Moon Over Miami: Josh Kirby, Time Warrior- Journey to the Magic Cavern

It seems to take me longer to get around to these, doesn't it?  After the last 4 Films, can you blame me?  I didn't think so.  So let's talk about Josh Kirby, Time Warrior and his latest adventure called (The) Journey to the Magic Cavern.  It...is not a direct rip-off of another Film, so that's one point for it.  It is still inherently a rip-off of the Doctor Who tale 'The Keys of Time' though.  I still won't let that go, no.  We are now five 'Episodes' into this and we are building up to the Main Event.  In this one, Josh and company meet some Mushroom People- of the Matango family?-, battle a villain and set up for the final 'Episode.'  I'll give them credit for introducing a Plot Twist, even if it seems to make no sense to me.  With all of the recap out of the way, let's go spelunking...

The Mushroom people seem to worship Josh and company's terrible puppet...I mean, companion.  However, the bad news is that the Nullifier pieces disappeared when they landed on this new world.

They want to go looking for them, but the King (and his only semi-convincing make-up- says 'No.'

That little bit of Drama buys them about five minutes.  Other Mushroom Men agree to let them go, bringing the puppet along to sense the pieces for them.

So they Journey through the Magic Cavern looking for the pieces, but also looking for a missing Mushroom Man who can cure their female companion- who took a bite out of him and is now poisoned.

There's a minor conflict about what their priority should be, but...it amounts to very little for now.

They find a Cave which is where many Mushroom Men have gone missing.  There can't be anything to it, can there?

They best the beast by discovering its remote control-using owner.  As for their lady companion, they arrive too late.  They needed more time.

Josh summons his power up- which he has now, remember?- to somehow reverse time five minutes just around her, allowing the cure to work.  Have fun with that, Scientists!

Shockingly, the guy who captured and brainwashed the Mushroom People for his Circus is not as trustworthy as they thought.

They stop him, although the People decide that they still want to see the Universe- just of their own free will.

In the aftermath, Josh literally stumbles upon the final Nullifier piece, only to fall and have to be saved by...the villain?

He claims that the Doctor Who-knock off is actually the Villain.  Before Josh can get any proof, the Villain is shot by 'the Doctor.'  Is he really evil?!?

According to the Teaser for the next 'Episode,' the answer is 'yes.'  That...seems to come out of nowhere, right?  Weird.  The End (for now).

Not their best, but also not their worst.  The Film does a slow build-up to the finale, which is certainly less than I expected.  You have one 'Episode' left to sell me on your big Finale, so you spend 80% of it dicking around in a Cave?  I know that alot will happen in the actual Finale (since they showed me most of it in the Teaser!), but this still feels like a missed opportunity.  The most they do is vaguely-set-up the good Doctor as being evil.  This makes the Ending feel quite out of nowhere!  I don't recall anything in the previous Episodes even hinting at this Plot Twist.  When Josh questions the 'Villain' on always trying to kill them, he says that he just saved him now.  Yes, but...that doesn't answer the question now, does it?  That's all he says at first, so...what?  He offers to let Josh use a never-before-mentioned power to prove his claim, but that is stopped.  As for the rest of the Story, I liked that I couldn't specifically point to one or two things that they were copying here, although I'm sure that there is some of that here (given their record).  The make-up work for the Mushroom People is mostly pretty good, although some of it is better than ever.  The new villain is over-the-top fun, but comes too late and doesn't do enough.  What a waste.  He's the Sci-Fi equivalent of Wild Wild West's (the movie) Dr. Loveless.  The worst thing I can say is that this one does very little to stand out.  The aliens are fun, but the Story just kind of meanders until a sudden J-Turn of an Ending.  One more to go, sadly-underused-Villain...

Next up, I celebrate Cyber Monday with a Horror Film with an Internet twist.  Can the return of a Japanese Horror Favorite succeed?  Stay tuned...