My Review of The Suicide Squad (2021) - SPOILERS INCLUDED

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn

Bloodsport: "We're all gonna die."

Polka Dot Man: "I hope so."

Bloodsport: "Oh for fuck sake."

The fact that we have a sequel to this band of baddies but not the biggest superhero group in DC comics for the DCEU certainly will go as one of the strangest things to happen in a movie franchise but here we are.

If you're familiar with the first movie, you'll know the drill with this loosely based sequel. Government agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has assigned Task Force X for another dangerous mission and this time, two groups are needed for this particular task.

The first group to land in the mystery of Jotunheim for the mission Project Starfish include returning members Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Boomerang (Jai Courtney). This time around they're joined by Savant (Michael Rooker), TDK (Nathan Gillion), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Javellin (Flula Borg) and Mongal (Mayling Ng).

It doesn't take long for the majority of the first group to get annihilated, following a team member's betrayal and some of the deaths in question really do take advantage of the R rating of this movie. Of course, Amanda Waller is smart enough to have a second group.

The second group comprising of Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) and Peacemaker (John Cena) are somewhat more success in a few aspects.

As characters they're largely explored in more detail as well as united fairly quickly with Flag and Harley and its largely this group who enlist the unwilling help of mad scientist and metahuman, the Thinker (Peter Capaldi) in order to take out villain of the piece, Starro (Taika Waititi). 

Starro as a villain definitely is a success. The CGI looks perfect, the character feels genuinely intimidating, the effects of its victims are sold perfectly and the group effort in order to defeat it works perfectly. 

Of course there are other villains. The Thinker is suitably repugnant as was the dictator General Luna (Juan Diego Botto) and right man Mateo (Joaquin Cosia). Not to mention, Waller's own motives about Project Starfish and the depths Peacemaker will go to for his aims as well.

In terms of characters, the highlights of course for me were Harley, Ratcatcher 2 and her adorable pet rat, Sebastian, Polka Dot Man, King Shark and Bloodsport. Those five stood out the most and the ones that I'm glad made it out of the movie alive. Flag showed improvement but Waller not as much and I hate to admit it but Peacemaker did grate at times. Hopefully his spin off will even the character out.

- Sean Gunn, Steve Agee and Taika Waititi all got to play more than one role each in this movie. I did not care for Gunn's take on Calender Man.

- Harley's look in this movie is without a doubt the best look she's had in the DCEU so far and the most comic accurate.

- Mid Credit scene: Weasel actually survived the events of the first attack. Odd choice of character to keep alive.

- Post Credit scene: Waller's aides Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) found themselves tasked with a comatose Peacemaker, setting up the latter's spin off for HBO Max.

- Standout music: grandson's Oh No and Rain (with Jessie Reyes), Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues and Jim Carroll Band's People Who Died.

- Chronology: Not really specified to be honest but I'm going to assume the present day. 

The Suicide Squad is definitely a crazy romp. James Gunn definitely used the fact that he was unrestrained in what he could do to his utmost advantage and there's plenty of crazy shit that happens here. Not everything works but the majority of it does and its safe to say that Gunn will have a long future in the DC universe after this movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10

DC News: Batgirl Cast, Batfleck Back, Constantine Departs And More

Well, this has certainly been a busy DC month and with The Suicide Squad in European cinemas before the US, here's a rundown of what's been happening.

Leslie Grace has been cast as Batgirl for the upcoming HBO Max. Filming will begin in November. JK Simmons has been rumoured to be reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon.

Jason Momoa will be somewhat blond for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom.

Those rumours of The Batman doing reshoots turned out to be false.

The Flash has moved filming to Glasgow and filming has been revealed of Ben Affleck's Batman.

Filming has nearly completed on Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson and Sarah Shahi having finished their scenes.

Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods is still currently filming.

Matt Ryan will remain as a regular on Legends Of Tomorrow. However John Constantine will be written out at the end of this season and Ryan will play a new character named Dr Gwyn Davies for the seventh season, which has started filming.

Victoria Cartegena will play Renee Montoya in the third season of Batwoman. It will be a different version of the character she played in Gotham.

The first season of Peacemaker will drop on HBO Max from January 16th, starting with the first three episodes.

Michael B. Jordan is currently developing a Val Zod Superman project for HBO Max.

Tobias Menzies has been cast as Sinestro for the Green Lantern series.

Winston Duke will voice the Dark Knight for the upcoming audio series, Batman Unburied.

That's the round up for this month. Some good stuff ahead.  Enjoy The Suicide Squad in cinemas and on HBO Max next month.

My Review of American Horror Stories: "The Naughty List"

 

Written by Manny Coto

Directed by Max Winkler

Zinn: "Guess we're not getting presents this year boys."

Santa: "You'll get what you deserve."

Christmas in July. I didn't ask for it, I certainly didn't need it but now as we're slap bang in the middle of this first season, it's time to see what happens when Influencers take things too far and piss off the wrong man at the worst time of year to do so.

Bro House is every negative stereotype of Influencer culture thrown in with some Logan Paul and Jackass for good measure. The bros in question containing bad boy Zinn (Nico Greetham), heartthrob Wyatt (Charles Melton), pretty boy James (Dyllon Burnside) and tech guy of the group, Barry (Kevin McHale), the latter spending more time behind the camera than in front of it.

These bros (Zinn and Wyatt especially) are openly unsympathetic from the very start, desperate to reach five million subscribers by any means necessary. This included filming an unfortunate man's suicide, which backfired on them big time and resulted in subscriber losses.

That didn't stop the vacuous pair however from playing the No Homo card (easily the cringiest scenes of the episode) and antagonising a mall Santa (Danny Trejo), who unsurprisingly turned out to be something of a dangerous serial killer.

Needless to say, Christmas Eve comes around and the Bro House lads find themselves being bumped off one by one and in as gruesome a manner as possible. Barry, the only member who seemed like a sort of decent human being lived long enough to see the house get five million subscribers.

As for the murderous Santa, well, he made it out of the episode alive to terrorise mall Santas for years to come and I wouldn't be too shocked if he turned up again. Whether in a sequel episode on this show or an appearance in the main series, who knows. Either way, I wouldn't rule out seeing him again.

- Despite his protests otherwise, it was largely implied that James was actually gay. Barry seemed accepting of that.

- I liked the use of the Wildman idea for this take on Santa Claus as well for this episode.

- I noticed the title music this week was the same as the 1984 season of the main series.

- Chronology: I'm going to assume Christmas 2021 here.

The Naughty List had its moments as an episode and was probably the most enjoyable episode yet. With protagonists difficult to sympathise with and a homicidal Santa on the loose, this one was a lot of fun to watch, in spite of it's cringey Influencer antics.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

 

Written by Jonathan Goldstein And John Francis Daly And Jon Watts And Christopher Ford And Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Jon Watts

Tony (to Peter): "Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood spider?"

In less than two decades we've had three actors take on the role of the infamous webslinger. Now my stance is that Tobey Maguire got the best movies but Andre Garfield was my favourite take on the role.

Then there's Tom Holland. There's no doubt that his Spidey being included in the MCU has benefitted him big time and following his debut in Captain America: Civil War, there was certainly a lot riding on his own solo movie.

For me, I have to admit it's a mixed bag of a debut movie. On one hand, I'm glad it's not an origin story of sorts but on the other hand, the criticisms of the character being referred to as Iron Boy Jr are somewhat justified here.

Much as I enjoy Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark as the next person, his shadow does seem to loom over Holland's Spider-Man in a big way. As a mentor he has the worst timing in terms of guiding Peter towards becoming a better hero but I suppose maybe that works to the movie's advantage when Peter does step to save his city without an Avenger to help him.

The villain of the question is definitely the movie's plus though. Michael Keaton is excellent as disgruntled Adrian Toomes/Vulture and there's a complication when Peter becomes romantically involved with Toomes daughter Liz (Laura Harrier) bit in terms of romances, it's not one that the writers put that much emotional weight into.

Instead they focus on Toomes own resentment towards Stark costing him his business and the fight scenes between Spidey and Vulture are actually well done. There's also the added bonus of Toomes actually making it out of the movie alive, meaning that a future rematch between Spidey and Vulture is a possibility.

Another noteworthy thing would be Adrian knowing that Peter is Spider-Man but this is a movie that also wasted no time in having Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Peter's best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) also become privy to his secret. Even Peter's other crush, the rather sardonic Michelle (Zendeya) seemed a tad suspicious of him.

- Donald Glover popped up here as the uncle of Miles Morales while other minor villains such as Shocker also made an appearance.

- We got Flash Thompson (Anthony Revolori) going out of his way to antagonise Peter while also being a fan of Spider-Man.

- Credit sequence saw Toomes keeping Peter's secret to himself in prison while Captain America made a public service announcement cameo in the movie.

- Chronology: Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Spider-Man: Homecoming to me is a decent but not spectacular debut movie for the webslinger. It doesn't quite possess the same magic as Maguire's debut but it's somewhat on a par with Garfield's. Holland does good in the role but I do feel that perhaps Tony's role should've been a bit smaller.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Doctor Who - Series 13 News (SDCC Panel special) + Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall To Depart in 2022

It's been a while since Doctor Who has delivered at a Comic Con and after the lacklustre turn last year at NYCC, I'm happy to say that this year at SDCC, we got some things to go over.

The panel consisted of showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker (13th Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) and new cast member, John Bishop (Dan Lewis). So what did we learn about Series 13? The brief trailer we got didn't reveal much but we do know that this upcoming series will be focusing on a singular arc and that each episode will also feature cliffhangers. Chibnall also talked about the series being his ambitious yet for the show. We can also expect some returning monsters as well.

However I think the biggest surprise was the guest star of the panel who turned out to be Jacob Anderson. The former Game Of Thrones actor will be playing a recurring character this series called Vinder. Going by the look of the character, it seems that Vinder will be taking on a similar role to the 13th Doctor and her companions that the likes Jack Harkness and River Song have done in previous eras. The character has a spaceship of his own and it'll be interesting to see what he'll add to the series.

It has now been confirmed that Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall will depart in 2022. Series 13 will comprise of a six episode event series which will air this year. Three specials will air in 2022, with the final special, a feature length blockbuster slated for an Autumn airing as part of the BBC's Centenary celebrations.

Overall, this will maintain the unspoken rule of most Doctors leaving after three series and with a change of format, it could provide a strong exit for both Whittaker and Chibnall. Not to mention we've got months of speculation as to who will succeed both of them over the next few months to look forward to.

Series 13 Teaser: https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1419341785109868554

Jodie Exits: https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=jodie-whittaker-chris-chibnall-leave-doctor-who#_

Series 13 of Doctor Who is currently filming and will air later in the year on BBC1 and BBCAmerica. The specials will air in 2022.

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Drive In"

 

Written by Manny Coto

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

Larry (to Chad/Kelley): "You think this is the end of the movie? It's only Act 1."

After the first two episodes being heavily reliant on old ground, this was an episode that thankfully ventured into new ground. With a pandemic still factoring into theatres being closed/limited capacity, the appel of a drive in has never been so tempting right now.

Highschool kids Chad (Rhenzy Felix) and Kelley (Madison Bailey) want to take their relationship to the next level, so going to a screening of forbidden horror movie Rabbit, Rabbit seemed like the perfect idea for a date.

Except for the fact that the movie in question has a history of turning people into zombie murderers and was banned for that reason alone. One of the few survivor from the original screening, Ruth (Naomi Grossman) did try to warn everyone but she ended up with a scissors in her eye as a result.

Because both Chad and Kelley weren't as attentive to the movie, they were seemingly immune from its effects, but they also got to see that their friends, including Dee (Ben J. Pierce) were not as fortunate.

It doesn't take long for Chad and Kelley to track down the film's director, Larry Bitterman (John Carroll Lynch). He's delighted with the impact the film has made but his own delight soon turned to horror when Chad and Kelley destroyed his one copy of the movie and left him to burn in his van.

Of course, Larry did comment on his movie living on and by the end of this episode, it seems like he was right. Who would've thought one movie would cause this much havoc, huh?

- Horror icon herself, Adrienne Barbeau appears as an usher in this episode. Her role feels wasted to be honest.

- Amy Grabow played former Second Lady Tipper Gore, who was responsible for Larry's movie originally getting banned.

- Standout music: Kim Petra's There Will Be Blood.

- Chronology: 1986 for the original screening of Rabbit Rabbit and I assume 2021 for the episode in general.

Drive In deserves points for doing something new within this franchise and relying mostly on new leads. However it loses points for wasting actors like Barbeau and Grossman and even John Carroll Lynch could've had a bit more screen time. An okay episode overall.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 1x13: "Fail Safe"

Written by Jai Jamison And Kristi Korzec

Directed by Ian Samoil 

Tal-Rho: "Your way is the only way. Goodbye father."

I was wrong about the Zod thong but the end of this episode definitely saw a change in Tal-Rho. Tal has left the building/planet both metaphorically and literally and in his place, well, it's the Eradicator.

Superman spent so much time asking Tal where the Eradicator was that he didn't look in the most obvious of places. Also Superman, Sam and to a lesser extent, Steel all made the mistake of assuming that Tal wouldn't have a back up plan.

Granted they anticipated Leslie Larr trying to rescue Tal and they managed to counter that by nabbing her first but really, they should've seen the Eradicator part coming a mile off.

Speaking of Steel, I did have a theory that the show was potentially writing him out after the events of this season but the opposite appears to be happening instead. He's building a reluctant friendship with Superman and he's the fail safe for the 7734 if it needs to be a thing at some point down the road.

The discussion of 7734 was interesting. Both Sam and Lois wanted rid of it but Superman admitted that he had been tempted by losing control so having it around wasn't a bad idea as such. 

Meanwhile when Lois wasn't arguing issues with her family this week, she nearly lost her job with Chrissy until she found a way for Chrissy to put some of the story out without having to do it herself. I did like Chrissy calling out Lois during that particular moment and Lois taking on board her own ethics as a journalist.

As for the Cushing segment of the piece, it does look like they're playing around with the idea of having them leave Smallville. I doubt the show will actually go through with it, but when even the mayor is throwing Lana and Kyle under the bus, you almost wouldn't blame them for wanting to leave town.

- Both Jonathan and Jordan skipped school with Tegan and Sarah. 

- I wonder if we're going to get a flashback to when Tal had Irma turned into Leslie Larr. John's AI also encouraged him to connect with his sister on this Earth.

- I feel like they're setting up some kind of mentor and apprentice role between John and Jonathan for next season. 

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Fail Safe might not have been as strong as previous episodes but it definitely has some great moments nonetheless. With another three week gap until the final two episodes, I really can't wait to see how this show ends its first year.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x10: "Bad Blood"

 

Written by Grainne Godfree

Directed by Alexandra La Roche

Constantine: "Only a bastard can vanquish a monster."

And within this episode, John crossed the line with both, didn't he? I knew he was going to resort to the worst measures to get his magic back. This episode didn't prove me wrong.

Using Spooner's help to translate Crowley's map, John and Spooner took at a trip to the Spanish Civil War in order to locate the Fountain of Imperium and of course there were complications to be had.

The first involving a young man named Fernando who had drank from the Fountain and been reviving his revolutionary uncle El Gatto, which brought about the attention of certain soldiers. Constantine's initial way of dealing with them was interesting.

I wasn't expecting this episode to have Matt Ryan dressed as a priest but it was an amusing distraction before John, Spooner and Fernando managed to get away from the soldiers and to the Fountain itself. That's also where everything went spectacularly wrong.

Constantine's desperation to get his magic had him fail to drink from an empty fountain and also fail to siphon Fernando's magic. Juicing himself up on that concoction of Crowley's gave him a boost but it also brought out a darker side to John as well.

Having him kill evil soldiers was one thing but wiping Spooner's memory when she tried to stop was another. I'm becoming more and more convinced this dark path Constantine is being set on will see him depart at the end of this season. Plot wise though, it's riveting stuff to watch.

Less riveting was the B plot of the week, which involved Lita resorting to faking going into labour to get Mick to look after himself and Gus growing into a teenager and the other Legends getting rid of the character. It wasn't awful but the Constantine and Spooner stuff was so much better to watch.

- Crowley's banker was a vampire named Noelle, who had no issue with the idea of selling his soul to the highest bidder.

- Sara and Ava were relegated to one scene, Gary was mostly in alien form, Nate and Zari didn't do a lot and the writers are clearly setting up a Behrad and Astra romance. Oh and Mick has 48 eggs in his head.

- Spooner's comments about her mother have to mean something later on, right? John also talked about his working class background, bisexuality and abusive father.

- Chronology: 1939 Albacete, Spain for the majority of the episode.

Bad Blood was a definitive marked improvement on the previous outing and one of the darkest episodes the show has done. Constantine's descent into darkness to get his magic back is the only story he needs this season and the inclusion of Spooner added to it as well. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Rubber (wo)Man, Part 2"

 

Written by Brad Falchuk

Directed by Loni Peristere

Ruby (to Scarlett): "No one told me if you die here, you're stuck here forever."

Okay couldn't wait until later, so here's the second part. Time has moved on since Scarlett killed Maya and her friends and in that time she's connected with an equally homicidal girl named Ruby (Kaia Jordan Gerber). Basically if you wanted a lesbian version of Violet and Tate, here it is.

Scarlett and Ruby do seem to connect on a murderous level but their romance has the obstacle of Scarlett not quite wanting to be dead yet, much to Ruby's chagrin. Ruby even goes ahead and kills Michael and Troy, which Scarlett isn't mad about but still wants to live her life.

Of course Scarlett also had to deal with Maya and her friends wanting their revenge and during the one night of the year, the ghosts can leave the house, it's up to Ruby and a change of heart in order for Scarlett to make it out of the episode alive.

I wasn't keen on the Tate/Violet relationship back in the day so it feels hypocritical that I actually like the Scarlett and Ruby pairing. It probably helps that while Ruby is clearly a psychopath, she took Shanti's words about setting Scarlett free to heart and even Scarlett herself kept coming back to the house once a year as well as settling an old score on Ruby's behalf.

As for Michael and Troy, death did wonders for their relationship. Before Ruby killed them, they had grown apart and Troy was doing sexual favours on a straight contractor named Adam (Aaron Tveit), who also had zero issues with killing before being killed himself by Rubber Man.

When it comes to being in the Murder House, there doesn't seem to much bad points this time around. Even Ruby who initially intimidated Maya and her friends mellowed out as the episode progressed while everyone else just got on with things. I do wonder how long before Scarlett joins the rest of them though.

- No Violet or Tate but I was amused with Andi telling Michael and Troy she was co-writing a book with Ben.

- Expect to see some of these new actors appear in the main show later this year.

- Title sequence was the same but added Kaia Jordan Gerber and Aaron Tveit to the cast.

- Chronology: Halloween 2021 before the episode did a ten month time jump.

Rubber (wo)Man, Part 2 worked well as a second part. I had reservations about the opening two partner falling into the easy route of using the first season for a backdrop but it worked well, even without the Harmons, Tate or Constance in sight. Will this be the last time we see this house in this particular universe? I doubt it but at least this was a decent revisit into familiar ground.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Rubber (wo)Man, Part 1"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Brad Falchuk

Directed by Loni Peristere

Andi: "You just murdered four girls. We need to talk about your feelings about this."

Scarlett: "Why? I've never felt better in my whole life."

In 2020 we went without American Horror Story and this year, not only do we get a new series starting late next month but before then, it's spin off time where we can rethread some rather familiar territory for good measure.

In terms of spin offs, I was of the opinion that this anthology per episode series probably should've happened after the parent show itself ended but now that it's here, we're off to a revisit of the infamous Murder House for this opening two part story.

House flippers Michael (Matt Bomer) and Troy (Gavin Creel) have bought the worst house to live and die in and have moved in with their daughter, Scarlett (Sierra McCormick). Scarlett is going through the motions, coming to terms with her sexuality and interest in sadism and it's not long before she attracts the attention of popular girl Maya (Paris Jackson) and the latter's bitchy friends.

A sleepover at Maya's has Scarlett  going from thinking she's about to lose her virginity to having all of her not so hidden desires publicly livestreamed. Believing her high school life is over, Scarlett gets her revenge and Maya and her friends wind up being added to the array of ghosts in the murder house.

Keeping with the title of the episode, it's Scarlett who becomes the titular Rubber Woman of the piece but the original Rubber Man also makes an appearance. Sierra McCormick does a good job with the character as the suit's influence on Scarlett feels gradual enough throughout the episode itself.

As for Michael and Troy, they're less focused on than expected but given that this is a two parter, it's likely we'll get more on them in the second half. They do seem to try to be good parents to Scarlett, even getting a therapist (Merrin Dungey) to help their daughter but it doesn't end so well for the therapist. 

- I didn't spot either Tate or Violet but Ben was briefly referenced and we did see Rubber Man himself. No reference to Constance though.

- We got a flashback to Scarlett being kidnapped as a child by a grieving mother.

- The title sequence certainly played into the rubber suit theme. It's going to be fun seeing individual title sequences per episode.

- Chronology: Safe to assume it's 2021. Michael and Troy were watching the last season of The Crown at one point in the episode.

Rubber (wo)Man, Part 1 doesn't do anything too innovative and going by the look at the second episode, it does feel more like a more queer version of the parent series first season. I'll watch the second part later tonight for a more full review.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 1x12: "Through The Valley Of Death"

Written by Katie Aldrin And Michael Narducci

Directed by Alexandra La Roche

John Henry Irons (to Superman): "Right now you got a chance to fight. Do not let that bastard take you away from our family. Remember who you are. Fight back damnit, fight." 

Okay, I did not expect them to resolve the potential of this Earth's Superman becoming so dark so quickly and with Tal-Rho captured at the end, well, what are we going to do for the remaining three episodes in the season?

Well, for starters, Leslie Larr still happens to be on the loose so I'm guessing that Tal-Rho won't be staying in military custody for that long. Then again, are we even dealing with Tal-Rho at this point? I ask because this episode actually went there and sort of introduced General Zod.

It seems that Tal-Rho's father Zeta wanted to use Superman's body to harbour Zod's soul and had it not been for both Lois and Steel actually breaking the conditioning, we really could've lost Superman this week.

It took a lot to convince Steel to actually help rather than kill Superman. Lois had to out her relationship with Superman and even Jonathan tapped into John's conscience as he was determined to kill rather than save Superman.

It's good that he did come around because there was something delightful in seeing both Superman and Steel working together against Tal-Rho/now likely Zod. Hopefully this resolved the tension between the two of them for the remainder of the season.

Meanwhile with the potential danger of Superman turning to the dark side, it was also time to remind audiences that this show actually belongs to the Arrow universe. Diggle appeared to help Lois, argue with Sam and even try to talk some sense into Steel and hopefully this won't be the last time we see Diggle on the show.

As for the Cushing family, they bore the brunt of everyone's anger regarding Morgan Edge and I did feel bad for them. It was however nice to see Lana, Kyle and Sarah put on a united front and even Sophie managed to make an appearance for at least one scene.

- Now that even Oliver can get a mention on this show thanks to Diggle, surely it's time for Kara to be mentioned or even appear before this season ends?

- Sam apologised to Clark yet again for doubting him but will inevitably do something else to doubt his son in law.

- Surprised that Lana didn't retain some of Lara's memories, unless something triggers them later on. Nice to see Jonathan and Jordan work together to locate their father.

- Chronology: Where the previous episode left off. Lois contacted Steel while he was contemplating connecting with this Earth's version of his sister.

Through The Valley Of Death might have curbed the potential evil Superman plot but with the possible addition of Zod, Diggle's appearance and both Superman and Steel working together, this was another very satisfying episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x09: "This Is Gus"

 

Written by Tyron B Carter

Directed by Eric Dean Seaton

Astra: "Finally, something interesting happens on this show."

Behrad: "This is not supposed to happen."

Didn't we do the sitcom thing last season? Oh well, guess we're gonna do it again for an episode that saw one of Legends turn a quarter of a century.

Ever since the character joined properly at the end of the fourth season, I've found Behrad to be something of an oddity with the series. While Shayan Sobhian seems like a nice guy, Behrad has not been the greatest of characters to watch.

In the space of nearly two seasons, the character's main trait seems to be about constantly getting high and it's a trait that has long worn out it's welcome to the point where Behrad honestly has no other discerning characteristic about him.

This episode saw the Legends improvise a mission in British Vancouver where the taping of Behrad's favourite show Bud Stuy was happening and of course, a cute fluffy pink alien named Gus also factored into things.

I'm not a huge sitcom person and Bud Stuy came across as the type of show that would've made me lose the will to live of it were an actual show. However it's Behrad's favourite and largely down to its leading man Imran Saeed (Shawn Ahmed) playing a sitcom version of Behrad in everything but name of course.

Naturally Behrad's peeved when the alien changes his favourite show's history and throughout the episode, Behrad finds himself being changed from the slacker stoner to a much colder character as things begin to hit the fan.

However it's a nice combination of Nate, Zari 2.0 and Astra saving the day, getting Behrad to his old self and of course Imran also making amends with his brother, Kamran (Saad Siddiqui) as the two have a sibling dynamic not that dissimilar to Behrad and Zari.

With the main plot being largely hit and miss, the B plot saw the return of Lita, who is now pregnant and Mick's reaction ranged from anger to having a nice bonding moment with Lita's baby daddy, Niko. As for Mick himself being pregnant thanks to that encounter with Kayla. Well, I didn't see that one coming.

- Zari 2 has temporarily gone into the totem so Zari 1 is back with the Legends. I've missed Zari 1.

- Gus is basically just a much smaller and pinker version of Beebo and with Nate bonding to him, he's staying for a while.

- Sara and Spooner had some nice scenes together as did Ava and Gary with Mick and Constantine was a no show this week.

- Chronology: British Vancouver 2023 and Behrad's birthday of course.

This Is Gus felt like it had disaster written all over it to the point where I was actively dreading watching but it turned out a little better than expected. I'm still not sure if Behrad really does work on the show as a regular but this was a decent showcase for him.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Black Widow (2021)

 

Written by Eric Pearson And Jac Schaeffer And Ned Benson

Directed by Cate Shortland 

Natasha: "I've lived a lot of lives but I am done running from my past."

It's been two years since the events of Avengers: Endgame and with the Disney+ shows having kicked off the MCU's fourth phase off rather nicely, it was time for another big screen outing and this missing adventure of sorts from Natasha Romonoff was a good way to start things.

There's been a few questions about Natasha's past that needed some answers and things opened where younger versions of Natasha and  younger "sister" Yelena enjoyed a suburban life in Ohio before being separated from their "parents" Alexei (David Harbour) and Melina (Rachel Weisz) by Red Room boss Dreykov (Ray Winstone).

Decades pass and while on the run from the events of Captain America: Civil War Natasha finds her reunited with her sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh) and it's not long until the two find themselves being targeted by Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) at the behest of Dreykov of course.

It turns out that Yelena has in her possession a cure for Dreykov's control over the Widows and as Natasha and Yelena reconnect and bicker, it's not long before they're breaking Alexei/Red Guardian out of prison and showing up on Melina's pig farm for an awkward family reunion.

The second live action blockbuster this summer to play heavily on the theme of family, there's a lot of raking over what the Red Room subjected Natasha and Yelena to, forcing both Alexei and Melina to atone for their roles in their daughters lives.

The family stuff works well and there's a believable rapport with Natasha, Yelena, Alexei and Melina. Without a doubt, it's the strongest element of the movie. What's not quite as strong are the villains of the piece.

Taskmaster for example can mimic other people's fighting skills and there's a few good moments where you see that in action but the reveal of the character's identity, connection to Dreykov and Natasha's past doesn't land as well as it could've done. Ultimately the character feels somewhat wasted in the movie.

Dreykov is also a similarly poorly realised baddie. I'm not the biggest fan of Ray Winstone and I thought he was pretty poor here. Dreykov is just too one dimensional and I felt like Natasha deserved a better enemy to go up against, even though he does fit the theme of Natasha freeing herself from her past.

As for the post credit scene that has been spoiled a lot by now, I did like the set up of it. Has Valentina (Julia Louise Dreyfuss) succeeded in setting Yelena after Clint Barton? We won't have long to wait as Yelena will be appearing on Hawkeye later this year. Clint should be on alert.

- Nice small role from OT Fagbenle as Natasha's finder friend, Mason. He's another character I assume we'll see again.

- For those who hated a certain plot from Avengers: Age Of Ultron, this movie doubled down on it big time.

- Standout music: Malia J's version of Smells Like Teen Spirit as well as Don McLean's American Pie.

- Chronology: The movie started off in Ohio 1995 while the majority of events were in 2016. 

Black Widow is not a perfect MCU movie but in my opinion, poor villains to one side, it provides a strong last hurrah for Natasha Romonoff but an even stronger debut Yelena Belova. Scarlett Johansson delivers a great performance but Florence Pugh does steal the show.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Such Glorious Purpose

It's been a while but here are some of the shows I've been watching over the past while.

911/911 Lone Star: Current seasons of both shows have finally aired on SkyLiving and not surprising enough, they have been influenced by the pandemic for the most part. The crossover event was a modest enough adventure with Buck, Hen and Eddie helping out the spin off crew with a disaster. There was an amusing moment where TK mistook Buck for being gay but other than that, I still find myself preferring the parent series the most.

Batwoman: Season 2 has been something of an improvement and while Safiyah's defeat was anticlimactic, there was something more satisfying in how Alice dealt with Black Mask while Ryan came into her own and hints for next season's foes were revealed. Not everything worked though. The Circe/Kate story resolution was rushed as was Luke's journey to Batwing and Jacob's exit but the show has gotten better though.

Loki: Marvel clearly felt they were overdue their own time traveling themed show and with everyone's favourite God of Mischief on the loose, they had the perfect pitch. Loki working for the TVA, at the behest of the Time Keepers, meeting and facing in love with a female version of himself called Sylvie and interacting with the likes of Mobius and Renslayer. It's not my favourite of the MCU Disney+ shows so far but there's a lot of fun to be had and hopefully the last two deliver.

Love, Victor: I basically blitzed through the second season of this show and I got to admit, I enjoyed it more than the first. The Benji/Victor/Rahim triangle is clearly going to bleed into the next season but it's amusing for now. Victor's parents both dealt with his sexuality in different but believable ways and there was decent screen time for the other characters. Hopefully this show gets a third season.

The Flash: I hate to admit, but I am about almost done with this season. It's been such a hard slog to get through that even the start of the Godspeed arc hasn't filled me with any confidence. The more I think on it, the more I hope that next season ends up being the final season because creatively, this show feels extremely burned out.

The Nevers: Well, that finale was thoroughly confusing as hell. Much as I've enjoyed the show, I'm genuinely stumped as to what the hell is going on. Amalia is from the future - is that it? There's some potential world ending alien war? Possibly. The finale did feel like a game changer but will it bring back people for the second half? I hope so. 

• HBO have confirmed that Lovecraft Country will not be returning for a second season.
• BBC1 and BBC iPlayer will have the UK for the Gossip Girl reboot.
• Filming for the second half of The Nevers first season has begun with the episodes slated to air in 2022.
• Ronen Rubenstein and Billie Lourd will appear in the fifth episode of American Horror Stories.
• Omid Abtahi has joined the cast of Fear The Walking Dead.
• Batwoman will be adding Renee Montoya to its third season. The role has yet to be cast.
• Michael Stuhlbarg has joined the cast of The Staircase.
• Superman And Lois has upped Sofia Hasmik as a regular for its second season.
• Catherine Tate will be working on a prison mockumentary series called Hard Cell where she will be playing multiple characters.
• Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine will lead upcoming Amazon series, The Devil's Hour, with Steven Moffat working on the show.