My Review of Mean Girls (2004)

 

Written by Tina Fey

Directed by Mark Waters

Regina (to Cady): "Get in loser, we're going shopping."

With the musical remake heading into theatres this weekend, I thought it was time to go back and watch the original again. It's been twenty years since it's release and this has aged well as a movie.

Anyways, the premise for this highschool outing was simple enough. You had protagonist Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a homeschooled girl who used to live in Africa but now was attending an American highschool and it quickly became a culture shock for her.

Within the first half of the movie, not only was she the smartest girl in Ms. Norbury's (Tina Fey) maths class but she also managed to befriend outcasts Janis Ian (Lizzy Kaplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) and through them, she was also introduced to the Plastics. Yes, the girls who made up the title of this movie.

Let's talk about the Plastics, shall we? You've got the worker bees - the rich and insecure Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chaberts) as well as the sweet but dimwitted Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). As characters, both are fun but very easily manipulated. Then there's the Queen Bee herself, Regina George (Rachel McAdams), who let's be honest remains the best character in this movie, no matter how many times you watch it.

Yes, she's a stereotypical highschool bitch and one that McAdams played to perfection. Belittling her minions, spreading rumours about former friends, taking back her ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) just to spite Cady. Needless to say, Cady along with Janis and Damian plotted Regina's downfall with a series of disastrous events.

As the movie progressed the lines between Regina and Cady began to blur with the latter becoming too much alike the former and eventually losing the run of herself. It's an interesting turn of events when Regina's "Burn Book" caused anarchy in the school with a lot of lessons learned.

As the movie headed towards it's conclusion, the Plastics were disbanded, Cady got the guy and her friends group back and even Regina got a healthier means to channel her aggression. All in all, it's a movie with plenty of mean moments along with rather sweet ones as highschool really can be a jungle. 

- This movie was based on the book, Queen Bees And Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

- Some nice supporting roles For Amy Poehler as Regina's mother and Tim Meadows, the school principal.

- Standout music: Jingle Bell Rock as well as Missy Elliott's Pass That Dutch.

- Chronology: The movie takes place over a school year, incorporating Halloween, Christmas and a Spring Fling Dance/Mathletes Competition.

Mean Girls remains a delight. It's aged well, it's outrageously funny and has some brilliant performances from everyone involved. It's also a reasonably length and the one liners remain quotable to this day.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)

 

Written by Stan Berkowitz And Darwyn Cooke

Directed by Dave Bullock

King Faraday (to everyone): "All of you remember today, there are no Democrats, no Republicans, no hawks, no doves. Just the naked simplicity of an absolute: Mankind's survival. Good luck to us all."

I am so behind with a lot of animated movies and before I think about finishing off the imminently ending Tomorrowverse, I'm casting back to the late 2000s and I found myself watching this interesting entry. 

Based on DC's The New Frontier, this adaptation focused on a sentient island called The Centre (Keith David). The Centre has seen the evolution and death of dinosaurs and the absolute worst in humanity. For the latter alone, The Centre has decided that humanity needed to go.

Of course, everyone else had different ideas. There are a lot of characters here and the focus was all over the place but not in a bad way as we build up towards the only force capable of stopping The Centre from carrying out it's plans.

First of all, The Flash (Neil Patrick Harris) had to consider giving up his superhero status following an encounter with Captain Cold (James Arnold Taylor) while Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) had liberated a bunch of women and severely dealt with the men that had enslaved them. Her actions led to a bit of a conflict with Superman (Kyle MacLachlan).

Then there was Batman (Jeremy Sisto). We saw him battling cults with Slam Bradley (Jim Meskimen) while training Robin (Shane Haboucha) and also allying with J'onn Jonz/Martian Manhunter (Miguel Ferrer). As for Hal Jordan (David Boreanaz), his origins were glossed over but the main points still managed to deliver.

Having these bunch of heroes along with other characters battle The Centre led for a rather epic third act, even if there was a death fake out for Superman. Of course by the end of the movie, The Centre had been defeated and the Justice League formed. 

- There's archive recordings of John F. Kennedy used in the movie, given it's period setting.

- After playing Aquaman in Smallville, Alan Ritchson got to voice him here too.

- The Challengers Of The Unknown along with Larry Trainor also appeared in the movie.

- Chronology: 1950s America, post Korean War. 

Justice League: The New Frontier was a joyful, nostalgic blast with a great use of the main heroes, glimpses of their iconic foes and a strong baddie in The Centre. There's some great action sequences and character moments. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Batman vs. Dracula (2005)

 

Written by Duane Capizzi

Directed by Michael Goguen

Dracula: "Go ahead and run! You cannot escape me, Batman! I am evil incarnate! I am the Prince of .... Darkness?"

Batman: "Rise and shine."

I have to admit that while The Batman (2004-2008) might not have been as iconic a series as Batman: The Animated Series and the shows that continuity, there was something rather charming about it as a show nonetheless. Also this show managed to last five seasons and got at least one movie, the subject of this review.

Appropriately for the Halloween season, The Batman vs. Dracula had the Dark Knight (Rino Romano) and the Count (Peter Stormare) face off and its a delughtful confrontation that utilised two of Batman's biggest villains as well as one of his other familiar love interests but likely not the one you'd expect. However it's one who did make sense for this particular movie.

First of all, the baddies. The movie started off at Bingo night at Arkham Asylum. The thought of hidden treasure was so tempting that both the Joker (Kevin Michael Richardson) and the Penguin (Tom Kenny) managed to escape from Arkham before things took a different turn for each villain.

For the Joker, a confrontation with Batman led to a seeming demise for the former while for Penguin, he ended up becoming the Renfield for Dracula, guarding his crypt during the day while certain citizens became Dracula's minions/other vampires. One of those Lost Ones ended up being the Joker halfway through the movie.

As for Vicki Vale (Tara Strong), her role varied between being Bruce's love interest for the movie, suspecting Batman to be behind the missing citizens and almost being sacrificed to resurrect Dracula's bride, Camilla. It's a fairly generic role for the character, not too dissimilar to the way she had been used in live action but she does get some decent moments.

As for Batman, he did cure everyone (including Joker) and he certainly had help besting Dracula courtesy of Alfred (Alastair Duncan). There's another look into his origins and some cool action sequences. Overall, this universe does have a very underrated depiction of the character. 

- Other encounters that Batman and Dracula have include the Elseworlds comic Batman & Dracula: Red Rain as well as the unauthorized movies Batman Dracula and Batman Fights Dracula.

- A sequel titled The Batman vs. Hush was planned but was later cancelled.

- Dracula, when posing as a civilian did go under the pseudonym Dr Alucard.

- Chronology: Set between the second and third seasons of The Batman. 

The Batman vs. Dracula turned out to be a fun romp for both characters. Both Joker and Penguin had good supporting roles, as did Vicki Vale and Alfred. Overall, I enjoyed this and it felt mostly standalone from the show itself.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Inside No. 9 - Series 4 Review (2018)

Onto a series, while not my favourite, it certainly had its moments. Those moments also including their first Halloween episode. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by David Kerr, Graham Harper, Jim O'Hanlon and Barbara Wiltshire.

Episode 1: Zanzibar

Anyone call for a Shakespearean style opening episode? Well, it's what we got and all on the ninth floor of the Hotel Zanzibar. You've got a slew of characters. First of all, there's Rory Kinnear playing a set of twins. The first twin being Prince Rico, who has a fetish that got fulfilled by the rather hapless Alice (Marcia Warren) instead of the sex worker he had hired named Red (Tanya Franks). Unbeknownst to Rico, his right hand man Henry (Shearsmith) was plotting to murder him, only for hypnotist Vince (Kevin Eldon) to nearly die instead. Other twin Gus spent most of the episode trying to salvage his relationship with Amber (Hattie Morahan) while the despairing Mr Green (Bill Patterson) attempted to end his life before the sight of his long lost sons gave him pause. There was also Alice's son Robert (Pemberton), a cheery bellhop named Fred (Jaygann Ayeh) and his girlfriend Colette (Helen Monks) to round out the cast. 7/10

Episode 2: Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

Easily the best episode of this specific series and for the first half, I wasn't sure I was enjoying this one. What looked like a rehearsal hall turned into the place for a wake but it took quite a while for that reveal. Before then, the episode was focused on a hostile reunion between failed comedy duo, Len (Pemberton) and Tommy (Shearsmith), formerly and as Cheese and Crackers. Len's desperate to revive the act and Tommy's desperate to leave it in the past, like the majority of their old material. As the episode, the contrasts between both Tommy and Len's lives since their last days as a comedy duo are apparent and tragic too. The twist of Len being dead and Tommy attending his wake and talking to Len's daughter, Leanne (Sian Gibson) added a bitter poignancy to the whole affair. 9/10

Episode 3: Once Removed

It's interesting what can happen in the space of forty minutes and because of an exposed affair. Disgruntled May (Monica Dolan) knew her husband Charles (Rufus Jones) was cheating on her with neighbour Natasha (Emilia Fox) and ended up sending a hired killer named Viktor (Shearsmith) towards Natasha and her senile father, Percy (David Caulder), who thinks he's Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Needless to say, they're killed as was the unfortunate estate agent Hugo (Pemberton). Then Viktor ended up dead at May's hands much to the shock of removal man, Spike (Nick Moran). The idea for the episode was good but the ending was a bit too abrupt for me. 7/10

Episode 4: To Have And To Hold

Ah, wedded life. For some it's bliss but for Adrian (Pemberton) and Harriet (Nicola Walker), it's an endurance. With no trust and a dead sex life over an affair the latter had a long time ago, it would've made sense for the pair to go their separate ways but instead, you got a flash of their marriage being saved before a trip down the basement changed the dynamic between the couple. Adrian having the housekeeper Agnes (Magdalena Kurek) prisoner for a decade while fathering a son with her definitely led to the most deserved comeuppance for Adrian. Shearsmith did briefly appear in this along with Miranda Hennessy as newly wed couple Max and Hannah, who were interested in buying Harriet's house. 8/10

Episode 5: And The Winner Is ...

An episode focused on the acting industry with a slew of characters all connected to said industry. In one room, you had the leading character Giles (Pemberton) assemble a jury of his peers to judge a Best Actress Award, going through all eight nominees. The panel included sycophantic writer Clive (Shearsmith), director Gordon (Noel Clarke), theatre actors Rupert (Kenneth Cranham) and Paula (Zoë Wanamaker), film critic June (Fenella Woolgar) and civilian Jackie (Phoebe Sparrow), the latter included for a more general public perspective on the nominees in question. It's a strong episode with various jabs at castings, performances and background with the reveal working well enough. 7/10

Episode 6: Tempting Fate

The fourth series endeth on an episode where the hare had something of a significant role this time. Well, an object like hare that can grant wishes but it's more of a monkey's paw effect than a genie in the bottle. You've got three council contractors - Keith (Pemberton), Nick (Shearsmith) and Maz (Werucha Opia) clearimg out the house of the recently deceased Frank (Nigel Planer) and its not long before all three of them are tempted into making wishes with the hare, fighting among themselves and ignoring the warnings of their wishes coming with a price. Not even Frank turning up alive could stop the trio from suffering the consequences of their actions given the explosive ending to this one. 8/10 

Halloween Special: Dead Line

It's rather impressive it took four full series for a Halloween special for this show to have materialised and so far, it's the only one we've had to boot. Episode wise, it's a strange one that tried to do a few different things but it doesn't quite gel as well as it should have done. On paper a story about poor Arthur (Pemberton) finding Elsie's mobile phone and his interactions with the Reverend Neil (Shearsmith) and dotty Irishwoman Moira O'Keefe (Stephanie Cole) would've been enough to sustain a Halloween special. Instead we've got behind the scenes antics with Shearsmith, Pemberton and Cole all being killed off by ghosts, transmission cuts, appearances on The One Show, clips of A Quiet Night In and even some bits with the cast of Most Haunted and Coronation Street. I admire the ambition of the episode but overall, it didn't really work for me. 6/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 3 Review (2016-2017)

This might be the strongest series yet with a fine selection of episodes, again written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Directors for this series are Graham Harper and Guillem Morales.

Episode 1: The Devil Of Christmas

Opening with a Christmas special and possibly the best Christmas one the series has done but also the most sinister one too. Derek Jacobi has a voice role as director Denis Fulcher being interviewed by an unknown man (Cavan Clerkin). Taking the film within an episode format, we've got Julian (Pemberton), his son Toby (George Bedford), his mother Celia (Rula Lenska) and new wife Kathy (Jessica Raine), the latter also being pregnant. They're staying in an Austrian resort where their guide Klaus (Shearsmith) scares them about the legend of Krampus. It's a legend that's all too true as Toby finds himself being terrorised by Krampus and when it's just Julian and Kathy left at the resort, things took a grisly turn. Now this was of course a film with actors and for the actor playing Kathy, things took a deadlier turn when the true intention of the interview between Fulcher and the unknown interviewer took a very interesting turn. A brilliant but very sinister Christmas episode. 9/10

Episode 2: The Bill 

Technically this episode probably could be the real opener of Series 3 and it's somewhat a low-key one. You've got three Northerners - Malcolm (Pemberton), Archie (Shearsmith) and Kevin (Jason Watkins) along with Southerner Craig (Philip Glenister). It's a simple story, really. They're all dining out at a restaurant that's about to close for the night. The waitress Anya (Ellie White) desperately wants to close up but these four men are too busy fighting over which one will pay the bill. While the fighting intensified, the episode revealed a bit more about each of the men before one of them accidentally killed Anya. Then the episode almost had one of the men scammed out of £200,000 before it's revealed to be an elaborate con. Basically if you loved the BBC show, Hustle,the episode is something of a homage to it. 8/10

Episode 3: The Riddle Of The Sphinx

Arguably the most clever episode of the third series would be this one. At first, it felt like a simply take on Pygmalion, but while this show does enjoy a homage, it very much does it's own thing with the idea. Here you've got a young woman named Nina (Alexandra Roach) who snuck into a University of Cambridge room and soon had Professor Nigel Squires (Pemberton) teaching her the intricacies of the crossword puzzle, all the while having a more vengeful motive in her heart. It turned out that Nina wanted to avenge her brother Simon who killed himself after being humiliated by Squires. On top that, her attempts to poison Squires horribly backfired and when fellow professor Jacob Tyler (Shearsmith) entered the room and the connection between himself and Nina really knocked Squires for six. An absolutely brilliant episode with Shearsmith, Pemberton and Roach all knocking it out of the park. 9/10

Episode 4: Empty Orchestra

A works do karaoke session again was another very simple premise but while this was an episode where no one died (the second time this series), it did however have a bunch of people with little time for each other. Every workplace has that nasty person and this episode, it's Connie (Tamzin Outhwaite). Not only was she openly rude to her deaf colleague Janet (Emily Howlett) but she was sleeping with Greg (Shearsmith), the partner of her best friend, Fran (Sarah Hadland) to boot. Elsewhere you got office joker Duane (Javone Prince) and manager Roger (Pemberton), who's just found out his wife wants a divorce. Throughout the episode, secrets got spilled, a romance blossomed while an affair was exposed. Oh and there was various performances of songs such as Don't You Want Me, Saturday Night, Wham Rap! and one of my favourites, Titanium. It's the weakest episode of the series but considering the high bar, there's lots to enjoy still. 8/10

Episode 5: Diddle Diddle Dumpling

The premise of this episode was something that happened to Steve Pemberton in real life involving finding a single man's shoe. In this episode that scenario alone drives stay at home dad David (Shearsmith) to distraction but more importantly, it's his wife Louise (Keeley Hawes) who bore the brunt of David's obsession with the shoe. Louise's attempt to resolve the issue involved using her co-worker Ted (Matthew Baynton) to claim the missing shoe and it nearly worked. Except David really couldn't let it go and the tragic twist of their daughter, Sally (Rosa Strudwick) having a dead twin brother at least gave some context to David's obsession with an implied fatal outcome for poor Ted. Pemberton had a small role in this one as a family friend named Chris. The Four Seasons formatting of the episode worked really well too. 8/10

Episode 6: Private View

On to the finale and again, it's certainly got that horror tinge to it. A random group of people - critic Maurice (Shearsmith), health inspector Kenneth (Pemberton), Irish dinner lady Jean (Fiona Shaw), visually impaired erotic writer, Patricia (Felicity Kendal), former Big Brother 8 contestant, Carrie (Morgana Robinson) and sarcastic waitress Bea (Montserrat Lombard) make for an unlikely pair of people to be grouped together. They're at a private viewing of deceased artist's Elliot Quinn (Johnny Flynn) work and one by one, each of them meet an unpleasant end before it's revealed that Jean wanted all the organs each of the others had taken from her dead son back. Of course the episode had other ideas as Jean's scheme ended up backfiring on her with her final confrontation with Maurice. Oh and there's a brief cameo from Peter Kay as nurse Neil, who didn't have a happy ending. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 2 Review (2015)

I'm going through the series quickly enough, so here's a rundown of the second series. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton with the fourth and fifth episodes directed by them. The remaining episodes are directed by Guillem Morales and Dan Zeff.

Episode 1: La Couchette

Series 2 opened with an episode that also took in a confined space, just like the first series. This time it's a sleeper carriage with a slew of different passengers. There's a husband and wife named Les (Mark Benton) and Kath (Julie Hesmondhalgh) who are heading to their daughter's wedding along with Australian backpacker Shona (Jessica Gunning) and her posh boy lover Hugo (Jack Whitehall). Shearsmith played the English doctor Maxwell while Pemberton appears as a drunken German named Jorg. Add a dead body in the carriage, an overambitious main character and another character being revealed as someone else and this made for a good opening episode. 7/10

Episode 2: The 12 Days Of Christine

And now for a Christmas episode during a series rather than as a special. Well, not fully Christmas though it does factor into it quite a bit. Shoe saleswoman Christine (Sheridan Smith) met Adam (Tom Riley) and the two of them fell in love. As the episode progressed we saw the highs and lows of Christine and Adam's relationship, including having a son named Jack and various characters including her parents (Michele Dotrice and Paul Copley), gay best friend Bobby (Pemberton) and roommate Fung (Stacy Liu). The twist of the episode involved Christine being in a car crash with an unknown stranger (Shearsmith) watching her life flash by her certainly added a bitterness along with the use of Time To Say Goodbye. Sheridan Smith gave an incredible performance here. 9/10

Episode 3: The Trial Of Elizabeth Gage

After eight contemporary episodes, the show finally delved into a period setting and it's a Witch Trial in 17th Century England. The unfortunate Elizabeth Gage (Ruth Sheen) finds herself accused of witchcraft and all because her daughter, Sarah Nutter (Sinead Matthews) and Thomas (Jim Howick) wanted the extra space in their home. Sir Andrew Pike (David Warner) - a man clearly too kinky to torture held the trial with the help of Witch Hunters Mr Warren (Shearsmith) and Mr Clark (Pemberton). The former was overzealous in his methods to get Elizabeth to confess her guilt while the latter erred on the side of cautious. By the end of the episode, one of them was proven right and both of them paid the price for their obligations to their duties. A fantastic episode overall. 9/10

Episode 4: Cold Comfort

The director debut for Shearsmith and Pemberton on this series and it's a good one to do. A crisis hotline named Comfort Support Line should've been the perfect place for Andy (Pemberton) to help troubled people but instead, it brought him absolute hell. Mainly because of a troublesome caller named Chloe, whose actions caused the death of another caller while driving Andy mad as things further along. Throughout the episode we met other workers such as Joanne (Nikki Amuku-Bird), Liz (Jane Horrocks) and new worker, Michael (Tony Way). However it's the boss, George (Shearsmith) that proved to be the biggest thorn for Andy, especially when rumbled as the voice behind Chloe, leaving behind more carnage in his wake. 8/10

Episode 5: Nana's Party

Time for a birthday party. The nana of the piece being Maggie (Elsie Kelly) who has turned 79. Her daughter - the right uptight Angela (Claire Skinner) has decided to throw her mother a party, constantly fretting and exasperated by her husband, Jim (Pemberton) being more fixated on pulling a prank on Pat (Shearsmith) than helpimg out. Pat also happened to be married to Angela's sister, Carol (Lorraine Ashbourne) and throughout the episode, Carol revelled in revealing home truths about her crumbling marriage while also taking apart Angela and Jim's. There's also two near death experiences, an amusing birthday card and a stripper (Christopher Whitlow) who give Maggie quite a memorable birthday. 7/10

Episode 6: Séance Time

Ah, yes, for the second series finale, let's have an episode focused on a séance. It was an interesting idea as we opened with the unwitting Tina (Sophie McShera) being led by Hives (Shearsmith) towards Madame Talbot (Allison Steadman), only just things to go awry and a blue demon (Dan Starkey) to show up and terrify poor Tina. Except, it wasn't a real séance but a bit for a hidden camera show named Scaredy Cam. Hives was really the presenter Terry trying to revive a dead show and Madame Talbot and the blue demon were just actors named Anne and Clive respectively. Along with the director Gemma (Cariad Lloyd) and makeup artist, Amanda (Alice Lowe), a hit show was nearly on their hands. That was until Pete (Pemberton) accidentally killed the blue demon and Terry found himself haunted by a creepy voice of a dead child, ending this episode on a rather creepy note. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 1 Review (2014)

I've been wanting to do this for a while but here we go. I've watched this show on and off for years and now I'm going to do a review of each series. All episodes were written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by David Kerr.

Episode 1: Sardines

The very first episode where Shearsmith and Pemberton play a couple named Carl and Stuart. It's an episode where the cast, comprising of Rebecca (Katherine Parkinson), Lee (Luke Pasqualino), Geraldine (Anne Reid), Rachel (Ophelia Lovibond), Mark (Julian Rhind-Tutt), Elizabeth (Anna Chancellor), Jeremy (Ben Willbond), Stinky John (Marc Wootten) and Andrew (Timothy West) are all playing the titular game. Or at the very least, they were trying to between family sniping, exes at the engagement party, sibling rivalry and oh yeah, someone adding a little fire into the mix. It's a good start to the series where the number nine factors into each episode as does a hare. 7/10

Episode 2: A Quiet Night In

Now this episode sold me on the premise of this anthology show more than the first one. It's effectively a silent episode for the most part. If you exclude the use of classical music, an episode of EastEnders playing in the background, a barking dog and some actual dialogue at the end. Shearsmith and Pemberton are a bunch of hapless burglars named Ray and Eddie who break into a posh house owned by Gerald (Denis Lawson) and Sabrina (Oona Chaplin). They're a mismatched bickering couple who both meet their ends in different ways as the episode took some interesting twists. Notably with the addition of Paul (Kayvan Novak) who's seemingly harmless demeanor was a smokescreen for a more sinister motive. Such a clever episode with perfectly judged slapstick moments. 9/10

Episode 3: Tom & Gerri

A homage to the iconic cat and mouse duo? Not really but it's got a couple named Tom (Shearsmith) and Gerri (Gemma Arterton). He's a teacher with aspirations of being a writer while she's a struggling actor, who managed to get a part playing D-Day Doris. For the most part, they're a happy pair until the presence of homeless man Migg (Pemberton) disrupts everything. At first Tom seemed openly disdainful of Migg until the latter proved to be useful for his creative juices. However the more creative Tom got, the more he lost the run of himself. It didn't long for the roles to reverse between both Tom and Migg and neither Gerri, nor Tom's co-worker, Stevie (Conleith Hill) could get through to him. As for Migg, his upturn also came crashing as the episode ended on an unpleasant note for him. 8/10

Episode 4: Last Gasp

By far, the weakest episode of the first series. That doesn't mean it bad as such, it's just that it didn't really grip me either. First of all, if you're going to do a singer attending the birthday of a sick child, wouldn't it make sense for the character to be younger? Tamsin (Lucy Hutchinson) got a visit from Frankie J. Parsons (David Bedella) but he seems more like a singer who would appeal to parents Graham (Pemberton) and Jan (Sophie Thompson) than Tamsin herself. Anyways Frankie died early in the episode after blowing up a balloon for Tamsin. The rest of the episode then focused on Graham and Frankie's people - Si (Adam Deacon) and Sally (Tamsin Greg) arguing over selling Frankie's "last gasp" to the highest online bidder. That was until Tamsin derailed their plans. This is the only episode in the series not to feature Reece Shearsmith. 6/10

Episode 5: The Understudy

For the penultimate episode of the first series, how about something wicked this way comes? An episode in five acts, focusing on the production of Macbeth and specifically an understudy named Jim (Shearsmith) who wants his big acting break but not as much as his overly ambitious fellow understudy and girlfriend Laura (Lyndsey Marshall), who seemed desperate to make Jim a star. When the initial star Tony (Pemberton) got taken out of the equation and rendered paralysed and company manager Felicity (Julia Davis) ousted for sexual harassment, it seemed like Laura was going overboard as Lady Macbeth. The twist involving seemingly harmless dresser Kirstie (Rosie Cavaliero) was nicely done as Laura had a far more tragic fate between acts while Jim realised the true cost of his new found success. 9/10

Episode 6: The Harrowing

The last episode of the first series, only turned out to be the best one of the bunch. A thing I noticed with this show is that I tend to gravitate towards the overtly gothic and supernatural episodes the most. This episode was the most gothic and supernatural of the first series and it's an excellent way note to end on. You've got the weird sibling duo of Hector (Shearsmith) and Tabitha (Helen McCrory) who hire a school girl named Katy (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) to housesit while they attend an event. A spooky house that's perpetually cold, a hotspot dead zone and has a frail old man named Andras (Sean Buckley) confined to a bed. Where the episode worked was the twist involving Katy's friend, Michelle (Poppy Rush) being in a cult with Hector and Tabitha and Andras being a dying vessel for the mischievous Castiel. As for Katy, this episode ended on a horrifying note for her. This is also the only episode not to feature Steve Pemberton. 9/10

Webisode: The Inventors

Released shortly during the first series had aired, this was written by Ed Hime and directed by Martin Stirling. A little over ten minutes long, the webisode focused on two brothers played by Tom Verral and Dan Renton Skinner. Both men lost their mother in the Great Storm of 1987 and we're determined to get a working time machine to save her. It's a story told through cinema graphs and it's divering enough but essentially not a must see. 5/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon. 

2023: Year In Review

My final blog for the year and yes, it's a look back at some of the shows I've watched or have started watching to make this list. Here goes.

Doctor Who (BBC1/Disney+): The show really came back swinging triumphantly for its 60th as David Tennant played the 14th Doctor before Ncuti Gatwa debuted as the 15th Doctor. Both utterly sublime.

The Last Of Us (HBO): Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay brought the popular game series to life with their widely acclaimed portrayals of Joel and Ellie. HBO also bagged themselves another successful genre series.

Only Murders In The Building (Hulu/Disney+): The third season gave us both Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep in sizeable roles and certainly put Charles, Oliver and Mabel through the motions.

And Just Like That (Max): This show still has a way to go but the second season was mostly an improvement on its divisive first run. Less of Che though, the better.

Poker Face (Peacock): Natasha Lyonne's streaming renaissance continued with this delightful Columbo inspired piece. A fun but flawed protagonist and cool guest stars made this worth watching.

Doom Patrol (Max): The final six episodes took too long to finally be released but the wait was worth. Especially for the Immortimas extravaganza to boot.

The Bear (FX/Hulu): I binge watched two seasons of this highly addictive but seriously stressful show and loved every minute of it. Jeremy Allen White is a revelation.

Yellowjackets (Showtime/Paramount+): Again, I binged two seasons of this crazy show, following the events of a high school soccer team that barely survived nineteen months in the Wilderness. 

American Horror Story: Delicate (FX): The show might be losing the general audience but who would've thought that Kim Kardashian's Siobhan Corbyn would be a surprisingly entertaining character?

Superman And Lois (CW): The third season sensitively tackled a cancer storyline for Lois while Superman finally faced up to Lex Luthor and Doomsday. 

Loki (Disney+): Season 2 offered a strong conclusion to the god of mischief while also providing the MCU with the means not to continue with Kang. 

Chucky (SyFy/USA): The writers strike might have forced the third season into going the split season route but fun was had with Chucky in the White House and the camp absurdity of Tiffany's trial.

Fellow Travelers (Showtime/Paramount+): A McCarthy era led miniseries with Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey and some of the sexiest sex scenes between two men. Of course this is on the list.

Queen Charlotte (Netflix): This prequel series to Bridgerton turned out to be so fantastic, that I hope it gets a second run. Netflix struck gold with that show

Archie (ITVX): A four part miniseries examining the life of Cary Grant with a brilliant performance from Jason Isaacs as the iconic movie star.

Nolly (ITVX): I knew little of former Crossroads actor Noelle Gordon but Helena Bonham-Carter gave a terrific performance from a great miniseries by Russell T. Davies.

Juice (BBC3): Marwan Rizwan's quirky comedy which included his own family and the always hunky Russell Tovey was one of the better comedy offerings this year.

What If (Disney+): Season 2 of what was my least favourite MCU show (Secret Invasion now has that honour) really managed to up it's game at the eleventh hour. Still though, this show really wants Captain Carter front and centre.

EastEnders (BBC1): The only soap to make this list and yes, it's because of the Six storyline. That storyline really breathed life into the show.

Big Brother UK (ITV2): A genuine return to form from a much missed reality series that can still work in today's environment. I was happy that ITV2 got this right.

Abbott Elementary (ABC): I didn't stick with this as I should've but what I did watch, I enjoyed so I might catch up with it again in the new year.

Ghosts (BBC1): After five series and a US version (which is decent enough), this show bowed out during Christmas. It'll be missed but at least it was smart enough not to outstay it's welcome.

My Adventures With Superman (Max): The anime style took some getting used to but this turned out to be a charming take on the ever iconic DC hero.

A Ghost Story For Christmas (BBC2): Kit Harrington and Freddie Fox delivered in the spooky Lot 249. 

Honourable mentions of course go to other DC shows such as The Flash, Titans and Harley Quinn. Love And Death gave Elizabeth Olsen a real life killer role while David Tennant and Michael Sheen also came back for seconds with Good Omens. The Idol had the perfect set up for a biting commentary for the music industry but fumbled the bag while Succession delivered a final season that was enjoyed. Anime fans also got a win with Netflix's adaptation of One Piece and Mike Flanagan scared up another hit with The Fall Of The House Of Usher. I also binge watched the likes of The Tourist and Wilderness and would consider both American Horror Stories, Vanishing Act and So Help Me Todd as guilty pleasures. 

Now let's see what 2024 has to offer, shall we?

DCU Blog - December 2023 Edition: Aquaman 2 numbers, New Pics For Joker sequel and Farewell DCEU

My final DC blog for 2023 and it's case of closing the past while signalling the future.

The DC Extended Universe has ended and now the DCU and the Elseworlds are the order of the day. Let's go over things shall we?

As of now, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has made over 138 million in the box office so far, which isn't great but maybe it breaks even.

However, it's clear as day that Jason Momoa will no longer play the Atlantean hero but is he play Lobo? He didn't exactly say no upon being asked recently. He didn't say yes either. 

The Flash made Barack Obama's list of favourite movies for 2023, so that's pretty good.

Tim Burton recently revealed his abandoned Catwoman spin off movie would've been in black and white with Selina Kyle in a small town. 

Sean Gunn has been cast as Maxwell Lord for the DCU, making this his third role as he'll also be both Weasel and G.I. Robot for Creature Commandos.

Supergirl will appear in Superman: Legacy before we see her fly solo in Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. Expect casting soon as well as a director confirmed for the latter movie.

Superman: Legacy will begin filming in March 2024 but we won't see a costume before filming begins.

On Christmas Day, director Todd Phillips released new pics of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga as Joker and Harley Quinn from Joker: Folie A Deux.

The Batman - Part II will apparently begin filming in August 2024. Barry Keoghan has teased returning as Joker but no characters have been confirmed for the sequel yet.

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 1 will be released from January 9th. It'll be a three part animated movie event.

James Gunn has confirmed that Matt Reeves show focusing on Arkham Asylum will actually be set in the DC Universe instead of his Batman Elseworlds.

Various spoilers leaked for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, including a reveal for Poison Ivy.

Peacemaker Season 2 is currently being written by James Gunn and will address changes in the DC Universe.

CCXP had some promotion for upcoming anime Series, Suicide Squad Isekai, which will be released in 2024. Characters include Harley Quinn, Joker, Deadshot, Clayface, Amanda Waller, Peacemaker and King Shark.

Okay, now that the DC Extended Universe has ended, it's time to do my final ranking for this franchise. Here goes from best to worst ....

1: Wonder Woman (2017)

2: The Flash (2023)

3: Justice League/Zack Snyder's Justice League (2017/2021)

4: Shazam! (2019)

5: Aquaman (2018)

6: Blue Beetle (2023)

7: Peacemaker - Season 1 (2022)

8: The Suicide Squad (2021)

9: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

10: Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023)

11: Birds Of Prey (2020)

12: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2023)

13: Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

14: Man Of Steel (2013)

15: Suicide Squad (2016)

16: Black Adam (2022)

The end to an interesting but often divisive franchise. The DC Extended Universe was never boring but boy, does the DC Universe have a lot it needs to get right from the word go. Can it do it? Let's hope so.

My Review of Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire (2023)

 

Written by Zack Snyder And Kurt Johnstad And Shay Hatton

Directed by Zack Snyder

Sindri (re warship): "What do you think they want?"

Kora: "Everything."

I was going to avoid this if I'm being honest but boredom and curiosity got the better/worst of me and I decided to watch this during the weekend before Christmas Day. I'm going to be honest, it's a mixed bag to what both Netflix and Zack Snyder are hoping will be an expansive universe.

If you didn't know this movie was originally Zack Snyder's pitch for a Star Wars movie, don't worry, it becomes pretty clear as it goes along. No, really, there's no mistaking what this originally could've been. 

Our protagonist of the piece is a highly trained and deadly former soldier turned farmer named Kora (Sofia Boutella) who just wants a normal life. Sadly for her, peace isn't an option. On the independent moon named Veldt where Kora had been living a quieter life, war has come in the shape of Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), acting on the behest of the barely seen Balisarius (Fra Free).

In the first few minutes, Noble basically bullies the people of Veldt into submission and for their grain. When some soldiers try to attack a young woman named Sam, Kora sees this as a reason to fight back against the tyranny of the Motherworld but for that, she needed an army and the rest of the movie's focus is about that.

There's Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a local farmer who follows Kora like a love sick teenager and might be the least interesting person in this movie. Fortunately other teammates did include charming thief Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a skilled swordswoman named Nemesis (Doona Bae), secret prince Tarak (Staz Nair) and a brother and sistet duo named Darrian (Ray Fisher) and Devra Bloodaxe (Cleopatra Coleman). However it's only Darrian along with Millius (E. Duffy) who actually sign up to Kora's dangerous mission.

Anyways keeping it swift, this was the first part of a two part saga, so as the film hurtled towards it's final act, we had flashbacks filling in Kora's history with Balisarius, a betrayal within the group dynamic, a surprise death for a character who I thought would have a bigger role. Oh and that last scene where Balisarius gave Noble a reason to take him seriously.

- Other noteworthy characters included a robot named Jimmy (Anthony Hopkins), a spider woman named Harmada (Jena Malone) grieving her losses and the Princess Issa (Stella Grace Fitzgerald) who Kora protected in flashbacks.

- I really didn't like that the only gay character we got in this movie was one that tried to assault Gunnar. Fortunately Millius might be better LGBT rep in the sequel being a non binary character.

- Noble was getting off on that tentacle thing attaching itself to him or being healed by it.

- There's a three hour version of this movie that will be released by Netflix next year. Same with the sequel.

- The sequel Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver will be released from April 19th 2024.

- Chronology: Kora's home world was destroyed when she was nine and she taken in by Balisarius. She's in her thirties and her real name is Arthelais.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire was actually okay enough as a movie. It's not without it's flaws - chopping editing so bits feel missing/incomplete, annoying overuse of slow motion and paper thin baddies. However, it did have some decent enough visuals, some of the aliens looked cool and Kora's a decent enough protagonist. I might watch the sequel.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Saltburn (2023)

 

Written And Directed by Emerald Fennell

Oliver: "I wasn't in love with him. I know everybody thought I was but I wasn't. I loved him of course. It was impossible not to love Felix. And that was part of the problem."

Getting out of the festive phase and into some award contenders, I got around to watching this intriguing piece last night. Some seem to adore this movie, others not so much. I'm kind of somewhere in the middle with this one.

As a filmmaker, Emerald Fennell certainly wants to push boundaries and her previous effort, Promising Young Woman definitely evoked it's own controversy three years ago. This film definitely tried to push the edge but a part of me also thought it was slightly holding back too in a way.

The movie has Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, a middle class genius struggling to forge connections at Oxford until he happened to get very friendly with popular posh boy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Actually scratch "friendly" and just say "full on obsessed" because that's exactly how Oliver became towards Felix in a relatively short space of time.

It's not long before personal tragedy gets Oliver an invite at Felix's home, the Saltburn manor and even in less time Oliver was making an impression on Felix's family. Notably cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) as the latter was openly hostile to Oliver, trying to humiliate him at every turn before Oliver managed to get Farleigh ousted from the manor.

Oliver's trail of destruction was pretty fascinating to watch, especially following Felix quickly realising that his new friend lied about his family situation. With Oliver's obsession intensified, it didn't exactly end well for Felix and one by one, the remaining Catton family members were taken out of the equation.

Both Felix's sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and father James (Richard E. Grant) cottoned on too late to Oliver destroying the family. However it was Felix's mother, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) who had become too enamoured with Oliver with disastrous results. Let's just say the movie ended with Oliver getting rewarded for eating the rich.

- There's a fun appearance from Carey Mulligan as Elspeth's friend, Pamela, who none of the Cattons actually liked.

- The Brideshead Revisited and Maurice influences are rather deliberate as both books influenced Fennell's writing for the movie.

- Standout music: Of course it's going to Sophie Ellis-Baxter's Murder On The Dancefloor. For the most obvious reasons.

- Chronology: The movie started in 2006 with the majority of it then moving into summer 2007.

Saltburn might be one of the more interesting movies I've watched this year. In terms of performance, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and Carey Mulligan (brief as the latter was) stood out the most, though no one slouched here. It's a film that wants to be provocative and daring and in some ways, it does achieve that but at the same time, you definitely think they could've pushed it a bit further as well. Saying that I did this little bit of crazy decadence nonetheless.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Church On Ruby Road"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Mark Tonderai

The Doctor: "Who sees a ladder and just hops on? A ladder in the sky and you thought, 'yeah, I'll give that a go, babes.'"

Ruby: "They've got the baby."

After stealing the last ten minutes of The Giggle, it was time to see what Ncuti Gatwa could do with a whole episode as the Doctor and we're off to a breezy but engaging start here.

It's been six years since our last Christmas special where Peter Capaldi regenerated into Jodie Whittaker, so perhaps it's fitting that our new Doctor made his proper debut at this time of year. I've missed this show being on at Christmas and this felt like a welcome return home.

The episode with the new Doctor narrating a story about a baby girl being left at the Church On Ruby Road in the snow by a hooded figure. Nineteen years the girl in question - Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) has contacted Davina McCall to help her find her biological family. Bizarrely enough, Ruby's lineage can't be traced.

Less funny however for Ruby would be the run of bad luck that's befallen her for the last few weeks and her misfortunes have also proven fatal for Davina McCall as well. What's causing them? Oh you know, just some Goblins who have a thing for eating babies. 

What brought Ruby Sunday and the Doctor together was the two of them trying to save the former's foster sister, Lulubelle from being eaten by the Goblin King. Of course there was also an impromptu musical number that's really catchy but overall, saving Lulubelle ended up having not so unforseen consequences for Ruby.

At the start of this episode, we saw Ruby's family dynamic. She's a foundling that was adopted by her foster mother, Carla (Michelle Greenidge) and the two of them along with Carla's own mother, Cherry (Angela Winter) had a wonderful dynamic. I forgot how well RTD wrote family dynamics and why they were such a lynchpin to his success with the show. This episode served as a great reminder.

Carla went from being the most loving mother to someone more cold and intolerant of children when the Goblins time travelled to take Ruby instead. While I do think the way the Doctor defeated the Goblins was a bit hastily done, this episode also solidified that this era won't be saying away from the fantasy side of things. Even magic seems to be on the table if a certain conversation between the Doctor and Ruby was anything to go by.

As for the rest of the episode - who the hell is Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson)? At first I was going to assume she was just a grouchy neighbour but as the episode progressed her interactions with both the Doctor and Ruby seemed peculiar. Oh and she knows what a TARDIS was. Who is she? I'm thinking someone new than old for now.

- Other characters who popped up included Ruby's bandmates, notably Trudy (Mary Malone), another neighbour named Abdul and a policeman who wants to marry his girlfriend. Ruby's a keyboard player in the band.

- A trailer for Series 14/Season 1 revealed various bits but notably mentioned the show returning in May 2024.

- Along with a new sonic screwdriver, the Doctor has intelligence gloves and mavity is still a thing. As for his long hot summer with Houdini, I hope we see that one day.

- There's a novelisation of this episode being released next month.

- Standout music: Nice use of Carol Of The Bells, mostly during the 2004 flashbacks. Oh and of course, The Goblin King with added vocals from the Doctor and Ruby. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson can hold a tune. 

- Chronology: Christmas Eve 2004 in flashbacks as well as December 2023 leading up to Christmas Eve of the same year.

I loved The Church On Ruby Road. A seemingly light and breezy way to introduce the Doctor and Ruby but underneath it all, it had so much more going on. The foundling connection between our protagonists, the use of the fantasy and supernatural within the show's format, Ruby's bad luck and again, who the hell is Mrs Flood? May 2024 can't come fast enough.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Scrooged (1988)

 

Written by Mitch Glazer And Michael O'Donoghue

Directed by Richard Donner

James (re Frank): "My brother, the King of Christmas."

It's Christmas Eve so one more movie based on A Christmas Carol should be fine to review and why not this one, yeah? It's been a long time since I've watched this one and I thought today would be a good day to talk about it.

Anyways this is a contemporary take on the Charles Dickens classic with Bill Murray playing the Scrooge of the piece. He's a mean spirited television executive named Frank Cross who has his employees either terrified or exhausted by him.

Because of this, it's not long before Frank gets a visit from three different ghosts while at the same time having to deal with his boss Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum) and the somewhat annoying Brice Cummings (John Glover). The latter being there to assist with a broadcast version of A Christmas Carol, funnily enough.

Getting to the ghosts of the piece, we had the Ghost of Christmas Past being a smart mouth taxi driver (David Johansen) going through Frank's past as a child as well as his ex-girlfriend, Claire Phillips (Karan Allen) with the latter clearly being the one that got away from Frank. Claire's selflessness being a not subtle contrast to Frank as well.

Then there was the Ghost of Christmas Present, a manic violent fairy played with aplomb by Carol Kane. I enjoyed her the most as she showed Frank how crap he put his assistant Grace (Alfre Woodard) through. Frank also saw the happier life of his brother, James (John Murray) to boot.

Then there's a scary Grin Reaper for the last bit, the possibility of death and boom, Frank amended his ways and rehired poor Eliot (Bobcat Goldthwait) before going on a massive apology tour. I mean, it is  A Christmas Carol so it's par for the course really.

- All of Bill Murray's brothers appeared in this movie and Lee Majors even did a spoof of The Six Million Dollar Man at the start of the movie.

- Bill Murray turned down several roles to do this movie and even then, it took persuading to get him on board. He also add libbed a lot.

- Standout music: Bill Murray's Put A Little Love In Your Heart. 

- Chronology: 1988 New York, where the majority of the movie was filmed.

Scrooged would definitely be up there as one of the best variations of A Christmas Carol. It's got a great lead performance from Bill Murray, strong supporting roles and has a lot of fun playing around with the source material. It's a lot of fun to watch during Christmas.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2023)

 

Written by James Wan And David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick And Jason Momoa And Thomas Pa'a Sibbett

Directed by James Wan

Aquaman: "Four years ago I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home. But now I'm a husband and a father and I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh yeah, I finally got a job. I'm the King of Atlantis."

And so it ends. It's been a very volatile ten years. Fifteen movies and one TV series and one director's cut later, we've gotten to the finishing line for the DC Extended Universe. It's been a hell of a time.

In terms of sequels, this was something that took way too long to get here and now that it's here, was the wait worth it? I don't want to say "not really" but I can't entirely say "yes" either. Overall, this happened to be a sequel that's a sum of its parts.

Four years has passed since the events of the first movie. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is still Aquaman and the King of Atlantis, though he finds the day to day council meetings extremely boring. On top of that, he married Mera (Amber Heard) and has become a father, the latter thing bringing him much joy and bonding as Junior started to develop his own powers.

Of course while fatherhood played it's role and spanned three generations, there are other themes that have a bigger prominence on display. Notably, the theme of the planet getting too hot. Yes, this movie has an environmental theme and it's pretty choppy in terms of how it's handled.

The cause of the extreme heating of course happened to be because of Black Manta/David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Since we've last seen him, he's gotten even more obsessed with destroying Aquaman and his team up with Dr Stephen Shin (Randall Park) as well as a pirate with second in command Stingray (Jani Zhao) and there's nothing he won't do to get his revenge.

This included uncovering the Lost Kingdom otherwise known as Nekrus and getting a hold of the Black Trident. The Trident which showed a lot of scary but noticeably that King Atlan (Vincent Regan) went to war and eventually imprisoned Nekrus as well as his tyrant brother, Kordax (Pilou Asbaek), the latter of whom spending most of the movie further corrupting Manta.

Anyways Mamta going all batshit crazy, stealing orichalcum to heat up the planet while badly injuring Mera did lead to Arthur having to team up with Orm (Patrick Wilson) and lets just say that the Arthur and Orm was the biggest strength of the movie.

As a pairing, both Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson played off each other very well. There's plenty of comedy as Arthur and Orm as well as the pair of them going over their differences, connecting as brothers and putting a stop to both Black Manta and Kordax.

In terms of villains, I hate to admit it but Manta who I liked better in the first movie felt a bit one dimensional here as did Kordax. Kordax's relationship with Atlan paralleled Arthur and Orm but wasn't anywhere near as compelling. Even Orm being briefly tempted to revert to his former ways before choosing redemption was better handled.

As for the rest of the main characters, Mera was largely sidelined and both Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison) hadn't a lot to do. There are slightly larger roles for Neureus (Dolph Lundgren), the Brine King (John Rhys-Davies) and Topo the Octopus. Even Shin and Storm the Seahorse have bigger roles than Mera in this one and no, Arthur Jr doesn't get killed off. It's a family friendly comic book movie after all.

- Vulko died off screen between movies while Karshon (Indya Moore) seemed to be in name only as a character.

- There's an amusing cameo from Martin Short as Kingfish, the ruler of the Sunken Citadel, a pirate haven.

- A mid credit scene had Orm on land enjoying a burger with a cockroach inside it. 

- Jason Momoa co-writing this certainly explained why more of his own real life personality seeped into his performance more than usual.

- Standout music: Deep End by X Ambassadors stood out the most as well as the use of Born To Be Wild.

- Chronology: Four years from the events of the first movie with Arthur revealing Atlantis to the surface world at the end of the movie.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom doesn't necessarily end the DCEU on a damp squib but it's hardly the high note it should've gone out on. It's not a bad sequel and might end up faring marginally better than Wonder Woman 1984 and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods but unlikely by much. Anyways, the DCEU is done and lets hope the DCU will fare better.

Rating: 7 out of 10