House of the Dragon (2022) – Season 1 Review

★★★★ 1/2

Based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, HBO’s House of the Dragon takes place at the height of the Targaryen empire, 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen was born. Like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon follows multiple characters fighting for power and control of the Iron Throne in a war the maesters have later dubbed, The Dance of Dragons.

The first season of House of the Dragon presented a large resemblance to Game of Thrones’ first season. What the series lacked in action, it made up for in a slow-burn culmination of political drama, world-building, and storytelling. The series excelled in each of these regards, providing an intriguing story about the shuffle for power and the lengths one would go to secure it. Even after the controversial ending to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon returns to its roots for a high-quality political fantasy series.

Something the series took from Game of Thrones and expanded upon was including more screen time of dragons. Before the Dance of Dragons, there were 17 dragons owned by House Targaryen. Among these, we saw Syrax, Caraxes, Seasmoke, Vhagar, Meleys, Dreamfyre, Vermax, Arrax, and Vermithor in the first season. The visuals of the dragons looked outstanding and might be the best-looking dragons to appear on-screen. Each had unique features and personalities that distinguished them from one another. So far, we have only seen around half of the total dragons present in Westeros prior to the Dance of Dragons, which we are likely to see up close and personal in later seasons.

With its ensemble cast, the series featured a number of great performances. The stand outs amongst these were Paddy Considine’s King Viserys, Matt Smith’s Daemon and Milly Alocock’s Rhaenyra. Each of these actors brought a gravitas to their respective roles that did nothing but elevate the show. While his character started off unlikeable, Considine’s portrayal of the disease-ridden ruler with a hidden strength completely blew me away the later half of the season. It will be a crime if he isn’t a part of the running to receive an Emmy award for his performance.

As the story progressed, the series featured a change of certain actors for certain characters to represent them aging overtime. These time jumps are a useful tool with a series spanning decades. Given that it is simply impossible to include everything, each of these time jumps worked well to expand upon the story and the growing tension between characters. And while it is never easy to change actors, especially mid-season, I thought they were all handled quite well. While initially hesitant for Milly Alcock’s Rhanerya and Emily Carey’s Alicent to be replaced, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke each did a fantastic job continuing and expanding upon each of these characters in a very real and believable way. The change in actors for Alicent’s children, Aegon and Aemond, was initially confusing because the younger brother appeared far older than the older brother. I caught on pretty quickly, but this character change was not handled as gracefully.

That being said, I really enjoyed House of the Dragon and would rate it 4 ½ / 5 stars. While it may have started off by building slowly, it is clear that with the story and character progression in season 1, next season will start off with a bang. I, for one, appreciated returning to Westeros and am eager to see what comes next in the Dance of Dragons.

House of the Dragon is available to watch on HBO Max.

Next: Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) – Season 1 Review

Elvis (2022) Review

★★★★ 1/2

“When things are too dangerous to say, sing.”

Going into Elvis, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The trailer looked great and I was curious, not already knowing a whole lot about the superstar. While I wasn’t quite motivated enough to go see it in theaters, I was still eager to catch it on whichever streaming service it ended up on a month or two later. Recently, the movie landed on HBO Max and I got the chance to give it a watch. And it was incredible.

I have seen a couple biographical music movies, such as Yesterday and Bohemian Rhapsody, and enjoy getting to learn about the history while simultaneously being entertained. While Yesterday was a fun, alternative way to explore the Beatles’ music on film, Bohemian Rhapsody fell more along the lines of a traditional biographical film. Maybe it was just the tragic story of Freddie Mercury, but something about Bohemian just seemed a little off to me (although, the Live Aid concert during the last 20 minutes of the film was fantastic). After Bohemian, I was a little skeptical going into this one. Luckily, where Bohemian felt a little off, Elvis was firing on all cylinders. 

Austin Butler in Elvis (2022)

I was blown away by Austin Butler’s portrayal of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Even not being a big Elvis fan, it was clear that Butler cared a lot about the role. He surprisingly nailed Elvis’ mannerisms, singing and animated movements proving that he was without a doubt the right man for the job. While Butler stole the show, Tom Hanks also brought his A-game to his role as Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ shady (or perhaps snowy) manager. It would be surprising if Butler and Hanks aren’t nominated for Oscars for their respective roles for this film. 

Directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rogue!, The Great Gatsby), I really appreciated how the story was told from the point of view of Hanks’ Colonel Parker. Rarely are stories of this fashion told from the antagonists’ perspective, and I thought this was a great creative choice setting Elvis apart from its music biopic peers.

Elvis was a fantastic film providing a glimpse into Elvis Presley’s early life, his quick rise to fame and his tragic fall. I’m going to rate Elvis 4 ½ / 5 stars and highly recommend you give it a watch. Those not already a fan of the “King” likely will be after experiencing this film.

Elvis is available to stream on HBO Max.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

After his son is abducted by an artificial intelligence, LeBron James finds himself downloaded into the Serververse. There he must work with Bugs Bunny to assemble an all-star team to win his biggest basketball game yet and save his son from being trapped there forever.

Space Jam: A New Legacy did exactly what it set out to do – be a silly family-friendly movie that continued within the same vein as the original Space Jam (1996). I almost considered skipping this movie, but having grown up watching the original, I knew I had to check it out. Plus, it didn’t hurt that it was included for free with HBO Max.

The movie followed a similar story to the original, except that instead of the Looney Tunes coming to our world, LeBron James and his son were sent to Warner Bros. Serververse. With the Serververse, this movie actually stood out more than the original because this allowed them to bring in not only our favorite Looney Tunes, but numerous other beloved Warner Bros. characters such as King Kong, The Iron Giant, Scooby Doo and Mystery Inc., Superman (from the Animated Series) and many more. In fact, there were so many other characters and references, this movie reminded me a lot of Ready Player One, where you’d be hard pressed to spot them all in one viewing.

Even with plenty of references to the original movie, I was a little disappointed to see no where in the film did they include the iconic Space Jam theme song. That was just a missed opportunity, plain and simple.

I thought LeBron did a decent job. He most likely won’t be receiving an Oscar for this role, but I thought he performed his role well for a professional athlete fairly new to the acting scene. Although, some of his screams on Tune World were about as enthusiastic as a DMV worker on a Monday morning.

ahhhhhh…

Overall, I enjoyed the movie for what it was and would rate it 3/5 stars. Of course it was silly (or “Looney”), but if you go into it with your expectations set accordingly, you’ll come out entertained and with a good message about the relationship between father and son. 

Space Jam: A New Legacy is now available in theaters or to stream on HBO Max.