Reviews

Despite no Jedi, no Sith or Force for nine straight episodes of the first season so far (yet very entertaining), is one of the many reasons Andor is the best series from the Star Wars galaxy to date.

It has a solid production team evidenced by it's visually stunning locations and sets.

It has a good direction that does not heavily rely on established Star Wars characters or a familiar storyline to help it kickstart season one or to appease its fanbase.

It has an amazing cast that helps make this series stand out. The character developments of a thief, officers, bureaucrats, politicians and ordinary people in their daily lives are well written and played.

Andor could well be a new hope for the Star Wars franchise.

So, you can grow a celestial in the earths core and birth it out of the sea. Wouldn't the seismic activity alone register '10' on the Richter scale, enough to disrupt the earths magnetic field and cause city-drowning tsunamis?

Yet the entire Avengers team were taking a time-out during this global cataclysmic event, and 7,000 years is not long enough for this fraternity (The Eternals) to bond - avoid betrayal and kill one another due to 'trust' issues? It was at this point I thought, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner has a better plot and storyline.

Sticks & Stones may be one of, if not his best stand-up to date. And it proves everything Dave Chappelle claimed, more so in the segment on impressions. He called out today's cancel culture towards freedom of expression particularly if it is stand-up.

Think about it, he is not advocating hate or discrimination, Dave Chappelle does not have the power to pass legislation, bills or judgements that will have a profound effect on our lives - he is a comedian.

He is not intolerant, the people trying to cancel him are. And remember, you clicked on his face.

It's supposed to be a teenage survival/fantasy/post-apocalyptic film, I get it. I never read the book versions of this film. I have not read other book versions of Twilight, Hunger Games, etc., either, but I understood those films.

The difference with other films in it's genre is for instance; in The Hunger Games we can see the oppressed living in the Districts, and the Elite/Ruling Class living in the Capital - a clear distinction between the two. In Twilight we are able to see who the Vampires, Werewolves and the Humans are - a distinctive difference. In The Maze Runner we get to see the survivors, the maze, the creatures, the scorched environment and those in control... you get my point.

The 5th Wave can be compared to M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening", a film where nothing actually happens. In the 5th Wave, you won't get to see the Aliens true form, no close up shot of the Alien Drones, which despite their technological advances - can not detect humans in the woods right under their flight path.

Here is the huge plot-hole in this film. Why did the Aliens put the young survivors through all the rigorous training to militarise them, and implanting a rigged anti-cloaking chip to disguise fellow humans as aliens, a deception to trick the young soldiers to kill their fellow humans?

The Aliens who were already and perfectly disguised as humans could simply assimilate within the rebellious human communities (as the earlier sleeper-Aliens did in other families and communities) and destroy them.

Why I think this film is awful.

The main problem was casting --- Steve Martin is a talented comedian, and his comedic brilliance is best portrayed in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Blue Heaven, LA Story, Father of the Bride, House Sitter, Sgt. Bilko and Bowfinger" - just to mention a few.

Steve Martin is brilliant when portraying American characters, but was unforgivably cringe-worthy watching him attempt to speak English with a French accent and the mediocrity that was supposed to pass as slapstick, was all too painful to watch.

The role of Inspector Clouseau's character performance-bar was previously raised by the late British actor Peter Sellers in "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Pink Panther" films. In my opinion Peter Sellers had set the benchmark on the character Clouseau with the accent, clumsy demeanour, body language and facial expressions.

In my opinion, this film was a farce.

I am aware this is a fantasy war-film based on a graphic novel, which bases its storyline by fictionalising actual historical events. Therefore, to expect a historical accurate film would be moronic.

However, the film-makers had the opportunity to use their artistic licence to create a "digestible" fantasy. Instead the film-makers decided to insult the intelligence of their audience by blatantly distorting historical facts that can not be twisted. Here is my point.

The nations depicted as the City-State of Sparta and the Persian Empire were actual geographical locations that still exist today as Greece and Iran, both being rich in history and culture. Similarly, nations of Germany and Russia during the second world war fought ferocious battles in eastern Europe which resulted in great losses to both sides but a moral and tactical defeat to the Germans whom after that faced eventual defeat after the allied forces landing on D-Day.

Then let us suppose someone made a film based on a graphic novel that fictionalised the second world war, but depicting the Germans as heroes and defenders of race, equality, freedom and justice who single-handedly defeat both the Russians and the Allied forces, and actually win. Portraying Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt as cowards, yet Adolph Hitler as a compassionate brave hero-leader --- wouldn't that be a travesty on history, even for the sake of a fantasy?

Some of the blatant distortions of historical facts that makes it a laughable fantasy --- Darius was not killed as depicted, as neither Xerxes nor Darius were present at the Battle of Marathon. Artemisia in reality argued against sailing into the straits and survived the Persian Wars. The Spartan navy contributed a mere 16 warships to the Greek fleet of 400 warships in the ending battle scene, and not a huge army.

300: Rise of an Empire has proved to be a shameless "Eurocentric" fantasy.

Portraying Persians as unconcerned for the loss of their slaves or soldiers lives, yet making the Greeks the defenders of their country, freedom and democracy. The fact that slavery was widely and essentially practised in those eras; apparently the Greeks don't have any slaves to abuse --- very absurd. This fantasy was trying to make gods out of the Greeks and monsters out of the Persians.