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There are some positives.. Ridley Scott retains some of his flair for the sweeping historical epic with impressive set design and engaging action sequences. However..

The writing is woeful. The casting is exceptionally poor - from the weak and uninspiring lead to the proposterous emperors, there isn't a single character that works. Not even Denzel can save it. Then come the really serious flaws: Battle ships with fold-down siege towers on the front? The CGI baboons? (we had better CGI 20 years ago), the flooding of the Colloseum to create a boating lake (?!!), somehow infested with Sharks!! (How did the Romans get those in there?). I'm prepared to suspend disbelief in a movie, but not my intelligence. With these ridiculous and poorly executed CGI spectacles, Ridley Scott is insulting his audience.

Given the exceptional quality of the first gladiator movie, this is a comparatively dreadful sequel that should have never happened. I've spent years regarding Ridley Scott as one of the best Directors in the world. But I've come to realise that Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven were a long time ago. In most of the movies I've seen since e.g Noah, Napoleon, and now this, it really does seem that Ridley has lost the plot.

Best avoided.

Having been a fan of Christopher Nolan's films for some time and after hearing all of the hype, I was so looking forward to this movie. Perhaps over expectation is behind some of the disappointment.

Oppenheimer has many of the components of a great Chris Nolan film: Intelligent writing, compelling story, stellar acting performances. Unfortunately it also suffers from an overdose of some of the often seen pitfalls: Overly-complicated, fractured pacing and a sound track that is sometimes just TOO LOUD. (This was a particular irritation for me - I have a decent 7.1 dolby surround set-up and had to spend ages tweaking the outputs to hear the dialogue properly without being blasted by the sub woofer!)

Aside from the problematic audio I really struggled with the structure and pace. The first hour, with it's constant jump cutting and flicking between time periods was just irritating. The middle hour, when the story finally settled down and it became possible to start understanding the characters and the narrative, was a great watch, and I finally found myself enjoying the film I had been expecting. Sadly in the final hour, we jumped back to a fractured and exhausting narrative, again jumping between time periods, between colour & B&W, again overshadowed by an unnecessarily loud and at times discordant sound track. For the first time ever in a Chris Nolan movie, I found myself checking the time, looking forward to the end.

I am frankly baffled by the majority of reviews and ratings. For me, this was Chis Nolan's weakest film yet. 7/10 for me in recognition of the scale and obvious achievement. But unlike every other Nolan film, this is not one that I have any desire to ever watch again.

There are some odd reviews from people who seemed to be expecting a British answer to 'Stranger Things' and who didn't even realise this is a kids programme. To be clear: This was aired on CBBC, it is aimed at pre teens. As a kids programme this is great TV, as can be expected from the BBC, its is designed to educate, inform and entertain.

The ideas may not be original, and the acting may be a little naive, but for my 10 year old programmes which introduce ideas around alien life, time travel. And the nature of reality, are very welcome. This is enjoyable, relatable and thought provoking, infinitely better than most of the typically trite offerings on most of the streaming services.