RE:View: The Big Bang Theory: Season 4

Even before coming into its fourth season, The Big Bang Theory had really hit its stride, pulling in massive ratings and marvellous reviews consistently each week. However, this obviously wasn't enough for series creator and sitcom tycoon Chuck Lorre, as Season 4 changes up the formula with an altered equation and varied results.

Should I be here?

   This change comes in the shape of Amy Farrah Fowler, the female counterpart to Sheldon's braniacal quirk of a character. At first, the flow felt broken, like she didn't really fit properly within the gang and broke up the dynamic that the guys had going on. Her lines fell flat, sounding like remade mismatches of Sheldon quotes with a boring execution, as is the fatal trap that Jim Parsons manages to never slip in to (his multiple Emmy's acting as a testament to that).

Yes I should!

My preconceptions, however, were misjudged, with Amy's character slowly beginning to grow on me episode by episode, as she broke more and more away from the "Sheldon with a Vagina" mould, carrying some more substantial plot lines on her own and mixing with the girls' crowd (Penny and Bernadette). And it is with this "Girls Crowd" that the second major change for the series comes in. As before the show has focused primarily on the boys and their misadventures in geeksville, this season we see the spotlight being shifted slightly to share the laughs with the female side of things.

Penny's Leonard issues are pondered upon, acting as the slow burner of the season arch, Bernadette deals with trying to get serious with Mummy's Boy Howard, while Raj's sister Priya turns up in the latter half of the season to mix things up with Leonard's love life. Luckily, Priya's character is meant to be disliked, at least that's the way I felt, as her stuck up approach to controlling our boy Leonard sends Penny and the newly formed Gals into a tension fuelled hate party against her - with some hilarious outcomes.

The Raj vs Howard battle surely is a season highlight

Of course, the four guys, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj, are still the central theme of the show, and still go all out in the comedy field. The gang's Justice League team-up is unmissable, with a little help from Penny-Ex Zach (who really deserves more eps!), and their quest to retrieve Sheldon's stolen World of Warcraft account from a sleezeball hacker reminds us all of what the show is really about; honest, nerdy, laugh-filled fun. Plus, the Indiana Jones homage featuring Sheldon, Wil Wheaton and a heck load of angry fan boys is just pure hilarity-ensued awesome.

Raj on the Rise

Raj is fleshed out substantially this time around, and is quickly becoming possibly my favourite character, as he tackles his girl issues with surprisingly unexpected results (especially with that series finale!). He just seems more unique from the other guys, with a USP of romance novel/movie addiction and a tendency to call out hilariously geek-cum-"home boy" phrases during card games. His character has really developed into a cute, rootable underdog of the guys, that's just crying out for some more Raj-centric episodes.

Overall, the series starts to feel more cohesive and connected, with relationships playing a more vital role than ever before, and episodes linking into each other with a more structured season story arch. For the majority of the time, the show retains its smart and sassy humour that keeps the wit intelligible and the laughs worthwhile, such as it has been loved for thus far. For any misstep in this regard, my faith is restored by a magnitude of Sheldon quotes or Howard puns, Penny put-downs or ingeniously planted pop-cult references (everyone's favourite Gorn makes an appearance).

It may have changed, but it's still going strong.

4/5 Stars.

ATR

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RE:View: Sucker Punch

If I asked you to think of every action movie convention you could, and then told you that they would all be in one movie, what would you say? No way, right? Well director Zack Snyder has attempted just that in his latest cinema outing, Sucker Punch. A hybrid between fantasy/action and thriller/sci-fi, Sucker Punch aims for the same mind-bending plot devices seen in the likes of Inception, but with all the heavy action, can the story keep up?

    The tale follows 5 girls :

• Emily Browning as Babydoll
• Abbie Cornish as Sweet Pea
• Jena Malone as Rocket
• Vanessa Hudgens (Yep - from High School Musical!) as Blondie
• Jamie Chung as Amber

 Locked up in a mental asylum, they attempt to escape by using the power of their minds to find five items that will set them free. Ever seen Rugrats? Well the way that they imagine stuff around them when they're playing is kind of like what happens here, just with more violence and scantily-clothed women. This complex idea however, doesn't always work and will leave you wondering why the hell a battle between a girl and 3 huge Gatling gun-wielding samurai's just took place.

    However, the style and action of these bizarre fight scenes really can't be flawed. Every battle runs smoothly with slow-mo cuts, close up combat and some stunning camera work in places to capture the beautiful choreography at work. Action-junkies will feel right at home here as fights with dragons, steam-punk German zombies and robots, unfold into some truly awesome set-pieces.

The action is crazy-awesome

          As for the multi-layered plot setup, it seems to struggle at times. Most things look to be based on implying things, rather than actually executing them which creates some plot holes and bad pacing issues. If you looked deep into it, there are some real serious themes of rape and abuse going on, but unfortunately these aren't built upon largely due to the 12A rating, leaving the finished product slightly sloppy. Plus the fairytale setup of "3 problems" (i.e. the three pigs houses) gets tiresome after a while and feels like the easy route of plot progression that really doesn't benefit the wannabe-complex script.

          The girls (although none really stand out) give fairly decent performances and manage to carry it well enough. Some more dialogue during fight scenes could have helped build some chemistry between them all though, and a couple characters seem a bit dispensable and only there to make up numbers (namely Hudgens and Chung's roles). On the whole though, the acting is fine.

You can't deny them their hotness...

     I can see what Snyder is getting at here and when closely analysed this could be viewed as a master-piece, but obviously the everyday movie-goer isn't going to get that deep, or even the critics. It seems a bit too like Snyder's film and no one else's, which is why it comes off a little rough. Granted, Snyder's cinematography and imagery is spot on and the action is handled expertly, but that's not going to satisfy everyone, especially those who came for a "mind-bending vision of reality" and instead got what came off like a video-game adaptation. I guess some slack should be given due to the fact that this is the first time Snyder's using his own material and can be somewhat forgiven due to his lack of guidance in the story-telling department this time round.

3/5 Stars - It's certainly fun to watch, just don't go expecting the next Shutter Island.

What did HeSaidSheSaid think of Sucker Punch? Click here to find out.