I always look forward to the newest Doctor Who Christmas special—and this episode, “Joy to the World” was no exception. It has already been too long since that last episode. Already too long since I got to see some adventure with the Doctor.
The Church on Ruby Road marks the beginning of Ncuti Gatwa’s tenure as the Doctor, and while the episode was a mixed bag, Ncuti did such a good job.
Let’s make something clear about my reviewing Transformers One: I have no horses in this race. Transformers is not my fandom. I have no notable history with it. I am aware of it through other people talking about it, but that’s about it. So, I can speak on it without nostalgia, without a sense of fan betrayal for whatever aspect they changed. I am not objective—this is a critical media review—but I’m judging it as a standalone movie.
Werewolf by Night is a fun, campy Marvel show that disappointed me because of its marketing and presentation. If you wanted to see a horror movie done in the Marvel universe with a Deadpool level of R-rated gore, then you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.
Dark Matter takes a premise I’ve certainly covered before. Everything Everywhere All at Once dealt with relationships across multiple dimensions, and what it means to want a different life than you already have. But, while I will not claim Dark Matter is a better show than All at Once is a movie, I will say that this series presents a fascinating alternative to multiverse fiction—both in the story and in its storytelling.
Rebuild The Galaxy was an absolute treat. A series that has no business being as good, as dramatic, and as funny as it is. Though it was already clear from several Lego movies that the “medium” of those bricks could result in good storytelling, this once again blew me away.
Tales of the Empire Tells Us Parts Of A Whole Story After having such a good time reviewing Tales of the Jedi, I figured that Tales of the Empire would be similar. That it would also contain a bunch of interesting looks at the history of various familiar characters. But I wouldn’t call these characters…
Batman: Caped Crusader is incredible. A throwback that doesn’t seem redundant. Each episode of the first three introduces us back to one of the classic villains and manages to set up even more of them without detracting from the immaculate pacing. Somehow, these half-hour episodes are more engaging, better written, and feel more thoughtful than most one-hour episodes of a show I’ve seen.
“Rogue” is a fun enough episode that could’ve been better with more time. Or, ideally, being split into a few different episodes. The pacing, storytelling, and character motivations suffer because we need to have four separate stories interlocking with each other.
“Dot and Bubble” is maybe my favorite episode of the new season so far. Yes, it does rely on a tired critique of people overusing cell phones for its whole premise to work, I won’t deny that—but, if you can accept that slightly cringey idea, this is one of the most poignant, emotionally devastating, and interesting episodes we’ve gotten since “Wild Blue Yonder.”
“73 Yards” is a confusing episode. I’ll admit that immediately. I did not fully understand the plot of it. The inclusion of supernatural elements might have something to do with that, but the conclusion and middle section left me uncertain of even the magic’s rules.
“Boom” is an episode that is clearly trying to be as morbid and macabre as possible. The story’s insistence on bleak moments, casual character death, and tragedy is so frequent it’s almost overplayed. I can’t believe I’m calling for the horror to be toned down—but here we are.
