Intro

SPEAKER_05 0:00

This week it seems like three actually is the magic number because we're on uh week three of Statham Tember, and the movie pick we have for it is led by a trio. That's three dudes.

SPEAKER_07 0:13

Ooh.

SPEAKER_05 0:15

Statham, Dwayne the Rock Johnson, and Idris Elba.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Yeah. We'll keep chatting about Fast and Furious Presents, Colin, Hobbs, and Shaw, and for new releases, we'll be reviewing Runner, the one with Alan Richson and Owen Wilson, not the runner, the Amazon stinker with Gal Gadot.

SPEAKER_05 0:38

For TV, we'll be discussing lanterns, season one, episode five, titled Lights Out.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

That's kind of unfortunate since we're starting off with action movies, which are known for dudes saying, light it up.

SPEAKER_05 0:52

But anyway, this is we should watch that episode. Episode 20.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

She can rent a UMAP.

STATHAMTEMBER Intro

SPEAKER_03 1:18

My how Statham Tember flies by. We've seen the highs in the transporter, we've seen the lows in the name of the king. We've seen him drive cars, break bones, and somehow maintain the exact same accent throughout it all. But Statham Tember isn't over yet. There's still work to be done. So buckle up for more driving, kicking, wise cracking, and statum playing the role he was born to play, Jason Statham.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

It is time for week three of Statham and the T.

STATHAMTEMBER Featured Movie Review & Discussion: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (w/ spoilers)

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Presents Colin Hobbes and Shaw, the 2019 Fast and Furious spinoff directed by David Leach, who did Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2. It stars Jason Statham, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Shaw and Hobbes, who are forced to team up to stop Idris Elba's cybernetically enhanced supervillain from getting his hands on a deadly virus that has ended up inside of Shaw's sister, played by Vanessa Kirby. Wow. That plot is a lot. Really, the plot is just an excuse to put Jason Statham and the rock next to each other and let them spend two hours fighting bad guys, driving fast, arguing with each other. It's perfect. I mean, this is apparently the kind of movie that I would have seen where competition extends beyond the scenes as well. Jason Statham has talked about how they tried to make each other laugh while filming. And you can really feel that energy in the movie. It's like a little giddy, and it's got two action stars who are constantly trying to one up each other. So we've got Statham driving, Statham fighting, Statham being funny, Statham getting into a dick measuring contest with Iraq. Sushi, what did you think?

SPEAKER_05 3:54

So when I was trying to come up with what I wanted to discuss about Hobbs and Shaw, I knew that you were probably going to talk about the production and stunt work and relate it to your specific interests, what you do in general, which made me think about how I select movies.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_05 4:14

Yeah, probably won't be a surprise to find that there isn't a real firm criteria. I'm pretty open to movies of any genre, though I do tend to prioritize things action, sci-fi, and comedy. More of a favorite actor's guy than a favorite specific director, uh writer, producer, stunt coordinator, etc. guy. Beyond that, I'm aware my disorders do influence my movie picks at times. Most often I'd say my ADHD pushes me to be a completionist, I guess, when it comes to movie franchises. Yeah, yeah. So there's a really strong chance that if I've either seen the first movie or more than one movie, whether including the first or not, of a franchise, I'll most likely see all the rest of the movies, past and present, that are part of that same franchise.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

I love it.

SPEAKER_05 5:12

With that said, even though I probably would have seen this because I'd already seen all the other Fast and Furious movies up to that point, this came out at a time where the rock hen tried to take over the DC EU.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 5:25

Nor insert himself into WrestleMania 40.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:30

Also, this around the time when Idriselbo was pretty consistently on my radar because he was randomly showing up as a DJ at different house and techno events than Europe. And even was featured MCing on some different tracks with some UK Grime and dancehall artists like Wiley and Stephon Don, respectively, around the time. As far as Jason Statham, I remember that I probably hadn't kept up with his movies as much as I had been in the aughts because I returned to DJing and nightlife stuff in the early 2010s and pretty much just made sure to see Statham and his regular appearances in both the Expendables and Fast and Furious franchises. But I will say that this movie came out around the time I went back to working at day job again. So that, along with COVID happening a year later, probably helped me to stay a bit more up to date with Statham movies once again. I wasn't going to the movie theater as regularly back then. So while I don't recall ever seeing a trailer for this in theaters, I do remember seeing this movie specifically in IMAX, either by myself or with my friend Mark. I remember a good amount of this movie. So given that my ADHD was really acting up this week, I'm really glad uh that's the case. Since it held me from having to spend too much time on the rewatch. Obviously, I remember that the plot of this movie somehow made the case that they all had to go to Samoa for the final confrontation. And yes, this is a great opportunity for Statham fans to finally see him in an extended non-villing appearance in the Fast and Furious franchise. But most importantly, lest anyone forget that Dresselba's character is Black Superman.

SPEAKER_07 7:27

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:30

This movie is so entertaining, and the production just seems so polished that it's hard not to enjoy it, even if the story is as dumb as most Fast and Furious movies, which is basically we're good guys, but oh shit, through some shitty coincidence or occasionally difference of opinion. In the course of arguably doing something positive, we're now being pursued by various law enforcement agencies or secret militia. Oh my god. In addition to that, I also realized that this movie is kind of a Mission Impossible 2 ripoff with the whole virus.

SPEAKER_07 8:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:10

Like his sister injects herself with it, that they gotta go through that whole thing. Yeah. I thought that was kind of funny. I know most of this movie takes place in London and Moscow, but again, I do find it amusing that they had to include them going to Samoa to kind of balance out the cultural representation, I guess. But I found out that they didn't even actually film that part of the movie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Samoa. It was Hawaii, right?

SPEAKER_05 8:35

Yeah, it was actually filmed in Hawaii. So I guess it was just for story purposes. Honestly, I don't even mind that it was basically an opportunity for The Rock to get his cousin, fellow WWE wrestler Roman Reigns, into a movie for the first time because we got to see our boy Cliff Curtis as Luke Hobbs' estranged older brother. Yes. And uh first thing dude does is jack him straight in the face. Yeah. So hey, even if your feelings regarding The Rock have changed since the time this came out, I guess this movie still works somewhat as a setup for his character to look like an ass in this right. I mean, he gets punched and you should still get something out of it. So while I'm talking about The Rock, I guess I should just talk about the cast. No doubt him and Statham work really well together in this movie. Like I seriously forgot and was honestly so surprised how legitimately funny they are playing off of each other in this movie. And I think they both also have good chemistry with Vanessa Kirby, both together and individually, through Statham dealing with her as a sibling and The Rock dealing with her as a potential love interest. And even though this is supposed to be about Statham Tember, man, Idris is so fun as the villain, and I really do think it's one of his most entertaining roles within the past decade or so.

SPEAKER_07 9:59

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

It sucks that I don't really think he'll ever return in it.

SPEAKER_07 10:04

No.

SPEAKER_05 10:05

But hey, not everyone can be Black Superman, right?

SPEAKER_07 10:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:10

But we also get Helen Mirror and his queenie, Deckard and Hattie's mom, Eddie Marzon, who plays the professor that created the virus at the center of the story. He's got some hilarious moments. And as I mentioned earlier, we also catch some familiar faces in Samoa. Oh, right. And Ryan Reynolds is in this. Weirdly, he might be the least watchable part of this movie.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yeah, he feels really weird in this movie.

SPEAKER_05 10:38

Yeah, I mean, I do like Dude's Deadpool, but I think outside of that, he can be a bit much. And I think for a movie where the two leads are less talkative, it really didn't work.

SPEAKER_06 10:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:50

I think my favorite aspect of this movie were definitely the fucking design choices, man. Oh my god. I love them and how much they contributed to the personalities of all these characters, too.

SPEAKER_07 11:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:04

Like we got the wardrobe uniforms, armor, and uh weapons for Idris's character, Brixton Lore, and the organization he works for, Edeon, however you're gonna do it. Right, yeah, I don't know. It's like those dudes hired Snake Eyes from the G.I. Joe live action movie to come in as artistic directors because there's just so much matte black with glossy or metallic highlights across everything that these guys wear and use. Just looks so stealth and gives the impression that it utilizes cutting-edge weapons technology.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:42

Then you got the style contrast between Hobbes and Shaw. Right at the start of the movie, they got this great split screen scene with both of them basically progressing through the same shared events within a day, but each with their own trademark style. Both fashion sense and methods of fighting. But even that seems way more clean and customized to their personal taste than in any other Fast and Furious movie. Beyond that, everything honestly just looks, for lack of a better description, so fucking neat. Even the random dust and puddles seem like they were so neatly placed or fascinated in a specific way in a given scene that they just don't look natural, which is completely fine since this isn't really a movie where I'm asking for that. Besides, in my opinion, this movie has some of the most consistently good-looking VFX, even with how often they utilize slow motion. There's so many times where Idris does something crazy on or with his super bike that they're clearly not trying to hide anything with the CG. And oh, since it is Saith and Tember, and I feel like I've spent a little too much talking about Idris and the rock in this discussion. I do want to just mention that I did think it was really cool how they at least seemed to create bike choreography for Vanessa Kirby's character that was similar to Jason Statham's, given that they're related and likely were taught by I guess their father, maybe. I mean, I guess it could also be their mother played by Helen Miren, but they just seem more like a master thief type.

SPEAKER_07 13:14

True.

SPEAKER_05 13:16

So going into my rating, I gave this a four for uh yeah. Before I even continue on talking about the rating, I just want to apologize for a complete lack of consistency on using the Statham character rating system.

SPEAKER_07 13:32

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:33

I realized that we basically ditched it after we won. Uh so yeah, so much for trying to do something cute, but I'm also not gonna try to bother keeping up with it if I gotta dig for the chart again, which I wouldn't care.

SPEAKER_03 13:46

We've still got the standout, baby, you know.

SPEAKER_05 13:50

Anyway, even though as a spin-off, there isn't much of an obligation for this movie to consistently connect to Fast and Furious. You still do get a good helping of hot sports cars and futuristic tech bikes.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:04

Also, you get Vanessa Kirby to satisfy both the sexy lady and fight lady requirements that seem to now be necessary per Fast and Furious franchise movie.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Wow, girls, you can be both now.

SPEAKER_05 14:18

Yeah, if nothing else, I feel like that loose connection is actually a strength of this movie since I'd much rather watch Statham, The Rock, and Idris fight each other than race each other in various motivations.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah, true, true.

SPEAKER_05 14:34

Sure, you didn't need to have the association to the franchise for the movie to be enjoyable, but I guess it helps eliminate the need to provide further character backstory given the already two plus hour runtime for this movie. Uh-huh. Overall, this movie just looks good. So if you're in action movies that have a lot of cool VFX and sci-fi tech elements, this movie's definitely satisfying in those departments. Beyond that, I don't know. It's definitely an over-the-top action film that takes itself seriously when the story beats call for it. But otherwise plays it pretty fast and loose when it comes to staying consistently grounded or providing any sort of intelligent or highbrow story.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Right.

SPEAKER_05 15:18

So my Statham standout moment for this movie, what I'd call a more fancy Statham moment. Since it's less about action and fighting. And that would be the part where him and the rock are chasing after Idris and his team after he kidnaps Vanessa's Kirby and is scaling down the high rise. First, he tricks the rock into taking the ropes.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yes. Well, it's almost mine.

SPEAKER_05 15:46

Well, he takes what I guess is like an exterior maintenance elevator down the side of the building. Anyway, Statham cuts one of the ropes on it so it descends faster. As he's basically just chilling, watching the rock struggle and fight the Edeon ops and try to intimidate him at the same time. As the rock falls through glass, pulling it just down with them at the end. Statham is just there enjoying the remainder of his elevator ride, exits calmly and dispatches some Edeon ops without even a scratch. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

It's so perfect.

SPEAKER_05 16:19

My favorite Statham moment in that movie, but it's also my favorite non-fighting moment that's still very much part of the action.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

There aren't many non-fighting moments, so that's impressive.

SPEAKER_05 16:36

What did you think about uh Hobbes and Shah? I know it's uh definitely up there on your list of oh my god. I thought this general movies that you reach for.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

Yeah, I love it because Hobbes and Shaw is this massive, colorful, funny, stupid, loud movie, and not loud noise-wise. It's like everything in this movie is loud, the characters, the colors, the emotions. Indrazelba, he has science eyeballs. I don't know how else to describe it.

SPEAKER_05 17:06

He's basically got terminator eyes.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

Yeah, like Terminator eyes on, and then you've got all these weird details, like the virus is in a vial that has like beautiful, floating, fire-looking glitter in it, and it's in this mahogany box. Everything is just so luxurious. I have seen this movie also probably 10 plus times, but I still couldn't explain Etian to you. I understand the plot entirely through osmosis. I know there's a virus. We got Idris Elba is Black Superman. Hell yeah. Eventually a helicopter needs to be chained to several trucks. I've retained the important information. That's all I need to know. Set pieces are all I need to know about this movie. And the movie starts at like an eight and somehow just keeps finding higher numbers. Within minutes, Vanessa Kirby is jump kicking dudes. Idris is chasing her on a futuristic motorbike. And when somebody asks who he is, he just says bad guy. Hell yeah. That's all I need.

SPEAKER_05 18:21

Yeah, we're not here for uh nuance.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yes, thank you. Also, okay, this is a detail I gotta call out. I have to give the movie credit for Hattie's hair because women in action movies, they always look like they've been fighting for eight hours and yet they somehow have a perfect blowout.

SPEAKER_07 18:39

But hers doesn't, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Her hair is up, she's sweating, she has a little halo of frizz. That is the female experience. And then when she fights the rock that first time, the movie understands okay, she is obviously not gonna overpower him. So she uses whatever's around her and when necessary, hits him in the nuts, hair up, using environment for a fight, attack the nuts. Thank you, feminism. So there's some nice messaging hidden in this movie. But when we properly meet Hobbes and Shaw, this is when I remember why the movie works so well. David Leach gives us this split screen like you were talking about, and it's so perfect. Hobbes has a motley crew cutoff shirt. He's chugging eggs and climbing into this giant ass truck. Shaw's wearing a suit and calmly making an omelet. Then eventually they go beat the shit out of various people in various rooms, except Hobbes introduces himself as an ice cold can whoop ass while Shaw calls himself a champagne problem. Then he starts fighting people with champagne bottles. It's amazing. This movie, I was thinking it operates on professional wrestling logic. Like everyone gets a dramatic entrance, everybody cuts a promo. Idris Elba literally announces he's the bad guy, so we know he's our heel. It is completely on the nose, and that's why it works, I think. And honestly, I mean, that is kind of wrestling. So it's just incredible. Like you were saying, it's like everything in this movie feels scientifically designed to make you go, hell yeah. It's incredible. And okay, getting to our man Statham. I think this is pretty close to what I would say is my ideal Jason Statham role.

SPEAKER_05 20:40

Yeah, right? It is.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Yeah, it's a really nice sweet spot because I love the unhinged statham, but I think that sweet spot, yeah, is closer to somewhere between crank and this and spy, where he's still a completely convincing badass, but he also seems to understand that being Jason Statham is kind of funny, like cheeky Statham. I think my favorite example here is exactly the one you were talking about. Oh my god, when he tricks the the rock into jumping down the slope. And by the way, he is holding that rope with his bare hands. Those things would have been torn to bits, dude.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

Honestly, all that scene needed to be too over the top, but could have totally gone with the moment would have been a tray of biscuits and a spot of tea.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Oh my god, if he wanted to have a tea time midfight, we're close to that here.

SPEAKER_04 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

But I do like that underneath all that stupidity, just the action. Come on. It's fucking phenomenal. This came out at the height of my stunt nerd era. I was watching all the podcasts following all of them. I don't know. It became like sports to me. Is the best way I can describe it. But the great thing about that is I can watch a movie and, like I've said before, notice a stunt man and be like, oh, shit's about to go down. And this one has the ultimate shit's about to go down guy, Daniel Bernhardt. Oh my God. He's been in every action movie you've liked for the last 25 years. He's so good. And sure enough, he ambushes Shaw. Suddenly, Shaw's clotheslining people with a shotgun. Then he picks up a toaster off the floor. He's whacking somebody with it. Then, of course, there's a grenade and he has to dive and put the pin back in the grenade just at the right. It's so good. It's so good at using everything within the environment and thinking about what these characters would really do. The action's an extension of the character in the story. And I think that really matters. Like this movie is incredibly stupid. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

But it's not carelessly made at all. There is so much attention here. And David Leach, he came up through the stunt world. Obviously, he was Brad Pitt's stunt double for many years, action coordinator, second unit director. And as you you may know, uh co-directing John Wick with Chad Stahelski. And I think it's just so great that you see how underneath the nonsense there's so much artistry and so much thought there. Everything's fine-tuned.

SPEAKER_05 23:36

So it's almost like you can polish a turd into something.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Oh my gosh, but it's not even a turd because it's got a story, kind of. Oh, the story's a turd. The story's a big old turd, yeah. But you know, what are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_05 23:54

I think that's what it is. They can make something completely glossy and cool looking out of a shit story.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

It's pretty crazy. And oh my god, you were talking about it, but when they go to Samoa, this movie just turns the dial up and breaks that thing right off.

SPEAKER_05 24:19

Oh, okay. As if we really need any more indication, Dwayne Johnson was uh one of the producers. Not only that, him and his, I guess, former brother-in-law are both producers. So even though Statham is also a producer, he's outnumbered by Oh my god. That's what the the vision that I had in my head when I was thinking of how Samoa ended up in this movie. Like, hey, we can force him into putting Samoa in this movie because there's two of us. He's not gonna be able to tuck us out of it. This movie starts in English.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

I don't think anyone would turn down shooting in Hawaii where they made this.

SPEAKER_07 25:01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

But that section is so nuts, it really is wild. Suddenly, we've got Cliff Curtis here, which, ooh, yeah, that makes any movie better. I love Cliff Curtis, but apparently he is the only man capable of solving this incredibly advanced nanotechnology problem. Yeah, like know how to do this. You know what? I fuck it. I don't care. I don't want the answers. I'm just gonna go.

SPEAKER_05 25:31

Not even like some dude in a lab.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Yeah, it's not a lab guy. It's wild. Oh, and the whole section of this movie is just so gorgeous. You've got these huge sweeping shots of the island, you've got them doing this like super powerful haka, you've got traditional weapons and Roman Reigns doing a Samoan drop because of course he does. There's fire and explosions, and the rocks saying, the island will provide, brother.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

And it's just so incredibly sincere. Loma's.

SPEAKER_05 26:05

Hey, does he talk about mana?

SPEAKER_03 26:08

You bet your ass he talks about mana.

SPEAKER_05 26:10

Oh, hell yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

Like, fuck yeah, the island will provide. The island is providing for me in this movie.

SPEAKER_05 26:18

Hey man, as an islander, the island always provides.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

You heard it here, folks. And oh my god, the fucking helicopter bit. Oh, it's so good. At this point, the plot isn't just action delivery, it's like spectacle delivery. It's just, hey, what else would look cool? A helicopter? Great. Uh chain it to a truck, not enough. And another truck, then another one. They're daisy chaining. What? How do they come up with this? It's genius, it's insane. Jason Statesham at some point, oh my god, he is fully airborne in a truck in this daisy chain. And somehow this man succeeds in looking tough. Everybody's driving towards a cliff, cars are exploding, they all hit the nos. And then at one point, I genuinely wrote down, what are these cars made of? How is this possible? But you know what? Fuck it. Eventually, we're fighting Idris Elba in the rain next to a waterfall. It wasn't raining five minutes ago. We don't know what happened, but this is what's going on. He's gonna use his robot eyes and do some sort of fight calculations. Whatever, it's a hell yeah for me. It's so good. And that brings me to my State Home Standout Award is something that I have not discussed yet. And um I don't know why this is the thing that stood out to me. But you may have noticed during the Daisy Channing truck scene, he's screaming from the truck to one of the other dudes telling him what to do.

SPEAKER_05 28:00

But instead of turning his head, he just turns his his mouth to the I wonder if that's a nerves thing because I noticed back when I was doing interviews on video for DJ and nightlife stuff that I speak out of one side of my mouth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

Yeah, it was very wacky looking because he's this very serious guy, but he's in an insane situation, screaming directions very seriously, but he's doing it with a weird face. It's just like this movie, man. It's wow. So yeah, I gave this a 4.5 out of five. I don't need to understand Etian.

SPEAKER_05 28:44

I don't even need to know how to pronounce it.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

No, I don't either. I don't need to know about nanotechnology, man. I'm sick of this nanotechnology after silo. Oh yeah. I don't need anyone to explain how several trucks can prevent a helicopter from flying away. I just need Jason Statham screaming sideways out of his mouth. I need the rock swinging a chain in a helicopter. I need Vanessa Kirby hitting enormous men in the nuts. And I need a filmmaker technically skilled enough to take all of that absolute nonsense, crank it up to 11, and make me go hell yeah every 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_05 29:20

And you know what else you need to tap all that off?

unknown 29:24

Huh?

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Idrisella saying, I'm black superman.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

Oh my god, it's a classic. It's beautiful. I love it. I do feel bad for him because he has to wear so many PVC suits, they can't be comfortable.

SPEAKER_05 29:40

They're very stylish, though. Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

I mean, you know what he's got a metal spine in this movie? That's probably not comfortable.

SPEAKER_05 29:47

It's true. They do have that one part where they've got his whole back friggin' open.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

Yeah, he doesn't have too many bloods.

SPEAKER_05 29:53

I don't know how that's sanitary, first of all. I don't care how clean your lab is.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:01

They basically just have that happening out in the open without having them laid out.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

Oh my god. And sushi, we forgot to mention the most insane thing. What? That Vanessa Kirby is 21 years younger than Jason Statham. They are separate.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

But they're supposed to be separated by how many years?

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Like two max. They do a flashback and they look like they're nine and twelve.

SPEAKER_07 30:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

What does that mean? Does that mean that he's younger or she's older?

SPEAKER_05 30:34

I think it's supposed to mean that he's younger than he looks.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Oh, he is not 35. I love Jason Statham, but he's not 35.

SPEAKER_05 30:44

Well, we'll give him a pass because it's Statham Timber.

SPEAKER_03 30:47

So all right, fair enough.

SPEAKER_05 30:48

All right.

NEW Movie Review: Runner (2026)

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Hey Sush.

SPEAKER_05 30:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

Do you remember Rick Romanois?

SPEAKER_05 30:57

Oh, is he the Greenland guy?

SPEAKER_03 31:00

Yes, that's right. He's that second gen stuntman, turd director, responsible for all those movies where Gerard Butler or Jason Statham's like a working class guy who also happens to be extremely good at killing people.

SPEAKER_07 31:15

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Here's the thing. Apparently, action runs in the family because our next movie, Runner, is directed by his younger brother Scott Wah, who also was a former stunt man.

SPEAKER_05 31:29

I knew it. Right? How many ways can there be?

SPEAKER_03 31:34

How many was? What a great connection.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

It's gotta be a family.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

Oh yeah. And their dad was a stunt man too.

SPEAKER_05 31:42

So well, that explains a lot.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Come on, it's in the family blood. But this one's pretty cool. Scott works in a similar wheelhouse to his brother, but with a maybe a little bit glossier feel. He's uh known for his work directing Need for Speed, if you remember that one. And most recently, the Expendordables.

SPEAKER_05 32:04

Expend for exactly.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

So getting to the movie of it all, the runner stars Alan Richson and Owen Wilson, which is not a combination of people I would have come up with on my own. But Richson plays Hank, this ex-military courier in Australia, who gets hired for what sounds like a pretty simple job. Pick up a package at an airport, get it from Brisbane to the East Coast. Easy enough. Except the package is a human liver. It needs to get to a dying seven-year-old girl. He has three hours to get it there, and he's joined by Ben, a very chatty organ transplant manager played by Owen Wilson, who almost immediately starts driving Hank insane. And then a cartel becomes involved. Oh my god. Yeah. It's a lot. So uh I gotta ask you, Sush, what did you think of Runner?

SPEAKER_05 33:02

Feel free to correct me, but I think that Alan Richson has quickly become one of our favorite, what I consider like the new generation of American action stars.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:13

I know I've personally recalled seeing him as far back as the DC Titans TV show.

SPEAKER_07 33:18

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_05 33:18

That was on streaming where he played the character Hawk. But he is obviously best known for his role as the titular character in the prime video series, Reacher.

SPEAKER_04 33:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:30

Which Ashley and I both watch. And I think it was a show where I was like, okay, I should keep this dude on my radar since he's probably gonna do some more cool stuff.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_05 33:40

Which he has. We caught him in movies FastX in 2023, and alongside fellow Big Men Cavill in the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Wars.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_05 33:54

In 2024. Then obviously on the pod just a few weeks ago, we reviewed another movie he was in, Motor City. Uh-huh. I've definitely become a fan of him, even beyond his acting.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

He's just a really interesting fellow neurodivergent.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:12

He's spoken very openly about being diagnosed both with bipolar disorder and ADHD as an adult. The latter we've definitely been able to see in his interview.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

Oh my god, yeah. He is one of us.

SPEAKER_05 34:25

Pretty good. Given all that, I was down to see this as soon as I saw the teaser for it. We got Alan Richardson in it providing the action, and as the straight man opposite Owen Wilson. We got fights, explosions, car chases, and their task of getting a donor organ to a single mother and her dying child as the primary driver. I mean, just based off those elements, you're pretty much guaranteed at least a moderately fun time, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:53

Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:55

The full or main trailer, I actually didn't see it when it released, but checking it out in preparation of this review, I did notice that it provided more of the plot, including the mother-daughter at the center of it. So in case uh you're somebody who wants to take a look at that type of stuff beforehand, you'll probably get more out of that for plot stuff. Now, before I start talking about the movie, one goofy thing I came across that I just want to mention related to the marketing of this movie.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 35:27

Before we saw this movie, whenever it would come up in conversation, I kept having this weird feeling like it was a prime video movie. Even though it wasn't, and it was actually a theatrical release from Angel Studios. It got so annoying that I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it had something to do with the movie poster. I eventually realized that the design of the movie poster for this movie is nearly identical to that of another movie Alan Richardson started. Oh my god. That was actually a video. Oh. Which was Playdate with Kevin James.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

Oh my god, you're right.

SPEAKER_05 36:10

The poster for Runner has dude holding a handgun and Owen Wilson holding the organ safe thing walking away from an explosion, while the poster for playdate has Richardson and Kevin James each holding a handgun in one hand and their respective son in the other hand leading them away from an explosion.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 36:34

And the font isn't exactly the same, but it's similar. So I guess that explains my whole hang-up with that part of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

I guess that means Owen Wilson is his child in this movie, and that kind of tracks.

SPEAKER_05 36:48

And that is kind of funny. Seeing the movie, given that I already had a positive bias towards the leads and what I presumed would be the tone. I at least tried to find instances where I'd really find a difficult time arguing for how good the movie was. But this actually became even harder the further I got. As far as the direction of the writing, I really felt like it was incredibly measured and controlled. As far as action comedies go, like there were honestly moments during a given scene where things started to get absurd, but it's almost like the movie is so self-aware that it immediately pulls back before it gets too ridiculous. I first noticed this. I initially thought it could lead to the movie being too formulaic, but I think Rich Sand and Wilson were both so likable in this movie and had established great buddy chemistry pretty early on. Yeah, I easily looked past all that. One thing I want to mention about the writing in this movie was that I loved how so many details that were brought to our attention, even some provided early in the movie that didn't seem like they had much relevance, actually were paid off later in the movie.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Checkoffs, plot elements.

SPEAKER_05 38:16

Since he's engaged in some activities early without much context, but the relevance and depth of those activities really don't reveal themselves until later scenes in the movie when it makes sense to reference them, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:30

That leads me to cast highlights, starting with the leads, obviously, since I already was a fan of both. Alan Richardson is Hank Malone. I think he not only played a great straight man role for this, but he genuinely delivers some solid emotional acting. Not like I would ever question his ability to do so, but it just didn't seem necessary in a movie like this.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 38:54

Kind of the same deal with Owen Wilson, who played Ben Bishop. He's just this goofy guy whose job is courier for, I guess, donor organs. Yeah, man. But as the story progresses, you start getting a sense of how seriously he really does take his job. Aside from them, I also thought the supporting actors, who pretty much were only at the hospital the entire movie, the daughter, mother, doctor, and nurse, they all did a great job, but they were yet another example of delivering above what was expected for a movie like this. Lastly, I definitely have to mention Rodrigo Santoro.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 39:36

Who played the antagonist, Damien Zelda. I mostly recognize dude from his role as Zirx Thieves and Zack Snyder's 300.

SPEAKER_07 39:45

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_05 39:45

Apollo on the TV show Lost.

SPEAKER_07 39:48

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 39:49

And the cowboy Hector in Westworld. But man, this was the first time seeing him in such a comedy-heavy role. I did not expect to laugh at so many of his character moments, but I have to say he might have been funnier than our leads.

SPEAKER_02 40:05

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 40:08

As far as the design, most of it I really enjoyed, but I have to say that the music choices were at times confusing. Oh, yeah. I would say actually most of the times.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:19

Honestly, that wasn't a huge surprise given that I did recall that the trailer had some song that seemed a bit off tonal. Uh-huh. I'd say for a lot of the action scenes where we do have accompanying music, in most cases, it doesn't entirely fit the tone. In general, I kind of felt like the music was a bit too serious for the overall tone of the movie, though I think it could have worked if this movie was wholly an action film instead of an action comedy. But it's really bad. They don't get it right until the last action scene. The song that they choose for that one is just really obvious.

SPEAKER_02 41:00

Oh my god, it really is.

SPEAKER_05 41:02

Beyond that, though, I thought the use of VFX or practical effects was reasonable and didn't seem out of place for the times that they did use it. But I think the cinematography was what really worked well to showcase the best parts of it, which were the stunt work and relating to that, the physical comedy.

SPEAKER_07 41:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

All that was just so timed and choreographed well. Yeah. Going back to what I mentioned earlier about the writing, there just seemed to be so much awareness of what was going on, so nothing ever felt overstayed. Yeah. I remember discussing this with you and even saying it felt like a focus.

SPEAKER_06 41:35

In a good way.

SPEAKER_05 41:36

Like sat in front of this. The studio took every bit of data in determining the screen time for the given moment.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Yeah, it's fine-tuned.

SPEAKER_05 41:42

It was just right. So that leads me into my ratings, which would be a four for enjoyment.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Hey.

SPEAKER_05 41:50

And a three and a half for quality.

unknown 41:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 41:53

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, and I think it does seem to have pretty wide appeal. It's got enough gunfights and wild slapstick moments that fans who are used to more raunchy action comedies won't be bored, but also seems to know exactly when to end a moment before it gets too stale or crazy. Yeah. It also seems to have some pretty solid dramatic moments and acting in it. I think the only things that kept this movie from being a perfect five for enjoyment were the weird music choices.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

Oh my god. That song that was like whispering ghosts or something.

SPEAKER_05 42:27

It was really bizarre. And then the lack of originality as far as the story goes. But I think a four is pretty good for something like this that just seems like a weird offering that nobody. So anyway, those two elements, the weird music choices and the lack of originality, uh they also affect my quality rating the most.

SPEAKER_07 42:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 42:52

While I actually was considering an even lower score for the quality rating, I ended up on a three and a half because even with the lack of originality, the usual tropes you do see in action and comedy films are executed incredibly well.

SPEAKER_06 43:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:10

And I think providing relevance to earlier details from the movie that seemed like inconsequential also helps since I feel this sort of attention to detail does seem to make a movie seem less disposable among similar offerings. As far as related recommendations go, just so I can go full circle with this movie, my pick is the prime video movie play date.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 43:37

Also starring Alan Richardson, but this time opposite Kevin James. Arguably a lower quality movie than Runner. But I think for fans of Kevin James or people who just are desiring maybe a bit more wild, absurd comedy, you might even enjoy it a bit more than this one.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:58

Yeah. What did you think of? Runner. Also, uh, we want to make sure that everybody knows we're talking about runner, not the runner.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

Yeah, guys, we promise you it doesn't have Gal Godot. But I had a blast with Runner. I'm trying to figure out exactly how to describe this thing because it's kind of an action movie, kind of an old school buddy comedy. At certain points, it's basically a soap opera. It's surprisingly sad while being funny. Then you have people bursting through walls and Rodrigo Santuros crying for like 90% of the screen time. This movie is a lot.

SPEAKER_05 44:38

I think I came up with an analogy for it.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_05 44:42

It rubber bands because it gets to a point, then it bounces back.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:48

Then it works a little bit on the emotions, but then it gets a little goofy again. So you know, yeah, and there's like explosions.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

Is this like a non-racial rush hour? Is that the vibe of this?

SPEAKER_05 45:03

Yeah, the the only racial aspect of this rush hour would be the antagonist, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

I guess.

SPEAKER_05 45:12

I'm not sure if that's a great thing, but regardless.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:16

This is a uh both dudes are white rush hour. Yeah, there we go. Actually, no, it's not even a rush hour because they're not cops, so true, true.

SPEAKER_02 45:28

Yeah, I didn't even know what this would be. Whatever it is, I really liked this strange mix of elements.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

The first thing that got me on board was just the stars. I love Alan Richon. As Hank, he plays uh this classic stoic big man. Wilson is Ben Bishop, who initially gave me kind of a sleazy car salesman vibe in the first scene or two. But then you realize, oh, he's not sleazy. He's just hyper weird, somewhat annoying, but fundamentally good-hearted as a guy. It's kind of a cool character. And Wilson is just so good here because Ben is basically an exposition generator. He is constantly asking questions, going on tangents, telling weird stories. And somehow by doing that, we're learning everything we need to know about the plot. But it doesn't feel like exposition because it's just how this guy talks. I like there's this one point where he tells a story about how his ex-wife told him there's two buckets of people in this world. People who think Ben's a great guy. I'm a Ben guy, he's the best. Then there's the other bucket who says, Oh, Ben's a little too much sugar for me. There's a little too much. And as an extrovert who has occasionally realized I'm a bit too much sugar for people, I was like, okay, I kind of relate to this. Not what I was expecting. But I think Wilson works great against Richson because also physically and comedically, these guys just look so mismatched. Richson is desperately trying to get through the situation, and Ben is annoying the shit out of him. But I really enjoyed watching Richson expand as an actor, kind of like you were saying. He's obviously good at being a big man, action big man.

SPEAKER_07 47:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:27

But between this and Motor City, I've realized he's really good at expressing this deep stifled pain. I think he did that really beautifully. And as we learn Hank's backstory, he gets some genuinely somber stuff to play. And I think he really sells it, but which is important because the emotional manipulation of this movie, wow, it's of the highest order. Some of the hospital drama stuff gets extremely maudlin. We are talking a baby girl in a hospital bed with glasses that look like a magnifying glass. Sush pointed this out to me when we were watching.

SPEAKER_05 48:09

She gave us a- Oh my god, it's trying so hard to just tug on your heart strings like this goofy ass looking little girl. How can you hate this girl, man? She's just trying to make it.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

Yeah, they've been through so much. Like it's so soap opera. It's hilarious. But you know what?

SPEAKER_03 48:31

I did not care because it got me. I literally got uh a tear or two in my left eye. I did. But we go from tears to then somebody's busting through a wall. I initially was like, oh, but then hell yeah. This movie just keeps things going. And I, like you, I'm sure, grew up during the Kool-Aid Man commercial era.

SPEAKER_05 49:00

Oh, yeah, when you just bust through a wall.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

Yeah. So seeing a human bust through a wall, that's one of the most beautiful things you can see in an action movie. Oh, yeah. Also, I think there's a really nice variation to the action here. We've got gunplay, you've got this fun farmers market fight that keeps Richardson and Wilson moving through the environments together, fighting different people at the same time. You've got what's become strangely a new trope to me, the bicycle as a weapon uh scenario, which we have seen in three movies Furious and some other movie, and then this one. So it's becoming a trend, but the car stuff is probably my favorite. And I'm sorry, I have to talk about advertising to talk about this. So Hank is driving this Jeep that's loaded with all these different mods and accessories. And what I love is that the movie doesn't just show them to you, it finds a way to actually use them in the action.

SPEAKER_04 50:07

Companies, they definitely want to show you how to use the stuff they sell, which is like because they want you to get utility out of it and value to the consumer, you know.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Absolutely. As someone who works in marketing, I was like, oh, they're really highlighting all the RTBs. Wow, this is really good product place. But I don't think you would block it as that if you weren't you didn't to that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_05 50:34

I'm not in marketing, I'm just the sucker for it.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

I think it's cool for the marketing perspective, but it's also cool for the fights because one of the things that you absolutely love to see is people using their environment. So in this scene, you see extra jugs of fuel. Well, gee, I think that might be a checkoff's fuel tank. So there's a lot of fun ways that they incorporate this. And by the way, that jeep gets fucked up. At one point, another car hits it.

SPEAKER_07 51:04

Oh, I love that part.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

Oh my god, the entire front basically folds away. Like the Jeep is on a hinge.

SPEAKER_05 51:13

It's great though, but then they're still sitting there.

SPEAKER_03 51:16

They're still sitting there, and you just see a perfect cross-section of the vehicle. I loved that. There's also a car chase with this flowing camera movement in and out of the vehicles that immediately made me think of yes, The Raid Two. It's always the Raid Two. But um, I am so obsessed with that movie. This one, it has something similar to that scene where they, in practical effects, moved a camera in and out of the vehicles. Here it feels a little bit more CG, and I'm not making a direct comparison, but I did really like the ambition and just that they're trying to get it. It's cool looking.

SPEAKER_05 51:59

You know it's CG, but it doesn't look too out of place or yeah, it just looks a little smooth.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

And I think the fact that none of this feels too ridiculous is even more impressive when you've got Rodrigo Santoro. Oh my god, wandering around the other side of this movie is Damien Zaldvar crying his eyes out constantly. I'm used to seeing this guy as a relatively stoic cowboy on Westworld. Here, he is chewing the scenery. He is theatrical, he is campy, he is, and I have to say it again, he is constantly crying. Like I could see one of the girls from Drag Race playing this character. I loved it. And actually, I think that's what finally made this movie click for me. It's like everything is heightened, but it's to basically the same degree. So the comedy is heightened, the action's heightened, the hospital drama. Ooh, that's heightened. You got Damien somewhere in the stratosphere. But the situations, even though they're ridiculous, the emotions aren't. And I think that's runner. Like it's the type of movie where you get Owen Wilson cracking jokes and a bicycle as a weapon, and someone Kool-Aid Manning through a hospital wall, Rodrigo Santoro crying his way through villainy. And in the middle of this, I legitimately did cry near the end. So for enjoyment, I'm a four out of five, too. You know, I was never bored. I laughed a lot. I loved the action. I got weirdly emotionally invested. Uh, quality-wise, I'm also a 3.5 out of five. Obviously, there's a lot I enjoyed about it. Some of the things that maybe weren't my favorites is just some of the drama is a little overly sentimental.

SPEAKER_07 53:45

Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 53:46

Um visually, it's a little more competent than distinctive in a way. I think it has a brightness and it being really hyper clear, that kind of thing, made it feel a little Amazon to me. That being said, I do think that they tried some really interesting things with the camera work. Obviously, the performances are great, but yeah, none of the things that I would sort of ding it for really bothered me because okay, this is corny, but I did think about it. You know how there's the two different buckets for you love Ben, or like that's too much for me.

SPEAKER_07 54:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:23

Well, runner for me is like I'm in bucket one. I love it. You know, I just think it's just very much for me. I enjoy it, I can overlook the annoying stuff.

SPEAKER_05 54:36

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, you know what it is? Runner is like uh Sour Patch kids choose for a God, they're good, guys.

SPEAKER_03 54:45

You gotta have these. They're such thick candies.

SPEAKER_05 54:48

You know, if Sour Patch kids just happens to be listening to this, we wouldn't mind being sponsors or oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

That wouldn't hurt. I wouldn't be offended by an offer.

TV Episode Recap: Lanterns - Season 1, Episode 5 - "Lights Out"

SPEAKER_03 55:07

Hey, sushi. Yeah, with that if the TV show Lanterns was going to make a movie poster designed by the man who made the poster for runners and the previous Alan Richardson movie, who would be the adult and who would be the child who would be holding the hand with the fire in the background?

SPEAKER_05 55:36

Well, I don't know if they would take the playdate route and and have them holding on the children, but I think instead of having guns, it would be Hal with the ring, then maybe John with the shotgun. Sheriff Kane gave him during that one episode for protection. But I think the most important element that we would have in that poster is a green explosion in the background.

SPEAKER_03 56:05

Oh, maybe, yeah. That's the way to do it for lanterns, right? Oh, yeah. I think you got it.

SPEAKER_05 56:12

So let's get into episode five, titled Lights Out. Let's do it. This episode opens in 2007. We see Carrie Kane's car break down right outside of Rushville, where she ends up pushing it to a nearby diner. Two men who have followed her from Gotham enter and confront her soon after her arrival, as she's apparently been marked for death because of her father's actions. However, Zoe Macon intervenes, killing one attacker and overpowering the other to convince their employers that Carrie is dead. Zoe has Carrie cut off her pinky. Yikes send it back as proof. In exchange for saving her, Zoe demands a feature favor. When people eventually come looking for her, Carrie must protect her. After Carrie agrees, Zoe uses her technology to regenerate the missing finger. Wild. John regains consciousness inside the rental car that Hal deliberately crashed. Hal then uh arrives and tells John his plan to capture the manhunter and return her to Oa while allowing the alien hunters and William Macon's forces to destroy one another. Furious that John concealed Zoe's identity from him, Hal declares that John will never replace him, abandoning him in the wreck. As the residents of Rushville prepare to protect their town and the Manhunter, Zoe reaches the burning vehicle before it explodes and rescues John, though he's still badly burned from the incident. Meanwhile, Hal confronts Sheriff Kane for secretly protecting the Manhunter the whole time, though she claims that in order to stay alive she didn't have a choice. Later, John revives to find himself being brought to the hospital. Hal was at previously. Him and Zoe have a conversation, which serves as a quick recap on the origin of the Manhunters, stating that the Guardians use them to impose justice, only to turn against them after their methods became too brutal. Eventually, she admits that she killed Abensur and tells John that she plans to kill Hale, but is nevertheless willing to spare and save John, basically offering him Hale's Green Lantern ring in return for covering up her escape and murder. Meanwhile, Hal shows up alone at the diner where he's immediately attacked by Anton and the alien strike force pursuing the manhunter. He deceives them into believing that William Macon is their target. Back at the hospital, we see Zoe use her alien medical equipment on John, repairing his injuries. Zoe calls William to basically say goodbye, as they're both aware this is the moment she's always said would come. Anton's team arrives at Macon's fortified compound, and the aliens launch a devastating assault, destroying the compound's defenses. Weapons and equipment, ending with Anton personally confronting William, who desperately claims that he really is the Manhunter. However, Anton tests the claim by killing him and removing his heart, proving that William is in fact only human. Hal's deception is eliminated Macon, but it also intensified the destruction spreading across Rushville. John escapes from the hospital and contacts his father, asking to be connected with the guardian Liana. His parents focus on the location of the ring, which only increases John's frustration. John then pops into the gun shop to grab a rifle and announces that he intends to take the ring directly from Hal. Outside, powerful orbital attacks are seen happening all over town, with Hal arriving and using his ring to shield residents. Following the trail to Zoe on Macon's compound, he's almost able to stop her, but she's able to escape and detonates explosives, causing a nearby water tower to fall and break open, revealing the same black smoke used on him and John previously, leaving Hal defend against both her and Anton's men, as well as redirect Anton into the sky before his unaliving bomb explodes. The effort drains Hal's ring, forcing him to retreat to his motel room and recharge it. John ambushes Hal at the motel, and their resentment erupts into a brutal fight. John tries to remove the ring as Hal struggles to retain it. When another orbital attack is about to come down on them, Hale manages to activate the ring and create a protective shield, saving them both as the motel is demolished around them. John disappears after the blast, leaving the injured Hale behind. Zoe approaches the ruins and confronts Hal, but the apparent abandonment is a trap. John has positioned himself at a distance with the rifle, and once Zoe is exposed, he shoots her in the head, killing the manhunter. He then removes her heart, which transforms into a crystalline object, that he takes as proof of her identity and death. John returns to the badly injured Hale and forcibly removes the green lantern ring from his finger. Hal asks whether everything John has done to obtain it was worthwhile, but John does not answer. As John leaves with the ring and power battery, Hale warns that the Guardians will eventually replace him too. In the final scene, John meets Liana and presents Zoe's crystallized heart. He describes how Hal compromised his principles and violated his oath because he could not bear to surrender the ring. Yet possessing it brings John no satisfaction. He admits that he no longer understands why he wanted to become a Green Lantern in the first place, rejecting the future that his parents, Hal, and the Guardians had prepared for him. John removes the ring, places it beside the lantern, and walks away. Damn. Yeah, Ashley, what'd you think of the episode?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:25

Well, Susie, I thought it was fucking great. Uh Jesus, this is one intense episode.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:33

Rushville basically turns into a war zone. John gets burned alive. Oh my god. People are getting vaporized. The sheriff cuts off her own finger. But weirdly, for an episode with this much happening, I think I came out of it thinking more about the characters than the action. Yeah. Because I changed my mind about Hal like three times. Uh Zoe somehow made me understand her more than I expected to, given some of the horrible shit she did and does. And I was really happy for John by the end of this. First of all, I thought Hal protected John in the car last week. And I was totally wrong. I thought crashing it was Hal being cheeky, like, fuck your lesson, kid. But then he protected him. Like, no, John ends up burping. Yeah, I just love the he's crying in pain. It's horrible. And I was like, fuck this motherfucker. I was on your side for a minute. But then I watched it again and I realized, wait a minute, okay. Hal literally tells John what he's doing. He says, I had to take you off the game board. Then John is actually more charitable to Hal than I was initially. He basically says, I don't think Hal wanted me dead. I think he wanted me to not know whether he wanted me dead. I was like, shit, yeah. He is sort of manipulating at that level. Hal's plan is pretty nuts, but it ends up working. I was thinking he's like a kid looking for one toy who dumps out the whole toy box on the floor. Like, get John off the board, draw out Zoe, draw out the aliens. Okay, everybody's here now. Something will happen. And you see the sentry, which basically is a projection of a younger version of Hal. And he's so enthusiastic when John comes up in conversation. Like, oh yeah, I met him. I like that guy. Like, wow, Hal, what happened to you? Because present-day Hal just set fire to that guy. I don't know how much of this is Hal, how much of it is decades of this absolutely thankless job just dragging him down and making him lose perspective. But man, I really get why John looks at what Hal has become and is like, ooh, I don't want that. Although one of my favorite Hal moments, maybe this season, I loved when he is meeting with Anton, trying to convince him that Will is the manhunter. Anton says, Oh, well, manhunters use sex as one of their top tools for gaining power. So I guess that means then that John had sex with Will, because John is the more powerful target. And Hal immediately has to clarify, no, no, no. John had some coitus, sure, but I was the manhunter's main coitus target. And he starts talking about how once you've experienced the pleasures of the galaxy, it's less about preference, more about opportunity. Like I love that this man is literally in the middle of an alien war, potentially losing the ring. And he still needs everyone to know just for the record, I was the main coitus.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:58

It's just funny, too, because. You remember a few episodes ago when he lies to John about where he was. He's like, I was out in space having sex.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:08

Yeah, why is that his go-to?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:10

I was having space sex.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:13

He probably knows people won't ask further questions.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:17

Or it just sounds cool. So just leave it or something.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:21

Yeah. I'll give him that. And Zoe in this episode, wow, okay. So, you know, the Guardians created the manhunters, decided they were too brutal, and was just like, let's exterminate them. And she's the only one who survived. It's like, well, shit. I mean, she didn't ask to be born and made her decided she shouldn't exist.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:41

But also they ain't wrong because it starts lasering the entire dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:46

That is literally the next thing I was gonna say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:49

Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:50

I know she loses you immediately, but I think my favorite scene with her might be when she's healing John, that whole scene.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:01

She talks about why she chose the body that she has, that she wanted to be a woman, someone who wasn't white, someone who would experience prejudice and adversity. Her whole idea is if you enter a society from a disadvantage, you understand it differently. Adversity isn't something to avoid to them, it's something that makes you stronger. And I'm listening to her, like, oh, that's fascinating. And I think, oh, that makes sense for John too. Look at all he's had to overcome. And it hit me, wait, John, she just let you burn alive. And she's taking everything John already believes about hard work and adversity and using it to justify what she's doing to him now. So it's sort of like working on multiple levels. So I thought that was super interesting. Then, oh my God, I loved that she says all this to him very tenderly. John figures out she killed Ab and Sir when he was trying to save her. He confronts her with this info. She just caresses his face and goes, That's why I'm drawn to you. You really see me. And we're like, ma'am, he just accused you of murdered. I feel like she's acting like Elizabeth Holmes in the trailer to that uh new documentary, like really trying to get that intimacy to convince people of things. And John gets healed. Uh, wow, okay, that's pretty wild. From there, he goes barefoot, storming into the restaurant with a gun while his parents are on the phone. Like, we've been waiting for 24 hours. We deserve an update. Like, dude, your son was burned alive. Let him do his job. And John basically goes, You want an update? How total my rental almost killed me. Alien technology fixed me. Now I'm mad as hell. I'm gonna take that ring, clean off that motherfucker's finger. Hell yeah. Ah, so good. And he does, but then he gives it back. I don't know. That really got me because I was happy for John. He spent his whole life working towards this thing. His parents trained him for it. The Guardians chose him. And he's imagined what it would feel like to have the ring. And he puts it on and he says it feels empty. And I just kept thinking, wow, John is actually in a really weird position that most lanterns probably aren't. You can correct me in terms of the if I'm wrong on the comics front. But from the way they talked about it without being the first um Earth Green Lantern, that makes me think that most of them just get appointed. They they're not interning for a Green Lantern.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:40

In the comics, they're just appointed because the Green Lantern at the time was unavailable for whatever for a given reason. I can't remember exactly all of them, but yeah. I think I mentioned it in one of our earlier podcasts when we started covering this show. There's not the concept of a replacement like in the show.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:03

So yeah, and I think that makes John's perspective interesting because he's got this unique position of being able to see what a shitty job it is, getting to see what his potential future could be like. So I don't blame him for not wanting that. I mean, we'll see what happens, but man, everything wraps up like overly cleanly. And then I realized this is episode five. There's still three left. I mean, Zoe appears to be dead unless there's some magic they can do that I'm not aware of. John already got the ring and gave it back. Rushville is destroyed. Yeah, it felt like stuff you'd save for a finale, but it makes me excited because I think probably the next few episodes are gonna be getting us up to date in the present day, I guess. The one where Hal's died and maybe seeing how stories connect. So looking forward to it. Sush, what'd you think of the episode?

SPEAKER_05 1:11:02

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting for it to feel as uh conclusive.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:07

Yeah, weird, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:11:09

Ended up being uh I had to jump online to make sure, like you were saying, I didn't miss the memo that this was like a shorter first season or something like that. Luckily I wasn't going crazy, and we in fact are in store for an eight-episode season. And I swear I'm just going to keep bringing this up until we do. But we still have to revisit what happens in 2026 since the pilot ended with John finding Hal dead, apparently he got gunshot to the head, and he's missing his Green Lantern ring. And like based on that, we can assume if Hale doesn't immediately get reinstated as the Green Lantern of Earth's Sector, he does eventually get reinstated at some point due to the expectation of the ring. Uh maybe I need to double check since now I'm starting to tell whether or not the quieter actually mentioned by John or someone else. But anyway, even with the storyline surrounding the Manhunter and Rushville unfolding in a way I mostly wasn't expecting a part of me was even questioning the logic of some of the characters during the course of the episode. Uh, I still really feel how it did end up unfolding still made sense. Like, I don't understand how Zoe has survived in Rushville this entire time without someone else who owed her not responding as she expected.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:40

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:41

Even if I want to agree that her and Sean have shared experiences, I can't quite believe a manhunter would be so naive to just lead human Green Lantern or not. Also, while I can understand John following through with defeating the Manhunter and taking the ring from Hal and maybe even giving up the ring at the end, I just don't understand why he felt the need to sit through the whole talk from Liana at the end.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:07

Oh, yeah, really.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:08

I guess I can understand it was just John's nature to be respectful to authority figures, but at that point in the story, given how far they and his own parents have pushed him toward doing all this, and you know how much he's lost sight of why he's even wanted it, I'm just surprised that he even bothered to give her the opportunity to speak as long as she did. I honestly would have dropped off a heart lantern ring and pieced out right away myself.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:38

No, I didn't enjoy everything that took place in the episode. Damn, did Aaron Pier and Kyle Chandler both do a phenomenal job?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:45

Oh my god. Aaron Pierre isn't so good in this.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:50

I really enjoy the character development for John, everything that he's gone through so far this season. While we've heard a lot of details about him, his upbringing, and at least have an idea of his capabilities without the ring over the episodes. I've really found it interesting that it feels like everything that's taken place in 2016 and the storyline taking place is at least partially about John's capabilities and managing his emotional state and what the limits of it might be.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:22

Not a huge fan of the characterization of Hal so far on the show. Even if I do appreciate how nuanced the character is, it's not like I haven't read stories where Hal's disagreed with the Guardians or even went as far as becoming a villain himself. But it's just strange that every time the show seems to bring some positive aspect of Hal's personality to light, it's almost guaranteed that by the next episode he'll have done something to cancel it out.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:49

It is funny how it's like a pendulum going back and forth.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:52

Yeah. Also, I don't want anyone to misinterpret my preference that certain events could have unfolded differently as me thinking that anyone should stop watching this now. Oh yeah, this show still hasn't changed from being one of my favorites on TV currently. I'm more just incredibly curious at the structure of the season overall. Like, are we gonna stay in 2016 for a bit longer? Are we finally gonna follow up with 2026 stuff? Or are we gonna jump to some other time or even place, maybe even space? Like, what the hell is going to happen? Because it's not like we're anywhere near the end of the season, we're like just past the middle. So yeah, it's just a weird feeling, but but overall, I did think it was a great episode, but again, just no idea where the show plants to go from here.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:44

I know.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:45

Uh from the need to eventually, again, as I said, revisit the 2026 storyline and Hale's eventual death. I think the only thing that was really missing from this episode, for me, anyway, were more comic book specific elements, I guess you could say. I'd be referring to stuff like what's going on with Hal's relationship with Sinestro and if it'll play out anything like it did in the comics. Also, we've had the presence of one of the guardians through most of the past few episodes. I'm curious if we'll ever actually get to see Oa or the other Guardians or Lantern soon. Uh, we still haven't seen Guy Gardner on this show and this for it on HBO Max the past three fucking weeks now.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:34

Like, what the fuck is going on?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:38

Just give us Guy Gardner. Feel free to drive me crazy with absolutely no insight on what's to come, but just give me that, you know? Just tell me when Guy Gardner's actually going to be on the show, or you can even tell me, like, hey, sorry, uh, we totally made a mistake and we didn't mean to use this photo for the show. But somebody made that image, goddammit. So I don't believe that.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:04

Well, hopefully, next week will be the one. I'm uh hoping for both of us.

What We're Watching Next

SPEAKER_03 1:17:20

Next week, we are going to be checking out Resident Evil, the latest film from weapons director Zach Crager. And of course, we're going to be uh celebrating Statham Tumber with another movie. And a special guest appearance from Chelsea Woodmancy, who's going to be hosting a fun, mysterious, Statham-related game for us.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:45

Ooh. All right. And for TV, uh, I'll be covering episode six of Lanterns as I try to figure out what other show to cover next.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:59

Yeah, it's getting to be fall, so there should be a a good round of TV shows coming up.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:04

Mm-hmm.

Outro

SPEAKER_03 1:18:07

Well, thank you everyone for listening. We really appreciate you hanging out with us, weirdos, and hope you have a lovely day.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:15

Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review. You know, positive. Yes. Like how we're positive Jason Statham would have solved the problems in the movie Runner in about 11 minutes flat.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:30

Oh, yeah. He would have gotten that heart to that hospital ASAP and dismantled everybody.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:36

You know, because he's got rules.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:38

Yeah. Rules.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:39

But uh, you know what else? Rules us on the social medias, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. Yeah. Hit us up on there. You want to give us suggestions for the next TV show that we should cover or just say what's up.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:55

Say what's up. Tell us where you're watching.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:57

Yeah. Other than that, we'll see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:01

Bye guys.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:02

Later.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:03

Farewell.