TV Review: Wonder Man (Season 1)

**This review contains some SPOILERS***

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Released without a lot of fanfare, “Wonder Man” is one of Marvel’s best television shows so far, but those hoping for the next superhero action-packed story may be disappointed by the grounded tale we’re given about unlikely friends struggling to reach their lofty goals.

The plot is mostly straightforward: Struggling new actor Simon Williams overthinks himself so much that he can’t seem to capitalize on his talent to make it big in Hollywood, while washed-up actor Trevor Slattery works to pull himself from rock-bottom and find his redemption. The pair bond as they both try out for a part in a big-budget remake of a superhero film called “Wonder Man.” Outside of the down-to-earth dilemmas that they come across, there’s not much in the name of danger here. No saving the world, or even the neighborhood. However, Slattery’s past and William’s secret do give the show some tension and also tease a big betrayal.

This show is purely powered by its leads. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Williams uses his natural charisma to take a character with a lot of personality traits that could make him unlikable and make him someone the audience still wants to root for. And while Ben Kingsley’s Slattery has been portrayed mostly as a joke up to this point in his previous MCU appearances, he’s toned-down here to the point that his charm shines through but he still retains some of that cluelessness the character has been associated with. But the real magic is the way these actors and the characters they play interact with each other. Their friendship happens quickly but believably, and you find yourself being emotionally invested in the highs and the lows of their journey.

The look of the show works for the story they’re telling. They mostly filmed in LA, which helps give the film an authentic feel, but the directing also brings some flavor by adding interesting shots throughout. There are a handful of scenes that involve special effects, and while they’re not the greatest, they don’t distract from the story.

Overall, despite not being a superhero show, “Wonder Man” is a solid entry in the MCU about struggling actors and unlikely friendships. With each episode barely more than thirty minutes long and all eight episodes dropped the same day, the series is a breeze the watch in one sitting and rarely overstays its welcome.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Return to Silent Hill

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Director Christophe Gans attempts to adapt one of the greatest video games off all time, and despite his previous bloated but serviceable take on the first “Silent Hill” game, his stripped-down follow-up comes up short on almost every level. While the plot on its core does sound like the story from the game “Silent Hill 2,” it deviates from it in too many critical ways, with few of those changes being for the better. Adding backstory elements for James and Mary’s relationship wasn’t a bad idea since it should help establish James’ motivation and endear the audience to him and his plight, but shoehorning in the game franchise’s cult in a way that adds nothing to the story was baffling. (James just comes off as a bit of a douche and Mary becomes unrelatable,) The film features all the other important characters from the game, but they’re either just window dressing or they’re changed so drastically that they lose all their importance from the original story. The overall look of the film makes it look cheap like it was a fan film, and the creepy monsters look fine initially, but often seem silly looking the longer they’re on screen. (Also, swapping out the classic fog for falling ash just doesn’t work and this is the second time this director has done this in his adaptions, this time creating yet another excuse for the change.) The acting is almost never convincing, with James’ dry narration not helping matters. Overall, the movie is fairly boring, the story gets convoluted in all the wrong ways and while the game featuring multiple endings that fit the choices the player made, this film seems to at least wrap things up with one of the memorable ones, before it does its own things with a cheesy ending that makes no sense base on the story that it was telling.

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

Movie Review: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Following up the unevenly produced “28 Years Later,” the sequel gets off to a slow start before wrapping up in an intriguing fashion. The directing is good but employs a few too many jump scares and doesn’t try to be experimental like the last movie did. The film struggles early, as it initially feels like two unrelated stories competing for attention and giving little indication that they’ll come together. Shockingly, the plot featuring Alfie Williams’ Spike is the weakest link, particularly since his character goes from being the lead in the previous film to almost a background character here. Instead, the focus is on Sir Jimmy and his Jimmies, which feels like watching the gang from “A Clockwork Orange,” except even more sadistic. While a franchise about infected people ripping apart the non-infected has had its share of gory violence, the human-on-human violence perpetrated by the Jimmies almost hits “torture porn” levels. Thankfully, the segments of the film featuring Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson are much more compelling. And, when the two groups of characters finally meet, there’s a fun and visually appealing sequence that pulls things together in a slightly rushed but overall strong fashion.

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