TRANS-SCRIBE

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis - Book Review

'Truth is a human right. It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistle-blower father. Even though Cora hasn’t spoken to him in years, his celebrity has caught the attention of the press, the Internet, the paparazzi, and the government—and with him in hiding, that attention is on her. She neither knows nor cares whether her father’s leaks are a hoax, and wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.

'Realising the extent to which both she and the public have been lied to, she sets out to gather as much information as she can, and finds that the best way for her to uncover the truth is not as a whistle-blower, but as an intermediary. The alien presence has been completely uncommunicative until she convinces one of them that she can act as their interpreter, becoming the first and only human vessel of communication. Their otherworldly connection will change everything she thought she knew about being human—and could unleash a force more sinister than she ever imagined.'

The description for Axiom's End makes the story sound like it's about truth, that it'll ask questions of whether or not the public has the right to know everything the government knows. Whilst these are important questions, and ones that the book does address, this isn't what the book meant to me, or what I really took away from it. Anyone who's watched through Lindsay Ellis' videos will be aware that one of the topics that seems to come up a lot is that of monsters, and about loving them. This is probably best explored in her video essay 'My Monster Boyfriend', but is by no means the only time that she talks about it.

Monsters used to be surrogates for fears, for the worries of the times when they were made. Whether it's the fear of people of colour taking the 'virtue' of white women that was at the heart of films like Creature From The Black Lagoon, Birth of a Nation, or even King Kong, or the fear of american values being replaced by communism in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, monsters have stood in for real life people for decades. But as long as that's been a thing so has monsters being a source of love. Stories like Beauty and the Beast, to even further back and myths like Eros and Psyche which dates back to the 2nd century AD, tell stories of people falling in love with inhuman creatures.

Lindsay Ellis talks about these themes a lot, whether it's when she's discussing Disney movies, or her love of Phantom of the Opera, as such I shouldn't have been surprised to see these themes featured so heavily in her book. But damn it all, she managed to draw me into a monster romance without me realising it.

One of the two leads of the novel is Cora, a young woman who's having to deal with the fact that her absentee father is on the run from the authorities, and that his quest for 'the truth' has made the lives of his family difficult to say the least. They're investigated by the authorities, tailed by shadowy figures, and hounded by the press. Add on to this Cora's difficulty with having recently moved back home with her mother, and her trouble keeping a job, and we meet a woman who's dealing with a lot. Because of this, I wasn't quite sure what I felt about her at first.

At times I was able to identify with her, I could look at some of the struggles she was having and see similar things from different times in my life. But there were also times she came across as naive and foolish, and seemed to not really have her life together. But then really who does?

The other main character is Ampersand. He's a little less easy to describe. He's an alien. And not like any kind of alien that I've experienced before. The way that Lindsay describes him makes him so inhuman, more akin to combination of animal and machine; or as she described in my interview with her, a mix of the Xenomorph and Eva from Wall-E. Yet I pictured him with a strange sense of beauty and almost regalness. I saw this alien creature that at times made me think of an insect, at others he was quite feline, or even deer-like. But through it all there was something about him that fascinated me and grabbed my attention.

Much like Cora, when we first meet Ampersand he's not the nicest of people. He can communicate with Cora, but barks orders, comes across as threatening at times, and doesn't seem to have any kind of interest in people beyond using them to achieve his end goal. He certainly never seemed to regard any of them as being worthy of thought or care.

But when these two came together something magical happened. Cora had to grow up all of a sudden, she had to step up to responsibility and put herself in a position that would test her beyond her limits; and Ampersand, he had to learn that his initial opinions of humans were wrong, that we're not just violent, animalistic creatures, but were worthy of his attention a,nd care.

The relationship between the two of them never felt strange, and the fact that he's so alien helped this. This isn't a girl falling in love with a vampire or a zombie because he's a hot boy, or even something resembling a boy. This is two beings learning to like each other from an intellectual level. They connected through their minds and personalities. Because of this the love that seemed to form between them never felt cliched or hackneyed, it felt real.

Whilst they seem to form an attachment like a working relationship, bordering on friendship, there's a scene where Cora is scared and feeling alone, the weight of everything crushing down on her, and Ampersand comes to comfort her. He sees this being that's so alien to him, who he barely understands at time, and he sees that she's suffering and can't help himself from helping her. The tenderness that this alien creature shows this young woman is so genuine and earnest that that was the moment I realised that these two could fall in love. Not a physical love, driven by hormones or sexual desire, but a love for who the other is, driven by a desire to see the other happy and safe.

There's something that happens towards the end of the book where it looks like Ampersand might be revealed to be a villain, and it made my heart break. I was so hurt that this creature I'd fallen in love with alongside Cora could have been evil this whole time that when this is proven to be false I was so unbelievably happy. I could't have dealt with that level of betrayal from him. And I'd probably never be able to engage with any of Lindsay's work again either if that had happened as she'd have betrayed me in the worst way.

The book ends with the two characters closer than ever, with an undeniable connection that's so akin to love that I couldn't see it any other way. These last moments of the book, with the two of them together, caring for each other made me cry. Physically cry. I'll cry at tv and film all the time, hell, half the stuff on the internet gets me; but a book has never gotten me like this. It's never made such a raw emotional connection with a book before.

I spent much of the rest of that night and the day after thinking about this, considering why this story connected with me so much, about why I came to care about Ampersand to the point of desperately wanting to read more about him. I went back and watched the video essay Lindsay made about loving monsters to see if that might help me figure some things out.

Monsters are shunned by society. They're seen as ugly. It's assumed that they're threats to the way of life, that they're here to do awful things. And whilst sometimes this is true that's not always the case. Because monsters don't have to represent our fears anymore, they can represent us too. They can act as stand ins for marginalised people, people who are shunned by society, who are seen as threats. I realised that I connected with Ampersand so much because I'm a monster too. At least in the eyes of some people.

People like myself, and many others, others who are viewed as 'different' and 'strange' get told that we're not normal. We're told that we're more violent, that we're a threat to women and children, that we're predisposed to violence, that we'll always be alone in the world because we're freaks. For a long while I was alone, and couldn't help but hear those kind of things and believe them. Maybe I was a monster, maybe I was doomed to be alone forever. I never dreamed that I'd find a loving connection with someone and be happy.

So when I saw this happening with Ampersand, when he and Cora began to form this friendship, which would go on to blossom into love I couldn't help but project a little onto him. Ampersand means so much to me because I was that monster at one point.

Axiom's End became a story that meant something to me. It connected with me on a personal level that I never thought it would. The characters came to mean something important. If I could meet Ampersand in real life I would in a heartbeat. I'd love to see how beautiful he is, to see those wonderful eyes he has, to be held by him like he holds Cora, because I've gone and fallen in love with him and what he represents.

Axiom's End might be a story about truth, it might have stuff to say on government accountability and censorship, it might have amazing aliens and an intricate story, but to me first and foremost this book is about love. It's about showing people that no matter how you see yourself, or how others might see you, no one is really a monster, that we're all deserving of and capable of love.

I doubt that Lindsay herself will ever read this review, but if she does I just want to say thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This book is special. It means something. And I love it. Words can't do my feelings on this book justice. It is everything I never knew I needed and more.

Make sure to check back tomorrow, when I'll be talking to Lindsay about the book.

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Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Too Long A Sacrifice #1 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Last year was a big year for fans of Deep Space Nine. We got an amazing new documentary, What We Left Behind, but we also lost two amazing actors in Aron Eisenberg and Rene Auberjonois. This new comic is the first piece of DS9 media since, and focuses on the character of Odo, who was played by Auberjonois; as such it felt like the book was going to have a lot on its shoulders. Thankfully, this proves to be a really good first issue.

The issue starts with Doctor Bashir and Garak meeting up for lunch, though long term fans will notice it’s strange that they’re not going to their usual haunt of the replimat, instead going to one of the restaurants on the promenade. The two of them briefly discuss how the war with the Dominion is going, before a bomb detonates in the restaurant. Garak and Julian are thrown out the window by the blast, but eight others are killed.

Odo, the station’s chief of security is then tasked with getting to the bottom of the crime. He does some investigating, and learns that the explosive was filled with Rodinium Darts, jagged shards of metal designed to rip apart anyone within the blast zone. The station’s security sweeps should detect anyone trying to bring these on board, so Odo concludes they must have been smuggled on. By the end of the issue Odo has few suspects, but it’s revealed that a second shipment of darts has been discovered in Quark’s cargo shipment.

It’s pretty clear that this cliffhanger isn’t going to result in Quark being the guilty party, as anyone who watches the show knows whilst he’s certainly dodgy, he’s not a killer. It’s likely this is going to either be a false flag, or lead to another step in the mystery, but it doesn’t feel like a dishonest turn of events, as Odo would definitely consider Quark a suspect in any crime on the station.

Writers Scott and David Tipton clearly know the characters well, and every one of them feels very natural and much like they did in the show. Garak and Julian have their fun dynamic at the start of the issue, Sisko is concerned about events but is still the hardened commander, Dax and O’Brien are both smart and add to the investigation, using both of their specialities. But Odo is the character that really matters, and they’ve captured him perfectly, right down to his annoyed harumph whenever things aren’t going the way he likes.

They’ve also managed to make the station feel busy and alive, and the opening scenes on the promenade are full of different aliens and people going about their business. Artist Greg Scott manages to make the place feel like there’s a lot going on, and it certainly captures the idea that this is a busy airport in space.

This is a strong first issue that clearly sets up the central mystery, gives readers some basic information, and several potential guilty parties to choose from. However, it’s clear that there’s a lot more information that’s going to be needed to reach any kind of conclusion, and it certainly makes you eager to read the next issue and find out more.

Too Long A Sacrifice is a great return to the Star Trek universe, and one that fans of the series will definitely enjoy.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - Book Review

'The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

'Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.'

I'm going to have to be honest, this is not going to be an easy book to review. This isn't because it's bad, or I didn't like it; but because I'm not sure how much I can talk about without giving away too much of the plot.

The Only Good Indian follows four men who were involved in a hunting incident ten years before the events of the book, an event that would go on to shape their lives significantly. The book spends time with each of these people as these events from their past catch up to them, and a supernatural being comes after them for revenge.

I don't think I can say much more about the plot than that, as anything else might give away too much, and this is definitely the kind of book where you want to go in as blind as you can. Writer Stephen Graham Jones is very careful about just how much the reader knows at any given time, slowly teasing out not just the events of the past that set everything in motion, but exactly what's happening now.

This sense of mystery, of not knowing everything is definitely a big part of the horror of this book. Yes, there are moments of obvious horror, of strange and disturbing things that happen, but it's the creeping sense of dread throughout that makes you really uncomfortable. There are times when you think you've finally figured out if not what precisely is tormenting these men, but at least how it works; but then there'll be a shift in the narrative that turns things on its head, that makes it clear that actually, anything you think you've learnt is wrong. This means that the narrative is constantly unpredictable, and you're never sure if you can quite believe what it is you're reading.

The Only Good Indian reminded me of horror stories that take a turn for the surreal, like Tetsuo The Iron Man or even some of the works of Lovecraft. There are times where you don't really know what you're reading, and it feels like you're in some kind of fever dream that simply can't make sense.

The central characters all get a chance to shine during the narrative, and even though you spend differing amounts of times with each you get a very clear sense of the types of people they are. You begin to see not just how the events of their past shaped them into who they are, but how they feel about their own identities and their culture. Each man has a different connection to their native heritage, and these connections inform their stories.

Stephen Graham Jones has created a story that's very odd, that at times feels very fantastical and nightmarish, yet works so well because it's grounded with realistic and engaging people. The book disturbs and fascinates with equal measure, and draws you in to the world that he's created. A unique and stand out horror novel.

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Monday, 20 July 2020

Murder In Montague Falls - Book Tour

'3 TALES OF TEENS TACKLING THEIR DARKEST RITES OF PASSAGE. Acclaimed storytellers Russ Colchamiro, Sawney Hatton, and Patrick Thomas each present an original novella brimming with enough danger, intrigue, and murder to get readers’ blood pounding and hearts racing.

'In Colchamiro’s RED INK, a paperboy with an overactive imagination witnesses a brutal killing on his route—or has he taken his fantasy spy games a step too far? In Hatton’s THE DEVIL’S DELINQUENTS, a trio of teenage misfits in pursuit of success, power, and revenge practice amateurish occult rituals... with deadly consequences. In Thomas’s A MANY SPLENDID THING, a sultry high school teacher enrolls one of her students to get rid of her husband. But will the young man really graduate to murder? '

Short story collections are a good way to discover new writers, but sometimes they can be a little hard to enjoy, you find yourself wanting to know more and wishing that the stories would go on for longer. Murder In Montague Falls manages to sidestep this by giving readers three novella's instead of shorter stories, and it works so well because of that. None of the stories in this collection would have worked half as well if they'd have been shorter in length, and use the space given over to them incredibly well.

'Red Ink' is the first story in the book, and follows Isaac, a young teen lost in the world of imagination. His story opens by tricking the readers into thinking that this is going to be some kind of spy tale, but it soon transpires that Isaac is just a normal kid, spending half his time in a make believe world. His false world is soon shattered, however, when he discovers one of the women on his paper route has been murdered.

Isaac and his friend tries to investigate, and discovers that they've simply made a mistake. It turns out the woman has gone away on holiday, and her brother is taking care of the house whilst she's gone. But is it really that simple? Isaac is convinced that there's more going on than meets the eye and is determined to find out what's really going on.

Isaac's story, despite being about murder, is probably the nicest of the bunch in the terms of gore and darker themes. It's the kind of story that can appeal to a younger reader, and people close to Isaac's age will definitely be able to enjoy it. In a few ways it feels like it would be home in a series like The Famous Five. The story doesn't get too complex because of this, yet still manages to have some surprising depth when you learn the traumatic backstory that spurs Isaac on. It's a surprisingly touching moment, and one that brought some genuine tears to my eyes.

'Red Ink' works well as a stand alone story, but it would really work as the first story in a series. I'd love to read more about Isaac and Dani hanging out together and solving crimes in Montague Falls.

'The Devil's Delinquents' by Sawney Hatton is a little harder for me to talk about, be cause it's my least favourite story in the collection. Not because it's not good, because it's an interesting story that's well written, but because of the dark turn the story takes at the end.

The story follows two teens, Cal and Derry, outcasts and delinquents. They're unpopular, hate the in crowd, and are constantly in trouble with their teachers. One day they meet Natalie, who they take an instant liking to her. She's just like them, into devil worship, causing trouble, and doing whatever she wants. Natalie is a delinquent on a whole other level than Cal and Derry, however, and starts to lead the two of them astray.

Natalie convinces the two of them that she's managed to summon demons, and can use black magic to make their lives better. Telling the two of them that they can get whatever they want if they perform a human sacrifice the three of them prepare a murder.

Now, this is a spoiler for the story, so if you want to go in blind skip to the next paragraph. The three teens decide to target one of Cal's neighbours, Tony, a mentally disabled man. In what's an incredibly upsetting scene the three of them lure him into the house, get him drunk, and stab him in the chest. This doesn't kill him though, and the injured Tony tries desperately to get home to his dad, but is killed by the three attackers. They then go on to mutilate his body, cutting out his heart. This was one of the hardest things that I've read, and I was crying by the end of the scene. It was just so brutal and sadistic that it went too far for me.

'The Devil's Delinquents' might not be to everyone's liking because of the above mentioned moment, but it is still an interesting story that deals with peer pressure, and how two people get led down a path to murder by a clearly disturbed, yet charming individual.

'Many A Splendid Thing' was a story that I felt I knew when it first began. It centres on Jethro, a teen who's fallen for his beautiful science teacher, Mrs Carmine. Jethro comes from a troubled home, his mother left his father for another man, resulting in his father descending into drink. His mother meanwhile, is so wrapped up in her new boyfriend that she actively hates her son. When Mrs Carmine shows Jethro some affection he latches onto her, and their relationship quickly becomes sexual. Things take a turn for the murderous when Mrs Carmine tells Jethro that her husband is a brutal man, and asks Jethro to help her escape him by killing him for her.

This was how I expected the story to go, but thanks to some unexpected twists and turns (and more murders) along the way the story managed to take an old trope and put a fresh spin onto events. The story has a lot of ups and downs, and I was never one hundred percent sure how events were going to play out.

Murder in Montague Falls was definitely a mixed collection, and despite the three stories being set within the town of Montague Falls and all being about murder, and each story feels very different and distinct from each other. A varied and interesting collection that is sure to entertain.

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Thursday, 16 July 2020

Predators (2010) – Throwback 10

Originally published on Set The Tape

The original Predator movie is an all-time classic, one of the most popular action/sci-fi movies of all time, and as such any sequel would be judged harshly against it. The second movie was very good, but a lot of people don’t seem to like the change to an urban environment Predators, on the other hand, manages to recapture a lot of the magic of the original film, whilst still being its own animal.

The film begins with a group of soldiers and mercenaries falling through the sky, plummeting into some unknown jungle. The audience, and the protagonists, are given no explanation as to what’s going on and are left to slowly put the pieces together as this group make their way through this strange environment, discovering small clues that indicate that they’re not alone. It soon becomes apparent to them that the group haven’t just been dropped into a jungle, but have been abducted to an alien planet, and are being hunted down by vicious alien hunters.

This change to the standard Predator formula is one of the best things the film does. Instead of the aliens coming to earth to hunt humans, they’ve taken their prey somewhere else. It adds a whole new threat for the protagonists as they have no way to escape, don’t know what’s around them, and are unsure if climbing the next hill could lead them to safety or something awful.

It also allows the film to have a group of protagonists who don’t know each other. Whereas the first film was a seasoned squad of soldiers, and the second was a group of cops who knew each other, this is a group from vastly different backgrounds with no reason to trust each other except for immediate survival.

The cast chosen for this group are great, and this film has some of the better acting in the entire Predator franchise. The film even has two Oscar-winning actors in Royce (Adrien Brody) and Mombasa (Mahershala Ali). Even those members of the cast who haven’t won Oscars are brilliant. Walton Goggins is a joy to watch as a sick and twisted death-row inmate; Danny Trejo is his usual wonderful self as a drug cartel enforcer; and Lawrence Fishburne is stand-out as a lone survivor of a previous hunt.

The cast of characters in this film is way more important than in the other movies, and seeing them discovering each other’s strengths, learning to work together, and even fighting amongst themselves changes the standard hunt formula into a scenario where you’re never sure how things are going to happen or who’s going to stand up and be a hero.

The film also gives us a new variation on the standard Yautja monsters, introducing new creatures and new lore to the universe. Through this film we learn that there are different factions of the predators, with the new ‘Super Predators’ also happy to hunt down their more familiar counterparts. Some people complained about this change, saying that it messed with the backstory too much, but considering most of the background information on the species only came through books and comics I think this is a fine addition to the film universe, and a whole lot better than what would come in The Predator years later.

The three new predators all have unique designs, and stand out instantly. Whilst the Berserker Predator got most of the fanfare as the ‘lead’ bad guy, and was who Adrien Brody had to beat at the end to survive the film, I loved the Falconer Predator a lot purely for the scene where shirtless Yakuza enforcer Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changshien) has a katana fight against it in waist high grass. Seriously, that scene might be one of the coolest moments in any Predator movie.

I can understand that the film might not be for everyone, and a casual viewer might not love it, but for someone like myself, who grew up watching the original over and over, and loved the franchise, it’s a love-letter to the original. The story and environment nod to the first film without retreading the same steps, and there’s so much of the original music in this film that it really feels a part of the same universe in ways that the other sequels didn’t.

I adore Predators. I think that it’s way better than it really has any right to be, and stands out against other sequels and spin-offs as the best follow-up the franchise has to offer. The cast are great, the action loud and fun, and the horror elements are definitely still there. Best Predator sequel to date.

Wednesday, 15 July 2020

Power Rangers Beast Morphers Episode 03 'End of the Road' - TV Review

The third episode of the series is the first real adventure of the week story, where nothing in the status quo really changes, but despite having no consequence on the series as a whole it still manages to be pretty entertaining.

The story centres around Zoey, who's trying to convince the mayor of Coral Harbor not to destroy part of the local forest to build a new road. The mayor tells Zoey that the traffic in the city is a nightmare, so the road is needed to help get rid of congestion. Zoey, however, has an idea that might be able to solve the problem without needing to destroy the woodlands. Morph-X powered bikes.

The major agrees to give Zoey a week to prove that a bike scheme could work, otherwise the forest will be destroyed. Zoey sets out to try to convince the residents of the city that her new bikes are a better way to get around, but no one really seems too interested. Except for the villains, who think that they might be able to steal the Morph-X from the bikes for their own uses.

The team get into a fight with Blaze and one of his monsters, Needletron, and managed to destroy the monster, but Blaze escapes with one of its arms, giving him the ability to siphon Morph-X without the monster. He tries to do this in another location, but the Rangers are able to track him down and destroy the arm, stopping him from getting any Morph-X. With no way to morph Blaze grabs one of the bikes and tries to make an escape. The Rangers jump on bikes of their own and pursue, leading to a chase across the city.

The Rangers manage to chase Blaze down to a warehouse where Roxy and a group of Tronics are stealing more Morph-X. The team fight the evil avatars, but Scrozzle unleashes a giant Needletron on the city, forcing the team to split up. Ravi is dispatched in his Gorilla Zord to fight the giant monster whilst Devon and Zoey continue the fight. When the giant monster starts to drain power from Ravi's Zord Devon goes to assist him.

Zoey faces off against Roxy alone, but manages to get the upper hand, using one of the Morph-X canisters from a bike to cause an explosion that incapacitates the villain. Meanwhile, Devon and his Zord are able to arrive in time to help Ravi, and the two of them destroy the giant monster, saving the city.

The next day Zoey returns to the construction site, ready to plead with the mayor for more time, only to discover that the road has been cancelled because the bikes are a huge hit. It turns out that the Rangers were seen chasing Blaze on the bikes, and thanks to news footage the entire city thinks the bikes are awesome. Zoey has managed to save the forest, and the mayor orders 5,000 bikes for the city.

This episode doesn't do a huge amount, it doesn't move the story forward in any real way, but it does give one of the Rangers the spotlight for the episode; and it's really cool that it's Zoey who gets the chance to shine first.

It's almost a cliche that the Power Rangers are such good people that they champion good causes at every turn; it was almost comical that the Mighty Morphin team took part in so many park clean-ups, awareness campaigns, and charity events that they'd barely of had time to do their school work, let alone be super heroes. We don't have a huge sense of who each Ranger on this team is yet though, so it's not clear if this is something that is specific to Zoey, or if the whole team are going to be into doing good deeds like this every week.

What this episode does show, however, is that Zoey wasn't just talking crap in the previous episodes about having ideas to make the world better, and being desperate to prove that she can do things. This is a young woman who's only a Ranger by chance, and was working at Grid Battleforce laundry a few weeks ago. This is her first real chance to prove that she can walk the walk as well as talk the talk, and she goes at it with zeal.

We also get some small character moments with Nate, who's showing that he's more than just the team's tech guy, and actually gets to go out off the base and do stuff. We learn a little more about his past too, and get a bit of an insight into his family situation and him always wanting a brother.

As with last episode, this week's villain is incredibly forgettable. I'm not sure if this is how the monsters are going to go for Beast Morphers in general, or if we've just had a few dud ones to begin with. Either way, its a good thing for the show that they've got Blaze and Roxy there too to pick up the villain slack. The evil Rangers once again prove to be one of the highlights, and the fight between the two yellow Rangers in the warehouse is the stand out moment for sure.

If this episode proves to be the baseline for the monster of the week style episodes then it's not too bad, and is certainly a lot better than we had in Power Rangers Ninja Steel. However, I do hope that we get better monsters than we've had here, and that the show doesn't come to rely on the evil Rangers to carry it through. But overall, this is a pretty good episode.

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Terminator: Dark Fate - Film Review

It seems like making a good Terminator sequel is harder than it seems. Yes, Terminator 2 Judgement Day was good, but I don't think it's the best of the series like a lot of people make out; that still goes to the first film for me. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines was pretty poor and best forgotten. Terminator Salvation is one I like because they made the machines scary again, but is far from perfect. And Terminator Genisys took a huge shit on the films that came before it and is probably the worst of the bunch. As such I had little expectations going into Terminator Dark Fate. But, I was really pleasantly surprised by this film.

Terminator Dark Fate follows on from the second film, disregarding much of the muddled mess that came after it. It begins back in the 90's with Sarah Connor and her son John after they defeated the T-1000 and stopped the formation of Skynet. Unfortunately, another terminator had already been sent back in time, and murders John in front of Sarah. Killing John Connor is a bold way to start the movie, and really sets it apart from all the other sequels, which all featured John in some way.

The film then jumps forwards to modern day Mexico, where two time portals open up, one depositing an augmented human named Grace, the other the deadly Rev-9 terminator. Grace has been enhanced using technology to make her faster and stronger than a normal human, capable of standing her ground against a terminator, and her mission is to protect Dani Ramos, a young woman who has been targeted by the Rev-9.

One of the first action sequences in the film, where Grace and the Rev-9 fight in a car factor, might be one of the best action scenes in the movie, and the franchise. Grace and the Rev-9 fight with a speed and agility that the franchise hasn't had before. Both actors, Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna, move with a fluidity that Arnold Schwarzenegger was never able to achieve, and their fight is almost dance like. It also shows how far technology has come, allowing the integration of robot effects into the fight that was simply impossible even for the second film. The fight also shows off why director Tim Miller was a good choice to direct, with his great action directing on Deadpool clearly not a fluke.

The film really shines, however, once Linda Hamilton comes into things. She's angry, tough, and bitter, and is the exact type of person I can see Sarah Connor growing into, especially with the loss of her hope following John's murder. She fights terminators without fear, having gone up against so many now that she's a hardened warrior that even Terminator 2 Judgement Day Sarah wasn't. Despite this, she still has a heart, and one of the best scenes in the movie is where she breaks down and lets her emotions show, when she tells Dani that she doesn't have a photo of John and is slowly forgetting him; a scene that shows the level of grief and trauma the poor woman in living with.

Here scenes with Arnold Schwarzenegger's Carl are also highlights, and their interactions are perfect as a terminator who has learned to grow a conscience and can love (somewhat) and a woman who wants to kill him because he murdered the most important person in her life. The slow evolution of their relationship isn't central to the story, but is there and well played nonetheless. You also get a great moment where Sarah learns that Dani isn't the new her, the mother of the future resistance leader, but that leader. She realises that Dani is essentially John, and that moment means a lot to her, gives her something to fight for again. Dani becomes a stand in for her lost son, and the fact that the two of them stick together at the end of the movie shows that this has given Sarah a new sense of purpose and hope.

The only thing I'd say that the movie didn't do right with Sarah was the moment when she first appears on screen during the modern day segment. She walks out onto the highway with a shotgun and a rocket launcher and takes down the Rev-9 as it's about to kill Grace and Dani, and it's awesome. But, the fact that the iconic Terminator theme didn't start playing when she stepped out the car is a crime. Sarah Connor coming to the rescue with that stand out opening theme music would have elevated it to one of the best moments in the franchise.

I liked the changes that Terminator Dark Fate made to the mythology, especially in regards to the future war. One of the things that didn't quite make sense to me with the other sequels was that John and Sarah just delayed the future war, that Skynet still came into being and John still became the resistance leader. This film takes a different approach. Here Skynet is gone completely, and it's another AI that rose up against humanity. Now, to those saying that's silly and it should have just been Skynet, another AI coming to the same conclusion about humanity is much more believable than the same future playing out just a little later. There are so many factors that would have to come into play to have the same future happen decades later that it just doesn't make sense; this new Legion AI is definitely the way to go.

It also means that a different AI would create different terminators to help wipe out humanity. The brief glimpses we get of the future show this, with the flying Hunter Killer robots being a similar kind of design to those from previous films, and the opening sequence for this movie, but they're actually quite different when you look closely at them. The Rev-9 also shows off a difference in robot design. The Rev-9 combines the robotic endo-skeleton we've seen in other films, with a kind of liquid metal terminator from the second movie. And I say kind of liquid metal, because it never looks like the T-1000 during the movie. The shiny silver of the T-1000 is gone, instead the Rev-9's liquid parts look darker, closer to the black metallic of it's skeletal structure, yet moves less like a liquid and at times looks more like nanobots of some kind.

The Rev-9's makes for one of the more interesting terminators in the series too, thanks to his ability to separate his liquid and skeletal parts, essentially splitting into two machines, giving the heroes two targets to contend with. This feature is used pretty sparingly throughout the movie, but it's always cool when they do it. The scenes during the future flash backs (Flash forwards? Both) really show how cool and interesting these machines are when they attack with tentacle like spikes and blades.

Terminator Dark Fate was able to keep me entertained throughout. It had a story that felt like a good progression from the second movie, but was still able to do new and unexpected things. The new cast were really good, and weren't overshadowed by Hamilton or Schwarzenegger. If this is all that's done with this new timeline then I'm happy with that, but if this is the start of a new series and we get more from these characters then I'm all for that.

Despite going into the film expecting something as bad as Terminator Genisys I left the experience having been thoroughly entertained, and actually wanting to see more. This was something of a strange experience for a Terminator sequel, but one that was nice to have. Terminator Dark Fate might not meet everyone's tastes, but I found it to be one of the better sequels in the franchise.

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Monday, 13 July 2020

Burger King Manager Blames Staff COVID Death On Trans Hormones

Staff at a Santa Monica branch of the fast food chain Burger King, located at 1919 Pico Boulevard, have staged a walk out and filed a complaint with California state and county regulators following the death of a transgender colleague apparently caused by COVID-19 .

Angela Martinez Gómez, aged 41, died on July 6th after displaying COVID symptons.

A silent protest was held in honour of Angela, and to raise awareness of issues the workers faced. According to the complaint made by her colleagues, Angela reported to work with COVID symptoms, coughing, spluttering, needed to take frequent bathroom breaks, and was visibly ill. Instead of being sent home management made her carry on working for a week.

Staff have also said that management did not provide them with protective equipment, and did not allow for social distancing. The complaint also says that a second member of staff fell sick with similar symptoms during this time, but was not allowed to take time off sick. Yolanda Garcia, who filed the complaint, has said that she is the third staff member to display symptoms.

'I feel very worried and I have a bad headache,' Yolanda wrote in the complaint. 'July 8 I woke up coughing with chills, shaking and body aches, my right lung hurts making it difficult to breathe, and I am very tired. I am worried about my health and my family’s health; eight of us live together, and my brother and I both have diabetes. Last week I visited my grandchildren, and now I do not know if I have COVID-19, or if I gave it to them. I am worried.'

Yolanda said that she brought her concerns about this to the manager, but was told Angela had not died of COVID, but rather that her death was a result taking hormones as part of her transition.

'I told (the manager) I was going to get tested for COVID-19, and she said she was going to get tested too,' Yolanda told reporters, 'but she also said she didn’t think Angela died of COVID-19, she said Angela died of injecting hormones. That doesn’t make sense to me.'

Yolanda said that Angela had been taking hormones for a long time, and couldn’t believe that the medication could suddenly cause her death. She has said that she thinks the company was trying to avoid responsibility for the situation.

Yolanda and the rest of the staff are now pleading with state and county regulators to temporarily close the branch until deep cleaning and safety regulations can be put into place to protect staff and customers. She is also pushing for staff to be paid during the closure.

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Angela Martinez Gómez, who had worked at Burger King for more than fifteen years.

A spokesman from the company has responded to these claims and has said the following:

Burger King deeply values diversity, equality and the safety and fair treatment of our team members and guests. We are investigating the report that transphobic comments were made. They do not align with our values and are unacceptable. Creating an inclusive and welcoming environment is a priority for us and we will be sure to take swift action in this case.

Burger King restaurants follow rigorous precautions to keep team members and guests safe at all times. We have not received any news or confirmation that Angela’s tragic death was associated with COVID-19. No symptoms were reported by the team at that location. Our deepest condolences go out to Angela’s family and friends during this devastating time.

A Go Fund Me has been started to help support Angela's family, with a goal of $20,000. So far $6,000 has been raised.