Disney+: Review of PETER PAN & WENDY: Defined by Diversity

April 30, 2023

Wendy Moira Angela Darling (Ever Anderson) was the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George and Mary Darling (Alan Tudyk and Mollie Parker). She was the older sister to her brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe), with whom she still enjoyed playing pirate sword fight games. She was unhappy that she was going to boarding school already the next day and told her mother that she wished she would not grow up. 

That night, Peter Pan (Alexander Molony), a favorite character from their mom's bedtime stories, flew into their nursery together with his tiny fairy friend Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi). He taught the three Darling children how to fly by thinking of happy thoughts, and then invited them to fly along with him following the second star to the right and straight on till morning all the way to Neverland, where children did not have to grow up.

Film versions of J.M. Barrie's classic play have been done since 1924 when there was a silent version by Herbert Brenon, that is still considered the best film adaptation up to now. It casted a female actor, Betty Bronson, as Peter Pan, something that has been done for stage productions of the story since 1904 (Nina Boucicault, Maud Adams, Pauline Chase, etc...) and would be done well into the future (Mary Martin, Cathy Rigby, Sandy Duncan, etc...)

The most iconic film version would be the 1953 animated adaptation by Walt Disney, and its images remain the way most people would envision Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Capt. Hook and the Darling children. Live action films have also been done to update the material for modern audiences, most of whom fall a bit short of expectations when compared to this animated classic, including "Peter Pan" (2003) and Steven Spielberg's "Hook" (1991). 

In this latest live action adaptation by Disney, diversity casting was done as is the current norm. That the pirates and the Lost Boys were a mixture of races is already no surprise. Tinker Bell is played by an actress of mixed race, Yara Shahidi, the most stunning looker in this new cast. However, the addition of girls among the Lost Boys was notable, especially since Barrie himself originally wrote that girls were too clever to get lost. It is remarkable for finally casting a Native American actress (Alyssa Wapanatâhk) as Tiger Lily. 

There was not much joy or fun in this version, matched by its dull color palette. The mood turned very dark by the end of the first hour with the scene of a terrifying fall and landing (!), so scary for young viewers. Not much camp in Jude Law's Capt. Hook, especially as we get his sad back story. This also broke tradition of casting a different actor for Mr. Darling, of whom Hook was symbolic. Despite the order of their names in the title, Wendy played the central role here, not Peter. 6/10.

Review of TO CATCH A KILLER: Mind of a Mass Murderer

April 29, 2023

One New Year's Eve, when the skies of Baltimore were lit up with fireworks, 29 unrelated people were randomly hit and killed one after the other, by a single bullet each. A quick investigation determined that all the bullets came from a single location in one building, which also exploded that same night. This meant there was only one shooter. The FBI assigned senior investigator Geoffrey Lammarck (Ben Mendelsohn) to take over the case. 

Of all the policemen in the Baltimore PD, Lammarck specifically noted Officer Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) as to her astute analysis of the gunman's personality. Lammarck believed that Falco's checkered damaged history may help her get into the mind of the killer. However, the two of them faced tremendous pressure from the politicians of the city who wanted a quick shortcut to the crime's resolution. 

This film co-written and directed by Argentinian filmmaker Damián Szifron, writer-director of 2014 Oscar Best Foreign Language Film nominee and BAFTA Best Foreign Language film winner,  "Relatos Salvajes" ("Wild Tales"). It unexpectedly began with a shocking killing spree of 29 victims all happening within the first five minutes. For the perpetrator of such crime to be simply be called a "killer" in the unmemorable title was a wasted opportunity for more impact.

The plot of getting into the mind of a mass murder to try to find him may sound a lot like the plot of "The Silence of the Lambs." However, the approach of storytelling is not the same. There was a lot more time devoted to talking scenes between Eleanor and Lammarck which lacked tension and urgency. Szifron even had to revive the lagging momentum with another mass killing in a mall lest he lost the attention of the viewers. 

The ending sequence was very disappointing because again of the interminable talking between Eleanor and the killer. We already knew at that point that we are dealing with a mentally-disturbed man, but their conversation did not really add more insight to his deeper motivations that led him to kill so many random people. Shailene Woodley's Eleanor was too low-key and dour to get audiences to root for her. 5/10. 

Vivamax: Review of SEX GAMES: Exploit for Entertainment

April 28, 2023

The relationship sexy movie actress Debbie (Sheree Bautista) and her second husband, businessman Bobby (Josef Elizalde) began with an instant sexual attraction at first sight. From the start, sex had been the primary force that kept their relationship going. Now ten years in their wedding, the couple now found regular sex boring, and needed to spice things up with sex games, ranging from role playing to multiple partners.

Wanting more to engage in a challenging scenario to their games, Debbie introduced Bobby to Shiela (Azi Acosta) and her boyfriend Alvin (Benz Sangalang). They were a young couple of limited financial means. Seeing that the virtue of the couple would be hard to break (both of them once aspired a religious vocation), Debbie proposed a competition to Bobby as to who would be able to lure them for a voluntary romp in bed. 

Most of National Artist for Film and Broadcast Ricky Lee's recent output had been sexy films streamed on the Vivamax app. After the first one, "Nerisa" (Law Fajardo, 2021), all his subsequent Vivamax films were directed by Mac Alejandre: "My Husband, My Lover" (2021), "Silip sa Apoy" (2022), "Bela Luna" (2023) and now this new one "Sex Games." Lee and Alejandre also had a film released in cinemas -- "May-December-January" (2022). 

The name of Ricky Lee can add more respectability to a Vivamax film, even if its main purpose was still to serve prurient motivations. His stories mostly involved complicated characters with complicated problems. In all of his Vivamax films, director Mac Alejandre always had an assuredly lush visual style and carefully choreographed bed scenes. Here, electric neon lights were a distinct part of his production design. 

Sheree Bautista was among the original lineup of the Viva Hot Babes formed in 2001, along with Maui Taylor, Katya Santos, Gwen Garci, Andrea del Rosario (who was also in the cast of this film as a therapist). While the other Sex Bomb girls now mainly play clothed supporting roles on Vivamax, seasoned veteran Sheree showed that she can still bare her body as boldly as any one of those young starlets out there. 

Since the story was about sex games, this of course opened the floodgates for director Alejandre to portray all kinds of sexual situations which Debbie and Bobby engaged in. One daring scene depicted foreplay with a transwoman (Francine Garcia). Another scene practically depicted a rape of a teenage girl (Joharah Alonzo), which was very disgusting. Scenes of teasing felt more erotic than those graphic ones, less can indeed be more. 4/10. 

Review of SA MULI: Reincarnated Reunions

April 27, 2023

Pep (Xian Lim) was a popular novelist who had written two best-selling romance books, both of which had a sad ending where the leading lady would die. At a book signing at an Art Fair, he caught a glimpse of a young lady Elly (Ryza Cenon), who was in a rush to leave after she shoplifted a book from a stall. When Pep saw Elly's face clearly for the first time when they sat across each other, tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes. 

Pep befriended Elly and convinced her to go along for a road trip. In an old house in Taal, Batangas, he told her the ill-fated love story between Aurora and Victor from the year 1900. In an old church in Tayabas, Quezon, he told her the ill-fated love story between Belen and Nicolas in the year 1950. Pep intimated that he was the reincarnation of Victor and Nicolas, while Elly was the reincarnation of Aurora and Belen. 

Writer-director Fifth Solomon brought us along to two Southern Tagalog  towns plus Manila, as well as to two years in the past plus the present. This varied time frame of this story gave Solomon's camera, production design, costume, hair and makeup crews golden opportunities to recreate those periods realistically to draw the audience in. Later, there would even be an epilogue that would propel the story 40 more years into the future. 

There is no doubting the dramatic chops of both Xian Lim and Ryza Cenon.  They looked good together, especially in the two past time periods they appeared in, and pretty much nailed their period styling and romantic scenes. The present day scenes tended to more awkward because of some comedy had been forced in to liven things up. While Cenon is more at ease with quips, Lim had to resort to distractingly cheesy, out-of-place gimmicks.

The script can sometimes feel over-wrought especially in the over-long third act, which felt like Solomon was at a loss on how to end it. Furthermore, he used a staring contest to bookend the story did not feel realistic at all. Was this ever a thing? What was the point of this activity anyway? How could it supposedly "inspire" someone? This was a major plot element yet so contrived. Solomon could have elaborated on it more to make it more relatable. 6/10.

Review of RENFIELD: Cult of Co-dependency

April 25, 2023

Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) conscripted the services of lawyer R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) to be his assistant in luring victims for him to feed on. In return, Dracula conjured that Renfield be immortal and was able to gain explosive super-strength whenever he ate a bug. After countless years of indentured abusive servitude, Renfield wanted out and joined a support group for people in co-dependent relationships.

Renfield met New Orleans policewoman Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina) who was frustrated for being stuck with thankless traffic beats. She would rather get involved in important crimes like the drug crime family of the Lobos, led by Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz) and his mother Bellafrancesca (Shohreh Aghdashloo). As Renfield and Rebecca get together to nab the Lobos, the Lobos sought an alliance with Count Dracula himself. 

Having played a zombie in "Warm Bodies" (2013), it was not new for Nicholas Hoult to play a character who was a living dead. The droll way he played Renfield, we will sympathize with his wanting to get out of his miserable afterlife. Having Awkwafina as his love interest here was an out-of-the-box casting choice, it actually worked very well. From her beginnings as a rapper and comedian, Awkwafina continues to expand her range and she is doing well. 

Nicolas Cage may not have as much screen time as his fans would want. However, he chewed up all his scenes as the legendary Count Dracula. We all know Cage was always wont to overact and as hammy as he was here, his fans will love him in this role. It was good to see classy Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo in a fun role, 20 years since her Academy Award nomination for Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog" (2003).

The whole premise of this quirky film was quite original and outrageous, so if you get into its weird drift, you will find it darkly entertaining and fun. The blood and gore factor is cartoonishly high as human bodies literally blow up into bloody blobs of limbs and flesh when super-Renfield wielded his powerful punch on them. Dealing with the psychological issues about co-dependent relationships was a novel touch for a horror-comedy film. 7/10.  

Apple TV+: Review of GHOSTED: Clumsy Captain

April 23, 2023

While recovering from the death of a co-worker, art curator Sadie Rhodes (Ana de Armas) took a long drive into the countryside. Upon stopping over at a farmer's market, she met a farmer Cole Turner (Chris Evans) who was tending to his friend's house plant stall. The two did not hit it off too well at first, but his friend convinced Cole to ask for Sadie's number. This led to a spontaneous date which led to a romp in the sack.

The next few days, Cole impatiently waited for Sadie to answer his multiple text messages to her phone, but received nothing. He suddenly remembered that he had left an item with a tracking device in Sadie's purse which placed the lost item in London, England,  However, upon reaching the location indicated, instead of finding Sadie, Cole was swept up in an unexpected adventure to another part of the globe.

The screen partnership of Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, two of Hollywood's most good-looking A-list stars, made this a hotly-anticipated film. However, when it first came out, critics unanimously gave it very bad reviews. It made me lower my expectations, for sure, but I really had to watch it to judge it for myself. Sure enough, I actually found it quite engaging and entertaining, definitely not as bad as those critics said it was.

Sure, it had familiar elements of "True Lies" (1994) or "Knight and Day" (2010). However, unlike those two, here the tables were turned and it was the male partner who was unwittingly thrown into a deadly situation involving spies. That male partner being Chris Evans (who can't really shake his perfect Captain America persona even if he wanted to) made his awkward klutzy scenes all the more humorous, and quite fun to watch.

Ana de Armas had already proven before that she can be an action star with her roles in "No Time to Die" (2021) and "The Gray Man" (2022). Here, she had fistfights and gunfights galore, raced up the "Exorcist" (1970) stairs, and even drove an old festively-decorated Pakistani bus on reverse through the Khyber Pass while being chased and shot at by bad guys. She is as bad-ass as she is sexy, the perfect female action star for this generation. 

Evans and De Armas looked good together, either in their romantic scenes as well as their action-comedy scenes, so I do not see a problem with their chemistry. Admittedly, there were repetitive lines about their sexual tension, or that they should "get a room," but I still found them quite amusing. Adrien Brody played antagonist Leveque a bit too cartoonishly. The guest star cameos (4 of them!) were quite delightful surprises. 6/10. 

Review of THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE: Plucky Plumbers

April 23, 2023

Brothers Mario and Luigi have recently launched their plumbing business in Brooklyn, which their father did not look too favorably upon. Responding to a nearby flooding crisis which they saw on the news, Mario and Luigi go down into the manhole to try to fix the major leak. However, they were instead sucked into a Warp Pipe and were transported into an alternate universe where they get separated.

While Mario landed in the brightly-lit Mushroom Kingdom ruled by Princess Peach, Luigi landed in the dismal Dark Lands ruled by King Bowser. As he had just acquired the Super Star by attacking the Snow Kingdom of the Penguin King, Bowser now planned to force Princess Peach to get married to rule the universe together. However, he saw Mario there and considered him a rival for the Princess's affection. 

The character of Mario first appeared in Nintendo's 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game. From 1983's Mario Bros. and 1985's Super Mario, Mario had developed into a giant franchise that spun-off into different types of games. Mario is now the best-selling video game franchise of all time. The wealth of characters and genres of the Mario universe over 40 years made it perfect material for a rich, colorful full-length animated film for all ages. 

The voices were provided by an A-list cast led by Chris Platt (as Mario), Charlie Day (as Luigi), Anya Taylor-Joy (as Princess Peach), Seth Rogen (as Donkey Kong). Jack Black stole his scenes as the growly voice of King Bowser, especially for his musical number "Peaches" dedicated to his lady-love while playing the piano. The actor who gave Mario and Luigi their voices in the games, Charles Martinet, voiced the brothers' father. 

As of now, this film joins Universal's recent animated films "Croods 2" (2020), "Sing 2" (2021) and "Minions 2" (2022) as the top animated films of their respective years. Different viewers would be familiar with different storylines and game designs of various Mario games. As with other movies where nostalgia is a main selling point, the more Mario games you have played, the more you will enjoy this movie. My sons rated this film higher than I did. 7/10. 

Vivamax: Review of SAPUL: Empty Episodes

April 21, 2023

One morning, police officer Leandro Acuba (Jeric Raval) rushed his young son Francis (Apollo Arag)  to the hospital because he had a very high fever. He called his wife Melissa (Ina Alegre) who was working in a corporate job in the city. She gets out of the board election they were conducting at that moment and rushed back to see her son.

That same morning, suspended police officer Isidro Ticson (Kiko Estrada) was hanging around the house of his estranged wife Shiela (Christine Bermas). He desperately wanted to talk to her about the possibility of getting back together. However, Shiela was already very burnt by Isid's alcoholism and other serious faults. She never wanted to see him again. 

That very same morning, police officer Ryan Villa (Richard Solano) just had a romantic rendezvous with his fiancee Ava (Ada Hermosa). The two were excitedly preparing for their wedding which was set in a week. At 35, Ryan was very close to his mother Lyn (Suzette Ranillo) who owned the pharmacy where Shiela worked as a salesgirl. 

The stories of these three cops, who just so happened to work in one precinct in a small town in Oriental Mindoro, under chief of police Philip Mijares (Simon Ibarra), were barely connected with each other. These mundane episodes took unnecessarily too long to tell, the emptiness of the script is severely felt. Of course, being Vivamax, sex scenes had to be randomly included, either present day or flashbacks, to further pad the running time.

Director Reynold Giba was a writing protege of Brillante Mendoza who now wrote and directed his second film after "Bata Pa si Sabel" (2022). "Sapul" is Giba's first film without his mentor's name in the credits with him. Not sure what story the director was trying to tell here, even the so-called twist came from out of nowhere and went nowhere. The violence towards the end was very predictable, again part of the typical Vivamax formula. 

Christine Bermas had already proven her worth as an actress so more challenging roles should be given her, not this waste of her time. Kiko Estrada had already played an alcoholic bum before, this is nothing new for him. Jeric Raval gets to have a sex scene with an actress less than half his current age of 47, yet his character was so undercooked. Richard Solano gets to play a good boy for a change this time, but you can see his fate from the get-go. 1/10.

Review of VOLTES V: LEGACY: Realized Reminiscences

April 20, 2023

Three brothers, Steve Armstrong (Miguel Tanfelix), Big Bert (Matt Lozano), and engineering whiz Little Jon Armstrong (Raphael Landicho), sons of Drs. Ned (Dennis Trillo) and Mary Anne (Carla Abellana) Armstrong, had teamed up with their friends Jamie Robinson (Ysabel Ortega) and Mark Gordon (Radson Flores) to train under Dr. Richard Smith (Albert Martinez) at Camp Big Falcon for a still undisclosed mission.

One day, humanoid alien invaders known as Boazanians arrived in their skull-shaped space craft to launch an aggressive attack all over the world. Their leader in their mission to subdue Earth (or Terra Ertu in their language) was Prince Zardoz (Martin del Rosario), with his trusted lieutenants --  The only thing left for Earth to fight the Boazanian beast-fighter was to launch Voltes V with the Armstrong boys and their friends as the pilots. 

Since its initial Philippine broadcast on May 5, 1978, "Voltes V" was arguably the most popular among the Japanese robot anime series broadcast Monday to Friday in the late afternoon time slot back in the late 1970s (alongside "Daimos," "Mazinger Z" and "UFO Grendaizer"). Kids back then got their first real taste of Martial Law when it was suddenly pulled off the air in August 27, 1979 for its "harmful effects on children," possibly for its themes of rebellion. 

That did not diminish the appeal of "Voltes V" among Filipino children from that generation, and apparently even for children of this current generation. Since it was first pitched by director Mark Reyes eight years ago, GMA embarked on this huge project to revive "Voltes V" as a live-action TV series with proudly 100% Filipino special visual effects. The full trailer released January 5, 2023 which teased these special effects made everyone very excited.

As the May 8, 2023 series premiere drew near, it was announced that there will be a special edit of the first three episodes to be screened in SM cinemas starting April 19, 2023.  Unfortunately yesterday, there was a technical glitch which prevented the movie version to be screened in some branches (including Megamall). I am guessing this had something to do with the age and quality of the screen and projector in these older SM cinemas.

It was worth paying to see these proudly all-Filipino mecha-robot visual effects on the big screen. They were confident that the images were of very high-resolution, and will not pixilate when expanded several-fold. The awesomely executed Volting-In sequence alone was worth the price of admission. The Ultramagnetic Whip and Tops looked awesome in action. Voltes's Laser Sword cutting a V through the Beast Fighter was such an exhilarating sight. 

However robots aside, the quality of other supposedly simpler green-screen special effects were not that impressive yet. Missiles exploding, guns firing, jet fighters flying, Mark's horse galloping, Little Jon's dolphins flipping, among many other examples, were not cleanly done. The Filipino dialogue can sound stilted and awkward in some scenes, especially during those chaotic battle operations among the personnel in Camp Big Falcon. 

The opening theme song "Voltes V no Uta" never lost its iconic appeal all these years, especially hearing the new version by Julie Anne San Jose during the Volting-in scenes.  Children of the late 70s can sing this song by heart, wrong lyrics notwithstanding. The musical score incorporated updated versions of the dramatic and battle themes of the original. Did not hear it in the cinematic version, but there will also be a new version of the sentimental closing theme "Chichi Wo Motomete" ("I Want My Father") by Zephanie. 

The five young actors chosen for the main roles look fine for their characters so far. Tanfelix, Lozano and Landicho were already given major dramatic moments and they proved up to the task, recreating the tearful mood of the original anime to a T. Albert Martinez looked perfectly cast as Dr. Smith, as well as Martin del Rosario as Zardoz (except for his ugly wig and coat collar design. However, Gabby Eigenmann as Cmdr. Robinson, Liezel Lopez as Zandra and Epi Quizon as Zuhl looked rather miscast, and may need more time to get used to. 

The initial scenes showing Mary Anne Collins giving Ned Armstrong his new name (with a cringe-y explanation) may have already inadvertently revealed some key plot revelations which the original anime series reserved in its final episodes. The scenes set in planet Boazan seen in the trailer makes the subsequent series worth following, aside from more spectacular mecha battles to come. Nostalgia definitely plays a big role in the final overall assessment. My sons both gave it a lower score than I did. 7/10. 

Review of AIR: Groundbreaking Gambit

April 20, 2023

In 1984, Nike was a poor third place in the world of basketball shoes in terms of sales, behind Converse and Adidas.  Current CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) and Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) were pressuring their basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) to find the best upcoming basketball star to be the new image model and spokesperson for Nike basketball shoes, lest they be forced to close their basketball line.

Vacarro recommended to Knight that Nike should channel their entire marketing budget of $250,000, originally meant for three athletes, to just one person -- Michael Jordan. However, 1984 NBA draft third pick Jordan had already expressed his preference to Adidas. Behind his bosses' backs, Vaccaro went to the Jordan's home in Wilmington, North Carolina to talk to Michael's mother Deloris (Viola Davis) to give Nike a chance to pitch.

Michael Jordan is one of the NBA's greatest basketball players of all time, if not THE greatest. Even those who have limited knowledge about the NBA or basketball in general would be familiar with Michael Jordan's name, his superhuman skills on the basketball court, and his association with the Nike company and the shoes which bore his name, Air Jordan. This was a historic business deal which changed the landscape of professional sports.

This film tells the behind-the-scenes story on how Nike persuaded Jordan to sign an exclusive contract with them.  Since we already know the ending, it was director Ben Affleck's unenviable task to make this mundane process business process exciting for the big screen. His Oscar-caliber tech crew -- cinematographer Robert Richardson ("JFK," "The Aviator," "Hugo") and editor William Goldenberg ("Argo") -- definitely helped achieve Afleck's vision.

Even if Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Ben Affleck himself never really disappeared in their roles, their humorous camaraderie was infectious and made you root for them. Viola Davis may be subdued here but she was still quite intimidating. As Jordan's manager David Falk, Chris Messina was very amusing in that expletive-laden tirade of his. Matthew Maher was lovable as Peter Moore, designer of the iconic shoe and logo. 

There was so much 1980s nostalgia all throughout the running time of this film. The musical soundtrack was a collection of the decade's catchiest songs -- "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits, " All I Need is a Miracle" by Mike and the Mechanics, "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen, plus "Tempted" by Squeeze for good measure. These side elements made the ride all the more engaging. 8/10. 

Review of THE POPE'S EXORCIST: Mocking Minister

April 19, 2023

An American woman Julia (Alex Essoe) went to Spain with her two children, a rebellious teenage daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and younger son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney). Julia's husband had died in a car accident and bequeathed to his family an old abbey in Spain. Julia was trying to restore the abbey, but the work was suspended when a fiery accident occurred. Suddenly, Henry became stricken with bizarre behavior.

Fr. Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe) was the personal exorcist of the Pope (Franco Nero). A committee was reviewing his exorcism activities, and the American cardinal Sullivan (Ryan o'Grady) in particular was very antagonistic against him. To diffuse the tension, the Pope sends Amorth to help in the case of Henry in Spain. A local priest Fr. Tomas Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) who had no exorcism experience before, was there to assist Amorth. 

For sure, this film has all the tropes commonly seen in all demonic possession films that preceded it -- the possessed person is an innocent child, his medical tests all come out normal, the possessed child speaks in a deep distorted voice and in different languages, the body of the possessed gets tortured and assumes unnatural positions, a local priest and a higher expert are called in to perform the actual exorcism and ask the demon its name.

However, this new film also expanded on the psychological torment inflicted by the demon on the two priests, Amorth and Esquibel. It kept on taunting them about their own sins in their past or present, coincidentally both involved women. Another remarkable difference about Crowe's exorcist was his penchant to do jokes even when dealing with the demon. Lest we find this humor corny, Amorth warns us that "the devil hates jokes."

We have already seen way too many exorcism films to find all this very scary, but some images were still very disturbing, like that of a demented young woman putting a live red cardinal bird into her mouth. Like "The Da Vinci Code'" (2006), the history of the Catholic Church itself was also drawn into the plot as the brutal Spanish Inquisition was brought up. Interesting too that a promise of a franchise was even suggested at the very end. 6/10.