She-Hulk: Whose Show Is This?

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

She-Hulk, played by Tatiana Maslany, breaks the fourth wall and in doing so ruins everything her own show has been building towards in the pinnacle of lazy writing.

Where to begin with this? I think the most egregious thing this episode does is have its first half be bad on purpose so that Jen can call it out and then break out of the show and go and talk to the writers, acknowledging your own poor writing doesn’t make it any better. Worse still, the choice to have Jen talk to the sentient A.I overlord K.E.V.I.N to fix everything is the ultimate Deus Ex Machina fake out which just throws away everything the season has been building towards in just a few moments.

Why does the episode do this? Well because in its bad headed own way the show thinks this is funny, it thinks by crapping all over other Marvel films and shows endings that they are in on the joke and that by having it all magically tie itself up that that is clever subversion. Marvel would do well to remember how well subversion by Rian Johnson in Star Wars was taken. Also to make this all so much worse the jokes don’t actually land at all and for the most part are back to the early season cringe wine mum jokes. If this show has taught me anything it is that writer Jessica Gao really wants to appear down with the kids when in her every attempt she translates this into being cringe, moreover her heavy handed political comments only make this cringe issue all the worse.

The ending of the episode has to bring back Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, and Daredevil, played by Charlie Cox to try and leave us on a positive note, but even here we are reminded that this show was only ever good when it was relying on cameos from other characters that people actually like.

Overall, boy oh boy Marvel screwed the pooch on this one.

Pros.

Jen’s line about the X-Men

Bring back Daredevil for a few brief scenes

Cons.

It is cringe

It throws out everything that the series has been setting up

The meta joke mostly don’t work

It feels gimmicky throughout

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The Blues Brothers: Singing For Their Supper, Which In This Case Is A Catholic Orphanage

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two blood brothers set out on a mission to save the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up. To do this they must put on a musical fundraising performance.

I have had this film on my watchlist for some time and now after seeing it I can see why so many people like it. Though I didn’t think this film was by any means perfect there was enough about it that I enjoyed to make my watching it worthwhile.

I think the film really nailed both the heart and the comedy of its story as it made me both feel and laugh, though I would say the humour was hit or miss and not all of the jokes landed. On top of that when watching this film one has to be in awe of all the musical talent on display as there are some real heavy hitters in this film.

My main issue with this film is that the narrative arc feels overly familiar, and yes whilst this came out a while ago so may have been fresh at the time I doubt it. In addition the film is frequently predictable and goes exactly as you would expect it to.

Overall, it is fun and worth a watch but also very familiar and predictable.

Pros.

It is very watchable

A few funny jokes

Belushi and Aykroyd

The musical talent

Cons.

It is overly familiar and predictable

It also has pacing issues

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Vengeance: Things Are Different In Texas

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Ben, played by B.J Novak, heads to Texas to investigate the murder of his one night stand.

Honestly, I think this film has been a little overhyped. Some of the praise I had heard about this film being a ground-breaking first feature for Novak and that it really went to some interesting places seem to have been misplaced. I thought the mystery was okay, average at best, but certainly nothing to write home about in the way something like Knives Out was. The commentary on life and where we are all going is incredibly pedestrian and seems to think it has something new to say when in fact it is just the same old same old.

Sadly for Novak what makes his film good are the supporting performances that in no uncertain terms upstage his performance. Boyd Holbrook and Ashton Kutcher both deliver really strong performances that make this film what it is. Holbrook is incredibly warm and likeable and Kutcher makes for a villain that is both evil but also at times talking some sense.

Overall, fine if forgettable.

Pros.

Holbrook

Kutcher

It is very watchable

Cons.

It has nothing to say

The mystery is deeply average and nothing particularly new

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The Lost King: A Love For The Past

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The story of how one woman with a passion, played by Sally Hawkins, found a lost British King.

I think in many ways this film was very needed, it gave a voice to a story that is mostly unknown to a lot of people and where it is known it is known by the University of Leicester’s false narrative that they were behind the whole thing, which as this film proves they weren’t. In that respect this film gives us Phillipa Langley’s true story and that is important.

Moreover, the film really does go out of its way to make the academics of Leicester Uni into quite hateable villains, and whether in reality this was earned or not personally I don’t know enough to comment, however, here it nicely work to show Phillipa’s underdog struggle.

My main issue with the film is that it is widely depressing. I know that this film is based on real events and that the film is just trying to retell them sad, happy and everything in-between, but for the most part we are shown just how bad Phillipa’s life is and whilst that makes her incredibly easy to root for it also doesn’t make for pleasant viewing. Prepare to watch something happy after this one.

Overall, an important film, but also a depressing one.

Pros.

Giving a voice to the voiceless

A strong underdog story

Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan are both really strong

Cons.

It is depressing

Pacing issues

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The Greatest Beer Run Ever: Friends Are Worth Risking It All For

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The true story of John ‘Chickie’ Donohue’s, here played by Zac Efron, efforts to support his friends fighting in Vietnam.

This film really wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, I thought based on the name and comedy work that Efron has put out that this film would be raunchy, dumb and more than a little gross out, but in actual fact it is actually quite emotionally engaging and complex. Whilst it is hard to call this film a comedy as it isn’t funny, it is a film with a surprisingly big heart.

I thought Efron was on great form here, this film gave him a number of ample opportunities to flex his dramatic muscles and he pulls this off nicely, conveying the horrors going on around him and the anguish he feels for all to see. In that vein I think this film really does show us the undercurrent of the Vietnam war and doesn’t hold back in its brutality.

Russell Crowe and Bill Murray make supporting turns here to varying degrees of success. Crowe is a very welcome presence and plays off of Efron well when on screen together whereas Murray is seemingly pigeonholed into the old timer who thinks things should go back to how they were in his day. Though it is always nice to see Murray pop up on screen, here he is very much not utilised.

Overall, a surprisingly sweet film.

Pros.

Efron

The message

Showing the horrors of the war

Crowe

Cons.

It wastes Bill Murray

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Out Of Office: A Real Work Family

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Eliza, played by Milana Vayntrub, quickly comes to realise that the key to her new job is keeping her boss’s marriage alive, no easy task.

Whilst I didn’t think this film was a laugh out loud hit a minute I did think there was enough charm and heart to make it well worth watching. I mainly watched this film as I am a big fan of Ken Jeong, who plays Vayntrub’s characters boss, and he certainly is the main selling point of the film, he manages to be both quite funny whilst also being vulnerable and emotionally layered. Vayntrub is a capable lead and brings a lot of warmth to the role, you quickly warm to her character and feel some kinship towards her, I would have liked it if the film had taken more time to fully explore her character.

My main criticism of the film would be that it was too breezy. Though the film is very watchable and mostly entertaining you will be hard pressed to note anything that happens in it because nothing really does it is just a series of characters having chats and then that’s it. They try and develop out some character arcs but it most cases these feel underdeveloped it wouldn’t be so bad if it was the start of a TV series or multi movie arc, but as it is it feels shallow at best.

Overall, very watchable but also quite forgettable.

Pros.

It is very watchable

A few good jokes

Jeong and Vayntrub

Cons.

It feels too breezy

More character development is needed

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Dumbbells: Anyone Can Be A Reality Star

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A former basketball star, played by Brian Drolet, now working at a gym has to face change when said gym is turned into the setting for a reality show.

This is an entirely new cut of Dumbbells which is apparently reimagined, I have not seen the first film though, so this was my first time viewing it in any form.

I thought for the most part the comedy worked, Eric Andre is always funny and the rest of the cast do try to give him a run for his money to mixed results. I would say the comedy of this film is more hit than miss, I often found myself laughing which is a good sign.

Though I found the film more broadly as a whole quite easy to relate to, I would say that the lead character is in no way the same. I would argue it was more a scripting issue, but Drolet’s lead never really comes across as someone audiences can warm to or even like, the character feels very vapid and irritating and this hurts his journey as by the end you are just happy that you don’t have to spend anymore time with the character.

Overall, for the most part I enjoyed my time with this film.

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She-Hulk: Ribbit And Rip It

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

She-Hulk finally brings in Daredevil, played by Charlie Cox, and it produces one of the best episodes of Marvel Disney + content yet.

This was a magnificent episode, Tatiana Maslany was great and so was Charlie Cox. The central case of the episode really did just play second fiddle to the blossoming relationship between Jen and Matt, which by the way when that hit it was the biggest fist in the air moment ever. I think Jen is at her most likeable here and you really do feel for her when Matt goes back to New York. I personally hope that maybe in the last episode she moves out their and starts her own practice and the two can explore things a bit more, but hey maybe that is just a fan fiction dream.

I also really enjoyed the end of the episode were things took a sharp dark turn. At first I was about to role my eyes that the big villain of the series is an organisation of incels, but then I thought about it and realised that it was actually perfect. The fact that not only do they steal Jen’s blood but they also try and slut shame her makes the fight so personal, and I really liked the fact that we saw her truly hulk out at the end, my one note is that I would have liked to see her go way more savage like full on berserker, but I guess this isn’t the audience for that.

Overall, this episode made up for all the wine mum jokes, all the awkward feminist rants, all of the man hating and the god awful mess they made of Titania.

Pros.

Jen really comes into her own here

The surprisingly dark twist at the end of the episode

Seeing Jen sort of hulk out

Bringing in Daredevil

Jen and Matt were a great couple

Cons.

I would have liked to see Jen go way more hardcore at the end of the episode

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Bros: Insulting Your Audience

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The first big studio rom-com to feature same sex leads, if you ignore Love Simon and a few others.

Honestly I just didn’t think this film was very funny. Somewhere in between all the jokes about how straight people are lame and the gross out sex gags I found myself questioning why for such an important film for a number of reasons they didn’t do their best to at least give it a good script and a few passable jokes. The humour of this film is at times aggressively unfunny and by that I mean that the film is actively angry at you for not laughing along with it, thinking that every joke made is the peak of comedy and that you are just a philistine for not laughing.

Another thing going against this film is the star Billy Eichner. Now I have seen Eichner before in a few other things and I stand by the idea that in small doses his particular shtick is funny, however, being exposed to it for over an hour proves to be unbearable. Additionally, Eichner’s character really isn’t particularly likeable and I found it hard to root for his happiness. Adding to that are the comments Eichner has made post release wherein he has said the reason the film has underperformed is not because of a weak script or unfunny jokes but because audiences are homophobic. Though this is true to an extent, it reeks of someone on the defensive lashing out because their ego got hurt, it also does nothing to make an audience want to see the movie because why support a star who is calling them names?

Overall, this film is important there is no doubt about that, but sadly what we got was incredibly mediocre with a leading man who is ill suited to the task.

Pros.

It is an important step forward for diversity within film

It is watchable

Cons.

Eichner is no leading man

It is unfunny

It has terrible pacing

It repeatedly lampoons straight people and then expects that audience to come out and support the film.

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She-Hulk: The Retreat

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Tatiana Maslany, heads to a retreat for a few days to try and get over the fact a guy she likes hasn’t text her back.

Once again the show promised Daredevil and didn’t deliver, like I have said before I am now convinced that he won’t show up until a post credits scene in the final episode and he will have been used to try and draw in audiences who don’t care about a show about a whiny, spoilt white girl who has a series of wine mom issues and first world problems.

I would say however in favour of this episode that it is probably one of the better ones of the series and has Jen actually think about how she views herself which I thought was interesting to see. I liked the character growth she got, and thought that bringing back Tim Roth’s Abomination was a very good idea. Fun was had.

I didn’t like that during her therapy scenes they used actual tweets about the She-Hulk show as why she feels bad about herself, as I think this just makes the show look petty. Likewise I also think it is a bad look when one of the main stars of the show Jameela Jamil has to go on the record saying about how much the show has upset men, as though all criticism against the show is sexist. It makes the whole production look like it has a chip on its shoulder.

Another thing that I thought was bad, please do believe though I am finding all these negatives with the episodes it probably is one of the better ones, is the fact that Jen’s latest potential love interest is revealed to be a villain. This continues the shows obsession with every none established male character having to be bad or incompetent in some way, though I suppose her therapy buddies do kind of balance things out on that front.

Overall, better but still not good, luckily there is only a few episodes left.

Pros.

Maslany and the focus on Jen

Bringing back Roth

The therapy scenes

Cons.

Still no Daredevil

Continued man bashing

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