WHO REVIEW: Once and Future 1 & 2

 There's something a little underwhelming about Big Finish's latest multi-instalment extravaganza, put together to mark Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary. A story involving the Doctor in multiple incarnations, meeting friends and enemies in unexpected combinations sonds like the very thing to mark the occasion, but it's also exactly what Big Finish has been churning out in quantity for the last few years. With the company now given over to almost pure nostalgia, this is business as usual. I bought the first two releases almost out of a sense of obligation, rather than expecting anything new.

Admittedly, the idea of having the Doctor pushed back through his lives in a catastrophic "degeneration" is a fun one, and a good way of having multiple Doctors involved without just having them taken out of time or just bump into each other as they usually do. For real impact, though, this should be the current Doctor - indeed, setting this right after "The Power of the Doctor," with the Doctor regenerating back into David Tennant and then through all their past lives would tie in beautifully - but BF aren't allowed to do that. Instead, this is during the Time War, and we're not even clear on which Doctor has been injured. (It seems that it's probably the Eighth, going by the TARDIS sound effects and McGann's notable absence, but this isn't certain.)

It's also one of those conceits that would work better on screen than, in which case it would look essentially the same as the mysterious guardians of the Doctor's subconscious in the aforementioned "Power." On audio, there's just about enough variation between the different actors' voices for the incarnations to differentiate, with only Tom Baker and McCoy really distinctive enough from a single line to truly stand out. I also can't help but wonder: what's he wearing? Are his clothes changing too, or is he repeatedly regenerating while wearing the same, now doubt rather careworn, outfit?

PAST LIVES

First up is this episode from Robert Valentine, which does precisely what you'd expect it to. The Doctor settles on the form of Tom Baker, arriving back on Earth on the trail of the Monk, who he's sure has something to do with all this. (What the Doctor can and cannot remember seems to change per scene in this series.) For his own benefit, the Monk has abducted Sarah Jane, straight from her mistaken drop-off point in Glasgow, mere moments after The Hand of Fear. This is a nice touch, albeit one that plays merry hell with established contintuity, but that doesn't seem to be much of a priority with this series, and rightly so.

Rufus Hound is entertaining as always as the Monk, and Sadie Miller continues to do a good job of filling her mother's shoes as Sarah Jane. UNIT get involved, with both Jenna Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver returning as Kate Stewart and Osgood. While it's fun to hear this collection of characters together, there's really nothing else to it. A group of the most generic aliens you could hope to avoid turn up and cause complications, and the entire thing unfolds predictably. "Past Lives" just about works as the launch to a series, leaving us with more questions than answers, but barely works as an adventure in its own right,

THE ARTIST AT THE END OF TIME

The second episode, written by the reliable James Goss, is far better, giving us an original concept as the basis for the story. In the twilight days of the universe, a high-end art gallery displays works cribbed from civilisations in their final moments. Only it seems to be that, quite impossibly, they're all by the same artist. The Doctor, settling on his cricketiest form, arrives looking for a Time Lord so he can sample some DNA (buy them a drink first), and his clone-ish daughter Jenny arrives on the trail of the mystery of the artworks.

There are two big draws for this release. One is having real-life father and daughter Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant playing fictitious father and daughter together. Unfortunately, Big Finish already did that, ten years ago, for their fiftieth anniversary release. As you might expect, the two of them have wonderful chemistry together, and Davison's perfected older, grumpier version of his Doctor works well with the fast-witted, enthusiastic Jenny. Yet it again feels so predictable, bringing them together on the basis that, well, that's what we do for the anniversary, right?

The other draw is the inclusion of the Curator, played here by Colin Baker, giving us not one, but two, classic Who actors in the role. Given that the whole point of this series is that the Doctor is jumpig between faces, having Baker the Second in here as well seems a bit superfluous. Fortunately, the story makes it worthwhile, giving us a truly intriguing and affecting tale of the Doctor's far, far off future. This is seemingly a long way beyond the days when he was even calling himself Curator, now retired at the end of time and painting planets as they are about to bite the dust. Baker gives a lovely, melancholy performance that's similar to, but distinct from, the Sixth Doctor.

Again, there are oddities to ponder. I'm fine with the idea that the Curator varies his appearance over time, either by regenerating again or simply picking a face for the week, but shouldn't the Doctor recognise that face? Given that this is seemingly the Eighth (or later) Doctor, just wearing the face of the Fifth, isn't he surprised to meet someone wearing the face of the Sixth? Also befuddling is that the Doctor is now fully aware of his daughter's existence, again bringing into question when this takes place for him, or just how memory is supposed to work in these stories.

Quibbles aside, though, "The Artist at the End of Time" is a strong story, giving apocalyptic stakes in the most genteel, personal way. On this basis, I think I'll give the third episode a try, but whether I can be persuaded to stay for the whole story is another question.

In recognition of the fortieth anniversary of The Black Adder (which means it's perilously close to my fortieth as well), why not take a quick look at my complete, exhaustive historical coverage of the whole bloody saga at Television Heaven?

 

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

 

I will attempt to keep this review fairly spoiler-lite, as while I'm eager to gush about all the wonderful things in this film, it's also one where much of the fun comes in spotting and experiencing things for the first time. If you haven't seen it yet, and you're not certain whether you'll bother to go, I say: go see it. If you're in any way a Spider-Man fan, you will love this movie. Somehow, Phil Lord and his team have managed to make a sequel that is superior to the original, which was already the best Spider-Man movie of all time.

Lord is the only one on the lead team who's come back for this one, again acting as chief writer. He's joined by his film-making parter Christopher Miller, who was credited as one of the many producers last time, and Ant-Man and Zombieland scripter Dave Callaham. There's a completely new se of directors, with Joaquim dos Santos and Kemp Powers making their directorial debuts after much animation experience, and jined by Justin Thompson. That seems like a risk, when the first film came together so perfectly, but this large team, supported by biggest animation armies in western cinema history, has created a stunning sequel.

The first film could only do so much, with so many characters and universes coming together, so certain elements went underused. This film corrects some of that. Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy gets as much focus as Shameik Moore's Miles Morales, and their hints of romance are expanded and explored this time round. It's a paradox that raising the female lead to equal status and giving her a full story of her own sits comfortably with making her a love interest, as so often female characters get to be lover or hero, and rarely both. 

This strong character focus also benefits Miles's parents, Jeff and Rio (Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez) and new player Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099 (Oscar Isaac), although Peter B. Parker, Miles's mentor from the first film (voiced by Jake Johnson) gets less focus than in the first. Still, he's clearly living his best life, having made up with MJ, now balancing his Spider-duties with fatherhood (I especially loved these bits, having had the tricky business of balancing filmgoing with looking after a wriggly nine-month-old. Thank you, Suz, for taking this one and letting me see the whole film!)

CAUTION - YOU ARE HEADING INTO THE SPOILER-VERSE

After the first film expanded to include six main Spideys, plus a couple of cameos, the only way to go was to make this bigger and better. The original Spider-Verse comic event (and its increasingly overblown and unnecessary follow-ups) made the most of their limitless scope by including just about every Spidey you could think of, and inventing several more. Across the Spider-Verse follows this lead and goes absolutely nuts. Some are major characters, such as the beloved Pavitr Prabakhar (Karan Soni) aka Spider-Man India, and Hobie Brown, here a British version of the Spider-Punk (an exceptional vocal performance by Daniel Kaluuya, whose retro-anarchist insights are frequent highlights of the film). Others have less screentime but remain important, particularly Spider-Byte (Amandla Stenberg), whose virtual reality abilties are significant and I suspect will play a larger part in the third film.

Beyond that, there are dozens of cameos, both visual and vocal, which I am certain I have barely even begun to uncover. This is a film that will benefit from freeze-framing at home in the future. The uber-angsty Scarlet Spider (Andy Samberg!) is probably the funniest, while I was very pleased to hear Josh Keaton, returning as the beloved hero of the Spectacular Spider-Man series. Once the Miles is brought to the Spider-Society, the floodgates really do open. There are good guides out there to all the many, many cameos and Easter eggs in the film, but it's more fun to try spotting them yourself. Then you have the live-action sequences as well, just enough to bring everything together (albeit the Sony-owned films)

Into the Spider-Verse was a visual extravaganza, and Across surpasses it. This is quite simply the most brilliantly and beautifully animated film I've ever seen. Not only does each of the main universe have its own style of artwork and animation, it's raised to a level of complexity and originality way beyond what we've seen before. Spider-Punk's style might be the most striking, a constantly changing array of design schools heavily influenced by scrappy, underground artwork. The use of colour in this film is just stunning, not only for how visually rich and engaging it makes the film, but how it tells the story. Gwen's world is infused with stripes in the trans colours, heavily suggesting a deeper meaning to her story and her father's acceptance (although I missed the blatant trans flag badge on Captain Stacy's jacket). When Miles shifts to Earth-42, purple and green suddenly become prominent, notably in his own clothes, hinting at the eventual surprise (albeit very well signposted) ending.

The decision to use the Spot as the main villain is inspired. As well as being one of the most visually arresting villains in Spider-Man's rogues gallery, his ability to create holes into another dimension is clearly only a step away from reality jumping. Jason Schwartzman is great in the role, perfectly handling the comedy and tragedy of the character. The fact that the Spot is normally such a lightweight villain makes this work perfectly, with even the heroes dismissing him until it's too late. Plus, it's revealed that his existence is very much Miles's fault (albeit unwittingly), as is the threat to Pavitr's reality and the Multiverse altogether.

For all the incredible visuals and fan-pleasing elements, the reason Across the Spider-Verse works so well is that the writers recognise that none of this matters without a strong story. Indeed, story is a fundamental theme of the script, with Miles, Gwen, Miguel et al being made painfully aware of their status as characters in a larger narrative, one which has predestined their fates and can't be fought with. From Gwen's reluctance to become involved with Miles because she knows what happens to Gwens in Spider-Man stories, to Peter B's acceptance of Uncle Ben's death as essential for his and other Spiders' lives as heroes, acceptin or fighting against ones pre-written fate is the core of the story. 

The concept of Canon Events is basically identical to the fixed points in time from Doctor Who... which eventually showed that these points aren't so fixed at all, even if changing them can have catastrophic consequences. That era of the show also gave us the beautiful line, "We're all stories in the end. Just make yours a good one." Miles vows to do exactly that, fighting against the ending fate has written him, while wrestling with the revelation that this wasn't supposed to be his story in the first place. He fights to do what's right, to protect the people he loves, in spite of the entire Multiverse standing against him. It's a brilliant way of keeping his story focused and personal while the overarching plot is beyond the cosmic, something that's key to it still working as a Spider-Man story. 

From the very beginning, though, the filmmakers realised that all this was too big to fit into one film, so, even at almost two-and-a-half hours, Across the Spider-Verse is only halfway through its story. Ending on a pitch perfect cliffhanger, it leaves the upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse in a daunting position. Surely they can't outdo themselves again?

Thoughts and observations

• The nods to the MCU were fun, even though rights presumably prevented them from using any actual material. Particularly nice was the inclusion of Miles's best friend Ganke, poking fun at the nature of his MCU equivalent Ned.
• Donald Glover - the original template for Miles and his voice on Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors - returns as the MCU version of Aaron Davis, following his appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
• As well as the comic event Spider-Verse and the earlier Spider-Men series, these films owe a debt to USWW, which first gave us alternative Spider-worlds with their own signature animation and art styles.
• Spot's exploration of alternative Earths is fun, but his arrival in the "Sony Spider-Man Universe" - you know, the one with no actual Spider-Man in it - is a bit pointless, seeming to exist purely to remind viewers that Sony is still releasing those films for some reason.
• Preston Mutanga's Lego-verse sequence is a highlight. Hats off to the filmmakers for reaching out to him and offering him the chance to be involved.
• Every version of J. Jonah Jameson is voiced by J. K. Simmons, and frankly I'm not sure anyone else can play him ever again.
• The papery, Rennaissance version of the Vulture is a brillaint addition, even if he does get rather forgotten about as the story gets going.
• Characters I want to see more of in the final film: Spider-Byte, Issa Rae's  version of Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, and the horsebound hero the Web-Slinger.
• Characters to bring into it: Hobie Brown as the original Prowler, just to complicate matters.

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

 SOME SPOILERS

It's been a long old wait for the third Guardians film; six years since Volume 2, thanks to Disney's decision to fire James Gunn for decade-old shitty jokes, then realising they'd made a huge mistake and hiring him back. Years after revealing he had the story ready for the final film in the trilogy, and after the place-marker of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to keep us going, Gunn delivers a film which rounds out the story beautifully, while giving us something quite unlike the previous Guardians films. 

Of course, Gunn's off to DC now to run their movie universe, in a move that's both promising for the future and depressing in the crushing inevitability of another reboot. In spite of a post-credits tagline that informs us that "Star-Lord will return," Chris Pratt's statements on the subject are contradictory, most of the main cast has had enough, and if we do have another appearance by the Guardians, it'll look very different from what we're used to.

Volume 3 provides closure for most of the main characters, new beginnings for others, and, surprisingly, is ultimately Rocket's story. Quill gets to run the show and move the plot onwards, and gets to mature at long last, but everything he and the others do is in the service of Rocket's story. The bizarre little critter is barely involved in the mian plot until the final act, but his backstory drives everything. In spite of what the others say, he has tried to tell us about his origins before, in a sudden, devastating outburst in Volume 1, that showed us there was more to Rocket than just an angry cartoon character with a gun. While Gunn wasn't keen on some of the choices made for his characters in the Avengers films, the Russo Brothers realised that Rocket and Nebula were not only of a type, but the strongest characters from the Guardians team, and therefore the ones that survived the Snap to continue fighting.

I've never really rated Bradley Cooper the way others have, but his voice performance as Rocket has been phenomenal from the start, giving the character more depth than anyone could have anticipated. (Credit also has to be given to Sean Gunn, James's everpresent brother and Kraglin actor, for providing the motion capture performance for the raccoon.) Adapting the backstory established for the character in the comics, already somewhat disturbing, James Gunn creates quite the most affecting and distressing origin story for any character in the MCU. There's an unexpectedly strong vein of horror running through the film, not least in Rocket's upsetting backstory, linked here, in an excellent move, to Marvel's very own Dr. Moreau, the High Evolutionary.

I've spoken before about how most Marvel films are basically cartoons, and Volume 3 is meets this description more than most. Like Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, it's a visual spectacular, with Disney-Marvel's tireless and under-appreciated visual effects team bringing to life the bizarre realms of Gunn's imagination and Marvel's back-catalogue. More so, the most effective scenes revolve around the trials of four CGI animals which could have made a powerful short filmin their own right. The design, animation and vocal performance of the animals are truly remarkable, creating characters which are monstrous yet endearing, and incredibly sympathetic. As well as Cooper and Sean Gunn (as the odler and younger Rockets respectively), there are amazing performances by Linda Cardellini (in her second MCU role as Lylla the otter), Kevin Michael Richardson as Teefs and Mikaela Hoover as the heartbreaking augmented rabbit, Floor.

One of James Gunn's skillsis taking the hokiest, most absurd ideas in comics and making them work on the big screen, from Wal Rus to Cosmo the Spacedog (finally a fully realised character who works as a sort of reflection of Rocket's story, with a fine voice performance by Maria Bakalova). The High Evolutionary is a creepy character, but also a deeply silly one, yet here, under the eye of Gunn and a truly exceptional performance by Chukwudi Iwuji make him into the best villain the MCU has seen for some time. There's nothing sympathetic about this character; he is simply arrogant, ruthless and cruel, and his unwavering self-belief helps sell the reality of what should be very silly ideas like Counter-Earth and the Halfworlders. Iwuji threatens to steal his every scene, and I find myself wondering if perhaps he should have been cast as Kang and had the chance to come back time and again.

This storyline almost makes it easy to overlook the progression of the other Guardians. Chris Pratt might be becoming annoying in cinematic everpresence, but he remains perfectly cast as Quill, and this film sees him get the chance to develop the character in a more mature direction at last. Zoe Saldana is as good as ever as Gamora, and clearly having a ball playing a more ruthless version from before the Guardians softened her up. Gamora has basically swapped places with Nebula, who, having finally moved past the abuses of Thanos (and had many years longer to deal with her hang-ups than the others), is a more rounded character, with Karen Gillan giving another brilliant performance. Om Klementieff and Dave Bautista remain a wonderful double-act as Mantis and Drax, both now able to move onto new stages in their lives. Drax, in particular, is a character who needed more development; his story is, after all, brutal and tragic, and he gets to be more than the comic relief this time round. Groot is Groot, and he's as entertaining as ever.

As always, Gunn peppers the film with his favourite actors, and although some of them are hidden in vocie roles, Nathan Fillion finally gets to appear in the MCU in a full and recognisable role. Will Poulter does well as the childlike superbeing Adam Warlock, but to be honest, his inclusion is one character too far. There isn't really room for his story and that of the Sovereign here, even with their reworking to be linked to the High Evolutionary. It's well known that Gunn has been trying to get Warlock into the series for a while, and this feels like he was forced in as it was his last opportunity. Nonetheless, he could work well in the future with more room to breathe, which the film seems to be setting up.

Volume 3 comes together as a expansive cosmic adventure that, in spite of its huge scope and the millions of lives in the balance, has a very small scale story at its heart: the rescue and understanding of a friend. Along the way, it explores the horrors of vivisection, ethnic cleansing and war, and the importance of family and compassion. A fine end to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

REVIEW: Renfield

 (I'm not going to get to see many films in the old kinematic theatre this year, what with the baby and all, so when I do get to see one I'm going to try to review it, at least within the first month of seeing it.)

The first thing to say is that Renfield is trash. Absolute schlock, orgy of gore trash. It's basically a Troma film, but with a budget. It's absurd, over-the-top, and almost offensively gruesome. Pure gornography.

This is, of course, entirely the point. Had he been able to get away with it, you can bet Tod Browning would have made his Dracula more graphic. Not as graphic as this, obviously, but he pushed the envelope as much as he could in 1931. I'm still baffled by the ratings system these days; this is the goriest film I've seen in a while and it's only a 15 certificate. That's the nature of it, though. Although this is a sequel to the 1931 Dracula, it's also a horror film designed for the sensibilities of an audience watching almost a century later. Plus, it's an outright comedy (unlike the 1931 film, which, although inarguably a hugely important production in cinema history, was often inadvertently laughable). The gore and violence reach levels that are so utterly over-the-top that they become cartoonishly ridiculous.

The two Nicks, Hoult and Cage, are perfectly cast as Renfield and Dracula respectively. Explicitly the same versions of the characters played by Dwight Frye and Bela Lugosi in 1931, thanks to some beautifully reacreated and digitally altered scenes from the original, they don't play them in the same way. After all, this would be hard to make work in 2023. Hoult has the harder job, making the insane Renfield of the original a three-dimensional character who we can believe as a hero, and he does an excellent job. It's Cage who steals the show, as he always does, with a performance that I can best describe as Nic Cage playing Mike Myers playing Bela Lugosi playing Dracula. He's a perfect balance of true horror and uninhibited camp.

Awkwafina is great as Rebecca, the one honest cop in New Orleans. (This film is savagely anti-cop; the entire NOPD/PDNO is corrupt except her, working for the mob. Apparently, it really is one of the worst police forces in America, which is saying something.) She plays the same character she generally plays, but that makes for a great foil for the uptight, Victorian Renfield. There's a pseudo-romantic storyline there as well, which doesn't really come off. They don't have the right chemistry. The odd couple crime-fighting partnership angle works better. 

Having Dracula team up with the most brutal crime family in New Orleans is a weird idea that works remarkably well, largely thanks to the classy performance of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the family's terrifying matriarch, someone who can genuinely stand up to the Count as an equal. They both have their stooges, with Ben "Jean-Ralphio" Schwartz giving a great turn as her perpetually out-of-depth son Tedward. 

The surprising part is how well the heavily-trailed angle of the support group works. Positioning Renfield's servitude to Dracula as an abusive relationship with an uneven power dynamic. The support group scenes are some of the funniest and most affecting of the film, with some great performances by Brandon Scott Jones (as the group leader) and the underutilised Jenna Kanell and Bess Rous. Renfield's taking ownership of his life is the spine of the film, and is the smartest element of what is, ultimately, a very stupid rip-em-up.

I disagree with critics who are calling this a one-joke film. It's at least a three-joke film, but it's true that it would wear thin at full length, which is presumably why it clocks in at a, for today, very short runtime of 93 minutes. Having repeatedly attempted to launch a Monsterverse of movies, Universal have finally allowed writers and directors to do their own thing with their properties. Renfield is a very modern take on Dracula, but still works as part of the same universe as the monochrome oldie. It works as its own thing while also celebrating the long and storied past of these characters, which is exactly the approach this studio should be taking.