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Reviews
Tenet (2020)
It's about damn time
Below I'll tell you what's good, but to begin I must warn all readers this movie is very long. And not just the slowly-developing kind some people might enjoy -- it is packed full of action, exposition, and new ideas to contemplate. Many have complained about the length, and I can't blame them. So if you are impatient, skip this movie, and save yourself the time.
I love the fantastic cinematography; the locations, characters, costumes, lighting, and FX are all a beauty to see. It has a nice mix of action sequences and personal conversations.
It is a science-fiction counter-terrorism adventure. Although fiction, the producers put a lot of effort into putting real science into the premise. It involves reversing the entropy of objects (bullets, people, vehicles, etc.) which has the effect of said objects moving 'backwards' in time from a normal perspective. Although other affects like heat-exchange (temperature/entropy) get reversed.
Anyway, we the story revolves around an un-named character only referenced as "a/the protagonist", who is/was a CIA operative until "killed" but then recruited into a secret organisation designed stop World War III; but it is not a nuclear war fought to avoid, but a temporal one!
The film has a very brisk pace, with seemingly not enough time to explain the science or the characters. But as said at the beginning, it is already a long film, so it would be UNBEARABLE (my opinion) if more time were spent on those aspects (maybe a clever editor could find things to cut to make room, but that would be a challenge).
Anyway, I enjoyed the many a-chronic sequences in the film. By which I mean scenes which make sense when viewed forward in time or if reversed in time. Some of the a-chronic sequences follow almost back-to-back, while others play out over an extended period of time.
Overall I enjoyed the thought-provoking causality-deifying action sequences. I've read many complaints that it didn't make sense on the first viewing of the movie, and the audience shouldn't be forced to watch the movie multiple times simply to understand it. I found it enjoyable (but long) AND understandable on my first viewing. Although some things make more sense if you see the movie a second time... but that applies to any movie of substance.
So just saying this movie has some very un-common time concepts that could leave some people confused / dis-satisfied with a single viewing. I found them trippy and mind-expanding on the first viewing. Only you can decide how much time your mind can take!
I haven't said too much about the plot (I think) or the characters. The plot is basically hero saves the world from the villain, but the villain is "bank-rolled" by an un-seen future maniac (who is literally committing global suicide in hopes of survival). The characters are portrayed very well by the actors, but there is so much else going on with the movie, they get little development.
In summary: a long movie too confusing for many audiences in a single viewing and with minimal character development after infinite viewings. But great cinematography and action through-out. Regardless, a fresh look upon conceptions of time.
Rick and Morty: The Ricklantis Mixup (2017)
Dark Social Commentary -- 6 point commentary
Not only a great R&M episode (my favorite of season 3), this is great story for television and film in general. Mild spoilers ahead... and a rather large one at the very end (with warning)
This episode shows several aspects of life in the Citadel (see below), all of them dark. Perhaps there are bright spots somewhere, but we don't see them. What we do see is a reflection of modern American society (and based on others' reviews, much is relevant in other countries).
By the way, the Citadel is populated with an uncountable number of 'clones' of Ricks and Mortys. Sci-Fi speaking, they are not really clones, but 'unique' individuals gathered from multiple versions of our universe (from the 'multiverse').
In addition to the 4 main plots of the show, there are 2 additional "meta" aspects. The six points the episode comments upon are:
1* Deceptive Advertising / Fake News: The show is titled the "Ricklantis Mixup" and begins (and ends) with an adventure to the mythical city of Atlantis by our show's protagonists... however we never see what happens on that adventure (at the end we hear they both enjoyed "some mermaid puss").
2* Hyper-fragmentation: While many TV/movies employ both an "A" and "B" plot (which I often feel is unnecessary) this episode also has a "C" and "D" plot... and an "E" plot if you count the Atlantis adventure mentioned above. Personally I think this is a commentary on the TV/film industry and/or short-term attention span of modern society.
3* Election campaign: The "A" plot; most candidates are Ricks but there is one Morty running for office. Beyond the expected political pandering (and low-brow fart jokes) there are assassination (attempts) before and after the election.
4* Police: The "B" plot involves the "low-life" population of Mortys and the corrupt police... I don't want to spoil this one, so I'll shut-up!
5* School: The "C" plot is an adventure by a group of student Mortys. This feels like an homage to "growing-up" tales like the movie Stand By Me. It has a dark ending but a hopeful (?) epilogue. Again I don't want to spoil it.
6* Factory/Commercial: The "D" plot is perhaps the most disturbing... it involves a disgruntled employee (in a factory of Ricks) killing employees. The act of murder is bad enough, but the cause/result is even worse. (Not gonna spoil it)
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Summary: 4 explicit and 2 meta commentaries made in a 22-minute cartoon. Ambitious and dense but ultimately successful. There is some humor spread throughout to keep it from being totally depressing, but lots to think about and overall very enjoyable to me.
** Big Spoiler **
(stop reading now if you haven't watched)
The pre-ultimate scene (before we see R&M return from Atlantis) shows all/most of the dead bodies from this episode floating through space... if you freeze-frame / slow-step the video you can also see some documents delivered by "Agent Rick" to "Campaign Morty" which implicate "Evil Morty".
I didn't get this until, like, the 3rd time I watched this... it refers back to Season 1, Episode 10, "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind". You should see the resemblance to the "patch-eye" (Evil) Morty. More obviously, if you listen, you will hear the same "Evil Morty" theme music.
For all these reasons I give this episode a full 10 of 10 rating... something I almost never do... but this episode is THAT good.
Mr. Robot: eps3.8_stage3.torrent (2017)
The Big Picture
There is a LOT of plot development in this episode, in contrast to the last episode with almost zero plot development.
This is more of a synopsis than a review, I hope you forgive me and find it useful!
First, Elliot and Darlene decide to hack the FBI (to access cryptographic keys). Darlene insists on leading this mission. She goes "all-in" to get access to Dominique's FBI security badge. There are really great scenes in a bar and at the Fed's apartment (scenes with Darlene and Dominique). Eventually, Darlene gains access to that FBI badge but is caught in the act and gets sent to jail for hacking a federal agent.
Interestingly, Darlene seemed prepared to be caught -- a real trooper for the cause. There is a great interrogation scene with Darlene (the Hacker) and Dominique (the Fed) where "Dom" becomes suspicious of her own boss (who we, the audience, knows is working with Dark Army).
Unfortunately for Darlene, the Dark Army learns that she is being held captive, and they have an operative (Irving) in position to eliminate her. The episode ends without any resolution for Darlene (cliffhanger)!
Meanwhile, the "real" Elliot meets Angela who is still convinced "everything will be okay." Elliot asks about the "big picture" and Angela tells him only WhiteRose can explain that. They both encounter Dark Army escort Joey BadA$$, but ironically/sadly Angela jumps to the conclusion that Elliot is working against her (when, in fact, he is attempting to meet WhiteRose *exactly* like she suggested).
Well, Angela runs away from Elliot swearing she will never give him anymore info while Mr.BadA$$ takes the "real" Elliot to meet with the Dark Army. Elliot doesn't get to see WhiteRose directly, but only his/her subordinate (Grant). In the process, the Dark Army "confiscates" Elliot's laptop and becomes infected. At the end of the episode, Elliot has (or at least believes he has) access to Dark Army's global computer network due to his hack...
"Meanwhile" -- this seems to be a past memory of Elliot -- Mr. Robot visits Tyrell and a physical fight breaks out between them after Mr. Robot mentions the death of Tyrell's wife (Joanna). Before either man can beat the crap out of the other, we (the audience) get a surprise visit from Mr. Price of Evil Corp.
Price tells Tyrell that he (Tyrell) will be the new CTO of E.Corp but will have no real power. Price also tells Mr. Robot that his actions were expected... In short, "powerful" men (like Price) were always in control and "lesser" men (like Mr. Robot) were merely acting as pawns -- THE BIG PICTURE.
In summary, this episode had a lot of plot development and some nice character development. It is a cliffhanger, especially for Darlene. (Elliot and Mr.Robot are still uncertain, but this is nothing new since season 1.) Finally, Angela is a wild-card... she is way-out there!
Star Trek: Voyager: Endgame (2001)
Merely Acceptable
After 7 seasons, I was expecting a fantastic ending, but this two-part finale was merely acceptable. Overall it was a decent story, but the directing and writing was both derivative and lacking...
It is derivative because of its extreme similarity to TNG's finale "All Good Things": the show opens with a future version of reality (which will never occur) then we (the audience) go back in time with the Captain (now Admiral) and change things "for the better" (while ignoring the temporal paradox this creates).
So the future (about 25 years after the current time) Admiral Janeway steels federation technology and travels to Voyager's past. She argues with the current Captain Janeway about directives/morals, and gives the old/current Voyager advanced technology. Note I think this is (so far) pretty good story, even if it is derivative.
Next the Janeways agree to invade a nebula controlled by the Borg. This would normally be suicide for Voyager, but thanks to future technology, Voyager shakes off all Borg attacks and arrives at a "trans-warp hub". Again, this is pretty entertaining...
But once Voyager arrives at this important Borg hub, the two Janeways enter a moral/ethical dispute... which is dramatic (and understandable) but also stupid... they spend several minutes near a vital Borg resource without being attacked! Did the Borg suddenly loose interest in Voyager? Does Voyager have some kind of cloaking device that the cast and writers forgot to mention to the audience? Anyway, Admiral Janeway is captured by the Borg Queen, while Voyager and Captain Janeway proceed through the trans-warp hub. The interesting thing (to me) is they are just picking a route at random... any conduit that takes them to the Alpha Quadrant. (I find this entertaining sci-fi...) The Borg Queen assimilates Admiral Janeway, but the future Janeway anticipated this, and is carrying an infection that kills the Borg Queen (and presumably infects all Borg in that sector).
Meanwhile, a Borg Sphere chases after Voyager through the trans-warp corridor, and Starfleet amasses an armada of ships to intercept the Borg Sphere. It was kind of cool to see all those federation ships, but it was totally stupid because they had no idea where Voyager would emerge in the Alpha Quadrant (also there was not enough time to amass such a fleet).
The series finale ends with Voyager emerging from the conduit in the Alpha Quadrant with debris of the Borg Sphere flying everywhere. That is: Voyager destroyed the sphere, the federation armada never fired a single shot. Kind of lame... Then in the final scene we see Voyager approaching Earth.
That's it... there is no final "welcome home" or "congratulations" speech. This is most disappointing to a fan like me... after 7 years, it would be nice to have a few minutes to "decompress." The ending was sorely lacking in an emotional way...
In summary, a mostly entertaining (if derivative) story with a lack-luster ending. Many series end without a proper finale, and those with a finale are often poor. So I wish this would have been better, but I still view it as acceptable.
My problem is Voyager deserved better than acceptable.
Star Trek: Voyager: Homestead (2001)
Touching Farewell with missed opportunities
NOTE: This is more of a criticism than a review, but I hope you find it useful!!
I was pleased to see during the opening credits that this episode was directed by the famous "Geordi La Forge" from The Next Generation (real life = LeVar Burton).
The Good: Neelix encounters his own kind, bonds with them, and ultimately leads them to stand against a greedy mining cartel. Overall a good episode, but there are 3 things which made it "not great"...
1. I always thought shuttle crafts were used too infrequently in the Star Trek series, and when they would appear, they would almost always be casually traveling through space (or rarely, an atmosphere). So I was pleased to see this episode using a shuttle for a good purpose (to investigate an asteroid field too dangerous for the "large" Voyager spaceship).
I mostly liked the scene where the shuttle crash-lands on the asteroid. This seems very believable, and the FX are very good for the time, but somehow it still looked a bit fake. I am not sure if this a poor "model" shot, or "sub-par" CGI, but either way the shuttle crash scene ended with non-convincing visuals. On the other hand, I must say that except for the final seconds of the crash scene, the shuttle appeared very believable!
2. Near the end of the episode, Neelix (who lost weapons on his ship) decides to heroically defend the asteroid colony by putting his ship in the path of an enemy torpedo. Sadly (my opinion), his heroism is nullified by a surprise appearance of the Delta Flyer which destroys the enemy's projectile. Sad because there was *no* need for Cpt.Janeway to magically come to the rescue... I believe Neelix's ship, which had undamaged shields (according to the story we see) could have survived the impact of the enemy (without outside help). Can you say anti-climatic? Or perhaps counter-climatic? Either way, Neelix was robbed of his heroic moment... FOR SHAME!!!
3. The final scene shows Neelix walking through Voyager's corridors lined with Voyager crew members. At first (and overall), I found this scene very touching. The crew decided to give a standing ovation to a person who will be missed... my eyes got very teary in this scene! However, at the end of the corridors, he sees the senior staff and friends... Now I think this is typical for a dramatic TV show, but what amazed me (in a negative way) is that he didn't hug or kiss anybody goodbye! Well maybe Telaxians aren't like humans, but really, how could he leave without giving a heartfelt speech to young Naomi? Even a small hug or kiss on the cheek with a simple line like "I will always remember you" would suffice... but he just walks past her without a word. Cold...
So the above are my 3 "note-worthy" criticisms. Now that I think about it, it was annoying that Neelix and his female Telaxian (Dexa?) often wanted (or so it appeared) to be intimate, but nothing happened until the very final seconds of the episode... where we get to see a hug. Hmmm....
ANYWAY, I really enjoyed this episode for the most part, but those 3 issues mentioned above broke my sense of disbelief... the episode wasn't totally ruined because of those issues, but it could have been much better...
...so 8 of 10.
Star Trek: Voyager: Shattered (2001)
Time Travel for the Fans
This is another time-travel / atemporal episode. If you don't like time-travel, then avoid this one!
The logic is never fully explained, but it is an entertaining romp through Voyager's history. Through some technical miracle, Chakotae is able to pass through the many (37?) time periods established across the Voyager spaceship after a freak astrometrical encounter. Quickly he bestows his time-transcending powers to a "young" Captain Janeway who travels with him through the ship to unveil and repair the "time anomaly."
A newbie may be bored/confused by the episode, but as a Voyager fan, I truly enjoyed seeing some of my favorite characters in an old light (particularly Torres but also Janeway)... or just re-visiting the introduction of characters (like 7-of-9). We also get to see old enemies who have been absent for several seasons... I think the past adversaries were my favorite parts! My only complaint about this episode is we do not see Kess.
There was a lengthy part in the middle dealing with "Captain Proton". It seemed like it was meant to be comical, but it wasn't very funny, IMHO. If you are anything like me, then when watching this part you had the same attitude as Cpt. Janeway (get me out of here... with her appropriate rolling of the eyes!).
Not perfect (see previous paragraph), but it was a mostly enjoyable trek down nostalgia lane (which I mostly enjoyed). And even if you aren't a Voyager historian, I think it was interesting from the "lame" time-travel aspect of the story... because it wasn't anywhere near typical time-travel (can you say "non-chronological"?).
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
Horrifying action flick with a bad script
This movie begins with a rather lengthy introduction, which is mostly unnecessary. However the end of the intro reveals a pixilated Alice which I thought was a nice artistic touch.
Several people have complained about the numerous camera cuts and "shaky" video. That worried me before I saw it, but this is not a continuous problem in the film; in the first act, several action scenes do have a ridiculous number of angles in a very brief period, but this is not an issue for the remainder of the film. The "shaky" video, I agree, is a bit annoying, but (as before) it only happens in the first act.
I would say the problem is inconsistency... quick cuts and shaky camera for the first part, but traditional film for the middle and final parts.
There were several "jump out of your seat" surprises in this film. And lots of horrific monsters and gruesome deaths. I give this one an 8 for horror.
Lots of action too: vehicle chases, running from zombies and Cerberuses, gun fights, and hand-to-hand combat. Score 9 for action.
The 3D was good in general, and occasionally very good for "depth", but there were no scenes (as I recall) that gave a striking "in your face" look. Best example I can think of is Alice shining her flashlight... the flashlight seems to pop out of the screen a little, and I would expect the "light cone" to be all up in my face, but it is not so...
I enjoyed this movie for the most part, but the script is pathetic. At the end, *SPOILER ALERT*, Alice unleashes an airborne anti-virus which kills thousands of zombies (and herself) almost instantly. I mean REALLY? We all know (anti)viruses take hours (or days) to have a real effect... in fact the epilogue of the film tells us that *SPOILER ALERT* the anti-virus will take YEARS to spread! Finally, I want to say that Wesker had considerable screen time before Alice arrived at the Hive, but then his character basically vanished... I wish there had been more to him. Also Claire had little impact on the story... she is certainly important in the video games, and looks beautiful in this film. I wish we could see as much of her as we did in RE:Afterlife, but sadly we get as little as in RE:Extinction.
Other plot things that annoyed me: neither Alice nor Claire had anything to say about Chris Redfield; we do not see what happened in Washington, DC after the previous film (there a few lines of dialog that discuss Wesker's betrayal).
In summary, a mediocre action/zombie flick with a disappointing script. I don't see these films for drama/script, but for action/horror... In that department I rate it a B (7 stars).
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1 (1990)
Best cliffhanger in sci-fi
A brash and ambitious Commander Shelby joins the Enterprise on a "recon" mission. But when the Enterprise arrives, it seems the Borg have destroyed a federation outpost... well ahead of Federation predictions.
And then things get worse when the captain is not only captured, but "converted" into a Borg.
In the final scene, Riker is "forced" to open fire on the enemy... his former captain.
This is one of the best cliff-hangers in my opinion... will Riker kill his former Captain? Will the Borg-Captain (Picard) destroy the Enterprise (and Riker/Shelby)? Or will the Enterprise geek-out a surprise to destroy the Borg? A great cliff-hanger... In My Humble Opinion...
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hollow Pursuits (1990)
'Broccoli' is introduced; insecure, late, but very intelligent
This episode introduces Lt. Barkley (nickname "Broccoli"). The crew (in particular, Riker and Jordi) deem him "below Enterprise standard". But Cpt.Picard, Ginen, and Troi believe he should be encouraged.
Eventually "Broccoli" proves his worth, but in the mean time, we see amusing holodeck fantasies... these mainly involve "Broccoli" defeating his superiors (Riker, Picard, etc...) and spending "quality time" with ladies like Troi and Crusher.
Ultimately, the episode is about an insecure but intelligent crewman who can/does perform under pressure... although in a very eccentric way! This episode is NOT very sci-fi, but it is entertaining on the human element... character development and realistic psychological issues.
In summary, this is a "drama" episode (not sci-fi).... it introduces us to human 'rejects' and, more specifically, Lieutenant Broccoli".... anyway, I found this episode quite entertaining!