This movie took me by complete surprise. It's a badass film from start to finish. A svelte runtime with action throughout and a story that unfolds as the plot progresses. The tone of the film reminds me a lot of Calibre (2018) and Blue Ruin (2013). It has a very unsettling atmosphere as a crime-thriller that borders on horror film, which makes it visually and tonally unique to a lot of other films out there.
It's basically if the film I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003) actually lived up to its hype and delivered on the promise of being the revenge film it tried and failed to be.
But Bull is completely uncompromising, and absolutely delivers.
It's the first film I've seen in a long time starring a straight White male who you are rooting for from start to finish to dole out merciless justice, and Bull does just that.
They literally don't make films like this anymore, but the overall thematic elements and story is what anyone would have expected from a modern day Punisher film had the franchise not been soyfied by Marvel. In any case, if you're looking for a film where an absolutely stone-cold badass enacts righteous vengeance with unbridled fury, Bull is a movie well worth watching.
I purposely left out plot details because it's definitely worth watching blind for the surprises. But I was definitely shocked at how based this film is, and how uncompromising the main character was with doling out violence equally to everyone who deserved it.
If you like gritty crime thrillers with a bit of ultra-violence, similar to Old Henry (2021), Cold In July (2014), Bad Day In The Cut (2017), Avengement (2019) or Black '47 (2018), you'll definitely like Bull.
TL;DR: An old cartoon for "kids" from the early 1990s following the exploits of Able Squad from the Exo-Fleet in a do-or-die battle against a genetically engineered species known as Neosapiens. Features a pretty high body count themed around impressive tactical battles waged in an effort to control various planets within the solar system.
Both humans and Neosapiens have limited resources to work with and have to strategically execute battle plans, resulting in the whole show playing out like two high-level players in a PvP match within an RTS 4X game, or a space-themed chess match, covering the guerrilla warfare on the ground, the aerial battles involving E-Frames, and massive space encounters between fleets of carriers, cruisers, corvettes, frigates, destroyers and capital ships.
The TL;DR is pretty long, but for those who wanted a bit more info. A few years back I was talking with a gentleman who bought the DVD/Blu-ray set, and we were discussing some of the military and sociopolitical themes present in the show, despite it being a kids' show. After getting some free-time I decided to re-watch the whole series recently, and I'm glad I did.
Exo-Squad borrows heavily from Robert A. Heinlein's concepts on militarism, patriotism, and jingoism. Many of the battles are also themed around tactical naval strategies employed during previous wars. They frequently quote and reference key military tacticians throughout the series, and you see how it plays out, especially during the large-scale space battles.
The show is smartly structured as the writers made sure that it wasn't like both sides have unlimited resources and manpower. The Neosapiens utilized a blitzkrieg to take control of key territories in the solar system, but found themselves unable to engage in any large scale conflicts with guerrilla/resistance forces on the ground due to having stretched their forces thin.
Humans naturally fight back, so the Neosapiens resort to other tactics in order to conserve on their fighting forces while holding onto key military installations and control vectors. For instance, humans that they don't round up in concentration camps are used for slave labor to keep the war machine going, while "troublemakers" are subjected to extermination tactics that would make Hitler blush.
In other cases, where it's too much effort to exterminate or put the humans to work, they simply induce famines by burning the farmlands and extricating livestock to starve humans to death. The show doesn't shy away from showing the results of such tactics and how it's utilized to basically cripple most people's will to fight:
The show also doesn't shy away from the casualties of war. Main characters are injured, maimed, and killed, and the body count is ludicrously high. There's no blood or gore like in the old 80s and 90s animes (and thankfully they also avoid episodes dedicated to long-winded soliloquies or philosophizing about the romances of war like in Gundam or Tekkaman Blade). But a lot of characters still die, and you won't always see it coming, some of them die to equipment malfunction, others get shot down, blown up, some are disintegrated, others die from blunt force trauma, being shot, lobotomized, and tortured to death (but off-screen).
However, despite being a kids show it also shows how the horrors of war induces PTSD on the soldiers. The show is sporadically narrated by Able Squad's newest recruit, Nora Burns, who -- at the start of the show -- is chipper and hopeful about joining the Exo-Fleet. She's a completely different character by the end of the second season after losing a lot over the course of the series.
I do think that the first season (which only has 13 episodes) rushes through a lot of important plot points in order to cram as much as they can into what was a short season order. The second season gives the stories and sub-plots a lot more room to breathe, as well as delve into showing more of the Neosapien side of the war effort. They manage to avoid filler episodes though (however, be warned that for some reason episodes 30 and 31 are in reverse order so you should watch 31 first and then 30).
I think it's also interesting just how much backstabbing and political infighting is showcased throughout the show as characters are constantly trying to secure their own glory, safety, or control. You can tell the writers borrowed A LOT from popular historical dictators who were brought down by the inner turmoil spawned from betrayal and disloyalty.
Also, unlike other shows from its era, like the Adventures of Mr. T, or the Chuck Norris Show, or Rambo, where each of these "tough guys" had interstitial or end-of-show moral messages about not fighting, or how bullies are bad, or avoiding conflict, Exo-Squad doesn't even bother.
The entire over-arching theme is that jingoism is a necessary reaction for any invading or potentially dangerous force. And the show NEVER walks back this message, which I thought was quite fascinating.
It's also interesting because the few characters in the show who actually suggest "peaceful negotiations" are either killed (off-screen) or locked away in concentration camps. The show is adamant in making it known that when the things you love are threatened by a hostile force, only an equally or greater hostile reaction is the solution. It's hard to find many other shows out there that have similar messaging.
Exo-Squad also wasn't afraid to tackle the subject matter of genetic racial differences... yeah, the show went there. In fact, genetic racial differences is one of the running themes throughout the Neosapiens' story arc, which unfolds in very interesting ways.
Heck, there are even characters who are unapologetically racist. But what's more, these same character are also depicted as badass heroes, and reinforced in being right to hold the views they have given the circumstances they're in. For instance, Sean Napier, a police officer (and later resistance fighter) is quite the character, as he hates Neosapiens but still saves the life of a Neosapien diplomat because it's his duty, not because he likes Neosapiens.
Napier would make a modern day Leftist's head explode, not just because of his hatred for another race, but also because he's an honourable and duty-bound police officer that badmouths his ex-wife every chance he gets (and it turns out he's 100% right about her). A character like that could never exist in today's media (unless he's depicted as some evil, sexist, misogynistic, racist, homophobic Nazi).
If there was a downside to the show it would be with the dated animations. The animation quality varies and can be quite choppy and stilted, but they do get better in the second season. The designs for the characters, equipment, E-Frames (mechs), and spaceships are all still pretty cool, though.
Bungie seemed to have taken some inspiration from the Neosapien space fleet design for the Covenant ships in Halo (they also have the same purple color scheme). The ODST are also heavily inspired by the Jump Troopers, if you see the show and their orbital drop procedures, it's identical to Halo. You can also see where Microsoft borrowed heavily from the Jump Trooper designs and functionality for their game Outwars, which came out a few years later.
Some part of me would like to see what an updated version of this show would look like with smoother/cleaner animations, but I also know that the whole thing would be turned into a woke mess if it were made today.
In an alternate timeline this show wouldn't have been purposely sabotaged by the network execs (which is ironic given that that one of the recurring themes of the show and the main reason both sides suffered major losses they way they did was due to sabotage) it would have lived on for a few more seasons, and maybe even received a more modern game or two made by a company like Pandemic in the vein of Star Wars: Battlefront (fighting on the ground as guerrilla units, in the air with the E-Frames and in space with the Exo-Fleet).
In any case, the two seasons that are available are well worth the watch. I doubt most kids under 10 will understand everything going on, but kids 14+ will likely get it, especially those who have studied a lot of naval/war history. The constant escalation of different strategies, tactics, and methods to outdo the enemy is a real highlight of the show. Adults will also probably appreciate the more mature story elements as well (like the holographic stripper a bored crewman is watching before his ship gets attacked).
I can't think of any shows that really approach militarism the way Exo-Squad did. Some people say The Expanse is good, but I only watched a few episodes and wasn't interested enough to return. I liked the original Battlestar Galactica from the 70s, but found that both the original and the remake lacked the edge a show like Exo-Squad carried, they were more like space operas rather than sci-fi survival shows. My biggest issue with Battlestar was the lack of desperation and high-stakes; two things that were ever-present throughout Exo-Squad's episodes, as all the characters understood that each battle could be their last (and for many, it was). I may give Babylon 5 a re-watch to see how it stacks up again, since I haven't seen it since it aired back in the 90s.
Anyway, Exo-Squad is available on Blu-Ray and DVD, or you can grab the series from the high-seas. It's decent watching if you're interested in a truly non-woke, military, sci-fi action show.
I was reading through the tweets on the post here: https://kotakuinaction2.win/p/13zfvbCRTn/australia-if-you-havent-had-a-va/c/
A Twitter user posted a collage about a number of places all mandating vaccination by October 15th. What's interesting is that the date isn't local for just any single region. As you already know there's Victoria. Australia: https://archive.is/l4Brb
Massachusetts also has an October 15th deadline: https://archive.is/VoB08
Unless unvaccinated workers decide to take the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Friday, they will not meet the city’s Oct. 15 deadline.
Wales has a mid-October deadline, too: https://archive.is/HeyJp
All 12 to 15-year-olds in Wales will be offered a Covid vaccine by the end of the October half-term, the Welsh health minister has said.
Ottawa has an October 15th deadline: https://archive.is/XU8Uv#selection-2169.0-2169.171
The University of Ottawa's president said last week about 91 per cent of its students and staff were fully vaccinated. Its deadline to be fully vaccinated is also Oct. 15.
Quebec has an October 15th deadline: https://archive.is/K6PxO
Unvaccinated health-care workers will be suspended Oct. 15
California has an October 15th deadline: https://archive.is/XjGLN
Friday’s announcement comes about two weeks ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline for California teachers to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing.
Delhi has an October 15th deadline: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/delhi-school-teachers-and-staff-must-get-vaccinated-by-october-15-or-else-11632972518175.html
Another article just to drive the point home: https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/delhi-schools-october-15-vaccine-deadline-for-delhi-government-teachers-school-staff-2559146
Delhi school teachers and staff must get vaccinated by October 15 or else...
Even Angola has an October 15th deadline: https://www.independent.co.ug/angola-declares-covid-19-vaccination-mandatory-for-adults/
Angola on Thursday made it mandatory for citizens 18 years or older to take the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 15.
Italy also has an October 15th deadline: https://archive.is/ETkCI#selection-513.0-513.177
Officials said Prime Minister Mario Draghi's unity government would approve the move at a cabinet meeting later in the day, with the new rules due to come into force on Oct. 15.
I'm sure there are more, but it would require more time than I care to spend on this since I have other things to do. However, it does reminds me of the "Gamers are dead" synchronization.
