JBL Tour Pro 3 True Wireless: Review

You'd think that the wireless earbuds range has probably gone as far as it could, with there being little room to innovate and all that was left was to simply continue to do what is needed.

Not so - with JBL's latest earbuds, there's been a sign that doing something a little different is on the cards and while the earbuds themselves continue to offer peak sound quality, it's the new edges that have proved to be compelling.

Using dual drivers and an improved Smart Case charging faculty, these latest make a strong - if pricey - case for being some of the best in the market currently. While they're a little on the bulky side for those who prefer economy in their ears, the fact of the matter is they do what they need to - and it's really about the sound that comes out of them that matters.

But equally, the charging case has been the biggest improvement of these buds. With an increased screen size, the graphics on it stand out more and the screen offers a display that's easier to use and also makes it easier to see at what stage charging is at and the individual buds themselves.

The buds, with their five customisable ear tips make for a piece of kit that can be used broadly by a large audience, while still maintaining their own unique personal edges. Feeling more premium plastic than just plastic themselves helps greatly, and they can comfortably sit in the ears for hours, ensuring that you don't really feel they're there.

Yet it's the Smart Case that is the biggest sell for these - with the ability to display caller ID for incoming calls, the chance to change settings a bit easier with a bigger screen and the navigation, it makes for a more streamlined experience that really does feel something worthy of the somewhat higher price tag.

The noise cancelling works solidly as well, removing rumbles from car journeys or nearby ambient sound - it's a solid package that's worth investing in. And while the current price means they're more at the premium end of the market when it comes to cost, they're a worthwhile investment because of the extra feature offers and the fact that JBL once again remains committed to quality output above all else.

Warfare: Movie Review

Cast: D'Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Finn Bennett, Michael Gandolfini
Director: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland

Less a movie, more a visceral experience that feels like a first-person shooter writ large, Alex Garland's latest foray into war film territory is an intense outing that never really has an emotional core.

It follows a group of Navy Seals on a mission through insurgent territory in Iraq in 2006. It begins with the group coming together in harmony and a burst of pent up bonding as they watch Eric Prydz's Call On Me workout video that released in 2004.

In this opening sequence alone, we learn all we need to about the group's dynamics, their closeness and their camaraderie. Moments later, they're picking their way through the darkened streets to break into a family's home to set up a perfect surveillance of a nearby market. 

As the monotony of the carrying out of the job plays out, it soon becomes clear something is about to go down - and that the Seals are the target as the locals unleash a Jihad on them.

Based on Mendoza's memories of what happened, it's no surprise the film is skewed as to what occurs within the troupe. The idea of being embedded with them and being in the thick of conflict is initially dizzying - but the strong reality of being caught as fire rained down on them is thrilling in parts, but sickening in others.

There's a very forensic feeling to the film, one that holds aloof viewers on an emotional level, but connects with them on a very physical level. It leaves Warfare feeling like the kind of film that's best as an experience in a cinema - particularly in terms of the soundscape which captures every cry of the injured, every atmospheric womp of the lack of sound after a major explosion and may even catch audiences off guard after lulling them into an unearned sense of security.

But Warfare is never as engaging as it feels - technically, it's more than adept. Yet as final footage shows the directors being trained by Mendoza on how to fight in a situation like this, it becomes clear how staged it all feels, and how a ruthless adherence to facts at the time don't necessarily translate to deeply engaging drama.

In a way, Warfare is an anti-war piece in the same way that Garland's Civil War was. In much the same way as the Paranormal Activity films force us to scan the screen looking for every single movement, Warfare does the same - its sense of stillness at times is compelling to say the least.

As an in-cinema outing, it's second to none - but as a film, it's somewhat of a Bore-fare than full-on warfare.

The Amateur: Movie Review

Cast: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe
Director: James Hawes

A more muted revenge-driven thriller than perhaps its explosive trailer promised, The Amateur sees Mr Robot star Rami Malek showcasing his trademark nervous energy and outsider charm as Charles Heller, a CIA cryptographer whose wife is killed in a terrorist attack.

Despite his tracking down of those responsible, he is told by the powers that be within the CIA that it'll be dealt with. However, when he discovers that's anything but the case, and being wildly unqualified to do so, he sets out to exact vengeance on those who've wronged him.

It's an interesting premise for The Amateur - one that promises an avenging angel able to appear hidden in plain sight because of his own anonymity. 

But director James Hawes' film is more concerned with offering middling thrills than full-on revenge edges that would have spiked moviegoers' interests in the 1980s. It's a shame because there are frustrating hints of what could have been in this film.

A scene where Heller uses a lockpick video on YouTube to crack open a door in an apartment is rich with humour, as he scrabbles to go unnoticed and the video tells viewers to like and subscribe.

The movie could have used a few more of these moments throughout, rather than a more workmanlike script that hits the right notes, but never seems to have the joy of having done so. 

Malek is watchable though - his Heller has real potential for a franchise character, a kind of antithesis to the power dynamics of the likes of Jason Bourne, but unfortunately the script never quite cooks up enough of the ambiguity of the relationships between Heller, the trainer forced upon him (Laurence Fishburne) and the spy who Bro-loved him played by Jon Bernthal.

What transpires in The Amateur is a nice story of the unexpected underdog having their day, but without the frisson of tension and suspense, you're never anything less than 100% sure he'll make it through. 

A bit more edge could have made this unmissable - as it is, well, it's just slightly Amateur-ish.

Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution: Review

The second season of Ncuti Gatwa's tenure as the Doctor sees a reinvention of sorts - a new companion in the form of Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), a new set of mysteries to solve and more.

But in the first episode, The Robot Revolution, writer and showrunner Russell T Davies returns to his own obsessions in many ways, pulling together a yarn that starts off grounded on Earth, but ends up in the stars.

Chandra is a nurse at the local hospital, who spends her shifts saving the doctors and generally doing a good job. When the Doctor shows up just as she's finishing, he demands to find out where she lives - for reasons that seem shady at best. But within moments of arriving on her doorstep - albeit a little too late, trouble is already brewing with Chandra being kidnapped and whisked off to another planet.

To say more about The Robot Revolution is to rob the story of its edges, and while it's fair to say that this tale is set on another planet, its roots are very much in the world we currently live in and the social conversations which are being had.

Fears this is a ripoff of the David Tennant yarn Smith & Jones persist early on with a feeling that of deja vu, but what quickly becomes clear is just how much of a duo Sethu and Gatwa are. Reminiscent of Tegan Jovanka's antagonism toward the Doctor for essentially kidnapping her, there are elements which old school fans will feel are somewhat familiar. 

Yet Sethu is no ripoff of what has happened before - sure her character apparently has connections to the Boom outing, but she's no cypher or anyone's punctuation to another story. There's an incredible scene late in the episode where Belinda unleashes on the Doctor for doing something he shouldn't have done without permission - it's an astounding moment and particularly in the aftermath, it's clear she's not in his thrall. It's in these moments that Sethu nails what the companion vibe should be with ease.

And it's not to dismiss Gatwa to say he's as good as he was last season - bouncing from grief to excitement to doing what the Doctor always does, it's another reminder of the incredible magnetism he has in moments that count - particularly when the writing is strong enough to pull him in.

A note must be made of the retro-futuristic look of the world too. It's reminiscent of both 1960s Lost In Space and Fallout's recent visual vibe, complete with Dan Dare edges and derring do. It's the small details here that stand out, rightly so.

It's too early to say what the eight-episode season will bring - but in terms of launch, this has pace and just something about it from the start that is enthralling, enticing and exciting - but expect some pushback to the central mystery of this first episode by those already angered by some of what was laid in Gatwa's first season.

Doctor Who airs on Disney+ from April 12.

The Last Of Us Season 2: Review

It's no word of a lie to say the second season of post-apocalyptic drama The Last Of Us is an emotionally exhausting experience.

While the show's first run focussed on the intense relationship between Pedro Pascal's disaffected smuggler Joel and his charge Ellie (Bella Ramsey), the second sees that beautiful bond ripped asunder by the impact of the final moments when Joel was forced to kill those about to operate on Ellie to get a cure to save the world.

The latest picks up five years after that fateful decision with the pair living - albeit strained and estranged - in the community of Jackson, a civilisation that's positively thriving in the middle of continual onslaughts from raiders and the infected.

Much like the contagion ripped through the populace, the sheer hatred between Joel and Ellie is equally as vicious, with Ramsey's sneering and unhappiness going beyond what any parent could expect from a disaffected teenager.

There's much to be said about the second season of the show, but extremely tight spoiler restrictions make it difficult. Needless to say the show's creators, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have created something that is so eminently watchable and downright uncomfortable this time around.

All of the main players excel throughout - from Ramsey's drive as Ellie through to Pascal's tearfully led performance as a surrogate father forced to make the harshest of decisions via Isabela Merced's veritably heartfelt performance as Dina, there's much to be in the thrall of here.

Perhaps the most controversial addition, that of Kaitlyn Dever as soldier Abby barely warrants any dwelling on. Any concerns she was not of the right physicality, or had the intensity needed for her character are severely misplaced with the Apple Cider Vinegar star being compelling from the beginning.

Equally, the show's production values have clearly been upped in the season, with snowy vistas and blizzards on the screen feeling utterly claustrophobic and as downright chilly as some of the onscreen interactions as this fallout from a lie season plays out. There's action when it's needed and the splintering of stories allows for some rich seams of drama to be opened up as well. 

Sadly, there are only seven episodes in this run, and with so much dramatic potential being opened up, it feels like it's not even close enough to satiate viewers.

But rest assured, the second season of The Last Of Us builds handsomely on what the first achieved - just because there's an expanded scope doesn't mean the creators have lost sight of what mattered in the first place - character moments, human interactions and connections and an exploration of the human condition under extreme duress. 

What price do you pay for your actions, do the consequences merit them and how do you live with your conscience are all explored here - but the deepening of how they do so are nothing short of gripping viewing that's to be savoured throughout.

The Last Of Us Season 2 premieres on Neon on Monday April 14.

All seven episodes of season two were viewed for the purposes of this review.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows: PS5 Review

Developed by Ubisoft Quebec
Published by Ubisoft
Platform: PS5

The Assassin's Cteed brand has become synonymous with the idea of stealth, killing and exploration.

Over the years, various elements of the franchise have played with the template, added bits on or simply stuck to what it knows. It's all led to various iterations of the game that have had varying degrees of success.

But perhaps the 2025 version of the Assassin's Creed franchise is one of those that captures best what the game has the potential to do. Set in 16th century Japan, towards the end of the Sengoku period, the game focuses on two different characters, whose worlds collide amid tragedy.

Firstly, there's the female shinobi Naoe and secondly, there's the samurai Yasuke; both have differing strengths and weaknesses and allow different styles of gameplay when it counts. While there are elements of Ghost of Tsushima throughout (itself no bad thing), the Assassin's spin on the world is obvious from the start with the usual stealth mechanics offering new edges of gameplay.

Yet there's been a tweaking of some of the elements and additions of new mechanics - from being able to crawl through to breathing in shallow water with a reed, the developers have been keen to upgrade where necessary creating an adventure that's riddled with new parts and it's all to the better.

The story itself is engaging, yet familiar to those who have seen shows like Shogun and while the dialogue occasionally feels stilted, the combat and differing styles of play adds to a lot of the overall feel of the game amid the side quests, the seemingly endless map and the missions.

Ultimately, Assassin's Creed: Shadows is a strong re-entry into the world - and while some of it feels very familiar, the ability to play in chapters of chunks rather than feeling like it's a slog, coupled with the switching of characters when the grind kicks in, means it's a welcome return to the world.