Monthly Archives: July 2025

Murderbot: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – While this was a ridiculous romp of a show, beneath that exterior lies a fascinating character piece about identity, free will, and community.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this show.

Murderbot standing outside of the habitat.

Murderbot Review –

Well, we have come to the end of what was an exciting, if odd series. I love my Sci-fi in almost every flavour, and sometimes you want a lighter, silly flair to it. Today’s series that we are exploring has that, indeed, it has that in spades. However, what it also has is an honest heart, which was the bigger surprise, and one that I deeply love to discover.

So, to set the scene, we open on the Mining Station Aratake in the Corporation Rim. Here, all the miners are celebrating the end of the mining expedition 115-24TTX. The one person not celebrating is the Security Unit, which has to follow human orders and tries to keep them safe. But as he is sitting there, he is able to hack the Governor Module in his head, thus Security Unit 238776431 did not have the right ring to it, so it became Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård). He was a free bot, but given the corporation would kill him the moment they discovered he was rogue, which is how he ended up on Mining Survey 0Q17Z4Y, with more humans, ones who just might care about him, because they were weird. Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Shuttle to Kenfori – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is time to get our Horror on as something creeps in the dark, waiting to strike. Oh, and the Klingons are here too. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The USS Enterprise approaches Kenfori.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One thing you need to know about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is that it is not afraid to take wild swings in tone and also go “how about we do an ‘insert x’ episode? The sort of episode that makes no sense being in a Star Trek show, but goodness, do they pull it off more times than not. Sometimes this can be a musical episode, but today it is time to dip our toes in some straight-up horror.  

So, to set the scene, back in Hegemony Part II, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano) caught a bad case of Gorn larvae, and while they thought they had cured the infection, unfortunately, the Gorn are resilient. She didn’t have much hope left, save for one Hail Mary, a Chimera flower only found in Kenfori. There was once a Federation research base on the planet, but it was evacuated during the Klingon-Federation War. Now, it is in the Restricted Zone drawn up after the war. Which means they must undertake a black ops mission, and Pike (Anson Mount) and M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) take a shuttle down to the surface. The research station is still there, and so is the flower. But why is there no animal life on the planet? And why is there a Klingon beacon blasting a warning above the planet? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Dune: Awakening – Video Game Review

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TL;DR – This game has usurped my life, even when Harold killed me over and over again …. And over again.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for this game.

Looking out over the Hagga Basin.

Dune: Awakening Review –

Every now and again, a game captures me in a way that I cannot quite understand. It’s what I think about at work, what I ponder on the bus, and sometimes even what pops up in my dreams. Today I get to do a deep dive into one such game that has taken over my life in the last couple of weeks. For you see, the spice must flow.

So, to set the scene, we have entered the world of Dune, but not the world you might be familiar with. For this is one of Paul Atreides’ spice dreams, where he explores a world of what would have happened if his mother Lady Jessica had been loyal to the Bene Gesserit and had a daughter instead of a son, as they wanted. Thus, House Atreides was not wiped out in the Arrakis coup, and the planet has been thrust into a war between them and House Harkonnen. You play an off-worlder from one of several factions that have found themselves on a slave transport. Your life has minimal promise, that is, until a masked figure shoots down your transport and you find yourself out on the sands of Dune, not prepared for the world you are about to enter.

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The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Movie Review

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TL;DR – The best Fantastic Four film by a country mile.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

The Fantastic Four in a row.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review –

Well, it is time for another try at bringing the Fantastic Four to life. This would make it the third reboot of the franchise in my time. To catch you up, I liked the camp fun of Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but it has been decades since I watched them, so I am not sure how well they have aged. But also, 2016’s Fantastic Four was an amazingly cast failure at almost every level. Which gives us a wide range to be working with even before we take into consideration the current rocky ground the MCU is standing on. But there is always time to find your feet, and I hope that today is that time as we dive headfirst into Phase 6. 


So, to set the scene, we are on Earth, but not as we know it because this is Earth-828, and four years ago, a tragic accident in space created heroes by cosmically changing their DNA. Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) who can stretch his body, his wife Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) who can manipulate light, her brother Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) who can turn into flames, and good friend Ben Grimm / The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has turned into rock. Their emergence has changed the world, but for their family, the only thing that matters is that Sue is pregnant. It is a moment that brings them all together, which is when a harbinger of doom arrives in the sky. The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) announces to the world that it has been chosen for destruction at the hands of Galactus (Ralph Ineson). The Fantastic Four want to save Earth, but what happens when the price of salvation is too high?

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Foundation: A Song for the End of Everything – TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid introduction that promises a lot, but is more about the vibes than detail.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Exposition in a garden.

Foundation Review –

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Foundation, a series I am fascinated by for how it adapts a classical work for a modern audience. The original series is one of its time, and it chopped and changed as Isaac Asimov charted a more serialised work. But this new adaptation has found ways to run through that narrative to give it a connection. Some of these have worked, and others have been failures. As we shift into the next phase of the series, it will be interesting to see where we land.   

So to set the scene, it has been 152 years since the Second Crisis, and while The Empire continues to collapse, The Foundation grows, expanding further out of the outer reach. Now both the Empire and The Foundation are fighting to control Kalgan, a pleasure planet, and the key to controlling The Middle Band. But there may be a third player out there, ready to tear everything up. For after much prediction, or perhaps, not enough prediction, The Mule (Pilou Asbæk) is on the move, and both sides should fear him. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Wedding Bell Blues – TV Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly silly episode about love, amazingly silly, yet that is what makes it such a joy.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The USS Enterprise at Starbase One.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One of the great strengths of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been its ability to shift from genre to genre on a dime. Sure, everything is still couched in that Sci-fi/Star Trek world. But last season we got Those Old Scientists, Under the Cloak of War &Subspace Rhapsody back to back, and it worked. Well, last week’s episode, Hegemony Part II, was all about war, trauma, and potential harvesting into food by the Gorn. This week, we have a wedding episode. Okay, maybe there isn’t that much of a difference after all.

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise has been stuck at Starbase One getting repairs for three months thanks to their battles with the Gorn in Hegemony Part II. But it is coming up to the Federation Day Centennial, and it is time for a ceremonial gala. For some, this is a time of un. But for Spock (Ethan Peck), it is a time of nervousness because Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) is coming back from her three-month fellowship. He is taking out all the steps to make a grand emotional gesture, even getting dance lessons from La’An (Christina Chong). Buuuuuttttt, that doesn’t consider Chapel bringing Dr. Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan) back with her… as her date … Sure hope some entity with cosmic powers doesn’t want to mess with everyone right now. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Hegemony Part II – TV Review

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TL;DR – it is time to bring the battle to the Gorn, if they can save everyone from a gruesome death.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Shields at 30%.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

It is that wonderful time of year when I get to welcome some new Star Trek. After the smorgasbord of shows in 2024, it has been a bit of a wait, but I am now and always will be here for more Strange New Worlds. We may only have three seasons left of the show, but I am ready to enjoy each and every episode, starting with the follow-up to last season’s cliffhanger.  

So, to set the scene, after hinting for two seasons, the Gorn are here, and not only are they here, but they have also started taking Federation planets. Fighting across the planet to save the colonists, while Starfleet headquarters called them back, it is what Enterprise crews are made of. The only problem is that when they beamed out all the survivors, some of the transporters were green, and the Federation does not use green transporters. Now, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) must work out how to save his crew and the woman he loves before they fall to the Gorn. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Smurfs (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A complete mess of a film that fundamentally does not understand who it wants to be for, and in its attempt to be for everyone, it becomes a movie for no one.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – There are sequences with flashing lights.

Smurfette.

Smurfs Review –

Sometimes, as a reviewer, you have to contend with reviewing films that you are clearly not the target demographic for, where you need to pull yourself out of the setting for a bit and experience it like the intended audience. But that all depends on one thing: the film actually working with the people they want it to.

So, to set the scene, a long time ago, four evil wizards captured four magical books and tried to steal all that is good in the world, but luckily, one of the books escaped and the spell was ruined. Some time later, all the Smurfs of Smurf village have come together to sing their daily song. But there is one Smurf out of sync: No Name Smurf (James Corden). Smurfette (Rihanna) tries to help No Name Smurf to find his thing, when even Shark Trainer Smurf was taken. However, as they were getting Smurfberries, No Name Smurf finds his secret talent, magic. But there has never been a Magic Smurf, and we find out why when a magical pulse tips off Razamel (JP Karliak) as to where Smurf Village is, and he captures Papa Smurf (John Goodman) so he can tell him where the last book is. Now the Smurfs have to go on a rescue mission to save Papa Smurf and the whole world.

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Superman (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a Colourful, Bright, and Kind change for DC. It does suffer from some of the problems that the writer always has, but it is a grand step forward for a franchise in real danger of catastrophic failure.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Superman crashed into the ice of Antarctica.

Superman Review –

Look, by now, I think we have all watched the DC Expanded Universe fall into ruin. What started with some promise, if complicated iconography in Man of Steel, ended up limping to its doom with such misfires as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Flash, and this is not even touching on the real disasters for the wider franchise with the Justice League and Joker: Folie à Deux. But when you are down in the dumps, it is time to try a Hail Mary, and by goodness, I think they just might have pulled it off.  

So, to set the scene, three years ago, Superman (David Corenswet) revealed himself to the world, and three minutes ago, he got his ass beet for the first time. Crashing down in Antarctica and needing Krypto (Jolene) to bring him to safety. Because, for the first time, Superman inserted himself into an international disagreement and stopped a war between Boravia and Jarhanpuria, and that has ruffled a few feathers, most notably the tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). For the first time, Superman/ Clark Kent has to work in a space where he does not have all the answers, and the world is turning against him, and he may not have the strength to get through this.  

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Heads of State – Movie Review

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TL;DR – I was honestly surprised about how much I liked this film, John Cena and Idris Elba are a blast, the action scenes are solid, and it makes a couple of solid points with its story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Prime Video service that viewed this film.

John Cena and Idris Elba hold hands.

Heads of State Review –

There has been an interesting trend in action films recently. Back in the 1990s, it was common for the US President to be an action star, think Air Force One or Independence Day. But it has been a long time since I have seen it outside of some ‘has fallen’ films. But in the last year, we have gotten Rumours, Captain America: Brave New World, and G20, to name but a few. Now we get to see what John Cena and Idris Elba do in this world of a good old-fashioned UK-USA team-up.   

So, to set the scene, we open in Buñol, Spain, as La Tomatina is in full swing, where Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is working a case for MI6/CIA to take out Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine). It was going well until her entire team was murdered in the street. Meanwhile, in London, embattled Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) is getting ready to meet US President Will Derringer (John Cena), a former action film star. After a disastrous press conference, the minders agree to diffuse the situation with the two jointly taking Air Force One to the NATO conference in Trieste. But when the plane is attacked, they are pushed out of the aircraft in parachutes; the only problem is that the attack has put them over Belarus, hostile territory.    

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