llowboy Reviews

Black Panther (2018)

Every year I give this movie one less star. I'm almost out of stars

[3/10 · 14 March 2022]

In the not so distant future, people will realize that this movie is not only horrible, but goes against every progressive ideal we are supposed to hold dear.

To you, dear future man, woman, NB, or otherwise; I say good day.

Farscape (1999–2003)

Adventure Sci-fi

[9/10 · 7 January 2022]

If there is one thing I could say about Farscape more than any other Sci-fi series; it's that it really feels like an adventure. The series doesn't get bogged down by hard science or waste any time with technobabble.

The actors in this series are not especially great, but their character designs prove that writing and directing matter a lot more to a cohesive and engaging story. The characters are well defined, often eccentric, and memorable. The writers don't write storylines that require A-list acting because they know they don't have A-list actors. They write stories that you'd experience during a Tabletop session, immersive adventures that hook you from beginning to end.

There are many episodes where characters are forced to face life or death situations beyond their understanding, but they don't hand-wave the problems away with techno-babble solutions thought of last minute. The characters make it out by the seat of their pants, having to adapt and improvise minute by minute. This isn't to say the characters aren't intelligent, they just don't solve their problems in unrealistic ways. I love Star Trek, but some of it's weakest points are assuming every problem can be solved with a gadget; sometimes there just isn't enough time to make a new gadget or thingymabob.

What is the benefit of a show with intelligent characters that don't solve every problem with a fancy gadget? Well, not every character with agency has to be an engineer! Every alien in this series has unique attributes that aid to the survival of the crew; from Rygels ability to fit in tight spaces or haggle with pirates, to Sikozus ability to manipulate her own gravity and speak any language. This show focuses on very human relationships, and problems are solved by making use of those bonds.

To end this review I'd like to praise those often left wanting; the practical effects artists. While series that used computer generated effects have become dated and near unwatchable, this series can easily be watched by a modern viewer. I can't give enough praise to whoever had their hands in bringing the characters of Rygel and Pilot to life. I went into this series with no expectations and was blown away by the practical effects alone.

Don't Look Up (2021)

I usually trust critcs, but they are plain wrong.

[7/10 · 7 January 2022]

I usually trust critics to have a better idea of a movies quality than random viewers, but they are wrong about this movie.

It makes me wonder how many of these negative critics are personally offended by the depiction of certain elites within this movie. Silicon Valley tech bros are a primary antagonist in this movie, and I wouldn't doubt if many of these privileged critics fit firmly within those circles; whether as tech reviewers or delusional futurists. Or maybe they didn't like the depiction of media figures in this movie, who tried to both-sides their way out of controversy.

It has been claimed that this movie is yet another liberal bashing of the common man, claiming they are too stupid to get serious about the impending disaster... but that doesn't happen in this movie.

The movie focuses primarily on Washington, Media, and Silicon Valley elites. The common man is fed misinformation, both sides drivel, bogus tech solutions, and broken promises from "patriotic" politicians. Just like in real life, the common man is distracted and divided by the elite class.

This movie likely would have gotten better critic reviews if it was smug; if it spent an undeserving amount of time on idiotic Qanon types who have no agency in the first place, or if the only antagonist was the Trump-esque president and her Fail-son.

Ask any Climate Scientist how familiar this movie feels and they'll tell you it's the most accurate depiction of their struggles to date. Not only having to deal with inept, self serving politicians, but having to bite their teeth while Big Tech Grifters capitalize off the disaster with band-aid fixes and the media tries to get "both sides" of the story.

I don't know what compelled reviewers to project their own smugness onto this movie, and I don't think the movie is perfect either, but it deserves better than this.

Free Guy (2021)

Decent

[5/10 · 29 September 2021]

Before I finished the movie I thought it was a 6, but only an hour after watching it I realized I didn't remember a single one of the jokes I laughed at. I know I laughed at something, but it wasn't memorable enough for even my short term memory.

The movie is decent and charming in the first half. The last half is kind of a slog, though. It's a good movie to chill with the lads.

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

Good character in an alternate universe

[7/10 · 21 August 2021]

Queens Gambit is similar to a lot of historical pieces that have become popular lately with one key difference; it isn't garbage or some propaganda piece for UK royalty.

Queens Gambit is primarily a character study into the life of Beth Harmon and her interactions with the outside world. She is a very insulated person who doesn't let the world drag her down.

But here comes the problem with many historical dramas... The world would have dragged her down. She faces barely any sexism throughout the series and she isn't impacted very much by her addiction.

I believe the series wanted to write Beth Harmon not as a man necessarily, but not bogged down mentally by the assumptions of the times. I think this does service making her character more interesting and less prone to tropes, but it becomes unbelievable at times and is almost a disservice to the struggle women went through in the 60's.

Beth's relationships are another example of a mixed bag. Throughout the series Beth realizes her self-centered attitude has put a wedge in her relationships throughout her life, and I think it is handled pretty well. One problem aspect is her black friend, however, who is inadvertently made into a side-kick trope. We are supposed to believe they have a two sided relationship, yet Jolene's only screen time is whenever Beth needs help. I believe the added diversity is a plus, however, and that missteps should be expected and forgiven.

Now onto the topic of trauma. While aspects of Beth's trauma may be considered shallow by some, I actually appreciate that this show departs from the usual trauma baiting and goes with a subtle approach. Beth doesn't dwell on her trauma, but I believe that is a coping mechanism. The downsides of her trauma creep into her life like moss up a tree, so she doesn't realize how it's impacted her before its too late.

The best example of this is her regret over Mr. Shaibel's death. Beth's trauma led to her living an isolated, self-centered life. It was only after Mr. Shaibel's death that she realized how toxic that was to her relationships and her mental health.

I also want to give the series a plus for not over-doing Beth Harmon's "sex scenes." Although parts of the series try too hard to maintain Beth's beauty (such as her rock bottom addiction scene), they didn't feel the need to pull an HBO and have raunchy sex scenes or unnecessary nudity. This is a show about chess, after all.

A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

Hope they don't make a third

[4/10 · 15 July 2021]

This movie takes the Badass and Child Duo trope and condenses it into a digestible 1 hour and 30 minute movie. They know the plot is shallow and that it's a meek recreation of the original movie, so they speed along through the plot so as to not over-stay their welcome. Nothing about the aliens has been revealed, and humans are not in much better of a position after the movie.

If they dared to make this into a trilogy they'd be pushing this concepts staying power well beyond its capability. Just like nobody asked for Bird-box 2, nobody is asking for A Quiet Place 3.

The conflicts are lazily thrown together while lacking any horror aspect to make up for it. The actors are still fine, but even they seem to know what type of movie they are in.

They made more money, so that's a plus for somebody.

Loki (2021–2023)

Pulled less punches than Wandavision

[7/10 · 15 July 2021]

Similar to Wandavision they picked the perfect aesthetic to fit the character. I enjoy the fact that Marvel is more willing to take gambles on more comic-like stories, but was disappointed by how much they reigned in Wandavision in the last few episodes.

Not only did Loki not pull any punches at the end story wise, but they finally gave underwhelming characters the comic book style buff they deserved.

One thing I wish is that his powers grew... a little faster, or to just nix the fight scenes all together. Loki is best when he is figuring ways to manipulate or escape people, not when he is grappling and tussling with mooks. I would rate the show a little bit higher if the god of mischief spent more time working around problems instead of tackling them head-on like his brother would.

I especially loved seeing the variants of Loki, but again there was too much walking around and flailing about with daggers. I wish we saw more of how these Lokis use their wit to survive within The Void instead of pulling a Sherlock and simply telling us they were smart enough to do it.

Overall it was a great series for Marvel standards and paints a promising picture for how future Marvel series will be handled. Soon enough they may just fire the last of their talent-less and over-controlling executives and let the real artists work.

WandaVision (2021)

Last episodes drag it down a bit

[5/10 · 13 July 2021]

The first few episodes of Wandavision are nearly perfect; depicting a very stylized recreation of early sitcoms to contrast with how crazed Wanda has become following the death of Vision. I enjoyed the fact that the episodes were relatively short and that no executives forced them to drag the plot through 10 or more episodes. The mystery unraveled at a nearly perfect pace, and it was only at the end when marvels tendency to play it safe reared its ugly head.

About mid-way through the series we had conflicting opinions on how to handle Wanda, and both sides had good points. Do we kill the crazy witch lady who is controlling hundreds of people, or do we acknowledge that reaching out to her might be the best way to save these people? This disagreement is perfectly fine... but Marvel has to have a redemption arc. For absolutely no sensible reason the "good guys" who are antagonists to the Director of Sword decide that Wanda can't possibly be a bad guy! She's a hero for gods sake!

The show was at its best when it was stuck in the past. Whenever the series got closer to modern day the aesthetic and style disappeared, the acting became more wooden, and the plot became less cohesive. I feel like there should have been a mental breakdown and even possible innocent deaths in the last few episodes, but Marvel is too terrified to make the person doing evil things do anything... too evil. Maybe one of her children becomes inconsolable after realizing they aren't real, or maybe one of the citizens of Westview has an aneurysm trying to fight Wanda's mind control. You would think her derangement would grow throughout the series, or that she'd at least have a breaking point where she snaps back to reality; but instead she just suddenly starts acting fully in control of her actions.

And then we have Sword. Why oh why did they even bother having them show up in the final episode. Having them send in White Vision was perfectly fine and didn't distract too much from the main plot, but then they had to involve so many zero-impact characters. Monica accomplished nothing by going through the hex except setting her up with future powers, and the military just stood there getting beat up by children. I was pretty engaged with the Agatha plotline, but these distractions were pretty jarring and unnecessary.

In conclusion, I wish they'd just let the crazed witch act more crazy. She felt far too in control to be a believable victim of intense trauma.

Stargate Universe (2009–2011)

Better than Atlantis

[6/10 · 13 July 2021]

I enjoyed this series specifically because of its diverging tone compared to other Stargate series. I've been binging the entire stargate franchise and it was a breath of fresh air at the end. I would compare this series to Star Trek Voyager. Voyager is a better show overall, but Stargate Universe pulled off the theme of a starship alone in space much better. While Voyager would get in constant battles but somehow be repaired by next weeks episode, the crew of the Destiny could barely keep up with the degradation of their ship.

Focusing on depth for one story instead of shallow depictions of monster-of-the-week type stories definitely served it well. The series has a decent amount of engaging 2-parters, and most of the filler episodes didn't feel wholly irrelevant.

The characters relationships felt much less forced in this series compared to others. The only characters I ever had problems with were ones like Matt, who was typecast as the boring white guy we're supposed to see ourselves in... Personally I hope I wouldn't be that boring aboard an ancient space ship.

I have a love-hate relationship with Stargate after binging it, but this series was one of the least problematic. While I dreaded some of the least engaging parts of Atlantis and the last seasons of SG-1, Stargate Universe was engaging enough throughout to not leave me in a catatonic state waiting for the episodes to end.

Lupin (2021– )

Fun and engaging

[7/10 · 20 June 2021]

As of season one this show is fun and engaging if you don't take it too seriously. The writing isn't perfect, there are a few plot-holes throughout, and some of the schemes Lupin gets up to feel like they stretch reality a bit.

As a series about a charming thief with a cause this series works perfectly fine, however, and is worth a watch if you need something different to watch.

Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007)

Honest review

[6/10 · 20 June 2021]

Anybody honest will admit this series over-stays its welcome, but most of this series is certainly worth watching if you are a fan of Sci-fi.

You can tell this show has a budget. The choreography and writing isn't perfect, but the characters are generally likeable and endearing. This series also has something most other Sci-Fi never bother with; a linear narrative that makes use of things that happened in previous episodes. The connections are not always perfect, but even attempting something other than adventure of the week is worth praising.

I also want to give praise to the only character that challenged the military focus of this series, Daniel Jackson. I loved seeing a character who had morality similar to that of a Star Trek captain thousands of years into earths future contrasted with the needs and desires of our modern earth. I think the portrayal of the US military was a bit... more tame than what it would be like realistically, but there was still plenty of moral conflict to go around. The flabbergasted look that Daniel would give to military generals and world leaders as if he wanted to shake the nonsense out of them was nice to see.

If you can get over the budget constraints and campy nature of older sci-fi than this series is worth watching, at least until the Ori show up.

Stargate: Atlantis (2004–2009)

Lack of depth and Syfy shenanigans

[4/10 · 20 June 2021]

Unlike SG1 which overstayed its welcome, this series never justified its existence.

Throughout the entire series it is obvious that they are worried Syfy is going to cancel them. The story narratives are shallow and abruptly wrapped up. The characters are stagnant and cookie-cutter, rarely allowing side characters on the expedition to shine.

Atlantis took the opposite approach of one of my favorite series, Star Trek. Instead of ignoring trivial combat and doing story well, they included both sloppy choreography and lazy writing. Only a few episodes focused on doing one thing well, such as the action in "The Storm."

The main antagonists start out as overwhelming but within a season are back to being mooks that get shot as they bound around corners hopelessly. If this series focused on adding depth to the Wraith instead of distracting themselves with a dozen other antagonists I believe there could have been a solid three season story.

If you are a die-hard fan of sci-fi and don't mind the campy nature of older series than this is a passable show. The wraith are an interesting concept and their makeup / design is better than the Goa-uld of SG1. I will warn you that the ending of this series is abrupt as they did get cancelled.

Stargate: Atlantis: Vegas (2008) Season 5, Episode 19

Not a fan of homage episodes...but

[5/10 · 20 June 2021]

I am not a fan of homages and I don't care for the cookie-cutter detective series this episode was mimicing, but we witnessed the potential Wraith had in this episode.

A single Wraith in a city felt much more dangerous than a hundred wraith mooks on their own hive ship. We got to see a wraith actually tanking bullets again like in season one. We got to see them use their regeneration to their advantage by literally jumping off of a multi-story building and getting back up.

We got to see how little the wraith take humans seriously as one of them stares down mafia members while cheating against them at cards, understanding fully well that the armed guards are no threat to them.

The episode certainly wasn't perfect, but it showed what Atlantis could have been if they focused on giving depth to the wraith instead of dividing their attention on other antagonists.

Stargate: Atlantis: Enemy at the Gate (2009) Season 5, Episode 20

Abrupt ending

[3/10 · 20 June 2021]

I slogged through the final seasons of this series just to get hit with an abrupt, poorly done ending. The syfy channel must have ridiculous management.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue (2020) Season 2, Episode 8

Death by a million mooks

[7/10 · 17 June 2021]

This episode reveals the greatest flaw that prevents starwars from modernizing; an obsession with the past.

This show is at its best when it's stakes are at its lowest. Those moments where Mando interacts with real, down to earth characters instead of forced interactions with characters whose sole purpose is to sell merch to nostalgic Gen Xers. Those moments away from the boring yin-yang plot of the Jedi vs the Sith.

I wanted Mandalorian to expand upon the cultures and politics of this world, but it's obvious that Disney prefers a shallow approach. We get humanized troopers in one episode and genocide of the mooks in the next. I wouldn't mind it so much if it felt real, but this episode gave Beskar-less characters the ultimate armor... Plot armor. Characters standing stoicly in the line of fire as rifle shots whizz by them... Perfectly shot if your only intention is to get a good still frame for a merch line.