Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1 (2021) Review 

Yes I watched the finale of The Bad Batch on Friday but I have had a busy few days so haven't had a chance to review it but now is the time and here is my review for the first season of The Bad Batch. The premise of the show experiences the journey of Clone Force 99 as they try to find their place in the new Galactic Empire. 

Main Character

The Bad Batch has a large cast but clearly the main two characters are that of Hunter and Omega. Hunter is really established as the leader of the group and it is really interesting to see his progression from when we met him in The Clone Wars to this show. Omega is a character introduced and she is the new presence amongst the group and she is a really fun addition to the crew and there is so much intrigue towards her and why exactly she is involved with the team. 

Supporting Characters

Credit has to go to Dee Bradley Baker who has to voice all of The Bad Batch and other clones that appear and that must be a mammoth job for him. Onto Crosshair, he is easily the best part of the show and I loved how his character contrasted with the rest of the the team and how it really gave an insight into the mindset from The Republic into The Empire. Tech, Wrecker and Echo are all back from The Clone Wars and they are all fun, they aren't as complete characters as the others but they fit in well amongst the team and it is fun to watch them together. There are also some really fun cameos on the show which I won't spoil, with the timeline of the show it allows the chance to bridge the gap between the events of Clone Wars and Rebels. 

Story 

The story starts off really strong and does a good job in showing how the galaxy and the main characters have to deal with the transition from The Galactic Republic to The Galactic Empire. Like the characters of Hunter, Omega and Crosshair are given fantastic development throughout the show but others are bit neglected especially when there is so much time. That is the main issue, there are way too many filler episodes which do very little for the plot, this has always been an issue with the animated Star Wars shows but this is a big issue here, with a pretty lacklustre finale topping it all off. 

Script

The script is okay, it does well with some of the drama and the humour building a decent family bond between the members of the Bad Batch. But sometimes it does get stuck in between both of these ideas and doesn't quite hit the quality that something like the final season of The Clone Wars did. 

Style 

The show looks great, the animation is at its strongest here and the action flows incredibly well with some really great set pieces. Though there is one clear problem which is the pacing of the show, this could have been a fantastic 10 episode season but there is 16 episodes and that is a huge issue with way too many filler episodes that when you watch weekly becomes a real slog. 

Overall

Overall, The Bad Batch is a good first season of the show. The animation has never been better and there are interesting bits of lore added but there are just way too many episodes and hopefully they do a shortened second season. 

Rating - 7/10

The Suicide Squad (2021) Review 

At the beginning of the year The Suicide Squad was my most anticipated film of 2021 and last night I finally got the chance to watch it and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of super villains bought together to take down a new intergalactic threat. 

Main Character

Idris Elba is given the chance to be a lead character here as Bloodsport and he is fantastic. His comedic timing is actually very good, and he has plenty of heartfelt moments and is really effective as a character. There is an argument that his character is incredibly similar to Deadshot from the previous film but I feel Elba manages to add enough to make this character his own. 

Supporting Characters

This film has one of the biggest casts ever put on film but some play larger roles then others and without spoiling things I will talk about them. John Cena makes his debut as Peacemaker and he was a real highlight of the film for me, his character is so interesting and Cena manages to use his natural charisma to make this a memorable character showing that given the right material he can deliver. Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn and what is there to say, she was literally born to play this role and brings the character to life so well. There are some things involving her character I wasn't a huge fan of but there is no denying how great Robbie is in the role. The real breakout star for the film though is Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, she bring so much heart and emotion to the role and considering that she is one of the least known comic book characters ever, she really resonates with the audience and I think we will see much more from this actress in the future. Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis are back as Rick Flag and Amanda Waller from the previous Suicide Squad film and they are much improved here. Flag is actually an interesting and well realised character and Waller is the intimidating boss that she really should be. We also have our big CGI character in King Shark voiced by Sylvester Stallone and he is so cool to watch in action and there is also some heart towards this guy and he will probably be one that people will talk about coming out of the film. 

Story 

The story is decent, the chemistry between the team is so much better then the previous film and the unique and distinctive personalities of each squad member does shine and provide a great experience. The task that they are given is fun enough but it is these characters and the outrageous circumstances that they are put in that rise it above. However, this film does have some story issues, mainly what they do with Harley Quinn in the first and mostly second act, she is on her own and it feels a bit out of place and a slower placed part of the film. Also there is some side plot involving a corrupt government and resistance that doesn't really do much for the film and feels like another not important element of the plot. 

Script

The script is really good, it has that James Gunn directed wicked humour. With the more mature script it allows way more creative freedom and the majority of the characters are pretty funny. Some of the jokes feel a bit repetitive but I can't deny that I laughed pretty consistently throughout the film. The drama also works, I ended up caring about this group of bad guys and I think the film does an effective job of giving you reasons to care. 

Style

The style of the film has some really great and entertaining action sequences. This film has the violence and gore that is appropriate for a film called The Suicide Squad. The characters get there own big set pieces and the action is probably the best part of this really well paced out film. 

Overall

Overall, The Suicide Squad is a fantastic film that finally delivers a film worthy of the licence. This film is such an entertaining watch that all comic book fans have to watch it and others will probably enjoy it too. 

Rating - 9/10

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) Review 

When I was younger I used to watch the Looney Tunes and I loved and the original Space Jam is a guilty pleasure film for me so I had a tiny bit of excitement for the sequel New Legacy and I had the chance to watch it today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees Lebron James sucked into an artificial world where he must unite the Toon Squad to win a game of Basketball. 

Main Character

As mentioned above, Lebron James plays himself as the lead character and he seems like a pretty charismatic guy in real life but that is not the case here. He is so boring to watch here, and for the majority of the film he is just reacting to what is going on with the whole world. The film forces him to deliver some emotional scenes and he just can't do it and it really makes the film fall flat. 

Supporting Characters

Don Cheadle plays the bad guy in the film and he just looks like he is having a really fun time with the role, this is no great villain performance but he is possibly the most entertaining part of the film and that has to count for something. Onto the toons and they are pretty entertaining, the old classics are there by Buggs Bunny, Wile Coyote and Foghorn Leghorn and memories of my childhood came back. But they also get put into the background for Lebron, I never really got Zendaya voicing Lola Bunny and guys like Semmity Sam and Daffy Duck have little to do and the biggest negative is giving my favourite character Marvin Martian barely anything to do. I didn't really care for Lebron's onscreen son and Sonequa Martin-Green is really wasted as Lebron's wife. 

Story 

The story offers very little. The whole theme of fatherhood is let down by weak performances and a weak dramatic script. The first film had the looney tunes in the forefront but here they feel like afterthoughts, in favour for Warner Bros very clear poor marketing and they try to cram all these franchises that they own in order to try and convince you to watch them. This is despite the demographic of young kids will have no idea what half of these franchises even are. 

Script

The script does have a few chuckle worthy moments and although I complained about the obvious marketing ploy, a lot of the cameos were quite funny to me as a big film fan. But the drama really isn't there and a good chunk of the comedy feels like it should have been left in the prime days of the tunes. 

Style 

The animation for this film is pretty great, it looks exactly like it should for the majority, until it goes to more CGI instead of animation and it becomes a bit strange. Also this film felt really long, the last basketball game itself feels like an hour long and I shouldn't be feeling like that in a family friendly film with Looney Tunes characters. 

Overall

Overall, Space Jam: New Legacy is a bad film. It will have some people who grew up with The Looney Tunes and the original film but they will not like it and kids shouldn't be bought up watching this garbage of a film cause it has some nice visuals. 

Rating - 3/10

Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy - Part 3 Kingdom (2021) Review

So we have now come to the end of The War For Cybertron Trilogy with its third part Kingdom and I watched it all today and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees The Transformers crash on a new planet where they meets new allies and enemies which aim to help lead them to the AllSpark. 

Main Character

Optimus Prime and Megatron really have the focus put on them this season and they both thrive. Prime is a really interesting character, you can see how the events of the previous parts are weighing on him and affecting his decision making and confidence in being the leader of the Autobots. Whereas Megatron doubles down on his beliefs and seeing the contrast between the two of them is fascinating and the differing ideologies between the two leaders and groups is what has driven this show for me and that continues here. 

Supporting Characters

This show has a massive roster of characters, too many to mention so I will reduce it to just a few. Starscream has always been an interesting character and I think he is at his best and most nefarious here, they do something with his character that made him more dynamic in his characterisation. They introduce the maximals led by Optimus Primal and he is a good character, fans of the beast wars series will know more about him then me but I really liked his portrayal and he was a good addition to the show as was pretty much all of the maximals. I mean some of the characters get less to do with Bumblebee being the main character hit by this but he is still a good character and I think this part improves on focusing on the interesting character and staying focused on the important elements of the story. 

Story

The story is interesting, seeing the alliances between the maximals and autobots and the decepticons and the predacons. The four factions are interesting and they fit into this web in a dynamic that manages to hold the interest enough with some pretty unique concepts. The issue is that the story feels a bit bloated. The last few episodes go into some pretty crazy places but it feels like it comes out of nowhere and that it is maybe trying to set up a future for the series instead of giving a fully satisfying ending to this show.  

Script

The script is functional, it has some decent dramatic moments and dialogue to it but not enough to captivate. Plus the show is so serious it feels like a pretty morbid watch, that if you watch it in one go can be a bit much. 

Style 

The show still has some pretty good animation and it feels true to the Transformers legacy in terms of giving them the action pieces they deserve. The issue is that the new Beast animations for the maximals and predacons are terrible and really stand out because of how bad they are compared to the Transformers. The show is also a bit long and it could have done with a few less episodes to tell a more cohesive and faster paced show. 

Overall

Overall, Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy - Part 3 Kingdom is a good finale to this series. It is a solid Transformers show that puts the shine on those characters and I think if you are a fan of the franchise then give this one a go, I think you will quite enjoy it. 

Rating - 7/10

Old (2021) Review

It has come that time that very unique director M. Night Shyamalan returns to the horror genre with Old and I went and watched it today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of people sent to a beach where time moves differently and people start to age at a faster rate. 

Main Character

There are a lot of characters in this film but I would say the two main are two parents played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps and they are both fine in their roles. There is plenty of challenges for them as actors in the film and they do the best they can with it and what I am going to say next isn't really a slate on them but the film in general. There characters just aren't that interesting, they are pretty bland and generic which makes it hard to care as much as the two performers try their best it just falls flat in the end. 

Supporting Characters

As said above this is a large cast of characters and what I will say about them is similar to what I said about the main characters. Thomasin McKenzie is a young actress with a growing reputation and she continues that here with a solid performance that makes you care about her character. Alex Wolff is similar, he moves away from comedy for a serious role here and he does it pretty well. I thought the best performance came from Rufus Sewell as a doctor, he truly portrayed just how mad the beach can make these people and how vulnerable can be despite having a high standing in society. But the rest of the cast does very little for me, there is like 10 people on the island and half of them are uninteresting and you are kind of just sat there awaiting to see there fate. Maybe the amount of people could have been lessened in order to give the characters greater depth. 

Story

The film's story has a lot of intrigue towards its story, mainly with trying to work out what is exactly going on and how it will affect these different people. The film kept my attention pretty much throughout the film and I wanted to just find out what exactly was gonna happen next. But I think this film's ending doesn't hit the levels that they wanted it to and after a good 90 mins or a bit longer it left me with a bit of a disappointing feeling. 

Script

The script is okay, it is a very serious film which is fine and usually that drama was handled well enough to build the intrigue and mystery into what was going on. Though I felt like this film had some really on the nose dialogue that left me shaking my head and if you see the movie you will know what I mean. 

Style

The films style is easily the best part of the film. It was chilling and mysterious and was more of a thriller then a straight up horror which is ideal for me. There are few jump scares and tension is built naturally and really cleverly with great sound design and camera work that felt very unique and immersive. 

Overall

Overall, Old is an above average film. It does a good job in what it aimed too, it is a mysterious and unsettling film that just misses the mark a bit for me but there will be people out there that will love it so if you like the sound of the film then I would suggest giving it a go despite the slightly lower rating. 

Rating - 6/10

Jolt (2021) Review

This film was originally slated for a theatrical release but Amazon realised that nobody would go to watch it so put it on their streaming service and I watched Jolt this morning and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a woman with medical anger issues have to go on the hunt when a man she falls for disappears. 

Main Character

Kate Beckinsale plays the main character here and she is the best part of the film as she is really trying to carry this film on her back. She takes the poor material given her and gives this interesting protagonist that I actually ended up rooting for, despite the weak motivations. I'm not sure if there is a future for her in a franchise like this but hopefully we see her in more roles like this in the future. 

Supporting Characters

Stanley Tucci is in this film and what more is there to say, he is great because even in the worst films he usually delivers and he does here. Some of the best scenes in the film are between Beckinsale and Tucci and its a shame there weren't slightly more. Jai Courtenay plays her romantic interest and he isn't in the film much but he just doesn't do it for me, unless he is throwing a boomerang like in The Suicide Squad I am just not interested in him and find him really bland. Bobby Cannavale and Laverne Cox play cops after her and they just offered very little, they were basically comic relief and considering that the comedy is really bad in this film it means their characters are bad. 

Story 

The story really hampers the film, it is just incredibly messy and ruins a somewhat interesting idea. I knew it was going to go wrong when there is this really awful exposition narration and it just continues with characters having poor motivations and confusing twists that just don't make any sense. The film overreaches and spends way too much time with elements of the film that aren't interesting at all and it ends up killing the film. 

Script

The script though is the weakest part of the film, the dialogue is so bland with the drama not hitting any emotional notes or make you really care. The humour is way overplayed and it is just really bad with somebody writing this who had no idea how humans interact by forcing humour that is really out of place. 

Style 

The action in the film is okay, there are some decent pretty brutal action sequences and the film doesn't overstay its welcome with its length and the pacing is pretty good. But the action isn't standout, and there just aren't any memorable action scenes making it a pretty forgettable experience. 

Overall

Overall, Jolt is a below average action film. There are so many action films these days that are just forgettable and this is another one with no standout reason to watch apart from Tucci and Beckinsale giving good performances.

Rating - 4/10  

Masters of the Universe: Revelations Season 1 (2021) Review

After plenty of build up the much hyped new Netflix made Masters of the Universe show Revelations has come out and I watched the whole thing today and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees He-Man and his compatriots go up against Skeletor and his forces. 

Main Character

Chris Wood voices He-Man and he does a decent job in the role, the issue is that this show is a lie and barely has him in it. For a show that is literally marketed around his character and he is the most famous one, to barely have him in this show is ridiculous and allows us no time to grow to care about the character and his motivations. Instead the lead character is Teela played by Sarah Michelle Gellar and she is fine, if she was a support character but the show tries to force her down your throat and you are wondering where the hell He-Man is and why we are being forced to watch this characters journey and I just couldn't get past this. 

Supporting Characters

There are some decent voice performances here, for me Leana Headey as Evil-Lyn was a real highlight and delivers a menacing and interesting character that has depth and I wish that we could have seen more of the story from her perspective. Also Mark Hamill voices Skeletor and he is clearly having a blast, he seems to be channelling his former voice work as The Joker and it is wonderful to hear. But again he is barely in this show and it feels like he never gets the real time to shine here. This show has a massive cast and for me at least not too many more of them shone for me, I am a casual fan of this world, knowing the basics but the show does a pretty lousy job of explaining all of the characters and some come across as really strange and like you should automatically know who they are because you are a die hard fan. 

Story 

The story is where the show really messes up, the first episode is fine and fun enough but then something happens and the show really focuses on the wrong things for this show. If they wanted to make a He-Man spinoff and not really include him then thats fine but don't lie and try to convince the fandom that we were getting a true He-Man show. The ending is fine, but the show felt like such a slog to get there and I just didn't get engaged enough with the story or characters. 

Script

The script is okay with some decent dramatic moments and bits of humour but there isn't enough. The show feels conflicted whether to stay a bit more family friendly or more adult and it never chooses one or the other and I felt like that hurt the vibe of the show. 

Style 

Overall, the animation and action is decent enough, I mean it doesn't look exactly revolutionary for 2021 but it is serviceable and does get the vibe of what I would expect from a Masters of the Universe show. But despite the show not even clocking in 3 hours I was bored at times and felt a bit loss with where things were going, moving at a pace that really didn't do a good job of establishing the world and characters.

Overall 

Overall, Masters of the Universe: Revelations is a poor show that does a disservice to its material. It is a slap in the face to He-Man fans and isn't good enough for new fans of the franchise either and I think it should be skipped despite its short run time. 

Rating - 3/10