Change Your Image
manwithaplan42
Reviews
Hyperdrive (2006)
Comencify laughing
This show shows promise. I think we all hated the first few episodes but for those of us who stuck with it we found out that as the series progressed it started to become genuinely funny. It is a wonderful, detached a quirky comedy with more than a few noticeable flaws. But these are outweighed by other laugh out loud moments the likes of which have only ever been seen on Red Dwarf. The characters, while underdeveloped, are humorous and quirky and add to the hilarity, especially York, the sadistic security officer. I know this show has very definite and profound flaws, but it is these moments of brilliance that make the show worth watching, that make all those cringe worthy flop gags worth cringing for, give this show a chance, you won't regret it.
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins...to leave Joel Schumacher's mess in the dust.
For those of you who haven't seen this movie, I bet you're all wondering, is everyone raving about this movie just because it is a good Batman film, or just because its not a Joel Schumacher Batman film. Well I'm raving because it is neither, it is not done by Joel Schumacher (good) and it is not a good Batman film...it is the BEST Batman film EVER! This takes what was great about Tim Burton's films (and believe, a lot about them was great) and makes it even better! This is what Batman should be, epic. Even though he has no powers, Chris Nolan at the end of the day that Batman is a superhero. And superheroes need to save cities, rescue people and be very cool. But at the same time this is distinctly Batman, moody, dark and unforgiving, the fight scenes are very masterfully done, done from the villain's perspective instead of Batman's, making it believable that Batman is a figure of fear. The music is up to the standard of the 1989 version, contributing to the slow burning pace of Batman movies. All in all this is a very good movie, everything about gels together really well, one small niggle however with Scarecrow. He may be scary if you're drugged but otherwise he's just an idiot with a grain sack on his head but that is the only microscopic dent in this movies Batsuit.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
SHAZAM! Wrong superhero I know but it gets the point across.
Wow, this movie was sooo much better than the first one, and the first one was brilliant! If this is to become a trilogy then we can definitely see some darker themes creeping in here. The first movie had Peter Parker struggling with dual identity a little bit and then forgetting about it as soon as Mary-Jane got in trouble (again). This film really fleshes the plot and characters out, showing more depth to all of them, we find out that Peter is not just struggling but REALLY struggling. We also see the darker side of Osbourne, that he has grown from a bereaved rich boy into one who would readily kill in revenge. The cast is as ever, brilliant, Alfred Molina is genius casting for Doc Ock and they were really lucky that Tobey Maguire's back injury didn't stop him from being in the film as he remains excellent. Overall this film is a good continuation of the franchise and nicely sets things up for the third movie, watch it, now.
Batman Forever (1995)
Holy contributing to the death of Batman Batman!
I admit this movie is not as bad as Batman and Robin, but it sets the franchise on the slippery slope to Family B-movieville. For one thing, the movie is almost completely miscast, Val Kilmer is no Michael Keaton, not pulling off the whole haunted recluse vibe as well as Keaton did. Tommy Lee Jones is not suited to the over the top villain archetype and it shows. Jim Carrey as The Riddler may seem inspired, and for a while it works, and about halfway through the movie you feel that the Riddler is wearing a bit thin. Chris O'Donnel is more of a publicity stunt, pandering to the younger audience as the sort of toughguy but also goodguy character. The only cast members that really work are Nicole Kidman, who has the perfect soothing voice and eyes that make her a very convincing love interest. And good old Michael Gough, he was always good as Alfred. In this film we can see the one liners that marred the fourth film begin to creep in, Forever walks a very fine line, and came so very close to falling on the wrong side of it.
One final thing: Did we ever need Robin?
Batman & Robin (1997)
Holy Crap Batman!
Dammit this movie is awful, and I don't mean awful, I mean awwwwfffulll. Everything about it screams "60's TV show". The first two batman movies were great as they were dark and moody, which is what Batman is meant to be. Thank god for Batman Begins swooping in and saving the franchise from having this atrocity as the last film in the series. Everything about stinks of family entertainment. Batman is not family entertainment! Everything from the HAHA not-so-much one liners to the infamous silver-with-nipples-on bodysuit. If anyone says "Hey shall we rent Batman and Robin on DVD" render them unconscious and watch either the first two or the fifth one and leave this limp leaf hanging from the Batman tree in the mud.
Garfield: The Movie (2004)
The fat cat has burst
They took Garfield and turned it into a kid's movie. Why? The comic strips were very much adult oriented, in a way that it would be seen as someone perused thought a newspaper on their lunchbreak. The mish mash of characters made it so charming, Garfield the lazy cat, John was a loser, Liz wanted nothing to do with him and Odie was very much just the dumb dog in the corner. So when they took this movie and turned it into a gooey, toddler pleasing fest where they all live happily ever after, what were they thinking? John is not so much a loser as just a bystander, Liz is a romantic love interest who actually has feelings for John which completely throws the whole "John is a loser" dynamic of the comics. I don't like feel good comedies as you can probably tell and I certainly don't like it when they take something as iconic as Garfield and turn it into gooey, dumb, Disney-like film. This movie is not all bad, Bill Murray's voice over is superb and he was well cast, Garfields sarcastic banter is present and correct, causing the occasional chuckle but never really soaring to greatness. The rest of the cast is competent as is the directing, you can't help but feel that this movie might have actually been good if it wasn't such a...kid's movie.
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Talking 'bout my Generation
This movie is everything Insurrection should have been, when I saw Insurrection I just thought "please god let them make another one". Insurrection was not a good movie by any measure and no good as the sign off for one of Treks most beloved crews. I'm so glad that Nemesis was made, this is how you give a sign off to a series. TNG goes out with a bang, with plenty of action and drama along with it. This movie shows that Star Trek can be more than a Utopian view of the future, it shows that Star Trek can be deep, with events that strike deep into the characters, and your souls. It shows Trek can be hard hitting, edgy and above all, dark. The movie takes all the emotions you have built up over the seven seasons of the show and the last three movies and brings them to a stunning climax. Data's death is suitably heroic and really rounds of the movie in a way that is truly fitting to one of Trek's most enduring and well loved icons. This is definitely a candidate for one of the best Star Trek, nay, best SciFi movies of all time.
Firefly (2002)
Joss Whedon has a habit of making you like things without knowing why
This is a good show, lets not beat about the bush, its cancellation must have ripped a hole in the universe somewhere. Unfortunately, shows of this calibre are cancelled all the time in favour of tripe like Charmed and Mutant, and the big bad fad that is reality TV. Fundamentally, this show is very similar to Battlestar Galactica (and for those anti-Galactica people out there, you'll want to watch Firefly anyway as I'm about to tell you)in the fact that it is character oriented space drama, not action or adventure (although it does have its fair share of action). But something about this show rises it above Galactica, the main characters are Anti heroes, much like Galactica, but the guys in Firefly are not one dimensional (if any of you have read my review of Serenity you know what's coming). The characters have facets and are not divided into basic archetypes like "moody" and "disturbed". Just when you have a character figured out (Jayne surprisingly being the most complex) they go and do something that blows your assumptions out of the water. I often say Battlestar Galactica is the best show of TV at the moment, but Firefly is not on TV now, is it?
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004)
A good ending.
A very nice ending to a very nice series. The Peacekeeper Wars maintains its moodiness while still managing to be an out and out sci fi presentation. The plot lines left painfully dangling are wrapped up with no cop outs (ie, lets just forget the whole Aeryn and Crichton being dead thing and bring them back with no explanation, FYI, that did not happen). The only downside is, unlike Serenity, you really had to see the series to fully appreciate the movie (it might have something to do with the fact that Farscape got more backstory in 4 seasons that Firefly did in just 1). This film/miniseries/whatever you want to call it is stylishly done with brilliant action set pieces and heart breaking deaths (telling you who dies might just give too much away and my humble spoiler alert would not be enough) and at the end of the film when Crichton holds up his baby, you can't help but go all warm and tingly inside.
Startopia (2001)
Ode to a scuzzer
Why did I not buy this game when it came out? I have only just recently got and I have to say it is pure genius. It is funny as hell, William Franklyn is perfect as VAL, the on-board AI computer. The whole game has a very Babylon 5 feel to it (apocalyptic Galactic War, last of the Startopian stations blah bleh etc and so on). You must keep all the aliens on your station happy, you can even employ some of them to work for you (research wise etc). You can even have opposing factions on-board the station who you must either ally with or destroy. The game has a fantastic sense of humour and makes fun of everything under the sun (not just other sci fi stuff but the aliens characters also make fun of various elements of our own society, I'll let you find out when you buy the game, which you will!) This is, in a nutshell, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy crossed with Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf (if only for the Scuzzer maintenance robots) I leave you with a comment from the ever funny VAL "You know that Ice age on your planet a few million years ago? I did that!"
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Not Hitchhiker's, but close.
People criticise this movie as being a bad adaptation of The Guide. It is not a bad adaptation of the guide, nor is it good. Well, its just this film you know. Let me put it like this, if it hadn't had thirty or so years of Hitchhiker's preceding it, if this movie was in fact the only Hitchhikers ever (no books, no radio series, no bath towel) then people would be raving about it! But because it does have all that mythos behind it, people start to compare it with the radio series, the book, not necessarily the bath towel. And lets face it, compared with the other incantations of this legendary series, it positively pales in comparison. This really is one of those films that appeals to one group of people but not another, and its not because of the cast, Martin Freeman IS Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell is hilarious as Zaphod, Zooey Deschanel makes a very sweet and charming Trillian, the only one who is mis cast is Mos Def as Ford Prefect, not because he's black, but because he's not a very good actor. There are times where he IS Ford Prefect, and times when he just isn't...good at all. People who know all about The Guide, have heard the radio show, read the book and occasionally dried themselves with the bath towel will not like it, as the film is nothing new (granted, the plot is a little different), the first half hour of the film is a multi million dollar budget re-rerun of the old series. However, for people with no background hitchhikers experience, go and see it, it is a good movie, the only reason few people like it is because it is not the same as what has gone before it.
Futurama (1999)
Why? Why!?
Did the people who axed this show just not pay attention to the many people who actually liked it? C'mon, how often does an intelligent, genuinely funny animated show come along. The only other one in existence is probably The Simpsons. Animated shows are just not meant to be this good! So when one comes along would't you want to hold onto it? This show has the same ingredients as The Simpsons. A small regular cast and a massive recurring cast, including Dr. Zoidberg and Scruffy, the Janitor (who's on break). It is wonderfully imaginative and incredibly derisive of everything you want to be made fun of (Zapp Brannigan, James Kirk similarity anyone?) This show is full of a vibrant sense of humour, it pokes fun at other shows and also itself. Before you criticise me, I am not some ardent sci fi fanboy who says all sci fi is great. I don't watch that much sci fi, only Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and Star Trek...and Firefly, and Galactica, and Doctor Who. Futurama makes fun of all these shows, and if people don't like it, fine! But let us fan boys have our fun, and this show is fun, genuinely, what other show can boast that?
Stargate: Atlantis (2004)
Warning: Do not watch if you have a heart condition or are prone to having your socks knocked off.
Zowie! There is on other way to describe this spin off...nay, supplement to the Stargate franchise. With a start so shaky it measured on the Richter scale it has rapidly become a great show worthy of the Stargate title...for now. I have one worry with this show and that is that it might be all over before we know it. They are already well down the road to beating the Wraith etc, it is just going way too fast. That is not bad though, and I have every faith in the writers that they will not let this show run out of steam. This show combines my favourite things, a sense of humour, action and suspense. If you've seen and liked SG-1, watch it, if you haven't, then definitely watch it, I have a feeling it will appear even better to a fresh pair of eyes.
Frasier (1993)
Hop on the Crane train
In a recent conversation that I had, I mentioned that I watched Frasier and liked it. However the person I was talking to said they had considered watching it but were put off from watching sit com spin offs after watching Joey. Balderdash. Do not compare this show with Joey. It has many things Joey lacks, humour being one of them. When you think about all the effort that went into writing the lemon-wrapped-around-a-gold-brick wit that went into this show you can't help feeling a pang of resentment that this show was overtaken by the comparatively soapy Friends. This show was not filmed in front of a studio audience because if it had, nothing would ever be done, the audience would be laughing to much. The sparring matches between Frasier and Niles are incredible. David Hyde Pierce is especially good with the smug little look the Niles so often wears. Another thing is that this show never forgets that it is a sitcom, and sitcoms are not supposed to be realistic, they are supposed to be events that never happen in real life. So catch this show, it will make you think.
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Is it possible that this series is still good after 200 episodes and the loss of its main character?
Erm...yes. Richard Dean Anderson's departure could have mortally wounded the show but along came Ben Browder and saved the day. He does not try to duplicate the performance of RDA but simply carve a whole new character. But I am not just focusing on season 9 and how the show pulled its tail out of the fire. Sure season nine had everyone on the edge of their seats but we must not forget the other eight seasons Stargatey goodness. People say that with a single "big bad" running through the series (the Goa'uld) every episode is the same. Shame on them. The writing manages to maintain variety, you never know what those slimy galaxy dominating people possessing little critters will do next. People said the Ori are basically the Goa'uld spelt differently, I am not going to argue, watch season nine and you will find they are completely different in every way (the whole false god thing aside). I just have one thing to say, don't do a Star Trek, this show has another season or two left in it, but when it starts to flounder, don't do it a disservice by squeezing every last penny from it.
Doctor Who (2005)
The Doctor is, well and truly, in the house.
I never expected that this show would be so successful, especially after see Rose (the episode, not the assistant). In that episode I saw what the show could have been had it gone down the wrong road. A corny little show with music that sounded like it was played on a Casio keyboard, a show that pandered to its target audience (ie kids) with sour one liners ("Rose: You can't just swan off Doctor: Yes I can this is me swanning off!" puhhlease). Later the series went the way of Harry Potter, they began to make it for older kids and adults while leaving it accessible to the little'uns. And that was it. The stage was set for a masterpiece. Ecclestone was great in his short but sweet stint as the Doctor, and from what we've seen so far, David Tennant's childhood fantasy of being the Doctor is pushing him to be the best. And as for Rose, she's played by Billie Piper...'nuff said.
Tommy (1975)
Ranks highly on the "meh" scale
I plead to all the movie channels in the world, do not make me watch this movie again. It's not bad, I can see why some people think it is good. I just don't like the sort of film where you have to root around for the symbolic meaning every time a character picks his nose! Look up films in any dictionary and you will find they are a form of entertainment, look up this film anywhere and you will find that it is not. I was in one of those English classes we've all had where we watch a film and then pull it to pieces to find the subtext, the so called "hidden meaning". As far as I'm concerned the hidden meaning can stay hidden in Tommy, as can the rest of the film. It is just all so, unnecessary, watching this film is likely to give you cataracts if you don't wear sunglasses, there must be other ways to present a film than this, films like this just seem overly pretentious.
Serenity (2005)
Don't even try to stop the signal.
Y'know, I kinda regret not going to the cinema to see this. Maybe my minute contribution in may have made this film more of the success it deserved to be rather than the flop it was. I just hope the DVD sales compensate for the bad (and rather heart breaking) failure. I was blown away by this film. I had read about it in a magazine and was interested. I learned about Firefly and borrowed some DVD's from a friend, I really liked the series. Unfortunately I just never made it to the cinema so I had to wait for the DVD release. The characters getting so deep you can't see the bottom. In many shows and movies you have character archetypes such as "moody" and "reckless". The characters in Serenity have facets, not synopses. The action scenes are better than Star Wars and the whole silence is space thing that they do is very atmospheric. Joss Whedon should be knighted, awarded a Medal of honour and made King of the entire Universe. Well done!
Enterprise (2001)
Got better with age
When Enterprise first came on TV I thought that it was just another Trek show. Sure, they tried to shake things up, making it a prequel and giving it an edgier feel to it. And to my surprise, it was not just another Trek show. I liked the Original Series and TNG. I despised DS9 and Voyager as they were just clones of the far superior shows that came before them. Enterprise was the same for season one and two, but then came season three and the show really came into its own. It did what DS9 and Voyager could not, it defined itself and stood apart from the Star Trek franchise until the only similarity was those iconic two words in the title, to some people that is a bad thing but I think there is so much Trek around it was good to have a change. Season 4 came along and the show took a step back from defining itself. The creators saw the writing on the wall, CANCELLATION. So they decided that if Star Trek was to die, it would go out with a bang, and that it did. I can wholeheartedly recommend this show to Trekkies and non Trekkies alike, it is not just great Trek, but a great show in its own right.