“It Came From The Archives” Doctor Who Special Reviews: The Church on Ruby Road
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.
Category: Science Fiction
Transformers One: A Baffling Movie
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.
The Wild Robot: An Incredible Animated Movie
The Wild Robot is, simply put, almost as perfect an animated movie as there could be. I am in awe of it. The writing, the character work, the multiple incredible scenes. If you have not yet experienced this movie—even if you’ve been spoiled on the plot—you should seek it out immediately.
Rogue Protocol: Best Murderbot Book Yet
I fear repetition in my review of Rouge Protocol. At this point, it’s clear that the series is a continuous stream of one-off adventures. SecUnit goes to a place—usually to find out the answer to something—and meets some humans and is then pushed into an action scenario where SecUnit has to save those humans.
Dark Matter: A Slick Multiverse Thriller
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.
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy Is Silly Fun
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.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire: Incomplete Show
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…
Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “Empire of Death”
Empire of Death has weird pacing, a rushed ending for its conflict, and tries to pretend unrelated moments from the season actually reincorporate into the plot. But I didn’t hate watching it. Little sci-fi and fantasy ideas sprinkled throughout are interesting—and I’m glad that the episode finally explains Susan Triad.
Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”
“The Legend of Ruby Sunday” is the first part of a two-parter. We spend a lot of time being given mysteries, and then most of them are resolved at the end of the episode, or in the next one titled “The Empire of Death.” It’s not a stand-alone adventure by any stretch.
Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “Rogue”
“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.
Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “Dot and Bubble”
“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.”
Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “73 Yards”
“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.
“So many people get shived!” – Merril
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