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Danger 5 Season 2 David Ashby, Natasa Ristic, Sean James Murphy, Amanda Simons, Tilman Vogler, Pacharo Mzembe, Elizabeth Hay, Fumito Arai, Robert Tompkins, Nathan Cain, Daniel Becker

Danger 5 (Season 2): the team of global super spies are re-united, this time in the 1980s, to stop another of Hitler’s quests for world domination. It’s soon apparent that this is – paradoxically – undeniably Danger 5, but also quite different to the previous season. The writers tampered with the cocktail recipe a little too much; Pierre has totally changed for no explained reason, another lead was swapped out for a ridiculous brat-character, most of the established running jokes dropped, and 80s throwback has been done to death lately – giving it a less cool / kitsch feel than the 1960s format. On the other hand the show manages to remain funny, wacky, surreal, psychedelic, and a celebration of satire (there’s an episode called “Back to the Führer” – come on!). I hate using the word ‘random’, but the ‘randomness’, madness and surrealism of the gags is the main thing that raises Danger 5 and sets it apart from the mediocrity that you expect of most modern comedies. All of the changes add up to fewer laughs per episode, but despite this Danger 5 Season 2 is still a great show, that is equally bonkers – but has a significantly different look and feel.

Score: 7/10

Danger 5 Season 2 3 David Ashby, Natasa Ristic, Sean James Murphy, Amanda Simons, Tilman Vogler, Pacharo Mzembe, Elizabeth Hay, Fumito Arai, Robert Tompkins, Nathan Cain, Daniel Becker Season 5 Season 2 4 David Ashby, Natasa Ristic, Sean James Murphy, Amanda Simons, Tilman Vogler, Pacharo Mzembe, Elizabeth Hay, Fumito Arai, Robert Tompkins, Nathan Cain, Daniel Becker Danger 5 Season 2 2 David Ashby, Natasa Ristic, Sean James Murphy, Amanda Simons, Tilman Vogler, Pacharo Mzembe, Elizabeth Hay, Fumito Arai, Robert Tompkins, Nathan Cain, Daniel Becker

The Frozen Ground, Robert Hansen, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, 50 Cent, Curtis Jackson, Jodi Lyn OKeefe, Dean Norris

The Frozen Ground: when an upstanding citizen is accused of kidnapping, torturing and raping a ‘lying’ prostitute the case is immediately dropped, but lands on the desk of a diligent detective. The first-time director coaxes solid performances from an impressive cast: Con Air’s Cage and Cusack are always welcome (and Cage looks like he actually wants to be here!), supported by the likes of Vanessa Hudgens, Dean Norris, Kurt Fuller, Brad Henke, and 50 Cent’s teeth. Unlike 99% of serial killer films, this is different because you know very quickly who the baddie is – it’s not a random character added in the last act – so we see the cop stalking the killer, while the he tries to evade detection, not unlike Insomnia (in setting / location too). In fact the only real mis-step is the clichéd ‘over-committed-detective-with-suffering-family’ trope, but it’s a minor part of the picture. As great as this is, it’s a tough one to recommend because it’s pretty grim viewing in parts, but I’d put this as being head and shoulders above your average movie in the burgeoning ‘true crime / serial killer’ genre.

Score: 8/10