andrew-ragland

This is not a great movie, but it is a good one. Pearson sets out to tell the story of the second Martian invasion, with humanity using salvaged Martian technology and advances in their own to defend the world more actively than last time. He sets this against the dawn of what in our world would be the First World War. That serves only as backdrop, though. The incipient conflict in Europe, the problem of Irish home rule, and other issues get forgotten partway through the movie. That's okay. They were distractions, and would have detracted from the main story. This is a war movie, not a political drama. It has all the requisite elements of Japanese, American, and British war movies, all the tropes, all the conflicts, and manages to deliver them without becoming a muddle. We have the heroic yet damaged young officer proving himself and overcoming his past. We have the somewhat inappropriate relationship between comrades in arms. We have explosions, heroics, self-sacrifice, and triumph but at a terrible cost. The story of the initial invasion is told briefly, in the credits, ending with an atomic shadow on a wall in a burning city. Pearson moves straight from there to the action getting rolling, and keeps the pacing fairly tight, letting the audience catch their breath but just barely before throwing in the next assault. The film contains what it says on the tin. There's a lot to be said for that.

And hey, any movie with Theodore Roosevelt firing a heavy machine gun while riding atop a walking tank scores points with me.

Two investigations that are unrelated and yet cross over, interfering with each other and one eventually providing the solution to the other - this is a very tightly written episode. Frank Simpson is under suspicion of taking bribes and possibly embezzling from his employer. Kay Song believes he has an informant in his organization, and will not take no for an answer when he asks Sam to investigate. Two very uncomfortable clients, two cases that poke into very dangerous areas, not just physically so but emotionally and socially. Some of the best conflict in the episode is non-violent. The scene at the party, and you'll know which one when you see it, was brilliant.

"You really don't know who you're speaking to." He was so amused by this. Very scary, yes.