Shazam Fury Of The Gods: Gal Gadot’s Best Performance Yet

Summary

Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, and his family do battle with evil Greek Gods.

So this film has got quite a mixed response from audiences but honestly I don’t think it is all that bad. Yes there are some obvious issues with the film such as the dialogue, which is nothing short of appalling at times, and of course the skittles product placement sequence, but there are also things to enjoy.

I liked the wider moral lesson of letting go that this film went for, I thought it was quite deep and inspired. Moreover, though this film didn’t tug on my heartstrings in the same way the first film did there was a number of moments wherein I found myself caring about these characters and feeling things.

The cast across the board was very good, Zachery Levi was a clear standout for praise as he once again manages to capture that childhood naivety whilst also seemingly like a capable superhero force. However, I would say he is outshined very, very surprisingly by Gal Gadot. Now you all know my thoughts on Gadot’s acting ability, she can’t, but here her brief scene at the end of the film is a complete scene stealer and quite probably the best of the film.

One thing I will note is that this film much like Ant-Man last month made me miss street level heroes and superhero films that weren’t so CGI heavy. There were a number of moments in this film that reminded me of the classic early Raimi Spider-Man films, which whilst having CGI in them, were no where near the total CGI overload of today’s superhero films and therein lies the problem, I was being reminded of these better less CGI heavy films whilst watching and that went against the film.

Overall, fun but certainly not a must see.

3/5

Pros.

It’s fun

A few good jokes

Gadot

Cons.

The dialogue

Too much CGI

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Wednesday Series Overview: A Family Reunion

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, is given her own show wherein she is sent off to boarding school.

I think this is the best series Netflix has made in a long time. Yes, there are similarities between it and Riverdale, though this is infinitely better written and less gratuitous, because both are teen shows set primarily with dealing with teen issues and occasionally otherworldly hijinks.

However, where the two differ is that this show has far more going for it than Riverdale ever did and an appeal that vastly goes beyond the teen girls that Cole Sprouse brought in, and is something everyone can enjoy. There is enough member berry goodness, with the returning Christina Ricci and the references to the now classic films that it can bring in old fans whilst also offering something new to bring in fresh crowds.

Tim Burton’s dark sensibilities are but to great use here and the tone for the series feels both very in keeping with his aesthetic whilst also appropriate for the source material. I think the best thing that Wednesday has going for it is its characters and the writing as a whole, the former being instantly memorable and easy to warm to and the latter feeling like a natural continuation that also is devilishly funny.

Overall, this is the sort of teen programming we deserve.

Pros.

Ortega

The characters

Ricci

The ending of the series and the similarities with Harry Potter

It is very funny

Cons.

It could have done with being a few episodes longer

4.5/5

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Slumberland: Hanging Out With A Pet Pig

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After losing her dad, played by Kyle Chandler, Nemo, played by Marko Barkley, ventures into a world of dreams and nightmares in order to see him one last time.

I think the strengths of this film lie on the shoulders of Jason Mamoa and Chris O’Dowd, Mamoa for his effortlessly charming nature and surprisingly endearing turn and O’Dowd for just how much human realness he brings to his role as a guy suddenly forced into being a father. Of the two I would probably give it to O’Dowd as I think a few of his scenes where he is opening up emotionally with Nemo are quite powerful, as is the ending when he is racing to save her.

In terms of wider fantasy, the film has a few interesting set pieces but is mostly by the numbers. There is nothing that you won’t have seen done before especially if you are a fan of the genre. However, I did appreciate the gothic sense of style this film has which is almost certainly a by product of its source material, there is something very ancient and other worldly about this film, especially as it rarely features smart phones.

Overall, a surprisingly good Netflix film with some strong performances

O’Dowd

Mamoa

The heart

The gothic sensibilities

Cons.

It is nothing new

The CGI is a little patchy in places

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Black Adam: Time To Put The DCEU Out Of It’s Misery

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Black Adam, played by Dwayne Johnson, escapes from his prison to then engage in deeply generic superhero shenanigans.

My my if this is the best the DCEU can produce then it really is in need of a reboot pronto.

This is the most generic superhero film that I have seen in a while, this film is so obsessed with giving us mind numbing CGI spectacles that it forgoes anything even barely resembling a story or character instead choosing to use an off-putting barrage of mostly badly done bang bang effects.

Johnson is playing himself, which is fine is you like that but not if you actually wanted Black Adam to have a personality beyond ‘oh look The Rock has super powers now.’ They try and give Black Adam somewhat of an upsetting backstory but the fact that the Rock can’t emote in any real way just kind of kills that off early on.

The Justice Society are annoying, I suppose this is what the film wants as it wants you to cheer on Black Adam as he beats them up. I thought that Doctor Fate, played by Pierce Brosnan, was easily the best of them and the film and then the film goes and kills him off. To do this and try and give him this big heroic send-off doesn’t work as we haven’t seen him in any other films and he has barely been introduced or developed here so his death has very little impact beyond angering fans of the character such as myself. I thought that they might bring him back in a post credits scene, but no they have to bring back Superman, played by Henry Cavil, again because God forbid they have the film be standalone.

Overall, weak and generic.

Pros.

A few cute moments between Atom Smasher and Cyclone

Some interesting comments on America as the world’s unwanted policeman

Cons.

The Rock is miscast and can’t emote or do anything beyond play himself

It is one big CGI mess

They brought in Doctor Fate only to kill him

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

She-Hulk: Whose Show Is This?

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

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

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

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

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

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

Pros.

Jen’s line about the X-Men

Bring back Daredevil for a few brief scenes

Cons.

It is cringe

It throws out everything that the series has been setting up

The meta joke mostly don’t work

It feels gimmicky throughout

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

She-Hulk: Ribbit And Rip It

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

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

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

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

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

Pros.

Jen really comes into her own here

The surprisingly dark twist at the end of the episode

Seeing Jen sort of hulk out

Bringing in Daredevil

Jen and Matt were a great couple

Cons.

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

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

She-Hulk: The Retreat

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pros.

Maslany and the focus on Jen

Bringing back Roth

The therapy scenes

Cons.

Still no Daredevil

Continued man bashing

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Sandman: Bring Me A Dream

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Morpheus, played by Tom Sturridge, the Lord of the Dreaming is captured and kept in isolation for a century, once he escapes he finds things have fallen apart in his kingdom and need to be restored.

I am a big, big, big fan of the Sandman comic, and also of its author Neil Gaiman as such I have been eagerly awaiting this show for a long time. The reason this review is quite past the time of the series release is because I wanted to reread the comic run along side watching the episode of the show, as such things were slowed down but I don’t regret it for a second.

Never before have I seen an adaptation which so perfectly brings the comic book it is based on to life. As I was reading the comics in between watching episode I saw whole series of panels be brough to life almost identically and I think that is one hell of an achievement. Likewise the casting is spot on, Sturridge is a fantastic Dream, Boyd Holbrook perfectly captures the Corinthian and Jenna Coleman and Gwendolyn Christie bring fantastic new takes on characters that I was really quite attached to in Sandman but also their own Vertigo comic runs.

My only criticism of this show, and it is minor, is that some of the new additions for the show that veer ever so slightly away from the comic do produce somewhat of a jarring effect. Like I said before most of the changes, updates and swaps work incredibly well but a few don’t luckily I could ignore it for the most part. Furthermore, the first episode is quite slow, but I suppose it had to be to be able to bring in a casual audience that knew nothing going in, I was expecting it to hit the road at full speed but that was perhaps a little rash of me.

Overall, easily the best thing on Netflix in years.

Pros

The casting

A new take

Bringing over panels seamlessly

The ending and things to come

Cons.

Some of the changes don’t work

The first episode is quite slow

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

She-Hulk: Just Jen

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Tatiana Maslany, goes to a wedding.

Compared to a lot of the other episodes of this season I actually thought this was somewhat better. I liked the focus on Jen rather than She-Hulk and thought that Maslany got a lot of moments to shine wherein her charm really did come out. I think it is hard to watch this episode and not like the character of Jennifer Walters.

That said it is far from perfect. They bring back the dumpster fire that is Titania, played by Jameela Jamil, who ruins the wedding scenes which she is in and also gives us one of the worst fight scenes ever in the history of the MCU. Moreover, they also have a b plot about a guy being sued by a bunch of his ex-wives and the joke is that he is terrible. To me this just came across as man hating plain and simple, it seems that it is very hard for this show to have any male characters, that isn’t already an established part of the MCU be shown in a good light.

In addition they also draw attention to the fact that even though last week’s episode ended with a tease for Daredevil that this episode would just ignore that. As I have said before drawing attention to your bad writing doesn’t suddenly make it good it is just doubly bad and lazy. I really do think that this show has to use the promise of Daredevil as a crutch to get people to keep watching, if they announced tomorrow that Daredevil had been cut from the show I bet the viewership would quickly nosedive.

Overall, better than the last few episodes but still troubled.

Pros.

Maslany is very charming

A lot of the jokes land

It makes me warm to Jen as a character

Cons.

Titania is still awful

The b plot is just garbage

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

She Hulk: What The Hell Is This? Is It An Advert?

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Megan Thee Stallion shows up and She-Hulk, played by Tatiana Maslany, twerks.

I will review this episode in two parts, the first part will focus on the good and the second on the bad. The bad here is fairly extreme but I like Wong, played by Benedict Wong, so there is some good here.

In the Abomination, played by Tim Roth, storyline we get a fun cameo from everyone’s favourite Sorcerer Supreme and it is played up enough that every second we get with him is pure gold. The comedy in this part of the episode also really landed for me.

That said onto some of the worse stuff I have seen from Marvel possibly to date. Everyone hates the Simpsons episode Lisa Goes Gaga because all it exists to do is blow smoke up the guest stars rear end and say how great they are, clearly the She-Hulk team aren’t familiar with this as they do exactly the same thing here. Not only is the Megan Thee Stallion subplot not at all funny in any way but it gets really repetitive with how many times they have to say her name over and over again as though they are trying to force us to think it is a big deal. Moreover, I know a lot of people complain that the MCU has gotten too silly and want things to return to a more serious tone, however, normally I don’t mind the humour of the MCU, but I would say this show is pushing it too far. The post credits twerking scene is something that has no business in the MCU it feels like something you might see from a tie-in advert but not a scene from a film or TV show, in addition it is also all kinds of cringe.

I really do think She-Hulk as a show needs to get its tone right because right now it is all over the place and feels like a bad parody.

Overall, other than Wong this episode was made entirely to suck up to the guest star.

Pros.

Wong

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Everything to do with Megan Thee Stallion

The twerking scene

It feels like bad parody at times

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer