Anthony Black

"Lord of the Rings" in name only. Where to begin with the huge pile of mistakes and missed opportunities here? First we have the characters named "Galadriel" and "Elrond" who existed in the books, but come across so very differently here. Book Galadriel was graceful, diplomatic and majestic. Ruling without the need to raise a sword and far more interesting than what's on display in Rings of Power - basically a woman who behaves like a one-man army, and her subordinate male soldiers are superfluous (if not incompetant) next to her. Elrond has similarly been reduced to somebody for "Galadriel" to talk down to. The dialogue feels like adults arguing like children in a playground and the pacing drags so much it feels like little to nothing has been accomplished after 2 hours of episodes. Some of the wide shots are impressive, but whenever the screen has only a few people in shot it's apparent that the majority of scenes were filmed in a chroma-key studio. The result is more unnerving than entertaining and it breaks the feeling of immersion which would have come from using the budget to create practical effects. Overall it feels like Rings of Power is trying to mimic Game of Thones with the use of the map for transitioning between scenes, but it feels more like a low budget made for TV movie in the writing and effects departments.

Groundbreaking animation, excellent writing and emotionally engaging characters - all these features and more are missing from The Guardian Code, which is a part live action, part computer animated sequel to the completely animated show, MP4orce. Of course, that first half of my opening sentence will be taken out of context and splashed on the DVD cover, but let's take a closer look. The main villain, a man who goes by the name "The Sourcerer" (I usually love puns, but this is wasted here) lives a disgusting life drinking spoiled milk in a warehouse full of second hand computers. Bent on destroying the internet (or something, I don't think it's ever made clear what he wants), he accesses a computer from the 1990's to enlist the help of Megabyte - a virus who would be instantly recognised and deleted by modern antivirus software, but I guess that's why the Sourcerer gives him Groucho Marx eyebrows and a rhinectomy. Beloved characters Bob, Dot and Enzo return - for one episode - and display few of their defining character traits, but who wants to see them? The stars of the show are four humans and an AI who has taken the form of a human teenager in the real world but cannot return to cyberspace (for reasons either not explained or that I blinked and missed). Nothing against the actors, I'm sure they're great people, but there's only so much you can do with writing for such one dimensional characters as Leader, Jock, Nerd, Token Lady Female and Naive AI Who Doesn't Understand Emotions. But the strangest turn comes in the form of a middle-aged "fanboy" of the original ReBoot series who lives in his parents' basement surrounded by merchandise (supposedly from the original run). I'm sure all the returning fans from the classic series will be pleased to see themselves represented as fanatic hermits who don't contribute to society, waiting patiently for a decades old computer to be turned on in a school they don't have access to just so they can play a game on a disc they have in their possession. Because that, apparently, is how games from the 1990's work. The Guardian Code is a masterpiece lesson in how not to handle a beloved franchise. Like how Disney have handled Star Wars. The brand recognition of something pioneering has been re-purposed into an awkward hermit crab shell - something which was an integral part of it's original organism, but serves only to disguise its new host and will be discarded once everyone realises the original tenant moved out ages ago and anything of value they left behind has been corrupted beyond all recognition. Avoid.