The Writer Muses

  This blog everything from reviews on film and tv to video and board games. All of my reviews are from a narrative perspective. Storytelling is something that unites us across the world. I believe that great stories have the ability to change us and raise interesting and new ideas.  

[thewritermuses]

Beasts Of No Nation

Beasts Of No Nation - Cary Joji Fukunaga

Beasts of No Nation has some major structural flaws, but it is still a fantastic film. We follow Agu, Abraham Attah (Spider-Man: Homecoming & Tasmanian Devil), as he is forced from a contented childhood into the life of a child-soldier.

Once he becomes a soldier, his story is intertwined with that of his Commandant, Idris Elba (The Wire & Luther). These dual storylines are what cause the biggest problem for the film.

Agu is our hero, but there is no crisis for his storyline.

While his fate is tied to the Commandant's, the crisis faced by their leader is not faced by Agu. Agu has no agency at this part of the film. The downbeat in the film is entirely the Commandant's.

The setup at the start of the film gives you no idea of what is coming. We get to meet all his family and learn a little about their trials and goals.

While all of the opening scenes feel like separate glimpses of life, we learn that they are all interconnected.

The film captures these kids' childhoods so well at the start. We get to see this again after the first combat action is over. Agu has just been forced to commit atrocities.

But life resumes, they are kids, and they return to playing. They have to hunt for their food.

This juxtaposition of utter mundanity and brutal atrocity is something else to watch.

There is a terrible section where we begin to suspect, but are not sure, that the Commandant is molesting one of the children. Then Agu is selected. 

It is a great choice by the filmmakers not to show this scene. We get to see the impact that it has on Agu, which is heartbreaking.

We are also left guessing, but not really - something happened in there that seriously messed him up, and what else could it be after all that he has seen.

Agu has an internal monologue throughout the film, and it is excellent. We gain insight into what he is thinking as terror surrounds him. 

One of the most powerful of these is after they take a town and his comrades are raping a lady, he thinks: God, do you see what we are doing?

A close second is after they have surrendered to the UN, and a councillor is trying to get him to talk. The whole internal speech here is on another level - it is one of the best things ever put to film.

At the end of it, he stares blankly into the lady's face and thinks: I have been to war, and she doesn't know what war is.

The speed at which the opening develops is great. Agu's friendship with one of the other kids is touching.

There are some crazy hallucinations where they get him high as they go into battle. The pathetic downfall of Commandant at the end is a stark contrast to the power he had at the beginning. Overall, it's a great film.

[thewritermuses]

The Boys

The Boys - Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson

Issues 1-6

The tone of The Boys is like nothing I've ever read. The writing is complex and thoughtful; you take your tentative steps into the world of the superheroes with Hughie as he is hired to become part of Butcher's team.

The absolute depravity and awfulness of all the superheroes we meet make them very unlikable. That is apart from Butcher's team, The Boys.

The sex, from both sides, but especially the young superheroes they are spying on, is a bit much. But it is titillating if that is what Ennis is going for; then it works.

I actually didn't realise that Butcher and The Boys were the good guys until close to the end of Issue 6. 

The heart-to-heart that he has with Hughie goes right to the core of superheroes, and it hasn't been addressed anywhere I have seen before.

Who gives the heroes the right to do what they do? They don't have any training. Just because they have powers doesn't mean they should be in control. That's where The Boys come in. They stop the heroes from running over everyone.

I love the team that Butcher is putting together. Every time we see them, I just want to learn more about them.

They are just so cool and mysterious. I actually think we should have so little backstory and, like Highie, seem to come in halfway through the story.

Butcher actually seems like a great bloke and cares about Hughie. But beyond that and the team, there aren't heaps here to love.

[thewritermuses]

A Prophet

A Prophet - Jacques Audiard

This prison drama follows Malik, Tahar Rahim (Batman Unburied & Bref), after his incarceration. The prison scenes are hauntingly real.

Everything that happens in the jail is just so believable - not that I have any metric to judge the reality of the situation on.

We follow Malik as he tries to learn the ropes. He becomes vital to a powerful group in the prison.

He uses this to his advantage, not becoming one of them but using his position to push for more. He ends up with his fingers in every pie in the jail as a powerful tale of betrayal unfolds.

Malik is forced to kill a man early on, and he follows Malik around throughout the film. Malik is haunted, but the man is also real to him; he talks to him.

The reality of the haunting is so terrifying because of how mundane it is. It really reminded me a lot of the very similar dream Riley has in Midnight Mass of his car crash victim.

Another big draw card for me was how the plot progresses so rapidly. All the ins and outs of what is about to happen are laid out for Malik and for us.

So we know what should happen in the coming scene - or at least what Malik's goals are. But he might do something completely different, and we get to see why as it happens

This is just great storytelling. I've never seen it pulled off so well. It reminds me a lot of Guy Ritchie's early work, but in those films, you still aren't in on it in the same way you are here.

The story is really grounded in the reality that they are all in prison, whoever they are. A big win for Malik is getting a CD player and a conjugal visit from a prostitute.

There is a filmic device used to represent either Malik's poor eyesight or his visions.

The lens telescopes in, and we are left with blurry vision surrounded by darkness. As far as I can remember, this only happens twice during the film.

One of these occurrences is confirmed as a vision as we see it play out, and it is how he gets his nickname.

The other just looks like he has bad eyesight. I found this really confusing, so I'm glad that it was only used twice.

I would recommend this film for anyone who loves being in the know about what is coming next in a film, but is equally happy to have their expectations met unexpectedly.

It's also worth a watch if you want to see the most real jail life I have seen.

[thewritermuses]

The Lincoln Lawyer

The Lincoln Lawyer - Ted Humphrey & David E. Kelley

Season One

I was immediately hooked on this show. The characters are great, and the lead is likable and interesting.

It is an interesting start to a series with our lead, Mickey Haller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (Widows & Murder on the Orient Express), being handed the keys to a law firm after the owner is murdered.

This setup allows for a meta-plot: the big murder trial with Trevor. As well as many smaller cases scattered throughout.

The smaller cases allow us to meet the rest of the cast as well as inform the wider plot. It is a great backdrop for a series to work around.

Having his ex-wives as key characters in the series is great, as through them we see different aspects of his personality that we wouldn't otherwise see.

The main plot line plays with an interesting concept: you hate the accused, but they have set it up to make it look like he is innocent. There is a further big bad beyond that, the head judge of the courts pulling the strings, which is really scary.

The way all the cases weave and intertwine in the story is what makes this series superb. The characters are fun to watch in action. It's an easy and fun watch.

[thewritermuses]

The Fortune Of War

The Fortune of War - Patrick O'Brian

The opening chapter skips over the rest of the voyage to Australia and all events there. We open with Aubrey receiving his new commission, and we are quickly onboard a well-run mail ship back to England.

This novel also felt a bit like a lull in the series, sort of like we are waiting for something to happen.

Quite outside of all of the characters' control, a fire starts on the mail ship, and it quickly sinks. This is super sad as Stephen loses all of his collections from Desolation Island and from Australia.

The cause of the fire is hinted at as being from smoking below decks by Stephen's assistant. The use of a power outside their control is poor writing.

The battle against the constitution takes this inability for the characters to be masters of their own fate to another level altogether. Aubrey can see disaster coming under the captain they are rescued by.

He says nothing because the strategy is based on everything he agrees with, and it isn't his place to question this captain.

Because of this, they are annihilated, taken prisoner and brought back to Boston. This is where the story takes place. Stephen must use all of his wiles to free Aubrey and also get Diana out of the States.

The master manipulation is superb, but even he is almost killed twice. He confounds the French intelligence services. He plays the US intelligence services that think they are playing him. 

In the end, Aubrey has to sail them out to the English blockade in a fishing boat. So everyone is involved in their escape.

We see a side of Stephen we have rarely glimpsed before. Once their lives are under threat, he coldly murders the heads of the French intelligence.

We end on a cliffhanger as the boat they were rescued by is the last in the blockade and is waiting for the Chesapeake to come out and meet her.

Stephen is about to marry Diana so that she can become an English citizen again. This feels sad as Stephen doesn't love her anymore, but then he sees her spirit again as she starts shooting the rats in the hold, and he is keen again. This is a great bit of writing.

[thewritermuses]

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart - Tadashi Sugiyama Hideki Konno

This is the first instalment of the now household title. 

Some things have remained constant since the beginning, and others have come and gone. My first experience with the Mario Kart series was Mario Kart 64.

That game was much more forgiving and playable than this. Without a joystick, racing games are very difficult.

The thing that was new to me that was not part of Mario Kart 64 was the need to collect coins. You lost coins when you ran into things or were hit by other racers.

The little cloud guys that rescued you when you went off the map or into lava also took coins from you. If you didn't have any coins, any collision, even hitting a wall, would spin you out.

In all the Mario Karts I've played, there is certainly a point where the computer players will start to work together to stop you from winning the grand prix. I've never seen it deployed as viciously as I have seen it used here.

The 50cc cups were all beatable with some practice. It was more down to your skill and knowledge of the tracks. Towards the end of these cups and definitely by the start of the 100cc cups, the computer players are in concert to stop you winning.

It got to the point of ridiculousness where one of them would purposely ram you off the track into lava, going in with you, just to slow you down.

I found the cups towards the end of the 100cc completely unplayable because of how brutal the computer players would be. After race one, they had chosen their winner, and every other racer had one job: take you out.

I think that this would be more fun with other people playing, as this may balance out the computer's rage against the human players. Without this, it was unplayable in the later GPs.

[thewritermuses]

Virtua Tennis

Virtua Tennis - Katsumoto Tatsukawa

Virtual Tennis with the stars of the time. I'm surprised that this is actually playable and plays like tennis.

The game is just too hard. You have to play well all the time to win.

Which makes sense, I guess, but tennis games are long, and you need to be able to make errors and be able to come back from them. 

The arcade mode was beatable, but the main game mode 'world tour' was impossible. While you do have the ability to shorten the game to single sets, this in no way helps with the next problem.

The gameplay's repetitiveness is unbearable. This might be an issue with the computer.

I imagine that with some variety of shots, head-to-head might be fun. Playing today was pretty funny to see the characters from tennis past in action again.

I would not recommend wasting your time with this one.

[thewritermuses]

Top Gun

Top Gun - Tony Scott

The film follows recruits of the Top Gun program as they earn their wings. The major premise of the film is the idea that instinct is just as important as following the rules.

We follow Maverick, played by Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai & Minority Report), who represents instinct. Top Gun is the top fighter training school in the U.S.

Maverick wasn't even supposed to be going, but the best pilot in his assignment pulls out, leaving him and his wingman, Goose, to take the spot.

On the other side of the unity-of-opposites is Iceman, Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang & Heat). His call sign is because he always follows the playbook and is cool and calm about it.

Unsurprisingly, his hot-headed nature is not just for flying. Maverick hits on our female lead without any hesitation. 

She is up for the challenge, and the ensuing conversation is hilarious as she shoots him down. It becomes even funnier the next day when we learn that she is the civilian oversight for their training group.

This doesn't stop Maverick, and he continues to pursue her. They end up having a great relationship.

While Maverick is a Hot-Head and focuses much more on instinct than on the rules, he is a brilliant pilot. Just amazing in the cockpit.

His relationship with his wingman is fantastic as well. Goose and Maverick can talk seriously about their feelings, and there is great mutual respect.

Then the fateful crash happens. We all knew it was coming; it was just a question of when. Iceman and Maverick are on a training mission together.

Iceman is in the lead, covered by Maverick and they both have the enemy plane in their sights. Iceman just can't get a lock. 

There has been a good lead-up to this, and we know Maverick is going to stay with IceMan. Maverick is frustrated because he clearly would get a lock on if Iceman were not in the way.

Iceman does get out of the way to allow Maverick the shot, but as he does, Maverick and Goose's plan gets caught in the jet stream, and they crash. Goose dies.

He is beaten up about this and is looking at quitting the program, even though he is absolved of any responsibility.

His past saves him here. He has been torn up about his dad, also a fighter pilot who died in combat, but Maverick has never heard any details about his death.

It turns out that his dad gave his life so that heaps of other pilots could get out of a terrible situation.

The government could never say anything because they were not supposed to be where they were. With the doubt about his father and his own role in Goose's death gone, he returns to graduate, and he is immediately deployed.

Iceman and Maverick are in the same flight crew, and Iceman is in a bad way. Maverick does some of the best flying we have seen and saves the day.

The reason I like this film so much is that it is nothing like it is portrayed to be: Hot-headed fighter pilots being idiots. This film is nuanced and uses its cast superbly. We see what friendship can be with Goose and Maverick.

We see healthy rivalry between Maverick and Iceman, two pilots at the top of their game. After the awful misogynistic beginning of the relationship between Maverick and Charlie, Kelly McGillis (Witness & The Accused), we see a thoughtful and tender side of Maverick.

Maverick's doubt in himself and his dad is well done as well.

Then there is the flying, there is a lot of flying. And it is spectacular. Scott really captures what it is like to be in a fighter jet.

[thewritermuses]

The Cove

The Cove - Louie Psihoyos

This film is more about its making than the event it is documenting. This in itself is very interesting.

The narrative that they construct about the making of the film isn't great.

There is no huge crisis moment. They try to make this the moment that the request to film on location is denied. We know it is going to be denied, so this is not a big moment at all.

The film crew, led by Louie, is attempting to document the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. We are introduced to the state of play by Richard Barry (Absence of Malice and Flipper).

Where to begin. Every year in Taiji, dolphins are herded into a series of coves to be sold as performing dolphins. 

The majority are not chosen. They are herded into a well-protected cove, out of sight of everyone. It is here that they are killed.

The film looks at the background of all of this. Barry was responsible for capturing the dolphins that were used in Flipper. We are presented with information, at length, about how bad captivity is for these social animals.

Barry is so remorseful about helping kick off the industry. He tells us some very harrowing stories. 

For example, one of the Flipper dolphins swam into his arms and chose to stop breathing. This was a key moment in Barry's activism, and he immediately tried to free other dolphins from marine parks.

The sale of dolphins for parks is where the real money is. The rest of the dolphins are killed, and their meat is sold. But dolphin meat is really bad because it has high mercury levels.

Japan knows all of this. It has been through all of this before with another town that used to participate in the trade as well.

There were widespread birth defects. So why would they allow this to happen again?

The movie posits that Japan may actually be very worried about food security.

This is where another part of the film comes in. The International Whaling Commission (IWC).

We get to see some truly farcical scenes as Japan makes its argument for scientific research by killing whales. This doesn't really hold water for me, as the dolphins are poisonous, and they know.

The IWC does show some crazy stuff that Japan is prepared to do to be able to keep on whaling. Like bribing other governments to vote for it to continue.

The tail end of the film is the most interesting. They have a 'putting the crew together' section.

We have maps of the hidden cove and where they plan to station the hidden cameras.

We get to see a dry run to test the underwater equipment. The night vision stuff is excellent and exciting. They don't let us know if they are successful or not until we see the full footage.

The film is good overall. We get some great background into a hidden industry that we should know is pretty bad now.

The bits that I find hard to understand are why? What does Japan get out of the hunt apart from the performing dolphins being sold?

They did get some interesting vox-pops from Japanese people in other cities about the topic in general, which was interesting but hardly representative. Just sad really.

[thewritermuses]

The Girl With The White Flag

The Girl With The White Flag - Tomiko Higa

This book tells the story of the invasion of Okinawa by the U.S. from the perspective of a young girl. This is the first non-fiction book I've read in a while.

The book itself was written long after the events took place by the girl in the photograph. She is drawn to tell the tale when the picture becomes famous.

One thing that I found truly amazing about this was that it really did feel like a child's account of the war. 

This is impressive given that it was written by an adult and so long after the events occurred.

There is very little time spent on the overall picture of the war itself. Just broad strokes so we have some idea where she is in relation to the fighting.

This decision to leave the big picture out is perfect. We get to see only what is directly affecting our protagonist. 

It also gives the story a very surreal feeling as she wanders around the battlefield.

There is a huge emphasis on animals throughout her ordeal. All of the animals are important to the narrative and also help to explain how she just didn't go crazy.

At the end of the book, shortly before she surrenders to the Americans, there is a very strange section.

She finds an old couple in a cave. The man has had his arms and legs amputated, and the woman is blind. She spends significant time in the cave with them.

Even now, I don't know if they were real. They must have been.

Overall, the story was really well told, and you will find it hard to come across another war story from this perspective.

[thewritermuses]

The Enchanted Island

The Enchanted Island - Ian Serraillier

This is a collection of Shakespeare's plays, retold. In general, I hate the idea of abridged or simplified stories for younger audiences.

If the reader is too young to read it, then they should read something else. There are plenty of great stories for any age group.

This retelling is particularly heinous because so much of what makes Shakespeare great is the language used to tell the tales. Don't get me wrong, the stories are powerful, but the language is key to their telling.

Puck from A Midsummer-Night's Dream is one of my favourite characters. You can hear the mischief he gets up to, and it is so much more mischievous because of the language used.

"I am that merry wanderer of the night./ I jest to Oberon, and make him smile/ When I a fat bean-fed horse beguile,/ Neighing in likeness of a filly foal;" (A Midsummer-Night's Dream 2.1. 43-47).

The lines themselves tell a story that's humorous. But the choice of language takes it much further than that. "Merry wanderer of the night" and "Filly foal" are so evocative that they go beyond the literal meaning of the words. 

At best, we are giving readers an average watered-down version of the original. At worst, we are taking from them what makes the stories brilliant in the first place.

If you're not up to Shakespeare or he is just not your thing, that's fine. Read something else.

[thewritermuses]

Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard

When drafting this piece, I found it very hard to get started. There is nothing that really jumps out about this film.

It's not great. It's not bad. I thought the most interesting feature of this film was some of the period-specific things.

The first of these is the aeroplane that Frost takes to the US. There is a walk-up bar up a spiral staircase.

There is a canapé bar in the middle of the rows. Clearly first class, but this is next level.

The other is all of the sets. The décor and buildings are all so fantastic that I was left looking at all of this rather than what was going on in the film.

Overall, the narrative is good, but it is just a bit same-same.

The opening sets up Nixon's resignation after Watergate, so we have some idea about where this interview takes place chronologically.

The setup of all the actors as talking heads, like a documentary, is a neat touch.

The whole backstory of how Frost got the interview is really what the film is about. He is a bit of a nobody. His last show in the UK was cancelled, and he moved to Australia.

Nixon's staff think that Frost is their best option as he is a nobody and is offering more money. We also get to see that Nixon is keen to tell his story, set the record straight.

The money to pay for the whole thing is where the story of the film comes from. The crisis is when none of the US networks will carry it, mainly due to do with the fact that Frost is paying for the interview.

This leaves Frost running around trying to fund the film through advertising rather than focusing on preparation.

The rest of his research team doesn't realise that Frost funds the entire project, and so these actions make them concerned about how badly this is going to go, as their careers are on the line.

Then the filming begins, and it is a disaster. Nixon runs roughshod over Frost. The research team are furious with how it is handled.

Then the phone call happens. Nixon drunkenly dials Frost one night before the final day of shooting. He comes across as very vulnerable and bitter.

Frost realises that he has to nail him on Watergate, so he spends the rest of the time preparing step-by-step to take him apart.

He does it. He gets Nixon to admit and apologise for his actions. More than that, he uses TV perfectly to capture the emotion as it happens.

[thewritermuses]

Swingers

Swingers - Doug Liman

This average film follows Mike, Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Solo: A Star Wars Story), as he tries to get over a breakup. The entire problem with the film is that we do not see the start of the story. We need to see the breakup. 

Without seeing the breakup, this is an ordinary world for Mike. We are just watching his day-to-day. For this to be the meat of the story, we need to see what life was like before and why he is striving to find another Michelle.

The only other option is that deciding to go for a new girlfriend rather than pining over the old one has to be a huge moment and distinct from everything that came before.

This moment never happens. All his friends are trying to get him to move on when he is not ready to.

This leads to the most awkward of moments over and over again. These are supposed to be funny, but the joke is at the expense of Mike.

So if we laugh at the jokes, then we are against him. If we don't, the comedy isn't funny. 

So the film just doesn't work on the comedic level either. From the awkward scotch order when they arrive in Vegas with $300 and only $100 to bet. 

Betting the $100 immediately because they sit at a table that has a $100 minimum. This isn't a mistake by the characters.

They are just idiots because they don't want to look bad.

Mike keeps judging all the women that they meet. They all show him up by being smarter than he thought or whatever it was he was judging them on. He just ends up looking like a jerk.

The jokes are cringeworthy. Not my cup of tea, but if you are into that, this may be the film for you.

There is a recurring joke where five of the friends are going out to parties, and they are all driving bumper to bumper to get there. I don't get it.

The first girl Mike likes, he leaves heaps of messages one after the other, and then at the seventh message, he breaks up with her. She picks up and says, "Never call again".

The only upside was the film's climax, where Mike has Michelle on the phone and receives a call from Lorraine, his new love interest.

This scene is really well done and forces Mike to choose. All in all, there a a lot of not-so-funny scenes as we follow Mike mopping around and just being a bit of a dick until he is forced to choose between the old girlfriend and the new. Skip would be my recommendation.

[thewritermuses]

Anna Karenin

Anna Karenin - Leo Tolstoy

This is the first Tolstoy that I have read. Anna Karenin, or Karenina, both translations are correct, is a truly unique novel.

First, it is very long. The edition that I read came in at 853 pages. The amazing thing that I found is that it didn't feel long.

It was the first Tolstoy I had read, but not the first Russian translation that I had read. The previous was Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment.

Crime & Punishment is great, but it is very dense. I found it a bit of a slog at times. Anna Karenin is nothing of the sort. 

I think that there are a few reasons for this. First, apart from a few exceptions, all the chapters are very short. So you get the story in nice little tidbits.

It is very easy to follow what is going on as we stay with a particular character for a period at a time. When we do move to one of the other characters that we haven't been with for a while, Tolstoy catches us up.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy a read it was.

The language was so easy to follow, apart from the French. I found it such an engaging snapshot of a few years in a few key characters as they woo each other.

The story has some of the best passages that I have ever read on fatherhood and finding faith. Tolstoy is great throughout, but in these passages, he demonstrates that he is a master of his craft.

The descent into madness for Anna is unnerving. It isn't comforting, but you can understand her actions, even if you do not agree with them.

Having said that, it was such an easy read and enjoyable; it did take me around five months to finish, so perhaps take the advice above with a grain of salt.

I would recommend this to anyone happy to take the time to read it, as it is a beautifully written piece.

[thewritermuses]

Alive

Alive - Frank Marshall

This is the story of a Uruguayan Rugby team whose plane crashes in the Andes and their ordeal to survive. They spend months in the mountains before 16 of them are rescued.

The film is ok but it would be better if it wasn't framed on 'Based on a True Story'. That in itself is generally enough to turn me off but the film opens with John Malkovich, playing one of the people who survived, talking directly to the camera about the ordeal.

The reason this framing is such a bad idea is it means we know that at least some of them survive. 

While I cannot remember whether they told us who John was playing, that doesn't matter. The tension is greatly reduced.

If they had said: 'Based on a True Story' the tension would still have been there. So we know they survive.

The central question of the film now is either: 'How do they survive?', or 'Who survives'. The how question is a much easier story to tell because it doesn't require the audience to become invested in one of the characters over another. 

They dabble in both but the story ultimately focuses on how they survive. To start off with there is the normal rationing of food and making sure they get seen by any rescuers.

It becomes clear that this is going to be very hard but they work together to achieve group goals.

I am really glad that they didn't go with a person or group that was unreasonable. There was one crazy guy but very reasonable given the situation they were in.

A lot of this appears to come from the camaraderie as a team. But when the news comes that the search has been called off new leaders step forward.

They now have to get out themselves. They need to survive long enough for them to be able to do that.

An argument for cannibalism is put forward and accepted by many. They need energy to climb out of the mountains.

It is this step that has made this story famous. But it makes complete sense logically. And it works. Two of them walk out of the mountains and return with help from the others.

The film is good, not great. Surprisingly I found the special effects, especially the plane crash, held up well today.

The story of how far would you go to survive is a little perverse in this light but totally understandable. The things that these people go through are extraordinary.

It is interesting to see the negotiation with themselves and others about the terrible things that they are doing to survive but not much to see beyond that.

[thewritermuses]

The Dragon Prince

The Dragon Prince - Aaron Ehasz & Justin Richmond

Season Six

This fantastic show continues with the good guys deciding to destroy the Avaros' prison. Rayla and Callum head to the Sky Spear.

This decision is really interesting because we know that there are two very important things there. The three gems to release Rayla's family who are currently trapped in the coins she carries.

The second, and perhaps more important, is the blade that can kill Avaros. 

However, it is questionable at this point whether or not this will kill him or just kill him until he can return when his stars align again.

Their journey is long a treaturous and has some great moments. When they finally kissed again I was cheering.

We have been waiting for that kiss for way too long.

We also get a great reveal of Viren's back story and how he turned down this dark path to save Soren's life. He never reveals this to his children and he dies having kept this vital knowledge to himself.

While he dies in Ignomy in both Soren and Claudia's eyes - albeit for different reasons - he does sacrifice himself to save the people of Katolis.

The decision not to be open about his reason for turning to dark magic leaves Soren wondering why he changed in the end - but he still doesn't forgive his father.

More importantly, it is his decision to say very little to Claudia that could be argued, pushes her to release Aravos - as a new father figure.

The horrible civil war of the Sun Kingdom is finally resolved with the defeat of the religious zealot, the younger brother of the Queen. The death of Sol Regem was too long coming as well.

Now that Avaros has returned, we are set up for the end of the story. The Queen of the Sky Dragons is sick but healing, so it will be up to our heroes and the friends they have made along the way to defeat Avaros in the final battle of the last season.

I cannot speak highly enough of this series. It is for kids but treats them as adults - with concepts appropriate for their age. It deals with very complex subject matter.

This season, we are delving deeper into the scars that secrets can cause families. We look at the cost of dark decisions made for the noblest of choices. All of this is handled with the subtlety it deserves.

The relationships of love are fantastic. Callum finally admits he has been a fool and is honest and upfront about it to Rayla. Excellent role modelling in communication. Love it!

[thewritermuses]

Neo Yokio

Neo Yokio - Ezra Koenig

Season One

Set in a futuristic world as if New York was a city-state, but with demons.

It has a strong focus on 'society' and everything that entails from the balls to the gowns. But it's all a piss-take of the ridiculousness of this lifestyle.

The main character, Kaz Kaan is voiced by Jayden Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Day The Earth Stood Still). Kaz is vapid and has completely bought into these ideals.

He is a self-centred wanker. I found this very problematic given the show itself is making fun of these ideals.

As the season progresses, he does begin to question them, but it doesn't really ring true, as the rest of his life and friends remain unchanged.

The entire show is also completely ridiculously over the top. All with a straight face. There is a Grand Prix race that goes through the Guggenheim?!?

If you like dry situational humour, you will love this show. It just isn't my cup of tea.