Have You Been Watching...? Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child Of Fire (2023)

 

On a recent flight, I'd read in a magazine that writer and director Zack Snyder (Justice League) had pitched the idea of his Rebel Moon movies as “Game of Thrones in Space”. Now, I quite liked Game of Thrones, but the idea of investing so much time into another franchise didn’t appeal, but I’ve liked his other work and wanted to give this new Sci-Fi adventure a go. The script for the movie was co-written by Snyder with Kurt Johnstad ("300") and Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead, John Wick 3) and directed by Snyder. 

As it’s a relatively new movie so I will try not to be too spoiler-ific.

Our story opens with a narration explaining how there is a Motherworld, and when it’s King and Queen are assassinated, a prince regent steals the throne while everyone else is bickering. A revolution begins, and the empire (oops!) tries to stamp it out. Our story then moves to a small farming village on the planet Veldt. It is visited by a group from the Empire in their Dreadnaught ship The Kings Gaze, under the command of General Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein from Deadpool and Tau) wanting grain to feed their army as they hunt the revolutionaries. One thing leads to another and our hero, Kora (Sofia Boutella from Kingsman The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) who is secretly an ex-member of the empire, sets off to create an army capable of protecting the village from the Empire.

It's very much a space saga, but Game of Thrones it is not. In fact, plot wise, it’s less Star Wars and more Battle Beyond The Stars. I fail to understand why a Dreadnaught ship arrives and threatens a simple village, when there is a whole city called Providence on Veldt which would make more sense. Despite all the tech on show in the movie, everyone and everything is dirty. There are no bright whites and sleek lines in this universe. Even Star Wars had a mixture of the two, but by the end of this one, I’m fed up of the dirt and grime.

Much must be said of the universe building in this movie. Great strides are made with diversity and a mix of accents giving real credence to different cultures, although the less said of Charlie Hunnam’s (as Kai) dreadful Northern Irish accent. I can't understand why he didn’t just use his natural Geordie accent.

Kora's ragtag bunch of revolutionaries are gathered together much too quickly and with little backstory provided to any, it’s hard to feel anything for them. The only characters that feel developed with genuine motivation are Kora and Noble, and bizarrely, Kora’s fellow villager Gunnar (Michiel Huisman from World War Z and the Haunting of Hill House). The others just feel like they’re along for the ride and each are introduced in various little scenarios. Some of these don’t even make a lot of sense, particularly Tarak (Staz Nair from Game of Thrones and Supergirl), he has a special ability, but I had to go online to understand why this was a thing in the movie. Maybe it’ll be apparent in part two. Given the clear drive to be a new Star Wars type saga, the lack of a robot crewmember is apparent, especially as a prime candidate “Jimmy” is introduced early on, voice by Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins. Other unanswered questions include why they think a small army can take on the dreadnaught ship? Even if they did win, they’re fighting an empire who would just send another.

Unfortunately, it’s so formulaic that it feels like there is nothing new here. Yes, it’s nice to see a new Sci Fi big budget movie, but it just makes me want to watch Star Wars. Maybe things will change in Part 2, but this leads to another disappointment. We know from the outset that this is part one, so we expect a cliffhanger and plots not to be resolved by the end. This robs the viewer of any sense of peril for our band of heroes.

Further reading indicates there will be more sequels. While the name Rebel Moon sounds cool, what happens after the moon is “liberated”? Will there be more moons to liberate? I think the beginnings of something good are here, but I wonder if it will become something more, with its own identity.

Snyder has also commented that there is a more adult orientated “R” rated extended version to come out later. This could be the road forward for this franchise. Even in its Netflix edited form, its hard to tell who the movie is aimed at. It’s too formulaic for discerning sci-fi fans and too adult for children (there is one particular scene where the baddies discussing deflowering a young woman which is unpleasant but definitely shows us how bad the baddies are, and there are moments of bad language).

Overall, the movie is not a bad watch and enjoyable enough as a yarn. I certainly want to see part two.

Year: 2023

Availability: Streaming on Netflix at the time of writing

Rating 7/10

Have You Been Watching...? Leave The World Behind (2023)

 

Leave The World Behind is a 2023 disaster movie from Netflix, with a “Big Name” cast including Oscar-winners Julia Roberts (Erin Brokovich, Pretty Woman) and Maherasha Ali (Moonlight, The 4400) and Oscar-Nominee Ethan Hawke (Gattaca, Boyhood, Training Day) and co-starring Myha’la (Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) and the legendary Kevin Bacon (Tremors, Footloose). It's based on a 2020 thriller novel by Rumaan Alam. As you will know by now, I do like my disaster movies, so this was a definite go-to upon release. The movie is already one of Netflix’s highest performers at the time of writing, but also one of the most controversial with a very low appreciation rating in review sites such as Rotten Tomatoes. Is it as bad as some people are saying? Can the movie live up to the hype? Read on, dear reader….

The plot begins straight-forwardly enough. Roberts and Hawke portray middle-aged married couple Amanda and Clay Sanford who, with their two children Rose and Archie, go on a spur-of-the-moment getaway to a rental house in Long Island, New York. The reason for this break isn’t really given, other than, as Amanda states before the titles, she hates people. Rose, the youngest of the two children, is addicted to the old 90s sitcom “Friends”, and this plays an unusually large role in the film so you know it’s going to mean something at some point. Archie is a stereotypical young teenage male with little time for his sibling. The house they stay in is a sleek, modern affair with a pool which backs onto woods populated by deer and conveniently near a beach. So far, so idyllic.

The family spend a nice day at the beach when a large oil tanker comes aground. Heading back to the house, they find the TV and wifi no longer work. With no internet, Rose is about to miss the series finale of Friends, which is distressing her, even thought its already older than she probably is. Matters get more complicated when a man claiming to be the house owner (Ali, playing George H Scott)) arrives with his daughter, wanting to stay the night as a blackout has caused getting to his own home more complicated. Amanda is instantly suspicious while Clay seems more accommodating. More layers are piled onto the plot as it begins to appear Amanda doesn’t like the Scotts as they are black. Is Amanda racist? It certainly adds an uncomfortable aspect to an already uncomfortable situation. Amanda later receives messages on her phone claiming hackers have caused the blackout but before she can tell anyone, the messages vanish. Seeking more information, George ventures to a friends house only to find the remains of a crashed aircraft and before his eyes, another plunges into the beach.

As more and more unsettling situations arise, relationships are formed and relationships are strained. Clues are found but there is doubt as to whether they can be relied upon. At times of extreme crisis, who can be trusted entirely?

This, then, leads to the controversial finale, which I will not spoil for you. The novel the movie is based on ends with the discovery of a bunker and some hope for the families. The movie’s ending has the “possibility” of similar hope, but the final moments allows the viewer to determine what is more important to whom? Is everyone able to sing off the same hymn sheet at such times? The viewer doesn’t receive all the answers and some is left to interpretation. This works for some movies and not so well for others. I feel the latter applies here. It’s a lengthy movie but to be rewarded with no definitive answer feels more like a cop-put than a planned ending. Sometimes, when I watch a movie, I want to see the story, not given about 98% and having to make the rest up myself. I watch movies and TV to be entertained.

The movie is NOT bad, it just doesn’t do enough to warrant a glowing review. The cast ARE great and immensely watchable. The direction is solid from Sam Esmail (although he did the screenplay too so can take some responsibility for naff ending). One of the major downsides to the movie is the overuse of pop music as at times, it feels like a non-stop pop video. This is mostly apparent at the beginning but calms down as the movie progresses.

With a run-time of 141 minutes, it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome and there is still plenty to entertain. However, with the absolute final moments, I can understand the poor reviews.

Year: 2023

Availability: Streaming on Netflix

Rating: 7/10

Have You Been Watching...? Aftershock

I came across Aftershock while rooting through a few streaming services looking for something I’d never seen before. Aftershock was described as “disaster horror” (not a category I’d come across) so thought I’d give it a try.

Set in Chile, the movie tells the tale of an American tourist called “Gringo” played by horror star Eli Roth. He is visiting his pal and that pal’s friends, one of whom is called “Pollo” (Spanish for Chicken). For the first 30 minutes of the film, I have to be honest, nothing happens. We get to see Gringo and his pals party, sightsee, get drunk, flirt (badly) and have a great time. We are further introduced to a group of girls also on holiday. One of whom is called Kylie. I find the cast difficult to write about as even by the end of the movie I still don’t know who they are. They have some soapy drama in the background about one of them not being able to drink alcohol, but then drinks anyway, to the chagrin of her sister. So far so boring.

Then, eventually, an earthquake hits. Spectacularly so. They’re in an underground disco, so bits of roof come down, equipment and running partygoers squash people. It’s all a bit grisly, especially when something happens to the only cast member who comes across as any way a "kind" human being. Even that takes a turn for the comedic and I found myself laughing during the chaos. Intentional or not on the part of the director, I don’t know, but it was VERY funny. Escaping the venue at the cost of another unimportant disposable castmember’s life in another example of hilarious death, I realise this is like watching disaster-porn. I’m watching it, eagerly awaiting the next horrid death in a comedy fashion. I don’t have to wait long. The earthquake scenes and falling building effects are very good indeed. As our group realise the peril they are in (there’s a tsunami coming, but they all seem to forget about that), things take a turn for the worse when a prison collapses and the prisoners escape. It’s around this point I realise I don’t care for what happens to this group. The movie shifts a gear into Mad Max/Escape from New York territory as the prisoners are ALL bad (m’kay). There’s a grim sequence set in a graveyard which reduces or cast further and is unnecessarily over-violent. It seems very clear the movie has no real plot and is just a series of “incidents” to either make you laugh out loud or grimace in disgust. Eventually the movie grinds to halt with one of the most pointless reveals ever. It literally just does NOT make any sense whatsoever.

Eli Roth has made a number of decent horror movies as director and producer, including Cabin Fever, and he co-wrote this endeavour. Unfortunately it is weak. Very weak. It has the look and feel of a cheap bargain basket DVD.

The movie DOES pick up after the earthquake hits, but by then I’m bored out of my mind and I contemplated switching it off several times, thinking I must have got it wrong. However, it becomes a generic runaround from "bad guys with no motives other than being bad" and instantly forgettable.

Year: 2012

Availability: Streaming on itvX at the time of writing.

Rating: 2/10

 

Have You Been Watching...? Star Wars: Obi Wan Kenobi

 

When Disney obtained the rights to Star Wars, the legendary sci-fi property that formed such a HUGE part of my (and many others’) childhood, I was worried. I didn’t want it becoming Star Wars: Hannah Montana or suchlike. However, Disney have proved to be more than capable of churning out great Star Wars content. The Mandalorian is a work of art, and I adore the series completely but when Obi-Wan Kenobi was announced, I was unsure. Was this even a Star Wars story I needed or wanted to see?

The limited series brings Ewan McGregor back as Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi master who introduced Luke Skywalker to “The Force”. McGregor, you may recall, played the role in the prequel movie trilogy. It also brings back Haydn Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Others returning to the movie roles include Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa and Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars, and of course, James Earl Jones and Ian MacDiarmid. The series also introduces a wealth of new characters and talent including Moses Ingram as Reva Sevander, an imperial agent on the hunt for Obi-Wan with a secret few could see coming, and Vivien Lyra Blair as Princess Leia Organa. Yes, we have a younger incarnation of everyone’s favourite space princess as a 10 year old. My goodness, she is absolutely brilliant, both at this whole acting malarkey and in channelling a young Carrie Fisher’s sassiness in the part. She is a joy to watch and her relationship with the older Kenobi is one of the highlights, maybe even THE highlight of the whole series. It certainly adds more credibility and poignancy to Carrie Fisher’s message to him through R2-D2 in A New Hope.

As this is a relatively new series, I won’t give much of the plot away here, but the focus of the series is Reeva’s hunt for the last of the Jedi, particularly Obi-Wan Kenobi and she is singularly focussed on the task. This results in the abduction of a young Princess Leia and a rescue mission by Kenobi and his friends.

The internet has been ablaze with commentators and their thoughts on how well the series fits with established continuity as set by the movie saga. I am on the side that there is nothing in the series than causes friction with anything established in the movies. As is now expected from these Disney Star Wars adventures, there is plenty of money on the screen. The effects are spectacular, the sets are truly magnificent for a TV show, and the music, provided by a returning John Williams after Ludwig Goransson scored the Mandalorian and Boba Fett serials, is appropriately epic.

It's an enjoyable ride of a series, and poor young Leia does get put through the wringer a bit, but you can clearly see how what she experiences influences the older Leia we all know and love. The relationship between Kenobi and his young padawan Anakin gets some exploration too and adds new dimensions to Darth Vader that we never knew was possible.  We are also introduced to a number of side characters, such as Haja Estree and Taka Durith, the latter of which is now one of my favourite characters in the Star Wars universe.

So ignore some of the stories you might see on the internet about the show and/or it’s cast. Approach this series with an open mind and I’m sure you will enjoy it. If you can avoid spoilers too, it will make it even better. By the time this is published, you might have heard every spoiler going about Obi-Wan Kenobi, but even armed with the knowledge, you will stall have a good time with this show. As a 6 part limited series, I was not sure what kind of story it would tell, or how they would do it. A lot of thought has gone into this series and it shows. The production team and writers have done a fantastic job in bringing this untold chapter in our heroes’ lives to us. As I stated above, I wasn’t sure if it was a story I wanted or needed, but it turns out I did, on both counts.

Year: 2022

Episode count: 6

Season count: 1 (so far!!)

Availability: Streaming on Disney+

 

Have You Been Watching...? Doctor Who: The Daleks In Colour (2023)

 

Doctor Who, that familiar TV series with the time-travelling Police box TARDIS and its quirky alien pilot The Doctor, turned 60 years old in 2023. To celebrate, the BBC broadcast a re-edited and re-jigged version of its seminal 1963 adventure The Daleks. The Daleks themselves, alien mutants in miniature individual “battle-tanks", were to become an iconic adversary to the Doctor and it made sense for this adventure to be the first to undergo such a transformation. Plodding along at 7x25 minute black & white weekly episodes, the story is now condensed to a mere 75 minutes, and now it’s in colour for the very first time.

Until now, the only way to see this story in colour was via the 1965 heavily adapted movie version starring Peter Cushing, as the genial grandfather Dr Who, which runs for only 5 minutes more than our new TV edit. This one features the original TARDIS crew of William Hartnell as The Doctor, Guinness World Record holder William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jaqueline Hill as Barbara Wright and Carole Ann Ford as Susan.

If you are completely new to the concept of Dr Who, then this may not be the best jumping on point as literally nothing is explained about our lead characters. In context, the series was heavily serialised in the sixties, with every episode leading on to the next so there would be no need to explain at this point, which would have been episodes 5-11 of the original run.

This new special edition opens with a new version of the classic theme tune, which sounds slightly faster and with new additional sound effects and a technicolour hue. The story then begins in true Wizard of Oz style with a short black and white scene before developing into colour. The story itself is basic enough, The Doctor and the crew come across a technologically advanced city on an alien world, occupied by the Daleks who are at war with the peaceful Thal race. The war ended hundreds of years previously following the detonation of a neutron bomb. In the intervening years, the Daleks have mutated and reside in their metal casings, while the blonde Thals have become peaceful farmers. On the verge of starvation due to their crops failing, the Thals are trying to get help from the Daleks, hoping they too have evolved into peaceful beings. Spoilers - They haven’t (hey, it’s been out there for 60 years – it’s not really a spoiler).

The Doctor we see in this adventure, is not the same as the one we have grown to know. He doesn’t want the teachers around and is sneaky and manipulative. The circumstances he creates to get to view the city is the whole driving point of our plot, and people die because of the decisions he has made. The two teachers have no choice in their situation. It all leads to very strange and somewhat uncomfortable situation. It will be a while before The Doctor mellows to his new companions.

The work on this project is fascinating, and there are pros and cons to this experiment. The source material is 60 years old. It wasn’t the best material from the outset, but the cleaning and colouring has worked very well. It’s not sharp and glaring or in high-definition, but it does have an almost “dream-like” sheen on the image. The colour choices are bright and bold, and it’s clear why this story was the one given the colourisation treatment. The crew behind the scenes have gone for a very sixties style suitable to the time it was made. Long term fans can moan that the Tardis console is, in fact, green in real life and the floor wasn’t blue, but that takes away from the sheer joy of this project. The episodes have been given a very modern “editing” style, with fast shots and flashbacks. Sometimes, these don’t quite work as well as they’d hope and it only feels like minutes ago since we saw the clip that’s being “flashed back” to. The musical score and sounds have been re-done, seemingly with modern TV sensibilities, resulting in it being quite overbearing at times, and drowning out the actual speech. Some effects have been updated, so now the original Daleks do indeed fire laser beams.

It's a very strange experience, especially if you are already well familiar with the original version. Apparently, the whole idea was to re-cut the episodes as a “modern” episode would do it. In this respect, then the experiment is a success! The lengthy script from Terry Nation (Blake's 7, Survivors) has been chopped right back and pretty much all of the padding removed making it rattle along at a lightning pace, very reminiscent of modern episodes. 

There are hints that this may be the first of many re-versions of old Dr Who Black and White episodes. Hopefully, this one can be seen as a starting-off point, learning what works and what didn’t and lessons can be learned, but overall, this is a wonderful new addition to Doctor Who productions and an extra-special treat for the anniversary.

Year: 2023

Availability: BBCiplayer from 23^rd November 2023

Rating: 7/10

 

 

Have You Been Watching...? The Creator (2023)

 

I was looking forward to the Creator, directed and co-written by Welsh director Gareth Edwards. He also directed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (one of the best Star Wars movies) and co-wrote and directed Monsters (2007).  The trailer looked great and the pedigree good. Can the movie live up to the hype?

The cast is led by ex-American footballer and son of Denzel, John David Washington (“Ballers” TV Series and BlacKKKlansman), as Joshua Taylor and tells the story of the rise of AI (artificial intelligence) and how it goes wrong, leading to the destruction of Los Angeles in a nuclear explosion. While the US abandons AI and actively destroys all AI forms, the rest of the world disagrees and continues to co-exist with AI forms, as police and numerous other forms.

It's an interesting story and certainly plays to current concerns around the rise of AI, and indeed the opening sequence is a fantastic potted-history of what leads up to the movie. However, from this point on, the storey devolves into a generic “golden child” trope.

The American troops are hunting Nirmata, the creator of the AI, and believe she has created a weapon. Josh is undercover as they believe his wife is the daughter of Nirmata. Josh genuinely falls in love with Maya (Gemma Chan from British dramas Bedlam and Dr Who) and she is pregnant with their child. After a botched US army operation, Josh’s cover is blown and Maya is believed to be dead with her unborn baby.

Fast-fowarding five years, Josh is recruited again to hunt down Nirmata and a weapon they are believed to have created. Josh eventually finds out the “weapon” is, in fact, a cyborg-child called “Alpha-O”, with technology far in advance of what’s already known and accepted. Alpha (renamed “Alphie” by Josh) exhibits the ability to control technology, seemingly by her mind. Thus the plot becomes one of keeping the Golden Child away from the baddies.

This is a shame as the movie suggests a wonderful backstory and attempts as world-building, but it feels like it’s being skimmed over. Some of the plot threads don’t join together and there’s a lot of things happening that seem to happen for plot’s sake than genuine development. Characters appear to say something relevant to the plot then are killed off with no development and simply there as exposition. In spite of this, the effects and cinematography are absolutely excellent. I expected this as I can apply the same to Rogue One, but this is the movies only saving grace. The characters are simply cyphers with little to no characterisation or development. I found myself literally not caring about any of them and this meant that despite looking great,t he movie is a chore to watch and lacking in originality. With a running time of over two hours, there’s a lot that could have been excised and told the same story. That excised time could’ve been spent developing the main characters. This is so bad that I can’t even recall any characters name beyond the core three (Josh, Maya and Alphie). The ending of the movie involves so much bizarre decision making that I couldn’t believe what was actually happening on screen and it removed me from investing in the story.

Alphie is played by a young actress called Madeline Yuna Voyles and she is very good with the material provided, and the rest of the cast (including Ralph Ineson who is utterly wasted in this movie) play their roles adequately.

Very much a case of style over substance, The Creator is a bit of a dud, unfortunately.

Year: 2023

Rating: 3/10

Availability: Currently available to rent or buy digitally through the usual outlets.

Have You Been Watching...? The Swarm (Der Schwarm) 2023

What would we do, if one day, our seas turned against us? That’s the intriguing premise of this German produced (and mostly English language) adaptation of the book by German author Frank Shatzing which came out in 2004. The screenplay is by Steven Lally, Marissa Lestrade, Chris Lunt and Michael A Walker and it's directed by Barbara Eder, Luke Watson and Phillipp Stolzl.

The series tells the story, over 8 episodes, of how mankind faces an increasingly dangerous threat from our very own seas. Marine life that is normally docile and friendly, suddenly turns threatening and deadly (in spectacular ways). Mutant sealife causes an epidemic of disease, death and destruction and our seas turn tsunami, wiping out thousands of people.

The series is a truly global affair, and this does make it distinctive from its US contemporaries of big-budget high-concept thrillers.  The cast is multinational, including Sweden’s Alexander Karim (The Wheel of Time), Belgium’s Cecile DeFrance (The Young Pope), Germany’s Leonie Benesch (Around the World in 80 Days) and Oliver Masucci (Dark), Canada’s Joshua Odjick (Three Pines), Japan’s Takehiro Hira (Gran Turismo, Snake Eyes), Finland’s Krista Kosonen (Blade Runner 2049), and England’s Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Years & Years). This wonderful cast are all extremely competent in their roles and clearly committed to the bizarre tale unfolding around them. For our foreign language cast, it’s commendable they perform so much in English and it’s good they get a few scenes in their own first language.

The series is produced by German broadcaster ZDF, with French Television and RAI, with Austrian, Swiss, Swedish and Japanese co-producers. It is the most expensive German produced, English language TV series ever made. The source material being a book is clearly evident in that there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of padding. Everything that happens in the story happens for a reason and fuels what comes after. Our main protagonist is Benesch’s Charlie Wagner, a German researcher stationed in a lighthouse on the Shetland Islands. Through her we are gradually introduced to the other cast and events. Despite some great set-pieces, the series does move along at a snail’s pace, which does hurt the pacing somewhat. However, by the time the ending comes along, we have a better idea of what is happening although some plots are left unresolved. This is possibly down to adapting the material for a potential ongoing series. However, a second series is yet to be confirmed.

The cinematography is truly breathtaking and shows off all the global locations to their full advantage and the special effects are fantastic. There are numerous deaths and the stakes are high but with a small core cast, we don’t get a true feeling of the oncoming apocalypse. That being said, it is wonderful to see a non- American led drama series of this nature and it adds flavour to the genre. At 8 episodes, it’s easy enough to binge watch, but personally I enjoyed pacing the episodes out over a week. While initially broadcast in Europe earlier this year, Now TV have the series available to stream, so do try to avoid spoilers! This is well worth dipping your toes into (but mind the crabs!)

Year: 2023

Episodes: 8

Series: 1 (to date)

Availability: streaming on NOWTV at the time of writing