steve-case Reviews

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)

Here's the secret to enjoying this movie

[7/10 · 5 May 2024]

Yes, the plot is very basic, you've seen it before a bunch of times. The acting is pretty bad and some of the costume choices are questionable. But the visuals and the action scenes are very good. Watch on a good TV with a good Sound system. Keep your remote handy and fast forward through all the Various montages (you'll recognize them when you see them). That way you don't have to tolerate the ridiculous dialogue and can enjoy action and visuals that Marvel used to do.

I'm not sure what Zack Snyder was trying to do with this movie. We've got western, sci-fi, steam punk etc. It's all a bit strange. He should definitely stick to his day job as a Director and give up on screenwriting. However, I found the fight scenes well choreographed and the CGI and visuals actually added to the movie. I will say that Ed Skrein stands out in this movie as the evil Admiral. He steals every scene that he's in. He knows he's in a cheesy sci-fi movie and plays it perfectly.

Sure, I would've liked a better story, better acting, etc, but it's a decent Saturday night popcorn movie. Just don't feel that you have to waste time on scenes that slow down the pacing (and there are more than a few). I think that's what most people are complaining about. Just skip them. I promise you will not lose the plot by doing this. It does culminate into a pretty decent finale.

Anyway, that's my take. It's a two hour movie that I watched in less than an hour and a half. I would apply this same strategy to part I, though I spent less time fast forwarding through that movie. Obviously, it's been set up for a Part III. I'll have my remote handy. 😉

The Creator (2023)

Disappointing. The plot treats viewers like dummies

[3/10 · 24 December 2023]

It won't take you more than 30 minutes to figure out the entire plot. Then you are fed all kinds of nonsensical items like:

• A major plot element, which is a space station, is shown one minute in space, the next minute it's at passenger plane level. Since it has no form of obvious propulsion, they must've figured out antigravity. But no one else has this in the movie.

• Said station advertises its existence and the assault teams that it supports with laser shows.

• The "covert" assault teams arrive with bright flashlights on their head. The only bad guys on the assault teams are the white guys. Also, they randomly kill people at the target who are looking at CRT monitors. CRT monitors?

• The weapons are just standard AR/AK rifles that have extra plastic added to them, but we are expected to believe that they shoot laser bolts? We are even shown bullet magazines.

• bobcat excavators are now part of assault teams?

-Jet powered planes that make propeller sounds.

• Finally, AI robots that are dumb, can't shoot or speak more than one language. This is artificial "intelligence?"

All this in just 45 minutes, so I turned it off. Sure, it looked great, so I'll give it three stars for that. Zero stars for the plot.

Black Mirror: Demon 79 (2023) Season 6, Episode 5

Another vote for what a great episode this was.

[9/10 · 18 September 2023]

A lot of the other commentaries have covered the themes of this episode. I do like dark humor and this episode had plenty of that. I don't think I've ever chuckled at any Black Mirror episode, but I sure did with this one. About halfway through, I was convinced that I saw the "twist" coming. I was completely wrong. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but I thought the ending was terrific. Not only did it surprise me, I loved how it wrapped up the main character's relationship.

I don't mind that this is "Red Mirror" episode. I have always enjoyed the tech futurism of Black Mirror. However, I will watch anything if there is good acting, a good story and solid production values. This episode absolutely met that criteria. In fact, it was the only episode of the season that I really, truly enjoyed.

There were some duds this season, there were some good episodes, but I think this episode really stood out. It deserves a higher rating than it received. Looking through the reviews, it appears that most of people dissatisfied with Black Mirror episodes expect all the episodes to include tech and/or futurism. However, it appears that the show runners want to try something different. I applaud them for that because you don't want to get stale.

Watch "demon 79" with an open mind. You'll see some great acting, dark humor, horror, but at the end I bet you'll be smiling.

Invasion: Chasing Ghosts (2023) Season 2, Episode 2

Well, so much for season two

[4/10 · 17 September 2023]

After the glacial pace of season one and the cliffhanger ending, I was hoping season two might pick up the pace and introduce something interesting about the aliens.

• Nope. We are still following the family we don't care about (apparently this is the "character interest" part of the formula.)
• The giant spiky coronaviruses that impale people can apparently be taken out *easily* by fire. What are they fighting back with? Flamethrowers maybe? No, Molotov cocktails thrown by our Japanese "hero" from last season. She has a great arm.

• The giant alien ship that crashed? Surely, the world governments have banded together and sent their best military minds to tear that thing apart, so we can find out how to defeat the aliens. Of course not! Let's leave it up to it to an annoying, churlish billionaire (as if money would matter when a large percentage of the atmosphere is already poisoned) to figure this out (I guess we have Elon fans among the writers). Still, he needs our Molotov throwing heroine because ONLY she knows how to communicate with the aliens.

And this is just within the first 15 to 20 minutes. It's a waste of nice production values and occasional good special effects. I would be stunned if this show gets a season three.

Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea (2023) Season 6, Episode 3

A morbid soap opera + Avatar

[4/10 · 2 July 2023]

I guess Black Mirror had to have their "avatar" moment. 🙄 Yikes, a boring, drawn out episode that is placed in an alternate 1969 universe. The episode has no reason whatsoever for the alternate universe. It's just throw it in there. The episode quickly devolves into a melodramatic love triangle. As just about every reviewer has pointed out, this could've been a lot shorter and crisper.

I also agree with other reviewers who point out the whole avatar thing is backwards. Seriously, we are expected to believe that the humans sleep most of the week on the ship while their avatars live out their life on Earth? This is only there to support the story and the "love triangle ." I ended up fast forwarding past all the "talking" just to move the story a long. I'm confident I didn't miss anything.

Other reviewer's have pointed out plenty of "technical flaws, which I won't repeat. However, it bugged me that the astronauts never speak with mission control. Apparently, the only way they can communicate with earth is through their Avatars?

Finally, the "twist" ending arrives. "Sad" astronaut, who is finally recovering from his tragedy, suddenly becomes a psychopath killer? The other astronaut returns after the sad astronaut has killed off his family and he's not in enraged? Silly. For me, a big disappointment.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

I could not have watched this in the theater, but it was still great at home

[8/10 · 27 June 2023]

I don't think the movie needed to be three hours, which is why I could not of watched it at the theater. I guess there was a lot of world building needed for the next movie(s). Early on in the movie, I started to get frustrated with the dialogue, pacing, and the generous virtue signaling. There is plenty of eye-popping visual delight in the movie, which kept me interested as I found it really unique.

Eventually, it paid off in the last act. A lot more action, some great fight scenes, and a generous reminder of one of Cameron's previous big hits. I felt the end provided a strong emotional wallop with a clear lead-in to the next movie. I just hope the next movie is more focused and a lot shorter.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Even without 3-D, it played spectacularly well on a large screen at home.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Much much better than I thought it would be

[8/10 · 21 June 2023]

The characters have a lot of chemistry. Snappy, humorous dialogue. The special effects advance the story, instead of just being there. The use of the "portal" mirror was very creative. I found myself really enjoying the story and felt satisfied at the end of the movie. It's difficult to pull off these fantasy movies. Clearly, this movie does take itself too seriously, which is a big part of its success. It also does a good job of keeping up the pacing.

Given the subject material, I think the overall reviews are about right, but it's done so well that any other theme would probably have received a solid 8 or 9. Just goes to show that when you have good writing, directing and competent actors, you can pick any story and make it a success. It's just too bad the stink from the original D&D movie over 20 years ago probably kept people away from this at the theater.

I am not spoiling anything here in saying that a potential sequel is set up. Fortunately, the movie wraps up its story and just leaves the possibility for a followup.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Starts off slow, finishes stronger. But why does Namor have a bone through his nose??

[6/10 · 20 April 2023]

The Submariner was one of my favorite comic characters as a kid. The casting just seemed off. I would've expected Namor to be more physically imposing. And why the heck did he have a bone through his nose? Maybe I'm nit picking, but that just seemed nonsensical and a poor film representation of the character. Did I miss something with later revisions of Submariner?

I certainly agree with other reviewer's about the "Iron Man" reference. The movie picks up after all the character establishment, much of which seemed a bit unnecessary. Basically, another marvel movie that I was glad to watch from home, especially because of the length!

The Patient (2022)

here's why I think it was such a great show

[10/10 · 27 October 2022]

***spoilers***

No, it did not end up the way I hoped it would. And that bothered me. As I thought about it, I realized this is what made it so good, at least for me. Any time a show or movie completes and I am sitting thinking to myself "this doesn't feel right. It doesn't seem fair," I know I will be thinking about it for the next couple of days. To me, that's the whole point of any quality drama. Does it have an emotional impact?

I would say "The Patient" met that goal for me. I think it could've worked as a binge, but I also appreciated the week between each episode to digest what was going on. Contrary to some other reviewers, I thought there was a lot of depth and complexity in the main characters and even the supporting characters. I did not feel there was a single throwaway character introduced during the entire show.

There were so many possibilities built up toward the end, I found myself rooting for the all too common "satisfactory ending." I didn't get that from "The Patient" and I found that I'm challenged by how the show made me feel. To me, that's good stuff and all too rare.

Westworld: Que Será, Será (2022) Season 4, Episode 8

This as series finale written all over it

[5/10 · 16 August 2022]

Just about everybody agrees the first season of Westworld was terrific. I think the long breaks between seasons caused by Covid caused the producers and probably some of the audience to lose interest. The way they hurriedly try to wrap up all the character arcs in the last two episodes sure seems to me like a series finale.

Any logic was thrown out the window in the hurry to wrap things up. Like many other reviewer's mentioned, the show talks about the extinction of the human race, but we only see what appears to be New York. Apparently the "Hosts" future is in the "sublime," which is a bunch of servers stuffed into Hoover dam, which, apparently has no one around to maintain it anymore. Lazy writing. I think everyone just had to fulfill their contracts and move on.

But I will always be grateful for season one.

Calls (2021– )

Pretty decent SciFi presented an interesting way

[8/10 · 17 December 2021]

Knowing nothing about this show, I decided to check out IMDb. I was confused as to why the rating was relatively high when the show was apparently just about a bunch of phone calls. I'm glad I decided to give it a try. Being a sci-fi fan, I binged watched every episode on my iPad.

The visuals are part of the story. You pick up pretty quickly that they are "Visual time streams." I found I could connect and anticipate plot points, not only by listening, but by watching how the visuals change. As the episodes progress, things become ever more interconnected. I believe the show was helped by having several well-known actors participate in it. They make it possible for the viewer to experience the most important thing with science fiction: suspension of disbelief.

Some reviewers have suggested just listening to the show, like an old radio serial. I believe it's much better to listen AND watch the visuals, because they help guide you through the events. For me, it turned out to be a really interesting way to experience something like "black mirror," but in a VERY different way. I think anybody can enjoy the show, but people who like science fiction with a touch of thriller will probably be its core audience.

Since it's not a heavy investment, each episode is only about 15 minutes, watch at least the first two episodes. By then you will know if you want to stick with it or not.

Invasion (2021–2024)

"Evasion" not "Invasion"

[4/10 · 10 December 2021]

I saw a professional critic review the show and call it "Evasion" because of the lack of cohesive storytelling. I completely agree. I just finished the last episode and 80% of it was people looking at each other, talking about mundane activities, just about anything other than explaining and what or who is invading and why. I went through this with the show "Lost" and I am NOT doing it again.

Some reviewers were criticizing The poor reviews saying that this was all a build up to a big pay off. Well, the so-called pay off during the LAST 15 minutes of the LAST episode should've been shown five episodes ago. At first, sure it's interesting to get some background and see how people might react to an alien invasion. But to make that almost 90% of the series content? What a terrible mistake, especially because the acting and the production values are first rate.

If Apple committed to multiple seasons, which I've read, there has to be some major retooling in order to bring viewers back to this show.

Arcane (2021– )

From a non-gamer: this may be the best animated series you have ever seen

[10/10 · 21 November 2021]

I have a very vague familiarity with the source material. It didn't matter. The storyline is terrific, the voice acting excellent and the animation is, I don't know how to describe it, just simply beautiful. The way you can read the character's emotions is unlike any animation I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot having watched cartoons and anime over the last five decades.

As plenty others have mentioned, This is very steam punk. But it has plethora of themes: Family bonds, Socio-economic commentary, Technology management, just to name a few. I wasn't really crazy about Netflix splitting this up into three different watchings. There is so much depth to the various storylines, I had to go back and rewatch some prior episodes because a week had past between showings. I think that was OK for the first three episodes because they are almost self contained.

If you run across this show on IMDb and are intrigued by the incredibly high rating, now you can binge-watch it. There are nine episodes, each about 40 minutes long. It is a beautifully crafted series and it has great music to boot.

My advice: watch the first three episodes and then decide if you want to watch the rest. I'll be surprised if you don't. But the end of episode three is a good stopping point and then you can devote the rest of the following day/evening binging the rest.

I just hope that it doesn't take too long to get season two out.

Foundation: The Leap (2021) Season 1, Episode 10

One of the better episodes, except..

[8/10 · 19 November 2021]

* possibly some spoilers*

I have not read the books, so the material is new to me. I thought this particular episode had a lot of useful plot building to it. But the reason I'm writing this review is--A kayak?

Space and time folding technology in their Advanced ships. The ability to put people in cryo-suspensions for 100+ years with very little effect upon waking. Sentient robots, Nano bots that can do all kinds of amazing repairs and provide protection from harm. Obviously, a very technically advanced society.

When our heroine gets to her destination after 100+ years In cryo-suspension, her escape capsule wakes her up like she's been taking a nap. This little "ship" must be loaded with power and technology to accomplish this. So when she lands in Water, I expected her ship to have enough power to, I don't know, turn into a futuristic JetSki?

OK, it doesn't. She pulls out the advanced looking rescue kit, tosses it into the water, and NOW I am expecting either a JetSki or a submarine. Instead, it goes through this fantastic transformer like function to provide her---a plastic kayak. Even the kayak paddle does some kind of transformation into a bigger paddle. Seriously? All this technology and effort to give her a plastic boat on an ocean planet that she has to power herself. I actually laughed when I saw that whole scene. The payoff at the end of the scene is good, but the kayak is another good example of the wide technology range in the show. Lasers versus arrows, that kind of stuff. I just wish they would stay more consistent with the tech.

Dune (2021)

Probably better to watch if you haven't read the books

[8/10 · 24 October 2021]

The reason for my subject line? Well, I saw the movie and it's great, everything that other reviewers have covered in detail. But if you haven't read the books, then you could happily see this as a standalone movie.

For those of us who know how the first book ends, I think Warner Bros. Is going to leave us twisting in the wind. Shortly before I saw the movie, I found out that it would be "part one." And it is terrific. But there is no promise that part two will be made. Just some vague statement that "part two will be Green-lit if it does well on HBO Max." Huh?

Look at "Lord Of the rings." Peter Jackson insisted on making all three movies at once. I think he took that a little bit too far by splitting "The Hobbit" into three parts, but at least he still filmed all three parts at once. He knew because of the scope of those books, the filming locations and the caliber of actors required, that was the only way those books would make it to film.

I think the same formula applies to Dune. However, Part 2 has yet to be approved and it took three years to make part 1. Bummer..

Another Life (2019–2021)

I take back my original review, Kind of

[7/10 · 22 October 2021]

The first five episodes of season one are just atrocious and should never have been aired. Fortunately, it seems like the producers and writers got the message and began moving away from a sci-fi Soap opera to a real sci-fi show. The last three episodes of the first season are definitely the strongest of that season.

If you look at the ratings for the second season, they are dramatically higher than the first season. You can tell that the producers started to change course as the most annoying characters (and weakest actors) were rapidly killed off in the latter part of season one. The Season one finale was fairly strong and season two does a good job of building on that.

I am actually now binging season two. It has become a much more interesting show. I don't know if Netflix has renewed it or canceled it. But if you can fast forward through some of the miserable dialogue in the first half of season one, I think you'll find that the rest of season one and season two are worth watching.

Another Life (2019–2021)

How this Syfy dreck was created.

[7/10 · 20 October 2021]

I used "Syfy" Because that's about the quality of this show. If I was a fly on the wall at a producers meeting: "How about we use some "Close encounters" type stuff?

"Yeah, "Lost in space" too. Doesn't matter which one" "Don't forget some "Aliens" references." "Got it. I'm thinking our spaceships should be multiple levels of FTL, but also gauges and plumbing stuff. And infinity" "You guys think we have to worry about anything like science, Physics, or stuff like plots and decent actors?" "Heck no! This other stuff is so awesome, it will be like in 11 on IMDb.!"

Love and Monsters (2020)

An unexpected delight

[9/10 · 20 September 2021]

I was expecting some kind of silly monster horror comedy. Nope, this was a post apocalyptic coming-of-age story. It moves along quickly and the main actor it is absolutely a part of what made the movie work. There were a few chuckles here and the. I ended up really liking the main characters, especially the dog, and found myself well invested in the movie.

Monsters of Man (2020)

Garbage. What Director thinks it's a good idea to show little kids getting shot?? **Avoid this steaming heap**

[1/10 · 4 August 2021]

I thought this would be a terminator type of movie, but it doesn't seem to have a coherent plot. Instead, it wastes time Showing robots graphically Shooting not only children, but the mothers that try to protect their children. What kind of psycho writes this into a script?

Completely unnecessary, especially since right after this happens, the project crew discusses turning off some kind of fail safe to let the robots really let go to town (they can do worse?). Yet, the robots weren't supposed to do that in the first place because they can only shoot targets that they have a facial image of (the fail safe). And those targets are supposed to be bad guys involved in the drug trade. The project crew characters seem to be completely unaware of the fact that the robots have just done what they weren't supposed to do. So they are going to turn off this fail safe to let the robots do what they already did. Huh?

Yes, this is the kind of circular logic You will have to deal with if you are willing to endure 2+ hours of plot holes, lame dialogue, wooden acting (Neal McDonough!), and just plain stupid decision made by the characters, including the so-called AI enabled robots. "Monsters of Man" Should be a theater class case study in how to Ruin a potentially interesting concept by spending all of the money on FX And apparently very little on actors and the script.

I love science-fiction. Unfortunately, it seems to produce great movies or terrible ones. With "monsters of man" we get something in the "terrible" bucket.

Monster Hunter (2020)

Well we know what happened to Drogon from GOTH

[5/10 · 17 June 2021]

He signed a new contract to star in a lousy monster movie 😉. Could've been worse, he could've been forced to wear (courtesy of another reviewer) a "Barry Gibbs" wig like Ron Perlman 😂. When I saw that opening scene, I almost turned off the movie. Thank goodness STARZ and other streaming channels have that 10 second fast forward. I spent less than an hour watching this movie. Maybe 20% of it was interesting. The rest of the movie is just a bunch of cast off parts from other monster movies. Who writes this stuff? Maybe they figure the audience for this movie is 10 year old boys. I could see this having some promise with some decent world building, but the effort was not put into that at all. It was just "Peril-escape-fight-dumb Dialogue, repeat"

If you could fast forward your way through the insipid dialogue and the ridiculous interaction between the two main characters, it's probably worth the watch if you got nothing better to do. The trailers looked good, but they always do. Maybe a five minute movie made up of the trailers would've been a better choice than 90 minutes of "I've seen this before" creature feature.