The Adam Project: Possibly Ryan Reynold’s Best Performance

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Pilot Adam Reed, played by Ryan Reynolds, goes back in time to stop the invention of time travel, along the way he encounters his younger self, played by Walker Scobell.

I thought this was the best Ryan Reynolds performance I have seen in a long time, mainly this was due to the fact that he distances himself from his Deadpool-era quips and plays the role in a mostly straight, earnest way. There is a very believable emotional depth to Reynolds’ performance here that really resonates with you.

In that vein, I think the biggest strength of this film is the fact that it wears its heart on it’s sleeve and focuses on family dynamics and emotions between the characters. There are various different dimensions that the film approaches this from such as father-son relations as well as mother-son relations, which is refreshingly modern and fresh. There is also quite a lot of nuance and complexity to the relationship between the two Adams.

The only area wherein I would criticise this film is that its science fiction narrative feels very generic and uninspired, we have all seen this before and as such it remains unsurprising.

Overall, a very sweet and earnest film that is in some ways held back by its science fiction premise.

Pros.

Reynolds

Garner

Ruffalo

The emotion

Cons.

Pacing issues

The premise is fairly been there, done that.

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Jurassic World: The Heels That Sparked A Conversation Around The World

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Summary

No franchise is ever allowed to end anymore, as such it was only a matter of time before the Jurassic Park franchise got the soft-reboot treatment.

I remember I watched this a few times when it first came out at the cinema, I am by no means a big Jurassic Park fan, but I do find the films to be good popcorn fare. They aren’t challenging, but they never needed to be.

There is always something exciting about watching a CGI dinosaur cause havoc, however, that is offset when you force in human characters that are so bland that you can’t remember their names seconds after the credits roll.

Chris Pratt is just playing his usual cool guy action role and doing nothing even remotely close to acting, and though Bryce Dallas Howard fares slightly better her character is ridiculous in all the wrong ways, the decision to have the character run in heels is still baffling to me.

Overall, it is easier to watch and less objectionable than its sequel but it is never more than forgettable.

Pros.

It is watchable

There is fun to be had

The spectacle

Cons.

The human characters

It is very forgettable

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Battleship: Rihanna Won’t Be Winning An Oscar Any Time Soon.

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Aliens invade and of course it is down to the US Navy to save us all.

I will give this film props for actually making a full fledge film out of a board game, though the story is nothing new or novel it is serviceable and it gives me hope for future films being based on boardgames, of which there are many.

Moreover, this film features one of my favourite actors Taylor Kitsch, who has never been given the recognition he deserves which is a shame as he is genuinely good a lot of the time. Here is no exception, Kitsch brings a lot of energy to the part and perfectly captures the everyman hero vibe.

Sadly, that is were the praise ends. For the most part the wider supporting cast is wasted and reduced to stereotypes, however that is not the case for Rihanna’s Cora Raikes, who is featured prominently especially towards the end of the film, by the end of it you realise what a mistake that is as Rihanna is a very poor actor. To me this just felt like an ego trip for Rihanna, she wanted to be an actor so her star-power bought her a role, this is a shame as a less famous but much more talented actor could have done a lot with the part.

Furthermore, the aliens themselves look awful. The CGI is not just bad but also overused resulting in a horrifying and upsetting spectacle.

Overall, Kitsch is good and there is some fun to be had but really there was no need to make a film based on the boardgame Battleship and this film proves that.

Pros.

Kitsch

Some fun to be had

Cons.

Rihanna

The aliens

It is generic and dull

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The Book Of Boba Fett: In The Name Of Honor

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The war between Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, and the Pike Syndicate finally comes to blows.

This was one hell of a mixed bag.

On the one hand you had the Grogu and Din, played by Pedro Pascal, stuff, which was really sweet and well done and honestly also quite effecting. As well as some great action set pieces that felt intense and bloody, and had a nice heft to them that helped you forget you were in Disney era star wars where blasters are set to stun half the time.

However, on the other and infinitely worse hand you had the Mods at their most insufferable, lecturing Boba Fett, an experienced mercenary, on battle tactics and social justice and being far too prominent during the final battle. The social justice message of the Mods really makes me dislike them, and it takes me out of the show and makes me feel like Hollywood Z listers are talking down to the fans. I understand that Robert Rodriguez likes to push diversity in his kids films now, and for the most part that is admirable and well done, but here it is forced down your throat by characters that never fit into the universe. Also surely if it was a diverse street gang they would have at least some alien members? No? That seems well thought through.

Moreover, this episode has Boba learn that it was in fact the pikes that killed his beloved Tuscan Raider tribe, yet can he avenge them? No, no he can’t. Instead the show has to once again take the action and badass moment away from Fett and give it to Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na Wen, which feels illogical and like a slap in the face to anyone invested in the show. To not give this to Boba means his character journey is not ended in any meaningful way.

Finally, and perhaps most egregiously of all they kill off Cobb Vanth, played by Timothy Olyphant, off-screen…… The last episode had him survive his injuries, what happened? Honestly this made me want to turn off the finale.

Overall, Boba Fett spent more time in a bacta tank then doing anything even remotely cool.

Pros.

Grogu

The action

Cons.

The Mods

Cad Bane’s awful death that looked hilariously bad

Not finishing Boba’s character arc

Cobb Vanth

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Moonfall: The Height Of Originality

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

There is an evil alien force inside the moon that is pushing it out of orbit and onto a collision course with the Earth, however, have no fear as there are a group of Americans ready to save the planet.

I think it is nothing short of the best joke of the year so far that the director of this film Roland Emmerich had a go at the MCU for lacking originality, and then made this film. A highly derivative disaster film. What makes this lack of originality even worse is that this doesn’t even seem to be Emmerich ripping off other better films, no, he is ripping off his own films. How lazy can you get.

Moreover, the pacing of the film is awful. It is so littered with sub-plots and pointless characters that you almost forget about the moon stuff half of the time. There are also constant references to ‘our friends the Chinese’ which feel quite clearly forced in to pander to the China market, as no studio in Hollywood has a soul.

However, the film is saved somewhat by being so dumb that you just have to laugh. More often than not the film is unintentionally hilarious, and John Bradley shines as the comedic standout here with a few deliberately funny lines of solid cringe comedy. I also thought the film nailed emotional impacts when it went for them such as in the final sacrifice scene.

Another thing I would give this props for is it’s unhinged third act that takes all the conspiracy theories you are likely to see on your parent’s Facebook, now Meta, page and crams them all together to create something that whilst being a mess works for the sheer strangeness of it.

Overall, it is watchable but not good. Quite a mixed bag.

Pros.

Bradley

The cringe comedy

The ending and wider third act

Cons.

It is dumb

It panders to the Chinese

It has awful pacing

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The Book Of Boba Fett: From The Desert Comes A Stranger

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Mandalorian season 3 continues on with a silent cameo from Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison.

I think this may have been the best episode of the series yet. Admittedly much like with last week’s episode it is concerning that the episode without Fett in them pretty much at all are the best ones, considering this is Boba Fett’s show. In my mind this has now just become The Mandalorian but under a different name.

I think this episode does a lot right, I enjoyed that it brought back Timothy Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth, Olyphant can do no wrong and he was on fire in this episode. Likewise I thought they nailed the emotional reunion between Din, played by Pedro Pascal, and Grogu: though not much of a reunion took place. I thought the episode’s cliff-hanger cruelly played with our emotions in the best way, though I have a fairly good feeling I know where it is all heading.

The things I don’t enjoy about this episode all come back to the same thing, the effects. Ashoka, played by Rosario Dawson makes a return to the show and continues to look like a cosplayer, there is something deeply uncanny about the way her character looks as she moves, especially when there is a focus on her talking. It is quite jarring. Moreover, the bad effects continue with the return of a de-aged Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, and the less said about this the better. What I will say is that every time the character talked or we got a close up of his face it looked like a video game cut scene from over ten years ago, there were major issues with the dubbing. The de-aging tech clearly isn’t there yet and I really don’t think they should be showing this much Luke Skywalker if it is going to look this bad. In a final example of horrendous special effects this episode marks Cade Bane’s, played by Dorian Kingi and voiced by Corey Burton, first appearance in live action and my word does he look terrible.

Overall, in terms of emotions and action this episode is ahead of the pack sadly the tech and the effects really stop the episode from being perfect.

Pros.

More Mando

The emotion

Bringing back Olyphant

The ending

Cons.

The effects and the look of some of the characters

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The Book Of Boba Fett: Return Of The Mandalorian

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Mando, played by Pedro Pascal, returns in search of a new ship and a new purpose.

This is a good episode, perhaps even the best of the series so far, sadly it doesn’t even feature Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, thereby side-lining him in his own show. Really this episode reminds us all of how much we have missed Mando and how poor of a replacement Boba is for him. The scene in which Mando despatches a large group of enemies in a brutal fight, woefully contrasts with the moments in prior episodes when the weaker Fett gets beat up and has to use his minions to fight on his behalf.

Though I liked seeing Mando again, and found it heart warming to see him set off on a new quest to give Grogu some beskar armour, it did all feel a bit like filler. The latter half of the episode when Mando is just looking for a new ship drags on and on and eats up runtime. Moreover, the Mando storyline is only used to kill the remaining episodes until we get to the final as clearly they have realised people don’t want any more boring flashbacks from Boba.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode more than a lot of the others, but after I finished it I was sad as this really shows the failure of the series as the best episode didn’t feature the protagonist at all.

Pros.

Mando is always great

The edge and the violence is back

It actually feels like Star Wars

The new Grogu quest

Cons.

It feels like filler

It highlights how The Book Of Boba Fett has failed

It doesn’t feature Fett

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The Book Of Boba Fett: The Gathering Storm

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An almost entirely flashback set episode, that explains how Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, and Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na-Wen, came to be associates.

For the most part this was an enjoyable episode, I liked most of the flashback stuff and it was nice to see that journey come to an end. I would have liked to see Boba do more during the reclaiming of his armour and ship action wise, but the show seems to only allow Fennec to do the action set pieces. She is cool, but this is supposed to be a Boba Fett show. That said I thought seeing Boba gun down the bikers who killed his Tusken tribe was a nice moment, and showed the character’s harder side better.

I can’t quite move on from the flashback scenes until I talk about the return of the horrible cyberpunk elements. So during the episode Boba takes a near death Fennec to a modifier to try and save her life, whilst there he is surrounded once again by bad cyberpunk cosplayers that remind you of the budget for the show. To make matters worse they play some god awful techno during this scene which feels incredibly out of place in Star Wars.

The present day stuff is all a big tease, but an exciting one at that. We see the character preparing for war with the pikes and see a familiar face return. I enjoyed all this well enough and hope that the next episode is truly crazy in order to make up for the tameness and general lameness of the series so far in most aspects.

Overall, a nice episode though it would be better if Boba actually did something and didn’t just let Fennec do everything.

Pros.

Ending the flashbacks

Teasing the war to come

Seeing how Boba became the crime lord

Boba breaking bad slightly

Cons.

Boba does nothing during the action scenes and is further watered down

The cyberpunk elements

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The Book Of Boba Fett: The Streets Of Mos Espa

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, hangs out with some poorly designed cosplayers, gets beat up whilst in his underwear and the Pikes invade.

My, my just when I thought the series was heading in the right direction we get this.

So the Tusken Raider plot line ends very abruptly and with no real closure…. What was the point of building it up so much over the last few episodes if you were just going to have them massacred off screen? I suppose it is leading to some kind of showdown between Boba and their killers but honestly it just feels like it took a moment that could have been really emotionally important for the show and chose to cut it out.

Moreover, everything about the new rainbow vespa gang that Boba Fett befriends this episode is embarrassing. Their design is awful, they don’t look like they fit in the universe, they don’t advance the plot, the CGI used for them isn’t up to snuff, I could go on. It just seems like these characters were forced in so Boba could have underlings and as an incredibly cynical and cheap attempt to boost the shows diversity.

I have written at length about how this show is far too family friendly and is seemingly scared to have Boba Fett actually behave like himself and fight back or even kill, he is only allowed to kill monsters by this show’s rules, and this episode proves that to a tee. Not only is Boba depowered here, we watch this master of hand to hand combat get whooped in his underpants needing to be saved by his new cyber punk friends and honestly it makes the character some what of a joke.

Don’t get me started on the emotional support rancor.

The only reason this episode isn’t getting lower is because I am interested in the Pike war to come and I like the tease of that.

Overall, this show is really starting to show its cracks.

Pros.

The Pikes both in the past and present

The tease for what is to come

Cons.

It almost character assassinates Boba Fett

It wastes the build up of the Tusken storyline

The cyberpunk cosplay biker gang

It has pacing issues and is again too short

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The Book Of Boba Fett: Tribes Of Tatooine

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, faces challenges to his rule and plans a Tusken Raiders upgrade.

So this episode was better than episode one in that it felt properly paced and had stakes, two very basic asks I known. However, that is not to say it was a strong episode rather that it advanced the show in an uphill direction, hopefully next week can continue this.

I enjoyed Fett’s tense standoff with the Hutt Twins, I thought it was nice to see the coming conflict and the whole scene felt suitably tense, they did a good job with the effects as well here which was nice. However, I would say that the present timeline could have done with a little more, because from here the rest of the episode continues on with the Tusken flashbacks, which are fine but maybe starting to run out of steam at this point.

I also liked the feel of this episode as it felt more grimy and underworld esque, which is how the show should always have been. I still feel like Boba is pulling his punches and the lack of blood is still dampening the action sequences for me though, this needs to change in the next episode.

Overall, better but still not what you would want from a show about the Star Wars criminal underworld.

Pros.

The Hutt standoff

A nice pace

A sense of coming conflict

Cons.

The Tusken flashbacks are getting a bit much

It still feels too family friendly

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