Star Wars Visions: In The Stars

Summary

Two sisters attempt to restore water to their devastated world

Much like episode 2 I found this episode to be depressing, and I know Star Wars can be depressing and can do it well look at Andor, however, even within the confines of that show there is an underlying hopefulness as the Rebellion is beginning to from, here things start out incredibly bleak and don’t get better until the end of the episode.

I thought the characters were fine, I didn’t really warm to either sister, and thought that their arc of one being naïve and plucky and the other guarded and jaded had been done better in the past. I understand where the episode wanted their arcs to go and it roughly got there but I think more work was needed to do it well.

I am finding with this second season of Visions that pacing is really becoming an issue either the idea isn’t developed enough and needs more time to tell its story or the idea is too long and needs to be better cut down. The whole season thus far could do with some better editing.

Overall, fairly boring and generic.

2/5

Pros.

A solid premise

Seeing the wide reaches of the Empire

Cons.

It is underdeveloped and the character arcs needed more time

The sister’s don’t stand out as characters and feel too familiar in terms of personality

It feels depressing and not fun to watch

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Star Wars Visions: Screecher’s Reach

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of children straight from the workhouse explore a cave system and come across an old Sith who has gone mad and is thought of by the locals as a ghost, little do the children know they have stumbled into a much darker game.

This episode was certainly not what I was bargaining for, in many senses this episode was deeply unsettling outright creepy. Normally I wouldn’t have an issue with this but in the context of the show and what Star Wars is this came across as being far too different.

Now the whole point of this show is to try and play around with Star Wars and do new things, however, I think it is a balancing act between doing something new that still feels like the brand at the same time. This I would argue crossed that line and no longer felt like Star Wars

The Sith Mother, who is the real villain behind the whole episode was a very intriguing figure that I have not been able to stop thinking about since watching this, there was just something so off-kilter and incredibly sinister about her that makes her interesting. I hope the wider Star Wars lore comes back to her at some point.

Overall, depressing and unsettling not really what I want out of a Star Wars show.

1.5/5

Pros.

The Sith Mother was interesting

It has great animation

Cons.

It is bleak

It doesn’t feel like Star Wars

It is unsettling

The narrative needed greater explanation

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Star Wars Visions: Sith

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A former Sith apprentice must face off against her old master in order to regain control over her own life.

I liked the focus on the Sith, it was nice to see them as something more than just the outright villains they are often shown as. Although the Sith shown here are still definitely villains. I also thought the focus of the grey area in between the light and dark sides of the Force was an interesting avenue for the episode to approach thematically, and I liked where they went with it.

My issues with this episode however were twofold.

Firstly, I wasn’t a fan of the animation style, the water colour esque aesthetic just didn’t work for me and I found it to be distracting. I understand the point of this show is to do different things and be experimental but this felt a little bit too abstract at times for me.

Secondly, I thought the episode was fairly sparse on context or dialogue, and though I am not saying I wanted long scenes of exposition but a lot of this episode’s narrative was told through your own inference rather than the show telling you what is happening. This approach definitely is appreciated in that it treats the audience as adults but also at the same time adds to this artsy, abstract, interpretative feel to the episode that just didn’t work for me.

Overall, a mixed start to the new batch of episodes.

3/5

Pros.

I liked the focus on the Sith

I also appreciated the comments and themes of moral ambiguity and grey areas of the Force

It was an interesting premise

Cons.

The animation style didn’t work for me

The show but don’t tell approach was taken to too far of an extreme here

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Paradise PD, Was A Man Killing Cats Ever Funny?

Written by Luke Barnes

I want to use this piece to talk about the latest season of Paradise PD and the idea of mean spirited humour.

I want to open this up by saying humour is totally subjective so what works or doesn’t work for me might work or not work for you, I am not saying my opinions on what is and isn’t funny are definitive this is simply an opinion piece.

Recently I sat down to watch the most recent season of Paradise PD on Netflix after having watched all of the previous seasons, however, unlike with those seasons I was barely able to make it more than one episode into the new season.

Now why was that? Well though the show has always had mean humour in a similar vein to something like Family Guy and I found with this most recent season that all the characters are just so unlikeable and hateable that I find it hard to watch. There is no reason to watch something when you hate every single one of the characters, is there?

Worse yet in a lot of the cases I find that the characters are hateful for no other reason than to be edgy. That complaint has been levelled against this show since day one and for the most part I ignored it, but now it is too much to ignore, this show is edgy for the sake of it and rather than be cool as the creators probably want it to be it just feels try hardy. Look at a recent adult animation like Little Demon it had a lot of gross out gags and edgy humour but it also had an engaging story, deeper themes and characters you didn’t hate. It didn’t have the character living in the anus of an inbred baby for a joke.

I don’t know dear reader, I don’t know whether this season is any worse than the last few but I do know that it was finally the time wherein I saw the worse side of this show and stopped watching. Maybe I have changed or maybe it is simply the fact that watching a man kill cats and then do a musical number with them isn’t funny.

Hopefully Netflix cancels this show soon.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Bring On The Luigi’s Mansion Spin-Off

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two Italian-American plumbers, voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, fall through a magical sewer pipe and end up in the Mushroom Kingdom. Adventure awaits.

So the initial bad reviews of this film seemed to want it to be something it was never going to be, it was always going to be silly and with a fairly predictable story that reflected a lot of game elements and that is exactly what this film is.

Yes there are some jarring elements like Chris Pratt’s accent, which drifts in and out over the course of the film, and the random song mid-way through, but on the whole there is nothing bad here. In many ways it is a very serviceable and accessible entry into the world of Mario and has a number of memorable moments and characters.

Funnily enough Mario himself was probably the least interesting character here, as he was a fairly standard main character out to prove himself, prove his father wrong and get the girl. However, said girl Princess Peach to be exact, voiced by Anya-Taylor Joy, Donkey Kong, voiced by Seth Rogen and Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day, are all terrific. I like that the film expands each one as a character and tries to dig deeper into them rather than just presenting them in fairly obvious archetypal roles. A confusing move the film makes is having Mario and Donkey Kong be friends, which then negates Donkey Kong as a Mario antagonist later down the road, as he was in the games, though a heel turn is always possible.

I would definitely say that if you are a fan of the games you will get more out of this film, as though it is not incredibly reference heavy there are a number of nods and background character appearances that fans of the game can enjoy and which sometimes hint at future things to come in the inevitable sequel.

Overall, fun, but not perfect.

3/5

Pros.

Day, Taylor-Joy and Rogen

Expanding on the supporting characters in interesting ways

The references and nods to the games

Cons.

Pratt and his inconsistent accent

It is badly paced.

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Mummies: The Fight Back Against The British Museum

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A trio of mummies travel from their land of the dead into the human world.

It was nice to see an animated film that was a, not from Disney and b, didn’t feel incredibly American. It was nice that this film had more of a British feel to it, certainly it added a certain sense of charm that no doubt boosted my likelihood of enjoying the film.

I think Joe Thomas did a really good job of anchoring the film and was easily the best voice actor of the bunch, outside of Sean Bean as one could never surpass him. For the most part the voice cast was used well, it was strange that the female lead had a different voice for talking and singing and wider still that they used a white voice actor for the talking voice and an African American R and B artist for the singing voice, it feels problematic.

The songs for the most part aren’t good and feel like they were just added into boost the runtime of the film, which is very short even with them, the only one that was good, in my subjective opinion, was the final rendition of Walk Like An Egyptian.

Overall, a fine Easter holiday distraction for kids, with enough British charm to keep everyone interested.

3/5

Pros.

Thomas and Bean

It is funny

It certainly has British charm

Cons.

It is a noticeable different when the film swaps between the female leads talking voice and singing voice

The story feels very familiar

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Star Wars The Bad Batch: Plan 99

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Bad Batch faces their darkest day.

I thought this episode felt very impactful, but at the same time I can’t help but be a little let down by it.

The good first. It was nice to see Tech get one final hero moment, it was so clear the season was building to his death, but I didn’t see that until after it had happened. The death was quite emotional and had me welling up a bit whilst watching it, for what it is worth I don’t think he is dead and think he will be back next season. Look at Echo and Maul.

I also thought it was nice to see the Batch finally get their will to fight back at the end of the episode, even if it did take them being betrayed and having Omega kidnapped in order to do it. I think the next season really does need to have the Batch be fighting back against the Empire and less focused on this idea of retiring, they need to accept that Echo was right.

Now the bad. I didn’t like the fact that other than a quick look in at the end of the episode Crosshair barely appeared in this two part season finale. In my head I thought he would escape with the Batch or at least die saving them but no he just stayed strapped to a table the whole time. I found the whole thing very disappointing.

Overall, a good season finale that sets up a lot of interesting things to come, but I found the lack of Crosshair disappointing.

4/5

Pros.

What it sets up

The emotional impact of Tech’s death

The Batch finally getting their groove back

Sid’s betrayal

Cons.

A distinct lack of Crosshair

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Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Summit

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Bad Batch attempt to rescue Crosshair and the other imprisoned clones.

In many senses this episode was anti-climactic.

My main issue with this episode is how it can’t stand on its own and exists almost only to prop up the final episode. Adding to that is the fact that a lot of the things that happen in this episode feel forced, it feels like plot contrivance after plot contrivance all to get the Batch to a specific point despite the fact that they aren’t behaving like they normally would do at any point along the way.

I quite like Saw Guerra as a character and think there is a lot to explore there with his ideology, as such I was happy to see him show up in this episode. However, his whole attitude towards the Batch and how he just happened to be there at the exact same time felt incredibly poorly set up and again to repeat the word of the day contrived.

Overall, a weaker episode made to set up what comes next without having enough to stand on its own.

3/5

Pros.

Returning faces

Hemlock and Tarkin

The things to come

Cons.

It feels contrived

The characters aren’t behaving like themselves

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Star Wars The Bad Batch: Tipping Point

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Crosshair sends a warning to his old friends.

I thought this episode was one of the best so far, and it was so, so nice to have this after last week’s incredibly slow episode. I think this was a powerful episode on a number of levels, as it showed both the evils of the Empire but also how far the character development of Crosshair has come as not only does he defy the Empire but also tries to warn his old teammates.

Moreover, I am also very excited to see the return of Echo and see further insights into the clone rebellion and how they are fighting back against the Empire. I would like to see a spin off focusing on Echo or Rex and the clone fightback, or failing that I would like to see the Batch at the end of the season join the fight back against the Empire.

The one thing I would say about this episode in a negative sense is that it is very heavy and depressing. Which for me worked as I prefer the episodes of this show where they try and take a darker tone and deal with deeper issues, but could also be quite off putting to some, The torture scenes involving Crosshair were quite surprising in how far they went with it.

Overall, another great episode and it is nice to see a return to stakes after last week’s diversion.

4.5/5

Pros.

The darker tone for me

The emotions

Crosshair’s character journey

Seeing the clone rebellion

It is nice to have the Batch back together again

Cons.

It was quite dark and some people might find that off putting

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Star Wars The Bad Batch: Pabu

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Clone Force 99 finally get some peace.

This was not a good week for Star Wars between the long needless aside on the Mandalorian and then this episode of The Bad Batch, I haven’t been so bored watching Star Wars in a long time. I think what makes this episode so much the worse is the fact that last week’s episode ended on a cliff hanger for Crosshair, which not only wasn’t addressed here but we got an incredibly filler episode about the Batch finding a home and letting Omega be a kid for a while.

I think it is pretty clear that this peace will be short lived, but I have to say there was very little actual peril in the episode at all, yes you had the threat from the sea but that was incredibly low bar. I just think that with the excellent run of episodes up until this one that teased some pretty major things to come this massive step back was not only a misstep but also a move that entirely ruined the momentum the series had been accruing.

The best thing this episode did was have Sid finally go fully villainess, it was a long time coming and I am glad that with her betrayal of the Batch likely quickly incoming that it means she won’t be in the show for much longer as she has long, long outstayed her welcome on the show.

Overall, an incredibly slow episode that ruined a lot of the momentum the show had going for it.

2/5

Pros.

Sid’s turn to villainy

It was watchable

Cons.

It is far too slow

It feels like filler

There is no sense of threat

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