(episode review) - Fallout

I used to have a Nintendo growing up. Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and then I went onto the Sony PlayStation. I had a PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and then I went on to the Microsoft Xbox. Xbox 360 to Xbox 360 Elite (It was still an Xbox 360, but my previous one had the red ring of death), and I was looking for something cool to play. It was under recommendation that I got into Fallout, and the game's cover looked cool. A meaningful-looking helmet-mask thing. This was Fallout 3. Although I am a bit of a completionist, I would ideally want to know the full story and play it from the beginning, not from Fallout 3. However, upon designing my character and getting into the story, I did not realise that the story of Fallout 3 was not really connected to Fallout 2. It was not a continuation of any previous story, and having purchased and played Fallout 4, my understanding of the Fallout franchise is, a bunch of different stories told with different protagonists, at different times, in different places of the world and with different people involved. The only thing that links the games is the setup, I guess.  I really enjoyed the game. In a nutshell (and loose potential spoiler for the TV show), a vault dweller is the term used for someone who lived in an underground vault when World War 3 happened and a nuclear fallout occurred. These people lived under the ground for hundreds of years, and your character leaves the vault under the impression that the world above has poisonous air, is unsafe and uninhabitable. Whilst this is not necessarily far from the truth, your character finds their way above ground, and you go on a quest. If I remember correctly, you are looking for somewhere called 'Eden' where life is meant to be pleasant, and I think the man behind the Eden Project wants to purify the radiated water in the wasteland, but on your way there, you can come across many, many, many hostiles. The surface people, people called Raiders, Ghouls, Feral Ghouls, Robots, Mutants, The Brotherhood, insects and animals changed by the nuclear fallout, so they tend to be double or triple in size and mutated. This post-apocalyptic landscape is not safe, and radiation can be found in a lot of pockets of different towns that could eventually kill you. This first episode was very similar to the game.

The cold open was excellent. The visual depiction of an atomic bomb going off and the shock and horror sold it to me. My jaw dropped. I even clapped when the opening credits started. After we are introduced to our main person, there are various attacks which occur and a massacre. Visually, it was great. When I think of the nonsense and tongue-in-cheek elements of the game, they have recreated it and translated it to the screen successfully. There are things in the game that make no sense, also no sense in the show, but if you are somewhat with the show at the point you see someone get killed with a projected doll's leg and you laugh and shrug it off, the show has you. It's silly, but it works in the game, and it works here. When playing the game, you use a device on your arm called a Pitboy. A Pitboy is like a watch, but so much more like a mini-computer, as it is very advanced. Chunky in size, but not only does it tell you the time, date, month, mood, etc, but it also informs you of your radiation poisoning, intoxication, and heart rate, among other things, such as how heavy your items are (in the game, of course). You can also use its system called V.A.T.S (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System), which allows you to look at an enemy and see where you can strike someone with percentages of how successful the strike would be to do the most damage to incapacitate them or kill them. You often see limbs flying off, blood and gore flying everywhere. It is not only hilarious (if you are a sadistic person like me), but it is a gaming mechanic which is just enjoyable to watch as time slows down and you aim your pistol, shotgun, baseball bat, Fatman or flaming sword. And yes, Fatman, a device that fires mini-nukes to totally obliterate the enemy. This show in the first episode has managed the capture the core of what makes the games great, and this first episode was interesting. Split into 3 parts, you get the learn bout the characters and I am guessing, how they will come together later in the story. A marvellous first episode.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Atom Eve Special Episode

I heard murmurs regarding this show having already been out. I thought people were getting the TV show, (well episode) confused with the trailer. You see, Amazon Prime dropped the trailer, but a friend of mine told me the special episode was out too. Of course, I did not believe it, but I had a look for myself and low and behold Invincible: Atom Eve Special Episode was out and I really did not realise how much I was chomping at the bit to watch it. As stated in my trailer review, Atom Eve is a side character from the TV show Invincible and she helps Invincible be part of a team and become a better team player. This show is a prequel to the events of season one of Invincible and it dives deep into the background of how Atom Eve came about. But is it just as good as the Invincible series? Yes, yes it really is!

We start off with chaos and destruction as a team of super-powered people are wreaking havoc, but they are stopped by The Guardians of the Globe. We see how the team fights with one another, not as in-sync as we have seen them before as they are bantering to one another and fighting for hits rather than working as a team, but just when things were looking good for them, the roof begins to collapse in and it is caught by Omni-man. Around this time, a woman is pregnant and about to give birth, we later learn this is the birth of Atom Eve.

We get a short but visually descriptive montage, which soon leads to a young Atom Eve discovering her powers, figuring them out and wanting to do good in the world. This leads to her creating her secret identity, stopping crime and fighting figures who seem to know her and want her dead. At the same time, Atom Eve is being pursued by other figures who have their own agenda.

Not to drag the MCU through the mud and dirt, but if you do something successfully, you can keep on repeating that success if you understand what you have, what you are doing with it and how to deliver it. You can add to it, you can enhance it, you can explore and expand on it whilst continuing to deliver everything you did before. Season one of Invincible is just that. This special episode is just that and it is also, quality. I just feel when you do too much, you lose track of which plates are spinning and the quality dips and the plates begin to fall.

The music was decent in this episode, nothing too recognisable as season one of Invincible, but the voice acting was amazing. Hearing the late great Lance Reddick got me a little emotional because I didn't realise I could recognise his voice until I did. I looked it up and I was filled with sorrow. Such a great actor. The animation is simply top notch and when it comes to the fighting scenes, I feel the people behind this show have not missed a single step. Beat for beat and pound for pound, the show simply feels as though it picked up where season one left off as everything felt so fluid unlike the noticeable difference in quality when comparing Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse with Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse. With the latter, everything went up a level where although I do not think that has happened here, that does not make it a bad thing, at least it did not dip in quality. Moreover, seeing the Guardians of the Globe was a refreshing touch, considering, and this taster simply makes me look forward to season two which ultimately upsets me as I want it now. If you have not seen the first season of Invincible and you are into cartoons/anime, get on it. Both this and season one is just great storytelling and I can only assume, season two will just be bigger and better. I wonder if Robert is going to give us more one-shots like this? I'd definitely not say no!

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(episode review) - She-Hulk: Episode 7

We are now 7 episodes deep and I have my positives and negatives about this episode. The show has an overarching plot regarding Jen's blood. This was set up in the very first episode when Bruce destroys the blood in the test tubes. He even says as much.

The other element to this episode is the Abomination angle. Emil Blonski is demonstrating he is a changed man and is working on himself and helping others with their issues. In turn this help Jen with herself. All this I did not mind at all, but the other characters in the show felt a little nonsensical or rather, I was not a fan of the character designs or portrayals as they felt forced and sloppy.  Whilst the comedy is good in places, the character designs reminded me of cosplay and I think, for the most part, we could have had better, whilst I do understand that they do not have the budget. Are these mutants? What would the X-Men look like when it's all said and done?

The story behind the episode was good and as usual, the music is great. The comedy element was not bad at all...or should I say, not terrible as I did have a few laughs, but I just felt, maybe the show should make more of a stronger b-line for the overarching plot at this point of the series. Plus, some elements of the show is too predictable or at least, the reveal at the end of this episode.

(trailer review) - The Mandalorian: Season 3

It goes without saying that the franchise that is Star Wars has been pretty divided since Disney bought Lucas Films, but The Mandalorian has been the only part of the franchise that everyone seems to love.  Season 2 was very good and built up from the first season although every episode seemed like a fetch-quest in a role-playing game, but for the most part, The Mandalorian comes across as a better version of Boba Fett, the character. So, with that said, it definitely goes without saying, that The Mandalorian is one of the most eagerly anticipated Star Wars stories that star wars fans are looking forward to, especially if you saw the appearances he had in The Book of Boba Fett.

Pedro Pascal's voice/movement or whichever is excellent, even if it IS just a stunt double under the helmet, but the story of the Mandalorian is getting better and better by the season and with the introduction of Bo Katan and the Mandalorian lore surrounding the Dark Sabre, this season is going to be soo good if executed well. I will say that, I would love to see a 'Game of Thrones'-esk show with Mandalore and maybe that can spin off after this, but with clan vs. clan, the Knightwatch and maybe even remnants of those mandalorian who followed Darth Maul, it would definitely be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Definitely a must watch if you like Star Wars and more so if you have already started and have seen or have some interest in The Clone Wars and the stories in that. With THAT said, maybe a special cameo from Boba might redeem his character a little. I liked the series, but the execution was not terrific.

(trailer review) - Halo

Halo has been rumoured for possibly, a decade by now.  I mean the film Elysium came out in August 2013 and I'm pretty sure, at least 3-4 years before then, they have been talking about a Halo movie.  You see, Halo is based on a video game starring a character called John, number 117 but better known as Master Chief. There is all types of lore and background and such and maybe we will get into that in this series, but seeing lots of short films, fan films and the graphics for the Halo games, this HAD TO BE a movie at some point. Alas, they have decided to make this into a series.

The reason why this has taken soo long, well...it is more about money, politics and the environment of video games made into movies.  Only recently, video games have caught traction and those behind movies and series (just like the comic book genre) are starting to under how they can deliver narrative from a video game (just like how it's taken years to do that with comic book stories) so having Halo as a series now, is a big deal!

Judging from this trailer, this looks good. I mentioned Elysium because when I watched that movie back in the day, it reminded me of Halo in a way and I'm guessing, because that movies wasn't well received, made Halo wait even longer, but with such shows like The Witcher, Game of Thrones and such, hopefully... hopefully this TV series by Paramount does well as the story of Halo is great and seeing the Master Chief in this trailer was cool. I think we just need to see some Grunts and Brutes as well as characters like The Arbiter. Yoooo, can we have Keith David still? Such a great voice actor.

(series review) [STREAMING] - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

If you haven't watched my reviews of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier LEGEND trailers, I will give you a small brief of the two main characters.  The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are both Captain America's friend from two different times in history.  The Winter Soldier dates back to when Steve Rogers first joined the Army and The Falcon dates back to when Steve Rogers first becomes a Avenger.  At the end of the movie Avenger's Endgame [SPOILER ALERT!!!] Steve Rogers gives Sam Wilson his iconic Shield...and from that point, this is where the shows pics up from.

This is essentially a 6 hour movie broken down into episodic chunks that picks up after the events of Endgame and where having now come back, fighting a huge war, the mourning of the loss of a friend/teammate, The Avengers have essentially disbanded and The Falcon is back in the Army on special missions.  Sam Wilson, now with Captain America's shield believes the only way to honour Steve Rogers and the Shield is to hand it to the Smithsonian to be apart of the Captain America Exhibit.  While this seems to be a great idea at first and the Government are all for it, but it doesn't take the Government long to appoint a new Captain America, shield and all.

The Winter Soldier, post the events of Endgame has been pardoned conditionally by the government and can live out a somewhat normal life.  He is seeking counselling as part of his pardon and is trying to make amends where he can.  But after having seen a new Captain America appointed, James 'Bucky' Barnes makes contact with Sam with grievances as to why he would "simply" give up the Shield which is now in the hands of John Walker the new Captain America.  This confrontation leads them on the trail to "terrorists", people with supersoldier-like abilities who call themselves The Flag Smashers.  In a confrontation with The Flag Smashes, the New Captain America and his "side-kick" Lemar Hoskins aka Battlestar joins the fight which leads to him stepping on toes.  As the show goes on with both Sam and Bucky trying to figure out the mystery of where the serums are coming from to make super powered individuals, leads them to characters like Zemo, The Powerbroker, Isiah Bradley and the many secrets behind the actions of the government and what it means to be Captain America and to hold the shield.  All this is compounded with the Flag Smashers actions and threats headed by their leader Karli Morgenthau.  Chosen by Steve Rogers for a reason, can Sam do what it takes?

This show, although it was meant to be the first TV series out of the gate last year until the pandemic hit forcing Disney to restructure the show's plot and their TV shows, Wandavison came out first.  I'm not sure if this was a stroke of genius or the only card Disney could play but during a pandemic, Wandavision was a breath of fresh air.  Wandavision has or at least, seems to have had a better track-record with audience participation due to the sheer quality and delivery of the show.  The show was brilliant keeping us guessing from episode to episode, everybody was Mephisto!  That does not mean The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is rubbish or pales in comparison, it just means that TFATWS delivers the classic and already tried and tested Marvel formula with added grit and touching topics a Marvel movie may briefly skim the surface of.  The show is deep rooted in comic book history as well as real life history while it touches on racism in America and some might argue, today's Black Lives Matter movement, although I don't subscribe to that as I believe it touches on racism as a whole and how we view people.  It touches on what we deem as politics with labelling issues we do not wish to address and shove under the rug with labelling, how people see the government, how the government see people and how certain people see people.  The show is very very layered touching on these themes which I'd only like to hope will help open the eyes of the viewers and real life events and situations the plague our society now.  The Irony I saw in this show comes with comments such as "TFATWS is too political" in which I would question that statement with, "what makes the show political for you?"  There is a speech near the end of the show, slightly heavy handed in it's delivery but touches on the very nature of people's thoughts on matters they do not wish to go into and discuss.  Labelling something political doesn't make it political, it makes it an issue and something you are not willing to address and stay ignorant to, that doesn't make the problem/issue magically go away.

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan as James Barnes are both excellent in this. The pair do a lot of acting without even saying a word and whilst there are some very very powerful scenes, the quiet moments or quiet storytelling and the comradery between them help deliver such a bromance we saw glimpses of in Captain America: Civil War.  Daniel Bruhl's character as Zemo is somewhat a scene stealer whenever he pops up, but if there was anyone who deserves as much credit as Anthony and Sebastian, is Wyatt Russell as John Walker.  This is also a story for John Walker as well as Sam and without going into spoilers, seeing more of John as the show goes on and how time will go on, will be great because the evolution of his character and how he is portrayed is like watching a train-wreck.  Erin Kellyman, although somewhat typecast is also great, but it would have been nice to see or understand a bit more of her backstory as it seems elements were cut due to the 2020 pandemic and shifting part of the narrative.  There are action scenes a plenty, but from the introduction of The Powerbroker, wondering who that person was, was a weekly guess, but we are talking about a buddy cop superhero action adventure soaked in espionage, so it would be nice to se if we could see a lot these characters return at some point and that Mephisto is in fact, the Powerbroker.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "Sharon Carter"

These short reels are 6-7 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 6-7 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 7 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with supporting cast.

Being the niece of the legendary S.H.I.E.L.D Agent, Agent Peggy Carter, is possibly the reason why Sharon ended up living a double life as Kate, Steve Roger's neighbour and Agent 13 of the S.H.E.I.L.D  Special Service team only known to those close to Nick Fury, assigned to watch over Steve.  When Nick Fury was assassinated and Alexandra Pierce put out a manhunt for Captain America, Sharon stood by Steve's side and assisted him and The Falcon in taking down Hydra.  When a Civil War broke out between the Avengers, Although, now with the C.I.A Sharon sided with Captain America but had to go into hiding due to helping him. 

These 7 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you must watch Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Captain America: Civil War.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier picks up after these events. 

You can comment down below to enter in discussions. Thank you for reading, Subscribe and Spread the word! - Get your ReelReeviews, right here!

(This is a LEGENDS trailer for the show. Disney Plus has individual character trailers)

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "Zemo"

These short reels are 6-7 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 6-7 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 7 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with supporting cast.

Helmut Zemo was a family man who lived in and was the colonel of an elite Sokovian Commando Unit in Sokovia.  When Ultron tried to take over the world, The Avengers along with their two new twin recruits Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff, fought Ultron and his Ultron Bots and the Avengers "Successfully" destroy the floating city of Sokovia before an Extinction Level Event is carried out.  However, upon destroying the city, Zemo's family died as a result of collateral damage and Zemo seeks to put an end to all heroes.  Zemo enacts a plan of obtaining The Winter Soldier to cause an international incident that would pit The Avengers against each other causing a Civil War, but when the dust settles, The Black Panther finds Zemo who makes an attempt to end his own life.  Zemo is placed into solitary confinement. 

These 7 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you must watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier picks up after these events. 

You can comment down below to enter in discussions. Thank you for reading, Subscribe and Spread the word! - Get your ReelReeviews, right here!

(This is a LEGENDS trailer for the show. Disney Plus has individual character trailers)

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "The Winter Soldier"

These short reels are 9-10 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 9-10 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 10 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with supporting cast.

The Winter Soldier, James "Bucky" Barnes grew up in the 1930's and was friends with Steve Rogers.  Steve was a small-framed guy and James once defended Steve from some bullies.  Whilst James was enlisted in the army, Steve was unable to due to his health/body, but when he underwent the "Super-Soldier" experiment, Steve's body was changed beyond recognition enabling him to join.
Whilst the Army wasn't what it was cracked up to be and having nothing to do, Steve paraded as a mascot for America, but when he heard a group of soldiers were captured behind enemy lines, including James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve went out and saved them becoming a hero.  James was part of Steve's team and they went on many missions together but on one tragic mission, James was blasted off a moving train and when Steve tried to save him, James fell into a rivene.
Decades later, Nick Fury was assassinated in front of Steve Rogers and when Steve saw the assailant, Steve chased him but the assassin got away.  The assassin turned out to be The Winter Soldier, a man of myth and legend and during a fight on a freeway into the street, Steve learns the assassin, The Winter Soldier himself, is James "Bucky" Barnes.  Steve does what he can to reason with him until James researches himself and when confronted with Steve, Steve takes him to The Wakandan's who attempt to cure Bucky's condition.  In the many decades James has been operating as The Winter Soldier who has committed countless crimes including some very personal ones close to The Avengers, but to help right the wrongs of his past, Bucky teams up with The Avengers and the fight against Thanos and his Army.
Bucky arrives with The Falcon in the ultimate fight against Thanos, fighting side-by-side with Captain America to save the world.

These 10 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you must watch Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier picks up after these events. 

You can comment down below to enter in discussions. Thank you for reading, Subscribe and Spread the word! - Get your ReelReeviews, right here!

(This is a LEGENDS trailer for the show. Disney Plus has individual character trailers)

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "The Falcon"

These short reels are 8-9 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 8-9 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 7 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with supporting cast.

The Falcon, Sam Wilson became friends with Captain America, Steve Rogers by having something in common, they were both soldiers .  One, a soldier from the 1940's and the other a Pararescueman who now spends his time looking after/helping vets.  They created an immediate bond via their banter and when things got difficult due to the rise of Hydra, Sam was the person Steve turned to when S.H.I.E.L.D was compromised.  Sam helped Steve on defeating Hydra as well as fighting Steve's best friend Bucky.  Sam stood by Steve's side after the attack to Sokovia and ultimately also went on the run with him when The Avengers were torn apart.
When news of the mad titan Thano's was coming to Earth, Sam once again came out of hiding with Captain America and fought by his side and after the objective was completed, Sam came back calling "On your Left!", a call back to when Sam and Steve first met and they fought once again, side-by-side to save the world.

These 9 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you must watch Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier picks up after these events. 

You can comment down below to enter in discussions. Thank you for reading, Subscribe and Spread the word! - Get your ReelReeviews, right here!

(This is a LEGENDS trailer for the show. Disney Plus has individual character trailers)

(series review) [STREAMING] - WandaVision

I'm going to be clear here and I'm only speaking for myself (as usual), but I feel a lot of people were with me and are with me when I say this, "Nobody really cared for Vision and Wanda in the MCU!"  Granted these characters will have their respective fans or even like them as a couple, but for the most part, these two people were side characters.  So to say that they were going to do a TV series about these side characters within the MCU, my interest was peaked only slightly, but ultimately I didn't care.  So they advertise and/or mention the appearance of the character Darcy we may recognise from the first two Thor movies, I didn't care.  Then advertise and/or mention the appearance of Jimmy Woo from the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp, I didn't care.  Advertising and/or introducing the character Monica Rambeau (all grown up), a name we may recognise from the movie Captain Marvel, was the announcement that stuck with me and got me more interested.  1, because she is a black character from the comics and 2, I thought she was going to be introduced in Captain Marvel 2, so this was a shock to me, therefore had me intrigued, but other than that, I simply wasn't interested in the show WandaVision.

This is a 9 episode show and naturally, with a 3 act structure like any movie, however the events for this show take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, so it was intriguing to know what would be happening going forward.  When the show starts off, Wanda and her partner The Vision, having just got married (implied by the intro) drive into an area to live in their new home together.  The setting is the 1950's.  As this is set up as a TV show from that era, the aesthetics are as if you were watching a TV show from the 1950's.  Wanda stays at home whilst Vision goes to work.  A neighbour by the name of Agnes comes along to help assist Wanda whenever she might need some help from time to time to the two.  However, where Vision's boss comes over for dinner later that evening, he starts pressuring Wanda for an answer to a question and then he starts choking.  When Vision chokes on a Bubblegum, he acts drunk and Wanda spends her time trying to mask all the hi-jinx with clever stage props not to give away their abilities to the people in the town.

We are later introduced to a lady named Geraldine who becomes friends with Wanda and even delivers Wanda's children when Wanda becomes pregnant.  Whilst nothing seems to be right in the town and people start acting weird around and with Wanda, we find out that Geraldine is an intruder and Agnes doesn't like her so Geraldine is expelled from Wanda's life.  It is around this point, our viewing experience changes and we are introduced to a lady named Monica.  Monica has been away from work for a while and she is sent to the town of WestView to accompany Jimmy Woo who is looking for a missing person.  Discovering an invisible wall, Monica decides to force her way through the wall with the help of Darcy and her friend, but once Monica gets inside, everything changes.  Considered a threat, Director Haywood of SWORD plans on forcing his way through the wall and tries to solve the problem any way that he can, even if he needs to kill, Wanda.

This is the first of many from the MCU and writing about these will be extremely difficult without giving aware some details but ultimately trying NOT to spoil the show for you as essentially, this is a long drawn out movie split into episodes brought to us on a weekly basis.  In conclusion, what this ends up doing, is giving the audience seven whole days to speculate about the characters, the story, the overall story or over-arching story and the future of the MCU.  It has already been told by Kevin Feige himself that, shows will tie into movies unlike before (so you can kiss your Marvel's Agents of SHIELD goodbye, in regards to canon, but the jury is still out for the Netflix shows).  Kevin has also said that this show is part of a story arc that starts in this show and leads into Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, so not only is everything connected, but potentially setting up the universe going forward with the introduction of The Fantastic Four and Mutants.

A lot of time, effort and brilliant storytelling has gone into WandaVision which has set the bar very high.  With things like the changing of the aspect ratio to help with story telling and the many decades of TV infused into one show as part of the narrative is phenomenal.  If you didn't like these characters before, you are given around 6 hours of character development and focused storytelling to help you understand these characters on a deeper lever and the current story and/or the overarching story overall.  Elizabeth Olsen is incredible as she is given a lot to work with, this is her story.  Paul Bettany is also great in this show because he is the reason (among other things) why we are here in the first place.  His character development and efforts here, compared to what has been done before in the MCU are more than doubled.  The introduction of Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris were great additions to the MCU and hopefully we get to see them going forward as what they brought to the show was beyond soo good.  Excellently crafted visuals and writing, leaving fans to speculate and lose sleep with nothing but theories controlling their every move.  The music was great but more importantly, the direction and execution of this show, providing you are patient to stick with it, this show takes a lot of chances with visiting areas new and old and if I'm honest, if all shows continue like this in the MCU, other studios might have to try and meet Disney's bar and surpass it, if they dare.  Oh and there are post credits scenes.  I mean, they did train us for 10 years! An excellent watch.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "The Vision"

These short reels are 8-9 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 8-9 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 9 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's WandaVision, starring The Vision and Wanda Maximoff with supporting cast.

The Vision is essentially an idea formed from various members of The Avengers.  Derived from J.A.R.V.I.S (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) an Artificial Intelligence created by Tony Stark.  As an A.I, JARVIS helps Tony in various ways including helping him to prep and build various Iron Man suits as JARVIS was the main Central Processing Unit in charge of other systems and machinery so acted as a "hands-free" option for Tony as well as having access to the Internet and other systems especially in the field.  However when Tony decides to create an alternative A.I named Ultron to protect the world from threats with the help of Bruce Banner, Ultron becomes hostile "kills" JARVIS and escapes via the Internet.  Ultron plans on upgrading and evolving himself by creating a new indestructible synthetic body before eliminating all life on planet Earth by causing an Extinction Level Event, but before Ultron is able to insert himself into his new body, Tony inserts JARVIS into it whilst Thor awakens it after having a Vision of it becoming the tool that will help them.  The Vision is awoken.
After defeating Ultron, Vision does not take any sides when the Avengers are fighting each other, but as he is directed to watch over Wanda, the pair fall in love and run away when Wanda escapes captivity.  Some time later, Thanos and The Black Order come looking for Vision's Mind Stone, his power source, which leads to a fight that leaves Vision wounded.  In a race to save Vision's life the Avengers must fight Thanos' forces and try to safely remove the Mind Stone without killing Vision and destroy it before the Mad Titan finds him and kills him in the process or removing it, even if it means if the love of his life has to destroy the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from killing half of life in the universe.  The Vision dies twice, once at the hands of his love, second at the hands of Thanos.

These 9 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to WandaVision, you must watch Iron Man, Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

WandaVision picks up after these events. 

(series review) [STREAMING] - Marvel Studios: Legends - "Wanda Maximoff"

I wasn't going to do a review of this, but it is a series after all.
These short reels are 9-10 minutes of excellent footage and storytelling.

Please note: this review may have mild spoilers as this docuseries acts as a "catch-up", reminder and/or telling of a characters' inception in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now in phase 4 collated in 9-10 minutes.

In case you haven't seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before, any or a couple, this is 10 glorious minutes cleverly cut from multiple films that act as a highlight reel of a character's journey or backstory through the MCU into Phase 4.  Extremely important if you want to learn about a character before heading into DisneyPlus's WandaVision, starring Wanda Maximoff and The Vision and supporting cast.

Wanda Maximoff (also known in the comics as The Scarlet Witch) is a woman who started off in the MCU as someone who hated a particular Avenger and joined the villainous Ultron with her twin brother Pietro Maximoff in his plans of ridding the world of The Avengers.  However, having learned of Ultron's ultimate plans, they side with the Avengers but Pietro dies in the fight.  Wanda eventually meets The Vision and develops an interest in him.  With their developing relationship and Wanda working with Captain America, an incident occurs whilst on an assignment which leads to an Act coming into play leaving the Avengers torn apart and Wanda deemed a criminal and imprisoned.  Once Wanda is able to escape, she flees with The Vision and when they become under attack by Thanos and The Black Order, Wanda must do whatever she can to protect her love, even if it means killing him to save half of all living life in the universe.  Unfortunately, killing The Vision herself, not only was it undone, but Thanos killed The Vision himself and Wanda is witness to this, twice. 

These 10 minutes are a collection of clips, but if you were to get the backstory so far surrounding this character and all the events that lead up to WandaVision, you must watch Iron Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame.

This is an excellent recap for both fans and newbies alike.

WandaVision picks up after these events. 

(series review) - Lovecraft Country

I heard about this show and I don't know what I was doing/watching at the time (many things I'm sure), but for some reason I got onto this show well late and spent a couple days binge watching to catch up.  The show started in August and I'm sure I got into it mid-late September after I kept hearing how good it was.  And were the stories true? Yes and definitely YES!!!

You see, this show is about a man named Atticus Freeman, a Korean war veteran who arrives in Chicago to see his family.  He is given a letter which is from his missing father asking him to travel across Jim Crow America to find out about his heritage.  Upon this journey, as well as trying to avoid racist attacks from white America, Atticus, his uncle George and George's friend Letitia, set on a road trip that leads them to hidden societies, family secrets, monsters and legacy that will change Atticus' life forever.  In the mix of all of this, Atticus's Aunt Hippolyta and Leti's older sister Ruby also end up having their own adventure and self discovery among other things that eventually leads into Atticus' future.

As the show goes on (without going into too much spoilers), the show weaves in a lot of real life issues and events in society which happened in the Jim Crow era of America.  Touching on the Tulsa Race Massacre, the death of Emmett Till.  They also weave in real life people such as entertainer Josephine Baker and the Dahomey Amazon.  But although they weave in these historical events which are very heavy handed emotionally at times, there are some real lighthearted moments that bring fun and joy to the season.  It's amazing to see the resilience of Black people at this time and how they still get on with life despite everything which is going on.

The show developed by Misha Green is 10 episodes at around an hour long each and soo much things are placed into every show with soo much information that flows at a rapid pace.  It doesn't necessarily feel rushed, there is soo much to unpack so you do need to pay attention as Lovecraft is definitely not a background show.  Every episode has something to say and a message that relates to the here and now.  I really felt for a specific character in this show which was acted out soo well.  But the general theme with the character and the character's story-arch, is generational and is definitely something that continues in our world today. 

The show is also based on the Lovecraft novel and takes advantages and liberties where necessary to keep the mystery of specific characters and some of the story plot, but for the most part, it does follow the novel.  How the first episode starts shows an Atticus walking through trenches in the war and the longer he walks, the more things you start to see and it get's crazier and crazier.  The first 5 minutes of this show is a snippet of how insane the show will get.

This show isn't necessarily for all ages and all types of viewers though.  It is very important for both white and black people to watch.  Not only does it shine a light on the Jim Crow era, racial tension and how white people treated non-white people, especially black people at this time, but maybe it is something we can all learn from as I stated earlier, every episode has some type of message.  Umbrella Academy touched on 1963 America and the Watchmen TV series touched on the Tulsa Race Massacre and if it wasn't for these shows shining the light on this time in history, I personally along with many many others would have never known about these events as they are not taught in school.

I say the show isn't necessarily for all ages due to the horror themes as well as the gore and other frightening imagery you will see.  But I'd say, if you can, try your best to stomach it and push through because the show is excellent.  Very well acted from ALL cast members.  Music was superb and the costume department didn't miss a beat.  The special effect were really good for the TV show and I'd only hope, now that its is done, possibly the team behind this can get a second season out, JUST as good as this season.  A lot of people will really appreciate it.

(series review) [STREAMING] - The Boys: Season 2

So last year, we were taken aback by two major superhero TV shows.  You would have thought the world had Superhero Fatigue, but in all honesty, us superhero content lovers simply are not tired from the movies and many other TV shows there is out there, but we do want something different, something a bit more edgy, something more adult and we got it with Umbrella Academy season 1 and The Boys season 1.
Having looked into my crystal ball or having been told by a future version of myself that had travelled back in time, I knew to take up reviewing TV series and trailers because the year 2020 was going to be a colossal mess.  I only took that up around November of last year so, with that said, this review will be a little longer just to recap the events of season 1 which came months before I started.  I will try not to give away too many spoilers for those who still have not watched.

The world of The Boys is set in a world where Superheroes are real.  They are the ultimate crime fighters who do the jobs the police are unable to do or not quick enough to get to.  The main Superheroes, 'The Seven' are corporately run by a company called Vought who govern the Supes and all their actions.  They often tell the supes which crimes to stop and handle all media and media coverage to ensure every superhero is portrayed in a positive light.  Not a bad thing when your PR is handled, but when a supe accidentally runs through a young woman named Robyn, Hughie's girlfriend and tries to cover it up, Hughie is approached by William Butcher who gets Hughie on his side to help him take down the company Vought and all their Superheroes.

William Butcher has a personal vendetta against Vought and their superheroes, especially the leader of The Seven, The Homelander.  The Boys (the series title name) refers to a group of people led by William (Billy) and consist of Mother's Milk and Frenchie.  As The Boys discover that Vought may be behind some nefarious activities involving a formula called 'Compound V' they find on a supply run carried out by the Supe known as A-Train, The Boys do their best trying to take down Vought and expose their foul play.  Hughie meets a lady named Annie and they begin to form a friendship, but when Hughie kills a Supe and other incidents start to occur with members of The Seven and they begin to come to light, all hell breaks lose and The Seven start to close in on The Boys, including Annie, who is also a Supe.

As Billy Butcher gets closer to achieving his now life long mission of taking down The Homelander, Billy gets confronted by a revelation which reinforces his new motivation and pushes him in a new direction whilst still trying to take down Vought.  An organisation called 'The Church of the Collective' poach The Deep by way of Eagle the Archer and they proceed to try and help The Deep with his problems but things become increasingly difficult when a new member of The Seven named Stormfront enters, who is an instant hit with the fans of The Seven pushing The Homelander aside.  Whilst Stormfront has her own past, with help from The Boys, Billy continues to try and expose Vought for their crimes and with the introduction of a newer and younger Supe, heads start to explode as Billy gets closer and closer to the truth which leave The Boys in a head-on confrontation with not only the new and very powerful Stormfront, but also, The Homelander.

I've tried my upmost to try and keep this review as spoiler-free as possible and with the nature of this show, it is difficult as there is soo much going on at any one time with different story-arcs for characters and the situations presented.  A few flashbacks here and there and whilst you might think one person is the main enemy, another rears it's head, then another, then another.  In some cases you are routing for the bad guy and in other cases, the "good" guys seem just as bad as the bad guys with parallels that mirror specific characters, almost identically like, you are to choose the lesser of two evils.

There is a lot of character development with a lot of the characters as the seasons go on whilst some characters remain a mystery.  Season 2 also introduces a host of new characters with background stories that further the plot and over-arching story arch that pushes The Boys into season 3 and beyond.  The acting is superb by Karl Urban, Jack Quaid and Erin Moriarty, but the prize goes to Antony Starr, hands down, as a very complex character with lots of layers.  Whilst other actors such as Laz Alonso and Chace Crawford is also great supporting cast, the delivery of their characters along with the main cast help push the story along with ushering along the completely absurd scenes and situations in the show making them seem more credible and at times, grounded.  The secrets, the lies, the mystery, it is ALL there, but most of all, this show is NOT for the faint hearted.  The blood, the guys, the profanity, it is all there.  If you want something different and more adult which is up your comic book alley, the The Boys will definitely be for you.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Warrior Nun

I stumbled across this show because it was one of the first things I saw when I turned on my Netflix one day.  It was the scene where she's being hit and the weapon in phasing through the girl and she's surprised that she couldn't feel anything.  My brain instinctively went to me recalling something I read in a Facebook group I'm in for film and TV shows, I remember someone distinctively saying they were enjoying the show.  So with this in mind, I decided to watch the show and see if I would too, enjoy the show.  Sigh.



Warrior Nun is about an ancient order of nuns who protect the living from the demons that roam the Earth.  The demons are looking for an artefact known to the nuns as a Halo in which was passed down from an entity/angel during the Great Crusades in order to save a dying woman.  The halo gave her powers and has been a part of the Order of the Cruciform Sword (OCS) ever since being passed down.  However, one day a tetraplegic orphan awakes in a morgue with new found powers haven been given the Halo and now she must help the OCS fend off and defeat the demons which are after the Halo.



This series is actually very decent and I only have a few gripes with the show and I'll list them out first. Although the acting is fine, I had more issue with with dialogue in places and the lead/main actress does come across as annoying in the way she speaks and her behaviour.  However, having learned that the show derives from a Manga Anime, led me to be more forgiving.  In addition to that, she IS a teenager.  Another gripe I had was the middle of the season, as it drags and you could fully cook a full three-course meal over 2-3 episodes and still wouldn't have missed much.  The whole, I want to be a teenager and live life was played out for way too long.  I didn't mind the love/hate dynamics between a couple of the characters though.  Which leads me to saying, 10 episodes was way too much and they could have done with 8, especially how the show ended which was my biggest gripe with the entire show.  It's fair to say you could get a meal ready over the 3 or so dragging episodes, so at least you'd be able to eat, but how the show ultimately ended was soo abrupt, it really upset me and I just felt that, if the show does not get picked up for a second season, I've wasted 10 episodes and time in my life with a show that could have been executed better and have more pulling power than it currently does.



There are some real strong character building in this show with great background stories for the main characters.  Shotgun Mary (Toya Turner) and Sister Lilith (Lorena Andrea) were amazing. The fighting scenes are great and you can see everything that is happening.  There is a scene with one of the nuns and she takes out a hallway of men, nicely.  Granted the CGI demons can use a little work, but they are not distracting enough to pull you out of the show.  What might distract you is the narrating but other than that and the dragging middle section, the show runs fairly smoothly with character building elements helping you to understand each character, but in regards of the B-Storyline, with the scientist, I was a little confused by that.  And because the show ends abruptly, you are none the wiser as to what happens with the use of the science equipment.



As for villains, the story of Ava is centred in the middle of betrayal, politics and corruption so it is difficult to figure out who to trust as there are twists left and right keeping the viewers on their toes. It was actually funny in the sense of, the church deals with all these things, when you wouldn't necessarily think so. The major twist at the end, I figured it out as it was happening, but you don't see the conclusion of that twist at all...and then at the "final fight" its about to get real juicy and then episode 10 is finished.  Soo annoying.  Music and cinematography was ok, but could have been better, but as I stated, some elements of the show could have been executed more rapidly than dragging them out with throw away characters although they served a small purpose.

(series review) - Gangs of London

I kept hearing about this show, Gangs of London.  "Have you seen Gangs of London?", "Are you watching Gangs of London?" And my reply was always a no.  I feel I saw a trailer to it, but if I'm really honest, some UK TV shows are simply pants.  And maybe it's because I live in London, I feel anything centred around London would be far-fetched or just silly.  Or, some shows are just not for me!

Having seen Blue Story and how that film made me reflect on my life growing up, gangs and all that, and having watched Luther, a show I've really enjoyed in the past and also Top Boy, I decided to give this one a chance.  The buzz around it was incredible and Gareth Edwards directed one of my favourite films, The Raid, so his directing and action had to come out in some way during this show, right? And it did. And I loved it!

Gangs of London is about a guy named Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu) who has a past that haunts him.  Undercover police officer, he is assigned to infiltrate the Wallace family and bring them to justice once he has gathered enough evidence of their crimes.  However, when the head of the Wallace family Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney) dies, his family's business within the seedy underworld, their relationships with other business partners are passed down to his unpredictable heir, Sean Wallace (Joe Cole) who becomes an immediate target.  No-one can be trusted and everyone wants a piece of the pie to become the Top Dog in London.  It is up to Elliot to do whatever he can to bring the criminals to justice and not get caught while doing so OR get in too deep and lose himself within this crime family and the world that they live in.

This show grips you.  It starts off a bit crazy with the intro, but as violent the intro is, sets you up for the entire season, because not only is the show violent and gritty, it's not necessarily gory persay, but it is ruthless in respect to how people are offed! People are mercilessly getting mowed down violently and in some cases these may have you squirming in your seat, but they do not shy away from it.  A little graphic but not too much.  If you have seen, The Raid, The Raid 2 and the violence in the action scenes, this IS definitely that but with less martial arts and maybe a bear glass to the face or jaw.

As for the action, I'll go into that a little, because this film tells a story with action peppered in the action does not take away from the story and does not seem forced.  Albeit, there are moments where the violence may seem unnecessary, but the world these characters live in and the seedy underbelly of London, it is nothing to bake a cake just to place a pretty flower on top, because baked into that cake might be half of someone's head or a hand, served to you because you double-crossed them.  The action is fast, very visual and in some cases eratic.  Needless to say, the directing and direction is simply superb.  Gareth Edwards knows how to tell a story through fight scenes and action.  And with this, knows how to tell a story whilst not solely being dependent on the action.

Not to take away from The Raid and The Raid 2, but the raid was a simpler story and if I'm honest, for me at least, the action carried those movies every step of the way.  Not necessarily a bad thing because the story came second place and it didn't affect the movie at all.  Story-wise, Gangs of London comes first and the story is strong.  Think Game of Thrones, different "families" fighting to sit on the Throne, which is London.

Without going into spoilers, the series ends in a way where although narratively, this was possibly the only way to go (up for debate) BUT, I NEED a sequel just like I need another one to The Raid 2.  Maybe two, a prequel and sequel, I need something.  I want to know what happens next, maybe 20 years before or 20 years later.  I believe there are stories here to be told.  Keep them to 10 episodes and maybe we could have an "anthology" sequel or generational sequel, something, as I do not believe the story is over.
It goes without saying though, if this is not your type of show, London Gangsters, gritty and hardcore action, this crime drama is not for you.  Not quite Peaky Blinders as it is more hardcore and modern, but a definite must see.

(series review) [STREAMING] - The Clone Wars

What can I say about the animated series 'The Clone Wars'?  Well, I'll say that it was something I was never interested in.  It came out at a time where, although Star Wars is for children and adults alike, I thought "why am I going to watch a cartoon series of Star Wars when I have the films".  If I'm honest, I just didn't quite get it.  But I have a love for Star Wars and the overall story of it all.  While a lot cannot tell the difference between a Star Wars from a Star Trek or know if a Klingon choice of weapon is a Lightsabre, this cartoon does a great deal to flesh out in detail what Star Wars is ALL ABOUT and most importantly, how a young Anakin Skywalker becomes one of the most notorious and world famous characters in movie history and the world.

Before I get into all of that though.  A good few years back, I got onto 'The Clone Wars' after hearing about it on podcasts such as 'Jedi Council' among other mediums and I started immediately on where we were at the time.  I believe it was Mid-Season 3 and I watched as much as I could from that point onwards until the last season, season 6.  This was around the time Disney bought Lucasfilm and 'The Clone Wars' was finished.  Although they (the creators), were not done with the story of these characters I had began to like, and now even moreso, separate from the movies.  But Dave Filoni got a chance to finish it off and he came back with Season 7 this year for DisneyPlus and I had started that too, got 4-6 episodes in and then stopped and decided, l"me start from season 1, since I never saw it".  What's the point, right? Well, I just wanted to be a completionist when it came to this.  I wanted to know about Mandelore and Ahsoka etc.  However, this does not mean I watched the separate Clone Wars movie because I heard it was trash and I simply wasn't about to get into that.  Especially as I was told you can watch from season 1, nevermind the Clone Wars movie.  Not to be confused with 'Attack of the Clones'.

Like I guessed, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is or should I say started off for children.  I mean for all intents and purposes, it is a children's show, but there are some dark elements and they do not at all shy away from the aspect of war, I mean, it's called Star Wars, right?  Though there is no blood and no gruesome deaths on screen, they manage to walk a fine line to cater for children.  The other side of that line is catering for the fans, adults and the lore of the star wars world in which they do an amazing job.  From season to season, not only do they get stronger, but the lore gets richer, deeper and graphically, the graphics and animation gets better as well.  Where I binged it from season 1 to 7, you gradually see small differences with each season and in some cases, where they applied more details because it needed it and less in other places.  However, season 7 looks amazing!!!

Season 1 to season 2 is about learning where we are in the Skywalker story.  Anakin is under the tutelage of Ben Kenobi but to help curve his duties as a Padawan to Ben, he has also been given a Padawan in Ahsoka, a younger and eager Force user.  She is meant to ground Anakin as Anakin is hot headed and always angry.  But as the show goes on, you see she can be a little annoying and that really helps the story overall especially with her growth.  You get to see the camaraderie between Anakin and Ben and although how Anakin can be hard headed and brash, he is also very exceptional as a Jedi Master, though the council doesn't appoint him as one. 

You get to experience what it is like through the eyes of the clones themselves.  Each clone has a number, but every clone has a personality in which later on through the series, they are given names.

The Clone Wars is not just about the heroes though, a lot of the villains are there too.  Count Doku, General Grievous and even Darth Maul.  The latter, a real surprise and there is also a story arc that helps clear up how we get from a man severed in half to showing up in the movie Star Wars: A Solo Story.  The show also introduces other characters such as Boba Fett, Cad Bane among other Bounty Hunters, space pirates like Hondo and other Siths, such as Asajj Ventress.  You also get to see that there are many many other Jedi' and some even speak and have stories of their own.  Some are really cool and it would have been nice to see them in the movies.

Star Wars though, has mainly been about the fight between good and evil.  The lightside and the darkside.  Doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing.  War.  Politics.  War profiteering.  In this show, you get to see every cog in the wheel of the grand plan of the Sith rising and destroying the Jedi to rule the galaxy with 1 person potentially being the foil to bring balance.  The Clone Wars digs deep into all of this and helps you to understand how the shift to the darkside was not overnight.  The films are around 2 hours and although Anakin is much older in Revenge of the Sith, you don't really get a duration of how long the Clone Wars were.  You witness the grooming.  You see the parts coming together and what is happening behind closed doors with the Senate, the Republic and the separatists.  They do a great job in weaving the story in, whilst trying to make you feel engaged and involved with the characters such as Padame and Setine.

Seasons 5 - 6 is where they do a lot of explaining rules of the Force, the Jedi, rules of other factions such as Mandilore for the Mandelorians.  Not only why Darth Maul is alive but how, why and what his goal is.  A lot of characters story arcs and some of them are simply great.  For example, one of my favourite characters was, Asajj Ventress, a student of Count Doku.  She has never been seen in the films, just like Ahsoka, but she had an interesting story arc and she was a great character towards the end when we last see her.  The end of Season 5 also teared me up a little with how a specific and important character was treated.  You grow to love these characters and recognise the familiar ones.  For example, you can tell the difference between the clones and one of the plots even involved the chip for 'Order 66' and it left you wondering how it was going to be handled due to knowing how everything goes down in Revenge the Sith.

All in all, I could not recommend this show enough.  This show, not only does it successfully bridge the gap between Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, it expands the universe.  It's not just about Jedi and Sith, Mandalorians are apart of this as they have their own separate thing going on which is nothing to do with the separatists war with the republic.  Because the series is set in the past before the events of Episode 4 - 9 at points, you see other notable characters when they were younger like 'Admiral "It's A Trap!" Akbar or how certain characters feel towards the Jedi and why they would side with the separatists.  Everything is fully fleshed out and there is connectivity between the Skywalker Saga, the Solo movie, The Mandalorian TV show on DisneyPlus, Star Wars: Rebels (another Cartoon that came out when The Clone Wars series ended, initially) and even the computer game Star Wars: The Fallen Jedi (or maybe moreso, that game to the movies and cartoons).

Although there are some slow episode or episodes that may be regarded as fillers, it does enough to keep you entertained as the Lightsabre fights are pretty much the best in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise, they are really really good.  The cinematography is phenomenal for a cartoon and in some cases, there are a few long tracking shots and I love tracking shots.  Dave Filoni along with Jon Favereu are more or less in charge of 'The Mandelorian' series a with a season 2 out soon.  It would be a good idea to get onto this first before watching that and maybe even Star Wars: Rebels to get an understanding of what a Mandelorian' is, because it isn't just another Boba Fett.

If you can't do the 7 seasons of 25min episodes (it's really easy), you might be able to search online for episodes to watch for the narrative follow.  But me, I'd say, just watch the entire thing.  You'll get invested that way.