Misfits (The Complete Series)

By: Robert Murphy

I'm a bit late to the party with this review but while watching Hulu I kept seeing advertisements for this British TV series and seeing as it featured a favorite Game of Thrones actor of mine, I decided to check it out. The show follows five teenagers who are all stuck in community service for various reasons and are working at it when a freak storm hits, dropping hail the size of boulders around them and while fleeing for safety they are all struck by lightning. Now they all survive this strange storm but the lighting strike had given them all super powers, guess it doesn't always end up being Americans that this sort of thing happens to. These guys aren't exactly the kind of people you'd expect to have super powers though or for that matter save you if you were robbed or in danger but never the less they've got powers and try their best to use them in a positive way. 

The first three seasons of the show are honestly what I loved most about Misfits, before the main cast gets entirely scrapped for a set of a new young offenders that get weekly thrown into lead roles for the show. Alisha, Simon, Nathan, Curtis and Kelly all start out pretty much not caring about one another and are just there to complete their community service and never see one another again. However, the storm and their powers bring each of them together and they all form quite the interesting assortment of characters that you really wouldn't expect to enjoy one anothers company. Alisha (Antonia Thomas) gains the ability to be adored by anyone who touches or is touched by her in a very physical manner, Simon (Iwan Rheon) can become invisible, Nathan (Robert Sheehan) has a power that I don't wish to say for the simple humor behind it, Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarret) can turn back time and Kelly (Lauren Socha) can read minds. Each one of their powers represents a part of them and reflects something about themselves that they don't share right away but becomes abundantly clear when you learn more about them in the set up throughout the first season. 

Like I said though, it is surprising how well that the cast for Misfits gets along with one another as they're all from clearly different walks of life. Curtis use to be a professional runner, Simon is a shy kind of guy who you'd expect might have a few screws loose, Alisha is the popular girl type and knows she's beautiful and can't get anything she wants with her looks, Kelly is the girl you don't mess with and Nathan is well an arse. Despite this they all become close, murdering a few probation workers and finding out other people have unique powers as well from the strange storm. The dialogue all around is gritty and raw so if you don't like that sort of thing you're in for it with Misfits. It's not a show that will pull it's punches as at last once an episode there is sex, drugs or general lewd behavior to be seen but that isn't what it's all about. The show does a great job of getting into the mind set of a teenager and what it is like to already not know what you're doing with your life but add to that the fact that your options are even more limited if you're a young offender. The first couple of seasons do a great job of blending the powers with the characters real life problems and how they can maybe even used to change things around for them or make them better people. Alisha for example changes from a stuck up and boy chasing party girl after realizing that her looks aren't everything and maybe she needs a guy who doesn't just want to paw at her like her power makes them.  

My fault with the show though comes later on in the fourth and fifth seasons when our cast gets rubbed out of the picture for some new faces. It's not a bad thing for a show to change characters and I deeply enjoyed the way most of the cast were written out of the show especially Simon and Alisha's. The problem for me was the way that the new cast came into the show and how they're just plopped onto the screen and I'm just sitting there forced to accept it. Rudy (Joseph Gilgun) is with the show the longest before the rest join and replaces Nathan as the smart mouthed womanizer and is frankly the only one in the bunch I don't mind being there. Finn (Nathan McCullen) and Jess (Karla Crome) just show up at season four for community service and join the cast, Abbey (Natasha O'Keeffe) shows up just as meekly after a party the group goes too and Alex (Matt Stokoe) joins after getting a seriously idiotic power from a lung transplant. It all boiled down to poor writing, powers don't even come up in these later episodes and when they do it's only for a brief moment. New people with abilities stop showing up and causing trouble for the group and it all becomes a very dull affair. The lewdness as well comes into play still but the heats just not in it anymore and you can tell it's just being used to try and keep all of your attentions of screen a little while longer. 

In the end, I think if I was watching Misfits as it was coming out and was going to review it season by season the overall opinion would be better for me. Still I very much enjoyed the show for what it had, I have never seen a super hero show quite like it before and it was something that had many incredible ideas put into it's episodes. I think that maybe things should have ended with the original cast for the show and not tried to keep itself going but we all know that isn't how it goes for a lot of shows out there. Strange powers, murder, laughs, sex, drugs and a heck of a lot more come up in Misfits and it is a show that will catch you off your guard. 

Good:

- The perfect blend and mixture of ideas such as young teenaged offenders, super powers and more

- A great cast of young actors and features great names in British TV

- The variety of powers the show came up with were fantastic

- Solid pacing and great dialogue for the first three seasons

Bad:

- Seasons four and five are where the show sours 

- Very raw and unfiltered programming so stay away if you aren't a fan of it 

- Recycled ideas and themes come up again and again later on 

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10 

Neighbors

By: Robert Murphy

You know it comes along every once and awhile still where a frat house type comedy tries to recapture some of the glory days of movies like National Lampoon’s: Animal House but none really pull off a solid effort but Neighbors does the best job I’ve seen in awhile. The story unfolds on Mac Radner (Seth Rogan,) his wife Kelly Radner (Rose Bryne) and their new daughter who have moved into a new home and trying to settle into being parents but still looking to be wild and young. This unfortunately proves to be impossibly hard as the two find themselves tired by 9pm and get most of their excitement by trying to have sex in various rooms of the house for a little spice. Then enters a curve ball for the two when a fraternity moves into the home right next to their home and while things start off well enough, things quickly will spiral out of control with Teddy (Zac Efron) looking to make history for himself and his brothers frat.

I found myself asking the question whether or not Seth Rogan has to smoke weed in every single role he’s ever taken part in, this wasn’t mockingly mind you I just wondered if I’ve ever not seen him with a joint in a film. This is good though honestly as he plays to the strengths of his acting by getting put into these roles and in Neighbors it’s no different. Well that’s not true it’s actually better because the movie isn’t all about pot and focusing on it like Pineapple Express. Rogan and Efron both are great for the roles they are given as Efron’s Teddy plays the jerky frat president perfectly with the cocky swagger and confidence he exudes through the early scenes of the film and gets increasingly more insecure as time goes on. When the prank wars breakout between Rogan and Efron, we see things get more and more challenging for him as a character who knows his time is almost up and he must leave his legacy and win this for future brotherhood members. He’ll soon find out though that the frat isn’t everything and that you do need something else to hang your hat on with wise words from Rogan’s character advising him to enjoy things while they last.

The small exploits of the frat’s pranks against Mac and Kelly start out innocently enough with things like trashing their yard with cans and garbage or walling Mac in the face with an exercise ball. But things escalate immensely after a tragic event with Mac and Kelly’s daughter nibbling on a “balloon” latex like item and they decide to strike back. The nasty and ridiculous events that unfold from here get crazier and crazier especially with Kelly’s evil masterminding of things. My favorite prank though had to be the frat taking advantage of the new trend popcorning and placing airbags in places that Rogan would likely sit and watching him rag doll over himself. Things all culminate at the end of the year bash though and we finally test the time told tale of which is better a sick pack or keg, you can guess which is which. Efron’s and Rogan’s fight scene was particularly enjoyable to watch as Rogan is constantly being surprised with his ability to fight back against a ripped Efron.

Great additions to the cast of Neighbors include the other frat boys that accompany Efron in his ill gotten games, Pete (Dave Franco,) Scoonie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Garf (Jerrod Carmichael.) They all add to the frats ridiculous nature especially Dave Franco who plays Vice President to Efron’s president and does a great job of fulfilling the bromance angle. Meanwhile Scoonie and Garf fill in the blanks with comedy when the others aren’t on screen.

Neighbors isn’t a film that is extremely lewd with it’s humor but it does hit some cringe worthy notes along the way so watch out if you aren’t into that sort of thing. For the rest of you I found it to be right up my ally with the humor and their wasn’t many lulls with it at all, one or two points in the movie I wanted to end quickly but that can be overlooked because it might have been just me. All in all, the movies gives exactly what it set out to do and provides solid laughs from start to finish with Efron’s and Rogan’s on screen rivalry making incredible on screen chemistry.

Good:

- Solid laughs from beginning to end

- Brilliantly casted as Efron and Rogan hit high notes in their roles

- Lewd and hilarious stunts that I am dying to try for myself

Bad:

- A couple of dragged out scenes that didn’t seem to end

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10