First two songs are crap. 'Break Stuff' and 'Re-Arranged' are much more likeable . 'I'm Broke' is weak and there is nothing again decent until the Premier produced and Method Man featured 'N 2 Gether Now'. Nothing amazing with too many songs that sound the same. The general consensus is that they got worse from here, but 'Results May Vary' has a number of tracks with more variety that I enjoy a lot more than anything here.

A decent first series about an Irish crime family that hit its peak around the middle. I found the last few episodes less thrilling. From memory, the 6th was the most lackluster. There is one absolutely ridiculous moment in this that I must mention. After the family get into a war with another mobb, when they are given police protection around their house and everything, one of the brothers actually goes to meet his estranged daughter. If he loved her as much as the show pushes, to put her in such danger was hard to fathom and was poor writing. The music that plays throughout most dramatic moments is meh...

Two episodes in, this is engaging enough to make me stick with the series, but coming from Merchant, I expected more laughs. Don't go in expecting the laughs-a-minute ratio to be as high as much of his past work. It's a crime/thriller first and foremost before a comedy. One of the biggest issues with this, that some other reviewers have pointed out, is the left wing vs right wing BS between a couple of the characters, or how it's framed in the 1st episode, the right winged 'blowhard' and left winged militant... I mean, this is the same 'militant' who actually pulls someone up for saying coloured person instead of person of colour. Insufferable! Coming from Merchant, who on his amazing XFM radio shows and podcasts with Gervais and Karl, was as un-PC as it got at times, it is surprising. Some of the characters are cliched on the surface, like the Indian young female with helicopter parents and the 'person of colour' being entangled in gang life, but they are varied and each have their own story. And then, there is Christopher Walken who is great in anything.

"The story takes place in an alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos." This premise pique my interest but unfortunately it doesn't amount to much. I don't know what the writer, Desmond Nakano, was exactly trying to do here, but it doesn't work. Disregarding that failed attempt at social commentary, and just looking at this as a poor family guy taking a wealthy man hostage, I didn't find this to be a complete mess or bore, but it has issues. The major one is that he takes his hostage everywhere in public, even on a trip with his son. It's fairly ridiculous. I found Louis' wife fairly unsupportive as well once things turned sour.

[SPOILERS] A bit of a weird storyline with this one. The whole movie is about a crew making the first manned mission to Mars. The first attempt has to be postponed though due to something going wrong with The Hood on board the Zero-X spacecraft taking photos who gets his foot caught in the craft's hydraulics. After a two-year investigation, the conclusion is that it was sabotage so International Rescue offer their services to help make sure all goes well with the second attempt. The Hood is again up to his old tricks as he attempts to impersonate one of the astronauts, but is caught by Scott pre-launch. After a chase, The Hood is then seemingly killed after Parker shoots his chopper down! Yep, the most famous villain of the series is killed about halfway through the movie without anything being made of it. So, nothing comes of his two attempts at sabotaging the launch, stealing the secrets of the Zero-X except for delaying the mission for two years.... See what I mean when I say it's an odd storyline? Then they get to Mars, spend about two minutes there after having to come back to Earth after these dragon-like creatures try to kill them and International Rescue save the day again with the reentry. And in amongst it all, is a bit of a sub-plot about Alan, the youngest Tracy brother, wanting to spread his wings and be with Lady Penelope. There were some great engaging episodes of the fantastic Thunderbirds series, but there were also a number that were quite slowly paced, and this is more like the latter. The amazing explosions at the conclusion are some of the best moments of the movie. I never remember noticing this in the series, but the way Lady Penelope speaks, particularly to Parker, sounds patronising as anything. If you have fond memories of the franchise, like I do, it's worth a watch, but like I said, the plot is weak.