TV Review: Legion (Season 1)

Fantastic show, with unique characters and a lot of quirks. This series has an abundance of style and substance. But the style is what sets it apart. 1960’s inspired deco, unexpected musical selections and the occasional dance number allow the more mundane moments to shine.

The plot actually follows a fairly typical comic book narrative. But, the way it’s presented makes it difficult to see the forest for the trees. Unreliable memories, the story skipping forward and backwards and quick jumps from one location to the next can be jarring at times. And this is much more pronounced in the first three or four episodes. You need to pay attention to the clues and stick with it. The beginning of some of the episodes may be confusing, but you’ll have many answers by the end.

The cast is solid. Dan Stevens, American accent and all, nails the conflicted and confused David. It takes a while for him to come into his own, but it’s exciting to watch him once he gains some control over his spiraling life. Many of the other characters seem odd at first, but Rachel Keller’s Syd, Bill Irwin’s Cary, Amber Midthunder’s Kerry and Jemaine Clement’s Oliver all become a joy too watch. And each has a mutant power that is different than what we’ve seen before.

The show stealer is Aubrey Plaza as Lenny. She takes what starts off as an annoying side-character and turns it into a memorizing performance as she displays different interpretations.

There are only eight episodes, and that doesn’t leave much room for error. The premier is outstanding, but things seem to struggle a bit before continuously improving. The seventh episode was an instant classic, and one of the best single episodes of any show this season. Unfortunately, they drop the ball a bit in the final episode. However, even the few weak episodes were still inspiring. As much as I love this show, I can’t recommend it to everyone. It’s trippy and intentionally confusing, and not everybody will be willing to wait the payoff.

Season’s best episode: “Chapter 7” (Episode 7)

Season’s worst episode: “Chapter 8” (Episode 8)

****1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: Power Rangers

A good start, a muddled second-half and a rushed finale creates a mediocre superhero film. A quick disclaimer, I have never watched any of the Power Rangers TV series or films, so my knowledge of the franchise is limited and I don’t know how much the new movie sticks to the source material. As far as plot goes, it’s the standard superhero origin story. It’s kind of a mix of Spider-Man and Green Lantern. I enjoyed the first few character introductions, however, the rest of the Rangers seem to get added out of nowhere. This is still fun to watch, but a boring training montage and a few mildly interesting moments of character motivations and backstories slow everything down. The final battle seems rushed and the Rangers in costume feel disconnected from the characters out of costumes, at least when they have their masks on. The actors do a decent job. They add just enough nuance to keep from being too cliché. The standout character is the autistic Billy, aka the Blue Ranger. RJ Cyler makes him a unique voice in the superhero universe. The action is surprisingly weak and in capped off by a CGI vs CGI battle that would give the Transformers films a headache. The tone is a bit odd. It felt like they were aiming for a younger audience and went with a few too many silly moments. While the movie was rated PG-13, it felt like they were constantly dialing things back towards PG.

** out of *****