a country so could have been a good ally to have on side.

Overall, another strong animation from DC.

Pros.

It simplifies the story

The ending

The thrill of heroes fighting

The big moments carry over

Cons.

Leaving out Aquaman

Green Arrow and Harley

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