Tag Archives: Science Fiction

TV Review – The Orville: Identity Part 1

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TL;DR – Today we the best episode of the series so far that builds on everything that has come before and leaves you desperate for more.     

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Identity Part 1. Image Credit: Fox.

Review –

One of the few great things about 2019 is all the great Science Fiction content we are getting across the mediaverse at the moment. One of the interesting examples of this has been The Orville, a show about a bunch of misfits trying to do their best as they explore the universe. It is a show filled with flawed people, but it is also a show filled to the brim with charm. In today’s episode Identity, we get a show that takes everything we know and then flips it on its head.

So to set the scene, it is family time on the USS Orville, with Isaac (Mark Jackson) babysitting Ty (Kai Wener) and Marcus (BJ Tanner) while Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) works late in sickbay. Everything was going well, bar the fact that Isaac always wins, and so Claire thinks it is the best time to tell the boys that they are dating, which of course they already knew. However, all of this falls apart when Isaac has a seizure and shutdowns in front of the family. There are no life signs, but then is that normal for a Kaylon? No one really knows. In a last-ditch effort, the Planetary Union authorises The Orville to head to Isaac’s home planet and hope that they can fix him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Umbrella Academy – Season 1

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TL;DR – While the story was a little inconsistent, it an interesting ride from start to finish.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Umbrella Academy. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

We live in a world today where superhero team-up projects are no longer a rare thing hidden in some comic book store. Today people know and understand the thought of a group of people suddenly discovering powers that they can use for good or evil. So in this world how do you differentiate yourself from all the other shows out there? Well, you focus on one thing, and that is family. Family can be complicated at the best of times, and well when you watch The Umbrella Academy you find that I don’t think there ever was a best of times.

So to set the scene, one day in 1989 a miracle happened (or a curse depending on your perspective) when across the globe 43 women gave birth to babies, the only issue was that they started the day not being pregnant. This drew the attention of Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) who went around the world trying to buy as many of the babies as he could … he got 7. However, there were not normal children, with all of them, well most of them, having extraordinary powers. Luther (Tom Hopper) has immense strength and take a beating that would kill someone and get back up. Diego (David Castañeda) has the ability to make anything he throws curve through the air, so he is a man who likes his knives. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) has the ability to suggest things to people and they are compelled to oblige. Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has the ability to talk to the dead, Five (Aidan Gallagher) can phase through time and space, and Ben (Justin H. Min) can summon tentacles to cause mass destruction. Of the seven, only Vanya (Aidan Gallagher) didn’t develop any powers, being relegated to the sidelines as her siblings go off on missions like stopping a bank heist. All of this is fine but time goes on and families can drift apart even at the best of times. So at the start of the series, many of the siblings have not talked to each other in years, but they are all brought back into the fold when their at best eccentric and at worst abusive father is found dead under less than clear circumstances. Now, for this point onwards, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Saints of Imperfection

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TL;DR – While there was a lot that happened in this episode, it just didn’t click with me the way the rest of the season has.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Saints of Imperfection. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

We are about at the mid-point of the season and the story of the red lights is still unfolding. However, as we go along, there is still nothing concrete to hold onto, Spock is still missing, the red lights are still an enigma, and who knows what Section 31 is up to. Now while this has been fine up until a point, at some time we need to have a moment of focus. Without that, we get today’s episode that is full of promise and cool moments but is lacking something.

So to set the scene, we start today’s episode in the moments after An Obol For Charon finishes with Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) racing to the engineering section after hearing about Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) disappearance. When she arrives all she finds is the alien cocoon pulsating on the floor and no Tilly in sight. However, all of that is put on hold when the USS Discovery catches up with Spock’s shuttle, only it is not Spock that makes a graceful exit after it docks with Discovery, but an old friend … though I don’t know if you could call her that. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Orville: Deflectors

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TL;DR – Today we find yet another side of life on Moclus, and it’s not great, to be honest.    

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Deflectors. Image Credit: Fox.

Review –

Well, tonight’s episode of The Orville was an interesting one because it was an episode full of contradictions. It is an episode trying to shine the light of prejudice, but in a really ham-fisted way, but then it works when it really shouldn’t. It also contrasts this really serious storyline with a really silly one, and still all works.  

So to set the scene, the USS Orville is preparing itself for a long-term mission into unexplored space by returning to Moclus to get a deflector upgrade. This involves a Moclan engineer Locar (Kevin Daniels) coming on-board to assist, which is a bit awkward because he is Bortus’ (Peter Macon) ex. While this is going on Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) realises in a conversation with Cassius (Chris Johnson) that they both want different things out of the relationship, so she decided to end it, which does not go over well. This is all before Locar reveals a secret that rocks the ship to the core, and may have set in motion something uncontrollable. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Movie Review – The Wandering Earth (Liúlàng Dìqiú, 流浪地球)

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TL;DR –  At its core is an interesting idea, however, it is populated by the most unlikable characters in cinema at the moment  

Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

The Wandering Earth. Image Credit: China Film Company Limited

Review –

If you have read any of my reviews you will know I am a fan of Science Fiction. I love exploring the future and what it could be, I love interesting ideas and concepts, and I love the idea of exploring the universe. Today’s movie The Wandering Earth out of China does all of that and more. However as I walked out of the cinema I was not elated, instead, frankly, I was disappointed in how someone could squander such a good idea.

So to set the scene, at some point in the near future the Sun decides that it is ready to turn into a red giant now rather than billions of years from now and humanity has a choice. They can sit there and die as the Sun expands, or they can do something about it. They choose the latter and build hundreds of engines across the planet so that they can move the Earth to the Alpha Centauri system. To make sure nothing goes wrong they build a large space station that travels ahead of Earth to warn them of any danger. The one threat is that before they leave the Solar System they need to perform a gravity assist boost around Jupiter, but then it seems that Jupiter was not ready to let go. As all of this is happening Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing) the senior astronaut on the Space Station has to watch helplessly as his son Liu Qi (Qu Chuxiao), father-in-law Han Zi’ang (Ng Man-tat), and adopted daughter Han Duoduo (Zhao Jinmai) are caught outside in the emergency and are marshalled into helping the Earth stave off disaster.

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Movie Review – Alita: Battle Angel

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TL;DR – Filled with excited characters, and interesting action, it is almost a great film, that is until it fails to stick the landing     

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Alita: Battle Angel. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Review –

Alita: Battle Angel is one of those films that has been bubbling in and out of the film scene for almost twenty years now. It would get so close to being made and then another setback, and once it was filmed we would get these little titbits every month or so. With all this, I was wondering what we would actually get with the final product because I had not seen the original Manga it is based on so I was coming in blind. Well now that I have had some time to think through it, I can say that it is a film with some truly beautiful moments, some really intense ‘oh damn’ moments, and also is a movie that it falls into the same trap as many films these days and sacrifices the narrative of this film to set up potential sequels in the future.

So to set the scene, in the far future the Earth is covered in large sky cities until one day called ‘The Fall’ everything came crashing down bar one city called Zalem. With the Earth devastated many flock to the one remaining bastion of civilization creating the great Iron City that sprawls out underneath Zalem. No one from the Iron City can enter Zalem, but they all work for the city, in the farms, factories, or as Hunter-Warriors who are bounty hunters in a world where the police no longer exist. In the centre of Iron City is the junkyard, where the people of Zalem throw out all their junk raining it down on the city below. One day Dr Dyson (Christoph Waltz) was scavenging the junkyard for parts for his cybernetic limbs clinic when he comes across a cyborg core with a still functioning brain. He brings her home and repairs her body when she awakes she has no idea what her name was, or what her past was, but she accepts the name Alita (Rosa Salazar) and begins to learn about the dangerous world around her.  

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: An Obol For Charon

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TL;DR – This week we delve into a very classical episode of Trek, with an emotional punch that left me in tears.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: An Obol For Charon. Image Credit: CBS Studios

When you watch a TV show there are many things that can draw your attention. There could be some cool effects, some nifty action, some big emotional moment, or something witty that makes you laugh. For me personally, I find myself focusing on the things that show off someone’s or in the case of a show, everyone’s talent. That can be that beautiful starscape that awes me to the core, or it can be an emotional moment where the actors with the help of the director, script and the whole crew bring words to life and make them their own. In tonight’s episode of Star Trek Discovery, we get several moments like this including one that ripped out my heart and made me weep.

So to set the scene, after last week’s episode Point of Light there was some more focus for the USS Discovery as they had captured the mycelium creature hitching a ride on Tilly (Mary Wiseman). At this start of this week, we get some more focus as Number Two (Rebecca Romijn) comes on-board for burgers and to let Captain Pike (Anson Mount) know that she has found the direction Spock took after fleeing the care facility and allegedly murdering three people. With this information in hand, they warp off to intercept him before someone less savoury finds him. All is fine, well bar Saru (Doug Jones) having a cold, which Linus (David Benjamin Tomlinson) can sympathise with, however just as they get near the warp trail the Discovery is ripped out of warp by an ancient being and held in place as all hell breaks loose. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Orville: A Happy Refrain

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TL;DR – A beautiful story about finding love in an unexpected place.  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Orville: A Happy Refrain. Image Credit: Fox.

One of the things that The Orville has focused on in its run so far is the relationships between the crew, both plutonic, but yes also romantic. Indeed, the show’s premise was based around the fact that Ed (Seth MacFarlane) and Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) have to work together even though they used to be married. However, there has been one relationship that has been on a very slow burn since Season One and today we get more of it.

So to set the scene, we open as Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) is working on a research paper and asks Isaac (Mark Jackson) to give it a once over. The two have grown close since their shuttle crash-landed and Isaac helped watch over her children. It is during this exchange that Claire finally works out that she wants to take this relationship to the next level, but is that something Isaac can even do. Oh and Bortus (Peter Macon) wants to grow a moustache and it is amazing. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – gen:LOCK – The Pilot

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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

gen:LOCK – The Pilot. Image Credit: Rooster Teeth.

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.

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TV Review – The Orville: All The World Is Birthday Cake

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TL;DR – It explores what you would do in a First Contact situation when everything is taken out of your hands.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: All The World Is Birthday Cake

Review –

First Contact is one of those big deal moments in Science Fiction, it can be a moment of pure joy or a moment of devastation. When you first put that call out into the universe you do not know who will answer it and indeed, for those answering the call what will you find when you make planetfall. Today we explore one such scenario, with of course The Orville’s unique spin on it.

So to set the scene, we open on the planet Regor 2 as the scientist and First Prefect (John Rubinstein) send a simple message into the void asking if there was anyone else out there. A couple of years later the crew of the USS Orville were doing another run, this time picking up their new chief of security Talla Keyali (Jessica Szohr), and discussing upcoming birthdays when they receive a faint message. Quickly finding out that this is an unknown civilization the whole crew jump with the excitement of going on their first First Contact mission. After some initial pleasantries, everything was going fine until Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) mentions her upcoming birthday and everything falls apart. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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