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Reviews
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Tin Man (1990)
Nice Sci-Fi Adventure, Beautiful special effects support a great performance
I had not seen Tin Man in 20 years. It was one of my favorite NG episodes so I watched it on BBC today in anticipation of enjoying it again. It did not disappoint. The special effects for the creature Gomtuu were Emmy nominated and still shows. The story still captivates and the brilliant, empathetic performance of Harry Groener carries the show.
I did not like most of.the earlier NG episodes, (the pace was slow and Picard was not Kirk), but the slower pace was correct here. Everything was on point. This was pure Sci-Fi and I loved it!
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Schizophrenic Plot: Mostly Enjoyable until it was Not
I like Tom Holland's light-hearted take on the Spider-Man character, but can't get over how petite he is compared to most superheroes. His girlfriend is taller than he is, just as Kim Basinger was taller than Michael Keaton's Batman. It's an old-fashioned prejudice that makes them look less awesome to me.
SPOILER AHEAD:
No Way Home has good comedy and great special effects...but the final outcome just felt out of place for the overall tone of the movie. In an attempt to gain acceptance to his desired college, Peter Parker gets Dr. Strange to screw around with other people's minds on global scale, and in a comedy of errors, Peter interrupts the "forget-you" spell causing terrible side effects. Then he physically prevents Dr. Strange from correcting the timelines!
The problem I have with the story is how Peter's selfish wish ends up costing the life of a loved one...In what was mostly an action comedy, those two plot points just don't fit. The loved one didn't have to die. She could've suffered only bruises, but the writers wanted another tragedy for Spider-Man, bigger than losing his Uncle Ben...or father figure, Tony Stark.
And after years of telling us that folks should not mess around with the Timeline for fear of altering history...Peter does it five times over! No Way Home is like a lot of movies today. They want you to just put your brain on hold, eat popcorn and don't think. (How the Hell is the Goblin just as strong as Spider-man...who can catch automobiles, stop trains, and The Winter Soldier's arm? No Way.)
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Like with Alien 3 - Hollywood Betrays the Loyal Fans
(SPOILERS) After Terminator 2 featured an epic battle to save young John Conner, Dark Fate makes us watch the cruel and useless murder of the child by another Terminator who was still hunting the Conners -- who were unaware and loving life. This latest story requires the audience to root for this machine later in the movie as he helps Sarah Conner defeat a newer time-traveling killer robot, but that is a very hard sell. Human nature makes it difficult for us to root for a reformed child-killer...so my enthusiasm was low as the rest of this plot was just another copy and paste job. Must've had JJ Abrams as consultant.
This reminded me of that awful Alien 3, where after the epic battle Ellen Ripley waged in Aliens to save the little orphan girl, Newt, the producers of the sequel decided to open the film with Newt and the last surviving Marine, CPL Hicks, dying in a crash-landing...then killing our heroic Ripley with an inexplicable alien chestburster as it ended? WTF!!
Are these unfamiliar Hollywood sequel writers fans at all...or do they secretly mock and resent those that embrace and elevate the mythology of fictional characters? We go to movies to be entertained - not depressed by snotty writers that have a negative outlook and hate happy endings. Just like in Alien 3 and Game of Thrones...the writers screw the loyal Terminator fans in the finale.
Lost in Space (2018)
Good casting, very entertaining and visually beautiful
Has modern social media poisoned us all? Judging by previous reviews, the first impulse seems to be a hatred for anything up for critique. I actually expected disappointment based on a "professional review", but after a shaky first script, the writing improved, and I became a fan of the new Lost in Space.
I loved the artistry and care taken for the scenery and the realistic "new life forms -- mainly the bugs and plant life. ("Scary monsters" suffered from weak animation but insects were very credible).
There are adjustments to be made as with all reboots of my childhood favorites. I had to overlook the "robot re-imagining" and the modern tendency to put women in charge of everything. ("It's tough to be a man, baby," said the late Freddie Prinze). But I really appreciated the straight Sci-Fi approach. It reminded me of original Star Trek, where problems were solved by actual scientific possibilities. No cheap laughs or slapstick -- as in many modern reboots (J.J.'s Star Trek).
This version of Lost in Space is geared towards families and kids -- just as its predecessor was (but with a serous tone and much larger budget). The original Lost in Space "lost me" in 1967, when it strayed into silliness for the sake of ratings. I have not completed all ten shows of the reboot, but so far it seems to be a solid PG-rated trip, with perfect casting of Maxwell Jenkins as young Will Robinson.