Pete Messum Reviews...

Why isn't Triplett there?! This is perhaps the most difficult episode to review of Agents of SHIELD yet, and I feel it will be for some time. The big reason why is that this isn't the end of the series. It's the end of Chapter 1 and the set-up for Chapter 2, which could go either way. I try to avoid spoilers usually but it's impossible to talk about a spoiler-y episode without talking about spoilers! So, here you go: CONTAINS SPOILERS So, let's address each section as we go, shall we? Deathlok: As much as I do think Deathlok is pretty darn awesome as a villain, the fact that Mike Peterson is the nicest guy you could ever meet defeats his menace. It looks like he'll be an ally next season though, even if his eye problem hasn't been sorted out. I feel he could have had a larger role, but he didn't feel tacked-on nonetheless. Ward: Please can we have no Ward redemption arc next season? I like him evil better than good, and the actor has so much

Having finished watching the season finale of the sixth season of The Mentalist, I feel I can now have a nice retrospective over the series as a whole. Oh boy... OK, so this series can be split into two halves - the Red John half and the post-Red John half - which were separated by a mid-series gap. The Red John half was one of the most intense and surprising collection of TV episodes I have ever seen, and the mid-season finale was stunning. I think Simon Baker has always been the thing that pushed The Mentalist above the clichéd US crime dramas that swarm out Televisions now. He has this amazing sense of being quirky, but realistically quirky. I just think it was fantastic. Then, the post-Red John half came in, and this was where things died down a bit too much. The first several episodes were great and continued the story well, and then it just seemed to trail off into episodes with Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon in them. Then there was a mini-arc surrounding a phone-hacking with e

No more from The Tomorrow People Sorry for the delays with this post folks, but I'd best explain why my reviews of the US series The Tomorrow People have stopped. I've watched the series up to about Episode 19 (I think) and overall I've been disappointed with it. The Tomorrow People isn't exactly a 'fun' series, so when a bad episode comes along, it really is bad. The latest episodes haven't been bad per say, but I'm getting very tired of the constant 'drama' elements between the characters. Stephen is a character I've tried to like, but he's getting very arrogant and annoying that at the end of the last episode I watched, not only had he ignored all help from his friends whom he has trusted before but goes along with the plan of the man who has done horrible and evil things. Jedikiah is a character who's difficult to trust, but surely if John trusts him, Stephen should? I'm not even going to bother with the ever-confusing ele

Go see - NOW!!! The X-Men franchise has been a bit of a roller-coaster over the years. It's honestly surprising that it's usurped Spider-Man in the number of films, and yet none of them have actually been reboots (even if they retcon previously known facts). The X-Men franchise seemed to hit a dead end at The Last Stand, and Origins: Wolverine was simply a money-grabber at the end of the day, so the fact that First Class and The Wolverine have lead to this shows why the X-Men franchise should be still around after fourteen years. While the plot itself it cliched - character is sent back in time to avert dystopian future - it's simply a framework for the story to come off of, and at the end of the day it's quite possibly the most character-driven film I've seen since Gravity. The enormous cast is there to not only appeal to fans but show the sheer scale of this epic blockbuster. This film is really about the characters - Charles Xavier, Erik Lensherr, Raven and

Ward's past is revealed... Upon writing this review, I think back over the series so far in a sort of retrospective which can only be had at the end of a long-running series. I haven't had this sort of retrospective in a long time, probably not since the last series of Doctor Who (which finished over a year ago), which brings to light why I love having something like Agents of SHIELD to get me through the weeks and months. Basically, I enjoy SHIELD not only as a fan of the MCU but also as a TV viewer who likes long-running Television series. Or maybe I'm looking too deeply into this. Oh well... At long last my hopes for Agent Ward have been answered! His history has been revealed and suddenly a lot more seems clearer with his character. I think the most emotional scene this series was him holding a gun to his dog. The flashback sequences were great, even if having two young Agent Ward's looking nothing alike was a bit odd. I think his character works as a tortured

I'm not exactly a massive fan of the X-Men franchise. It's certainly had its ups and downs, and thankfully, this prequel film is a definite up. I can see why people hate this film, but I can also see why people - and even critics - love it. The film begins in 1944, showing how Charles Xavier met Raven, and how Erik Leshnerr became the man he is. This is an interesting set-up, but its clear that the writers knew exactly what they were doing, as this scene ties in with Erik and Shaw's final confrontation at the end of the film, bringing the plot full circle. The plot then delves into the Cuban Missile Crisis, as Charles forms the X-Men in an attempt to prevent a Third World War, and to persuade the humans that mutants are there to help. Erik doesn't believe this at all, and is simply there to kill Shaw who tortured and experimented on him as a child, to the point where he calls himself 'Frankenstein's Monster'. Michael Fassbender, despite his ever-changing

Can Ward be trusted? Basically, no. I do continuously wonder why Agents of SHIELD can be amazing some weeks, and barely average on other weeks. The series' continuous flux in quality does begin to worry me, but thankfully the series has had more ups than downs. After last weeks' rather dull filler episode, this week the action kicks in when Agent Maria Hill returns to help Coulson track down Ward and the kidnapped Skye. The episode's dry sense of humour can get a bit repetitive after a while, but its clear where this series is going. Coulson and co are at war with Garrett and HYDRA, and next week it'll kick-start. Anyway, let's focus on this week. The continuous irony in the conversations between Ward and Skye make me wonder how the hell Ward hasn't worked out that she knows his game yet, but before it gets too repetitive, Skye escapes and thus we have the return of Deathlok! Finally, Deathlok can be the awesome villain that I wanted him to be from day one

The Cellist is finally revealed... As we're nearing the end of Season 1 (or Series 1 as we call it in the UK, but this is a US show so whatever) of Agents of SHIELD, I can look back at the mistakes made and where the series could have improved. However, this series suffers from one problem overall: structure. The way the plot goes along feels like it's being made up as each episode comes. HYDRA appears only because they did in The Winter Soldier, the Clairvoyant is revealed as a character not heard of before Episode 14 and there aren't any hints as such to any of the plot threads. We just learn details, the reveal happens and it makes logical sense. This episode continues the 'filler' episode from last week...and what the hell happened here? It simply doesn't work. Just over half-way through, Skye learns that Ward is HYDRA and a Traitor and then continues to do nothing at all for the rest of the episode. She cries a lot and tries to play it cool with Ward

Agents of Nowhere...in Canada. With John Garrett revealed as the Clairvoyant and Ward a traitor and HYDRA member, as well as our Agents being on the run, the build-up for this week’s instalment of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD was pretty intense. Is everything as it seems? The show’s tagline is “It’s All Connected”, so obviously there are more surprises to come. The episode continues from Episode 17, with Agent Hand killed by Ward and John Garrett setting up an army to fight for him and HYDRA. Along the way he recruits “flowers” girl Raina and breaks into the Fridge, stealing the Tesseract weapon from Episode 2 and breaking out the Prisoners. Meanwhile, Coulson and co. leave the Hub to escape Colonel Talbot but when Fury sends coordinates to Coulson’s badge, the team are sent to Providence – a top-secret SHIELD base where resident Agent Koenig reveals to Coulson that Fury is in fact alive, but he has no idea where the former director is. Raina is finding problems with th