Pete Messum Reviews...

To be perfectly honest, I have little to say about The Flash. It doesn't seem to know quite what to do. With it being more of a family show than Arrow, its constantly avoiding some darker areas to explore, incorporating more cheesy and light-hearted moments.  Then again, viewers who don't watch Arrow will be left going "hang on, when was this in The Flash?" at the previously for Episode 4 with the footage from Season 2 of Flash's parent show, and will probably be wondering who Felicity Smoak is. This seems to clash with it being a separate show for a different audience and just seems to be the light-hearted spin-off to Arrow, instead of its own show. Then again, it is its own show for a lot of the time, so...I just don't know. I'm very glad I watch both Flash and Arrow! The jokes and gags are well placed in The Flash, but the more serious moments can get overshadowed by humour and the lack of faith in going darker. Episode 5 explored the Army experime

Who can Coulson trust? (Image © Marvel.com) Wow, something really did hit the fan this week in Agents of SHIELD. At long last, this season seems to be really going in a new direction, exploring these different characters, their interactions and motivations. First of all we have the complex relationship of Skye and Ward, and the wonderful scene towards the end showing the parallels of Grant and his brother Christian was a clear standout of the episode. You just can't tell who's telling the truth, let alone whether Skye or Coulson believe either one. Brett Dalton is fantastic, doing his great performance as of yet in SHIELD. The look on his face when Skye tells him that he will be sent to his brother is just that of pure dread and horror. This is what I hoped we'd get to see several episodes ago, but better late than never. In fact, the cliffhanger ending with Ward killing his captors was perfectly paced, acted and directed. Just the look on his face. This guy truly mean

11). Kill the Moon  A story built up on far too much science fiction nonsense and a variety of plot holes, as well as some poor characterization - 6/10 10). In the Forest of the Night  A slightly dull story without much of a plot, but ultimately entertaining in places - 6/10 9). Robot of Sherwood A nice, fun story with some plot holes, but Ben Miller and Tom Riley are excellent guest cast members - 7/10 8). Listen A creepy, enjoyable story with a distinct lack of originality and Steven Moffat-isms  - 7/10 7). Dark Water / Death in Heaven  A mix of creepy themes, great character moments and an overall rather disappointing episode - 7/10 6). The Caretaker  A story without much of a plot, but with some great character moments and fantastic humour - 8/10 5). Time Heist  An incredibly entertaining bank heist story with some fun moments and a great monster, even if the story ends with a slightly over-complicated resolution - 8/10 4). Into the Dalek  A classic Dalek story

***CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS*** Interstellar is a film with a hell of a lot of good, but also with quite a bit of bad, making it incredibly difficult to review. Its a film with so much on its shoulders with Christopher Nolan's fantastic critical acclaim from The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010), not to mention the huge success of The Dark Knight Rises (2012). What does become clear from this film though is that he has already reached and passed his peak with  The Dark Knight  (2008) and  Inception  (2010), and Rises (2012) was nowhere near as good as those two. And, sadly, neither was Interstellar . This is a film that instantly sets its mood surrounding survival, and the dystopian future Nolan has created with a dust-covered Earth running out not of fuel but of food. This is such a brilliantly realized future that Nolan clearly enjoys exploring as a writer and director. In fact, this could be a film in itself - humanity trying to get away from this future Earth, allowi

"I am not Liam Neeson!!!" Wow, Arrow, you picked up. I did worry that the first three episodes were going to be what the series would become - character pieces relying less on plot and action to help enhance the overall story of Arrow, but no - they were simply building up to this. It was fantastic to explore the dynamic between Nyssa al Ghul (still waiting for Talia, but oh well) and Laurel throughout the episode, as they both loved Sara, but differently. Its clear both actresses had great chemistry, and Laurel is certainly building up to becoming...well, you can probably guess what. Nyssa and Laurel's quest for vengeance was nicely explored, building to a three-way fight between Nyssa, Arrow and Malcolm Merlyn as a nice climactic conclusion. John Barrowman sold the hell out of this episode, constantly getting into Oliver's mind, and its clear he is trying to manipulate both him and Thea for his own schemes. While I'm still waiting for Roy to get an episo

Well, that was eventful. For the past four episodes, I've been waiting for Agents of SHIELD to actually do something that a member of its audience is remotely interested in. Most of the conversations I've had about Agents of SHIELD have concluded with "there's too much in there now and there is not enough time to use it all, not to mention most of Season 1 seems to have been forgotten". Finally, we get a proper introduction to Skye's father, and what his relationship with Raina is. Finally, we get to explore the theories about Skye's true identity. Finally, Simmons being a mole in HYDRA actually goes somewhere. While I did find the episode and this season so far very predictable for the most part, such as Bobbi Morse working for SHIELD secretly as well as being whatever-his-name-is' ex-wife, Simmons being rescued by her, Skye finding out the truth and it turns out she knows something...it all feels like we have been waiting for this for four epi

Team Arrow Arrow is back, and for the first time ever I can watch it on Sky 1 week after week! There are many changes for this season. Firstly, the tone is much less dark and gritty, with the series embracing its comic book roots and providing some nice tie-ins to The Flash (including a Barry Allen cameo). This is greatly appreciated, and while some may not be happy about this, it comes across as a natural change and makes the darker moments more effective, not to mention fitting in more with The Flash's more family-friendly tone. We also had the dramatic death of Sara in Episode 1, which was brilliantly executed. However, it seems to have lost its impact with it being mentioned so much. I understand this is a driving force for Laurel's character arc over this season (which I won't spoil, if you can't work it out already), but I think its being overdone a little too much. However, Oliver's response to this is fantastic, leading him to Corto Maltese to try and

After a rocky start for Agents of SHIELD season 2, finally we get back to the great stuff I loved about season 1. We have the return of standalone episodes building up the characters and storyline for the season, while also being an entertaining 45 minute installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Friday nights (or Tuesday nights in the US). The characters are given a lot more focus this week, with Hunter, Triplett and Mac getting their moments, as well as Fitz having some truly great character moments as he tries to adjust with his brain trauma. The final scene with him and the others sharing a drink was a great moment, and showed how far his character has come since the Pilot last year. While the lack of focus on Skye still feels jarring, with her just about getting a few lines in this episode, its great other characters are getting their moments, even if Koenig and 'real' Simmons appear to have been forgotten about. The real focus was on the relationship between May

For an extra long Doctor Who story, I decided to do an extra long review. Contains spoilers from start to finish.

"How could you waste Blizzard?" [Image © Marvel.com] After a slight improvement last week, it seems we're back to square one of the quality of this season of Agents of SHIELD. Donnie Gill was truly wasted in the episode. While I did get the impression a lot of CGI work and set-dressing was done to bring his powers to life, his character didn't enhance the story of the episode and after such great set-up for Blizzard last season I thought they would do more with him, but alas not. I suppose he could still return (death is not the end in the MCU for most characters), but I doubt it considering his death scene. However, the brainwashing element was a great twist, and the menacing HYDRA agent did an excellent performance. Sadly though, even that plot element was wasted. I was hoping for some cool super villain action in future episodes, but no. Maybe it was too expensive to do, so the production team decided to give him a send-off episode. There were so many direct

Normally, I'd do one overall Mini-Review summary for the episode, but after viewing both, I've decided to do separate ones, with the difference in quality between the two. As for the video review, I'll talk about both in one just to make it easier.

'Pacific Rim' was a film I had little-to-no interest in seeing initially. The promotional material seemed to sell it as simply robots verses aliens, and I thought it would end up being a terrible waste of time and money. Then the reviews came in, and after over a year, I decided to get the Blu-ray and sit down to watch it. I was wrong. While yes, the film is very much Robots VS Aliens, this is a simple premise which it uses as a basic template to explore complex and engaging character arcs, stunning action sequences and a fantastic story-line. The acting is fantastic throughout, and the excellent screenplay gives the actors lots of subtle moments and moments to shine, and Guillermo del Toro's fantastic direction brings out the excellence of the screenplay. The film all seems to come together to make an entertaining, engaging and enjoyable film with plenty of action, humour, drama and emotion to overall succeed in a way that so few action films do. Its not all about o

While I wasn't keen on the opening episode of Season 2, Agents of SHIELD has certainly picked-up in terms of quality with Friday's episode "Heavy is the Head". Not only do the set-ups from the previous installment continue to build, but we also re-visit old favorites such as Raina, who has a welcome return. Actress Ruth Negga is fantastic in the role, and proves to be menacing, evil and twisted despite seeming sweet and innocent. Raina is a character that the writers clearly enjoy developing her, and her crossing of HYDRA this episode for a mysterious man at the end (Skye's father, I'm assuming) provides some interesting elements. We also continue the arc of Coulson's symbols on the wall - something last episode mentioned vaguely despite being the cliffhanger to Season 1. While I'm not sure where the series is going with the arc, I'm glad it hasn't been forgotten about. This episode does feel like Episode 1 Part 2, with the cliffhanger f