Real Rob: Netflix Is Just Giving Money Away These Days, Stop Giving The Sand-Pack Money

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So you might know Rob Schneider as one of Adam Sandler’s lesser entourage members, or as a vocal anti-vax figure. Regardless he was given his own Netflix series and rather unsurprisingly it is bad.

I won’t get into all the ways it is troubling, the vague racism, the rather overt sexism and slut shaming, the ableist comments- the list is long and dripping in bad taste. However, I will say that the character or version of himself that Schneider is playing is deeply unlikable, and only serves to lose him any potential fans the series would have won him. There are moments in this series when it genuinely seems like Schneider actively wants people not to like him.

The jokes don’t land, and as this is a comedy series that is a pretty big issue. Not only do they not land they rely on the same old, used and often incorrect cliches and stereotypes that mare the Sand-Pack’s work.

The one bright spot of the series is Schneider’s wife Patricia who actually manages to be funny a few times over the series run, which for this series is nothing short of a miracle. Patricia easily manages to out-do her husband at nearly every opportunity, but sadly the show side-lines her either using her as the butt of the joke or as something to ogle.

Overall, Netflix needs to be more choosey in who they give a series to.

Pros.

Patricia Schneider

Cons.

Rob Schneider

The jokes don’t land

It feels lazy, and is overly reliant on his Hollywood friends and outdated cliches

A lot of the episodes go nowhere and send you to sleep

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Space Force: The War For The Moon Has Already Begun

Written by Luke Barnes

3/5

There is definitely shades of The Office here: American not British.

I think if anything this show is a testament to the likeability and the warmth of Steve Carell, the other characters in this show are quite underdeveloped, yet luckily the entire focus is on Carell and he sells it and makes the series as good as it is.

The major issue with this series is that it will/has age horribly. There are a lot of references to then current American politics, which feel dated and stilted even now, and it has only been a year. Also a perhaps more importantly I didn’t find this series funny, charming yes, but funny no: most of the jokes didn’t land for me.

Though the characters were underdeveloped, I still ended up caring for them by the end of the series and am excited to see where next season takes them.

As far as the series ideas go, I think the premise has a lot of potential and the actual execution is also quite strong, I enjoyed the one-ups Manship between the US and Chinese Space Forces and thought it was well built during the series.

Overall, though the characters are a little thin you still end up caring about them, with a strong lead performance and an interesting idea that helps this series to get at least part of the way to the moon.

Pros.

Carell

You end up caring about the characters

The US Vs China storyline

Cons.

Dated references

The jokes don’t land

The Bad Batch: Cornered

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I am starting to become concerned now. This show has been going for four episode yet so little has happened and the direction this series is heading in seems even less clear now then it did a few episodes before.

Why was Fennec Shand brought into this episode/ storyline, when it would have made so much more sense to have Crosshair be the bounty hunter tracking down the Bad Batch? To answer my own question it was simply to act as fan service, to bait nostalgia and be like ‘remember her from the Mandalorian’. Now there is nothing wrong with fan service done right, but when it is done in such a way where it feels like it is stopping the development of the other characters in the show, Crosshair, then it becomes a problem for me.

Moreover, this episode, much like the last, felt very filler to me. It seems that maybe the series as a whole is having some pacing issues or maybe the fourteen episode order was a bit too much, but for whatever reason we are getting a lot of these little one off episodes where nothing of any real consequence happens and you are left feeling bored.

If I had to give the episode a pro it would be the action, specifically the sequence set in the hover traffic, I found that quite entertaining to watch and thought it was shot well.

Overall, I am starting to lose hope for this series, we need something big to happen soon.

Pros.

The action

The tease for more to come

Cons.

Nothing really happened

It feels like filler

The wrong kind of fan service

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Star Wars Rebels: Series Overview

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I enjoyed watching Clone Wars, so I thought I would give this series a go and I have to say it was even better. I think from being one complete narrative that plays in order and has a central group of characters to focus on this show manages to take all the best parts from Clone Wars an expand them.

If you remember from my series overview of Clone Wars the two things that bothered me about that show were, how it jumped around in time and in and out of episode order as well as how it would have multi episode asides focusing on characters no one really cared about, neither of these issues this show. There are a few droid episodes that are a little weak, but they still tie in and feel like they have a place within the wider story.

The best thing this show does is expanding the Star Wars universe outward, building on pre-existing characters and ideas whilst also adding new characters and ideas. When I first began watching the show I wasn’t a huge fan of Ezra, in fact I found the character annoying, but as the show went on he grew on me and the same was true of a lot of other characters to a point that by the end I was sad to say goodbye.

A personal highlight for me was seeing Rex, Ahsoka and Maul crossover into this show, I thought the series really came alive when they featured heavily in episodes.

Overall, a wonderful piece of Star Wars content for new and returning fans alike.

Pros.

The crossover characters

Expanding Star Wars cannon

Everything with the Inquisitors

The surprisingly emotional ending

Cons.

A few weaker episodes that were not focused on the main cast of characters

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The Bad Batch: Replacements

Star Wars The Bad Batch: Replacements

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I think of the 3 episodes so far this was the weakest. There was an air of filler to it. The main clone band find themselves trapped on a desolate planet and only Omega can save them: which is beyond dumb as these are expert soldiers and they can’t repair the ship and go and fight the creature at the same time. Moreover, this young child without any combat experience can not only survive a run in with this beast but best it- yeah the story telling is really clutching at straws trying to explain this.

They advance the Crosshair storyline, and it is this part of the episode that scores the points in this review. Crosshair becomes even more irredeemably bad, clearly he will turn back to the good side later, but for now they are really exploring the depths of what you can get away with in what is basically a kids show.

Overall, though I find this series watchable, and it is nice to see new Star Wars content, it really has yet to find its stride and has entered a period of stagnation after the first episode.

Pros

Crosshair

The darker moments

Cons.

The filler main story

Everything with Omega

It still feels directionless

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Invincible: Stop Watching The Walking Dead And Watch This Instead

Invincible

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This show is undeniably good, everyone you will hear talk about it agrees on that: some such as myself might go so far as to say it is the best piece of media ever adapted from a Robert Kirkman graphic novel, yes even better than the one about zombies that has been going on forever.

There is just something about this animated series that is hard to describe. Everything works and works well, the voice acting, the animation style, the slow build of the story it all comes together beautifully.

You don’t have to have read the comics to watch this either, personally I am familiar with the comics but had not red them prior to starting this show, and I fully understood everything that was happening on-screen. However there is a lot happening over the course of the first season so you will have to pay attention to make sure you get everything that is going on.

Moreover, I think the best thing about this show is what it does for adult animation, and the wider superhero genre. It proves two things, firstly that adult animated series can be done well, without relying on gross out humour, and secondly that non Marvel and DC comics properties can be just as popular as the heavy hitters; for those interested Invincible is an in Image comic series.

The only negative I could find with the season is that some of the plot lines feel a bit slow and drawn out for the sake of pacing which can make some episodes feel more interesting than others and that creates minor bits of drag throughout the season which hurts it ultimately.

Overall, one of the best new series of the year.

Pros.

The voice cast

The world and the characters

A new frontier for adult animation

The gore

Cons.

Slight bits of drag here and there.

The Bad Batch Episode 2: Cut And Run

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode is benefited from leaving the Crosshair stuff and focusing on something a little less predictable; I think it is fairly obvious Crosshair will be a baddy for a while and will then rid himself of the inhibitor chip it some way and probably save the Bad Batch- most likely in the series finale.

I enjoyed seeing this long lost clone deserter who has managed to have an entire life of his own outside of the various wars of the Republic, it makes me wonder if there are other clone deserters out there who we are yet to meet? I also thought seeing Omega interact with the other kids allowed me to warm to her that little bit more; though it is becoming evident that her voice work is more than a little jarring.

I found this episode to be more emotionally impactful, at least for me. I also again enjoyed the action set pieces and though they are rare when this show does give us some action it always gives us something worth seeing. My one growing concern for the show is it’s seeming lack of direction, where are our heroes going next, what is their purpose now; I suppose that is the theme of the show, but right now it feels like they are in-danger of having them go to different planets helping different people each week in very much a Supernatural monster of the week sort of way, which I wouldn’t like from a narrative perspective.

Overall, the show continues to have promise, though it is yet to blow me away.

Pros.

Omega interacting with the other kids

The clone deserter

The action

A few funny moments

Cons.

Directionless?

Omega’s VO work is distracting

The Bad Batch Episode 1: Aftermath

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode and this series so far as a whole feels very much like a direct continuation of Clone Wars, which I appreciate as it helps to fill in the gap between that show and the later Rebels. This episode revolved around Order 66, and the clone response to that, which again I found fascinating and hope the show will dig even deeper into. I thought the decision to have the majority of the Bad Batch not be effected by this order, bar Crosshair was a little strange as surely either they would all have not been effected, or all been effected as they have very similar DNA; hopefully the show will clear this up.

I thought the appearance of Kanan Jarrus and Saw Gerrera was again a nice way to tie the series in with what had come before, in terms of production. Though it did also feel a little ‘remember this character, remember that character’, with these returning characters acting as somewhat of a story crutch: the same can be said of Omega- but I’ll get to that.

As a character I am torn on Omega, on the one hand I think the idea of a female clone of Jango Fett, who also has powers, has a lot of potential. On the other hand I think they are clearly trying to recapture what they had with Baby Yoda and that parent-child bond which again feels like repeating things from the near past.

I thought the action and the animation as a whole were both very well done, with a clear progression between the 3 shows being clear to see.

I am looking forward to the next episode.

Overall, a solid start that is perhaps a bit too reliant on the past.

Pros.

The animation

The action

The Bad Batch themselves

Cons.

Omega

Bringing back so many old faces

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Falcon And The Winter Soldier: One World, One People

Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode Six: One World One People

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Sadly, this review is not positive. With the way the series had gone I was expecting this episode to bring everything together and to make the series better, despite its faults, but really all this episode did was point out how bad the faults of this series are, and the bad finally outweighed the good.

So firstly the positive, I enjoyed the endings that most of the characters were given, they were suitably poignant and impactful, I particularly liked the final scene we see of Carl Lumley’s Isaiah Bradley; it brought a tear to my eye. Likewise I thought Sebastian Stan’s Bucky and Wyatt Russel’s US Agent both get endings that feel earned and that set the characters up for interesting adventures in the near future.

However, arguably the star of the show Anthony Mackie’s Falcon/ Captain America, doesn’t get the ending that he deserves. After all that time deciding whether to take on the mantel and pick up the shield we just see Sam fully dressed in his Captain America costume which takes away a lot of the impact and though the suit itself looks cool it does not make up for seeing him put it on for the first time.

The reveal that Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter is in fact the Power Broker was in no way a surprise, it was blindingly obvious, personally I thought they had revealed it last week in that episode but evidently not. It makes no sense from a character point of view why Sharon has taken this course of action, and the post credits scene of her being pardoned only to carry on being evil just makes it worse- it is a baffling decision, she has to be a Skrull.

Moreover, and I have spoken at length about this in the past, like many Marvel projects the biggest issue with this series is the villain. Erin Kellyman’s Karli is simply awful, perhaps the worst villain Marvel has ever had on screen, her motivations make no sense, she switches emotions and her entire personality at a moment’s notice and the final episode has her repeating the same lines over and over again because it doesn’t know what to do with her.

Overall, disappointing and leaves a sour taste in the collective mouth regarding the Marvel Disney + shows.

Pros.

Walker and the Thunderbolts tease

Bucky and Sam at the end

Isaiah Bradley’s ending and the emotion

Cons.

Everything regarding Sharon Carter

Karli was awful

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Them: Exploitation Or High Art? The Series Can’t Decide

Them

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

My, my it has been a minute since a horror series has actually given me nightmares and bothered me psychologically outside the show. This is a very powerful show for a lot of reasons, it will scare you both in terms of supernatural horrors and very real ones as well, it will sicken you and make you angry.

In case I wasn’t clear, I think this is one of the best new horror TV series in the last few years, as not only does it have something to say, but it also fully executes its premise to a strong degree as well, it flourishes under its large undertaking.

The themes and messages don’t feel in your face or lecture like, as they are expertly woven into the wider story, though as you are watching it you are given an education on very real world evils that happened and are still happening.

I think across the board the acting is top notch, the only weak spot I could find would be the little girl who gave a few very bad performances at times, but hey I won’t labour the point about child actors not being very good.

I have seen a view reviews comparing this series to the work of Jordan Peele and basically saying something to the extent of this show steals from or rips off his work. Now, though I can see how both share similar ground I would argue that what we are witnessing rather than a copying is the formation of a new socially focused horror sub-genre that all of these works belong to. I also think this series does enough to clearly separate it from Peele’s work.

My one complaint would be that this series often crosses a line, now this is personal to me, I don’t need to see a dead dog’s corpse multiple times shot with a close up angle as well, nor is it necessary to have a prolonged rape scene and show it multiple times throughout the show as well, for these reasons I would say the show often ventures into bad taste. Furthermore, during some of the latter episodes the show seems to revel in the violence that is occurring on-screen rather than acting to condemn it. I can understand why creatively the show would cross this line, in both cases, and choose to do it the way it does, but personally I found it off putting.

Overall, an impressively strong horror series

Pros.

The acting

The scares

The social commentary

Consistency throughout

Cons.

It does fall into bad taste on a number of occasions

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