Reviews saying this episode had nothing to do with the show have never read the original comics series. This was one of the most disturbing,brutal, and horrifyingly intense chapters in the Sandman comics saga; this episode captured the absolute disturbing horror of a deranged individual's nightmare of a "better world" being brought to life.
Reviews
4 Reviews
I wavered between a 7 and a 9
27 November 2021
Coming in as a book fan, and someone who has waited to see this world get a chance on the screen. But don't take this as blind fandom. The episode has issues, like the three prior - trying hard to pack in as much as possible to get non-book readers up to speed. That leads to a problem in pacing, and some of the shifts to peek in on our protagonists just seem disjointed, incomplete.
Perrin and Egwene's story arc at this point just seems...hollow. Sure, we need the exposition on the Tinkers; but it just jumps away without giving them a chance to explore the depth of what it means to them, or why it should matter.
Mat, Rand, and Thom's story arc was better. We get to see a corruption that is growing and spreading in Mat - a darkness, a shadow, that evil itself hides from. We get to see Rand caring about his friend almost touching the depths from the books. We get Thom revealing his motivations, and a hint of that guilt, in much the same, just in a different time and place than expected. Book readers also get small Easter eggs - nods of what was, and what will come again.
Moraine, Lan, and Nynaeve's story arc is the showpiece of this episode though. It blends in some wonderful exposition, further flushing out the lore, while treading new paths. While this is interlude is built from whole cloth due to Logain, it still gets in the essential elements that takes multiple chapters of the novel to build the complex dynamics between the three. The reveal at the end, for any book reader, isn't really a reveal - it is something known, and had previously been presented in a more mundane way. But this was beauty in motion, as it explodes in anger, demonstrating the sheer levels of power that are exponentially greater, and rarely matched in the age.
Logain however. Moving his character from way down the storyline, to up front and center, was a brilliant move by the showrunners. It gives them the chance to show both the danger, the beauty, and maybe even the hope of what will be without tipping their hand in other ways; keeping those who haven't read the series wondering.
The actors feel like they have settled into their roles, and are finally getting the chance to show the mettle (mostly) of the characters. It's simply the editing and pacing that needs to be tightened.
Perrin and Egwene's story arc at this point just seems...hollow. Sure, we need the exposition on the Tinkers; but it just jumps away without giving them a chance to explore the depth of what it means to them, or why it should matter.
Mat, Rand, and Thom's story arc was better. We get to see a corruption that is growing and spreading in Mat - a darkness, a shadow, that evil itself hides from. We get to see Rand caring about his friend almost touching the depths from the books. We get Thom revealing his motivations, and a hint of that guilt, in much the same, just in a different time and place than expected. Book readers also get small Easter eggs - nods of what was, and what will come again.
Moraine, Lan, and Nynaeve's story arc is the showpiece of this episode though. It blends in some wonderful exposition, further flushing out the lore, while treading new paths. While this is interlude is built from whole cloth due to Logain, it still gets in the essential elements that takes multiple chapters of the novel to build the complex dynamics between the three. The reveal at the end, for any book reader, isn't really a reveal - it is something known, and had previously been presented in a more mundane way. But this was beauty in motion, as it explodes in anger, demonstrating the sheer levels of power that are exponentially greater, and rarely matched in the age.
Logain however. Moving his character from way down the storyline, to up front and center, was a brilliant move by the showrunners. It gives them the chance to show both the danger, the beauty, and maybe even the hope of what will be without tipping their hand in other ways; keeping those who haven't read the series wondering.
The actors feel like they have settled into their roles, and are finally getting the chance to show the mettle (mostly) of the characters. It's simply the editing and pacing that needs to be tightened.
Okay, but PLEASE STOP WITH THE STROBE LIGHTS!
6 July 2019
Pontypool
(2008)
Not a true zombie film...
18 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Multiple essays could be written about the various things this movie tries to be. However, to call it just a zombie movie is to do it an injustice - since that is the least of what it is.
The idea of a meta-virus that spreads through communication, and by doing so making it presence known in the real world, is not exactly new. This idea was brought up in the written word - and given a nod in the movie - with works such as Neil Stephensons' "Snow Crash". However, what takes this a level further, is that the very vehicle that the virus uses to move from host to host is what is occurring when the movie itself presents the story. Ironically, in a normal zombie fest, you would turn into a zombie - not having to think about the movie, just zoning out and enjoying it - but not in this film.
With this movie, the very fact that the virus is transmitted by communication forces you to think and grapple with concepts of communication that keep you the viewer from slipping into being a zombie. For those that say that the virus spreading through communication is outside the realm of plausibility - just look at the phenomenon that occurs daily with new memes springing up around us (i.e. LOLCats, Rick Rolling). The concept of the meme is that of an idea or concept that spreads virally through communication.
It is that slight-of-hand that causes you to be drawn into a claustrophobic situation with this movie. You watch as the characters, while confined with each other in close proximity, lose the ability to connect to each other - being alone in a room with other people there. At every level and every turn, we see how communication, or the lack thereof, affects us as humans and what happens as we are cut off from that ability to transmit our ideas outwards to someone else.
The film itself however, despite the grand ideas and concepts behind it, moves along at a fair clip but does falter here and there. There is an obvious attempt to build the tension through the first half of the film with the smattering of half-information coming in - giving both the characters and the viewer limited information on the scope of the problem at hand. In many ways, I would compare it to Hitchcock's "Rear Window" - where we learn the facts only as the main characters learn them. But unlike Hitchcock, the director takes small leaps outside the claustrophobic world he has created with vignettes and that releases much of the tension that has been built up. Sadly, that jump out makes me rate the movie just slightly lower than I would have.
Stephen McHattie does and excellent job playing the Prima Donna-ish, past-his-prime-aging-shock-jock role. First and foremost to the quality of his portrayal of Grant Mazzy is the stunning sound to his voice. His journey through the film, and his characters development, lend believability to the overall storyline. Lisa Houle and Georgina Reilly also play their roles well, but in the crucial moments don't seem quite up to the task that their characters demanded of them. The third level of supporting players in this film (not counting the zombies) just don't seem to fit quite right, and that is also what keeps it from getting a higher rating.
Overall, I would have to say this is a much higher quality of movie than I was first expecting. I enjoyed the ability to think about the higher concepts behind the film, and obviously it has spread into my mind and understanding like a virus - enough that I felt compelled to write a review the day after watching it. I have already recommended this movie to my friends who have the time and patience to think things through.
The idea of a meta-virus that spreads through communication, and by doing so making it presence known in the real world, is not exactly new. This idea was brought up in the written word - and given a nod in the movie - with works such as Neil Stephensons' "Snow Crash". However, what takes this a level further, is that the very vehicle that the virus uses to move from host to host is what is occurring when the movie itself presents the story. Ironically, in a normal zombie fest, you would turn into a zombie - not having to think about the movie, just zoning out and enjoying it - but not in this film.
With this movie, the very fact that the virus is transmitted by communication forces you to think and grapple with concepts of communication that keep you the viewer from slipping into being a zombie. For those that say that the virus spreading through communication is outside the realm of plausibility - just look at the phenomenon that occurs daily with new memes springing up around us (i.e. LOLCats, Rick Rolling). The concept of the meme is that of an idea or concept that spreads virally through communication.
It is that slight-of-hand that causes you to be drawn into a claustrophobic situation with this movie. You watch as the characters, while confined with each other in close proximity, lose the ability to connect to each other - being alone in a room with other people there. At every level and every turn, we see how communication, or the lack thereof, affects us as humans and what happens as we are cut off from that ability to transmit our ideas outwards to someone else.
The film itself however, despite the grand ideas and concepts behind it, moves along at a fair clip but does falter here and there. There is an obvious attempt to build the tension through the first half of the film with the smattering of half-information coming in - giving both the characters and the viewer limited information on the scope of the problem at hand. In many ways, I would compare it to Hitchcock's "Rear Window" - where we learn the facts only as the main characters learn them. But unlike Hitchcock, the director takes small leaps outside the claustrophobic world he has created with vignettes and that releases much of the tension that has been built up. Sadly, that jump out makes me rate the movie just slightly lower than I would have.
Stephen McHattie does and excellent job playing the Prima Donna-ish, past-his-prime-aging-shock-jock role. First and foremost to the quality of his portrayal of Grant Mazzy is the stunning sound to his voice. His journey through the film, and his characters development, lend believability to the overall storyline. Lisa Houle and Georgina Reilly also play their roles well, but in the crucial moments don't seem quite up to the task that their characters demanded of them. The third level of supporting players in this film (not counting the zombies) just don't seem to fit quite right, and that is also what keeps it from getting a higher rating.
Overall, I would have to say this is a much higher quality of movie than I was first expecting. I enjoyed the ability to think about the higher concepts behind the film, and obviously it has spread into my mind and understanding like a virus - enough that I felt compelled to write a review the day after watching it. I have already recommended this movie to my friends who have the time and patience to think things through.
Tell Your Friends