Listener's Choice #1: Peacemaker Season One

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[00:00:29] Listener choice. I were very first one and thank you very much to Nikki for the comment

[00:00:38] and or suggestion. And usually the turnaround will not be this quick because this was just

[00:00:45] a nice coincidence that I happened to be off today and I just released the Joker documentary

[00:00:50] and I'm guessing Nikki saw the episode and dropped the idea for peacemaker. So thank

[00:00:57] you very much to that. And I think I might depending on how frequently we get them, I

[00:01:02] might convert the bonus daily show that we do on Sundays to a listener choice. So if you

[00:01:08] have any suggestions, movies, TV preferably movies, but TV shows are alright. Send them

[00:01:14] are away through any of the contact information in the show notes, letterbox to YouTube, email,

[00:01:20] social media at film buds. Let's know what you'd like to see reviewed and so thank you

[00:01:25] very much again to Nikki. Let's talk peacemaker which there is only one season so far and

[00:01:34] this show at least for the first season is technically in the DC extended universe

[00:01:40] which we have covered all of movie wise at least on the show so you can check all that

[00:01:45] out. So peacemaker came out in 2022 is created by James Gunn which I did not know going in.

[00:01:54] Stars John Cena as peacemaker Danielle Brooks Freddie Storma Jennifer Holland Steve Aggie

[00:02:03] Bradley Baker and a few others. And the Snops is picking up where the suicide squad 2021

[00:02:10] left off peacemaker returns home after recovering from his encounter with blood sport only to

[00:02:15] discover that his freedom comes at a price. So I just happened to watch the show recently

[00:02:22] so I did not need to go through it again. So just happened to be good timing. I liked

[00:02:30] the suicide squad. The James Gunn film I didn't love it as much as some people seem to

[00:02:34] I think that the first and third guardians are better than that. I think it's better

[00:02:38] than Guardians of volume two, but I didn't love the suicide squad as much as I wanted

[00:02:45] to. I still liked it. I still like the characters are like the world. I like the more violent

[00:02:49] R-rated nature of the story. And when I heard about this one, I didn't have a huge interest

[00:02:55] because I didn't really love the character, the peacemaker character in the movie. And

[00:02:59] so I was like, all right, I'll get to when I get to it. But recently I just happened

[00:03:04] to have a free night. So I went through it and I liked it more than I thought I would.

[00:03:09] One thing again, I didn't know James Gunn was involved. And so that was a nice surprise

[00:03:14] because I think his writing especially is very strong. He has that sort of, I don't

[00:03:19] know you would describe it as like kind of charming juvenile humor and dialogue to his characters

[00:03:25] and the peacemakers are very, very immature, racist, violent, ignorant character. But like

[00:03:33] the suicide squad characters and some of the guardians as well, Gunn is able to give

[00:03:39] it a bit of a self-awareness. And so you aren't necessarily watching characters act and talk

[00:03:45] that way, but thinking that it's the right way or it's a good way. It's more so just funny

[00:03:50] or ridiculous or you aren't necessarily supposed to agree with them all the time. So he has

[00:03:54] a good way of making those anti-heroes, vigilantes interesting despite their bad qualities

[00:04:00] and is pretty signature use of Gore and Blood and Body Horror which one of the best I think

[00:04:08] in this series is in the first episode at the end where he uses the Sonic boom on the

[00:04:13] girl in the parking lot. And that's pretty crazy. And so there are some good moments

[00:04:17] and he definitely has a lot of that in the suicide squad as well since Guardians is

[00:04:22] 13. There's not much of that, but with this character he definitely gets to go all out. And when

[00:04:29] it comes to John Cena, he definitely has grown on me. I don't think he's an amazing actor and I doubt

[00:04:35] anyone does, but when he first started being in movies, I was a little like, eh, not really doing

[00:04:39] much for me, but he has grown a little bit in that. And I think he's got some good charm,

[00:04:45] some good humor. He can have some good deliveries and he has a good presence. So if he is in a movie

[00:04:50] whether it's a lead role or supporting role, typically I find him better in a supporting role,

[00:04:54] but I'm usually not upset. I'm like, okay cool, John Cena is in this, that's all right. And so he's

[00:05:00] quite good in this. This is probably his best performance. He does carry the show fairly well

[00:05:06] and the rest of the cast is good. I really like the actor who plays his father. I like the vigilante

[00:05:14] character. I think everybody is funny and has a good place in the series.

[00:05:19] I do find, and this is just a personal thing, and I don't mean to sound like a broken record,

[00:05:23] but I almost always wish that shows like this could be a movie instead. While I think that there

[00:05:30] aren't many big weak points, there are points where it does drag a little bit, runs out of steam

[00:05:35] in the middle, and I find that I would almost rather have a two and a half hour movie rather than

[00:05:41] an eight episode series. Because while I appreciate that most episodes were only about half hour

[00:05:46] and there were only eight of them, it still felt too long for what the story is. And so that's a

[00:05:53] little bit of a detractor, not a big deal, but that's just how I feel. Maybe I'm in the minority

[00:05:58] there, I don't know. Otherwise, it looks quite good, directed very well. I think the not to spoil

[00:06:04] too much, but the big creature at the end in the barn is awesome and very classic James Gunn design.

[00:06:11] He has a great eye for weird, gross monster creature designs. So I really like that.

[00:06:18] The overall idea, which is probably the best aspect of the show is how John Cena's character

[00:06:25] is coming from this very, very racist, ignorant home and his father being the worst of it.

[00:06:32] And to me at least, a lot of the show was about showing someone who is growing up in a certain kind

[00:06:37] of environment and having to change their behavior or not having to, but wanting to in some ways.

[00:06:44] And also the idea of ignorance and just because you come from an ignorant home doesn't give you

[00:06:50] the excuse of acting that way later, especially if you have more of an awareness of how

[00:06:55] the rest of the world is and thinks. And so if you repeat the past, if you repeat what your

[00:07:01] parents and guardians did, and you're aware of that, you're not really excused in that way. And so I

[00:07:08] think all of that way makes sense and that overall growth of him trying to separate himself from his

[00:07:13] father and his father being unwilling to change, but he is at least in some ways. I think all of

[00:07:19] that is quite interesting and nothing crazy deep, but it does give the show a little bit more

[00:07:25] weight to it and residents than I thought it would going in. So I really like that and I appreciate

[00:07:30] them for putting that in there because that is a very, sadly, very important relevant idea going

[00:07:35] on right now as it always has been. But these days especially so that works the soundtrack James

[00:07:43] Gunn has a great year for good soundtracks as it is with guardians one through three and then

[00:07:49] the suicide squad. And then I think in this it's probably one of his best because he picks these

[00:07:54] heavy metal anthems and hair metal and all this very 80s classic rock, but it's usually not big hits

[00:08:02] like the greatest hits. He has the ability to find songs that are still very catchy and commercial,

[00:08:08] but aren't the ones you've heard a million times. So I appreciate that. So it's overall a solid show.

[00:08:14] I would be curious to see what they do with the second season whenever that comes. But

[00:08:19] to end things off, I do which it was a movie series instead like a franchise because I would watch

[00:08:24] a second movie, a third movie with this group of characters and done by James Gunn if that's how

[00:08:29] it was going to be. So give it a look. It's definitely an interesting sort of one-off show that

[00:08:36] I feel like deserves a little bit more praise than I got. And you definitely could do a whole heck

[00:08:41] of a lot worse when it comes to comic book shows and movies. So that is a four out of five. And

[00:08:51] thanks again to Nikki for the suggestion. And if anyone out there again has recommendations,

[00:08:58] suggestions, whatever. And you'd like to see something reviewed on the show in this way. Please

[00:09:02] let us know social media at film buds, letterboxed YouTube email and all that stuff is in the show

[00:09:08] so please send stuff our way. Thanks.