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Reviews
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
Not the best 90s series
All of the 90s Marvel shows have a special place in my heart, pretty much through nostalgia. While some of them (Spider Man TAS & X Men) hold up, the others don't so much, with Silver Surfer being mid.
The Incredible Hulk is a show that, when I went through its top rated episodes, was not quite as good as I remembered.
Hulk is largely quite goofy with his dialogue, which prevents the show from being taken as seriously. As Hulk goes, he's never really a great protagonist in any medium.
The episodes I saw weren't bad. But certainly nothing great, and the show isn't as good as most of the other 90s shows, even if it's better than Fantastic Four & Iron Man.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Overrated but solid
With Nolan directing and a cast of heavy weights like Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr et al - this film was always going to be great.
As a novice in the history of Oppenheimer and his contributions to the nuclear bomb, I enjoyed how steeped in real-life (if dramatised) history throughout the film.
While a lot of the events of Oppenehimer and supporting characters' lives have to be rushed in order to keep the story moving, I felt like the major story beats are covered throughout the first 2/3rds.
Incredibly compelling themes and disguised and there's some great interplay between the characters with the dialogue.
For me, Oppenheimer begins to fall flat in the final act, where a lot of the focus is on the trial and blink-and-you-miss-it moments from the previous 2 hours are suddenly pivotal to the plot. I felt like I started losing track of what was going on around this point. While I followed it enough to feel satisfied by the conclusion, it definitely came across feeling like the pacing lost its way during the mid-section of the film.
Overall though, a great presentation of a significant historical period and played to perfection by the cast.
The Marvels (2023)
Absolute waste of time
I was never sold on Captain Marvel, watched it twice and just couldn't get into it much. There was at least memorable parts though, like Danvers being either a Kree or a human with fake memories (also a big factor in why I struggled to follow it), the Flekken taking Fury's eye, and the training scenes between Captain Marvel and Fassender's character.
This one has nothing. It has great characters such as Monica Rambeau, Ms Marvel, and Fury returning, but it just seems to go through the typical Marvel motions with literally nothing surprising or compelling about it.
I couldn't even finish it. Coming off the back of duds like Eternals and Echo, the MCU really needed this one to work. It didn't.
Echo (2023)
Disappointing dud
I was never particularly excited for this show ever since it was announced during Hawk-Eye. Echo seems an interesting character, don't get me wrong, but I never felt that she was justified in having her own show.
Daredevil showing up in Episode 1 was a bad move, because then you end up spending the rest of the show wondering when he's NEXT going to show up. The fact he doesn't was disappointing to say the least.
Echo randomly being given powers but not doing anything with them - also disappointing and kind of hard to follow. The flashback scenes were jarring and not clearly linked to the story cohesively.
I just found it really difficult to connect with any of the characters and the story as a whole. Kingpin felt toned down also.
Really disappointing, the worst MCU show yet.
Top Boy (2011)
Great show that rushes through a lot of plot points
A great show, but definitely rushes with its execution for Series 4 and 5.
Starting with a gritty & realistic depiction of 2010s London, the core cast of Dushane, Sully, Ra'Nell, and Gem are compelling. Even when the characters are committing heinous acts on each other, their motives and way of being feels grounded & unsurprising.
Series 1 & 2 stand out in their tone, with Series 2 feeling a little disappointing with the themes from Series 1 largely being abandoned, and characters like Ra'Nell completely dropping out of focus.
As the series goes on, it definitely comes Netflix-ized, but still finds its feet quickly during Series 3. Newer characters such as Jaq, Shelley, and Jamie find their feet quickly.
Over time though, Series 4 & 5 starts to ee the show dropping a lot of its sub-plots randomly.
For instance, the storyline with the two undercover agents posing as addicts - they're never seen again even though they theatrically make it known to Dushane they're after him in Series 4. The Irish subplot in Series 5 also is dealt with far too quickly.
Overall though, a great show & one that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. It has action, drama, great performances, and compelling characters.
Killing Eve (2018)
Strange show
Killing Eve is a strange show from the off, and I think it plays into it as a strength for the first couple series. Having different directors for each season starts out as a strength; giving each series a distinct feel. Over time, it ends up leaving the show disjointed, with various plot threads unexplored.
The biggest crime is the multiple series of the 12 being bigged up just for them to kind of be a fake out. Everyone's in the 12 and didn't realise it or something? I don't know.
Series 4 fumbles the bag, but Killing Eve is mostly a good show, particularly in its first two series'. Eve's testing of moral boundaries could have been explored a little more as well.
Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023)
A bookend for New Who...
Love it. A final bookend of New Who, and a great fresh feel. 15 is just so happy, and it's because 14 dies with friends and then gets to live out rehab with family. I think I'd have preferred it if Gatwa's Doctor stole the TARDIS from Tennant's Doctor for the tradition, the two TARDISes felt like overkill. But, having a reliable way of returning to Tennant and Tate? I'm not mad about that. So long as they give other Doctor/companions a look-in too, I'm fine with that.
The bi-generation makes sense to me. And I think it's a pretty clever way of rebooting the character of the Doctor while being a continuation. I'm also happy with the reason the Doctor chose that face is because he wanted to go home to Donna and just relax after the Flux was the nail in the coffin on his spirit. He needed to rest. That makes sense to me.
I still don't understand the Flux thing, the finale clearly stated the universe was restored? At the time, I thought Flux destroying half the universe was a pretty good idea to tighten up the overall universe & focus more on recurring galaxies.
NPH was great as the Toymaker and wonderfully silly. Love the mention of him having the Master in his gold tooth, thought that was cool. But when the tooth is picked up, its on the edge of the helipad. The hand position makes it look like the person was floating, weird shot. I think the execution of him missing the ball could have been better. Ncuti's Doctor distracts him and then 14 throws the winning shot or something. But yeah, he's all about games, I'm sold that he can be defeated via catch.
I'm ready for a UNIT spinoff. I wrote fan fic of a UNIT spinoff in 2008/09, I've been down for this idea for a while. The Vlinx looks a bit crap though; wasn't overly excited by it's appearance.
Just great. Not perfect, but great. I've got great vibes for next series and the franchise in general. So long as the threat level and alien planets increase, I'll be over-the-moon.
Silver Surfer (1998)
Underrated Marvel series
I had a VHS of this when I was a kid. Recently went back through it on D+ & was pleasantly surprised with its quality.
Being towards the end of the 90s, the show has pretty good animation & VFX for 90s Marvel standards.
Great effort is put into the characterisation. Considering it's a kids show, characters seem fairly fleshed out & with real issues that they're facing depicted.
At times the series drags, and SS faces the inherent problem of relying on Galactus. Because Galactus is meant to be such a big bad, the fact he both appears often & doesn't get his way often threatens the how compelling as a villain he can really be.
It's a shame SS never made it into the other Marvel shows, or vice versa (with the exception of the Fantastic Four - though even then they are played by different actors).
Underrated show. I'd love to see a modern day re-imagining of the Surfer!