Review: Blood Quantum (2019)
I am a sucker for a zombie film, especially given the current boom of non-white zombie stories in recent years. Train to Busan and Seoul Station were excellent zombie films that delivered distinctly Korean perspectives on the undead, while the Shudder original The Dead Lands created a distinct Maori period piece revolving around the undead. Now with Blood Quantum, we are presented with a zombie film rooted firmly in the experiences and perspective of the First People of Canada.
Blood Quantum is a Canadian production under Prospector Films, written and directed by Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls). The film stars a primarily indigenous cast including Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Forrest Goodluck, and Kiowa Gordon. Blood Quantum is currently streaming on Shudder.
What Worked With Blood Quantum?
The film has a Romeroesque quality to it in how it explores the ways zombies exacerbate existing divisions in communities. The town of Red Crow, of the Mi’gMaq reserve on the border of Quebec and New Brunswick, experiences the first moments of the rise of the dead in a few haunting scenes that establish the characters and setting of 1981 Canada. The film introduces the apocalypse and then jumps forward six months later with a revelation: whatever is causing the dead to rise doesn’t affect the First People. That’s going to have repercussions among the white and indigenous communities. The film is not so much about the zombies, but this is expected when something is in the vein of Romero.
Instead, the film is an exploration of some complex indigenous characters set against the backdrop of a horrific pandemic and the pressures it exerts on a people who have already greatly suffered at the hands of the white man. Only now the white man is just a deadly even in death. It’s all very interesting material that is wrapped up in some fun zombie deaths here and there. The film’s anticolonial commentary is quite obvious but none-the-less interesting; white people enter the lands of the First People, only this time the disease they bring does not affect the First People as prior pandemics. Hell, even the title of the film evokes racist blood quantum laws: measures used to determine native identity by percentages of ancestry.
The performances are solid across the board with Michael Greyeyes and Stonehorse Lone Goeman portraying two of three generations of the central indigenous family. Goeman’s Gisigu in particular delivers a rather iconic character, evoking a stoic samurai in his approach to dispatching the undead and his general wisdom and selflessness. Greyeyes’s Tralyor evokes the sort of authority one expects of a Rick Grimes character, but with an even more weary outlook given his and his people’s circumstances even prior to the outbreak.
As far as the gore, it is well executed but with some clunky CGI in some scenes. CGI is not unusual for zombie films, but the dodgy CGI comes early on with a shocking fish scene, ultimately undercut by the execution. Some distance shots of zombies movie with a level of “jank” more associated with low-framerate animation in some videogames as well. Overall though, these small moments do not get in the way with the amount of blood and gore necessary for a zombie film.
What Didn’t Work With Blood Quantum?
While solid overall, the film tries to accomplish a lot and unfortunately does not stick the landing with a few of its narrative points. The split between the first days of the virus and six months later is novel, but it doesn’t exactly provide viewers with enough time to really get to know the characters. The cast is very large, and while a large cast is not a problem, it becomes a bit tough to juggle different plotlines and motivations without enough time to really focus on the characters.
The central relationship between the brothers is one of those elements that feels a bit lacking. The pain that Lysol faces and leads to his actions is readily apparent, which is a credit to the performance, and we very briefly get a tease of the systemic abuse he faces when he talks to Joseph about why he was in jail during the first stage of the outbreak. It is equally hilarious and heartbreaking and represents a broken system. If only the rest of the characters were given these moments. Joseph, in comparison, is little more than a spark for conflict compared to his troubled brother, even with his relationship with his pregnant white girlfriend.
Ultimately, there is just too much story, both on the character level and the macro-level to cover sufficiently in a relatively lean hour and a half runtime. Stylistic elements, such as the few animated features hint at something larger but ultimately do not amount to much in the film as it stands. With any luck, the film proves successful enough for a sequel or, perhaps more appropriate, a television series. It is a fascinating world that we get glimpses of in the film and deserves to be explored further.
Final Verdict
As a whole, Blood Quantum is an excellent twist on the zombie genre and dense with meaning and allusion. The film is a well-executed statement on the legacy colonialism and feels remarkably relevant to our current pandemic climate. However, issues with pacing, a large cast, and perhaps too much story spread too thin drag it down a bit.
(4 / 5)
For more coverage of zombie films, check out other reviews under the Zombie tag.
Episode two of Wheel of Time felt like the beginning of a long journey. Stories are unfolding, lives are changing, and blood is spilling.
Let’s discuss.
The story
We begin this episode in the past with Elayne’s mother, Queen Morgase. It turns out her rise to the throne was a bit, shall we say, cutthroat. So when she shows up at the White Tower, Siuan is concerned.
She might have reason to be, too.
Meanwhile, Rand, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan and Aviendha are in the Spine of The World. As they travel through some of the most breathtaking lands I have ever seen on a TV show, Egwene is plagued with nightmares. We think at first that’s just her trauma working itself through her system. But we soon find out that it might not be that straightforward.
Finally, Perrin returns home to heal after his hand is almost cut in half. But when he gets there he finds the town has been infested by Children of The Light. And they’re looking for him.
What worked
There was something heartwarming in this episode about political espionage and choking religious persecution. And that is Elayne’s relationship with her family.
I have consumed a lot of fantasy content with royal families. And I have never once heard a princess call her mother ‘Mum’. I’ve never seen royal siblings get along. And I have sure as hell never seen a princess have a good relationship with her step-parent.
This was refreshing. Even though Queen Morgase is kind of a horrible person she seems like a good mother. And that’s an unexpected delight.
Of course, this is just one storyline among many. And while this can sometimes be overwhelming, in this case it wasn’t.
I’ll be honest, some of these storylines are going to drag for me. I know this because I’ve read some of the Wheel of Time books and I have an idea that not all the characters exactly pique my interest.
No one likes all the characters. No one likes all the storylines. While I am here for the political espionage between Queen Morgase and Siuan, not everyone likes it. While others might be fascinated with Selene trying to win Rand back, I couldn’t care less.
Having multiple storylines keeps everyone’s attention better. So long as things don’t get out of hand. Things can easily get out of hand. But this seems to be managed well.
So far.
What didn’t work
As I mentioned above, I’m not thrilled with Rand’s story at this point. And while it’s fine to not like a storyline when there are this many to choose from, it’s not fantastic that the one I like the least is the one involving our two main characters. And anytime we were with the team at the Spine of The World, the only thing that brought me joy was Moirain’s hat. It reminded me of Stockard Channing’s hat in Practical Magic.
The problem is that Rand is Charlie Brown with controversial magical powers. He is boring, serious, and pessimistic.
And yes, I understand that he has a heavy emotional burden and he’s the Dragon Reborn and that’s quite taxing and all. But let’s be fair, there isn’t a single person in this show that doesn’t have a heavy burden. And most of them manage to be fun occasionally.
All that being said, this episode of Wheel of Time did exactly what it needed to do. It set up conflicts at each of the three locations. It established emotional ties between the characters and the events. And it established goals for everyone.
This was, in short, a solid episode. Not groundbreaking, not mind-blowing or life changing. It was simply good. It was entertaining and moved the plot forward.
Well done.
(3.5 / 5)
Wheel of Time is back for season three. There are mixed feelings regarding this. Last season, there were some serious pacing issues. And some serious sticking to the book’s storyline issues. But we’re two seasons in, and we don’t give up so easily. So let’s dive into episode one, To Race the Shadow.
By the way, I highly recommend watching this episode with the subtitles on. You’ll see why.
The story
We begin this episode with Liandrin facing a trial of sorts for her rampant betrayal. She does her best to gaslight her Aes Sedai sisters into thinking that Siuan Sanche is the real traitor.
When that doesn’t work, she reveals how many Black Aes Sedai have actually infiltrated the tower.
Spoiler, it’s a lot.
In the aftermath, our whole team gathers to drink and enjoy one night of relaxation before they head out to the Tear to form an army for Rand. All is going well until they’re attacked by myriad creatures and a sentient axe.
What worked
This episode was long. It had a run time of an hour and eleven minutes. And a lot of that run time was spent in heavy dialog scenes.
Fortunately, these were well-done scenes.
If you’re going to have a lot of talking scenes, there are good ways and bad ways to do it. Last season, we saw lots of examples of the bad way to do it. But this episode did it well. For one thing, other things were going on while conversations were taking place. The characters are drinking, playing games, walking through an interesting city. And the scenes themselves didn’t stretch out. They weren’t repetitive. We heard what the character had to say, then we moved on.
It was also nice that the point of these scenes wasn’t just info dumps. We had character development. We had romantic interactions. We had plot development and foreshadowing.
Overall, this episode felt like what it was. A moment of calm before a storm.
Taking a step back, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the fight scene at the start of the episode. Because it was epic.
The magic looked amazing. The martial arts that went along with it looked fantastic. The costumes were beautiful. It was just incredibly fun to watch.
More than that, it was emotional. We lost some characters in that fight that were important. And it was clearly emotionally shattering for many of our characters, who found themselves betrayed by people they trusted.
So many of them.
It was a great way to open the season.
What didn’t work
Despite that, this episode wasn’t without its flaws.
First off, there were a lot of dialog scenes. And they were good scenes, as I’ve already discussed. But it was one after another after another. And when your episode is, again, an hour and eleven minutes, it’s maybe a little much to have so much chit-chat. Couldn’t some of these conversations, important as they were, have been moved to maybe another episode?
Finally, I want to talk about Egwene’s travel through the arches.
I feel like maybe there were some deleted scenes here. Because there must have been more to that visit than what we saw, right?
We could have seen Egwene battle Rand. That would have been badass and emotionally devastating. We could have seen her with a quiet life with Rand back home at the Two Rivers. We could have seen anything except for the quick clip of Rand in a bloody river, followed by Egwene being shoved back out in a bloody shift.
Bad job. But at least it wasn’t an extended scene of Moiraine collecting bathwater, and then taking a bath while looking sad. If we’d started this season with another scene like that, it might have broken my brain.
Amazon dropped the first three episodes at once. So we’ll be back soon to talk about episode two. See you then.
(4 / 5)
Early 2000s is a special era for the industry. It accepts the cheesiness and corniness of movie making, in turn producing some gems in their own right. Eight Legged Freaks starring David Arquette and young Scarlet Johanson is a horror comedy about giant spiders who overtake a small town. As crazy as that premise sounds, the movie surprisingly has a ton of heart and is super entertaining. Let’s review, shall we?
Plot
We start Eight Legged Freaks with a shot of toxic waste spilling into the water supply of Joshua, a spider farm owner. He is friends with Mike, one of our protagonists, who is a science geek and a spider enthusiast. Mike notices something quite right upon visiting Joshua, but no one takes him seriously. We are then introduced to the rest of the crew. Mike’s mother Samantha, the town sheriff, is too busy chasing Ashley, his sister, who is dating the town mayor’s son Bret (something Samantha does not approve of). We also have Chris, who returns to the town to save his father’s legacy in the town mines. He has opposition from Wade, Bret’s father, who wants to use the mines for his business ventures. Lots of drama going on that will only get juicier once the spiders get loose.
The creepy crawlies quickly dispose of Joshua and make their grand appearance after Ashley rejects Bret’s advances, abandoning him in the middle of a desert. A glorious chase sequence ensues as the spiders make their way towards the town, wreaking havoc on its residents. In a true horror fashion (which the movie acknowledges), it takes some convincing from Mike and then from Samantha for the town to take the threat seriously. The tongue-in-cheek style of narrative adds the comedy aspect to a movie that would otherwise burn out fairly quickly.
The remaining characters hide out in a shopping mall as it’s the only somewhat sturdy building in the area. This doesn’t last long as the spiders break in, forcing them to run through the mines. Their resources to fight the creepy crawlies off are limited as the methane gas doesn’t allow them to use firearms. Such conditions require resourceful thinking from Chris, who uses perfume to fend off the leader of the spider group and save himself during the climax of the movie.
Character dynamics are not forgotten once the action kicks in. We have Chris confessing his long-term feelings for Samantha which she knew all along, which provided some comedic relief. Bret also reunites with Ashley and apologises for being an asshole. Mike finally gets the appreciation he deserves as his knowledge saves the townsfolk more than once during the whole ordeal.
We end the movie with the town’s radio show person telling the story as an urban legend during his segment. This brings it into question – how much of it happened the way he said it did? We can only guess…
Overall thoughts
Eight Legged Freaks is a fun creature feature with some self-aware commentary on genre tropes that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The acting is good, the pacing fitting and the characters are likeable enough for you to want them to make it through. Definitely a must watch, if you don’t suffer from arachnophobia, that is.
(5 / 5)