Austin Culver

*SPOILER ALERT* I almost gave this show five stars, up until I the last ten minutes of the show. The show itself was shot incredibly well. The combat was “fairly” realistic. The soundtrack helped drive the story. Most of the characters got enough screen time to feel established. Overall, this was a pleasant show to watch. Reese being fueled by anger, deception, and revenge. He uses his skills as a Navy Seal to easily navigate through various “boss fights”. Each person being a name on his “terminal list”. There was somewhat of a relieving feeling watching him knockdown bad guys one by one each episode in a special operator type of way. This leads me to my next point. His right hand man, Ben. Ben was portrayed as his “brother” throughout the film. Ben being a former special operator himself, but now working alongside the CIA. Ben’s character was the the cool headed realist in the show. Played by actor Taylor Kitsch, Friday Nigh Lights, Battleship, etc. As a fan of Taylor, I enjoyed seeing him have such an intricate part in the story. His character Ben helped Reese traverse through each episode using his skills. In the final episode Ben helps Reese go after the “big bad”. Both Ben and Reese indecently escape the scene. Ben’s dream was to go AWOL and live on a beach in Peru. The final scene shows Reese joining him on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. As a viewer, this was the prime time to show them sail off together as they avoided the worldwide manhunt. However the writers had other ideas. Within 90 seconds, Ben goes from being the right hand man, to being on the “list”. They rushed through his reasoning why, didn’t elaborate on it whatsoever, and hardly put any effort into the conversation. Reese “handles” Ben and moves on like nothing happens. Why did they do this? I have no idea. The show was FANTASTIC up until this point. It was paced well and full of action. It felt like the writers wanted to throw in an “AHA!” moment but didn’t have time to squeeze it in. Overall - 4/5 Stars. I don’t think I’ll ever re-watch this show as the ending left a bad taste in my mouth.

An epic storyline with a subpar finale. I’m a massive fan of Director Jordan Peele’s work. His range as a director goes far beyond his sketch comedy days, his horror films, and now this. SPOILERS WRITTEN BELOW Pros - Keke Palmer gave an incredible performance. She helped keep dry dialogue alive with a personable performance. - Cinematography was top notch. The blend of western style themes mixed with the modern world set a landscape that you don’t see often. - The audio effects were 10/10. Whenever the “UFO” approaches it’s electric. The mix of slow popping, screams from the recently “abducted”, and horses neighing makes it truly chilling. - I enjoyed how they broke the movie into segments per each horse or character. It helped develop a better understand of how the linear story line is much deeper than we initially believed. Cons - Boy was the dialogue DRY at times. The main character, Oj, nearly had me falling asleep each time his lines came up. Understand his character was meant to be “slow draw and cautiously optimistic”. However he felt very dull, even during intense moments of the show. - Gordy The Monkey…I tried my best to dig into the philosophical meaning of Gordy’s role in the film, but I just didn’t see it. Gordy’s role is to show that even the most “tame” of animals will still act out. However, Gordy’s storyline took away from quality screen time that could have helped build up the ending. - The Finale: I have mixed feelings about the ending. Seeing the “UFO” or creature invert itself into a massive full form creature that resembled a sheet was interesting. The ending felt more like a bad car chase in a movie than it did a true ending. While I understand the characters were limited to how they could destroy such a creature, I was confused as to how it was as simple as releasing a giant balloon? This is the same creature who “ate” metal shrapnel, dozens of humans, horses, and more. Overall: 3/5 - A decent sci-fi western that keeps your interested for most of the movie. There’s some dull moments and limited build up to the grand finale but overall it’s an “ok” flick. I wish we would have knew more about the creatures origins and why it was there. I felt like they could have built off that more than showing Gordy’s monkey scenes.