SnoopyStyle

King Vortigern (Rutger Hauer) defeats the old king, but he is just another ruthless tyrant. Cries ring out for help and Fairy Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson) rises up to defend the old ways. She creates a baby named Merlin. She intends to use him to reinstate the old ways. Merlin (Sam Neill) is forced to work for Vortigern as Uther Pendragon threatens to invade from Normandy. Merlin is thrown into Vortigern's dungeon where he finds old love Nimue (Isabella Rossellini) being held captive to maintain her father's loyalty. Part two is into the story of King Arthur (Paul Curran). Helena Bonham Carter plays Morgan le Fay. Lena Headey plays Guinevere.

This is pretty impressive for a TV production. I do really like the first part. I don't know much about that part of the story and that may be why Part 1 is more intriguing. Part 2 is a well-worn path. It feels a bit rushed. Curran is not necessarily a good actor, but the role is asking a lot for him to start as a young innocent and end in a weary warrior. I expected more out of the battle between Mordred and Arthur. As for the big battle between Morgan le Fay and Merlin, it is too heavy on the CGI which hasn't aged well. All in all, the first part is great and the second part is acceptable.

A robot war occurs somewhere between 1990 and 1994. Robots wants equal rights. They were winning until Sentre CEO Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci) invents a mech-suit with which people can divide their minds in two and download one part into the suit. The other part is left in their bodies in a VR dream. With the new tech, humanity is able to force the robots to capitulate. Michelle Greene (Millie Bobby Brown) survived a car crash which killed her family. One night, a robot shows up claiming to be his dead little brother Christopher. He claims to be still alive and under the control of mysterious forces. Michelle suspects the unknown doctor (Ke Huy Quan) from the car accident. She and the robot heads out on a quest. They befriend trucker-scavenger-gunrunner Keats (Chris Pratt) and a band of robots along the way.

There is a lot here and most of it is less than compelling and more likely derivative. The Russo brothers spent over $300 millions of Netflix money. While I can see most of it on the screen, it is undeniably wasted here. For some reason, everybody has bad hair in this. The alternate universe pop icons are weirdly interesting. The premise is rather questionable and the world building is clunky. I really don't like the ending and the reasoning for it. A lot of robots get destroyed and none of it matters. I never feel for the busted robots or the human drone cannon fodders. There is limited tension and a lot of expositions. I don't want to ding it for its cost, but it does bother me.

Claire (Kate Micucci) and her boyfriend Paul (Sam Huntington) have a new apartment in L. A. She is struggling to come up with advertising ideas in her new job. Out of the blue, a cultist breaks into their home to commit suicide in their bathtub. Apparently, that happens a lot in that place. It is the cult of Storsh (Taika Waititi). Claire starts to take an interest in the cult teachings.

This is a little weird and sarcastically goofy. This has some dark moments, but most of them are done with a wink and a smile. I have always liked the comedy skills of Micucci. The directing style could be a little better if it wants to be cinematic. In the end, I enjoyed this dark comedy.