TL;DR – All tease when it probably should be starting to deliver.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review – Well, Snowpiercer the show started in an odd place, with a murder-mystery at the core of the narrative. I was not sure how it could all jell together, but as it has continued, those lines in the sand have become more evident as power shifts have come into the light. This brewing tension has led to an interesting premise, though it is still not clear if they can pull it off.
So to set the scene, the Snowpiercer has continued on its journey in the frozen appocalype of Earth, now steaming through the former Amazon. However, for Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) the discovery that Lilah Jr (Annalise Basso) was the real murderer was not the end of his mission because he stumbled onto something else. For he found out the real power behind Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) and ended up in the draws for his trouble. However, everything marches on, and there needs to be a trial because there have been murders, and people want justice. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This an okay start, but nothing really captured me with the opening episodes.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
A couple of years ago, there was this truly fascinating film from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho who would go on write/direct last year’s Oscar winner Parasite. I found the film to be fascinating right up until that ending which I am still going back and forth on. So when I heard they were going make a TV show out of it I was intrigued how they would pull it off, the setting is there, but is the story?
So to set the scene, as the world started to crash as global warming and sea levels swamped the coasts. To fix this the world’s scientist had a plan to cool the world down … and they went too far. The world was freezing over and one man had a solution, Mr Wilford who built a 1001 car train for the world’s rich. However, as it was about to take off on its never-ending journey across the world those who could not afford it boarded the train in the last-ditch effort to save themselves from the coming death. Six years later, those who made it on still live in the tail, living off meagre food bars, trying to find the right time to rebel. They are ready to make their move when their leader Layton (Daveed Diggs), is taken by the hospitality team led by Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) because he is the only homicide detective left on the train and someone just got murdered. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting take on the End-Of-The-World genre
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I say to you Zombie Apocalypse, I think for many people the first thing
you would do is suppress a sigh. As a genre, it has been used multiple times
and these days one could say that it has been done to death as long as they immediately
followed it up immediately with ‘pun not attended’. However, every now and again,
a new show will use the setting to explore something new and today we get to
look at just such a show.
So to set the scene, we open in on Day 42 with Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard)
the only known survivor in his town. 42 Days ago portals opened up over his
town and monsters and zombies came flooding out attacking the town. Some escaped,
some were rescued, but more still were turned into zombies to roam the streets.
Abandoned by his foster family, Jack survives by hiding in his foster brother’s
treehouse and using that as a base of operation. He is trying to find his best
buddy Quint (Garland Whitt) and rescue his flame June (Montse Hernandez), but
first he needs to survive being hunted by a monster angry because Jack poked
its eye out.
TL;DR – An ambitious series
drawing inspiration from multiple religious and mystical frameworks that while
pioneering in many respects, completely fails to stick the landing
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today I get to finally explore the third pillar of 1990s sci-fi anime with the
massively influential Neon Genesis
Evangelion. For me, this was almost a form of closure given how much I have
watched the other two pillars Cowboy
Bebop and Ghost in the Shell but
I never got to see Evangelion. It was
also interesting to see a show that has been massively influential to the genre
but watching it with 20 years of extra context on top of it. Well if nothing
else, the ending stinger to last year’s Desert Bus now makes sense. With
that in mind, let’s dive in and explore Hideaki Anno’s work of gods, and
angels, and science, and man.
So to set the scene, in the year 2000 a great calamity arouse across the world
when the second impact occurred in Antarctica blasting the icy continent to
ruin and melting all its ice causing extensive flooding across the world. The
UN authority declared that the cause was a giant meteorite impact, hence common
term of it being ‘the second impact’ (okay sort of, but also sort of not, it
gets complicated). However, this is all a cover, because what really happened
is that a creature of great power was discovered under the ice, this Angel was
called Adam and something the researchers did trigger him destroying
everything. 15 years later, Shinji Ikari (Megumi Ogata/ Spike Spencer/ Casey
Mongillo) is running through deserted streets to a pick-up location. The whole
area has gone into emergency lockdown for some unknown reason, and that reason
turns out to be a second angel that everyone kind of expected was coming. Just
before he is crushed, Shinji is rescued by Captain Misato Katsuragi (Kotono
Mitsuishi/ Allison Keith/ Carrie Keranen) and taken to Tokyo-3 where a
secretive organisation Nerv has their headquarters. The leader of Nerv is
Shinji’s father Gendo Ikari (Fumihiko Tachiki/ Tristan MacAvery/ Ray Chase) who
is at best distant, but a more fair description would be icy or even abusive.
However, Shinji does not have time to process that because he is announced to
be the Third Child, and one of only a few people that can pilot an Evangelion
which he has to do like now.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting premise and it is playing with some interesting themes, even if it
doesn’t quite always come together.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
In recent years Netflix has been starting to make a big push into the anime arena
possible as a way of holding off some of its competitors. Well in the same week
that Neon Genesis Evangelion finally
made its way on to the streaming service we get an adaptation of one of the
most famous manga series 7Seeds.
Well, you have animation, set in a post-apocalyptic world, and add a growing
mystery, well count me in.
So to set the scene, one day Natsu Iwashimizu (Nao Tōyama) wakes up in the
middle of the ocean on a sinking ship. The last thing she remembers is having a
big dinner of all her favourite things and then she wakes up all alone. But
before she has a chance to process what is going on Mozu (Kazuhiko Inoue) is
screaming for her to get into a life raft. The two of them, along with Arashi (Jun
Fukuyama) and Semimaru (Katsuyuki Konishi) find themselves on an abandoned
island filled with odd creatures and plants. Is there anyone coming to help
them? Where are they? Is there anyone left? Well, the answer to that is a large
no because a cataclysm has happened. Now from here, we will be looking at the season
as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – It builds on
the season before and becomes a much more intense show that maybe holds its
cards bit too close to its chest.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Early last year I got a chance to watch the first Netflix show to come out of
Scandinavia. The Rain had a fantastic
premise with strong characters, overarching story, and design work. Though it
was a show where it would have been great to see it take some more risks and
chart a more independent course. Flash forward to a week ago and the second
season dropped onto the service and at once it captivated me back into this
world of post-apocalyptic Denmark.
So to set the scene, one day everyone’s lives in Denmark and at least Southern
Sweden changed for the worse. For that day it started to rain, nothing new in
Scandinavia, but this time the rains did not bring life, but death. Something
we are reminded about in the opening moments of Season Two when we see the carnage
once more to give us perspective moving forward. We jump back into the story
just when Season
One ended with Simone (Alba August), Rasmus (Lucas Lynggaard
Tønnesen), Martin (Mikkel Følsgaard), Jean (Sonny Lindberg), Lea (Jessica
Dinnage), and Patrick (Lukas Løkken) escaping from the Apollon headquarters
along the barrier wall in Sweden. Just when all hope is lost, Simone and
Rasmus’ father Frederick (Lars Simonsen) gives them a location where they might
get some help, moments before he himself is killed. So with a plan, they set
off for this hidden base, but there could be an even worse danger within
because the virus in Rasmus is adapting and changing and it is destroying
everything in its path. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a
whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – There are moments of
real tension but in the end, it fell a bit flat.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
Zombies are a concept that and yes I am going to go there, has been done to death. There have been so many different permeations of the living dead and the impact that they would have on the world it is hard to come into this space and have anything new to say. Well, today we take a look at a show that is trying to find some new space, even if it does not always succeed.
So to set the scene, it has been a couple of weeks since the first infection and society is in the state of collapse. There is still hope that the government can contain the spread of the zombies as fighter jets fly overhead and the military is still working on evacuations. We meet Rose (Jaime King) as she is trying to get her family to the evacuation point so they can be taken to the stadium and airlifted out to safety. Well, all of that falls apart as the soldiers discovered her husband’s wounds and drive off with their daughter leaving them behind. All the commotion draws the zombies from nearby and soon those who are left like Kyungson (Christine Lee), Lance (Kelsey Flower), and Ryan (Mustafa Alabssi) have to flee as chaos breaks out. Broken into groups everyone tries to make it to the safety of the stadium. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – The Pilot combines a great story, with fascinating animation, and a
voice cast that is here for it, so much fun to watch.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
A while back there was some mention of Michael B. Jordan staring in an animated
mecha series from Rooster Teeth, and you have to believe that this immediately caught
my attention. This of course was added to when we got the little hints as to
what the series is going to be about and the sheer bonkers voice cast that was
coming on board. Well, today we get to
see the final product, and well it does not disappoint.
So to set the scene, in 2068 the world is a very different place with a
totalitarian government The Union rising up and slowly taking over the world
with their nano-tech. There are very few governments left to stop them and all
attempts to find a diplomatic resolution have failed. As The Polity trains for
the coming war, Julian Chase (Michael B.
Jordan) and Miranda Worth (Dakota Fanning) take some time away from The Anvil,
their base of operations, to visit Chase’ mum Roberta (Shari Belafonte) in Brooklyn,
New York. However, they are not visiting in person but through VR Holograms.
After the prerequisite embarrassing
stories about Chase’s childhood, the pair leaves
just as The Union start their main attack on New York. The team race to defend
the city but sometimes the only option left is a sacrifice. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a
whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – This is a fascinating look at a world of complete inequality, and how that affects the lives of those within.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today after watching The Rain (see review) I wanted to continue to explore more of the different Sci-Fi TV shows from around the world, and it just so happens that with the ending of The Rain I was recommended 3% from Brazil. So today we jump from the Post-Apocalyptic realm, and into the world of dystopia, stark power differences, and a world where the haves and the have-nots could not be further apart. In today’s review, we will be looking at both Season One and Two of 3% so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for especially Season One but also some of the events that happen further along.
TL;DR – An interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre from Denmark, which blends a number of common elements to make something quite interesting, if not that unique.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
The Post-Apocalyptic genre is one of those settings that can either be gold or a complete drag or in the case of one current series on TV at the moment, it could start off as gold and then drag into oblivion. At the heart of what makes these settings work is the focus on the characters and the human stories among the devastation. This is why films like Mad Max, The Matrix and shows like Jericho, and even video games like Fallout are so evocative. Today we are looking at another entry into this genre from Denmark with The Rain.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 