inkledoodle Reviews

Road House (2024)

Runs out of steam fast...

[6/10 · 24 March 2024]

Turned up for nostalgia and a 'fun' action movie. Didn't get either.

It starts with roughly the right tone and pacing. Sadly, this drops off after about 15 minutes. The story is uneven, characters thin and dialogue is awful. By the time that Connor McGregor turns up the film is already flat lining but through no fault of his own, the film loses its way completely when his 'Knox' character turns up. He just isn't needed at all. The plot is already struggling at this point and then the 'anti-dalton' expert fighter is just a 'bolt on' that adds nothing to the narrative.

The BTS stunt footage makes it look like the fight choreography was probably amazing. The way the camera work is done during the fight scenes though detracts completely from the action.

Gyllenhaal is likeable throughout but that's all. To be honest, he doesn't really pull off the "I'm traumatised by killing someone" persona until that is completely spelled out to the audience and then the switch at the "I've been pushed too far" moment isn't really that dramatic or convincingly portrayed.

The original was no masterpiece (it wasn't supposed to be) but this is a very weak remake (especially given the hype).

Andor (2022– )

Watch This Now! Andor is everything Star Wars should be!

[10/10 · 16 March 2024]

Excellent character building, pacing and plot structure with no rushing towards story beats via forced or badly fabricated story that doesn't serve the overall arcs and plot. Characters are not 'paint by numbers' good v evil archetypes. They are well rounded, morally ambiguous characters just getting caught up in the mechanisms moving and collapsing in the world around them.

Andor tells the story in a more refined way than many other Disney shows by 'chunking' smaller arcs building towards the finale.

The dialogue is brilliant. Exposition goes unnoticed as the characters are mature and grounded and they speak to each other in an appropriate way.

The Empire is returned to its Empire Strikes Back and Rogue One status where it presented true menace: Where it was both oppressive and competent in its subjugation of the galaxy.

The rebellion is so well set-up here. Andor shows the dangerous and messy set up of the rebellion in its earliest stages. On the flip-side It creates a story that shows us the inside of the Empire- the cogs that internally spin to make the machine brutal and efficient.

Andor treats its audience like 'grown-ups' and just like Rogue One it shows viewers that Star Wars can be clever and impactful whilst still existing in a galaxy far far away with lazer guns, space ships, talking robots and aliens. It looks and feels like Star Wars without being silly and childish. It is effective without subverting the tropes and conventions of the cinematic universe in which it exists.

Unsurprisingly it feels similar to Rogue One but it may actually also be its superior. Andor is 'right up there's with The Empire Strikes Back and (along with Rogue One) is easily the high point of anything released since the greatest sequel in cinematic history was released all the way back in 1980. It is easily the best SW Disney+ TV show if you are over the age of 14. Such a shame that this wasn't the tone, character development, acting, dialogue and aesthetic of the prequel and sequel trilogies.

If you haven't seen Andor. Watch it. Now.

Ahsoka (2023– )

Looks & Sound Great! Story TBC...

[6/10 · 3 September 2023]

Three episodes in and Ahsoka seems to be plodding.

The opening episode was tonally perfect- looked like StarWars, sounded like StarWars and, most importantly, felt like StarWars. To some extent the show has maintained these aspects.

'Lieutenant Commander' Wren starts as a 'badass' war hero but quickly begins to act like a moody teen that is unaware of military politics by Ep 3 (lieutenant Commander?). She's also a partially trained Jedi Padawan that requires the Force to be explained to her in its simplest terms. There won't be many adults in the developed world with Disney+ subscriptions or who have visited the cinema in the last 40 years that would require the force to be described - why would anyone in the fictional StarWars universe (especially someone already in Jedi training) require this? Why does she 'whoop' when she shoots an enemy fighter, again, 'Lieutenant Commander'? This isn't Luke straight off the farm.

To discuss the titular character (Interestingly Wren comes to mind first when writing this as, once again with these StarWars shows, the title character doesn't appear to be protagonist in their own show), Ahsoka is soooo boring. She's far too stoic and uninteresting. Following a great opening scene (with more than a hint of Indiana Jones) she has done very little. For viewers unaware of all of the animated show backstory they must be wondering why the show shares her name? For fans of those shows they must be wondering where the Ahsoka of those shows is?

The show lacks logic... it's too close to the central saga for (a) these characters to have never been mentioned and (b) none of the main characters from the original trilogy to be mentioned or appear.

Scene-wise there are several instances of this lack of logic. A major one in the first two episodes but to give a less spoilery example, There is a scene in episode 3 where all I'll say is: you would just shoot the ship!

Hera is yet another character who is a General (apparently) but acts kind of whiney, is microfocussed and doesn't effectively share any intelligence with the senate and whines when they don't agree with her.

The 'bad-guys' seem a lot more interesting than the protagonists and the show may benefit from exploring their characters and motivation more rather than leaving them as one dimensional A-B antagonists.

Anyway- I'll happily modify the above if future events make retrospective sense of the multitude of minor illogical occurances peppered throughout.

The show is nearly half way through (3 of 8 episodes) and little has really happened. Following episode 1 I had it at an 8 or 9 out of 10. I think in reality it is a solid 6. It looks and sounds fantastic. Episode 1 was directed in homage to the original and, unlike some, I thought that was great. Unfortunately, for me, it is slow paced and not terribly interesting story-wise.

And I really could not care else about Ezra? (One of the off screen Mcguffin characters from the Rebels cartoons).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

A parody of the original...

[6/10 · 16 August 2023]

The first GOTG was a milestone for the Marvel cinematic universe. It changed the style and trajectory of the overarching saga. This was a subtle change at first and the infinity saga was something of a 20- odd film masterpiece. Not every film (but as an overarching whole).

Thor: Love and Thunder was a great example of how far off the rails this new trajectory went... pop/ soft rock every other scene accompanied by dialogue and actions where well established characters act as if they are a pastiche of their former selves. GOTG Vol. 3 continues this trend, strangely Gunn appears to undermine his own creation (or this is how bad Vol 1 would've been had Gunn had full freedom at that point)?

Don't understand the high reviews: soft rock is definitely an over used trope here - regardless that GOTG introduced it. Far too many 'floaty' scenes added seemingly just to facilitate the soft rock tracks, CGI is OK, Nearly every character has to be 'kooky', the test lab stuff seems out of place here... strangely cruel whilst the rest of the film is 'goofy' and lacks weight.

This feels like it's truly the end for marvel. A run of homogenous multi-verse fillers where every character has to be wise-cracking or goofy and huge events have no real stakes. GOTG Vol 1's awesomeness was quite possibly the genesis of this decline and, sadly, GOTG vol. 3 May have been Marvel's last chance to rescue their ailing Universe. This pale imitation of GOTG Vol. 1 isn't going to do that.

As I guess Marvel comics historically always were, the MCU seems to be entirely in Spidey's hands now...

The Witcher (2019– )

Diminishing returns...

[9/10 · 25 July 2023]

Season 1 is an expertly crafted rendering of the book(s) for a modern Netflix audience. Very impressed. Great one-shot stories that build towards the larger arc. Being presented out of sync helped to build intrigue and develop backstory. A brilliant show.

Season 2 ruins Yennefer's characterisation built in the first season and shifts focus from Geralt to Ciri in terms of the main protagonist. A weaker season that is both less exciting and less interesting in terms of the entire arc.

Season 3 is just a mess. No wonder Cavill wanted out. All solid story telling is gone, characters act in opposition to their season 2 selves (a scramble to get back to season 1?) and the motivations are weak and uncompelling.

Had it ended at the close of season 1 it would have been heralded as a classic. Stop there if this is your first run through. Season 2 and 3 should have stuck to the source material.

Season 1 9/10; Season 2 7/10; Season 3 5/10.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Star Wars as it should be...

[10/10 · 22 April 2023]

Unpopular opinion: Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie.

OK. So Empire Strikes Back is 'THE' Star Wars movie and the original is, well, undeniably original but Rogue One is Star Wars for a modern audience. It 'looks', 'feels' and 'sounds' like Star Wars but isn't silly and doesn't subvert the tropes of the universe whilst telling a proper story that actually supports the larger arc. It has enough 'fan service' to scratch that itch but brings plenty to the saga without derailing it or undermining its power, story or characters.

Easily the high point of anything Star Wars beyond the original trilogy. Such a shame this wasn't the mould/ tone of the prequels, sequels and spin-offs.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 22: Guns for Hire (2023) Season 3, Episode 6

What the...

[4/10 · 10 April 2023]

The Mandalorian is plummeting fast. The Book of Boba Fett threw up a number of red flags but it doesn't look like these were heeded by the showrunners at all.

This episode starts like an episode of (the purposely camp) Dr Who. It gets worse from there. Star Wars was never 'adult' but it was also never 'stupid'. Last Jedi was awful but The Mandalorian came along as the shining beacon that proved StarWars still had merit.

The whole episode plays out like a pastiche of Star Wars. Are the makers mocking the source material knowingly or are they just really, really bad film/ TV makers?

Loaded with cameos. Pointless cameos. Badly acted. Awful story.

Season 1 was a man with no-name gun slinger-esque show. Now it's a cameo laden camp BBC Sci-fi show from the 70's.

WTF has happened to baby Yoda (Grogu)? There has been no character development. In fact, the main character (and, yes, Grogu was absolutely the breakout main character) is barely in it. To be honest, Djinn, the title character is barely doing anything episode to episode either. He's hardly used. If you want to replace every male StarWars character with a female lead just do it... but don't pretend that the male protagonist or super cute secondary protagonist is still the lead.

Didn't watch much of the animated 'Clone Wars' which is held in such high regard but if the Bo Katan story line presented throughout this show is some sort of indication of what that was like then I think I'll leave it.

The weakest handing of the mantle I have seen in any half decent show for a number of years. It was akin to your lead character being killed off screen. Again, why is the title character essentially an extra in this show?

Really hope that it's not the case but the whole season is playing out like it's pandering to body positivity gender politics and as a result overlooks intelligent story telling decisions, sacrifices it's main characters, is paced badly and focuses on side quests and characters to the overall shows detriment.

The Mandalorian was a decent show in season 1. It's been an exercise in diminishing returns ever since and now, if this episode is anything to go by, it's just a cheese-fest cameo laden pastiche of StarWars that resembles Dr Who or Star Trek. My enthusiasm for Filloni's Saga film has definitely been cooled if he's happy overseeing this.

Time to let it go?

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Another weak entry in this phase of the Marvel universe

[4/10 · 12 March 2023]

Not going to repeat at length all of the points raised in the many low to middling reviews of this film other than to say it is very weak. Slow in a lot of places and some over doing over the sentiment (which dominates the narrative). It's very touching but bogs down a story that isn't particularly interesting and is filled by characters who are oddly unlikable or well rounded given the amount of time the film seems to devote to character development. For an aspect of the marvel universe that was well established in previous phases I found myself not caring about the fate of Wakanda or the main characters.

Another poor entry in this phase of the Marvel universe Which is falling far short of its prequel phases. There should be no Oscar/ award buzz linked to this film. It just isn't very good.

Amsterdam (2022)

Simple plot masked by quirky characters...

[6/10 · 4 February 2023]

Intriguing start that peters out quickly. A whodunnit set in the years between WW1 and WW2. A high profile general is murdered and his daughter seeks the help of two of his former regiment. When she is also murdered they must work to clear their name whilst re-encountering figures from their past and from across New York's elite.

Suffers from a pretentiousness throughout that involves every character being 'quirky' in place of any real ingenuity in the narrative. If you strip away the 'kookiness' of the star studded casts delivery the plot is very simple.

Amsterdam definitely suffers from the fact that every character is 'odd'. As a result there are no 'straight' characters to play against.

A likeable film with a huge cast but nowhere near as clever as it thinks.

You People (2023)

Is this supposed to be a comedy?

[2/10 · 28 January 2023]

Started as if it was going to be balanced but quickly descended into a film about race with the very tired rhetoric that appears to be the black characters can be as exclusive and generally racist as they like and the white characters must unsuccessfully and apologetically try to navigate their relationship with the black characters and their 'culture'- a culture which is apparently just popular street wear brands and rap music.

Eddie Murphy plays a character with borderline extremist views whilst Dreyfus and Duchovny are forced to play imbeciles. An unbelievably strong cast squandered on an unfunny narrative that was executed in a, sadly, all too obvious rhetoric these days about ALL white people are bad, entitled and privileged: everything they do is racist whilst black people can be as racist and prejudiced as they please because that's their 'culture'. Apparently 'white people' forced everyone to have the Covid vaccine!?! What is this nonsense?!

Throughout, Hill's character accepts everyone for who they are as a person, his future spouse is unable to do so nor are her family. Dreyfus' character desperately wants to be liked by her daughter-in-law to be and as a result makes a number of naively offensive remarks as a result of her prejudice whilst trying to relate to her new in laws. Murphy 's character is extremely prejudiced and often overtly racist. He seeks to actively mistreat Hill's character and this is presented as the same thing? In the end Dreyfus' character apologises for her culturally offensive behaviour Murphy's character, predictably, does not. This is presumably the result of some sort of Hollywood woke over- correction.

A divisive over-simplified narrative told in an incredibly unfunny way?! Is this supposed to be a comedy?

The White Lotus (2021–2025)

Builds to uninspired ending (twice)!

[7/10 · 15 January 2023]

Both seasons play out similarly.

Quirky cast and story that builds intrigue brilliantly as story lines intertwine. Sadly when you reach the crescendo in the final episodes it is not as clever as you would hope. Each episode adds another perspective and builds an intriguing picture of where the story is headed. Sadly it's not really leading anywhere necessarily. It sets up as if it is going to be phenomenally clever and then it's pretty uninspiring. Characters are colourful and the OST is catchy.

Season 1 is slightly stronger and would've warranted a higher score on its own. Characters in season two are less well established and do chafe a bit. Both build well. Both end OK.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Dated Raimi-isms & weightless story...

[5/10 · 28 June 2022]

Was delayed catching Multiverse of Madness and was sorely disappointed by the time I caught up.

Found Raimi's directorial style, framing and effects extremely dated. His style isn't so established it can be considered an approach or aesthetic in and of itself. It just looks, sounds and is framed like, at best a 00's action flick or at worst, a low budget 90's horror film.

The story is predictable and, given the potential of the multiverse idea, very paint by numbers. It lacks gravity and/ or consequence.

Wanda's motivation is not enough to explain her 'full villain' M. O. Her return is too obvious too. The film definitely establishes that not all supporting cast need to be elevated: They are not all interesting enough.

America is a Mcguffin and little more.

Not all Marvel films can be a home run but I really hope this is not a sign of things to come. Reminded me of the heavily overrated Loki series.

Not bad. Not good. Just 'meh'.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part I (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Bridges the Gap....

[8/10 · 28 May 2022]

A solid opening episode. Very steady performances from a stellar cast throughout.

Sets up a series that looks like it will bridge some of the space between episodes iii and iv. The story set up here appears that it will establish why Leia values Obi Wan's help in the direst of situations at the beginning of A New Hope.

Intrigued to see where it goes...

The Bubble (2022)

Too long & not funny...

[3/10 · 1 April 2022]

Premise had a lot of potential. The cast are talented. The film is just not very good. It's poorly paced and the gags are flat. Could've been great with a rewrite that included actual jokes and slicker dialogue.

Not a good film by any measure.

Bel-Air (2022– )

The Young & The Freshless...

[2/10 · 20 February 2022]

OK, Let's get the obvious out of the way... this isn't a 'reboot' or any sort of update of the original. It's an attempt at reframing the original's narrative in a more gritty and realistic drama. Sounds like an idea with a load of potential, right?

Sadly, this is a paint by numbers daytime drama/ soap that is completely 'meh' by any measure. The acting is OK, the story's too obvious (even within the context of larger narrative set by the original), it over shoots it's cynicism and the lead is unlikable. Throwing in partially taboo words and drugs every 10 minutes or so also does not make a programme edgy or clever. The whole programme fails at realising its potential and misses it's over obvious attempt at some sort of social commentary.

Obviously the original was a comedy and starred one of the most charismatic actors of the 90's/ 00's so this was never going to be the same but it just lands flat. A drama doesn't need to contain comedy or slapstick moments to have charm and character but it should still have some sort of charm or heart.

Gave this a shot. It's just not for me.

The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022)

Rescued by Mando...?

[7/10 · 10 February 2022]

The Book of Boba Fett was an odd first season. It seemed completely lost and lacking any real narrative direction in the first few episodes. When the season was hijacked by The Mandalorian it suddenly seemed to have purpose, drive and some sort of genuinely intriguing narrative.

The show seems to do for Boba Fett what Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones do for Darth Vader, essentially demystify, in a fairly 'paint by numbers' way, a character beloved by fans of the original trilogy.

The set-up for the next season of The Mandalorian works well and the moments between the two mature Jedi are touching enough without going too far.

Essentially The Book of Boba Fett is least interesting when it focuses on the main character. The relationship with the township of Mos Espa isn't built effectively enough for the landing to stick in the finale and some of the poor action, acting, pacing and general story telling of the first 3 episodes was/is hard to recover from... but I would suggest that this is an enjoyable show overall. The fairground bike chase scene could've almost killed virtually any show and Boba just about survives.

The inclusion of another fan favourite bounty Hunter from the extended universe brightens up the last two episodes but anyone not well versed in the animated shows will probably miss his significance to the lead character (a show about him may have been a more interesting endeavour).

The rancor pays off (kind of) and there are some nice throwbacks to the Tattoine of SW lore but I think it would be fair to say the show couldn't/ wouldn't survive without Mando (and his related storyline/ characters).

Boba Fett was and is many diehard StarWars fan's favourite character. Until recently he was still the character that sold the 3rd most merchandise behind Darth Vader and R2D2. Whether this is still the case following this softening and representation of the character remains to be seen.

Really, Boba's story was already told in the guise of The Mandalorian. Without the popularity of the original Boba Fett there would be no Mando (or even Jango Fett). Most people saw The Mandalorian as a pseudo Boba and really it was just fear of damaging such a popular character that seemed to determine that Mando wasn't Boba (that and a paint job). Sadly this left no story for the actual Boba Fett by the time Disney had the guts to introduce him. It's probably fair to say that The Book of Boba Fett was left with nothing to really do with the 'man with no name gunslinger' because The Mandalorian had done it so well (with added sidekick and shinier armour).

The Book of BobaFett is OK. Not great.

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor (2022) Season 1, Episode 7

The end for Boba?

[7/10 · 10 February 2022]

The Book of Boba Fett was an odd first season. It seemed completely lost and lacking any real narrative direction in the first few episodes. When the season was hijacked by The Mandalorian it suddenly seemed to have purpose, drive and some sort of genuinely intriguing narrative.

The show seems to do for Boba Fett what Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones do for Darth Vader, essentially demystify, in a fairly 'paint by numbers' way, a character beloved by fans of the original trilogy.

The set-up for the next season of The Mandalorian works well and the moments between the two mature Jedi are touching enough without going too far.

Essentially The Book of Boba Fett is least interesting when it focuses on the main character. The relationship with the township of Mos Espa isn't built effectively enough for the landing to stick in the finale and some of the poor action, acting, pacing and general story telling of the first 3 episodes was/is hard to recover from but I would suggest that this is an enjoyable show overall. The fairground bike chase scene could've almost killed virtually any show.

The inclusion of another fan favourite bounty Hunter from the extended universe brightens up the last two episodes but anyone not well versed in the animated shows will probably miss his significance to the lead character (a show about him may have been a better bet).

The rancor pays off (kind of) and there are some nice throwbacks to the Tattoine of SW lore but I think it would be fair to say the show couldn't/ wouldn't survive without Mando (and his related storyline/ characters).

Boba Fett was and is many diehard StarWars fan's favourite character. Until recently he was still the character that sold the 3rd most merchandise behind Darth Vader and R2D2. Whether this is still the case following this softening and representation of the character remains to be seen. Really, Boba's story was already told in the guise of The Mandalorian. Most people read it that way and really it was just fear of damaging such a popular character that seemed to determine that Mando wasn't Boba (that and a paint job). Sadly this left no story for the actual Boba by the time Disney had the guts to introduce him.

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian (2022) Season 1, Episode 5

That's how it's done...

[10/10 · 29 January 2022]

Easily and by far the best episode of the season so far!

Tonally perfect.

Brilliant acting without ever removing the helmet.

This is the bar that Book of Boba Fett needs to be aiming for. So well put together, well paced, great cinematography, perfect tone and subtle throw backs.

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

The galaxy's deadliest bounty hunter? Right?

[5/10 · 18 January 2022]

3 episodes in & the story is dragging, appears to have no stakes and is, well, meh...

This series appears to be an enormous waste and complete dismantling of one of Star Wars' most enduring and popular characters. I can only assume that the original Mandalorian season was written picturing the badass 'man with no name' Boba Fett that every 70's, 80's and 90's kid grew up loving (Presumably because they were nervous to resurrect the legendary character). By the time The Mandalorian was a commercial success and they had the confidence to actually use the character the story had already been told (using a different (albeit carbon copy) protagonist). What we seem to be witnessing is an ill thought out attempt to cash in on The Mandalorian's success with the character they should have used (and basically did use in all but name and a paint job on his armour) in the first place. Commercially you can see the thinking: people loved The Mandalorian, so they're bound to love the most famous Mandalorian character that we just copied this from, right? Sadly, The show needs more than a green helmet and a jet pack (neither which are really used anyway).

This episode had a Wookiee assassin, Hutt gangsters, A Tusken massacre, references to the witches of Dathomir and a baby rancor! It should have (and could have) been amazing! It was not.

As with previous episodes, it was slow, story elements were presented in a way that lacked engagement and the acting was flat.

The chase scene resembled a child's ride from a seaside fairground. It was simply unenthralling and lacking any originality.

Like many others, Boba Fett was my favourite childhood Star Wars character. I am now watching out of some sort of nostalgic loyalty. By any measure (plot, characters, action, acting) this is not a good show in this current age of quality television.

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

Daniel was the bully...

[7/10 · 7 January 2022]

After the YouTube breakdown of Daniel as the bad guy went viral fans of 80s nostalgia have been clamouring for this.

HIMYM's Barney's persistence that William Zapka's Johnny Lawrence was the hero made this a commercial possibility.

Season 1 gives every 80's kid that grew up spell bound by the Karate Kid exactly what they always wanted. Season 2 begins to pivot into a teen drama and season 3 doubles down on this but with some nice throw backs to the well loved cult sequel, Karate Kid ii. By the end of season 3 Daniel is an overtly good guy once more and it's a full-on YA/ tween high school drama and definitely catering to a different audience.

Season 4 looks to throw back to the cult(ish), but hugely inferior, Karate Kid iii however it remains to be seen if there's anything left in the show for 40 something kids of the 80's enjoying a 'wonder where they are now' nostalgia trip.

Ralph Macchio still moves like an 80 year old doing Tai Chi or at least someone that has never done anything athletic in their life ever, let alone is a black belt in Karate. But, that's all part of the fun, I guess. He couldn't move plausibly in the original films over 30 years ago.

If you're here for the nostalgia leave it at the end of season 1 and it'll have scratched that itch in a very satisfying way. If your a tween/ teen stick in there through season one, watch the old movies to understand the throw backs and in-jokes, and by season 2/3 you have a full blown dramedy in the vein of 90's High School drama's and films like the original 'She's All That'.

Great Fun but really a one season wonder and not much more than a teen drama after that. Later seasons, do, to be fair, have some great nostalgic throwbacks for fans of the films but season 1 and, more specifically, Johnny's introduction in season 1 episode 1 (as well as, to some extent, the return to the All Valley tournament in episode 10) serves as the nostalgic high point of the franchise.

*(7/10 is really an average as my season scores go S1: 8or9/10; S2: 7/10; S3: 5/10; S4: 7/10).

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine (2022) Season 1, Episode 2

Dances with Fett...

[7/10 · 7 January 2022]

A massive step-up from episode 1. Obvious parallels with Dances with Wolves in Favreau and Filloni's doubling down of StarWars as a western.

Fleshes out the intriguing back story with the Tuskens that will no doubt pay off later in the season.

The mob boss storyline still not quite going but the introduction of 'the twins' promises something more interesting in the future.

Good step forward and the season showing some promise. Episode 1 and 2 would've worked well edited into one extended episode.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Brilliant Satirical Allegory

[8/10 · 31 December 2021]

Don't Look Up is a brilliantly satirical commentary on the current political landscape in the western world. It also plays as allegory for the current Covid-19 mess and how it was probably dealt with by a number of western governments way before it hit the media. There are obvious parallels with the climate change debate and it's inherent conflicting interests also.

Great performances throughout (as you would expect from this cast). Sometimes funny, often cringeworthy (on purpose) and darker than it's trailer suggests. Hopefully the film doesn't turn out to be too prophetic.

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

Keep yer helmet on!

[6/10 · 30 December 2021]

In Disney +'s own featurette, 'The Legacy of Boba Fett', Filloni et al discuss at length how the 'man with no name' mystery surrounding Boba Fett (along with his armour) contributed massively to the character's popularity. This series was always in danger of undermining that and the fact that the show runners are so aware of it makes it seem a very odd decision to develop the IP beyond the 'cameo' in the second season of The Mandalorian. If the first episode is a sign of what's to come Fett's mystique is almost certainly going to be stripped away and his character drastically 'softened'.

What was really unexpected, however, was a ponderous opening episode that doesn't particularly go anywhere, has inconsistent character moments (even within its short running time) and presents us with a Boba Fett that a few weeks earlier was fighting with no armour and just a gaffi stick (in The Mandalorian) more effectively than he is in full beskar armour, jet pack and all manner of hidden rockets, flame throwers etc... The action is cumbersome, the flashbacks are slow (why are they not drip fed across more episodes) and nothing really ignites or moves the story forward (especially for an opening episode).

The feel was oddly far less cinematic than The Mandalorian and resembled a CW type TV show more than The Mandalorian ever did.

There was nothing surprising about the escape from the sarlac pit (we already knew he was out and why was there a storm trooper and none of Jabba's henchmen from the barge in there?).

I'm not sure if a casual viewer would get anything from this episode at all and likely won't return to the season. For fans of the Star Wars universe, however, Boba Fett is a legendary character (my understanding is he sells the 3rd most merchandise behind Vader and R2): As a life long Star Wars fan that has met Jeremy Bulloch and was obsessed with Boba Fett as a child in the 80's it really saddens me to say that this show needs to be better. Fast.

Hawkeye (2021)

Unexpectedly Brilliant!

[9/10 · 8 December 2021]

I don't believe that anyone saw this coming. The MCUs least interesting character delivers, arguably, the best series. Tonally this is the MCU series closest to the movies too. Steinfeld and Renner's chemistry is clearly visible as they each lift each other on screen. Had this (and Black Widow) been released before end game not only would Hawkeye have been seen in a different light but the events of that movie would have landed all the more powerfully. This definitely plays to the strengths of longer form story telling as it goes far deeper than a 2 hour movie could have. Really impressed 3 episodes in...

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

The Dead Don't Die but this movie did...

[1/10 · 24 July 2021]

Hipster director: check.

Hipster (albeit A- list) cast: check.

Hipster soundtrack: check.

Kitsch hipster setting: check.

Usual hipster film no substance & very slight quirkiness masquerading as narrative: check.

Hipster style no humour masked as dry humour: check.

What a waste of money, time and bandwidth. This film is simply taking up space in your Netflix library.

This isn't a 'love it or hate it' film. If you love it you're either stupid, pretentious or quite probably both.

It gets a star for the fact that it did eventually end.