ARROW – SEASON 8

Arrow Season 8

ARROW – SEASON 8 / CERT: 15 / SHOWRUNNER: MARC GUGGENHEIM, BETH SCHWARTZ / STARRING: STEPHEN AMELL, DAVID RAMSEY, JULIANA HARKAVY, KATIE CASSIDY, KATHERINE MCNAMARA, LAMONICA GARRETT / RELEASE DATE: MAY 25TH

Here we are then, after eight years, as The CW’s Arrow draws to a close. For those who’ve stuck with the Stephen Amell-fronted Emerald Archer series, there’s no doubting that Arrow has had its fair shares of ups and downs across its eight-season run. But does the show go out with a bang or a whimper? Let’s find out.

When Season Eight opens, Amell’s Emerald Archer and his pals are already well aware that a world-devouring threat is on the horizon in the shape of the Anti-Monitor. After all, the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event was much hyped across all of the Arrowverse shows way before each of these most recent respective seasons began. And thus, so much of Arrow’s eighth season is setting the table for this Crisis – and with it, the belief that Oliver Queen will perish during this battle.

All eyes may be on the looming large Crisis, but Arrow utilises this to bring back a who’s who of the series’ familiar old faces. From Quentin Lance, to Tommy Merlyn, to Adrian Chase, to China White, to Anatoly Knyazev, to Yao Fei, and so many more. But while the first seven episodes of the ten-episode Season Eight are a great nostalgia trip, the show at times struggles with the weight of the impending Crisis. By that, we mean that it can be a little hard for Arrow to showcase the Green Arrow when each episode is dripping in pre-Crisis setup and anticipation. Still, the flip side is that Oliver’s realisation of what lies ahead does lead to some emotional and poignant goodbyes, not least when it comes to seeing Ollie having to say a final farewell to Thea Queen.

Of course, when Crisis on Infinite Earths does arrive, it’s all kinds of spectacular. In terms of scope, rarely has anything been done so brilliantly and, well, comic book-like in the history of the Arrowverse. For fans of so many DC TV shows, Crisis ticks a ludicrous array of boxes and delivers exactly what you’d hope for. For the Arrow input, this eighth season continues on for two further offerings once Crisis is done and dusted – one episode setting up the future-set Green Arrow & The Canaries show that’s currently being planned, and the other episode serving as an emotional wrap-up to Crisis, to Arrow’s eighth season, and to Arrow as a show, period.

After an initially so-so start in that first season, Stephen Amell has gone on to wear Oliver Queen like a second skin. Much like audiences saw Ollie grow and mature, so too did Amell’s performances mirror that progression. It also helps that Amell had such a stellar supporting cast to lean on for Arrow’s heavy hits and more delicate moments, with David Ramsey, Katie Cassidy, Juliana Harkavy, and Rick Gonzalez all pivotal and delivering when it mattered during the most recent seasons of the show.

In terms of Season Eight, it’s full of Easter eggs and nods ‘n’ winks that are utterly rewarding for long-time fans of Arrow. Likewise, it gives a marvellous send off to a show that will be remembered by genre fans for decades to come. There may have been times when this final year felt like it was just twiddling its thumbs and waiting for Crisis, but the minds behind Arrow largely made it work.

The legacy of Arrow can already be seen in the Arrowverse which it kickstarted, and in the show’s second season it truly gave viewers one of modern-day great single seasons of genre TV. It’s sad to know that Arrow has now come to an end, yet it almost felt like the perfect time for Amell to hang up the hood and sail off into the sunset.

SCREAMERS (1995)

screamers

CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN DUGUAY / SCREENPLAY: DAN O’BANNON, MIGUEL TIJADA-FLORES / STARRING: PETER WELLER, ROY DUPUIS, JENNIFER RUBIN / RELEASE DATE: MAY 25TH

Before this century is out, mankind has ventured out into space to try to solve the fossil fuel problem but discovery comes with hindrances. Two warring factions, the Alliance and the N.E.B., are at each other’s throats, causing the Alliance to create lethal machines that hide below the surface of the ground, called Screamers – so called because of the noise they make as they zone in on their prey.

Colonel Joseph Hendrickson (Weller) receives a communication from the N.E.B. offering an olive branch, and so he ventures out with an army grunt across the eradicated wasteland of the planet that once held so much hope. What they find, however, is that the Screamers have evolved, even being able to impersonate humans, and that there are now only three people left at the N.E.B. base. Now Hendrickson has to work out who he can trust and how to survive in a situation that is spiralling out of control.

Screamers is a perfect example of a mid-‘90s film that had ideas well above its budgetary station. The special effects veer wildly from impressive to poorly executed throughout. There are some good plot points, unsurprising considering O’Bannon’s involvement, that are sadly wasted and the film would probably have been better if it focused more on the human perspective. There is a real lack of tension throughout which, considering the Screamers should be the ever present shark that can strike at any time, is a major flaw.

Instead, as you watch, you can play movie bingo as you spot all the better films that this riffs upon – The Thing, The Terminator, Aliens, Jaws, and Tremors. The twist ending is as obvious as it is nonsensical, as if the filmmakers had painted themselves into a corner. Jennifer Rubin is totally wasted and characters are cast aside as quickly as they are introduced. If you go in expecting an action-packed space romp as the trailer suggests, you will be disappointed as there are long sequences of travelling that are briefly punctuated by the odd action scene. There are some decent extras included with this rerelease and it would be interesting to see what would be possible if this was remade with a decent budget now, otherwise, if you need to scratch the itch as you haven’t seen it before, watch one of the other films it rips off instead.

THE WOMAN / OFFSPRING

THE WOMAN + OFFSPRING / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: LUCKY McKEE, ANDREW VAN DEN HOUTEN / STARRING: POLLYANNA McINTOSH, SEAN BRIDGERS, ANGELA BETTIS, LAUREN ASHLEY CARTER / RELEASE DATE: 25TH MAY

Released in 2011, Lucky McKee’s The Woman, based on a book by horror author Jack Ketchum, tells the story of the Cleek family’s attempt to civilise a feral woman who had been found in the woods by controlling dad (and generally horrible human being), Chris. Eagerly aided by his son, little shit Brian, Chris’ abuses of the woman – and indeed the entire female side of his family – become more and more extreme as his behaviour worsens and implications of his past indiscretions emerge. It’s an uncomfortable but magnificent watch, with some particularly gut-wrenching moments and incredible performances (especially from Pollyanna McIntosh as the Woman, who is absolutely phenomenal), eventually climaxing in a thrillingly cathartic showdown between good (well, good-ish) and evil.

The themes tackled by The Woman caused a fair bit of controversy at the time, helping it to gain interest from the horror going public, but the film was viewed by many as a standalone product. Although its notoriety sees it take top billing on this release, The Woman was, in fact, a sequel to 2009’s Offspring, another film based on one of Ketchum’s books. Arrow Video have now bundled both films together, making Offspring available on Blu-ray for – as far as we’re aware – the first time outside of the USA (officially, at least).

Filmed on a much lower budget which results in a decidedly old-school atmosphere, Offspring is certainly no less vicious and savage than its successor. Introducing us to the Woman and her nomadic tribe of cannibals, it’s a gory and unsettling tale that goes some way to explaining where the Woman came from. Sure, there are plot holes and inconsistencies, and you have to keep reminding yourself not to question the hows and whys of what’s going on (not least, how come they figured how to make belts but not proper clothes, with most of the tribe choosing to leave all their bits and bobs flapping away in the breeze?), but it’s still an enjoyably horrifying 80 minutes’ worth of entertainment.

Arrow Video has become known for the amount of effort they put into their releases, and this is no exception. Both films have gone through the 4K restoration process so everything looks sharper and brighter than ever before, and there’s plenty of new content for returning fans to sink their teeth into. The inclusion of Offspring and its related extras is extremely welcome indeed, and there’s a wealth of archive material from previous releases. Also included are multiple brand new audio commentaries on both films, along with new interviews with the cast and crew, extensive behind the scenes footage (the 75-minute “fly on the wall” documentary by Lucky McKee’s dad is tremendous!) and, as always, Arrow’s famed reversible artwork and collector’s booklet. The only thing that could possibly make this set even better would be if the third film in the series – 2019’s Darlin’, had been included (it’s mentioned in the extras so its omission is a bit of an odd one), but that’s a minor gripe when you consider how excellent the rest of the package is. A must-buy for all horror fans!

Click here for special features list

THE WRETCHED

wretched

CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: BRETT PIERCE, DREW T PIERCE / STARRING: JOHN-PAUL HOWARD, PIPER CURDA, ZARAH MAHLER, AZIE TESFAI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (VOD), JUNE 29TH (DVD)

Generic and unhelpful title aside, The Wretched (originally titled Hag, which is possibly marginally worse) is a decent slab of low budget, low-fi horror that manages to generate an acceptable degree of tension and as well as delivering a few subtle shivers. In a cast refreshingly free of ‘oh, look, it’s him/her from…’ faces, Jean-Paul Howard plays Ben, a troubled teenager with his arm in a cast, who goes to stay with his divorced father living with his new girlfriend in a coastal resort. Ben reluctantly agrees to take on the job at the local marina arranged for him by his father. Still, he soon finds himself distracted by his growing attraction to co-worker Mallory (Curda) and the strange behaviour of the family next door, especially mom Abbie (Mahler), who is behaving more than a little oddly.

The Wretched wears its influences quite proudly on its sleeve. There’s a bit of Invasion of the Body Snatchers here (a creepy witch able to inhabit the bodies of its victims) and a bit of Hitchcock there (Ben uses binoculars to spy on the activities of his neighbours) and even a bit of Spielberg in the general family dynamics. But the Pierce Brothers have taken these familiar tropes and ingredients (it’s hard to criticise them for being influenced by the best) to concoct an efficient, occasionally-dark and nasty little horror story that works hard to overcome the limitations imposed by its budget. The focus on practical if sparingly-used visual effects is refreshing and The Wretched generally relies on dark shadows and shapes moving through the night alongside clever if convenient plot twists (victims are ‘forgotten’ by their families once they have been consumed) to keep its story rolling. Ben discovers a gnarly old tree out in the nearby woods and discovers that a malevolent ancient force in the shape of a ghastly wizened witch-creature, has taken to emerge from the labyrinth of tunnels underneath the tree and captures and devours local children. In best Body Snatchers fashion, no one will believe his fanciful theories and his father plans to send him home to get medical help and eventually he is forced to confront the creature in its lair if he is to save the lives of the terrified child next door (already forgotten by his father) and Mallory’s little sister.

The Wretched won’t rewrite the horror rule book, but it’s a taut, punchy little film that plays effectively with half-remembered childhood tales of wicked witches carrying children off into dark, spooky woods. Strong visuals and some decent scares – the witch is a wild, nasty-looking creation – and the film’s commendably retro sensibilities work to create something rather refreshing from the familiar. Worthwhile and certainly not wretched.

REVENGE

REVENGE / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: CORALIE FARGEAT / STARRING: MATILDA ANNA INGRID LUTZ, KEVIN JANSSENS, VINCENT COLOMBE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Well, that’s sure one hell of a way to make an impactful debut! Being known for making short films beforehand, French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat crafts an astonishing debut feature film that takes the rape-revenge sub-genre to a whole new level in Revenge, a twisted tale that centres on a young woman who’s left for dead after being sexually assaulted but manages to self-recover through an agonisingly painful and intense procedure. Afterwards, she decides to embark on a payback quest, transforming from a sex kitten mistress to a philandering husband to a vengeful, semiautomatic-wielding machine. Revenge is a balls-to-the-wall action thriller that pulls no punches, and huge plaudits go to Fargeat for managing to accomplish all of that without the film becoming exploitative or full of itself.

Fargeat has stated in many interviews how inspired she was by films like Spielberg’s Duel, Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Miller’s Mad Max to name a few, and you can definitely see those influences peppered throughout the film, but she’s able to inject her own signature style without making it feel clichéd or tired. After the opening 30 minutes of the film, the entire desert villa transforms from a sun-kissed, naturalistic setting into a cranked-up version of reality where the rich, burnt colours of the surroundings become oversaturated and hyper-stylised. Like the central protagonist, the film is going through a transformation of its own, thanks to Fargeat’s expert direction coupled with Robrecht Heyvaert’s gorgeous, dazzling cinematography, as well as the buzzing, pulsating score by Robin “Rob” Coudert.

However, at the centre of this revenge bloodbath is an utterly mesmerising performance from Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz who completely sells this character and the harrowing, transformative journey she goes on. When we see her early on, she’s the stereotypical, sexy Valley Girl, but it’s only after she goes through this harrowing event that she transforms into a battle-hardened angel of death, rising from the ashes like a phoenix (there’s even some on-the-nose symbolism involved there!). After that event, she doesn’t have any dialogue for the rest of the film, so Lutz deserves an enormous amount of credit for going through the changes the character needed to go through. She is able to convey the innocence, the pain and the rage brilliantly without saying much, and it’s a testament to Lutz for conveying so much emotion through the most subtle of facial expressions for most of the film. Hopefully, this’ll be the start of greater things to come from Lutz, whether that’s in film or TV, plus, if you notice, even her hair colour changes!

Revenge is a film that requires a huge suspension of disbelief; if you take this film incredibly seriously, it’s possible you’ll lose interest easily, but it’s worth noting that audiences should accept this film for what it is: a heightened genre flick. This is an exploitation action thriller film, tapping into the genre’s tropes and developing them in a way that feels unique and creative. Carolie Fargeat has crafted a film that promises great things for her career as a filmmaker, and Matilda Lutz gives a star-making performance that cements her as a rising star with tremendous promise. This is a film where what you see is what you get and, if you can accept that, then you’ll find plenty to like. Bear in mind, though, if you’re squeamish about blood and gore, this is definitely not for the faint hearted!

THE LODGE

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THE LODGE / CERT:TBC / DIRECTORS: VERONIKA FRANK, SEVERIN FIALA / SCREENPLAY: SEVERIN FIALA, SERGIO CASCI / STARRING: RILEY KEOUGH, JAEDEN MARTELL, LIA MCHUGH, RICHARD ARMINIUTAGE, ALICIA SILVERSTONE / RELEASE DATE: TBC

You’re probably dead inside – or at least a bit rotten – if the sight of the name ‘Hammer’ on the credits of a feature film doesn’t elicit a little tingle in the nether regions. We’re a long way from the glory days of the Studio That Dripped Blood in the 1960s, and we try not to think too often of its sad decline into TV sitcom spin-off hell in the 1970s (although Holiday on the Buses does have its admirers at STARBURST HQ). But, despite a six-year absence since the last film to display the familiar evocative Hammer logo (2014’s insipid The Woman in Black sequel Angel of Death) it’s genuinely heartening to see the name live on in The Lodge, a bleak and claustrophobic psychological horror film perfectly suited for these difficult lockdown times.

The Lodge is, in fact, possibly a bit too bleak for its own good, a stifling chamber piece full of unrelentingly troubled characters trapped in their own very personal Hells even as they find themselves trapped and isolated and cut off from civilization. Richard Armitage plays Richard Hall, an investigative writer who takes his new girlfriend Grace (Keough), the sole survivor of a Christian cult mass suicide, and his two young children Aiden (Martell) and Mia (McHugh), from his failed first marriage to a remote country lodge to celebrate Christmas. Here he hopes that the children will start to forge a bond with Grace but when he is called away on business Grace, and the kids find themselves alone in the lodge trying to make the best of things. A ferocious snowstorm leaves them cut off and isolated. Suddenly, Grace’s medication, all their food supplies and even Grace’s pet dog go missing. Grace begins a slow descent into confusion and despair tumbling into a complete breakdown when all the clocks in the house advance to January 9th and the kids find newspaper cuttings chronicling their apparent deaths from monoxide poisoning. Is Grace mad, or is something a little more sinister going on in the cold and forbidding lodge?

A barrel of laughs this ain’t. The film signposts its intention to unsettle us in its first few minutes in one genuine jump-in-your-seat moment (the rest of the film delivers far subtler chills, though). As Richard tries to gently build bridges and ease his new family forward, we’re waiting for things to start heading south and take a turn for the worse. But this is no cheap supernatural shlock; what’s happening in the Lodge is deeply psychological, cruel and unpleasant and for a while, we’re not sure where our sympathies should lie or even where they are being directed. By the time the truth is revealed the situation has become too horrible and too irrevocable and the film’s last ten minutes are probably the darkest and most nihilistic we’ve seen since The Mist way back in 2007. If you like a bit of hope and optimism in your movies, then you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Too dark and downbeat for many tastes, The Lodge will be nothing if not an acquired taste, and it’ll be best appreciated by those who prefer their horror films a little less predictable and a bit more dark-hearted.

DOCTOR WHO – THE COLLECTION: SEASON FOURTEEN

season 14

DOCTOR WHO – THE COLLECTION: SEASON FOURTEEN /CERT:12 / DIRECTOR: RODNEY BENNET, LENNIE MAYNE, DAVID MALONEY, PENNANT ROBERTS, MICHAEL E BRIANT / SCREENPLAY: LOUIS MARKS, BOB BAKER, DAVE MARTIN, ROBERT HOLMES, CHRIS BOUCHER / STARRING: TOM BAKER, LOUISE JAMESON, ELISABETH SLADEN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Few fans of ‘classic’ Doctor Who would argue that the show enjoyed its greatest period of popular acclaim and success in the 1970s. The arrival of Jon Pertwee (in colour) in 1970 turned the series into a brisk, colourful adventure series but when he moved on from the role at the end of 1974 it was clearly time for the series to evolve yet again. Firebrand new young producer Philip Hinchcliffe had some very specific visions for the series, moving it away from the cosy UNIT soldiers vs rubber monsters format of much of the Pertwee era and sending the Doctor back out into space again and telling darker, more challenging stories. With the mercurial Tom Baker on board as the curly-haired, boggle-eyed fourth Doctor, Hinchcliffe and his ferociously-imaginative script editor Robert Holmes forged three of the best and most enduring seasons of Doctor Who in the show’s long history. Their final season, first aired between 1976/7, is the latest run to receive the belt ‘n’ braces Blu-ray treatment by the BBC and, rewatching these terrific 26 episodes again (and being only too familiar with what was to come) it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is very much the last great series of Doctor Who and that, in the wake of Star Wars, the series was about to begin its 12-year slide into obsolescence and irrelevance.

Season 14 sees Doctor Who comfortable in its skin as proper ‘family’ television; it’s left the nursery full of screaming silver-suited monsters and aliens far behind and is now delivering stories full of deranged power-crazed villains, terrifying extra-terrestrial energy forces and murderous, elegant robots. Oh, and a rubbish giant rat scampering through a model sewer, but we’ll not dwell on that for now. Fourth Doctor Tom Baker – now in his third series – is at his best here, perfectly nailing that combination of twinkling charm and dry wit and the coldly diffident alien that characterized the first few years of his tenure. Hinchcliffe managed to reign in the actor’s more outré tendencies but the subsequent arrival of various robot dogs, Time Lady companions and generally sloppier scripts and cheaper production values allowed the actor to over-indulge himself and the subtlety and nuance of his performance was slowly lost. Here he is utterly scintillating, delivering a magnetic performance befitting an actor at the very top of his game. Long-term companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) leaves the series in the second serial and his relationship with his save new companion Leela (Louise Jameson) is somewhat more brittle (reflecting the actor’s own diffidence towards his new co-star) but he’s at his absolute best amongst the conspiratorial trappings of The Deadly Assassin, where he arrives alone on his home planet Gallifrey to find himself involved in the machinations of a much-missed old enemy. The Doctor cuts a dashing, swashbuckling figure here, especially in the surreal third episode where he fights for his life in the virtual reality world of the Time Lord Matrix.

There are two other stone-cold classics here alongside The Deadly Assassin. Robots of Death is a creepy Agatha Christie-style murder mystery set aboard a Sandminer on a hostile stormswept planet and The Talons of Weng-Chiang, the swansong for the Hinchliffe/Holmes partnership, is a glorious Victorian melodrama full of memorable dialogue and unforgettable characters (and an unfortunate giant rat, replaced in this new release by a slightly better CGI alternative). Weng-Chiang remains one of the original show’s very best serials despite some questionable casting decisions and racial depictions which might now raise the odd eyebrow but certainly don’t deserve the vitriol they now receive from some hysterical over-sensitive sections of Who fandom.

The three remaining serials are workmanlike but still massively enjoyable. Masque of Mandragora, with its colourful location filming in around The Prisoner’s Portmeirion, is a slightly stodgy four-parter set in Renaissance Italy, ‘The Hand of Fear’ is largely unremarkable beyond the tearful farewell sequence for Sarah Jane and ‘The Face of Evil’ is a rather bland and colourless introduction for new girl Leela. But there’s much to enjoy even in this season’s less accomplished stories and across the entire set we’re reminded not only of how good the show was at this period in its history, but how popular it was with audiences regularly touching 11 and 12 million. Doctor Who genuinely doesn’t get much better than this.

Once again a terrific set of new special supporting features have been assembled for this Blu-ray collection alongside all the original material from already-released DVDs. Best of the bunch is an absorbing and heart-breaking 70-odd minute documentary looking at the life and career of Elisabeth Sladen who brought the beloved Sarah Jane Smith to life for generations of devotees; it’s possibly the best ‘special feature’ ever delivered on a Doctor Who title. Elsewhere Matthew Sweet spends nearly 80 minutes chatting to Philip Hinchcliffe about his time on the show, comedian and Who superfan Toby Hadoke revisits the classic 1977 Whose Doctor Who documentary (the first academic TV work to actually consider the series and its place in popular culture) and manages to track down and speak to many of its junior contributors over forty years later. This eight-disc set is dotted with other extra bits and pieces – the usual ‘Behind the Sofa’ featurettes, an interview with Weng-Chiang’s Mr Sin (actor Deep Roy), some new VFX and commentaries and new material exhumed from the archive. Picture and sound are crisp and clear for SD material buffed up for HD release and a 36-page booklet provides all the background info you could reasonably require of a 26-episode TV production from 1976. It’s a wonderful, eclectic and comprehensive release and yet again Doctor Who fans have cause to rejoice in the fact that such love, care and devotion is lavished upon  the show’s back catalogue. Our only real gripe, though, remains with the BBC’s insistence that these sets should be ‘limited editions’ which means that they are sold out before they are even officially released so many fans have to miss out if they can’t afford the inflated prices asked by shameless eBay scalpers. But if you’re lucky enough to track down a set then you’re sure to agree that it deserves pride of place in your collection as a heady recollection of Doctor Who in its real imperial phase and Tom Baker at his most glorious.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MATT PETERS, CHRISTINA SOTTA / SCREENPLAY: ERNIE ALTBACKER, MAIRGHREAD SCOTT, CHRISTINA SOTTA / STARRING: MATT RYAN, TAISSA FARMIGA, JERRY O’CONNELL, RAINN WILSON, JASON O’MARA, TONY TODD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITAL), MAY 18TH (BLU-RAY/DVD)

Special Features: Filmmaker audio commentary / Three featurettes / Three from the DC Vault / DC Showcase: Adam Strange / Superman: Man of Tomorrow sneak peek

In terms of anticipation, rarely has an animated comic book-driven movie been as excitedly looked forward to as much as Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. After seven years and a total of 15 movies, the world that begun during 2013’s Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox culminates here in a star-studded picture with extremely high stakes on the line. But can Apokolips War live up to the hype and pressure, or is this a film that ultimately has too many plates to continuously keep spinning? Let’s find out.

Pulling loose inspiration from Geoff John’s The Darkseid War comic book arc, Apokolips War is the point that all of its predecessors have been slowly building up to. To paraphrase another certain hero from another certain franchise, we’re in the endgame now. And boy oh boy, is it glorious! Opening with the Justice League intent on taking the fight to the nefarious Darkseid and ending things once and for all, things don’t work out all that well for DC’s finest. Instead, we’re soon taken to a ‘two years later’ landscape in which these heroes failed in their biggest test yet. As a result, many heroes are dead or rendered a shell of their former selves, while the universe as a whole has been left decimated by Darkseid and his minions. Even though Apokolips War features a who’s who of DC Comics characters, it’s largely down to John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Superman (Jerry O’Connell), and Raven (Taissa Farmiga) to band together to try and right the Justice League’s previous wrongs and somehow put a stop to Darkseid.

From the moment that Superman gives an impassioned speech during the film’s opening moments, you realise that the threat and risk of Apokolips War is unprecedented. Far removed from the ever-positive Man of Steel we’ve come to know and love, this is a Superman who has realised what really needs to be done to stop Darkseid – and a Superman who is now prepared to do just that. As mentioned, this battle doesn’t go well for those fighting the good fight, and thus we’re taken to an apocalyptic future just two years down the line.

Further adding to the hard-hitting nature of Apokolips War, those stakes are only further emphasised when some of our most beloved superheroes are brutally murdered at the behest of Darkseid. And in these moments, Apokolips War makes full use of its 15 certificate/R rating as the gruesome gore is never anything but shockingly violent. Seriously, elements of certain fight scenes are reminiscent of another recent animated Warner Bros. release, the carnage-laden Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.

Juggling so many characters was always going to be a tall ask, and by focussing the majority of attention on a select few of these – a select few who nicely encompass the varying strands of this shared realm of movies – was a sensible call. Given how this film serves as a sequel to pretty much anything we’ve seen over the last six or seven years, Apokolips War does brilliantly to service the multitude of tales that came before it in a way that feels natural, logical, yet often also truly shocking. There are moments here that will bring a genuine tear to the eye, a lump to the throat, and a thawing out of even the coldest of hearts.

Brimming with emotion, action, and an engaging endpoint story, Justice League Dark: Apokolips is a complete and utter triumph from all involved in the cast and crew. Every voice talent does their absolute best with whatever piece they were afforded in this particular puzzle, but special praise has to go Matt Ryan and Taissa Farmiga. In a world so often dominated by a Batman, a Superman, or a Wonder Woman, it could easily be that characters like Constantine and Raven got a little lost in the shuffle. Instead, here Ryan’s Hellblazer and Farmiga’s Raven are front-and-centre as two of the movie’s anchors – and both do a fantastic job in steering the Apokolips War ship.

By the time all is said and done with Apokolips War, this shared animated universe very much will never be the same again. And while we may not know what’s next for this set of characters, Apokolips War delivers the sort of finale that is all that you could hope for if you’ve spent the past seven years invested in this world.

 

STAR BLAZERS: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2202 – PART ONE

star blazers

STAR BLAZERS: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2202 – PART ONE / CERT 15 / DIRECTOR: NOBUYOSHI HABARA / SCREENPLAY: HARUTOSHI FUKUI / STARRING: DAISUKE ONO, HOUKO KUWASHIMA, CHRISTOPHER WEHCAMP, MALORIE RODAK / RELEASE DATE: MAY 25TH

A 2017 remake of the second season of the 1974 anime Uchū Senkan Yamato (released in the west as Star Blazers), Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 should be an automatic home run. The 2014 remake of the first show, available from Manga UK as Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 – The Complete Series, ranks with the all-time best animated shows, and is one of the best examples of space opera to be found in any medium, and so expectations were understandably high for this sequel release. Unfortunately, it doesn’t deliver on that promise.

After the culmination of the Yamato’s first voyage, to Iscandar to find the secret to saving Earth from the Garmillas Empire, life has returned to a semblance of normality, and the Terrans and Garmillans share an easy peace after the deposition of the Garmillan dictator, Abelt Dessler. The crew of the Yamato, now dispersed across Earth, all receive a vision of a loved one asking for help, and feel an urge to return to the ship, setting sail for the distant planet, Telezart, to find the source of the distress call. With the Garmillans now working alongside the United Nations Defense Force, the series introduces the Gatlantis Empire as a brutal, barbarian threat to the security of the galaxy, who have their own methods and drives, a world away from the peaceful fascism sought by Dessler’s Garmillans. But first, the Yamato must escape Earth against the wishes of its government, who are fearful of causing interstellar incidents in this delicate time.

Much of the voice cast from the first show return for the second, in both the original Japanese and the English-language dub, and the animation is once again handled by Studio Xebec, who delivered the back half of the 2199 series. Where that series maintained a high quality, with a pleasingly retro feel and a seamless integration of CGI and traditional animation, the style is tweaked for the 2202 voyage, moving it further away from the style of the 1974 original, and the CGI is often jarring and obvious. The 2202 voyage has a different directing and writing team working on adapting the original material, and it shows, with the story lacking the flow of the earlier mission, despite keeping the same search and encounter theme.

The Manga UK Blu-ray doesn’t come with an abundance of extras, only the usual trailers, and textless opening and closing songs, along with a single episode commentary and interview with two of the English-language dub cast.

Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 is not a bad show, and considered on its own regards should be thought of as an above average anime. The quality of its prequel raises expectations that are sadly not delivered, and while this should not detract from 2202 as a product, it’s hard to escape a feeling that they could, and should, have done better. For anyone looking for more adventures featuring Susumu Kodai and his crew, this is worth your while, but those new to the Yamato should start with its maiden voyage.

THE ADVENTURES OF PADDINGTON VOL. 1

PADDINGTON vol 1

THE ADVENTURES OF PADDINGTON VOL. 1 (PADDINGTON FINDS A PIGEON & OTHER EPISODES) / CERT: U / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL BOND, JON FOSTER, JAMES LAMONT / STARRING: BEN WHISHAW, MORWENNA BANKS, BOBBY BEYNON, NOEL CLARKE / RELEASE DATE: MAY 18TH

It’s pretty much common knowledge at this point that Paddington Bear is a national treasure and a very rare sort of bear. He has been loved and adored since his creation by Michael Bond in 1958, and has since gone on to have a new life on TV, most notably the iconic BBC Paddington series with Michael Hordern. Ever since then, the bear from Darkest Peru hasn’t had success as big as that until the two critically-acclaimed films in 2014 and 2017. Those two films reintroduced Paddington to a whole new audience, so now was the perfect time for a new TV show, this time spun-off from those films and bringing back Ben Wishaw to reprise his role as the titular bear.

This new show follows the formula of having ten-minute short episodes, all revolving around writing letters to his Aunt Lucy. This celebrates all the new things he’s learnt and discovered throughout the day, including making pancakes, learning magic tricks, finding a hobby or making a new friend in Pigeonton. All of these episodes are basically ‘a day in the life of Paddington’, and frankly, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s a charming, lovely little show that appeals to all ages, not just children, and perfectly captures the pure essence of Paddington, nailing the lightness, the morals and the core understanding of Paddington Bear and his world. You can watch this, and you’d feel like you’ve taken and learnt something from it, so at no point does the show feel like it’s about nothing.

What’s also impressive is the animation; despite being CGI, it looks and feels like a stop-motion animation in the vein of LAIKA’s iconic animations like The Boxtrolls or Missing Link. Even the human characters look as though they’ve stepped out of a LAIKA-produced film. This demonstrates that CGI animation can work and be effective just as long as you do it right and make it appealing to audiences without alienating them with generic-looking graphics. The voice acting is solid across the board with Wishaw especially still nailing the warmth and pure likeability of Paddington Bear. Also, the new theme song by Gary Barlow is annoyingly catchy!

Overall, The Adventures of Paddington is a lovely little show that you can just watch on TV with the whole family for a nice, warm, and comforting afternoon. It has a solid voice cast, charming little stories and great animation, making this recommended viewing for any Paddington fan.