Reviews

So "science is broken" and all the particle accelerators in the world are showing the same completely impossible results. This is causing programmes to be defunded and all the physicists to be really depressed that our models appear wrong.

Aaaaaagh. This is the exact opposite of what would happen. Discovering that the existing models underpinning physics don't work is Nobel prize winning stuff. The scientists would be excited and be rushing to provide answers to make a name for themselves - finding something new is what scientists dream of and it's the whole point of research. They certainly wouldn't be moping around in Karaoke bars. All I could think is "the writers clearly did not speak to a single research scientist" and it took me out of the story.

Look, I can accept that Oxford has its own giant particle accelerator. I can just about suspend disbelief about the sky blinking at us (I mean it makes 0 sense but whatever). I can even accept the apparent age of the Chinese lady (seriously - she was at least 20 in 1967 so she is around 80 now). But scientists depressed at a new discovery that disproves Einstein? Nope.

It's a shame as otherwise the mystery is compelling.

I wanted to like this. I wouldn't say it's as terrible as other people say, it just kind of meandered.

There were some good bits, it is Marvel after all and I don't think they can make a terrible movie...

Miss Marvel has charisma for days.

Her family were a joy too.

The leads gelled well.

Effects were brilliant as ever

Potentially interesting film as an unexpected consequence from the ending of the first film

A few risks taken (singing?, cat escape pods?)

Fury in old skool comedy role

But these couldn't completely counteract the three big flaws for me

I still don't know who Cap Marvel is, except that she seems a bit sad

The structure felt off. I had no idea what the film was about for the first half

The villain should have been finished off in the first 2 mins such is Cap Marvel's power. But she had plot armour.

This started off a bit dull then became the funniest show I've seen for a while

I don't think Sam could have been more obviously a traitor had he literally twirled a mustache and stroked a white cat while saying "I'm a traitor", but every episode ended up being the same.

1 - everyone, including traitors agree to go for Sam.

2 - one of them leads the charge.

3 - Sam says "no, I think you are the traitor" 4 - everyone looks puzzled at this apparently water-tight argument.

5 - everyone realises Sarah is going against her word. Again.

5 - everyone votes for the person who led the charge.

Every. Single. Time.

And the final faithful standing, Sarah, was 100% the worst at the game. She was kept in because she was so appallingly unable to keep her word that she provided cover for Sam. She single-handedly gave the traitors the win.

2 highly trained police officers and a clinical psychologist were unable to crack it despite multiple people literally telling them the same, correct answer before getting kicked out or murdered.

The traitors weren't bright either, and only survived by being less incompetent than the faithful. I can only assume Sam is incredibly charismatic in person.

Luckily the format is a strong one, and Rodger is very easy on the eye, but they need better contestants and they could take a leaf out of the UK one for the challenges too.

Some of the attention to actual astronomy was welcome!

I liked the interaction, the back stories. Dialogue mostly felt natural with only the occasional clunker, usually around their emotional back stories (I thought there was at least one ex couple in the car the way they played it at times).

Genuinely exciting finale as you just aren't sure how the film will end. The additional character at the end felt superfluous though.

The only thing that annoyed was "we have to get back NOW, there is no time to lose or humanity could lose this data - but first we will spend a quarter of that time carefully packing everything up." Just leave it and go!

But otherwise I really enjoyed it.

I loved all the "negotiation" stuff. I loved how Niko was a terrible negotiator and how the Achaia apparently were there in bad faith too.

We have a crew at their absolute wits end. They've just lost 2 more crew members and are jumpy as hell. Of course they aren't reacting in a calm measured way and when the apparently hostile Achaia cut the signal to Niko, naturally they almost panic. They are generally a highly skilled crew but they are also humans being pushed to the psychological limit.

And when Niko chooses humanity over her daughter? Brilliant. It's fantastic to see a character making the hard choices.

Other than Cas launching herself at the ship in a spacesuit based on the assumption that she'd be invisible, I didn't mind the technobabble nor the weird meeting of the daughter thing. Was it real? Was that the same ring or a reproduction? Who knows?

When I think I want to watch a movie about dinosaurs, I really want to watch a movie about big insects, crops being ruined and human clones with dinosaurs relegated to a few set pieces. Luckily this film delivered big time.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic (need to point this out online).

Cool feathered dinosaurs, and weird Edward Scissorhands dinosaur notwithstanding, this just did not feel like a Jurassic Park/World film. Even some of the CGI at the start was ropey, and flawless dino CGI is kind of the one thing you should expect.

That said, it's fun enough, just don't expect to want to rush to see it again.

Garcia and Alvez. I can only assume that they are building up to her murdering him.

First she hates him for having a girlfriend. Then she decides she likes him for no real reason. In this eo she showers him with unsolicited gifts which she gets upset about because he wasn't grateful enough. Then she buys another unsolicited gift and tries to decide for him that he isn't coming for drinks then punishes him for disobeying by telling him he has to pay.

This is controlling and obsessional behaviour with a hint of gaslighting and the BAU should see it from a mile off.

Her skills at illegally hacking into private data to build a hugely problematic database notwithstanding, she should be fired for workplace harassment before it escalates.

Very thought provoking, but I don't think you can class this as a romance. Famke Janssen's character's personality is no more real with Picard than when she switches effortlessly between three different personalities in 10 Forward. The writers seem to want us to understand she is just a mirror (the director even shows that in some shot framing), but also want us kind of forget it later in her stunning scenes with Picard.

What I think it is instead is an interesting insight into Picard, what he wants and his seeming inability to get it due to his sense of duty. You see a relaxed Picard here which is new, but I like to think he knows on some level it isn't "real" and he is making her in his image. Interestingly he basically ruins her life though.

Famke Janssen somehow makes this all work which is no mean feat.

Very good ep.

Peak Picard as moral leader

Classic dodgy Starfleet admiral trope

Plot that seems more relevant today than when the show came out.

Powerhouse guest star performance.

Great make up hinting at character's mixed race

Brilliant direction and pacing with many nice touches

As close to perfection as an episode can get.

Throughout the series it's established that Abed processes everything through pop culture references as a coping technique. This is cleverly used here to create an inventive and detailed fantasy that is consistent with the rest of the series.

This was a joyously funny episode, but with a genuine undercurrent of sadness throughout. A lot of thought has gone into it (John Oliver's professor literally ripping into the fantasy whenever he spoke was a brilliant touch) and it all works and builds up to an incredibly powerful, earned climax.

I think this is absolute perfection.

I get the My Fair Lady thing but two male characters betting over the datability of a female character has not dated terribly well. Plus If it were made today perhaps Seven might have been asked about gender of potential dates... they've fixed it in Picard 20 years later!

But it does generally avoid most pitfalls it could have fallen into and is warm in its approach. I could listen to Seven and the doctor duet all day.

Bonus marks for not implying Seven "owed" the Doctor anything because he loved her and another for the mini twist in the sitcomesque b-plot where the expectation from the supposedly pious leader was that the envoy should have indulged a bit.

This episode is about 2 big questions. What makes a person a person - their memories, experience and appearance or something more? And "Does any of it matter when we are forgotten?"

Any questions about the pure logistics of forgetting or duplicating Voyager off screen or whatever is kind of missing the point. It's just set up for the questions above. Plus, the "silver blood" did not have its properties outlined to us, so it can be basically treated as magic and any such questions can just be handwaved away. It was established that it duplicates non-bio matter as the copies in DEMON weren't naked, so why not an entire starship?

I love this episode for the questions it poses and also because this duplicate crew outperformed the real one in terms of getting home. Docked a point for not killing off Neelix on screen.

(And 7 was DEFINITELY in the original episode DEMON despite other reviewers thinking it's a plot hole)

I read the books when I was about 15 and loved them. They were the first Sci-Fi books I'd read which seemed intelligent and painted a big political picture.

There is a lot this gets right. I get the sense of decay in the empire, each planet has a distinct feel. I liked a lot of the changes, expansions and additions necessary to make a continuous narrative for tv. I liked the cast (perfect casting for Hari Seldon)

But there are 2 things which I think the show misses completely...

The first is that the main point of the original story is that the ebb and flow of civilizations is independent of the individuals involved. Psychohistory has this as a basic underpinning and is said to fail when you rely on how an individual is unique (according to the books anyway). This Hardin is just too unique. Her psychic nature and effective superpowers loses the sense of Foundation's rise being just a matter of probability once Seldon set up the initial conditions. This is the main point of Asimov's Foundation

The other thing is that in a tv show based on Asimov's work, the absolute minimum requirement is for any robots to follow his 3 laws. Here we have a robot who has no problem breaking the first one and harms at least 3 humans. These laws are the whole point of Asimov's robots. (I know there is a zeroth law but this really doesn't seem to apply here).

That said, I really enjoyed the spectacle, and so much looked EXACTLY as I imagined all those years ago. I am hopeful for future seasons.

Not great, not terrible. Sam Worthington plays a plot device to support the real lead, the wife.

She starts a bit wary but idealistic, and goes on an emotional journey as the reality becomes clearer. She is the only character with agency and we very much see this all through her eyes.

The only other character of note is the lead scientist who has some more levels to him than "evil scientist". At least at first.

It's worth watching once but I probably won't bother again.

(As a final note- if they have the technology to turn "Nitrogen into breathable oxygen" as they claim twice, then they have mastered alchemy which is a stunning achievement)

This is frustrating as it does a lot very well. Characters are quickly established along with their power sets and the back story is set pretty well. Loved seeing the ancient civilizations, the hanging gardens of Babylon etc. It is BEAUTIFUL at times.

But where it misses, is that there is too much to get done. Because of this, the big dramatic twists and betrayals don't land as we haven't spent enough time with them to care about the characters and their relationships yet. There is also some subplot about a super-evolved deviant but that kind of just happens, with no real reason.

I feel there should have been a whole film of them together, maybe trying to defeat the mutant deviant with the reason for its existence being related to the mystery of their true purpose on Earth with hints that things are not as they seem. We then get to know them and care about them and their relationships. Thena's space dementia can then be used as some kind of ominous foreboding rather than it just being kinda there.

The sequel then rips this all apart with the big reveal of their true purpose and starts breaking them up and killing them off as per the second half of this film. The difference being that this time it means something to us.

But I'm no script writer so what do I know?