Star Wars : The Mandalorian Review - Chapter 8

Oh my. That was just brilliant, wasn’t it!? 

Disney & Lucasfilm’s first venture into live action Star Wars on the small screen came to a very satisfying & action packed finale today with the release of the eighth and final chapter in the freshman season of Star Wars biggest and best project to date and it didn’t disappoint. Now looms the gap until the second season arrives, by which time Disney+ will be fully functional over here in the UK. 

After seven episodes/chapters of on and off world building & set up toward the finale, events come to a very big head in chapter 8 and picked up immediately from the cliffhanger from last week’s penultimate instalment. This is where things immediately become interesting as IG-11 rescues “Baby Yoda” (who sadly, still doesn’t get an official species name...so he/she is still just....”Baby Yoda” I guess) from the stormtroopers who captured the creature after killing Kuill. There’s a very from cameo here from Jason Sudeikis as one of them with some comedic dialogue. 

Then proceeds a very fun action sequence with a shootout between Moff Gideon’s platoon of stormtroopers and death troopers with IG-11, Mando, Cara Dune and Greef Karga which Taika Waititi directs absolutely masterfully. It’s definitely up there with the Mandalorian clan scene bought to life by Deborah Chow in chapter 3. It’s sort of ironic that Taika is on double duty in the finale as both director and a main character. The power of Taititi. 

This is where one of the biggest moments of the finale comes as Mando himself is gravely injured and despite being offered medical attention by IG-11, insists that ‘this is the way’ - a line repeated throughout this chapter and spoken by other Mandalorians in chapter 3. Eventually though, he relents and allows IG to treat his wounds and during this process we finally learn Mando’s real name - Din Djarin. Yay. Now we can refer to him as Din. To treat damage to his ‘core processor’ as joked by IG, Din reluctantly allows his helmet to be removed, giving us the first look at Pedro Pascal in the flesh as Din Djarin. 

After this, we’re reunited with the leader of the Mandalorian clan with the reveal that most of the clan are either dead after the events of chapter 3 or have fled off world to escape the empire and protect their identities. She is the only one left and refuses to leave. During this exchange, she awards Din with a crest which she welds to his armour and a Boba Fett style jetpack. He’s officially a fully fledged bounty hunter now. An escape is needed as stormtroopers storm the tunnels in which the Mandalorian hideout. In a poignant but somewhat heartbreaking twist, IG-11 sacrifices himself to blow up a group of storm troopers flanking the only exit at the end of a lava lake, finally getting fully redeemed from originally trying to kill “Baby Yoda” and filling his purpose as programmed by Kuill.  

This is where things take the most dramatic turn yet as Moff Gideon tries to take out the remainder of the group in his TIE Fighter but he doesn’t anticipate Din now having a jet pack which comes in handy (wow, bet you didn’t see that coming) and allows our favourite space cowboy to plant an explosive charge on the hull of Gideon’s fighter, sending it into a fatal roll and ultimately bringing it down, along with Gideon. Our heroes win and “Baby Yoda” is safe.....

That may not be so however. After Din departs in the Razor Crest with “Baby Yoda”, it’s revealed that Gideon survived the crash and cuts his way out of the wreck of his fighter with the most unexpected tool - A Darksaber. That’s right, this evil empire loyalist possesses a rare Mandalorian relic, originally stolen from the Jedi temple during the fall of the republic. This is a very interesting set up for next season and leaves us with the burning question of just how this could tie into the upcoming final season of The Clone Wars as well as season 2 of The Mandalorian. 

It’s been a pleasure talking all things The Mandalorian with you, readers. 

Now we wait. This is the way.

Doctor Who : Rubbertoe Replicas Sonic Screwdriver Docking Port Review

Collecting merchandise can be an expensive eventually, problematic hobby. There’s only so much space for putting up shelves after all. Eventually, one has to look at the alternatives for displaying those shiny sonic screwdrivers. Its easy enough to buy a pretty basic stand from somewhere like eBay, Amazon or Etsy whilst being kind to your wallet but between product quality and price, it simply won’t be as pleasing as a more expensive and higher quality product. That notion certainly applies here. 

I’ve used basic fountain pen stands before now to give flare to my sonic screwdriver replicas but they’ve never lasted due to being flimsy and made from incredibly cheap plastic which has resulted in those sonics being relegated back to lying on shelves. That’s no life for them and doesn’t display them well enough in my opinion. So for a while, i looked around for a new alternative, not wanting to spend too much money or buy something that would take a lifetime to arrive. Then I remembered that Rubbertoe Replicas recently added a replica sonic screwdriver stand from the show itself. 

The ‘Sonic Screwdriver docking port’ on the TARDIS console designed by the late Michael Pickwoad was responsible for giving the Twelfth Doctor his second and main sonic screwdriver in the closing moments of the Series 9 finale “Hell Bent”. Rubbertoe Replicas, who make most of the props for the show, recently added their own 3D printed replica of the docking port to their website store. It’s a self assembly replica with pieces that are made from PLA (biodegradable thermoplastic) and very easy to put together, it took me less than a minute after taking all the pieces out of the box. It’s listed for £32.95 but with tax and “free shipping” - the total cost is bumped up to around £47. 

I’ll be honest, the docking port does look lovely sitting on a shelf, looking almost metallic in the right lighting and the phosphorescence of the lime yellow inserts, it really does give off an alien and mechanical appearance to what is essentially a block of plastic. It’s nice to have something that’s made by the official propmakers but I simply don’t think the price is justified. Throw in a nice, proper box instead of being packaged in a basic cardboard container, provide a certificate of authenticity instead of a flyer sized business card and maybe even add some LED capability instead of the plastic inserts and I could probably say that it’s reasonably priced but in its current iteration, I’d say that it simply isn’t worth spending that much money on a glorified display stand. I feel this is simply a case of ‘paying for the brand’. Of course, I’m not here to tell you what to spend your money on. If you can justify spending your money on this, you absolutely should but exploring your options can’t hurt either.  

I hope you’ve found this review informative and perhaps a little entertaining. I’m not here to tell you whether or not you should or shouldn’t invest in one of these fancy sonic stands. That’s entirely for you to decide. This has merely been me, giving my opinion on something that I’ve invested money into. 

Thanks for reading! 

Star Wars : The Mandalorian Review - Chapter 7

Advanced note : Another late one. I watched the episode during the early hours of Thursday morning after i got back from watching The Rise Of Skywalker but i've been distracted pretty much consistently since then, save for taking an hour or so out to write up my spoiler free review yesterday. 

The Review

After several episodes of filler and minimal story progression, Chapter 7 of The Mandalorian finally sets into motion the events leading into the season finale and brings everything to its head. Gina Carano returns as Cara Dune along with Nick Nolte as Kuill, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Werner Herzog as The Client and Taika Waititi as a reprogrammed IG-11. On top of this, we're introduced to Giancarlo Esposito's mysterious character 'Moff Gideon' at long last in a cliffhanger that is sure to raise the stakes going into Chapter 8. During the episode, there's some interesting development for 'Baby Yoda' that sees him/her using the force on several occasions but the first being to force choke Cara onboard the Razor Crest. This may or may not have been a misdirection however and could have been a simple accident on Baby's part because of Cara still being unfamiliar to him/her but it could also be a direct answer as to why The Client has relentlessly pursued Mando across the galaxy by sending bounty hunter after bounty hunter to retrieve the baby, the creature has the potential to be a strong dark side user if trained and raised in the shadow of the empire. More so since Baby was captured by Stormtroopers in the closing moments of the episode. Also, RIP Kuill.

Overall

Finally the cogs are very much in motion for an explosive season finale now and with 'Baby Yoda' in the hands of 'Moff Gideon' the stage seems to be set for the biggest, baddest and highest staked chapter in this story so far. Chapter 7 wasn't the most visually satisfying episode and certainly not as big and flashy as Deborah Chow's previous contribution with Chapter 3 but much needed plot progression and set up took the forefront of this episode and its served all the better for it. It'll be interesting to see exactly how this will all come to a relative conclusion in next week's season finale and the faith that i'll admit to losing in the last few episodes has definitely been restored.

Season finale review

coming next Friday!

Star Wars : The Rise Of Skywalker - Spoiler Free Review

At the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Skywalker saga comes a rather unexpected conclusion in the form of "The Rise Of Skywalker". From director J.J Abrams, we finally have a worthy close to the nine film anthology that began over four decades ago and truly brings the franchise full circle. 

"The Force Awakens" began a whole new story whilst also giving closure to the characters that began their journey's back in 1977 with the first departure from the sequel trilogy being Han Solo, played by the magnificent Harrison Ford. "The Last Jedi" continued this tradition in a rather controversial way with Rian Johnson killing off Luke Skywalker, having spent the entire movie being an angry, reclusive shell of his former self because of his failure to restart the Jedi Order.

 "The Rise Of Skywalker" was always going to have to find a way to give General Leia a send off fit for royalty after the passing of Carrie Fisher in December 2016 and through the use of unused archive footage, a little bit of digital jiggery pokery and some impressive CGI, it's safe to say that Abrams and Lucasfilm give Carrie Fisher a most poignant exit.

After the sheer divisiveness of some of the creative choices in "The Last Jedi" and the departure of Colin Trevorrow from the final movie (simply titled Episode IX at the time), to say that when J.J Abrams was bought in to helm "The Rise Of Skywalker", he had his hands full might well be an understatement. 

What the movie manages to achieve though, is truly incredible. Despite the premise being a rather sharp turn in a different direction to the world building of both "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi", "The Rise Of Skywalker" still manages to bridge itself to both movies well enough and even manages to course correct some of the most questionable elements implemented by Rian Johnson, essentially making "The Last Jedi" a better, less convoluted movie by proxy. 

On top of that, it answers a lot of the lingering questions that were spawned by the first two entries in the sequel trilogy to a consistent and believable extent. That said, the entire story still seems somewhat forced with a lack of actual build up before the opening credits. Despite the flaws of "The Last Jedi", at least i can fairly say that the transition between it and "The Force Awakens" feels very consistent and natural.

Ultimately, "The Rise Of Skywalker" manages, despite its inconsistencies, to be the strongest of the sequel franchise and one of my favourites of the Skywalker saga. It connects each era of the franchise well, with throwbacks to the prequels aplenty and some great nods and references to the original trilogy whilst also doing its own thing and providing some strong exposition to the main characters of this trilogy. 

There's elements that i loved, some i disliked but this is still, in my opinion, a movie for every Star Wars fan. Regardless of your opinions on the prequels or how you feel about "The Last Jedi" etc, i'd encourage everyone to go and see "The Rise Of Skywalker". It isn't perfect, but no Star Wars film is in my opinion. It is glorious though and features some truly stellar acting all around and a great deal of fan service and it goes without saying that John Williams knocks it well and truly out of the park with his final Star Wars score. 

There's a lot that this movie has to offer for Star Wars fans, of all eras, everywhere. Go see Star Wars this weekend. You'll thank me later. Probably. 

Spoiler-Filled Review 

coming next Thursday!

Star Wars : The Mandalorian Review - Chapter 6

Advanced note : I'm back to being late with these things i guess. I wasn't able to watch the new episode until this morning (Saturday) because of stuff that was going on yesterday. I'll forewarn everyone now that i definitely won't be posting the chapter 7 review until thursday as i'm going to be out from the afternoon until the early hours of thursday because i'm going to be watching a marathon of the sequel trilogy leading into a midnight screening of The Rise Of Skywalker.

The Review

I'll be honest, i'm starting to lose confidence and patience in The Mandalorian. Six chapters down out of eight and it feels like there's still not a whole lot of story to the show. Its all well and good offering nostalgia and fan service with a side order of action but the simple reality is that The Mandalorian lacks a consistent story. The last two or three chapters have felt like plain filler with no real connecting elements and as much as i've tried to appreciate what each has had to offer, i've come away from watching each wondering where the plot is actually going as we head towards the final two instalments. I guess the enjoyable element of chapter 6 was the guest cast of Clancy Brown, Bill Burr, Richard Ayoade and Natalia Tena who all shine well as their respective characters and there's very nice cameos from directors Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa and Deborah Chow as New Republic X-Wing fighter pilots in the closing moments of the episode.

Overall

Sadly, this episode is a real let down and is definitely my least favourite of the series so far. It doesn't feel like there's any stakes whatsoever and "Baby Yoda" gets nearly no screen time in this episode, reduced to being a background character of background characters. Nothing in this chapter seems to progress the overall story set up all the way back in the premiere episode and ultimately, feels like just another entire lacklustre chapter of filler. I'm hopeful of finally seeing some real story progression and character centric moments in chapter 7 but at this point, my expectations are incredibly low. I'm sad that this week, The Mandalorian has left me disappointed.

Chapter 7 review expected Thursday.

Crisis On Infinite Earths : Analysis & Breakdown : Hour Three [The Flash]

Last night's hour of Crisis gave us some spectacular treats as the crossover reached its midpoint and everything came to a head in the biggest way, leaving us hanging with the biggest cliffhanger in TV history to keep us guessing over the winter break and oh boy, will it.

The Flash hour opened with a quick journey to New Gotham, Earth-203 where Helena Kyle is racing to try and stop the anti-matter wave, assisted by Barbara Gordon (Oracle) but sadly, both her and Barbara are wiped out along with their Earth. Long live the Birds Of Prey. Back in the prime universe our heroes have returned to the Earth-74 waverider, having bought together four of the seven paragons and itching to find the remaining three. Because this was The Flash's portion of Crisis, of course the missing members of Team Flash were bought in. With the assistance of one Cisco Ramon, Ray's paragon detector was able to determine that two of the remaining paragons were already among them with the reveal that Barry is the paragon of love and J'onn the paragon of honor.  The final paragon, of humanity, was revealed to be Ryan Choi who exists on Earth-1 and works as a physics professor at Ivy Town University. Yep, very comic faithful indeed. Ray, Ralph and Iris quickly head back home to seek him out. 

Meanwhile Cisco, Barry and Caitlin decide to go after the source of the anti-matter wave after discovering that whatever the source is, its underneath Central City. Before they depart though, The Monitor informs Cisco that although he is not a paragon, he has a role to play in the Crisis and restores his Vibe powers by force despite Cisco's desire to remain non-meta. One of the more uncomfortable moments of this whole event. Pariah joins them in the tunnels where he, as Nash had discovered the doorway with the symbols of the paragons. Through Cisco's vibes, they were able to repeat the sequence and gain access, discovering the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon and what....or rather...who it was being powered by. 

What plays out next is truly extraordinary as Team Flash and the audience make the discovery that John Wesley-Shipp's Earth-90 Barry Allen is trapped within a force field, running on a cosmic treadmill that powers the anti-matter cannon and keeps the wave travelling across the multiverse. Pariah briefly jumps away and returns with Black Lightning in tow, officially bringing the character into the Arrowverse for the very first time, following his Earth's (Earth-73) destruction in the mid-season finale of Black Lightning, which itself was directly tied into Crisis. Cisco is able to breach Shipp-Flash off the treadmill, giving the old speedster a reprieve but the anti-matter cannon quickly goes crazy and Shipp-Flash explains that not only was the destruction of Earth-2 the result of a test fire but that if he stops running, the cannon will destroy every remaining Earth at once. Black Lightning uses his powers to try and siphon the cannon's energy in an attempt to shut it down but both Barry's realise that the only way to destroy it is for one of them to get back on the treadmill and run in the opposite direction, which will bring about their death. This leads to our Barry to the realisation that this is what he's been running toward since he first learned of his fate from the newspaper. This is the day The Flash vanishes. 

In a rather heartbreaking but poignant twist, as our Barry prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice, Shipp-Flash steps in and temporarily steals the speed of his Earth-1 counterpart and convinces Cisco to breach him back onto the cosmic treadmill with our Barry having to be practically dragged away to the safety of a breach. Running backwards proves effective as Shipp-Flash begins to 'evaporate' and we're treated to a tearjerking flashback of Barry with Tina McGee from the CBS Flash series accompanied with the classic Flash theme before Shipp-Flash completely vanishes, leaving only scraps of scorched fabric from his suit littered around the treadmill. After three decades, John Wesley-Shipp's time as The Flash comes to a conclusion. Long live The Flash! 

Elsewhere, Constantine, Mia and Diggle travel to Earth-666 to meet the only man in the multiverse who can get them into purgatory. The devil himself, Lucifer Morningstar. That's right. Lucifer is now officially canon to the arrowverse. Tom Ellis is devilish in more ways than one, apparently as he recently fibbed that he had visited Vancouver simply to visit friends. Lucifer took up his usual antics of being flirtatious and asked Mia what it was that she desired, to which she answered that she desired to get her dad back. Lucifer provided a magical tarot card that granted them entry to purgatory and quickly went back inside LUX after having a brief swipe at the pronunciation of Constantine's name.

Immediately arriving in purgatory, dressed as Lian Yu due to Oliver's connection to the island, the team quickly found Oliver who was ready to return to his body but they were quickly interrupted by Detective Jim Corrigan, aka The Spectre who informed Oliver that it was his turn to become "something else" in order to save the universe and Corrigan seemingly passed the possession from himself to Oliver, meaning that Oliver couldn't return to his body and the team returned to the waverider empty handed. 

Arguably the biggest and most dramatic moment of this crossover came when after our heroes reconvened on the waverider, Harbinger returned and it was quickly revealed that Lyla Michaels was gone, her body taken over by the Anti-Monitor. She engaged in a battle with Mar Novu, overpowering and killing him before siphoning his life force. The anti-matter wave seemed to return and destroyed Earth-1, completing the destruction of the multiverse. Pariah was able to step in and send away the paragons before the anti-matter wave hit the waverider, claiming the lives of those remaining onboard including the likes of Iris, Ralph, Cisco, Earth-38 Clark, Pariah himself and the body of Harbinger. The paragons were revealed to have been sent to the vanishing point, the former home of the time masters from DC's Legends Of Tomorrow. One paragon however, Kingdom Come Superman, was taken back, presumably, into the anti-matter wave and replaced by Lex Luthor by way of him using the book of destiny to rewrite his destiny, ensuring his safety and ultimately killing the only remaining Superman and is now the seventh paragon. 

Analysis & Breakdown : Hours Four and Five [Arrow & DC's Legends Of Tomorrow]

coming January 15th 2020!

Crisis On Infinite Earths - Analysis & Breakdown : Hour Two [Batwoman]

Crisis On Infinite Earths continued in earnest last night as we were bought into the second hour with Batwoman, a first official part of an arrowverse crossover for the show which is still in its debut season.

Its fair to say that the Batwoman hour was a little slower with the stakes being lessened compared to the first hour. The story still remained at a significant height but essentially focused on pushing the story forward toward the third hour which will air tonight with The Flash, being the last episode of the crossover to air before the winter break. Batwoman's focal point was the fallout from the shocking ending of the first hour, our heroes dealing with the sudden loss of Oliver whilst still trying to hold the multiverse together. 

The action picks up with Harbinger jumping to Earth-74 to acquire a nearly crewless waverider, save for an AI Leonard Snart in place of Gideon and the Mick Rory of that particular universe. The Legends of Earth-1 are seemingly off limits according to Sara. 

Once our remaining heroes are bought together on the waverider, The Monitor reveals the first two of the seven paragons, Kara and Sara are the paragons of hope and destiny respectively with the additional information that the paragons of courage and truth are a Superman and Batman from alternate Earths.

The team separates into several smaller sub groups, each setting out to find the two paragons. Kara and Kate travel to Earth-99, seeking out the "Bat of the future" whilst Clark, Lois and Iris head to Earth-75 to find Superman, unfortunately for them, Lex being able to take the book of destiny from the waverider library gave him the ability to travel across the multiverse killing every version of Superman and by the time the team arrived at Earth-75, he'd already killed that Superman (who was apparently played by Gerard Christopher from the 'Superboy' tv series). 

Kara and Kate's efforts lead them to a version of Bruce Wayne who is anything but a man of courage. This version of the character (played by veteran Kevin Conroy) is an evil, dark and merciless killer with no morality. Its revealed that he killed the Superman of Earth-99 and is not in fact the paragon at all. After a little rough and tumble with Supergirl and Kate, he is electrocuted and dies. So long Conroy.

Clark, Lois and Iris head to another Earth-167 to find another version of Superman who may be the paragon where they encounter the Clark Kent of Smallville (played by Tom Welling). This Clark is now an adult who is married to his Lois Lane (played again by Erica Durance) and is the father to two children. Clark, Lois and Iris are zapped away after warning Clark about Lex. Lex then tries to use kryptonite against Welling's Clark for it to have no effect whatsoever. This Clark has given up his powers and is no longer Superman. He's just plain old Clark Kent now. Lex doesn't bother erasing this Clark as he no longer presents a threat to him and quickly breaches away.

The trio arrive at the Daily Planet in the Metropolis of Earth-96 and quickly run into yet another Clark Kent. This time played by Brandon Routh, reprising his role from 'Superman Returns' and this Earth is confirmed to be the very same continuity, solidifying that both it and the original two Christopher Reeves movies are canon to the Arrowverse. He reveals that the attack on the Daily Planet claimed the lives of his editor, friends and his version of Lois (who we remember was played by Kate Bosworth). This version of Superman is the paragon of truth. Lex shows up and wreaks havoc with the book of destiny, instigating a fight between both versions of Clark.

It had to be done.

Lois knocks Lex out and Earth-96 Clark quickly regains control of his mind. They head back to the waverider on Earth-74, joining Kara and Kate and Lex is restrained in the cell in Ray's laboratory. The Monitor explains that Lex has fulfilled his role by leading Clark, Lois and Iris to the paragon of truth and that Earth-99 Bruce Wayne was never the paragon of courage, the "Bat of the future" is and always was Kate but that she had to make the journey so that she could become the paragon. Four of the seven paragons are now assembled. Three remain. 

Throughout the episode though, two additional elements are being built up. The resurrection of Oliver Queen and betrayal of Harbinger. Constantine, Sara, Mia and Barry travel to North Dakota on Earth-18 where a Lazarus Pit exists within a mine that happens to be guarded by a certain cowboy by name of Jonah Hex. Mia and Sara quickly overpower Jonah, who concedes to let them get on with their business. Oliver is placed in the waters and after some tense waiting, is resurrected at the expense of his soul. Meanwhile, Harbinger seems to be losing touch with reality when she is transported to an unknown location where she encounters the big bad of the Crisis and the being responsible for everything that has transpired......

The Anti-Monitor!

Analysis & Breakdown : Hour Three [The Flash] 

coming tomorrow!

Crisis On Infinite Earths - Analysis & Breakdown : Hour One [Supergirl]

The crisis has begun and has already claimed its first victims.

The CW's 'Crisis On Infinite Earths' crossover kicked off with a bang last night in the first hour arriving with Supergirl and its fair to say, Crisis has already changed the status quo of the Arrowverse in the first hour alone. We were reintroduced to some familiar environments with the canonising of the Michael Keaton Batman movies over on Earth-89, DCU's Titans on Earth-9 and the 1966 Batman TV series established as being on Earth-66 and a quick nod to The Ray on Earth-X. Sadly, these were only quick glimpses as the above Earths were swiftly wiped out by the anti-matter wave sweeping across the universe. Even so, it was nice to have have them officially bought into canon forevermore.

Also officially reintroduced to canon was the events of DC's Legends Of Tomorrow episode "Star City 2046" but with an unexpected twist. That episode didn't take place on Earth-1 but in fact on Earth-16 and in a now seemingly redundant timeline as the current timeline on Earth-16 seems to have been a little gentler on Oliver. He looks significantly healthier, still has both arms and is also still actively pursuing the Green Arrow identity. He's taken aback when he encounters Sara and reveals that on Earth-16, she died on the Queen's Gambit and his life has taken an entirely different course that seems to imply he's never met Barry Allen or any of the other heroes that exist on Earth-1. He has however, taken care of baby Jonathan Kent who was sent to safety from Argo in the Earth-38 universe before the anti-matter wave claimed it, too.

There's every chance that officially introducing another Oliver Queen doppleganger could have much bigger ramifications throughout the Arrowverse going forward and especially in Crisis itself, but that remains to be seen just if and how. 

One of the most unexpected and shocking moments came in the closing moments of hour one with the apparent death of the leading man of the Arrowverse, Oliver Queen in a heroic sacrifice. The heroes convened on Earth-38 to make a stand against the anti-matter wave whilst Alex and Lena helped mount an evacuation of humans and aliens alike but inevitably, it simply wasn't enough against the Anti-Monitor's army of shadow demons and Earth-38 was doomed. The Monitor breached the heroes away leaving only Oliver who in an act of bravery, prevented The Monitor from rescuing him and eventually running out of arrows, ventured into the swarm of shadow demons unarmed in a bid to buy more time for the evacuation, sealing his fate.

The final minute of the episode seemed to absolutely confirm that Oliver wasn't escaping death this time and that his fate had changed so that the death that The Monitor had foreseen was no longer going to play out and the appearance of Nash Wells aka Pariah apparently confirmed that the timeline was still changing. 

The timeline changing to bring Oliver's certain death forward to the very beginning of the Crisis may yield another unexpected twist yet. We know that some version of Oliver will return in the third hour and will be primarily featured in scenes set on Lian Yu, where he'll be crossing paths with "The Spectre". Anyone who is familiar with the character and original crisis comic book will know that this could potentially be the key to bringing back our version of Oliver Queen for one last hurrah before Crisis concludes in January but that is merely speculation on my part. There's truly no telling what lies in store for the next four hours of the Crisis and we're very likely to be presented with no end of twists in the battle to save the multiverse. For now though, rest in peace, Oliver Queen. You have not failed this multiverse.

Analysis & Breakdown : Hour Two [Batwoman]

coming tomorrow!

Star Wars : The Mandalorian Review - Chapter 5

Advanced note : Finally, a same day review.

The Review

I never expected to return to the planet where Star Wars got started. The Mandalorian continues to deliver the unexpected. Chapter 5 takes us back to Tatooine, the infamous desert planet that introduced us to Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and beloved smuggler Han Solo. While the episode lacks the action scale of the previous two chapters, it still brings its own plot pursuit with the introduction of Ming Na-Wen's mysterious character and continued element of Mando being something of a fugitive who himself is now being hunted for his betrayal of the bounty hunter guild, taking "Baby Yoda" to safety from those who would wish him harm (we stan a protective dad). 

Dave Filoni's direction shines once more and there's some really nice easter eggs to the original and direct references, my favourite being the appearance of Mos Eisley Cantina and another bounty hunter who happens to be from Corellia and sitting in a pose that is practically 1:1 to the first shot of Han Solo way back in 1977. The story sort of lacks any kind of consistency or clarity but the amount of fan service that is provided makes up for it. The appearance of Tusken Raiders was a delightful surprise too.

Overall

Yeah, the episode is mostly filler and fan service. It lacks the vision and action of chapters 3 & 4 but it still holds up reasonably well and probably serves the greater purpose of setting up the next chapters (there is a close up on Ming Na-Wen's character being approach by someone whose face we don't see but it presumably is 'Moff Gideon' played by Giancarlo Esposito). Hopefully, chapter 6 will pick the action back up and raise the stakes once again. There sadly isn't much else to say other than that, it definitely felt a little lacklustre this week but was still enjoyable regardless. This is the Star Wars universe after all. Hopefully "Baby Yoda" will get some more development in the next couple of chapters because at the moment, he just serves the purpose of being cute and going no way towards giving any hints of why the bounty hunters guild has been commissioned to retrieve him from Mando's hands.

Chapter 6 review expected next Friday!

Men In Black : What Went Wrong?

In a world where reboots, remakes and original concepts are the prime of Hollywood, sequels don't quite hold the same levity as they did once up a time. Here we look at one such example of a franchise that ultimately suffered because of that very change of pace. Men In Black.

When Men In Black made debuted in 1997, it was a fantastic take on all things science fiction whilst also blending in an element of comedy. On a budget of $97 million, it made over $500 million at the worldwide box office and part of that was bound to be because of the casting of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, both being popular names throughout the 90's, having had a lot of success in both TV and film productions throughout the decade as well as Will's music career being the height of 90's entertainment. 

The commercial success of Men In Black in 1997 meant a sequel was greenlit that would bring back Will and Tommy Lee as agents J and K respectively. However the sequel wouldn't arrive until five entire years after the first movie opened and at that time, five years was a hell of a long time to wait for a sequel and the interest would've been lost a long time before Men In Black II opened in July 2002. The sequel was made on a budget of $140 million, up $50 million on the original and ultimately also made less at the worldwide box office, reaching a total of $441 million. Still it was good enough to grant a third entry into the series and this, unfortunately, is where it all started to go wrong.

Men In Black 3. The sequel which in retrospect, probably shouldn't have happened at all. The third and final film in the original Men In Black series took an entire decade to reach cinemas after the original sequel and opened in May 2012. Years of script re-writes, tensions behind the scenes between director Barry Sonnenfield and producer Walter Parkes and production delays meant the movie took double the length of time that had passed between Men In Black and Men In Black II. As you can imagine, this had a profoundly negative impact on audience interest. The final budget came in at $215 million meaning that MIB3 was the most expensive movie yet and despite the decade gap, it made a respectable $624 million at the worldwide box office meaning it was actually more financially and commercially successful than the previous entry into the series. Unfortunately however, it was still the last film for Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

Per Sony's 2014 leaked emails, it was revealed that Sony planned to potentially soft reboot the MIB franchise by crossing it over with their Jump Street franchise that starred Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. In fact at one point, it was almost a certainty as a logo was unveiled at their CinemaCon trade convention presentation as well as the appointment of director James Bobin. However MIB 23 hasn't happened and according to Walter Parkes, it now won't be happening at all. So we can officially deem MIB 23 as dead.

Jump ahead to 2018 and Sony greenlit a Men In Black spinoff that would introduce two brand new agents as well as taking the MIB brand....well, international. Chris Hemsworth signed on to play the lead character agent H in February 2018 with his 'Thor : Ragnarok' co-star, Tessa Thompson joining the following month. Liam Neeson later joined and Emma Thompson reprised her role as O following her first appearance in Men In Black 3 where she took over as the director of MIB's New York headquarters. The partnership of Chris and Tessa seemed to be a guarantee of success for MIB International but unfortunately, more was going on behind the scenes that ultimately caused the MIB spinoff to flop at the box office.

Tensions were once again growing between producer Walter Parkes and the MIB International director F. Gary Gray who persistently ordered script rewrites and eventually took over directorial duties, possibly violating rules of the Directors Guild Of America. In the end, the studio tested two different cuts of the movie, one by its actual director F. Gary Gray and the other by Walter Parkes and unfortunately for both the audience and Gray, Parkes' cut ended up being the one chosen to be released in theatres. On a final budget of $110 million, the film scraped a measly $253 million at the worldwide box office meaning it is the lowest grossing film in the franchise and least profitable overall. It may have done better had we seen the directors original vision but we'll never know. Perhaps the interest just isn't there for Men In Black. Long gaps between films, the market for science fiction cinema becoming saturated as it is and the brand not being especially popular are likely to contribute to the overall failure of the Men In Black franchise. Dare i jest, #ReleaseTheGaryGrayCut?

Maybe one day we'll see some kind of continuation or full reboot of Men In Black. 

For now though, just look right here.