Doctor Who: The Giggle // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 3

One of the creepier images in the episode, though the VFX leaves much to be desired.

The finale of Doctor Who is a novel little concept that has in fairness been tried many times. The issue with ever doing it is who can handle not having this franchise? Even if the series managed such low ratings and disinterest that the BBC would in turn cancel it, maybe in ten or fifteen years it could be rebooted? The Giggle has never been sold as or committed to being a finale, but it does include many elements of it that do seek to offer a sense of closure. This is mainly done in the “explanation” of why the Doctor regenerated back into the Tenth Doctor and what happens after it, with it I guess seeming that the Doctor knows this is his most popular incarnation and the one who seems ideal for such a thing? We also get some returning albeit minor characters from the classic series. Will we ever get a Susan appearance? While the idea of giving the show a finale; a fake finale (which this definitely is); and regenerating into past Doctors, especially to make a point, is really fascinating and not as worthy of disdain as some would say, all these ideas are not handled nearly as well as they could have been.

The Giggle serves as the closest of the specials here to a sixtieth anniversary, though it is still light on much celebration of the past. A big thing we get is Tennant. Tennant returning is a good idea. It thematically shows how no matter how much this character changes, he remains the same and offers closure to this tenure in theory, though these specials are even light on references to the Russell T. Davies era. Considering how the Doctor witnessed a lot of strange things be done with regeneration by other time lords it works that part of the Doctor would want to be a bit strange and revisit a past experience. What other past elements we get comes in the form of a few verbal references; the welcomed but minor companion Mel, played by Bonnie Langford, predictably Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and the more fascinating return of the Toymaker. While the Toymaker’s one previous appearance was in one of the worst Who serials of the 60s, his ability to essentially shift reality and create impossible games for people to win is a phenomenal idea. Neil Patrick Harris brings a menace to him as someone who appears so bored with everything that he feels a need to be so destructive.

Thus, it’s a huge disappointment that much of this narrative is setup with little payoff. This is epitomized by a scene of Donna being approached by creepy dolls, which serve no purpose and prove no threat. The two meaningful-to-the-plot games he plays are seeing who can pick the higher card and later don’t drop a ball. Both are played as comedic, but due to their inclusion in this supposed serious finale that is trying to do so much, it muddles the tone. Beyond Harris’ performance, Tennant does sell the intensity of the Doctor’s emotions in his stress and anguish when it seems like something bad is about to happen, which comes out in a few all too brief scenes. The Doctor and Toymaker make the best of the story when talking about their experiences and specifically how they differ from humans. They’re to a degree being compared in how traumatizing it can be to go through as much as they have, which also explains why the villain acts how he does. Thus, it’s sad how little he appears.

A lot of time is spent setting up just how bad the situation is, hearing about all the things the Toymaker has done and admittedly getting some solid visuals, like the toy burning, only for a lot of this to eventually be brushed to the side. A very sudden twist is included and that just takes up the ending. Why not have the threat of the Toymaker be more connected to the twist? Maybe we could have had this be two specials, one dealing with the Toymaker with the twist part of the cliffhanger, then the last is only about the latter element. As is, this episode is so rushed. Random characters explain a lot of the plot, the cliffhanger of last episode and how it’s being resolved is similarly discussed before suddenly being pushed aside, “the Vlinx” was established as a character only to do nothing, as does Kate’s insults, Mel and more importantly Donna are barely in this, and some of the faster paced moments play as fairly comical. The scene of the Toymaker in a black tuxedo doesn’t have him even doing anything, which suggests something was cut. Same with the Doctor’s clothes regenerating with him when he first became #14. That suggested there was some weird space anomaly, but that’s not the case according to this episode.

SPOILERS

We get a really quick scene of two UNIT soldiers walking towards the Toymaker, the Doctor tells them to stop, they get killed, then he tells Kate they indeed died. It all is just very silly. Earlier, the Doctor said to Donna he wasn’t sure he could get her out alive, which is not something that weighs on the situation nearly as strongly as it should. This turmoil needs to mean something. That confession, as well as the Doctor seeming fed up with the cruelty of humanity, are good character moments in a vacuum, but come across as tossed in to make the story “deep”. The Doctor talking about order and chaos could have represented a theme that would play through to the end. Why not have it tie into how he defeats the Toymaker? The actual way he goes is absolutely absurd, losing a fairly easy game when apparently everyone else ever has lost to him. Him bragging about who has been defeated just feels like a waste of time, seeing as the Doctor doesn’t really have to do much to succeed. What if he either has to die or sacrifice Donna in order to win? What if he simply gets the Toymaker to go away, but the latter’s destruction is not even fixed?

Some of the better aspects of the story is the explanation of how the Doctor initially met the Toymaker and how the Toymaker got to Earth. The Doctor is later very clever in outsmarting the villain into letting them go. He probably understood how hopeless things were, so manipulated the Toymaker with what he knew he would want. At the same time, the Toymaker manipulates the Doctor by knowing how to cause him emotional turmoil. As such, the Doctor is often clearly fearful of him. He even offers him something… The Doctor and the Toymaker traveling together would have been a really fascinating idea. Makes you wonder if the Toymaker would steal the TARDIS. This is reminiscent of the time in the audio adventures a Nazi was a companion of the Doctor.

Ncuti Gatwa does a fair enough job, though his incarnation of the lead is devalued by this episode really just being about Tennant until the end. He doesn’t even get a chance to follow the tradition of acting really weird from the post-regeneration haze, being more about giving a bit of dialogue to the Tennant Doctor. What would have been better is if the regeneration occurs at the very end. Considering that the Tennant Doctor apparently has all the interesting baggage about the character, with Gatwa’s more of a clean slate, Gatwa’s era will probably feel like a spinoff or remake, as it might not be following many of the developments to the character that shaped the Doctor. The two Doctors saying goodbye feels like a symbolic passing of the torch, like the Doctor we’ve really known from William Hartnell to David Tennant is bowing out.

Something not covered much in the series is what causes the Doctor to regenerate into the face he does. Such a thing could tell us a lot about the character, at least making for a solid episode. The Fourteenth Doctor era hopes to offer such an explanation, with it seeming to be that it was subconscious, so he could find Donna and retire. This is concocted as something Donna just thought up, which is a lot less satisfying than if it was something the Doctor had to discover. This also spits in the face of a lot of past moments. The Doctor likes adventure, though admittedly has at times wanted to retire but felt he was unable. Wouldn’t he justify to himself now that he can do twice as much life saving? Coming up with a reason for him to call it quits isn’t impossible, but it should take a lot longer and be more about an internal struggle unlike what he’s seen before instead of being done in a few conversations in at best three episodes, but really just this one. The Doctor has already experienced the death of loved ones and failing to help people as much as he could. What’s different about now? The show must not even really believe in this, as the Fourteenth Doctor is left with his own TARDIS, which strongly suggests this isn’t the last of him. 

Hopefully it isn’t, as this “ending” is so quick and unearned. It doesn’t even distinguish itself from the many breaks of the Doctor. The emotional gravatas it is given feels like a trick just waiting to be retconned. 14 saying how happy he is retired feels way too easy, ignoring the aforementioned breaks he’s done, like between series nine and ten. The need to help that would push someone that’s gone so hard and so long fighting isn’t just going to go away. The best way to interpret this is as just a finale to the previous Davies era, as that was just a few years instead of sixty and almost every episode of it starred Tennant. A lot of the various eras of the show feel a bit distinct, but this episode still asks to be so much more and ultimately invites more questions. Even if the Tennant incarnation is just tired and wants to be both alive and retired, what about the others? Will 14 not one day die and perhaps be replaced by another risky adventurer?

While bigeneration isn’t a bad idea, it does only seem to be here for the sake of giving us more Tennant if it’s ever needed, instead of it really being dug into. A lot of exploration could occur for it and admittedly it might happen. A bit more would help the episode. There have also been a few times where we’re supposed to see Tennant off, so it’s increasingly ridiculous when he’s brought back. It does in a way make sense the Doctor could not let go of being Tennant, considering he felt he could do so much more in The End of Time. Those trying to calculate our hero’s age usually have the Tenth as around the youngest tenured, so perhaps to the Doctor, he is the one that got away? Still, it’s probably for the best that he avoids this incarnation considering that 10 cheated death once before in series four, with this episode featuring his third regeneration, all relatively soon after the last one.

OVERVIEW

Obviously it’s not objective what the best interpretation of what the Doctor is is, but Russell T. Davies’ approach of the character being essentially anything, such as that he can now do what’s shown in the episode or affirming the Timeless Child story, erases the Doctor really even being a character. He doesn’t have any wants or drive, as in an instant he could be something else. This admittedly is a problem that plagues any long running character, such as superheroes. It can get to the point where it might seem too boring to some to not go in a “this person is basically Jesus” way. It was so much more special when he was just a weird alien with a box that admittedly didn’t aspire as massive of change. As the Twelfth Doctor once powerfully said, he does what he does just because it’s kind, but that message is diluted when it’s suggested he does so because he’s really so great and special. Due to the frankly broken story of The Giggle, including the blatant attempts to force emotions out of a hat, all this comes off as laziness. What if Davies’ real reasoning is wanting an excuse to make simply a sci-fi show under the Doctor Who name instead of understanding the legacy he is a part of? He would not be the first to change things up, but he might be the first to really run with radically transforming what the Doctor is or acts like.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Review

Is this a Wes Anderson movie?

Everything Everywhere All At Once is, true to its word, everything. Much has been read into this film in terms of commentary on the world and general themes. I must think that at some point a movie will come out and be hailed as a complex masterpiece, only for the filmmakers to at some time admit it really meant nothing and just hit the expected beats of a narrative, with far more being read into it. (I’m sorry, Duck Soup, I still love you.) At its heart, Everything seems to be firing for a simple idea of family and togetherness. Especially around the ending, it was reminiscent of a thousand other movies that were solely about “Let’s just love each other.” It’s hard to know what to think of this, whether it’s a beautifully simple resolution or anticlimactic after the very busy and complicated film it’s a part of.

To put it simply, this movie is stimulating. To be less nice, overstimulating. The film often leans into extremely fast montages that don’t always convey necessary information. One example is when we see someone “verse jump” over and over to explain where they’re getting a certain ability from. That, just like quite a lot of the story, is blinding novelty and entertainment value. You can tell some involved love old action and Kung-Fu movies, especially Chinese ones, and wanted to include fights that evoked them, while implementing elements like absurdist humor. However, something like the dildo fight or better yet a man jumping pants-less in slow motion intending to land sitting on a trophy shaped like a butt plug feel designed to only be attention grabbing, especially to a gen-z audience.

For better and for worse, the film does appeal heavily on a multitude of levels, like as a light popcorn flick, something where any little element can be looked at as commentary on several-hundred year old philosophical concepts, or anywhere in between. It might even be designed to be a bit confusing for someone on their first viewing, in hopes of repeat ones. Based on the strong focus for comedy and spectacle, it can feel like there is little to say, especially when it gets to the point of someone just yelling to be kind, instead of that particular message being discovered or earned. However, some messages are discovered or learned. Another issue is the pace, where the film can rev up to a hundred, then stops before starting again. The pessimistic view of this is to say it is edited essentially like a music video to just appeal to perceived short attention spans. No matter what the intention is, the impression is that certain elements that are built up don’t matter, as after the intensity of them being laid on, everything cools down for the next big idea.

All of the cast have a very good understanding of their manic roles. The hardest would probably be the lead Evelyn Quan Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh. She is initially an every woman before quickly having to get with the program. You can argue Evelyn should have had more time to figure it out, but there is a serviceable explanation for that. Her feelings are not delved into deeply, other than her main goal of trying to save everyone. Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang grounds the film into more emotional territory, with him often giving some realism to the tale, which is ironic as he is the first sign of chaos.

Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang gives the best performance, bringing a consistent nihilism and desire to find support. Her face often has a look of fatigue on it. Due to the youthful energy of the story, she might work due to being the youngest cast member and thus having the most ability to relate. My favorite performance is Jamie Lee Curtis as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, who brings a dry wit and inherent absurdism due to how out of place she looks and how much fun you can tell Curtis is having. She’s easy to love. The supporting cast are consistently wonderfully charming and entertaining, but arguably serve as filler.

SPOILERS

Based on how quickly Evelyn was to embrace the multiverse, even to the point of punching Deirdre and possibly considering killing her daughter, you could imagine the movie would end in a twist that no supernatural events occurred and the lead is just off her rocker. It’s at least surprising her family isn’t more critical or concerned about her behavior. This idea of coming off as nutty about something is an old trope the filmmakers might have enjoyed. Based on the ending, where everyone seems fine, was there any need or point to Evelyn punching Deirdre? What about all the destruction at the IRS or the marital tensions between Evelyn and Waymond? Same with Evelyn apparently stabbing Waymond.

The heart of the story are the discussions between Evelyn and Joy’s alter ego Jobu Tupaki. They discuss their opposing views on the world, showcasing the nature and thought process of Jobu, ultimately proving she’s misunderstood. So much information about Jobu being portrayed by her just telling Evelyn is rather boring, though the expressive and symbolic visuals help in making up for that. Later, we are thankfully shown Evelyn overcoming Jobu’s strength and nihilism through the visuals. The best example of this is when they’re rocks, which is beautifully and creepily simple. Same can be said for when Evelyn adopts googly eyes on her as a rock and Jobu in turn rolls off a cliff.

Whether or not the reconciliation of Evelyn and Joy is earned is up for debate. It is too easy, with Evelyn merely saying to Joy she wants to be with her, which could have already been figured. This does summarize the main issue of the style of the movie not being able to sustain its substance.

OVERVIEW

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a very good spectacle, benefitting from how rich and colorful it looks. It’s an extremely lovable and watchable work that will probably serve to influence many people that see it. While some say that a thing that tries to appeal to everyone appeals to no one, this might be the exception that proves the rule. Though it can come off a little disjointed, the constant stimulus that also gives a lot of food for thought to those looking for it works in the film’s favor. However, due to its limitations and how “2022” it feels, there is the concern of the movie soon going out of date, with down the line a new story essentially filling this role of delivering some very typical messages in the flavor of the time, such as not demonizing your children. The lack of subtlety could be seen as positive or in vogue, but grow stale later. The picture still deserves and probably will have some legacy going forth. Also, I was genuinely rooting for Raccacoonie and its owner. I’d also like to have hot dog fingers and play the piano with my feet with Jamie Lee.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Review

Batman admittedly looks a little silly here in costume.

The Dark Knight Rises famously makes no sense. Virtually every step of the way there’s a giant stretch in logic or at least believability. This messy tone is established as soon as the first scene. It’s a completely mindless and superfluous action set piece where the big baddie of Bane may as well be a cartoon character. He seems to just exist to be evil. By contrast, the Joker in the last film had clear goals. The mild humor in the dialogue doesn’t do it any favors. Most of the plot beats of this whole story are extremely basic, with little to distinguish it from any other story about a disheartened and defeated hero getting back in the game. The overly witty or comic dialogue just goes to show how little it has to say. Characters can even just say some thought provoking phrases in hopes of getting an emotional response from the audience, sacrificing realism. Admittedly, this was also in the first two films of the series.

The movie is generally better when we actually see Batman, as it typically has the most action that actually forwards the plot. Some of the themes of the series are prevalent, like how Batman may be strong in a lot of ways, but he has serious limitations that can create issues, such as how he distracted the police from Bane. As an extension of this, possibly the best part of this effort is that things get extremely bad and desperate for everyone. One reason The Dark Knight is so good is because of the constant terror that goes on around it. Rises arguably gets even worse for its characters, with you wondering how anyone would ever get out of it.

Christian Bale’s performance as Bruce Wayne is a lot stronger here than in Begins. He is surprisingly out of the spotlight, at points leaving you wondering when he will come back into his own movie. There are some often joked about moments of his silly gravel voice or facial expressions, but you can also feel his fatigue, angst, and struggle to find purpose for himself; which he often tries to mask. The first film in this series asks a lot of Bale by comparison. The actor seems to be best at making himself look different to fit a role. Here, he really does look sickly, though not so much acting like it, seeing as he can do so much fighting. It doesn’t make sense how he could get back to being Batman so easily. Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth pulls some decent drama, though him and Bale clearly struggle with the theatrical lines and Alfred’s eventual absence barely makes an impression on our lead. It is very understandable Alfred would be sick of the reckless actions of the Wayne family.

Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle is almost a parody of underwritten female characters. She looks pretty and functions around Bruce. There’s one scene of her criticizing the power structures Bruce has taken advantage of, but this just seems manufactured to make her seem deep. Of course any kind of criticism of Bruce may as well not be here, considering how the character develops. Hathaway isn’t strictly bad, however. It would be difficult to get much out of this role. Her advocacy for stealing from rich people almost seems like a token effort to fight against claims of these movies being pro-Conservative. Tom Hardy as Bane is solid as a physical presence, though the cheesy or straight up comic dialogue makes him hard to take seriously.

There’s a lot of plot conveniences. If it wasn’t for complete chance, things would go very differently. While some revelations and surprises come, they don’t serve the greater narrative. The movie easily could’ve simply continued where the last movie left off. We’re introduced to the “Dent Act”, which has arguably gotten people unfairly thrown in prison, at least according to Bane. This law, as well as how this affects the prisoners, could be really fascinating. Maybe we really get inside the head of a prisoner? Maybe we see some awkward confrontation between what the public has been told about Dent and Batman vs what is true? At least we get a look at a cop, John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His arc is one of the better handled here, though he and the returning James Gordon spend a lot of time running around and getting into action set pieces. Speaking of which, the action is noticeably worse than before. The hits are weightless, with a lack of emotions behind them. The shoddiness of the production is so bad that some of the punches by characters obviously don’t hit the other actor. One benefit over the first outfit of the series is that the pacing has improved, with cuts not being nearly as jarring.

SPOILERS

A theme of this movie is people figuring out that Bruce Wayne is Batman. You’d think it would be foolish for Bruce to tell anyone when he does or concerning when someone figures it out on their own. However, that never proves to be any conflict, it only provides a few shocks. Apparently Blake figures out that Bruce is both Batman and didn’t unjustly kill Harvey Dent. What if this gave him some idea as to how corrupt the police system was earlier than it did? If he was supposed to figure that out at the end, why include this big revelation of him figuring everything out so early on? Shouldn’t he be mad at Batman for hiding the truth?

One of the big sins of the movie is after Bruce confronts one of his greatest challenges, he acts basically the same. Sure, it’s entertaining seeing him get in those dire stakes, and the movie also does decent in getting him out in a fair way, but it should still affect his mindset and condition more than they do. The exception to this is him learning to fear again, but that is surrounded by a lot of fighting, as if he’s not getting into serious injuries or facing the same emotional stressors. A lot of this movie feels like retreading, like how the Joker and now Bane let themselves get captured, as that was part of their plan. Imagine if we had something a lot bolder, with the prisoners now-free causing more havoc than they do?

Moments like the football field collapsing, with one person with the ball in hand inadvertently outrunning the explosions is shot as something to be laughed at. Think of a bit in a comedy show where everyone surrounding the main character realizes something or is afflicted with something, while the lead is clueless. The police leaving the dirty place they were trapped in for three months in basically clean clothes and later when a crowd opens fires on them, with only about one casualty, also make the movie laughable. One of the more famous ridiculous scenes is when Batman has very little time to get a bomb away from the city, but he spends precious seconds saying goodbye to everyone.

Bane went out so easily. Why didn’t someone just shoot him in all that time if it was that simple? What was the point of building him up so much if his demise wouldn’t reflect that? Part of what made Bane interesting was that he was unstoppably strong where even Batman would lose a fight to him. Admittedly after training more, Batman simply fights him again and wins. Apparently Bane’s often exposed mask makes him vulnerable, which is unbelievably dumb. Instead of Bruce having to overcome some greater struggle to beat Bane, it was essentially just a matter of him in the first fight not happening to hit his mask or not bringing a gun. When Selina Kyle kills him, we repeat the theme from last film of killing sometimes being necessary.

One of the stronger elements of the story is the theme of the relevance of Batman. It seems it was best for Batman to go away, which in turn leaves Bruce feeling rejected and unable to move on from his problems. As such, he is not afraid to die when the time comes, as that would free him. This is overcome by having to embrace fear in order to escape prison. He arguably hopes to be needed again. The perceived death of Batman at the end represents him finally being able to move on, especially because he now has another female interest, even if they lack chemistry. Some issues with this are that nothing is stopping him from going back to his depressed state afterwards, as the situation apparently reverts to normal, only Bruce is now physically stronger and has an added ally in Selina. Bruce pretending to be killed and presumably starting a new identity implies that Bruce is inseparable from Batman. By contrast, this movie was about Bruce moving on and continuing life without him. Both entities having faked their deaths at the same time would lead people to think Bruce was Batman.

There are many more noted issues with this film. Not to get too deep in them, but some more include us having little reason to trust Miranda. Why not have her be dating Bruce from frame one? John just being an orphan is seemingly how he figured out Batman’s identity. The “Death or Exile” trials are just filler, wasting potential. What if Bruce needs something from someone, such as Gordon, but he is either killed or busy being exiled? Gordon’s exile may as well be cut out due to adding nothing. The hopelessness of the story would be emphasized if a beloved character died, especially if they had some important information they didn’t get to share. Bane’s death doesn’t have anything to do with him or tie into his character. Bruce really should’ve told at least his friends he’s still alive. Why even fake his death? Is there any reason to suggest Bruce and Selina will work together as a couple? They barely got any positive time together.

More notably, the setup of a new hero and Bruce retiring is supposed to be a feel good message, but Bruce should have plenty of reason to worry. Why would Bruce think John Blake will do good with the power he’s been given? Bruce has trusted Ra’s al Ghul, Harvey Dent, and now Miranda in the past, and they’ve all tried to cause chaos. Also, based on the established conflict of whether Bruce should accept he can’t be Batman anymore, the movie doesn’t decide if he should be or not. Him essentially totally saving the day unharmed would suggest he can still be, but him retiring implies he shouldn’t. As such, his arguing with Alfred amounts to less, especially because Bruce already wanted to retire last film.

OVERVIEW

Due to the use of killing enemies, if not by Batman than by his allies, the movies interestingly seem critical of Batman. The daringness to criticize its hero makes for a unique-feeling series, despite other issues. Based on the darker tone of the trilogy and the theme of no black and white characters, ending with some sort of condemnation of Batman would make a lot of sense, so it’s sad this ending doesn’t provide. Mainly because of some decent catharsis for Bruce, with Bale giving a decent performance, this is still better than Batman Begins. The hopelessness is another prime factor. While it is true that a lot of movies have plot holes, and thus it is something that can be forgiven to a degree, The Dark Knight Rises is so littered with them that you cannot even get into the story. I would say “See for Cillian Murphy’s amusing cameo”, but really just skip this, as well as Begins, and watch The Dark Knight!

The Dark Knight (2008) Review

While Batman Begins feels edited by a blender, The Dark Knight virtually corrects that and all its other issues. It still contains some segmented story elements, as if we’re covering multiple issues of a comic that tell one overall story. As such, certain characters are much more prominent in specific segments, though this plays into the general themes of the story and the overall “plan” of the main antagonist, that chaos can come in different ways and come to haunt us in perhaps the one way we are vulnerable.

Heath Ledger as the Joker is wonderfully chaotic and less controllable than it may seem. This even comes through in little moments. He at one point asks for half of the mobs’ money, but he doesn’t even want it just to use it, he wants to cause trouble by making a claim on it. The Joker barely appears in the movie and he’s all the more intimidating for it. This is mirrored early on when he was essentially hiding in plain sight. He often is getting other people to do his bidding. He has many quotable phrases about how fickle people are, which admittedly are trying a bit too hard to be smart. Less would be more with those. We should only be suggested about how the Joker thinks. This also follows on from the problem of exposition, which is still here, but much better managed.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne gives a much stronger performance than last film, also going for a less is more approach. He is focused on less, being much more about watching the situation and getting down to business. Thus, this does somewhat suggest that Bale lacked the range to be more complicated, though he really doesn’t need to be here. Him trying to remain stoic while having a slight sense of fear and uncertainty on his face speaks wonders. A big theme of this movie is letting you essentially come to your own conclusion on its events. This is even represented in admittedly one of the weaker scenes of a group of people debating if Batman should turn himself in or not, where the dialogue and actors are a bit too over the top.

Part of what’s so great about the Joker is how he really is a genius. He thinks several steps ahead, with no one else able to keep up. As I’ll discuss in spoilers, this movie is better if you erase Begins, but one positive is that characters like Gary Oldman as James Gordon drop much confidence or assuredness, coming to terms with just how little control they have. This even plays into Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, wherein the film subverts how last installment and many other movies include a hero getting the girl at the end. The situations in this movie are often hopeless, with it hard to imagine how anyone would escape and it thrilling to see what people do. This is complimented by a darker visual look that’s not overpowering. The scene of Batman at the top of a building is particularly stylish, as well as the famous one of the truck.

The different focuses of the movie subtly play into each other and make for escalating tension. The story as a whole is more about showing the full area, focusing less on a specific character. As such, a big character piece on someone like Batman would distract. A lot of this movie feels like a police crime drama that happens to have superhuman elements and more action, being about the situation than anyone. As an example, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent is focused on more as a symbol than a character. As a character, he is surprisingly uncomplicated.

SPOILERS

The most convoluted part of the movie is Harvey going bad. While there is an attempted explanation of him going crazy and blaming people like Gordon, it’s all just a bit too out of bounds of what we know of him. Maybe there could’ve been some way where Harvey felt the only chance to save the day was to do something that would get innocent people killed, but take fewer risks? What if he advocated for the evacuation ferry with the prisoners to be blown up?

In mostly believable situations, everyone breaks their own rules. There’s often the debate of whether or not to make any given decision, typically because there’s lives at risk. This challenges the idea of a moral code. Batman and the Joker are positioned as polar opposites, as Batman seems to be the least corruptible and most moral, while the Joker is the least moral and only incorruptible as there is nothing to corrupt. The Joker even often puts himself in a position where he could be killed, probably because he doesn’t really care if he is. While the Joker is apprehended eventually, he does “win” on multiple levels.

He achieves his main goal of breaking Harvey Dent, but he also breaks Bruce Wayne in a more subtle way. For starters, it seems Bruce would be malleable when it comes to trying to save Rachel. He clearly cares more about her than Harvey. Beyond the more obvious example of Batman beating the Joker more brutally than was likely necessary, he directly kills Harvey at the end, which is something he was opposed to ever doing and never did before. He’s also symbolically killing his hope of correctly finding a morally upstanding person that can “take his place”, which suggests he won’t ever be able to retire, at least with assuredness the city is in good hands. This effect is a bit dampened by Bruce being responsible for deaths in Batman Begins, even where in the one at the end, he could’ve just as easily had the victim get arrested, though he instead chose not to save them.

Say what you will about Batman, if he wasn’t here everyone would be screwed. The notable example is it seems the Joker was really going to blow up the ferries, with Batman stopping that from happening. Part of how he gets his information is through shady means. The most realistic is his technology that spies on people with their phones, which reflects real life a little too closely. I doubt the movie wants to make a judgment call on this sort of thing being used in the real world, especially because real people are a lot more breakable than someone like the Joker and don’t have the means to cause this much destruction. Batman beating the Joker earlier also shares similarities with police brutality, mirroring people justifying torture for the purpose of getting information.

If Batman had not done lawless things, like breach the privacy of innocent people, things would be worse for the characters. Whether or not such a thing is needed in real life has of course been a big debate. On the other hand, if Batman had not allied himself with the government, namely Harvey, then the criminals and the Joker may not have seen the need to fight back, mainly by killing Rachel. Even when Harvey early on lawlessly interrogates a minion of the Joker, Batman criticizes how this would affect his image more so than it being unethical. Our hero is more than willing to project something fake and be dishonest for the apparent good of society.

Some would argue the real solution was to not put so much faith in Harvey to begin with. Imagine if Bruce retired, then Harvey went nutty? Even if that is correct, doing so did serve a positive purpose. This mirrors how the audience trusting Batman is foolish when he is sometimes blatantly dishonest or self-minded. The Joker simply being an unknown and intimidating threat ruins the idea that anyone here, from Batman to Harvey to Gordon, are as noble as they say. No matter what, it is scary that Gordon and Batman were left with a dramatic amount of power at the end, which they used to deceive, even if they have good intentions or that it may very well be the right answer.

OVERVIEW

Ironically, one reason this movie works so well is that the strongest actor of the previous film, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, does almost nothing here, suggesting that we’ve moved beyond the lighthearted and relaxed nature of Batman Begins. Everyone is constantly so busy that there’s no time for fluff. You can imagine that Batman might collapse under stress. With us not seeing that, we reinforce this image of Batman not having fun and instead always working. Some might say it’d be better to give him emotions for the audience to grasp onto, which admittedly may improve the story if done right.

It seems the answer to the question of whether or not it’s good to have a vigilante like Batman is that it is, but only to have a few that know what they’re doing, have the resources, and can be trusted. However, realistically we don’t know who those trustworthy people would even be. Even a genuinely well meaning person might have significant issues that draw them back from being untempted by power. This movie throws its hands and does not claim or show that Batman is this perfect force, just that he is the best of the bunch. That is frankly terrifying seeing as he is so trusted, which only goes to show how often in society sketchy people are trusted. A positive interpretation of Batman is that he is the best a rich and educated person that wants to do this whole thing could be. Someone that wants to fight criminals like this would likely have some sort of issues going on that causes them to justify their behavior. The Dark Knight sews in this inherent issue with Batman in a more believable and narratively fulfilling way than most superhero movies that have attempted such a task.

Batman Begins (2005) Review

I love the look of Batman flying.

Batman Begins spares no time to be a mess. Almost immediately we’re put in a first act that seems edited by a woodchipper. Throughout the whole movie the editing is extremely choppy and quick, never letting anything breathe, though this issue is much worse in the beginning. The movie initially tells the origins of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne up to the point where he decides to become a superhero. It dramatically jumps from him as a child to him as an adult, with scenes basically never going on very long and being more about throwing out a blatant piece of plot information to remember. There isn’t much rhyme or reasoning to what is shown and when. There’s also little sense of stakes due to us not getting a chance to take in how Bruce feels or how long anything lasts. When Bruce first meets Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, Henri suggests they should meet up again, and in a difficult way, then in almost no time they are together again. Why even have them separate?

Bale has essentially one mode of being brooding and distant. His performance here has no soul behind the eyes. When it comes to scenes like the one with his parents’ killer, there’s no emotion to him, just a blank expression. Thus, when Bruce is at his weakest or his best, it all feels the same. We don’t know and can’t feel what drives him. Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes is one of the more criticized performances in the film and while she is light on much depth, we at least are not called upon to particularly sympathize or connect with her, so her being bad doesn’t matter much. The villains all try to project a bit of weirdness to them, but it comes off as the actors treating this like a dumb comic book that they don’t understand.

Once Bruce Wayne decides to become a superhero, the movie mildly improves due to being more focused and not feeling a need to set up an obscene amount of plot points. You learn more about Bruce by just watching him trial and error through the situation, though this is light on much substance, like forward momentum or character development. This is essentially some decent fluff. As we get to the third act, the story gets very convoluted. It seems someone might know this as various characters constantly come in to dump exposition about what is happening and why. This problem is at its worst in the end, but is persistent throughout.

SPOILERS

Batman is a lot more morally dubious than you’d expect. Whether this is clever or stupid is up to you. He almost kills the man that shot his parents. While this is later looked down upon by him, Bruce is responsible for many lives being lost. The most notable example is when he refuses to kill a man, which angers Ducard, so to escape Bruce starts a fire that blows up the whole building. Some have argued that many of the people in the building would have had the chance to escape and were not stopped from doing so or it was self defense in order to get out of the situation, but this still leaves us thinking of Bruce as a person whose actions result in lives loss. He doesn’t have to be squeaky clean and moral, but this shows that he isn’t and is never going to be, which goes against any chance to be multilayered. At the end of the movie, he leaves Ducard in a situation where he will die. He uses the logic that he isn’t personally killing him, but he is still partially responsible for the death. Bruce is also responsible for lots of destroyed buildings and infrastructure. You’d think that odds are those buildings fell on some random and innocent people.

There’s a lot of bizarre comic relief moments which can come at the cost of the tone and characters. Scarecrow talking like he’s a big threat, only to be taken out with such ease, is extremely funny. This basically tells us we weren’t ever supposed to take him seriously, especially considering how insignificant he is at the end of the day.

One of the better parts of the story is its development of the inherent issue of someone like Batman, mainly that he is a vigilante that could go corrupt. As much can be said about Ducard. Both bend their rules as needed, supposedly to do the right thing. While Ducard becomes absurd, initially he seems more respectable, not wanting criminals to roam free. Batman himself is a bit challenged with the prospect of something like killing a villain, so they will not hurt people again. The movie has little to meaningfully say about all this. When Batman lets Ducard die, that doesn’t appear to lead to an internal struggle in Bruce or cause complications with anyone. Batman destroying property isn’t wrestled with, which it definitely should have. These ideas show promise, but only go to show how sloppy the film is in paying them off.

OVERVIEW

One way to fix this pacing issue is to make this one story two movies. The first would cover Bruce’s childhood and training, while the second would cover him going back to Gotham and getting into drama there. Apparently he was away for seven years, but there’s very little sense of it, with the audience simply told. Let’s see our hero suffer and fight. While we are told that Bruce was initially very broken, only to use his father as an example and improve himself, what we see is a character that seems impervious to any kind of growth, someone consistently sure of himself and that assertion not being challenged or noted by the film. The journey he goes on is so manufactured in feeling and lacking in real drive that the best you can look at Batman Begins as is as a bit of light spectacle, which is a huge step down for the guy that made Memento. There is decent action and Michael Caine gets some cute and funny bits, so take that from the picture.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) Review

Doctor Who template

At least by modern standards, The Most Dangerous Game is hard to take seriously. Its drama is heavy handed, with strong music overemphasizing big moments, a comically villainous antagonist, and a strong jawed male lead. Joel McCrea as Bob Rainsford gets some unintentional laughs in how he never seems to show fear or even emote. It’s as if McCrea wanted to look good, so insisted his character have almost no “faults” by some strange standard. Still, off of the thrills and scope of the scenes in the jungle, the movie is hard not to love. Even the scenes indoors or other settings look really creepy and intimidating, creating a very striking scenery. The directing adds to this, with some intense shots, like someone in the background watching another in the foreground, which creates a sense of dread. There’s also a lot of darkly lit closeups.

Fay Wray as Eve Trowbridge works as someone for Bob to work off of, but lacks much character or substance. If this story was a book, she could be naturally replaced with us hearing thoughts in Bob’s head. She covers some stereotypes of how women typically are in these movies, but she doesn’t get stuck in those too badly. She has a few highlights. Leslie Banks as Count Zaroff can never be taken seriously, always a mustache twirler. He often overacts his scenes. The character is written reasonably well, with his self-centered obsession with experiencing thrills and being a destined hunter playing into his decisions often. He says his father said his hand was “made for the trigger”. Some of the lesser moments are scarier, like when he asks one of his minions to smile. The smile looks very unnatural.

The final act is decent, but goes into some dull directions of essentially everyone running around a lot. It sometimes does pack in some excitement, but that’s not very consistent. Before that final act, there’s too much setting up the characters, which doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Throughout, there are scenes like Eve calling Bob over silently while Zaroff plays the piano and other bits that at least serve to give the actors slightly more range and things to do that are pleasant to look at. The movie is another overwhelmingly dull.

SPOILERS

There’s a great early scene of screaming and panic befalling those on the ship, with graphic shots of bodies hitting the water and people being eaten by sharks, all filmed with quick cuts and peak intensity. We see a lot of people die horrible deaths. This is all the more terrifying because everyone seems really afraid and as minor characters, they don’t have plot armor. When Bob and Eve are being hunted later, they don’t seem that afraid. The intense brutality of this all is minimized by Bob. Right before all this happens, he says he’s a hunter and not prey and nothing will ever change that, being really oversold foreshadowing.

When someone Bob is on a piece of wreckage with is pulled down by a shark, he barely tries to help them and doesn’t even really seem to care. He later says that his “best friends” were killed on the boat, however he never seems traumatized or shaken by any of it. Based on how he acts, you’d think at worst maybe his friend’s friend died unfortunately and he was just hearing about it, instead of seeing people die in front of him as they scream. When a very worried Eve tells Bob that Zaroff has been keeping her and her brother from leaving, Bob says that maybe he enjoys their company, like what she’s saying isn’t terrifying in its implications. Eve later telling her brother to get an early night, as if concerned Zaroff will do something bad, is a really chilling moment.

Wray does a pretty good job when her character discovers her brother is dead. It’s hard for someone that’s never experienced that to know how someone would act, but it is believable what happens, where she seemingly has a second of disbelief, then starts raising her voice and hitting Zaroff, then she’s taken away by force and begins screaming. Her yelling as she leaves the room is a chilling moment and a highlight of this adventure. When we next see her, she’s distracted by many other things, so it makes sense she might be more focused on her own and Bob’s safety, than her brother’s death. It is a shame that at no point after she is taken away screaming does she mention her brother. When she’s on the boat at the end, why not show her crying over that?

When Bob and Eve are taken into the jungle, Bob says they’ll win, Eve says the others didn’t, then Bob raises his voice with, “We will!” This is a great point that finally shows some insecurity from the lead. He doesn’t seem confident that they will, but it makes sense he’d want to at least try to believe it. Eve later foolishly almost steps on a tripwire that would’ve gotten her killed and she knew about. When that tripwire plan fails, as it was likely to, it appears the leads had no backup plan on how to get Zaroff. Zaroff shooting an arrow right beside Bob and talking to him as Bob silently listens is another great scene.

At one point, Eve starts running away, which doesn’t seem terribly like her. There’s no reason to get away at that moment and Bob obviously would be someone she should stick with, as he knows what he’s doing. The structure of the game itself is a little dull. Instead of stakes escalating, a lot of time is spent on things being tried, then just failing. This problem is eventually corrected when the baddies start getting closer and closer, then eventually it seems Zaroff really does kill Bob. It’s also nice that Bob and Eve are forced down a path that Zaroff’s other victims were killed at, despite originally making a point to avoid it.

It would’ve been a shame if Bob had done everything you’d expect an average person to do, then survive. He does do some things differently, namely jump into the waterfall. It makes me wonder if the only reason Bob was written to be a talented hunter was so that that could be used to explain how he would manage to survive when no one else before him did. The waterfall fight is also really intense. Zaroff playing the piano, only for Bob to unexpectedly and quietly walk in is a tense and sharply directed moment. Bob does manage to really look like a badass by seeming so composed and intelligent, instead of before where he just seemed unable to emote. “You have beaten me!” “Not yet.” is a great line.

Zaroff seems to be lacking in principle. As per his word, he should’ve let Bob go, but he was still trying to kill him at the end, probably because Bob might tell the authorities about him. That weakens some moments where he empowers Bob, such as by giving him a knife, as he wants to be fair. While him saying he’s principled is all well and good, why not have a twist where he proves he’s not in a more dramatic and apparent way? He says he won’t kill Eve, but what if at one point he tries to and is stopped by Bob, thus giving Eve a real reason to be afraid and the both of them to doubt they’d be allowed to get off the island even if they won the game?

Zaroff ultimately suffers a lame death, being mostly taken out by being stabbed by an arrow, then falling into his dogs. Doubly foolish is he seems to have not intended to actually let Bob leave, but he does give him a key and instructions on how to escape. The last shot of Bob and Eve driving off into the distance is a pretty one. It is a novelty that they never explicitly end up together romantically.

OVERVIEW

The Most Dangerous Game is frankly very silly. Still, it’s so much fun that it’s hard not to love for how wacky it can be, while having genuinely beautiful cinematography and direction.

Iron Man (2008) Review

A frame from the film

It can be believed why Iron Man has become cemented in pop culture. It embraces both its limitations and the then-modern trends, featuring lots of fun excess. If this style of “constant stimulation and really simple stories” isn’t for you, there’s not much to go off of here. Even some actors here that have done great stuff in the past, like Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, are way too one note. Basically everyone here is just an archetype with the possible exception of the protagonist, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Downey is clearly a charismatic guy and pulls off some emotion and humor, though his character does very little developing. He’ll be in one mind, then the other. His attitude of “Doing whatever it takes to help people” is basically unwavering, despite how the character was early on. Thus, he seems too perfect and a little bit of grayness to him would go a long way.

The movie opens well on a frame of grand scenery. Afterwards, it becomes overstimulating with lots of brash humor and music, seeming to be trying to make this movie feel modern and distinct from what you might expect. Despite the character of Tony Stark having a defining quality of wanting to do the right thing, both in the beginning and later on he seems mildly misogynist. Tony’s ability to both be rude to women and then immediately get with them further perpetuates how movies like this treat women as objects. The only female character with any development, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, only seems to exist to service Tony. A little bit of scantily clad ladies are tossed in, probably to get a few more eyes in the theater seats. A little romance and comedy are forced in here and there. Especially the romance could so easily be cut, with little chemistry between the participants.

Characters like Ho Yinsen, played by Shaun Toub, don’t serve any purpose other than to help Tony, not even coming back into relevance at the end. Why does this person want to help Tony? Even some of the lesser antagonists are made to seem like they have something to do and are intimidating, only to come to nothing. When Rhodey says he’s not going to drink, only for him to be doing so next scene, he comes off as a very weak character. What got him to change his mind? This shows the character as only mattering for the sake of a little light comedy and having little real point.

The pivotal moments of seeing Tony in his varying suits and trying them out are really striking. There’s a sense that the game is really changing and the stakes are being built on. Each new stage adds a sense of intensity and adventure, with some problems fixed and others needing to be figured out. A lot of the shots of the suits and the following action scenes are some of the best looking moments here, being really stylized. It’s a shame that we get a pretty lame reveal of the proper Iron Man outfit. We see Tony putting it on, then flying in it. It’d be better to only get a good look once arriving at his destination.

There’s a decent critique of Capitalism, with it being stated it’s made easy to have no accountability and ignoring or actively hurting people in poorer countries makes companies money, so they let horrible things happen. Not that I think this message was intended, but even near the end, Tony endangers innocent people by being careless and/or testing inventions, which could be a commentary on how rich people care more about their novelties than other people. The government is also shown to be complicit or actively hurting people.

The movie was a lot more violent than I was expecting. There’s a huge body count and some of it has a bit of realism, being really sudden. Still, the cartoon physics is quite absurd. After an explosive goes off next to Tony, it’s hard to believe he’s not more seriously injured or dead. In fact, there’s numerous points where he should’ve died if the physics was accurate, but in the movie he’s fine.

SPOILERS

There’s sharp tonal whiplash where after some light conversation, everyone except Tony seemingly dies. Instead of being able to see Tony react to how his weapons are being used by malicious people, someone just tells him about it and how he should feel bad. There’s no subtlety. When Tony and Yinsen were building the prototype suit, why did no one see they obviously weren’t building what they wanted and stop them?

Later, why would Tony keep flying up as ice surrounds his suit? This does match how overconfident he can be. He masters his suit way too quickly when you think he’d struggle more. This could go to challenge his seeming perfection and aid in the final fight. While it’s hard not to be captivated by Tony’s “liberation” of a society by gang members, it symbolizes rich people doing charity for small groups, instead of doing things on a grander scale that don’t look as good for their image. In the context of the movie, the scene is fine. You can imagine Iron Man always running around saving people, but the subtext of him just occasionally helping people is pretty uncomfortable.

When we learn of Obadiah being an antagonist, he suddenly becomes cartoonishly mean. This comes down to him pointlessly explaining his plan to Tony, which only hurts him. The last fight scene ties off the film well, with Tony having to defeat Obadiah despite having many disadvantages. The way Tony defeats Obadiah is clever, though there’s a few contrivances that get him his victory. If Tony had been struggling with his suit earlier, the fight would be more intense. Why feature Obadiah being set back by the icing issue, if he would be fine in little time? Obadiah continues to come off as an idiot when he keeps shooting around Tony, without hitting him.

Tony’s rambling at the end about how he’s not like a superhero seems to be trying way too hard to distinguish this movie series from past superhero media. It’s a little too heavy handed, though Tony frankly saying, “I am Iron Man.” is a great line, simply and gracefully distinguishing itself from the understanding of superheroes most would have, without being overdone or out of character.

OVERVIEW

Despite the generally positive reception, Iron Man is too empty beyond the surface. Even some of the more unexpected ideas, like the Capitalism critique, don’t serve the story as much as it should. It’s still a decent action romp. There is another excellent line in the mix from a minor character, “I hope you’ll repay me with the gift of iron soldiers.”

Doctor Who (Classic) 063: The Time Monster // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 5

Context for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who

In the classic era of Doctor Who, stories were divided up into multiple episodes, in a serialized fashion. The show follows The Doctor, the protagonist, on various adventures through space and time in his ship called the TARDIS. Since Spearhead from Space, he’s been exiled to Earth and aiding the monster fighting-military organization, U.N.I.T. Other main characters are U.N.I.T. members, Jo, The Brigadier, Benton, and Yates. The Daleks, Cybermen, and Master are recurring villains.

The Time Monster is a welcome return for the UNIT gang and increases the stakes for the purpose of being a good finale. The Master is beautifully cunning here, losing a lot of the hokeyness he possessed in The Sea Devils. Mikes Yates and especially John Benton get a lot of good scenes and lines to make themselves presences. The Brigadier is arguably a little too shorthanded, but he has some nice bits. This episode is definitely made by the great back and forths between the Doctor and the Master, especially in episode four. They do seem to have some respect for each other, but obviously many strong disagreements. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning turn in excellent performances, feeling the weight of their time together.

There is a recurring theme of feminism, mainly restricted to references to gender by the character of Ruth and her associate Stuart. There’s an amusing moment related to this theme in the last episode of the serial, but it overall amounts to nothing substantial. While some female characters have purpose and agency this serial, notably Jo, they’re not particularly distinct or related to gender when compared to other moments of Jo or other women doing something. Due to all these references, the story probably wanted to say something on gender and/or sexism. Though the Doctor is often testy with Jo, here he is particularly snippy, like when he raises his voice for her to get the Brigadier. Arguably this might’ve been part of this theme, with the Doctor’s attitude towards his female assistant being supposed to mean something, but what is hard to say. There’s nothing that could pass as a moment of the Doctor realizing that he was wrong for his treatment, or even right.

One particularly amusing moment is when a scene opens on Jo saying the Doctor is the most infuriating *man* she’s ever met and that she’s asked a million times what the thing he’s holding is. He responds like he didn’t know she was asking. That means either he was ignoring her for no reason or he was so focused on what he was doing he couldn’t hear her. If it’s the latter, he hasn’t had this problem before. Is that supposed to signify that he won’t give much thought to a dumb woman? Another moment shows a device going off in Jo’s hand. Jo references that it’s done that and the Doctor acts like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, a little later he acknowledges the sound going off right next to him. He was literally in the same room as it, so how couldn’t he have heard it immediately?

Miscellaneous comments: There are some charming comedy moments, like Stuart dancing after a successful experiment. One of the highlights of the season is when Mike Yates has to battle some historical baddies, who pop into modern time. Episode one’s opening is striking, with a moody setting and filming. Despite this, it’s ridiculous when realizing that the reason the Doctor discovered the Master is up to something is because he had a dream, instead of something more substantial being the cause.

A scene of Stuart being distraught is laughably bad. A lot of Ruth’s dialogue, especially the gender based lines, are extremely unrealistic, as if the writer never met a real woman before. In fact, the one-off actors are particularly bad, with the scenes with Atlantians losing impact because of their extremely wooden performances. Inside the TARDIS in one scene, the door is slightly ajar, probably by accident. The interior was also redesigned for some reason. At the end of episode five, the cliffhanger music starts early, with us not getting to see Jo’s reaction.

SPOILERS

After the Doctor finds Stuart after he aged fifty-five years in a few seconds, Jo asks if they’re too late and he says they were just in time. The Master being able to imitate people’s voices makes him too powerful. Fortunately, his plan that involves that doesn’t work as Benton doesn’t seem to buy it. After the Master easily removes a gun from Benton’s hand, it’s pointed out how dumb it was that the Master was able to overpower him so easily. Roger Delgado gets a funny moment where he tells Benton that that is the oldest trick in the book. Why even keep Benton alive? He does in fact get up and it wouldn’t be hard for him to make trouble for the Master. Even though the Master thinks he can’t be stopped, he’s thought such a thing every serial pretty much. You’d think he’d learn his lesson and stop Benton.

The Master amusingly tells Kronos to obey, who is flying around screeching, not even acknowledging him. He then contains them in a room, saying they’ll stay there until he needs them. You’d think the Brigadier would understand that the Doctor often does weird things for a reason, so why would he be so in his face about what the Doctor was working on, assuming it isn’t for anything? Really good cliffhanger for episode three. Yates has been around for two seasons, but he’s not so major that you couldn’t believe he’d be killed off.

Episode four is just a fantastic episode that focuses on the battle of wits between the Doctor and the Master, with Jo, who has been pushed aside for some of this serial, having an emotional performance when the drama is high. One of Pertwee’s finest moments is when the Doctor realizes he must endanger himself just for the chance of the Master listening to him. Manning responds just as well, explosive over the idea of the Doctor sacrificing himself. When Jo thinks the Doctor is dead, she is argumentative with the Master, saying she doesn’t care if he kills her.

This episode also has one of the best cliffhangers of the show. We know the Master just did something to Jo, but we don’t know what. On top of that, the Master seems to have everything going his way. Minor negatives include the Master scrambling the Doctor’s words as he speaks being pretty ridiculous. The Doctor doesn’t seem to realize that the Master might kill Jo once he’s not around.

It’s basically unexplained how the Doctor could just magically save himself from last episode. It’s a really cheap resolution. It’s pretty funny when the Doctor solemnly says someone died where he’d have no way of knowing if he actually did. He didn’t look hurt that badly and the Doctor would have no reason to think it was a fatal excursion, he then sees the crystal he was looking for and directs Jo’s attention to it. They then move on from the apparent death like nothing happened. Why even mention the death, seeing as it’s just this awkward element wedged in the plot?

Episode six improves when the main characters leave Atlantis, with the Master and Jo having a dialogue where Jo is upset at him. That being said, the Master says the Doctor and Atlantis were destroyed, when neither appeared to be. Maybe the script called for something that looked more like a proper destruction, but what we see is Atlantis at worst being a little disordered? There’s no reason to think the Doctor was killed, though the Master acts like he’s convinced. Even if the Master saw something like the Doctor be bludgeoned violently, he knows the Doctor can regenerate.

Another one of the strongest scenes of the Third Doctor era is when Jo, after a season of constantly fretting over the Doctor in danger, encourages the Doctor to kill her and himself for the purpose of also getting the Master, even doing it herself when the Doctor refuses. This crushing darkness and mortality should’ve been used more for the point of narrative impact, though admittedly the less it’s used the more effective it is. Still, there could be a careful medium. After this moment is a really striking special effect.

The idea of the Doctor and Jo being saved by and then talking to a God is a fascinating idea, with the visual look of the two TARDISes in a void a good one. Ignoring the actual appearance of the God being quite off putting, there are other negative implications. Couldn’t the Doctor wish for the Master to be free, but also not villainous? Couldn’t the Doctor wish for so much? He doesn’t even ask for Atlantis to be restored to a pre-Master state. You could almost believe this was supposed to be the finale to Doctor Who, with the Doctor originally having asked to basically fix the universe of all that ails it. For obvious reasons, this episode is more concerned with maintaining the status quo, so why have the Doctor meet someone that apparently can fix everything? Except, maybe she can’t as she couldn’t even prevent the Master from escaping?

You can almost imagine the purpose of having a God here is to explain how the leads could wiggle out of Jo doing something that should kill them. A possible way to fix this is for this God to not be so powerful as to end the show and for it being more costly and problematic for the Doctor and Jo to get back to Earth. The Doctor says no one deserves an eternity of torment, as a way to explain not letting the Master be tortured forever. This is an annoying contradiction as the Doctor is sometimes fine with creatures suffering if they’re bad enough. He arguably holds the Master to a different standard because they were once friends.

OVERVIEW

There’s sadly ultimately little point to Stuart and Ruth. They were given a small story and character traits, only to be suddenly unimportant when the Doctor and Jo go to a different location. Stuart’s subplot is particularly meaningless, suggesting there was a purpose in an early draft. Baby Benton is similarly random.

Season nine of Doctor Who benefits from more excuses to go off Earth. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning pack enough personality into their scenes that you’re not sorry to be away from the very likable Brigadier and UNIT. Some plot contrivances and pacing issues hurt the flow and impact of stories. The 60s era had a way of really getting lost in the affairs that the 70s don’t as well. In order to keep the formula working, there are some issues. The Master comes off as extremely pathetic, constantly making grand plans that probably wouldn’t work even if the Doctor wasn’t there to stop him. The Doctor does seem to care about Jo and want her to stay safe. Thus, he seems incompetent when she multiple times gets close to death, and he keeps letting her go on dangerous missions. That all being said, every installment of this season has more than its fair share of charm and lovability. Personally, I wouldn’t skip any in a rewatch of the show.

Despite the problems, there’s much in the favor of the story. The Time Monster does a little calling back to past serials this season and leaves you wanting to know more about the Doctor and the Master’s relationship. Plus taking the more epic nature of it into account, this is a great finale and one of the biggest highlights of the Pertwee era. See for the Doctor’s tea leaves-powered device made to annoy the Master.

Doctor Who (Classic) 062: The Mutants // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 4

Context for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who

In the classic era of Doctor Who, stories were divided up into multiple episodes, in a serialized fashion. The show follows The Doctor, the protagonist, on various adventures through space and time in his ship called the TARDIS. Since Spearhead from Space, he’s been exiled to Earth and aiding the monster fighting-military organization, U.N.I.T. Other main characters are U.N.I.T. members, Jo, The Brigadier, Benton, and Yates. The Daleks, Cybermen, and Master are recurring villains.

This serial has a more significant case of “being too slow and treading early on” than most. Such a problem is most significant in the first four episodes. If this serial was a movie, episode one probably would and could be condensed into five minutes. That all being said, the last two episodes have good payoff. There’s some good cheesy fun throughout, but they’re most prevalent in the end, especially episode six. There’s some pretty weird stuff in that last part that is so ridiculous it’ll have you laughing. Even if by episode six you’re still bored, there is something that will without fail wake you up.

There are expectedly some really ridiculous moments, with some good ideas. Why would the Doctor forcefully open doors instead of waiting for someone to get him? The Doctor acts like it’s unreasonable for him to not be allowed into the conference with no pass and with a strange item that could be a weapon. When an alarm is going off in the beginning of episode two, you can’t hear what anyone’s saying. Episode three’s cliffhanger’s quite good. Episode four’s would be much stronger if the special effects were better. The inside of the caves look excellent, being extremely colorful and psychedelic. It’s a shame there wasn’t a contrivance for our characters to stay in it more.

A black character is named Cotton. His actor, Rick James, is good at his role, though he usually is just running around in a group. His character being an officer in this corrupt government could’ve been used as commentary or to give a unique perspective on the story. Shame no one thought to change his name. The scientist character’s callousness does supply some subtle characterization of this world, with him taking things like killing lightly.

Garrick Hagon as Ky’s performance is lovably bad. This is most notable in his hammy speech in the first episode. The character of Varan gets an Oscar moment at the end of episode three. He’s supposed to be going through something emotional, but his acting is so thoughtless and wooden, with the background set so cheap. It’s unbelievable this was considered acceptable or that people watching this weren’t on the floor.

Jo is generally a liability here, not doing much to make herself useful. A recurring issue in the series is the Doctor having to make unwanted compromises in order to save her life. It gets ridiculous that he’d allow her to come with him on adventures. If the Doctor simply gets a thrill out of taking someone along, then that’s pretty immoral that he’d do something that can endanger multiple people. Episode four leans heavy on the cheese, featuring a lot of running around that will bore some to tears, losing some of the pace and energy of the previous episode.

SPOILERS

At the end of episode one, when the Doctor’s container is opened by Ky, who is running away, he yells he should wait as the box is for him, like Ky would care and isn’t trying to escape guards. Episode one’s cliffhanger is a classy one, following up on the beginning of the episode where the Doctor told Jo the mission was too dangerous for her to join in. Jo goes with Ky when she has little reason to trust him or think she won’t be walking into great danger. She later explains she went with him for the sake of her and the Doctor’s mission there, but that’s not worth her endangering her life. When the Doctor is told Jo might be killed, he doesn’t seem that worked up over it. When the Marshal threatens to not try to find Jo, whose life is in danger, if the Doctor doesn’t help him open the container, the Doctor says it’s unethical to open it as it’s for Ky. Why would he care so much about that in this situation?

After the Doctor stops Stubbs or Varan from killing each other, he takes the gun and hands it back to Stubbs, as if he wouldn’t then just try to shoot Varan. After Varan is saved by the Doctor, you’d think he would like or appreciate him, but he briefly wants to kill the Doctor due to a misunderstanding for the purpose of getting a cliffhanger. A reason is later quickly contrived for him to help the Doctor and he doesn’t show that disliking of the Doctor he had shown moments before for the rest of the serial. If only changing people’s minds on propaganda-engrained political issues was as easy as the Doctor with Stubbs here.

When the Doctor and Varan find Ky, the Doctor gives some plot, Ky and Varan then interrupt to argue, then Ky turns back to talk to the Doctor like that argument hadn’t just happened. The pacing and writing continue to be awkward. Some lines about Jo’s safety are thrown in, seemingly out of necessity, then everything stops for a few seconds so the Doctor can get the container for Ky. Later, Cotton and Stubbs say they’re going to leave so as to escape the dangerous gas. Next scene Cotton is shown with the Doctor, being stationary. It’s funny to see the Doctor just leave Sondergaard on the ground to get the crystal, though there is a point to it.

At one point, guards shoot at the Doctor, despite being told not to. At the end of episode five, Cotton becomes panicked amusingly quickly. When people arrive at the hearing against the Marshal, the investigator comically shouts who those people are. The Marshal grabs a gun at his hearing and shoots a mutant, not thinking that wouldn’t be unnecessary or make him look bad. Why would the investigator listen to the Marshal’s order to be put in command after he killed the mutant? Ky floating around, especially when he explains why and that he will kill the Marshal is simply the funniest thing. The Marshal is just poofed out of existence. Also, why wouldn’t the Doctor try to prevent his death? He is usually against even the villains being killed in the series.

It seems the Time Lords knew how to save the day and what needed to be done. Why not just send someone to tell Ky or Sondergaard what to do clearly instead of making things far more cryptic, so everyone’s got to run around getting into scrapes, with the Doctor initially knowing very little? The Doctor should not be okay with taking Jo on adventures after how close she got to death, and due to her own recklessness. He literally told her at first to not come along as he thinks it’s too dangerous. While superfluous characters are reasonably common this show, what was the point of the character of Varan? Why give him his backstory with Ky and the fate he ultimately gets? He seems to just exist to help out the Doctor once.

OVERVIEW

While The Mutants is on the dull side, there are good moments. The certain scene in episode six is an absolute riot of so-bad-it’s-good and makes it an extremely entertaining watch, though of course a few glorious minutes doesn’t save the whole serial. Still, the big dumb adventure element is charming and lasts the whole story, making it worthwhile on the level of satisfying a sci-fi itch. See for the Doctor’s Vulcan nerve pinch.

Doctor Who (Classic) 060: The Curse of Peladon // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 2

A frame from the serial

Context for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who

In the classic era of Doctor Who, stories were divided up into multiple episodes, in a serialized fashion. The show follows The Doctor, the protagonist, on various adventures through space and time in his ship called the TARDIS. Since Spearhead from Space, he’s been exiled to Earth and aiding the monster fighting-military organization, U.N.I.T. Other main characters are U.N.I.T. members, Jo, The Brigadier, Benton, and Yates. The Daleks, Cybermen, and Master are recurring villains.

The Curse of Peladon is a great atmospheric story, though it takes a little while to get going. The former is encapsulated in the opening shot, a beautiful stormy night raining on a castle on top of a cliff. The whole story has a dark and foreign look. Adding more to this charm are things like the great fight scene. The suave nature and clothing of the Doctor paired with the dirty floor and guerilla style of filming is what it’s all about. The 70s grit is killer. Episode three also has a really nice cliffhanger.

Geoffrey Toone as Hepesh is glorious, able to carry the drama well. His beard is also fantastic. Henry Gilbert as Torbis has a solid dynamic with Hepesh. It’s a shame he doesn’t have much importance. The fact he was brothers with Hepesh suggests their relationship originally had more of a purpose. Alan Bennion as Izlyr is another favorite, having a twist about him that makes him especially interesting. Of all the bit characters, he seems the most logical. Some of the actors really sell their characters and this story, making it claustrophobic and captivating.

The ability to appreciate this story on its merits will be broken by some when they see Alpha Centauri. The character is a big green bug with an almost shrieking voice. As a committed Doctor Who fan, this was not such a big deal, though it was still laughable, but Centauri basically commands that this not be one of the first Who stories one should watch. The character’s costume creaking in a dramatic scene in episode four, with the costume trying to look dour, is especially laugh-worthy. Similar negatives can be levied against the character of Arcturus.

David Troughton as King Peladon is not good at saying his frequent hokey lines, like, “Enough! I will not have my Chancellor and my High Priest squabbling on the steps of the throne.” His moments of being quiet or humble are better. Episode one does get caught in trying to subtly include story information in dialogue and also expect the actors to act like they’re political leaders. Save for Hepesh and one other, it’s difficult to believe them as such. There are also editing errors. There’s some really close and awkward edits at the beginning of episode four. There’s a point where Alpha Centauri says the first syllable of a sentence before a cut to the next scene.

Jo is not the most likable character, sometimes storming into a situation without thinking. The character element works as she’s consistent, yet she sometimes conveniently shows up at the best possible time for story purposes. She at one point gets the amazingly bad line of “Well, I feel… definitely… wobbly at the knees!” You’d think the Doctor and Jo would constantly be concerned about doing something that could get them killed, but they often walk into situations where death could possibly result. Jo brings up a good point that the Doctor has basically endangered her life by getting the two of them more involved in this drama than they had to.

SPOILERS

Torbis’ death should’ve had more of an impact on the king and Hepesh. They get over it way too quickly. The king says there’s no danger to the delegates, not even telling them of Torbis’ death, they find out another way. Either he doesn’t realize that there’s no way he’d know they’re safe or he cares more about the meeting going well, at the cost of the delegates’ safety. This dynamic of the character should’ve been explored more. To be fair, his ignorance is a little.

It’s a stretch to say the delegates didn’t cancel the meeting after the first death. After the episode one cliffhanger, how could they not cancel it? Jo is way too accusatory of the Ice Warrior. Also, if she thinks the Ice Warrior was trying to kill Arcturus, why would she so blatantly reveal that she knows what they’re up to? A wiser person would consider that they might be killed so they wouldn’t be able to reveal what they did to others. After the Doctor is accused of a crime, he is told the law allows for no defense for this claim. Such a law being enacted is so unbelievable it breaks the logic of this episode, albeit briefly. Especially because this is obviously just for a cheap cliffhanger.

The king says there’s an alternative after saying there’s no choice but for the Doctor to be executed. This is just a plot convenience to justify the drama of thinking the Doctor will die. Why would Hepesh be so stuck on protecting rules, then help the Doctor escape? Jo seems really cruel when she tries to guilt trip the delegates into helping the Doctor, when they’d be risking their lives doing so. The Doctor storming into the throne room looks so badass, with a great moody shot of him to boot.

How did Arcturus think he could get away with killing the Doctor out in the open? Later, the Doctor just explains everything, instead of giving these plot clues in a more natural way. This last episode has a decent amount of filler, which could’ve gone to exploring this. The Doctor often seeming to know exactly what to do can be quite ridiculous, like he’s read the script for this serial. Based on how Aggedor attacks people, it’s hard to believe that would be even close to a killing blow. This could’ve been prevented by not letting the audience see so much of the attack.

The king comes off as pretty unlikable when he pressures Jo into staying with him. He even says he won’t stop asking her. She gives him a peck kiss in response. What he said was creepy! Jo appears to actually consider staying with him. Was this supposed to be something the audience was thinking about? They had such a thin relationship that who would want them to be together? When he proposed to Jo after condemning the Doctor to death, could he possibly have had less game?

OVERVIEW

If the Doctor and Jo see Queen Victoria’s coronation, and the Doctor has already been, then there’d be two Doctors there. Some plot conveniences hold this back, with the last episode going predictably. Still, this is a compelling adventure and worth at least one watch. See to hear Jon Pertwee’s lovely singing voice.