When Castlevania first landed on Netflix, I was just happy that it finally made it.

Never did I believe for an instance that we would end up seeing a Castlevania Season 3.

It was an even bigger stretch to think that this show would be one of the best shows on the streaming platform.

Adi Shankar created the show which is inspired by a video game called Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse.

The first two seasons were great, but Castlevania Season 3 saw the show enter new realms. I mean that literally.

The new season is kind of breaking away from the video games and starting to explore new worlds in this strange universe in which vampires, monsters and aliens exist.

Castlevania Season 3 takes us to place we never thought it would go

Castlevania Season 3 goes to new places we never thought it would go – Credit: Netflix

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Season 3 starts off where Season 2 ended. Dracula has been beaten and the remaining vampires have gone into hiding.

Dracula’s son, Alucard now lives in the remains of his father’s castle and is slowly going mad due to the isolation.

Meanwhile, Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades are travelling the land and fighting ‘night creatures’.

Things start to change when they end up in a village in which strange things are happening.

Then Alucard is visited by two strangers who claim to have been captives of one of the vampire lords in Japan.

What I loved so much about Season 3 was the risks it took.

This is very intricate storytelling with plotlines which feel like they’re separate but I’m sure will end up colliding in Season 4.

Castlevania is now the best video game adaptation of all time

Adrian “Alucard” Tepes has a tough time in Castlevania Season 3 – Credit: Netflix

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The first two seasons of Castlevania already demonstrated how talented a writer Warren Ellis is.

He’s merely developed on that fact in Season 3 and has been given permission to really have fun.

There’s stuff in Season 3 which feels more like 2001: A Space Odyssey rather than Castlevania.

That’s something I really love about this show. It’s not afraid to go places other shows might be too cautious to venture.

Castlevania Season 3 is a brilliant set up for Season 4, but it’s more than that.

The show’s pace could be criticised somewhat, but the pace allows for incredible character development.

We keep on learning new things about Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard, even three seasons in.

It’s easily the best video game adaptation ever made, but it’s now far beyond that now.

Netflix’s Castlevania should be seen as its own entity which is merely inspired by the games.

Castlevania Season 3 is available to stream on Netflix right now.

Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

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WARNING: There are SPOILERS for Watchmen Season 1 in this review.

‘Who watches the Watchmen?’ I hear you ask. Answer: everybody should have watched HBO’s Watchmen because it was the best show on TV.

The show was created by Damon Lindelof, who’s famous for having been behind such shows as Lost and The Leftovers. He also helped write Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Prometheus, World War Z and a whole load of other movies which include the not-so-good Cowboys & Aliens.

He’s had a pretty interesting career, but it wasn’t really until he made The Leftovers that people really started to take notice of Lindelof as being one of the greatest writers working in Hollywood today.

You see, Lindelof was very busy and wrote a lot of stuff, but there were often issues with the final products he was attached to, and it wasn’t until he got to make The Leftovers that people saw what Lindelof was capable of if left alone to his own devices.

He’s only bolstered his cachée as being one of the best writers, showrunners and all-round storytellers with his latest show for HBO, Watchmen.

The show takes place after the events of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic graphic novel in which masked vigilantes exist in a world in which Richard Nixon never left office in the United States.

Who should watch the Watchmen? Everybody

Regina King as Sister Knight in Watchmen Season 1 – Credit: HBO

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Set 34 years after the events of the graphic novel, Watchmen takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma where a white supremacist group called the Seventh Kavalry, inspired by Rorschach’s diary writings and his unique masked image, wage war against minorities.

They specifically target the police force and end up attacking 40 police officers’ homes on Christmas Eve 2016.

One of those offices is Angela Abar (played by Regina King) who manages somehow to survive the attack.

After that night, which was later named the White Night, Angela and the remaining police force are forced to hide their faces with yellow masks as a means to protect their identities.

This included certain costumed detectives, including Angela, who then goes by the name of Sister Knight and she has to keep her identity a secret from everybody.

That’s the beginning premise of the show and I really don’t want to spoil anything that happens in it. It’s about all you need to know to be honest.

What’s so good about Watchmen is the storytelling. It’s a real masterclass of how to tell a powerful, effective and important story in the realms of a TV show.

Watchmen Season 1 is storytelling perfection

Watchmen Season 1 also looks and sounds great – Credit: HBO

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It’s really something to behold. The excellent writing is backed up by equally impressive acting and direction.

When finishing the season, you realise that every tiny story beat in the show was deliberate and served a purpose.

There were no loose ends and there were clues peppered throughout the whole show as to how it was all going to end.

That’s the real genius of Watchmen, and I don’t use that word lightly. This show is pure genius.

I’ve never before watched such a meticulously crafted season of television. The whole show is a story in itself, which is probably why Lindelof has said he doesn’t really want to do a Season 2.

It makes sense. They had one story they wanted to tell, and they told it in one season.

HBO might not be so happy about this. Of course, they’d love to greenlight a second season because it gained a pretty large audience and was heralded as one of the best shows of 2019.

Watchmen Season 1 is one of the best shows of 2019

Damon Lindelof created a masterpiece with Watchmen Season 1 – Credit: HBO

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However, I really do respect Lindelof’s decision to keep it to one season, and that just makes me love Watchmen even more.

It’s a beautifully told and perfectly contained story which really does deserve to be seen by everybody.

Granted, it might be a bit hard to follow if you have no prior knowledge of the comic or even Zack Snyder’s movie. However, I think that even people who knew nothing about Watchmen before this series will get something out of it.

Certain episodes within the first season I would say are genuine masterpieces. I’m thinking specifically of the show’s sixth episode, This Extraordinary Being, which is a flashback episode unlike any other I’ve seen before.

If you haven’t seen Watchmen yet, I would highly recommend you do. I’ve really tried to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but that’s not always easy.

Have you watched Watchmen Season 1 yet, and if so, what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

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WARNING: There are SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Season 1 in this review.

The Mandalorian Season 1 was easily one of the most eagerly anticipated TV shows of 2019. Star Wars just could not wait to see what the very first live-action TV show set in a galaxy far, far away had to offer, and neither could it.

It’s a show which held so much promise, especially given the fact that its showrunner was Jon Favreau and it had the likes of him,  Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa and Christopher Yost all helping to write the first season’s story.

Then there were the directors involved with this project. If you take a look a who directed the episodes of The Mandalorian Season 1, you’ll see some really interesting names.

Dave Filoni got to direct two of the episodes, as did Dope director, Rick Famuyiwa and Canadian filmmaker Deborah Chow, who looks set to become one of Hollywood’s most interesting young directors.

Then you have the likes of Bryce Dallas Howard getting to helm one episode in the middle of The Mandalorian Season 1, and it’s obvious that she’s learnt a thing or two about directing from her dad, Ron Howard.

The Mandalorian Season 1 boasts some really good directors

The Mandalorian Season 1 is a solid beginning for this new Star Wars live-action TV show – Credit: Lucasfilm

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Finally, the show’s incredible finale was directed by Taika Waititi, who’s the cool cat director working in Hollywood today and currently is flavour of the month as far as in-demand directors are concerned.

So, put all of this together and you should be getting one of the best TV shows ever made, yet The Mandalorian does fall somewhat short of that.

In reality, it falls a long way short of being one of the best shows ever made. However, what I can say about it is that it is a lot of fun.

The show is fun to watch, but one of its biggest problems is that there’s a lot of flab in the middle that really doesn’t need to be there.

You could literally remove a few of the episodes and the show would still make sense. You could also watch the series in almost any order, as long as you watch the pilot and the two final episodes in the correct order.

This is a huge problem since Disney opted to release the episodes weekly. First off, the episodes are too short for that.

There’s really nothing to latch onto in 30 minutes and you find yourself kind of wondering why you’re watching the show in the first place once an episode ends.

Pedro Pascal is great as The Mandalorian

Pedro Pascal is very good as The Mandalorian – Credit: Lucasfilm

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The show’s premise is really interesting, however, as is its central two characters. Baby Yoda basically destroyed the Internet with its cuteness and Pedro Pascal is excellent as The Mandalorian.

He’s able to display genuine emotion despite spending most of the series under a helmet. It’s really quite impressive.

You have a decent supporting cast with the likes of Carl Weathers, Nick Nolte and Werner Herzog all putting in fine performances.

However, I’m not so sure about Gina Carano as Carasynthia “Cara” Dune. She almost comes off as a character who should be in a The CW superhero show, and I’m not keen on that.

That said, she does come into her own in the final two episodes.

There’s a bit of that with Bill Burr too, who only appears in one episode as Mayfeld, as he feels like he’s from a completely different show.

I do love the episode he’s in though, Chapter 6: The Prisoner, which seems to be inspired by sci-fi horror movies and was written by Christopher Yost and Rick Famuyiwa (who also directed the show).

After having watched the whole of The Mandalorian Season 1, I do think that its final two episodes save the show.

Moreover, the introduction of Giancarlo Esposito’s character, Moff Gideon gives the new Star Wars TV show some real meat to chew on.

The Mandalorian Season 1 is a little light on plot

The Mandalorian is still one of the best TV Shows of 2019 – Credit: Lucasfilm

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Esposito is doing some real scenery-chewing stuff here, but the show needed a character like that to really latch onto, otherwise it’s a bit void of really interesting side characters.

There’s also the fact that the show’s ‘villain’ doesn’t come into it until the very end which irked me somewhat because it meant that there was no real sense of doom.

Each episode felt like its own little adventure and there wasn’t really any sense of an overarching storyline apart from ‘save the child’, and by ‘child’ I mean Baby Yoda.

There’s not much in the way of plot here, and it very much feels like stuff kind of just happens to The Mandalorian.

He hops from one planet to the next with Baby Yoda and it’s not until the end that we really get to see him be anything more than just lucky during battles.

The Mandalorian Season 2 should be good

The Mandalorian is cool, but is it more than that? – Credit: Lucasfilm

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But, as I said earlier, I did have fun with The Mandalorian Season 1 and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s to come.

The show ends on a real high note and makes you want to see more, which is to be expected. They knew what they were doing when they came up with this show.

However, I do wonder whether it would have benefited from being released all at once because watching one episode each week didn’t really do it for me.

If you watch the show as a whole, with no week breaks, I think it would have a far better experience.

What did you think of The Mandalorian Season 1? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

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WARNING: Potential SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Episode 6, called The Prisoner, in this review.

Now, this is what I wanted from The Mandalorian series on Disney Plus! It’s taken the show a while to get to this point, but this sort of episode is why I’ve been so excited to see the live-action Star Wars TV show.

This episode, which is called Chapter 6: The Prisoner, is easily the best episode of the show since the pilot, which I still think was pretty darn good.

The episode sees Rick Famuyiwa return as director, but he also helped write the episode’s script with Christopher Yost who’s a pretty well-known comic book writer.

One of the reasons why The Mandalorian Episode 6 kind of stands above the rest is because it’s a confined story, but confined in a good way.

Most of the episode takes place in one location, a spaceship prison, and it shows The Mandalorian at his very best.

The Mandalorian Is Back On Track

The Mandalorian and the Devaronian strongman Burg in Episode 6 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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Here you see why he’s such a legend in this universe. You see him having to use his smarts, his weapons and his fighting ability.

You also see his morals in this episode, which has been evident throughout the show, but I really do like this ‘honour among thieves’ vibe Mando has going on in The Mandalorian Episode 6.

There’s also a very amusing subplot involving Richard Ayoade’s droid, Zero, and Baby Yoda which I just loved.

I also love the fact that they cast comedian Bill Bur as an ex-Imperial sharpshooter (yes, I love the irony there) called Mayfeld, and he’s brilliant in this episode.

One of the things this show has done very well is bringing in some of the stranger and odd-looking aliens in the Star Wars universe, and they’ve got some real oddities in this episode.

This rag-tag bunch of thieves banded together to go and rescue someone of the spaceship prison includes, as well as The Mandalorian, Mayfeld, a Devaronian strongman Burg (I love the design of this guy. He basically looks like a demon), the droid pilot Zero, and the knife-wielding Twi’lek woman Xi’an.

It’s great seeing the likes of a Devaronian and a Twi’lek in live-action again and they look great in this episode. This is where fan-service actually works because it’s also world-building, and not just throwing in nods and winks to things to please the Star Wars fans.

You’ve got to love seeing Bill Bur in a Star Wars TV show

Bill Burr in The Mandalorian Episode 6 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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The fact that this whole episode is almost entirely set on the prison spaceship really helps to bring focus and it’s also a great and genuinely Star Wars location.

We’re not going back to a planet like Tatooine just to have The Mandalorian repair his ship and look for work. This episode expands the Star Wars universe by showing us something we haven’t seen before, but have it evidently be in a location we can recognise as being part of this galaxy far far away.

I had been losing hope with The Mandalorian before watching this episode, but The Prisoner has brought me back on board, and I’m now looking forward to seeing what’s coming up next.

Interestingly enough, this is also the only episode of the show which wasn’t written by Jon Favreau, which might explain why it feels so different to the other ones.

This actually has been slightly worried that The Mandalorian’s final two episodes will just revert back to the over-reliance on fan-service we’ve come to expect from this Disney Plus Star Wars show.

What did you make of The Mandalorian Episode 6? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!

The post The Mandalorian Episode 6 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

I’ve said this time and time again. Watchmen is 2019’s best TV show, and what Damon Lindelof, his writers’ room and the show’s directors have done a remarkable job in making a genuinely impressive follow-up to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel. Watchmen Episode 8, called A God Walks Into A Bar, is yet another impeccable episode of television.

Watchmen so far has been intertwining mysteries with other mysteries and we’re starting to get answers to some of the questions we had, but then we just have even more questions towards to the end of the episode, which just got me more excited for what’s to come.

This episode basically tells the backstory of how Angela Abar (played by Regina King) and Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) ended up together and how they came up with the idea of having the big blue guy hide in plain sight as Carl Abar.

It’s a terrific episode which cuts between the past and the present and the show’s writers did an incredible job in explaining how Doctor Manhattan experiences time and they then interweaved that into the episode’s narrative.

Watchmen Episode 8 is more proof that this HBO show is must-watch television

Doctor Manhattan is back in Watchmen Episode 8 (Credit: HBO)

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This is easily the cleverest and most thought-provoking show I’ve seen in a while, and it goes a long way in showing how brilliant Moore and Gibbons’ graphic novel is.

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine a better follow up to the Watchmen comic, which many considered to be an impossible story to bring to the big screen.

Who knew that the way to do it was to do a follow-up to the story and have it be a TV show.

However, I still have a lot of love for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen film. Yet, this HBO show is head-and-shoulders above the Warner Bros. Pictures movie.

Lindelof’s show perfectly explores and expands upon the themes explored in the comic: love, heroism, corruption, politics and loss.

Watchmen is a show about everything, and this episode demonstrates that fact perfect.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is the perfect Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen Episode 8

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen Episode 8 (Credit: HBO)

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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II does an incredible job as Doctor Manhattan and his and Angela’s relationship is one of the most fascinating ones I’ve ever seen on-screen.

How can a relationship work when one of the people involved knows how it’s going to end? It really is an interesting concept, and there’s also the added question of how can someone be with a being who is basically a God?

These aren’t questions I’ve ever asked myself until watching Watchmen, and they’ve stuck with me since, and I just can’t get it out of my head how well the writers tacked these questions.

I love the fact that they kept the reveal that Carl was Doctor Manhattan until so late on in the series, and I also love the fact that they were telling us this was the case all along.

There were clues peppered throughout the first season which many of us just missed completely, and looking back at it now, I can’t believe I didn’t get them.

There’s so much good with Watchmen that I struggle to come up with any negatives. The only negative I can think of is that the show is shot a bit dark, but this is a common theme with most TV shows nowadays.

Everyone should be watching HBO’s Watchmen

Regina King as Angela Abar in Watchmen Episode 8 (Credit: HBO)

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The fact that I, as I’m sure a lot of people do, watch this show on a laptop probably doesn’t help things. I would love to sit in a dark cinema and just watch the entirety of Watchmen Season 1, but I don’t have a cinema room. What a shame…

Anyway, I cannot wait to see where this show ends up going. Watchmen has become event television for me, and as I’ve said many times, it’s the best show on TV.

Watchmen is available to watch on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK.

What do you think? Are you enjoying Watchmen and what did you make of Episode 8? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!

The post Watchmen Episode 8 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

I’ve been really enjoying The Mandalorian, but I’ve had a nagging suspicion that the show was flirting dangerously close to an over-reliance on fan-service, and Episode 5, called The Gunslinger, is proof of that fact.

Episode 5 of The Mandalorian starts off with Pedro Pascal’s character in a dog-fight with another assassin who’s trying to collect the bounty on the Mandalorian’s head.

After managing to blow up this pesky assassin, he manages to land at a repair facility run by Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) in Mos Eisley on the famous Star Wars planet of Tatooine.

The Mandalorian has to find work in order to pay for his ship repairs, so he goes to a local cantina.

Whilst there, he almost immediately bumps into Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale), a young bounty hunter looking to join the guild by capturing Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), a well-trained mercenary.

Despite the Mandalorian not wanting to help capture Fennec, he agrees to help him for the bounty, while the other gains credit for the capture.

The Mandalorian Episode 5 is leaning on too much fan-service

The Mandalorian Episode 5 isn’t great (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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There are an awful lot of issues with this episode of The Mandalorian. First off, there’s no need for the show to revisit old Star Wars planets like Tatooine.

It felt to me like Dave Filoni and showrunner Jon Favreau just wanted to lean even more heavily on fan-service and thought that people would appreciate a return to the planet where we first met Luke Skywalker.

I might be in the minority, but I have no desire to see these new Star Wars properties merely visit old ones and not really add anything to these locations.

The Mandalorian Episode 5 doesn’t tell us anything new about Tatooine, so there’s really no reason for The Mandalorian to land there, and honestly, nothing of any note happens in this episode.

It really is the worst episode of the show so far and it confirms all my misgivings about The Mandalorian. This show is just trying to appease supposedly die-hard fans of Star Wars who were desperate to learn more about Boba Fett.

The Mandalorian could just be replaced with Boba Fett and nothing would change

The Mandalorian Episode 5 is too reliant on fan-service (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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The Mandalorian is basically a conduit for Boba Fett. You could very easily replace one character with another and it wouldn’t change much.

That said, I’m pretty certain that Boba is going to turn up in this series, which would be the pinnacle of it’s fan-service.

This is really disappointing as far as I’m concerned because the show started off with so much promise.

At the moment, it feels like every episode isn’t going anywhere and they could be taken as standalone fan videos you might find on YouTube.

I think that one of the issues is that Lucasfilm and Disney opted to release each episode weekly on Disney Plus, and it’s not really that kind of show.

The Mandalorian might benefit from being watched in a few sittings. It’s not a show I’m desperate to watch less than 30 minutes of every week because there’s simply not enough happening in each episode.

It’s so frustrating because there is a lot to like about the show. Pedro Pascal is great as The Mandalorian despite not having removed his helmet yet, and Baby Yoda honestly is the show’s saving grace at the moment.

The Mandalorian has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment

Is The Mandalorian not a very good show? (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: How Can You Watch The Mandalorian On Disney Plus In The UK?

These two characters and their mysterious backstories are the only reason I’m still watching.

I also do not like the fact that there are no other real meaningful characters to latch on to.

It seems as though each episode consists of the Mandalorian meeting people and they either die or he leaves them behind.

It’s just so strange to me and it feels like there’s very little characters development.

What did you make of The Mandalorian Episode 5? Let us know in the comments below.

The Mandalorian airs on Fridays on Disney Plus.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!

The post The Mandalorian Episode 5 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

Crisis On Infinite Earths is finally here. It’s the biggest crossover event The CW has ever done with their DC Comics-based TV shows, and it’s been a long time coming, but I’m not entirely sure if it’s exactly what’s these shows exactly needed.

Let me explain where I’m coming from when I say that. These The CW DC Comics TV shows have been really interesting. If you had told me a few years ago that the likes of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Batwoman would be getting their own TV shows, I would have laughed in your face.

“It’s going to cost too much money to make!” I would have replied, but I never took into consideration what The CW could do with these DC Comics properties.

They have succeeded in making really popular shows, and some of them are actually very good. Arrow started off brilliantly, and The Flash has remained solid for quite some time now.

Crisis On Infinite Earths has been a long time coming

Superman, The Flash and Supergirl in Crisis On Infinite Earths (Credit: The CW)

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However, there has been quite a lot of bad over the years. The later seasons on Arrow haven’t been great, and I’m not the biggest Supergirl fan, but then again, I’m not really that show’s core demographic.

That’s what The CW has done so well with these shows. They know who they want to target with each show, and I do wonder whether that’s the problem with these crossover events.

When they started off, it was two episodes where Arrow and The Flash’s universes collided, but then the multiverse was introduced, and I found it all a bit too confusing, but it was the only way they could bring in the likes of Supergirl, Batwoman, the Legends of Tomorrow and even John Constantine all on-screen together.

The first thing I thought whilst watching this first part of The CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths was “I have no idea what’s going on”, and the reason is because in order to be able to keep a handle on the crossover event’s plot is if you watch every single one of The CW shows, and are up to date on each and every one of them.

I’m going to admit that I’m very much behind on Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow. The main CW show I follow closely is The Flash, and that’s not enough to be able to know what’s happening in this episode.

Crisis On Infinite Earths part 1 starts off with the Monitor explaining that an anti-matter wave was decimating all universes across the multiverse and that he’s been preparing the multiverse’s great heroes to prevent this from happening.

There’s just too much explanation and not much plot

Batwoman and Supergirl in Crisis On Infinite Earths (Credit: The CW)

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Back on Earth-1, Harbinger brings Barry, Kate Kane, and Sara Lance and Ray Palmer of the Legends to Earth-38 as well as rescues the Kents from the planet Argo which was the first casualty of the anti-matter wave.

Harbinger then reveals to the gathered heroes that the Anti-Monitor is behind this and it’s up to them to save all universes in the multiverse from this unparalleled threat.

That’s the beginning of the episode, and it took me a while to write that brief synopsis because much of what’s going on didn’t really make much sense to this, and it’s because there’s a lot of a CW ‘science’ speak going on in this episode which is very difficult to get a firm grasp of.

This is Crisis On Infinite Earths’ biggest problem. The plot is just far too complex and I can’t help but feel that The CW’s writers have written themselves into a hole by trying to be far too clever for their own good.

Now, I realise that I haven’t been keeping up-to-date with every single episode, which is one reason why I didn’t understand much, but the fact that most of this episode is one big information dump and I still didn’t understand what’s going on is proof that the writers came up with a plot that’s far too convoluted.

There’s an awful lot of people standing around in rooms and talking about what’s happening. It’s very much a case of tell, don’t show, and that’s been an issue with many of these The CW TV shows.

Thank God for Oliver Queen in Crisis On Infinite Earths

Superman and The Flash in Crisis On Infinite Earths (Credit: The CW)

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Thank God for some standout moments involving Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, who puts in a fine performance in this episode.

He’s the episode’s saving grace because without him, there’s really not much to write home about, and that pains me to say.

I’ve been looking forward to Crisis On Infinite Earths for such a long time now, and I can’t help but feel disappointed by the show’s first episode.

I’m still going to watch the others and write reviews of them, but I’m not holding much hope.

What did you make of Crisis On Infinite Earths part 1? Let us know in the comments below.

Crisis On Infinite Earths airs on The CW in the US and Sky One will air the crossover event in part in the UK.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!

The post The CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 1 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

WARNING: Potential SPOILERS for Watchmen Episode 7 in this review

I’ve said this time and time again, Watchmen is the best show of 2019, and Season 1 hasn’t even finished yet, and Episode 7, called ‘An Almost Religious Awe’, demonstrates why this show is so good.

I thought that last week’s episode was a bonified masterpiece of television, and I stand by that statement. Now, I can’t go around saying that each episode is a masterpiece, and that’s not going to be the case here.

Granted, Watchmen Episode 7 is just more incredible television and has a brilliant twist towards the end, but a good twist doesn’t make for a classic episode of television.

I would rewatch Watchmen Episode 6 again and again because I think it’s an incredible hour of television on its own.

How this episode is perceived in the long run really does hinge on what’s going to happen in the two last episodes of the first season of Watchmen.

That said, the twist is amazing and the way the tension mounts in An Almost Religious Awe is nothing short of spectacular.

Watchmen Episode 7 builds upon what’s been set up thus far

Regina King as Angela Abar in Watchmen Episode 7 – Credit: HBO

Read more: Watchmen Episode 1 Review

You just don’t want the episode to end. You want more answers, and they’re starting to tie up some loose threads now, and Damon Lindelof and his excellent team of writers have come up with a truly remarkable follow-up to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original graphic novel.

It not only honours the source material, but it also expands upon it and makes it even better than in way before as far as I’m concerned.

You really do feel like you’re in the world that Moore and Gibbons created, and that’s just a testament to how well-written and directed the show is.

Watchmen Episode 7 is a continuation of that. It’s gripping, with wonderfully nuanced performances, especially from the likes of Regina King, Jean Smart and Hong Chau.

And then you have the comic relief of Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt, who really does seem to be in a bit of a pickle on one of Jupiter’s many moons.

This episode sees Angela wake up after having that pretty nasty trip thanks to her grandfather’s nostalgia pills, and she’s no in Lady Trieu strange clock thingamajig.

She’s still suffering from the after-effects of having consumed her grandfather’s memories, but she also knows that something isn’t right.

Could Watchmen be the best show on TV this year?

Angela and Lady Trieu in Watchmen Episode 7 – Credit: HBO

Read more: Watchmen Episode 2 Review

She wants answers and wants to talk to her grandfather, but Trieu won’t let her.

Angela also has some sort of long tube strapped to her arm and is told her grandfather’s on the other end.

Watchmen Episode 7 also expands on Angela and Cal’s relationship, and it’s nice to see Yahya Abdul-Mateen II actually get to do something in this episode.

I was starting to think they’d forgotten about him, but that’s as much as I’ll say because I don’t want to spoil anything for you.

This episode is definitely the strangest episode of the show thus far, and it’s all the better for it as far as I’m concerned.

I like it when Watchmen gets weird. The weirder the better if you ask me.

I’m pretty sure that if you’ve watched this episode already, then you’ll be desperate to know what’s going to happen next because it ends on a tantalising cliffhanger which will get any Watchmen fan extremely excited.

What do you make of Watchmen Episode 6? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

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The post Watchmen Episode 7 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

WARNING: There are some SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Episode 4 in this review.

This is what I was slightly worried about when I was watching the most recent episode of The Mandalorian.

I was worried that this new Star Wars live-action TV show was going to end up becoming rather formulaic and too reliant on fan service, and that’s the case with The Mandalorian Episode 4.

The Mandalorian Episode 4, called ‘Sanctuary’, is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, and let’s start off with that, it’s rather well-directed (apart from the boom mic which was spotted in one of the shots, but that can happen to anyone).

Again, everything that was good about the first three episodes is on show. It’s great to get to see the Star Wars universe expanded beyond the Skywalker saga. It’s well-acted. The action set-pieces are brilliant and the characters are compelling.

Is it just me, or is The Mandalorian relying too much on fan-service?

Is The Mandalorian Episode 4 too reliant on fan-service? (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: The Mandalorian Episode 1 Review

Baby Yoda is a pure revelation and this episode gives us a bit more backstory into The Mandalorian and we’re seeing him start to ask questions about himself, his journey and his past.

All of that is fascinating, and stuff that’s really keeping me engrossed in this series. However, my issues with this episode, in particular, is that it seemed to confirm my fears that this series was going to fall into the trap of putting fan service first and story and character development second.

We’re four episodes into the series now and the story is still meandering and not really going anywhere. There are no real big mysteries that are yet to be answered (apart from Baby Yoda’s origins and why the Mandalorian really does want to take off his mask).

I feel like this live-action Star Wars series is literally just that, a live-action version of the animated shows we got before, and I feel like I was expecting more from it than just that.

Maybe that’s on me because my expectations were just too high, but look at who’s involved. You have Jon Favreau. You have Dave Filoni. You have directors like Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow and Bryce Dallas Howard…

Don’t get me wrong, the directors have done excellent work with the source material they’ve been given, but I feel like this show is too much like a fan-TV show, and that’s really not what I wanted from it, and The Mandalorian Episode 4 is the evidence of that fact.

AT-STs are great, but there’s no real substance to The Mandalorian Episode 4

The Mandalorian is cool, but is it more than that? (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: When Will The Mandalorian Be Released In The UK?

People want to see stuff like an AT-ST turn-up. People want to see a Mandalorian in action. I get why it’s been so popular, but this isn’t really what I was looking for from this show.

Perhaps one of my issues is that I’m watching this show alongside Watchmen, which is one of the best and most compelling shows I’ve seen in a while.

The Mandalorian, at the moment, is just a bit better than the superhero shows on The CW, and I know that sounds a little harsh, but I do like those shows.

I do enjoy seeing The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda explore more planets in the Outer Rim and have to go up against the likes of an AT-ST and new rather Orc-ish-looking aliens, but I was really hoping for a show with more intrigue, and maybe a bit more cleverness in its storytelling.

That said, this episode is still good fun, and I think that’s what you have to remember when watching The Mandalorian. It’s just good fun, and that’s why it’s been so popular.

It’s a Star Wars series made by fans for fans, and that should be celebrated. However, it doesn’t mean they can’t try and challenge people slightly and explore some big ideas and themes in their new Star Wars shows.

The Mandalorian is a Star Wars show for Star Wars fans made by Star Wars fans

The Mandalorian does have Baby Yoda, and it’s pretty cute. (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: Who Could Matt Smith Be Playing In Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker?

I also think the way it’s being released an issue. The episodes are just too short for it to be a weekly show. I would have liked the episodes to be a bit longer and the show be released all at once, Netflix-style.

At the moment, there’s not enough going on in each episode to make it a weekly event. I feel like I might have enjoyed it more if I watched it in a few sittings and had the whole story play out that way rather than waiting one week for the next little slice of The Mandalorian.

What did you make of The Mandalorian Episode 4? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

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The post The Mandalorian Episode 4 Review appeared first on Small Screen.

WARNING: Potential SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Episode 3 in this review.

The Mandalorian has proven to be one of the TV events of the year, and frankly, it’s no wonder it has, and with The Mandalorian Episode 3, called The Sin, the show starts to really take shape.

The first two episodes of this new Disney Plus Star Wars TV show could be classed as set-up, and they were both brilliant, but this episode, which was brilliantly directed by Deborah Chow, is where things get taken up a notch.

We finally get to see what this show is all about, and what its main character is all about.

So far, Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian (who’s often referred to as just ‘Mando’ in this series so far) has been something of a blank canvas.

Part of that is because he’s literally wearing a helmet that masks his emotions, but it’s also because we know so little about his backstory.

Could The Mandalorian Episode 3 be the start of something amazing?

Werner Herzog in The Mandalorian Episode 3 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: How Can You Watch The Mandalorian On Disney Plus In The UK?

This episode shows us a bit more of that, but it also shows him grappling with a really tricky moral dilemma. Does he leave the young thing behind (whom I’m just going to refer to as ‘Baby Yoda’ from now on to make things easier for both me and you)?

Or, does he go back and save Baby Yoda from whatever those rather dodgy individuals, including Werner Herzog’s character (known only as ‘The Client’), have planned for it.

That in itself is interesting to watch, and Pascal actually is able to portray his character’s inner struggle with simple head movements, and I’m sure the score and direction help a great deal as well.

We also get to see The Mandalorian in action, which we’ve seen before, but this time it seems a bit more like The Mandalorians from the myths and the animated TV shows.

He genuinely deadly in a fight and has a whole load of new gadgets in this episode which are brilliant to see on-screen.

Baby Yoda is just too cute!

The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda in Episode 4 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda Has A Name Reveals Carl Weathers

That said, there are some issues with The Mandalorian Episode 3, chief among which is that its effectiveness is utterly beholden on what comes next.

This could either be a great episode which leads into bigger and better things, or just a combination of pure ‘fan-servicey’ moments such as seeing a Mandalorian shoot Whistling bird’s at Stormtroopers.

Granted, these moments are incredible to watch, but there is a danger of this falling into a fan-made TV show on YouTube territory rather than genuinely good television in its own right with good character development and which explores interesting and poignant themes.

I can’t quite make my mind up yet, and I have really enjoyed every minute of every episode up to this point, but there is a nagging doubt in the back of my head which worries me about how this show is going to be remembered.

The only other criticism I can think of is that I find these episodes to be too short. I would have liked Lucasfilm to put a bit more effort into making these episodes a bit longer and maybe slightly better paced.

Exciting times ahead for The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian Episode 3, with added Mandalorians (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: Will C3PO Sacrifice Himself In Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker?

At the moment, it’s almost a case of ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’. I want to spend a lot of time in this world, and it feels as though this whole season will only end up being about 5 hours long, which is fine, but it isn’t that long for a TV show.

Apart from those slight reservations, this episode of The Mandalorian is genuinely impressive and it promises exciting times ahead for Mando and his little sidekick, Baby Yoda.

What did you make of The Mandalorian Episode 3? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!

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