Pete Messum Reviews...

Shiny... OK, something different today. Why Serenity is one of the best films ever made. For me, it is. It's one of my favourite films of all time and my favourite sci-fi film of all time, as well as being a sequel to one of my favourite TV programmes of all time (Firefly). Here are my 10 reasons: The trailers for this film are awesome! I watched the trailer for Serenity the night I finished watching Firefly and it had me hooked with it being one of the most engaging film trailers ever made! It builds up the tension with the story-line and then goes into all-out action which looks brilliant and awe-inspiring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY3u7bB7dZk The soundtrack by David Newman is brilliant and memorable. While it certainly does not sound like Firefly's score, it works for the film and works in every scene it features in. If one day a sequel is made, I would like to see the soundtrack at least take cues from this as it really is brilliant.  https://www.youtube.com/...

So, after the ending to last week’s  installment , you’d think that The Tomorrow People  wouldn't  tackle two impossible-to-blend story-lines together! So they do, and thus you have ‘Limbo’. John is particularly angry after what happened between Stephen and Cara in Episode 6 and he shows his anger, though never losing his cool. Luke Mitchell is very subtle in his performance, but you can see his hatred of Stephen beginning to build, to the point where he’s tempted to just let him die. Cara is beginning to see the effects of last week and is trying to prevent a serious fight between Stephen and Cara, sticking with John and leaving Stephen saying that what happened  shouldn't  have happened. In the meantime, Stephen’s powers are cut-off by Jedikiah before he does anything stupid with them. Of course, he already has, and a fancy bracelet is his punishment. He gets in serious trouble for a party and then mind-reading Astrid - who now knows about his powe...

After five episodes of Russell being no more than a likeable supporting character, at long last he gets more of a main role when he and John go to attend his father’s funeral. It begins to become clear what lead Russell to the Tomorrow People and his story is genuinely upsetting, with some fantastic acting from Aaron Yoo in these scenes. However, it is only half of the episode. Yes, we have another, less interesting half with Stephen and Cara tracking down a break-out, who turns out to be...Darcy’s sister! Yeah, Darcy...the character no one remembers the name of who works for Ultra. Right... Actually, this basic concept is great, and pays off well, only it leads to a romance blooming between Cara and Stephen. While I’m not going to bother with the fact that Stephen is meant to be a 16-year old teenager and Cara is a woman in her twenties, it feels oddly forced and came out too soon. Some things need more time to build. In Firefly, Mal and Inara don’t even get together in the end a...

For the fifth episode of The Tomorrow People, it’s clear that tensions are beginning to rise for the main characters, with Stephen trying to remain on good terms with his Uncle and the Homo-superior getting restless. Stephen is interrogated by Ultra’s hierarchy, and suddenly he begins to worry that he has leaked information to the big boss, as Cara, Russell and most of the Tomorrow People go off to a party – one that John is particularly against. However, Ultra knows this and Jedakiah in his nice family-man ways brings Stephen along to see them get slaughtered at a club, while Astrid begins to get suspicious of Stephen and what he gets up to. It’s a tense episode, although it feels a little too predictable, with one shock twist and one minor twist that fuels Cara’s rage a bit too much for Stephen’s liking. The tension between John and Cara is definitely building, but it will ultimately out in something. 8/10

The Tomorrow People has been an interesting series to review, with characters developing each and every episode. After a story focussed on Cara, it seems only right for the next one to be focussed on John. With yet another opening set in the past, the episode opens with a young John as he is recruited by Jedakiah for a new programme of Ultra’s. Meanwhile, in the present an old friend of John’s (and former employee of Ultra’s) has returned to seek vengeance against his former friend and Jedakiah. As the episode develops, more and more information is leaked out as to what exactly happened between the three characters. The title of the episode is ‘Kill or Be Killed’, and that is essentially the story line. McCrane (John’s friend) is able to kill after being experimented on by Ultra, and by the end, we also learn that another member of the Tomorrow People was the same as well. It’s a concept that the series has been hinting at since Episode 1, and it works very well in this episode...

These are some upcoming reviews I have planned for 2014. For those wondering what happened to my 'The Tomorrow People US' Reviews, I'm close to giving up on them, as I seem to have little time to write reviews for 22, 45 minute TV episodes each week, but I'll try and catch up. Jonathan Creek: series five - As much as I do enjoy Jonathan Creek (I'm watching all the episodes I haven't seen at the moment), I feel that last years' "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb" was...disappointing to say the least. It definitely felt like a Pilot for a new series, although with very little Jonathan Creek-isms. The duffle coat was barely seen (and is absent from the series five promo images) and there was no windmill or Adam Klaus. In fact, there was very little 'magic' involved at all. It felt like it had lost what made the series so great. Hopefully the new three hour-long episodes will bring us back into the old days once more. Marvel's Agent...

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG - 10/10 PACIFIC RIM - 10/10 GRAVITY - 10/10 THE WORLD'S END - 9/10 RED 2 - 9/10 MARVEL'S THOR: THE DARK WORLD - 9/10 MARVEL'S IRON MAN THREE - 9/10 DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR (3D) - 8/10 THE WOLVERINE - 8/10 MAN OF STEEL - 8/10 NOW YOU SEE ME - 7/10 ALAN PARTRIDGE: ALPHA PAPA - 7/10 JACK THE GIANT SLAYER - 7/10 THE HARRY HILL MOVIE - 6/10 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - 6/10