THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (2019 – 2020) – My rating: 9/10

The Umbrella Academy (“TUA”) is an American superhero web television series based on the comic book series of the same name written by Gerard Way. Created for Netflix by Steve Blackman and developed by Jeremy Slater. The series is produced by Borderline Entertainment, Dark Horse Entertainment, and Universal Cable Productions. I’m glad I stuck with this series long enough to find out that this Academy is well worth seeing.

**** SOME SPOILERS BELOW ****

The Umbrella Academy revolves around a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death and the threat of an impending apocalypse. On October 1, 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously, despite none of them showing any signs of pregnancy until the day when labor began, then birth. Seven of the children are then adopted by eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves / The Monocle (Colm Feore), and turned into a superhero team that he calls “The Umbrella Academy.” Hargreeves names the children numbers rather than names however, they all carry the last name of Hargreeves. The children are eventually named by Grace (Jordan-Claire Robbins), their robot-mother as follows: Luther (Tom Hopper) / young Luther (Cameron Brodeur), Diego (David Castañeda) / young Diego (Blake Talabis), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) / teenage Allison (Eden Cupid) / 4-year-old Allison (Jordana Blake), Klaus (Robert Sheehan) / young Klaus (Dante Albidone), Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) / Adult Number Five (Jim Watson) / Elderly Number Five (Sean Sullivan), who is never assigned a real name, Ben (Justin H. Min) / young Ben (Ethan Hwang), and Vanya (Ellen Page), Young teenage Vanya (T. J. McGibbon), 4-Year-old Vanya (Alyssa Gervasi). While putting six of his children to work fighting crime, Sir Reginald keeps Vanya apart from her siblings because she supposedly demonstrates no powers of her own.

In the present day, Luther (aka “Spaceboy” was formally Number One) — he is an astronaut with super strength who has lived on the moon for four years and is also part ape.  Diego (aka “The Kraken” was formally Number Two) — he has become a vigilante with a knack for getting into trouble and can curve the trajectory of anything he throws.  Allison (aka “The Rumor” was formally Number Three) — she is a famous actress with the ability to control minds and bend reality by saying “I heard a rumor…”.  Klaus (aka “The Séance” was formally Number Four) — he has a drug and alcohol addiction and is able to communicate with the dead.  Number Five (aka “The Boy” continues to be called Number Five) — he has the ability to time travel.  Ben (aka “The Horror” was formally Number Six) — he is deceased and a ghost who can only converse with Klaus. Vanya (aka “The White Violin” was formally Number Seven) — she is a classic violinist with an ability TBA. 

The estranged siblings learned that their father, Sir Reginald has died, so they gathered for his funeral. Number Five returns from the future, chased by time-traveling operatives and reveals that a global apocalypse is imminent. Meanwhile, the reunited siblings try to uncover the secret of their dysfunctional family as they experience disconnect and chaos due to their divergent personalities and abilities. 

I really loved this unusual Marvel series.  It showed diversity, excitement, humor, action, and mystery.  Kudos to the writer and director for this entertaining story of mayhem and pandemonium. The Umbrella Academy has turned out to be one of the best series I’ve seen in months.  The reason I really enjoy Marvel, DC, and other superhero movies is acceptance, as they allow me and people like me to enjoy the fruits of our imaginations without any judgment.  These types of movies/series are “oh so entertaining” and add to the number of good endorphins in one’s body.  TUA is different because the focus is on the characters who all have powers, but they’re not overdone.  There are so many surprising twists and turns and BTW, I dare you to predict where this plot is going.  TUA is funny, I mean hilariously funny and suspenseful.  Each character has his or her own story and each story shares its personal version of funny and mystery.  It may take you a couple of episodes to really delve into the characters, but once you do, TOTAL ADDICTION!  Intriguing is 43 babies born to 43 women on the same day, all over the world.  What makes this different is the women were NEVER PREGNANT until the time of birth.  No nine months, no prenatal care, no sex, just a sudden baby-filled-womb on the day of birth — ready, set, baby.  This should be enough to lure you in, it certainly got me.  The series was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario.  The first season was released on Netflix on February 15, 2019. In April 2019, Netflix reported that 45 million households had watched season one during its first month of release. That same month, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on July 31, 2020. Watch both seasons of TUA, which received positive reviews from critics on Netflix — Check It Out!

ANON (2018) – My rating 7/10

Anon is a 2018 British science fiction thriller directed and written by Andrew Niccol and financed by Sky Cinema Original Films.  Anon follows a troubled detective in a futuristic world where privacy and anonymity no longer exist. A woman is discovered that has defied the governmental transparency system, which is now the focus of this detective.  This movie gives a whole new meaning to the term “Big Hal is watching” but could easily become reality in the near future.

In a modern world where advanced biosyn implants mean everyone is subjected to a relentless visual stream of information they call the “Mind’s Eye”, privacy and anonymity as we know them have vanished. Everyone’s personal information is on public display and each person’s life is recorded down to the millisecond to a vast grid called “The Ether”, a database which law enforcement can access and use to prosecute criminals. This means no one has any secrets.  Any and everyone can access your information, which is the opposite of HIPAA.  It seems that the government has done an about face on privacy.

Sal Frieland (Clive Owen) is faced with a series of shocking murders which appear to be linked. The police find themselves unable to identify the killer or killers. It soon becomes apparent that what the murders have in common signals a major breakdown in the system on which society has come to rely upon. As he delves into the case, Sal encounters a woman (Amanda Seyfried) who seems to have no identity. Something he initially assumes is a minor glitch becomes the first clue that security of the “Mind’s Eye” has been compromised, sending Sal into a mission where he acts as bait to trap someone who effectively does not exist before they kill again.

Going forward, Sal is tasked with a highly technical mission trying to catch this young lady and stop her reign of murder.  It was fun watching this mystery unravel.  It’s an eerie feeling knowing that chips are already implanted into selected people that holds all of their medical history.  That means, we certainly have the ability to make a movie like this real.  None the less, I enjoyed Anon which is currently streaming on Netflix and not a series.  I recommend Anon to science buffs and those who are interested in SiFi films. There are parts of the movie that are no easy to follow.  Check it out!