The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 2 and 3)

So my original plan was to do a season review for each season and talk about the individual elements of each season that I liked and what I disliked. However, I blasted through this series so quickly that it just feels like I'm going for quantity over quality. There are some pretty good things to talk about when it comes to each season and I'm going to try and dive into that as best as I can, but looking back, I do think that season 1 of this show is a great introduction, while Season 2 and 3 take that introduction and go into absolutely amazing places with it.

So the end of Season 1 has Midge Maisel (played still by Rachel Brosnahan) with a budding career in stand up comedy that is still on shaky ground after she blasted famous comedian Sophie Lennon (played by Jane Lynch) and was black listed from a lot of the known clubs in New York.

At the start of the second season, she has been given another chance to start doing shows, but it is paired with some social drama of her mother (played by Marin Hinkle) fleeing to France after she believes she has nothing for her in New York, and her ex husband Joel (played by Michael Zegen) figuring out that she does stand up comedy. Suzie (played by Alex Borstein) is trying to get Midge in a position where she can do more shows and become more popular, but there are some personal and familial issues that get in the way of that becoming a reality.

And of all three seasons, the second is clearly the weakest of them.

It's not bad, there is a lot of interesting back and forth between Midge, her family, especially her father Abe (played by Tony Shaloub), as well as a complicated relationship with her ex-husband where there are clearly feelings there, but Midge is committed to leaving that old life behind her. That's mainly her arc of the second season, recognizing the life she's leaving behind with this new career and deciding whether or not that's the life she wants to lead or not.

A hefty portion of the season is spent in the Catskills, a Jewish summer getaway that her and her family have been going to for years, and I think if that was the entire season, it would have been a really strong season.

As it stands, the season kind of meanders a little bit. There's a string of time where they're at the Catskills and she's trying to enjoy her summer but all the while Suzy is trying to get her gigs. But on top of that she's also in New York for some of that time and she has to work, and try and become popular in spite of being black balled, and she goes on a tour, and then she's having relationship issues with both Joel and a new character, Benjamin played by Zachary Levi. It's all just kind of a lot to pack into one season. Whereas season 1 was her figuring out exactly what stand up is and how it might change her life, Season 2 kind of double dips and says, her life is changing, but it could also change more depending on her choices, and while some of it is good, some of it is kind of boring.

But one part that is done really well is the relationship between Midge and Suzie. I didn't talk about Suzie a whole lot in my first season review, not because she's bad, but because she definitely shines more in the subsequent season when they start developing her as a character.

You figure out more who she is, what her flaws are, and what the relationship with Midge means to her. And good lord is she funny. Alex Borstein has a background in comedy, from Mad TV to Family Guy, but in this she becomes very, VERY funny and she's honestly one of my favorite parts of the show. I'll talk more about her when I dive into Season 3 some more, but just know, she's definitely a highlight of the rest of the show.

Her parents continue to be a highlight as they start making changes in their own lives based on second and third tier consequences of Midge's decisions. Again, they're a great part of the show and are a testament to the brilliant writing.

And then there's Zachary Levi.

Let me be clear, Zachary Levi is actually really great in this show. He's a really likable character and at no point do you ever feel like he's a foil to Midge's progression. But the arc he plays in the show does create some noted problems with the character of Midge and the way the show structures its characters that are so good, its almost to their detriment.

Similar to Joel, Benjamin is a good guy. Moreso in fact and I think a lot of people are happy that he starts this relationship with Midge because they are good together. But at a certain point, especially if you know there's going to be a third season, you know this relationship isn't going to last, and its like a Chekov's gun waiting to go off, but you don't know how.

So I will give the show credit, the way the relationship does end does work to create a human element of Midge. She's not perfect, and the way that she deals with Benjamin is not great, and that comes to a cusp in the third season in a brilliantly done way. But it is an example of how this show creates situations that you kind of roll your eyes at and know they wouldn't be happening if the main character was just a little smarter in the decisions she makes.

Now to give the show some credit, I think it also works to its advantage to create a character that is incredibly likable, but also incredibly flawed. In a show that is about personal drama, it helps to have a complicated character that the audience can root for, but we know has flaws that are going to get her in trouble but she can learn from.

But it works towards the problems with Season 2 that a lot of the conflict seems manufactured and if certain things happened differently, a lot of those problems could be avoided.

But I'll say, a lot of those problems go away once Season 3 rolls along and while the second season took me a little longer than the previous season to get through, Season 3 went back to that high quality comedy and writing that I got from the first season and this time had a little bit more of a solid through line. So overall, Season 2 is the weakest, but it does build a lot of the foundation so Season 3 could absolutely knock it out of the park.

My theory is, the subject of season 3 was something the show runners wanted to eventually get to, that being Midge going on tour and becoming more and more popular as a stand up comic, but they knew that Season 1 didn't get them there, and they weren't totally sure how to get there with Season 2, so they kind of floundered with some ideas they knew would work for Midge still early in her career, then put it into twelfth gear with the third season.

The second season ends pretty dramatically with Midge being asked to go on tour to open for singer Shy Baldwin (played by Leroy McClain), breaking off the engagement, having a terse fling with Joel before she leaves (ugh), and her father leaving his stable employment turning the family upside down. But the biggest cliff hanger is that Suzie is asked by Sophie Lennon to be her manager and help her break into stage acting.

The third season is mainly her tour and getting to know the new life of living on the road and performing. Her and Suzie travel to many places around the country and build some really great relationship with the people on tour, including Shy Baldwin, his bass player Carole (played by Liza Weil), and Shy's manager Reggie (played by Sterling K Brown). Meanwhile, Sophie is preparing for her Broadway debut, playing opposite to a famous actor (played by Cary Elwes).

What I like about this show is that it doesn't really beleaguer the moments where characters who are friends have information that the other character doesn't know and might be upset if they did know. The best example of this is Suzie deciding she's going to be Sophie Lennon's manager. She doesn't hide that from Midge for longer than an episode and instead that knowledge becomes a part of their relationship and the drama of the show.

Speaking of which, this is where Suzie probably shines the most. She's dealing with Midge, and Reggie, and Sophie, and other elements that I won't get into because I don't want to spoil it and she's just hilarious throughout. But she also has some of the most dramatic moments in the show that just knock it out of the park. I'm pretty sure Alex Borstein won an Emmy for her role in this show and that makes me really happy because she definitely deserved it for this role. Jane Lynch is also really good for a character that showed up only a little bit in the first two seasons, she brings it in what is mostly a funny role but can also be pretty dramatic as well.

When it comes to Joel in the third season, it is a continuation of him going off and finding his own purpose in his life after he realizes that he's not going to be a stand up comedian, especially after he knows that he'll never be as good as Midge.

He puts himself into his work and his kids and actually becomes pretty successful, while at the same time, hoping one day he'll be able to forgive himself for the mistakes he's made in the past.

This is where the character becomes very relateable and difficult to tread, especially since he still has his moments where he's not very likable paired with the times that he is.

He decides to open a club in the third season and while its something that is really only starting in the third season, it actually keeps him as an engaged character in the show and someone that, while he's not my favorite character and he has flaws, he still feels intrical to the show.

A few minor notes, her parents end up going to live Joel's parents (played by Kevin Pollack and Caroline Aaron) which is actually pretty hilarious and, as stated before, Midge continues to meet a slew of characters.

This is more of a side note, but someone has to answer the question, why does everyone who watches this show absolutely love Lenny Bruce?

Lenny Bruce never seemed to me to be a serious character and not even close to being a romantic interest of Midge's and I really liked that. To me, he seemed like an almost spectral character who would show up, him and Midge would talk about stand up and relate, then he'd go away. He was steeped in mystery and that's what really worked about him. But for some reason, they allude to the possibility that Midge could have a romantic interest in him and I really have no interest in that whatsoever.

I am finding myself enjoying stories that are able to create good relationships between males and females that aren't sexual and I saw the relationship between Lenny Bruce and Midge as that for a while. And while they don't actually have sex, they definitely allude to the possibility of it happening in the future which I don't want. It's not gonna break the show if they do, but the more Lenny Bruce shows up, the more the mystery leaves and I don't like that. I like the character more than I like the possibility of there being a romantic relationship there.

The overall verdict on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is that it is probably one of the best shows on Amazon Prime at the moment. I have watched a couple of Amazon Prime shows now and the biggest problem I have with them is that they are incredibly dry and drag. No matter how much you say the first season of the Man in the High Castle is, I will still say, it's slow as hell and I didn't really enjoy that first season.

Maisel is the first show that I blew threw in a very short period of time and its because the show is impeccably well done. Is it perfect? No, but I would say it learns from its mistakes and even at its worst, its still a solid show that I wouldn't mind revisiting even in a couple months just to watch something calming and fun. Seriously, if you haven't watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, do yourself a favor and check it out on Amazon Prime.

But what do you think? Have you watched all of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Are there other Prime shows that I am missing out on? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog!

Thanks for reading!

The Crown (Season 1)

So last year around this time, I started watching a lot of the movies on my Netflix list that I wanted to watch but never put the effort into watching with the goal of clearing out my queue. And while I probably still need to do that, I think my theme for the end of 2019 was to watch some of the shows that were on my watch list but I never got to for some reason or another. This, not surprisingly, is more difficult than movies because its anywhere from an 8 to 12 hour commitment at least to get through a full season of these shows. However, this year I focused on some really great shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Crown that that felt very attainable.

It might have been the recent royal drama that made me get into The Crown, not because I'm particularly interested in the domestic drama, its more a curiosity as to why other people are so interested in it. When a royal wedding happens, I couldn't really care less about it but a lot of people do and I wanted to investigate that a little bit.

The first season of The Crown follows the story of soon to be Queen Elizabeth II (played by Claire Foy) in the years following World War 2. In the first episode, she marries Prince Phillip (played by Matt Smith) and it starts the course towards her eventually becoming Queen in the wake of her father, King George VI's (played by Jared Harris) death.

Obviously, the show is a historical drama taking from the actual life of Elizabeth and Phillip throughout the latter part of the 20th century at a time where Great Britain's role in the world was changing. I found a lot of entertainment in this because I have a distinct interest in history and politics. But where The Crown really shines is how its able to stay above the fray when it could easily delve into the melodrama of the privileged monarchy that a lot of shows devolve into. While relationships and scandal are involved in the history of the monarchy in Great Britain and there probably are some liberties taken with the show, I feel like the show is trying to say something greater than just the scandal, instead its trying to make a point on the history of Great Britain and the political system that is the monarchy, without going too deep into the House of Cards, everything is awful motif.

This is really where Claire Foy shines because from the beginning, she starts off as a young Queen learning the ropes of this antiquated system that has years of baggage and political gridlock that makes it what it is at the time.

There's a really interesting history lesson to be had in this show and Elizabeth is actually a really great vehicle for that. While she's grown up in this world, she's learning it at a similar rate that we are while at the same time transforming from this naive new monarch to a really popular one that is on the path to greatness by the end.

While there is an overarching arc for all the characters throughout the season, the use of time really makes each episode its own 1 hour movie accounting the early life of Elizabeth in her early years as Queen of England, returning to her and other characters who have their own motivations. But again, nothing feels gratuitous or necessarily down right evil, everyone just has their own view of the world and how they view the monarchy. Sure the vehicle is thrown Elizabeth, but everyone has their own view and individual episodes delve into individual characters.

A crowning (no pun intended) example of how those episodes of this season are done well is the performance of John Lithgow as an aging Winston Churchill at the end of his time as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

The use of his character as a former war hero in a changing environment like Great Britain in the fifties is done masterfully throughout the season, but mostly in the 9th episode "Assassins". It's a slow burn, but it gives a great look into a man who was once the Father of Great Britain deciding on what his legacy is going to be and when its time to call it quits. Its an underlying theme of his throughout the season, but it comes to a head masterfully in the 9th episode.

Lithgow is actually the one outlier in this show as the majority of the cast is made up of really prominent British actors playing these larger than life historical figures with incredible realism. I'm not sure why Lithgow was the only American tapped to play such a huge figure in British history, but he does a great job.

Another stand out is Matt Smith as Prince Phillip, the husband to Elizabeth. I think he has a really interesting role as the husband to a woman who is expected to be this larger than life figure. I wonder how much of my liking to this character was to the fact that he's played by Matt Smith, a former Doctor, and how much of it was due to his performance which is really good, but he is a complicated character that isn't boring in his enduring support, but complicated in that he loves his wife, but wants his individuality and his freedom to live as he pleases, something that is not permitted for someone of his status. He and other characters underline the underlying tone of the tradition versus modernity. Furthermore, the show takes an in-depth look at the internal struggle between duty and love with three really good examples, one of them is Phillip, the other is Princess Margret, (played by Vanessa Kirby)

Vanessa Kirby plays Elizabeth's sister, a person I didn't know existed who has a pretty complicated history and relationship to the monarchy. A big plot point of the series is her relationship to her late-father's personal attendant Peter Townsend (played by Ben Miles).

This of course is paired with her and Elizabeth's uncle, the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII (played by Alex Jennings) who abdicated his responsibilities as king, passing it onto Elizabeth and Margaret's father and changing their lives forever.

These end up being some of the juiciest and more interesting parts of the series because they highlight the systemicness of the monarchy and how rigid the rules are, both out of historical precedent, as well as being utilized by older establishment forces to maintain the status quo.

Some of my favorite moments of the first season was watching these characters being torn between the love they have for people, and the love they have for their country and their family.

I feel like Alex Jennings does a phenomenal job of that, especially in the fifth episode where Elizabeth is crowned Queen and the mini movie focuses a lot on the former King and the alienation from the family due to his desire to marry the woman he loves.

What sets The Crown apart from other shows is how grand and important it feels. Whether its the music, performances, or the historical themes questioning tradition versus modernity. It starts to ask the question, what is the role of an antiquated system like the monarchy in a changing world like the one that existed after World War 2. And while there are mentioned of how the world is changing, I never get the feeling that any of the characters really know how the world is going to end up in the next half century and how the system they've known for centuries is going to change.

The show does take a little bit to get going, especially as you're trying to ascertain who everyone is. Who is married to who, who is related to who, who has what job, etc, it does get a little bit confusing at the beginning. But it is a good history lesson on a subject I don't think a lot of Americans know about, without succumbing to the melodrama that might come with a royal family drama. It is also pretty dry. There's no high stakes action, a lot of the drama comes from politics and the look we get into the system of the British Monarchy, so just be prepared to slog through some British jargon and politics.

I think the appeal of this show is how these historical events and larger than life historical characters are going to be portrayed in a live action medium, but I think the success of The Crown is more than that.

Anybody can dress up like the Queen of England or Winston Churchill, its a lot different if you can connect to these characters and understand what they're going through, and I think The Crown does it very well. It brings to life a piece of history and it does it well. I can't speak to the accuracy, but if you want accuracy, watch a documentary. I feel like The Crown gives the subject entertainment value, while at the same time keeping it dignified when it could easily be exploited for the sex and drama that usually comes out of a show like this. While that is definitely implied, The Crown feels like character studies more than anything and an entertaining history lesson on an institution I think a lot of people don't understand.

But those are my thoughts on Season 1 of The Crown. If anything, this show has made me want to buy the Hans Zimmer theme song on Itunes because it is awesome. Comment and Discuss below what you enjoyed or didn't enjoy about The Crown. You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for other TV shows or movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 1)

So weird story, but when Rachel Brosnahan hosted SNL after her success in this show earlier last year, I, having not watched the show yet, only knew her as the prostitute from House of Cards. Fast forward a year later, after watching the first season, I had totally forgot that she played that role in House of Cards and only see as Mrs. Maisel now. It's great how a role can change things so quickly.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel follows the story of Miriam "Midge" Maisel (played by Rachel

Brosnahan). She is an upper class Jewish housewife living with her husband, Joel (played by Michael Zegan) in 1958 New York City. From the start, Midge is a powerhouse woman. She takes care of their two kids, is active with her friends and family, is incredibly charismatic, never balking at an opportunity to talk and make people laugh, and most important, presents herself as the perfect wife to her husband who is a business man wanting to break into stand up comedy.

However, after one bad night at the comedy club, Joel reveals to Midge that he's having an affair and that he is leaving her, very, VERY abruptly. I'll talk a little bit more about this when I dive a little deeper into the character of Joel, but this break up seems to come out of no where in the season premiere episode. I'm not saying its bad, especially since it is the catalyst for the entire driving effort of the show, but it does seem very odd, even after you finish the first season.

Anyway, after drinking a good amount of wine, Midge goes back to the comedy club where her husband had bombed that night and she goes on what she thinks is just a drunken rant, but actually turns out being a really strong and funny stand up set.

It's noticed by the manager of the club, Suzie (played by Alex Borstein) and she convinces Midge that she has the potential to be a really great stand up comedian.

The rest of the season is Midge working with Suzie to develop her stand up skills and routines while at the same time trying to hide her new secret life from her family and friends, including her husband, her quirky father, Abe (played by Tony Shalub), and her overbearing mother, Rose (played by Marin Hinkle).

And overall its a pretty fun ride.

If you have read this blog in the past, you might notice that this show is definitely not in the usual wheelhouse of shows I watch. And obviously, it didn't appeal to me when it first came out. It wasn't that it looked bad, it just didn't jump to the top of my watch list. I'm usually not the type who will watch a show about people just going about their every day life without some kind of high speed action, magical additions, or something strange going on. I just haven't really enjoyed shows about every day life, even if its set in the 1950's. The closest equivalent was Mad Men and I didn't even get through all of that because my interest faded after a binge of the first four seasons.

But there is just something calming about Maisel that makes it a really funny and relaxing show to watch. It's not like there is no drama, and I will talk about the stand up element of the show, but even the drama in the show is just a little bit different because its drenched in smart comedy, unique characters, and helped by the fact that you love all these characters, especially Mrs. Maisel herself.

The most interesting thing about Midge Maisel is that in this show, she is essentially a super hero. By day she goes about her business, taking care of her kids, balancing her family and work. But at night instead of fighting crime, her super power is stand up comedy because the stand up sets she and the other comics she meets are really good.

One thing I will say about that is that it feels like the comedy is funnier when its a character you like. I think I always found Midge's stand up really funny because I was invested in her character and I wanted to see her succeed. And I would bet that they put a lot more work into her stand up sets than the other people who show up for one bit and we never see them again.

One other thing that I'll say about the stand up is that they slightly indicate that the show is going to go beyond her doing stand up and instead delving into a feminist political speaking out message. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the female empowerment message of the show, but there is a difference between her doing stand up for the purpose of making people laugh, and delving into a Nanette style stream of consciousness about how much life sucks. There is a time and place for that, and the show does well enough spreading a message of empowerment just through the journey of this character, the fact that Midge's stand up makes me laugh and isn't just blatant, "WOMEN ARE POWERFUL" actually makes the message stronger in my opinion.

But the other reason this show is so calming is just how low the stakes really are, but how high they feel in the eyes of our main character.

Tony Shalub and Marin Hinkle are just brilliant as these quirky Jewish parents and there is so much to love about the dynamic the two of them have but also the relationship they have with their daughter. Midge clearly loves them a lot, but the relationship is often strained because of what they expect of her and how that contradicts with what she ends up wanting for herself.

I have since binge watched the second and third season so maybe this is coming from a wholistic view of the series all together, but it is so great seeing how much Midge changes from the beginning of season one to the end of it, while at the same time maintaining the persona and vibe that you fall in love with at the beginning of the show. I believe all these characters are related and that's part of why the situations that they get into are so funny.

But I think another element of why the show is good is that it continues to highlight the humanity in characters in any other show we would absolutely hate and that's shown in the character of Joel Maisel perfectly.

Joel is a really complicated character because at the beginning of the show, there isn't a whole lot to like about him. He's selfish, he's short sighted in his seemingly perfect relationship with Midge, and he just comes off as this privileged guy saying woe as me.

But even in the first season, I didn't totally hate him and that's probably because you figure out pretty quickly that Midge doesn't hate him, not completely. They still try to make the relationship of parents to their children work and their families are so close that its impossible not to be involved in each others lives.

I'll probably talk about Joel more in the review(s) I do for the subsequent seasons, but I think it's most prevalent in the first season when I say Joel is the despised spouse in a TV show.

The best example of this is Skyler White from Breaking Bad. There was so much vitriolic hate towards her when Breaking Bad was running that people eventually started feeling bad for the actress who played her because her character that she put a lot of work into was so despised.

There is definitely a conversation to be held about the differences between Skyler White and Joel Maisel, especially on how they're treated based on their gender, but I think there are a lot of interesting similarities, mostly that the show both paints him as this privileged douche but also it makes him an interesting character with hopes, dreams, and ambitions that happen to contradict that of the main protagonist that we probably are rooting for more.

Again, the show never definitively says that Joel is a bad guy, even though I initially thought they were going to. He causes harm to Midge and its easy to call him a little bitch boy, but is still a sympathetic character with an intriguing part of this series, especially in the later seasons.

I'm going to cut this review a little short because I feel like there is a lot more to say about the show with a full series as it stands review, which will be coming soon, but I wanted to create a review for this first season to say that I blasted through this season in a day because it was so funny, so interesting, and so captivating, whether its through the characters, the plot, or just the art of stand up comedy that I find myself interested in from the get go.

If you haven't started The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the first season is a great introduction to this character and the world she and her family lives in. A lot of shows I've been watching take a little bit to get into but Maisel hooked me from the start and I'm not really surprised that me viewing the seasons of the show overtook my review writing. Its a surprise for Amazon which has previously had shows that feel like they drag on and are slow as hell. Maisel maintains the same quality, but keeps me engaged from the start. I highly, HIGHLY recommend Mrs. Maisel and I'll probably be writing more about it in the future.

But those are my thoughts, what did you think of the first season of Mrs. Maisel? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for TV shows or movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on  future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!

Jedi: Fallen Order

So I played through the campaign of Battlefront 2 first, and I thought, "Oh, that wasn't that bad, I enjoyed that". Then I played through Jedi: Fallen Order and it just put that entire game to shame that it changed the way I looked at it. I think if I had written the Battlefront 2 campaign review first, it would have been more forgiving, but in comparison to this game, its just mediocre.

Jedi: Fallen Order for me came out of nowhere. I don't pay attention to video game news as much as I do movie news so the first time I heard of this game was through the awesome trailer that dropped I think in 2018. While it was a little bit disappointing that they continued to shove stories into the time frame between Episode 3 and 4, a timeframe I think that has been done to death and we need to move away from it as soon as we can, I still thought the game looked awesome and I'd have a good time.

The result was that I had a great time... for the most part...

Jedi: Fallen Order has you playing as Jedi Apprentice Kal Kestis (voiced and motion captured by Cameron Monaghan). Kal survives Order 66 and is hiding out as a junk collector on a planet called Bracca.

But when two Imperial Inquisitors come to look for Kal, he must go on the run to avoid detection, torture, and death by the Empire.

Now I had heard about Inquisitors from people talking about the cartoons, but I never saw them in action. They might be the best and the cheapest way to wriggle out of the story stipulation that Darth Vader is the only force user left after the Purge in Revenge of the Sith. For those who don't know, they are essentially Jedi Hunters commissioned by the Empire who look for people like the hero of this game.

Kal quickly joins a group of mercenaries aboard a ship called the Stinger Mantis, one of them includes a former Jedi named Cere Junda (voiced and motion captured by Debra Wilson). Cere tells Kal that she is looking for a Jedi Holocron with the location of force sensitive children around the galaxy. She recruits Kal to join her to find the holocron and rebuild the Jedi Order to stop the Empire.

The two of them are joined by a four armed pilot by the name of Greez (voiced by Daniel Roebuck) and they go on an adventure across multiple planets looking for clues left behind by a former Jedi Master, Eno Cordova (voiced and motion captured by Tony Amendola). All the while, they are being hunted by a zealous Inquisitor called the Second Sister (voiced and motion captured by Elizabeth Grullon).

The main drive of this game is the story. Whereas Battlefront 2's campaign runs in parallel to the stories of the movies, Fallen Order understands that not every Star Wars property needs to prominently feature known characters from the trilogy or other properties. With the exception of three characters, two of them very minor, these are all new characters who do not, and will never connect to any of the movies, and probably not any TV shows. Instead the story focuses on Kal and his personal journey as he develops his powers in the force and reconciles his survivors guilt after Order 66 and its done really well... for the most part.

This is going to be a common theme with this game in that it does so many things so well that it almost hurts to mention the things that don't quite make the mark. The story is very personal, and it expands into planets and worlds that expand instead of restrict the world of Star Wars we live in. And any mention of previous characters is very minor and probably to the benefit of the story.

However, because its a video game and the new thing with video games is to avoid too linear storylines and keep things open world, the story gets a little fractured by the fact that you're traveling from planet to planet so frequently. The story feels a little disjointed at times and moments that should have emotional impacts get kind of undercut by the fact that you gotta go and do another level or get something else to really feel that impact. It doesn't happen all the time, but for some reason, this game had you traveling a lot and it would have been better to have a planet be an individual stop for quite a bit of time. As it is, you go back and forth from each planet a lot that it feels odd.

But when those emotional moments happen, they for sure happen. The game has a complete story that could (and should) have a sequel, but doesn't necessarily need to. I got attached to the characters in this game and loved the direction they went with each of them. There were a few characters that were underdeveloped or thrown in for unknown reasons, but every underdeveloped character is made up for with really well done characters like Kal, Cere, and the Second Sister.

This game does a good job at developing its characters and building up suspense to be fully expanded when you beat those level bosses. And the truth is, this is not an easy game, so when you beat bosses, it doesn't just feel rewarding from a story perspective, it feels rewarding from a personal gameplay perspective.

So overall, the story is pretty incredible. It delves deep into interesting characters, brings you to new (and old) worlds and lets you explore them, expanding, not restricting the lore, and overall it feels very fulfilling when you finish this story because its done well. There are a few detours that feel unnecessary, but overall its a great time.

The game play on the other hand takes some getting used to. Now if you've read previous video game reviews, you'll know my expertise is not gameplay mechanics. I don't know what is good, what isn't, all I know is my experience playing the game. With Battlefront 2, it was very familiar that it felt cheap. With Fallen Order, it was difficult almost to the point of being maddening.

I think when a lot of people heard about this game, they thought it was going to be a recreation of The Force Unleashed. A game that came out where it might have been difficult for two seconds and then you end up being able to wail on everyone with incredible and unlikely force powers.

Fallen Order is very different. Not only is it very different in the game play mechanics, most likened to Dark Souls where you have to be cautious of when you block, when you dodge, and when you attack, but it also limits you on how powerful your Jedi actually gets. So much that when you first start, you are the one getting wailed on for quite a bit of time. It makes upgrading necessary, but it also forces you to learn the game play mechanics to have the best experience, otherwise you'll be like me where you're playing levels over and over again because I kept on dying. But overall I liked this limitation and difficulty. The Dark Souls-like game play is an unexpectedly perfect mode to play a Star Wars game, and while I will talk about the downside, the game feels rewarding.

Now the upside of this is, eventually, when I upgraded and got better at the game, it felt very rewarding. There wasn't instant gratification which I think a lot of games do these days. This one makes you work for it and you have to strategize how you're going to approach an enemy that is giving you trouble. Are you going to go no holds bar with your double bladed lightsaber, or are you going to dodge at attack at the opportune moments. I really enjoyed how satisfying this game became.

Now the problem with it, especially when it comes to bosses is, I was replaying bosses so many times that I started to think about why I was facing these bosses and how it connected to the story probably more in depth than the game intended and it kind of interrupted the flow of the story.

I can think of one boss that I had particular trouble with that I actually did a lot of thinking on to realize that he's kind of pointless and just a placeholder for a boss on one of the planets. I actually started thinking of new ways to utilize this character and it poked a hole in the conciseness of the story writ large. It didn't ruin the game as a whole, but it is a good example of what to expect when you're playing this game. Even on regular difficulty, it gave me some trouble, and while its rewarding, it will hiccup the story.

Overall, I really like the direction they're taking with games like Jedi: Fallen Order. One thing worth noting is that unlike other Star Wars games of the past, with few exceptions that are mostly aesthetic, this is a pretty linear storied game with very little character customization. Outside of your lightsaber customization and clothes, you can't make many changes to the character and you will reach the same conclusion no matter how many times you play the game. Now some people might see this as limiting, but I see it as them giving the reigns to story tellers and incorporating good game play. It can be frustrating, but its rewarding and for the most part masterfully comprehensive. It's a good step for Star Wars games and while I liked elements of Battlefront 2, I think we'd be much better off to have the Star Wars video game franchise head in the direction of Jedi: Fallen Order rather than Battlefront 2.

But those are my thoughts on Jedi: Fallen Order. What did you think? Was the game difficult for you or am I just bad at video games? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films, TV shows, and video games I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!

Battlefront 2 (2017) (Mainly the Campaign)

Happy New Year!

As usual, things have been pretty hectic so writing these posts have not been as frequent, however, I just made a list of things I want to get written before the end of January, either because I watched (or in this case, played through) them in January, or they're hold overs from Christmas Break. We'll see how many I get through but I thought I'd start with a relatively easy one.

Battlefront 2 came out in 2017 and is the second Star Wars video game to come out since the restructuring of Star Wars canon. In case you're not aware of what happened, when Disney bought Lucasfilms, they put out a blanket statement that the movies and The Clone Wars TV show were the only things that were considered canon and everything was moving over to Legends. I think this hit the video game community hard because a lot of the best stories of Star Wars outside of the films came from the video games.

Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight, Rogue Squadron, and the Force Unleashed all created really rich characters in the Star Wars universe and those characters were beloved by fans. So for Disney to say that they weren't canon was a hit for fans so I think a lot of us were waiting to see what kind of video games they'd come out with.

Well the result was not heavy on story and instead they focused on an old reliable in the Battlefront reboot. It is an on the ground war fighter game that had very little story and just gets you back playing in the world of Star Wars. The first Battlefront was a fine enough game and people enjoyed it for a first go, but were definitely expecting something more in their next game. Well very quickly, EA released Battlefront 2 and this time it would have a campaign and was supposed to be a more expansive game then the first one.

The result was met with mixed reviews. There was a story, which I will get to, but it was very short, there was no return of the notorious Galactic Conquest, where it was less of a story and rather a giant military campaign across the galaxy. Furthermore, the game was disliked because of its loot crate system and its a ways by which you earned heroes and other elements of the game.

Personally, I waited for quite a bit of time to get this game because aside from a real story, it seemed like the same game. You play as foot soldiers in combat, you fight to win battles. It was good in Battlefront 1, there was nothing really new worth paying 60 bucks for. And then the news about the point system and the loot crates made me have no interest in this game whatsoever. When I finally got it (for a lower price), I figured out my worries were right and the game is pretty much the same. Aside from some new hero characters like Rey, Finn, and Keylo Renn, the game feels very much the same and if you have the first one, you have the second one already.

That is, except for the story.

The story has you take control of an Imperial special forces team starting just before the Battle of Endor during Return of the Jedi. You play as Iden Versio (voiced and motion captured by Janina Gavankar), the commander of Inferno Squad, an elite covert Imperial infiltration team.

Initially, Inferno Squad is tasked with carrying out a secret contingency plan of the Emperor in the wake of his death at the end of the Battle of Endor code named Operation Cinder. But after some time, the team realizes the evil of the Empire, changes sides, and joined the Rebellion in the battles leading up to the surrender of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic.

But you don't just play as Versio, you also play as some of the classic heroes from the original trilogy like Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando as they participate in battles leading to the end of the Empire. Part of why I enjoyed this campaign was because it incorporated stories that take place after Return of the Jedi that the films wouldn't be able to do unless they were willing to do them without Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. These are the days and months directly after Return of the Jedi and portray these heroes while they're still young, bringing about the New Republic and squashing remnant Imperial forces.

I realize that a lot of those stories they're telling in novelizations and I guess it means I'll have to start reading some more, but there is something about a visual medium like a video game or a television show that I think could have been done a lot better.

There are politics and intrigue that could be portrayed in the lead up to the New Republic, factionalism in the crumbling Empire that this game really only scratches the surface of that could be amazing to see play out. I understand that Disney and EA probably thought that those stories in the direct lead up after the Return of the Jedi would be incomplete without characters like Luke, Leia, and Han, but I point to The Mandalorian in proving that belief false. Battlefront 2 is another example of how Disney is still not totally confident in their handling of the source material and they're not sure if we're going to like Star Wars properties unless they blast Luke, Han, and Leia at us. But even in their own game they're wrong about that.

Whether some of the character drama and their expansion of the Star Wars mythology was intentional or not, I really liked the utilization of Inferno Squad as an elite force of the Empire, even as its coming to the end. At the beginning of the game, Versio and her squad mates believe in the Empire and fight to keep it alive.

I apologize if its spoiling anything but its easier to discuss this game with no preconceived notions of spoilers, and there are still things I won't discuss that won't be spoilers, but the big one is that they eventually turn over to the Rebellion and help out. While I would have liked to see the opposite side of things and maybe put some humanity into the foot soldiers of the Empire just following orders or lied to by propaganda, it was good to have these characters see the errors of their ways and eventually fight side by side with the known heroes, even if it feels gratuitous at times.

Its interesting because at times, the game feels very much like it is well written and expands the lore of Star Wars, and sometimes it just feels like its checking the boxes to make it profitable and run parallel with the known story. In that way, it feels very confined in a world where business interests can't let it go too over the top. We can't let some of these imperial generals or commanders be too over the top because that might contradict the end goal of the empire finally falling at the battle of Jakku which they've set in stone. But again, I do find myself caring for Iden very much.

So much that it was fun to jump straight into her story 30-some years after the events of the first campaign into Resurrection, the DLC and continuation of her story. Something really funny of note before I go onto that is that I played these one after another and never really thought at any point they were going to connect to the movies because the movies had all come out and connecting it to a video game that not that many people played would be silly. But I guess there were some theories that elements of the new movies, notably Rey's parentage, would be connected to this game. That seems silly now, but I do understand that in retrospect, anything was possible, especially after The Force Awakens, which Resurrection takes place somewhat during.

And again, its half gratuitous, half well done. It has one foot in parallel with the events of the movies with a scene where you play as Kylo Renn, but a lot of it is focused on Iden and her daughter Zay, and when the story is centered on her and her fight against her former squadmate Gideon Hask (voiced and motion captured by Paul Blackthorne)

The game doesn't do anything in explaining the origins of the First Order (I guess that's all done in the books) but it incorporates them in and creates a pretty personal story surrounding this character you do get attached to, especially by this point in the narrative.

So much that I'm pretty bummed it seems like this story isn't being continued. Even though the story ends on a seeming cliff hanger of Iden's daughter being sent on a secret mission by General Leia herself, there doesn't seem to be any DLC that I know of in the works for a third part.

I imagine they may wait until The Rise of Skywalker is in circulation to incorporate the story from there, but even in the story that they have given so far, it just seems like none of this is planned, it just being winged.

Instead of letting artistic directors take the stories where they want to go, the video games AND the movies need to link up with a larger story that seems to be driven by producers and executives who want to make sure the world is consistent.

I don't believe there is a consistent story meant for Versio and her family because it is driven by the story of the movies and any deviation needs to be properly sanctioned because it goes into a vault of canon that is being securely monitored. I want to do a longer post about how this, not Rian Johnson or JJ Abrams, was the problem with the movies, but its a consistent problem of not having a consistent vision, and not understanding that the Star Wars universe is huge.

So is the Battlefront 2 campaign good? Sort of, but the parts where it is good, I don't think it truly knows it is or at the very least those elements are being underappreciated.

The most interesting parts of the story weren't just the fact that you got to play as Han Solo at Maz Kanada's bar for some reason, it was the relationships between Iden and her father, a hard line general in the Empire. It was discovering that even in death, Palpatine had a plan for his Empire (even if it was conceived before the executive big wigs at Disney knew Palpatine was coming back).

The most intriguing parts were when we were able to discover more of this expansive galaxy far far away and not be handcuffed by, "WELL WHAT ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTERS".

I'll probably expand on this more in my overarching Star Wars franchise post, but the greatest part about The Rise of Skywalker is the position Disney is in that they no longer really have to be beholden to the existing properties anymore. They can go nuts and create movies that occur years before or after the existing movies. And I'll say it, they can even have movies that take place during the existing movies and never touch on the events of those movies because it is a GALAXY far far away. Its okay for two things to happen at the same time without those things affecting one another.

I'll talk about that a little more in my next Star Wars video game review, but the overall thoughts I have on Battlefront 2 as a whole is that I would not pay full price for this game. The game play is exactly the same as its predecessor and the story, while it has its moments of greatness, really handcuffs itself to corporate profit driven interests. I hope we don't get a Battlefront 3, not for a long time, and if we do, its really got to distinguish itself from the rest and bring something new, both in the regular game play, and the story. Otherwise, it just feels like EA is gouging us for money because we like the brand.

But those are my thoughts on Battlefront 2. What did you think? I'm interested in when you got the game. Did you get it from the start and watched it unfold, or did you do it like I did and played it when all the outrage calmed down? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films, TV shows, or video games I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!

The Peanut Butter Falcon

The Peanut Butter Falcon falls into that small categories of small low budget films every year that I happen to catch the trailer for while perusing through Youtube and actually end up seeing. I think I was like a lot of people that were charmed by the concept of the movie and when it showed up in the menu of the plane I was on, it seemed like a decent choice after seeing all the big budget films I've really been interested this year.

The Peanut Butter Falcon focuses on a young man with down syndrome named Zak (played by Zack Gottsagen). Zak lives in an assisted living home and is looked after by a social worker named Eleanor (played by Dakota Johnson) and dreams of becoming a professional wrestler as he watches old video tapes of his hero, Salt Water Redneck (played by Thomas Haden Church).

After escaping from the assisted living home, Zak finds an unemployed drifter down on his luck named Tyler (played by Shia LaBeouf). After some initial hesitation, the two actually connect really well and form a friendship in the fact that they're both sort of on the run.

Tyler agrees to take Zak to the training camp run by Salt Water Redneck, and the two start this Mark Twain-esc odyssey. Meanwhile, Eleanor is out looking for Zak, intending to take him back to the nursing home.

The main appeal of this movie is how kind spirited it is. You do feel the genuine friendship between Zak and Tyler and there is a really great philosophy imparted on how people treat the mentally challenged. The highlight is Tyler's viewpoint on treating Zak like a regular person and the contrast with others who at best treat him with kids gloves like Eleanor does, or treat him with contempt like others.

The great thing about the film is the environment. The two main characters have to avoid using traditional means of transportation, so they travel through cornfields and by makeshift boats. The result is that the audience is exposed to a lot of beautiful landscapes in North Carolina. I'm not very familiar with the area, but the movie portrays a southern culture that I don't think gets portrayed enough. If you've ever seen the show Bloodline, I would say that is the closest thing to the environment being portrayed in The Peanut Butter Falcon and I like it when new aesthetics can be utilized effectively like they do in The Peanut Butter Falcon.

One last thing that was really enjoyable about the film was the performances from the three characters with the most screen time. Zack Gottsagen actually has down syndrome, but he provides a really great performance, especially opposite Shia LaBeouf. The dynamic between the two only works if these two do a good job and they did. Dakota Johnson is also really good in it. I think Dakota Johnson is probably going to be the most accessible character for most people because while she is a very good character, she is the one that probably sees the most change from the start of the movie to the end. She eventually becomes a little bit more than an observer and arm candy for Shia LaBeouf, but I still enjoyed her performance, even if her character wasn't fleshed out as clearly as I would have hoped.

Now I think there are a couple of missteps with the film but nothing that absolutely ruins it. The movie clocks in just over 90 minutes and while I'm always for movies that are concise, I think I would have personally liked a little more. There's kind of a funny scene where Zak and Tyler run into a blind man who baptizes them pretty randomly. It's a funny odyssey-like interaction, one that doesn't really tie into the main story besides providing them transportation, but I wouldn't have minded more random encounters like this because I like these characters. I wouldn't have minded seeing them do more.

The other aspect of the film is kind of a criticism, but its more unnecessarily inserting rationalism into a film. There's an interesting exchange between Tyler and Eleanor where Tyler basically tells her that they're going to continue this journey no matter what. And because we've spent so much time with Tyler and Zak, we don't want their journey to end so we're supposed to side with Tyler. But if you didn't have that background, like Eleanor didn't have, all she'd see was a creepy dude that keeps on hitting hanging out with a half naked mentally challenged patient of hers. This is kind of part of why Eleanor isn't as strong of a character as I wish she would have been because we're supposed to just write her off as a naive college educated woman instead of a professional who is responding rationally to a weird situation. And then she falls for the gruff drifter because this is a movie.

Again, it doesn't destroy the quality of the film because I know that it's a movie there's supposed to be a suspension of disbelief in situations like that, but it is strange.

The movie also ends kind of strangely. Its kind of spoiler but they do make their way to the wrestling school and interact with Thomas Hayden Church's character.

It includes some odd characters, some kind of ridiculous moments, and a really rushed ending.

Again, it's not terrible, but the first act of this movie is a lot more polished than the third act because where the first and second act did a good job establishing the characters, their relationships, and saying something about the treatment of mentally challenged people, the third act kind of stumbles through it where it introduces the mean spirited people but in a very clunky and rushed way. So much that the movie just ends and it seemed like there was more but the movie ran out of money and just sped its way to an ending.

It's tough because I do like the movie and overall approach and message its trying to deliver. LaBeouf, Gottsagen, and Johnson give a great performance, and the movie is heart warming. But I feel like it could have been 15 minutes to a half hour longer and it would have fleshed out the movie out just a little more.

As it stands, The Peanut Butter Falcon is gonna make you feel good and sometimes that's all you need. Something about the trailer and some of the moments and content of the film makes it feel like it should be more than that in my opinion. I think there are a few things that could be improved to make the film more memorable, but again, you're not going to have a bad time at all if you watch this film.

Check it out if you get the chance and I challenge you to watch it without breaking a smile.

But those are my thoughts on The Peanut Butter Falcon. Are there films from 2019 I missed and should be prioritizing for 2020. Let me know! Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for Reading!

The Witcher (season 1)

So for the sake of being upfront, I haven't played through any of The Witcher games, nor have I read any of the books. I started The Witcher 3 on PS4, but I didn't feel like I had enough time to really delve in the way I wanted to. This is its own whole fantasy universe that needs an attention span that I only have from time to time. Unfortunately, that attention span is really needed in this show, otherwise its just going to come off as a mess.

The Witcher follows the story of a mutant monster hunter named Geralt of Rivias (played by Henry Cavill). Geralt is a solitary guy wishing to hunt monsters for payment, hang out with his horse Roach, and be left alone.

But all around him, there are happenings going on in this high fantasy world. The politics of kings, queens, princesses, wizards, mages, and other high fantasy elements you can think of.

The season is split among three story lines. The first is obviously The Witcher, Geralt, crossing the continent, looking for work and dealing with people's prejudice of Witchers as mutated freaks. I didn't realize until I started getting caught up on The Mandalorian yesterday that Geralt's story is not too different from The Mandalorian, as a stoic merc for hire, who begrudgingly takes on the help of others and his soft side is revealed.

The other story lines include that of Ciri, Princess of Cintra (played by Freya Allen). A series of events in the first episode sends her on a journey of her own that honestly is the more boring parts of the show.

And then there's the mage Yennefer (played by Anya Chalotra) who potentially has the most interesting story arc throughout the show. She starts in really humble and throughout the show finds her way through this fantasy world, creating her own destiny and finding her own challenges.

The main problem with this show is that it doesn't have a concise handle on the passage of time. Because almost all of these characters have magical abilities, they don't age the same way normal people do, therefore there's no way to tell how much time has passed between episodes and even when they say, "Boy its been decades hasn't it?" It doesn't feel like that much time has passed because each story almost seems like its on its own timeline that travels at a different pace.

This is also paired with the fact that the show doesn't take much time to really explain the rules or background of this world. Now there is an element of that that I like with this show, and I'll talk about that in a little bit. But the downside first is that unless you've played the games or read the books, you have to be paying really close attention to the explanations of whats going on in this world and why certain things are important. Also, especially in the first few episodes, the timeline is not totally clear, so you're trying to figure out the history of this world while some characters are at a point where something has happened and others are not. There's a part of me that wants to go back and watch the first few episodes to see if they make more sense, but I shouldn't have to do that.

I also started watching this about the same time I was watching The Mandalorian and I saw a lot of similarities between the two shows.

The difference is that The Mandalorian has 9+ movies that shape the world around the show so its cool that we can go off on some random dude doing his own thing.

The Witcher doesn't have that foundation.

Now, I do think the Witcher sets itself apart in going for the same type of show as The Mandalorian rather than just trying to be Game of Thrones. The Witcher is part of a push from Netflix to capitalize on the gap Game of Thrones left of having a high fantasy show. Instead of just copying Game of Thrones, The Witcher almost does the opposite, leaving the political factions very vague and having the main characters play tertiary roles and definitely not the kings and queens of the political game of thrones. I think in the long run that will be really helpful to this show whereas other Fantasy shows will try to recreate that political environment. I just think the show would do itself a favor by taking a beat, explaining the world a little bit more, and letting audience understand the world we're living in a little bit more.

But while we're talking about the good things. The three main actors do a pretty good job keeping us engaged and in the story. I feel like if Henry Cavill wasn't good at what he does, I would have said "thanks but no thanks" after the first episode. Instead he takes the character of Geralt, who I've found in the past to be kind of bland, and make him interesting and complex.

As mentioned before, Anya Chalotra stands out as Yennefer, but probably because she has the most unique and complicated role.

The show has already been renewed for a second season (which is not surprising to anybody, I think Netflix is banking on this show being a cornerstone of their programming in the future), and I imagine I will re-watch the season once season two comes out. Luckily the episodes are pretty easily digestible. Maybe it was just the Christmas break, but I wiped through those episodes pretty quickly. They're pretty fast paced, even when they're just explaining things.

Also, the fight sequences are really well done.

When you look at Henry Cavill, you don't think he's a guy that can move all that fast, but he does the fight choreography almost seamlessly and its a lot of fun. And it's not just Cavill that does a great job keeping the action fast paced and bad ass.

On a side note, I'm just gonna put another word out there for my guy Henry Cavill. He's already been done dirty by DC for not having him come back as Superman, it's good to see he's being properly utilized.

When I first saw Cavill as Geralt, with no real conception of who Geralt was, I thought he looked kind of silly with the white haired wig. And while I still have moments where I know that's clearly a wig, it still works because he creates a good character that was really cool to watch.

Overall, I think there is a lot to like about The Witcher Season 1. It's not perfect by any means and it's a little rough, especially in the first three episodes as you are bum rushed through character and world introductions. But it is definitely a show I want to have a second season. I want it to have the time to flesh out the world a little more, help me understand it the way I'm sure people who played the games do, and it feels different enough for it to not be a total Game of Thrones rip off, even though that's its business purpose on the Netflix docket.

To be clear, it's not even close to the first season of Game of Thrones, but I think the thing that will benefit it in the future is that it isn't trying to recreate Game of Thrones. It is its own thing, and us fantasy nerds are probably gonna end up eating it up.

Again, there's enough here to make a second season interesting and I don't think Netflix is going to let this show be bad. There's a lot of change that is happening in the streaming worlds and Netflix needs a hit like The Witcher.

Is it going to be that hit? It remains to be seen. I like it so far, even though its a little rough getting off the ground. I hope they correct the mistakes of the first season in the second and we have a good fantasy show on all the big streaming services because I don't see that as competition, I see that wins all around.

But those are my thoughts on The Witcher. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for future films or tv shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!

But those are my thoughts on The Witcher.