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Zack Handlen

Zack Handlen's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
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Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1 (2024) 92% EDIT “All of these assets are buried under one problem: this is a premise that doesn’t know how to be a TV show yet.” – Boston Globe Dec 3, 2024 Full Review Dune: Prophecy: Season 1 (2024) 65% EDIT “Slick, well-acted, and confidently produced, “Prophecy” should scratch the itch for “Dune” fans on the hunt for more content. Still, it’s impossible to shake the impression that all of this has been done before, and will be done again.” – Boston Globe Nov 15, 2024 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 10 (2020) B+ EDIT “I can’t really feel bad for Rick Sanchez being, I dunno, trapped by his own genius or something at this point. But having him treated like the loser he kind of is? That’s got legs on it.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 9 (2020) B EDIT “It’s not an instant classic, and I don’t think it’s trying to be; it feels like a median entry, the basic level of quality an audience should be expecting when they turn in, and if that sounds like damning with faint praise, well, maybe it is.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 8 (2020) B+ EDIT “This is well-paced, and does a great job of playing Morty’s situation just seriously enough that when the punchline lands, it lands hard.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 7 (2020) A- EDIT “The show has done “alien that takes over other people’s bodies” stories before (well, one at least), but this one distinguishes itself enough to avoid feeling like a retread.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 6 (2020) B+ EDIT “For most of its running time, “Ricking” gets by entirely on invention, finding increasingly unexpected ways to exploit, mock, and expand on the premise... [But] the ending is a letdown. ” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 5 (2019) A EDIT “It doesn’t do anything revolutionary, it doesn’t change our understanding of the characters, there’s no sudden shock of emotion. But it’s funny as hell.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 4 (2019) B+ EDIT “There’s humor in just how far the episode commits to its premise. But as a story, it all just sort of sits there.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 3 (2019) A- EDIT “Even once it becomes clear that this was just going to be an endless series of scenes of Rick out-smarting someone... well, it still worked well.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 2 (2019) B+ EDIT “It’s got a lot going for it: a pair of solid premises, great guest voices, an intern named Gluty, and the universe’s most perfect toilet. But while the end result is pretty funny and thematically coherent, it feels just slightly under-done. ” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 4, Episode 1 (2019) A- EDIT “It's hilarious and weird and as always, it makes me feel like I'm being punked for trying to unpack it at all, while at the same time knowing that everyone involved in the show is probably doing the same damn thing.” – AV Club Oct 26, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 10 (2021) A- EDIT “I already said my piece about how satisfying the continuity nod is here; maybe that makes me the target of the joke, but this all felt pretty sincere in an extremely satisfying way. ” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 9 (2021) A- EDIT “Of the two episodes, “Mortshall” is slightly weaker, while still being pretty darn good.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 8 (2021) A EDIT “The second A-grade episode we’ve had this season, and, for my money, the best of the bunch so far. ” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 7 (2021) B EDIT “The brand of humor is still with us, that goofy sneering surreal teen nihilism… thing, and Ricky And Morty, even now, even in its apparently diminished state, can tell coherent stories and even not completely give up on character relationships and themes.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 6 (2021) B- EDIT “This isn’t rock bottom, and there’s a structure here which, while ridiculous, at least shows that someone took the time to make sure the story felt like a cohesive whole. But there’s no magic to it.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 5 (2021) B EDIT “It’s easy for a show to hit the occasional home run; what you want is something that can still manage doubles or triples on a weekly basis.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 4 (2021) B- EDIT “The episode commits to the bit, I’ll give them that. They dig down until they hit a bedrock of gross inanity, and then they keep on going. ” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 3 (2021) B- EDIT “It certainly has all the hallmarks of a Rick And Morty episode, but it never has the coherence that makes the show really sing. The strongest impression I get is that the pieces here never add up to anything larger than the whole.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 2 (2021) A EDIT “ “Mortiplicity” ultimately lives (and lives very well) on the strength of its ingenuity and its commitment to its premise. ” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Rick and Morty: Season 5, Episode 1 (2021) B+ EDIT “"Mort Dinner Rick Andre" is a pleasant start to the new season, and a good reminder why we enjoy having these weirdos around.” – AV Club Oct 25, 2022 Full Review Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 1 (2022) 98% EDIT “Strange New Worlds is content to fall back on the basics: a likable cast traveling the galaxy, having wacky sci-fi adventures, and generally having a hell of a good time. By and large, this approach works. ” – Variety May 2, 2022 Full Review Star Trek: Prodigy: Season 1 (2021) 94% B EDIT “There’s potential here, albeit of a moderate sort -- the character banter, with an ensemble featuring not just one but four different versions of comic relief, is passable, and John Noble could (and maybe is) do this kind of role in his sleep. ” – AV Club Mar 17, 2022 Full Review Star Trek: Discovery: Season 4, Episode 6 (2021) B- EDIT “I'm a sucker for "ship in distress" storylines, and this one does a reasonable job of keeping the pressure up throughout, something that's absolutely critical for a Discovery episode.” – AV Club Dec 23, 2021 Full Review
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