Saturday 29 September 2012

Doctor Who - The Angels Take Manhattan (Review)

So far I have been quite negative of the latest series of Doctor Who, with only ‘A Town Called Mercy’ and, more so, ‘The Power of Three’, stepping up to the plate as being worthy of the excellent first two series that saw Matt Smith step up to the plate as the Doctor.

But I’m glad to say that mid-series conclusion ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’ was the strongest of the five episodes so far and an almost perfect end to the story of Amy and Rory Williams that began two-and-half years ago.

Before I get to the nature of the plot the cinematography is what needs the most acknowledgement in the episode. 1930s New York has never looked so beautiful and the periodic detail of the time, from the buildings to the clothing, were spot on. Michael McShane – Dr. Vaabit from the under-rated comedy ‘Lab Rats’ – was a great character as a gangster-style crime boss and fit the scenes perfectly, and the opening ten minutes before the credits rolled was an incredible atmospheric and scene-setting trip around depression New York that set up the story and featured not only a precursor to later events as the private investigator met himself but also a great denouement with a living Statue of Liberty, this twist damaged only by the spoiler trailer used by American TV last week and ‘Conspiracy Keanu’ on Twitter asking the question six months ago ‘What if the Statue of Liberty was a giant weeping angel?’ This twist in itself was a nice addition to the mythology of the creatures, creatures that were almost back to the scariness they commanded in ‘Blink’ that was almost missing from the two-parter of two series ago.

After a fittingly atmospheric credit sequence we returned to modern day New York to find the Doctor, Amy and Rory engaging in some fun and reading from a book, a novel that would form the crux of the episode. With Rory being zapped back to 1930s New York while on a mission to find coffee, the book turned out to be written by River Song in a well composed mechanic, built around the effective use of a typewriter overlaid over shots, equally located in the pre-war time period, in the ultimate example of written-down spoilers. Back in the 30s the angels are rife, using the building ‘The Winter Quay’ as a prison and feeding ground to ‘consume’ the time energy created by sending people back in time, a method that the angels have not used since the excellent ‘Blink’ back in the David Tennant era of the show.

With the Doctor and Amy finally finding a way to return to the 1930s, the episode continued as a tense mystery-solving and angel-avoiding adventure, taking in death, danger and plot twists. The flickering lights – alluded to throughout this first half of the series – ramped up the tension, as did the reading ahead in the book to discover their own futures. Here Matt Smith, as the Doctor, portrayed the character once more brilliantly, showing his fear at the creatures and his apprehension of what would be upcoming. Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillian were on top form, as was Alex Kingston as River Song, playing a much more muted character than we expected for it.

The episode climaxed to a roof-top scene between Amy and Rory that felt like the end with emotions running high, already building on elderly Rory’s earlier death, and felt like a touching end to the story but not before the tension was relieved by their deaths creating a paradox and thus saving them.

But just as we felt it was going to be a happy ending, albeit a cheated one with yet another RTD-inspired big reset switch, the grave with Rory’s name still present on it was spotted, unlike the angel behind him which wasn’t, leading to a heart-wrenching scene played beautifully by Gillian and Smith, and I’m not afraid to say that, between that and the excellent episode score, I found it very tearful and a sad end to the episode, perfectly rounding off the story, and emotions that continued as the Doctor rushed to read the last page of River’s story and once more the feelings came back. Yes. I cried. Sue me!

The episode ended on a touching conversation between the Doctor and River Song, rounding off the strongest episode of a previously-weaker series, and then another tear-jerking shot of a young Amelia Pond awaiting her raggedy man.

It’s difficult of me to think of points were the episode fell down. I suppose it would have been nice to have seen some scenes of Amy and Rory living out their life together and perhaps, as was suggested on the net, seeing River grow up when she was in New York previously, but it’s difficult to pick fault with what seemed a packed forty-five minutes, but one that seemed to be slow and atmospheric at times, that’s slow in a good way.

With the excellent atmosphere of 1930s New York successfully created in the episode and the well-constructed story, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’ was the perfect way to round off the two-and-a-half years of stories and was both exciting, tense, touching and well-acted by all those concerned.

I look forward now to the Christmas special having enjoyed a story that redeemed the series so far, including the fun idea of the Statue of Liberty being a weeping angel; the inability of the Doctor to change time when it’s a fixed event; and the emotion of saying goodbye to two characters we’ve followed for two and a bit series. Well acted, well plotted and very atmospheric. I don’t think we could have asked for a better mid-season finale.

9/10

Sunday 23 September 2012

Doctor Who: The Power of Three (Review)

After two episodes in the new series that I could really take or leave and a better third one, we finally get to a corker of an episode that successfully balances drama, comedy and the feeling of an approaching threat, creating a strong forty-five minutes of Saturday night drama.

The episode, picking up many years in the chronology of the Ponds, sees them balancing their domestic and working life with that of their life with the Doctor, all against the backdrop of small cubes appearing over the world, shown through RTD-era news bulletins and CCTV footage. The Doctor, with the Ponds, has to work out what this slow invasion means before it’s too late.

So why did I enjoy this episode? Well it’s the first large-scale episode we’ve had in a while with a global impact, reflected well in their choice of locations. There is also plenty of humour scattered through the episode from cameos from Brian Cox and Alan Sugar’s Apprentice team – both well inserted in – alongside a very ‘Cabin In The Woods’ style situation under the Tower of London as UNIT also investigate the cubes, and find that each one has their own unique personality including one very musical one. In fact, I would have liked to have seen this idea explored more but there is only so much you can compress into one episode.

Matt Smith was as excellent as the Doctor once more, flipping between emotions, even if the hammy acting after one of his two hearts stopped was a tad unrealistic. His scene with Rory’s dad – played by Mark Williams in a far better and more enjoyable appearance than his last episode – was very touching and hints at what could be to come in next week’s Angels-focussed episode. Plus, he had a more rounded personality throughout the episode and added lots to the piece.

It was also nice to see the Pond’s life expanded upon and we finally get to see Rory working and that Amy actually has a job and the episode balances the normal with the abnormal well.

Then there was the scene with the Doctor painting, mowing and hoovering, alongside Rory's Dad and his log, and some creepy grill-mouthed men to add to the mix.

That’s not to say the episode isn’t without its flaws. Though the CGI of the cubes was mostly impressive some of the moving shots broke the illusion, and there were a few too many convenient plot strands, such as one of the wormholes to the “big bad” being present in the hospital where Rory works and the rushed conclusion to the episode with a motivation for the events of the slow invasion still a little bit muddy in my memory after a first watch. Again, like the other episodes, there is scope for at least getting two episodes out of each story to allow things to develop, but this mostly succeeded in its self-contained one episode.

Throw in a neat throw-back to the Brigadier, lots of clips of older episodes, the tear-jerking musical theme near the end and the nice little scenes of how the cubes are taken in by the humans, and you get an enjoyable, funny but also foreboding episode that is my favourite of the series so far, though that’s not saying much in a series that has yet to really make a huge impact on me.

(7/10)

Sunday 16 September 2012

Doctor Who – A Town Called Mercy [Review]

Well that was a bit better. After two episodes that I didn’t think were the best of Moffat’s era, we got a story that improved on what was lacking in the last two: proper time to get to know characters and emphasise with them; an interesting baddie; and a well-developed moral dilemma for the Doctor, even if it did get a bit wibbly wobbly timey wimey with Matt Smith’s Doctor flitting between his opinions.

In ‘A Town Called Mercy’ we got a beautifully realised American West town under bright blue skies and an interesting set of characters, even if the arrival of them at the town was glossed over quite quickly with a oh-by-the-way moment of the TARDIS going wrong.

The opening Terminator-style shots of the robot killing the man was well done and the Cyborg itself well realised and realistic in an episode where real effects were done instead of CGI – though the creature of the week – Kahler Jex – was clearly just human with an elaborate tattoo - though the slow disappearing and re-appearing of the Cyborg approaching the town was quite creepy in its effect.

The moral dilemmas of the episode was where the episode excelled with The Doctor, seemingly becoming more and more the justice-giver like a geeky Judge Dredd, with Amy this time acting like his moral conscience. The exploration of morals and how characters can be grey rather than black and white was well realised but it did get a bit samey as the Doctor kept changing his opinions.

The final third of the episode was perhaps not as strong as the opening but overall it was my favourite of the three episodes thanks to its interesting plotting and more time given to explore the characters and feel for them – characters such as the Marshall and the young lad keen to stand up to make a decision, in stark contrast with the hefty introductions of last week’s episode.

Hopefully next week’s episode will continue this trend of increasing returns.

7/10

Sunday 9 September 2012

Doctor Who – Dinosaurs On A Spaceship

In what is possibly the best Doctor Who title since ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’ was announced last year, how could an episode that sounds like a sexed-up version of cult movie hit ‘Snakes On A Plane’ not work? Well, if it’s a little bit messy in its structure.

As a big fan of series five and six and its improvement over the nicely plotted but poorly written Tennant era, I feel a little let down by series seven so far. Last week’s ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ was an episode that improved with each viewing but wasn’t the best of the three openings but this week’s episode, though full of some great characters and equally great CGI, it just felt to be missing something.

And it’s the inherent problem with these episodes, creating mini-blockbusters in forty-five minutes: there isn’t enough time to set the episodes up properly.

In the Chris Chibnall written ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’ (affectionately called ‘In space no one can hear you roar’ on the net) the Doctor heads to space with Queen Nefertiti of Egypt, whom he is seen having a dalliance with at the start of the episode, and a big game hunter from the African planes, to investigate a spaceship heading to earth that is about to be blown up by the stereotypical Asian accent unit, or the Indian Space Agency as it’s perhaps known. On board the ship the Doctor – now with Amy, Rory and Roy’s dad – investigate the cargo to find its home to ankylosaurs, a Triceratops, some baby T-Rexs and some raptors. Oh, and that guy from Harry Potter who killed off the previous owners of the ships – a neat cameo from the Silurians – to get hold of the dinosaurs, only to find himself injured and unable to pilot the ship away from a crash course with earth and the stereotyp… I mean, ISA missles.

If that seems a lot of plot to cram into a paragraph imagine the amount of set-up required before the green-tinged credits roll (now with a dinosaur-skinned logo, confirming my thoughts that last week’s was styled like a Dalek – neat idea, but I hope we get the other logo back soon). Though it’s been done before it’s never felt this rushed or compressed and, though I understand the need to keep the episodes peppy and exciting compared to the older four-part serials to keep those with wandering attention spans happy, the lack of slowly establishing key plots and characters is absent so it’s hard to feel anything for them, a bit like the rushed breakdown of Amy and Rory’s marriage of ‘Pond Life’ and last week’s episode, which seems to have been brushed aside now with no mentions.

This isn’t to say the episode doesn’t have its moments. The CGI is fantastic and the dinosaurs very realistic. The net has been a buzz with how they made such good dinosaurs on a budget. Perhaps they borrowed at least the raptors from Primeval, with the Mill doing CGI work on both. In fact, at many times it does go a little Primeval – and Jurassic Park – with dinosaurs, electronic stun guns and even several mentions of the word ‘Arc’. I was half expecting Douglas Henshall to walk through a door as Nick Cutter and when asked why he’s not dead he answers, in a thick Scottish accent, ‘It’s all timey wimey’ before wandering off down a corridor asking for ‘Helen’ before realising she’s dead too.

The character of Solomon was a particularly good villain in this piece and got the most character development of the lot of them with some good motives for his action and played with delicious evilness by David Bradley. He was supported by two robots – voiced with some campness by comedians Mitchell and Webb – who were great characters but felt shoe-horned into this episode and under-developed, competing as they were with every other plot development and new character. As I mentioned earlier, it seems like three stories crammed ineffectively into one.

Elsewhere Mark Williams did a cracking turn as Rory’s father with some great comedy moments and a beautiful scene – the highlight of the episode for me – where he sits on the ‘doorstep’ of the TARDIS looking down to space. That said, him and Rory seemed to have some sort of relationship issues based around Rory being a nurse and not the trowel-carrying “man” that his dad is, but they are brought together at the end to pilot the ship thus bonding them back as a family. It’s just a shame that their relationship and its difficulties didn’t have more than a scene on a step-ladder to set it up.

Rupert Graves was an interesting addition as the big game hunter, channelling Jurassic Park’s Pete Postlethwaite character, but was cut from the classic misogynistic character role. He was also responsible for one of the two big scene-crashing did-they-really-say-that innuendos which, I found funny, but they did seem at odds with the style of the show. Having already heard Williams talk about the balls in his pocket – golf balls that is, matron – we had to sit through Graves glinting suggestively at Nefertiti with no hint of irony, cocking back his gun and saying something along the lines of ‘what you need is a good man with a big weapon’. Kenneth Williams would be proud. Ooh. Matron. All we needed was Amy, who took a very Doctor-like role in this piece, hacking into computers and generally helping out, to push back and her bra flies off to complete an episode that should be called ‘Carry On Jurassic Park In Space’.

Of course these comedic and camp elements did compete with the darker Doctor sending Solomon to his death and the sombre mood growing between Amy and the Doctor, developing in this episode, and these were better parts of the episode.

Overall ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’ had its moments. It’s showcased Amy and Rory being much more useful in the fight against space evil; there was touching family bonds between Rory and his dad; some top-class CGI from the Mill on the dinosaurs and the spaceship; and some decent comedy from the robots. It wasn’t the strongest episode I’ve ever seen and the introduction of all the characters seem to be just to make plot points make sense – the baddie needs the sexy Nefertiti as a bargaining tool; the ship needs two people of the same gene line to operate, quick get Rory’s dad in; we need someone to stalk dinosaurs on a ship with a big gun, let’s get him onboard before we even know there are dinosaurs on it.

Though there is much to enjoy in the episode and the dinosaur elements including the Pterodactyl chase and the race on the triceratops are well done and make it great for younger viewers, It feels like a rushed episode. Given two episodes to build it up and give more screen time to the relationship of the two Williams, the comical robots; and the setting up of Nefertiti and the game hunter, it would have been a stronger piece. I’m all for big blockbuster episodes but, on the strength of these two so far, they seem to be substituting development for spectacle and setting up key plot points quickly and then resolving them even quicker, and I’m not sure whether I like it.

(6/10)

Saturday 1 September 2012

Doctor Who – Asylum of the Daleks (Review)

*** Warning: contains spoilers ***

So here we are with series seven of Doctor Who, following on from the short five ‘Pond Life’ films, and we find the Doctor being called upon by the Daleks to save them from the breakout of dangerous, insane, Daleks from their asylum.

There have been a few changes since the end of series six. The Doctor Who titles have been tweaked slightly with a green tinge, nothing wrong there, but also have been given a change in logo which is, frankly, boring compared to the graphically clever previous one which was itself a vast, vast improvement on the RTD era logo.

Elsewhere Rory and Amy have split up – as hinted in the final ‘Pond Life’ short – and Amy has become a glamour model, which finally explains how she makes money and doesn’t just rely on Nurse Rory to bring home the bacon.

‘Asylum of the Daleks’ is a rip-roaring fifty minutes of sci-fi with many, many Daleks and many instances of danger and threat. The CGI used in the episode works well from the burnt out Skaro to the Dalek-human hybrids, and the twist of the Dalek’s in disguise as human’s works well, though whether it could become used in the same way as the Teselecta from series six remains to be seen. The opening scenes on Skaro were atmospheric and set the tone for a dramatic episode.

The Asylum planet of the Daleks was nicely realised with the snow as were the dingy, deteriorating corridors. Jenna-Louise Coleman was a surprise early appearance as a confused Dalek and unless she, like Karen Gillan and Freema Agyeman before her, is playing a different role, which I highly doubt, she obviously comes back in the Christmas special as a human. That was nicely weaved in though, to be honest, I didn’t realise it was her until the credits rolled so I missed that ‘ah’ moment and I’m not sure how many others would have twigged, or whether it would be better not twigging. To be honest, I hope her character adapts when she’s in properly as she was written like a younger River Song – though I like that character, we need something different – unless that’s intentional and I’m guessing future plot lines.

The erasing of the Daleks’ knowledge of the Doctor was a neat trick that, I’m assuming, leads into the big twist at some point of the oldest question in the Universe (Doctor Who?) or maybe it’s just another big reset switch; time will tell.

Overall it was an enjoyable, fast-paced re-introduction to the Doctor and his companions with highs lows and a cinematic break-neck speed. Matt Smith was on top form as always with his portrayal of the Doctor and Gillan and Darvill had their moments as the companions whose characters they seem comfortable now in portraying.

The break-up, potential divorce and re-connecting of Amy and Rory was emotionally done and the break-up of their relationship was handled as it would most likely play out, though the reunion was a little bit false but acted brilliantly considering, but was so quickly set-up, establishing and then dismissed it felt like an afterthought to the episode, unless it has further repercussions down the line. If you’re going to tackle something as serious and non-light-weight as a much-loved couple splitting up because the woman is infertile then you need to give it the justice of being properly built up. I know this is sci-fi and we don’t expect Alan Bennett levels of emotional drama, but neither is it Holby City.

The Daleks were given something interesting to do and the new Dalek-human hybrids were interesting, especially with the walking skeletons, though again these ideas have been recycled a little from previous stories and were a little underused in this episode. Moffat has said he is going for five big action-packed episodes and that they cram into one episode what the classic series would do in four, which is perfect for those with shorter attention spans, but I feel the ideas displayed would have had more breathing room in a two-parter.

But I am a big supporter of Moffat’s stories so far and it’s hard to judge a series on one episode, when he does have a tendency to weave threads in to come back later, but I enjoyed ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ and am interested to see how it will connect with future episodes. It had emotional scenes, action scenes, suspense scenes and a neat little twist, though it was pretty obvious from the get-go that there was something about Oswin that wasn’t at face value, even if you didn’t get the actual twist, which I didn’t.

Not too shabby for a return episode and it had its fair share of comedy moments and emotional outpouring but could have been a better two-parter and, though the intention was this from what Moffat has said, it didn’t have the feel of a new series like the episodes that kicked off the last two had, rather more like the one-offs that David Tennant took part in in the twilight of his role.

(6.5/10)