The appeal of a biopic lies in the fact you want to know about the person it depicts. I'm a massive car nut, not necessarily Ferrari, but I still want to know about him because he sure was a carismatic figure. What I don't get is why every filmmaker today thinks the first thing they need to show us about a person is his sex life.
Another problem with biopics is you have about two hours and you need to pick a part of your topics life to show the viewer. Again, your choice falls to the problems resulting from his liasons. The movie opens with the explanation how Enzo and Laura built Ferrari in 1947 out of the rubbles of WWII. Then you jump 10 years forward to the point where they already are in financial trouble. I would have much rather watched how they built it.
Now, the racing scenes were ok. But they have done it much better decades before. The accident at the Mille was a real shocking, though. The violence shown in those pictures are in contrast to the rest of the movie, which was rather soft.
Acting was decent althought I agree the accents were too thick. Let everyone speak normal englisch, that way the viewer can assume they speak Italian but it's translated for us. Doing it like this gives the impression that everyone in Italy speaks accented english. Minor detail maybe, but it really felt cliched.
Overall an OK movie but if I'm honest I wouldn't recommended it to someone who wants to know about Ferrari. And for a casual viewer it's too generic. Could have been a fictional story altogether.
OK, this was kind of a roller coaster episode. I did like it a lot up until the point where they ... well, you know ... That was where I wanted to quit. It wasn't helped by the fact what happened afterwards as I thought having Carter get his hands on Jane was bad for the plot because it seemed obvious he couldn't hold on to her. She can't tell him what she doesn't know, killing her is not an option but he can't let her go. Felt like a dead end. I was not expecting what came next.
Althought after the dust settles it's hardly a revelation as it was only confirming what we already knew. She did it to herself and all that's missing is the reason. Which probably has something to do with exposing some secret programm (and now I start to speculate) where children are abducted and turned into spies/assassins/soldiers called "Orion". How any of this contains enough water for 90 more episodes is beyond me as right now it feels another 5 episodes is all that's needed.
Now we have to deal with the fallout from ... well, you know ... and it's going to create arkward moments that I really hate in any show.
Maybe I should stop watching movies all together.
There I was, about to invest three hours into a movie about a man I thought to be one of the most interesting characters in human history, and it left me totally underwhelmed. In fact, I quit at the 2:20 hour mark.
This is not "The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II." This was more about american communist paranoia, about political intrique then it was about a build up to an event that changed the world. And even that, the Trinity test, was a massive dissapointment to lock at. It didn't look like an atomic explosion but rather just a giant gasoline fire, which it probably was. No fascination or awe or even fear, on my part about the power of nature they just unleashed. Why not make a movie about the project, the challenges, the difficulties when all you can show us of Oppenheimer is - what really ? What did he actually do, what were his contibutions other then sitting in meatings and hearing others talk.
I would like to say the acting was great but I can't as there are hardly scenes where anyone has more then two lines of dialogue in a row. Or longer scenes at all for that matter. You try to put yourself in one scene and it switches to the next, and the next and so on. Add to that jumping throught timelines and you can be left utterly confused. Which will probably be the reason it get's tons of Oscar's.
For me it's a soulless, lifeless and, dare I say it, boring movie stuffed with a massive cast that seemed so wasted on this.
The Time Tunnel was a show with big ambitions on a small budget. But the budget really wasn't a problem for me. Certainly not watching this as a kid with my parents, and still not watching it today. No, as long as the stories were interesting I don't care how it looks. But therein lies the problem. The quality of the scripts ranged from great to absolutely awful. Especially in the second half and towards the end Allen went nuts with Aliens, Magicians and fairy tales.
The better stories dealt with events and personalities of Earth past. Many people said they were far to casual dealing with the implications of their involvement in those historic events. Lets not forget we are in the mid to late 60s and those things were probably not high on the writers list. But you could also make the argument that their involvement is the reason why events unfolded like we know of them. Again, I don't think the writers were thinking about such things but it works both ways.
Well, for the most part the show is entertaining and fun. Unfortunately the bad episode are really bad and pull down the rating unnecessarily. My average rating based on the single episodes would come down to 6.1. I decided to give it a 7 nonetheless because the show is a classic and has cult status. And you could easily skip those awful episodes as there is litle to no fallout from that.
And I get a huge grin on my face knowing I grew up in a time where Tic-Toc was an imagined secret government project.
I had no idea they ever tried to revive the show. I didn't even know a pilot existed.
It's an interesting reimagining and the premise seems much more thought after. If I'm not mistaken this concept is based on what htey planed for a possible second season back in the 60s. I find the personal conflict here very interesting. While Tony, this time a female, has every reason to restore the timeline (and I wouldn't buy her last line), Doug has every reason to preserve this alternate reality. However I can easily understand why this wasn't picked up. It looks kinda cheap, the soundtrack is totally wrong, everything feels just empty.
And in the end they suffer the same issues as the original show as they place drama above logic. Bringing the boy back would not have solved the problem, they would have to take him back to his own time. Which they can't because they only can go "where the storm takes us". Leaving him in 1944 certainly doesn't help. And ultimately restoring the timeline would be a Herculian task as, if my knowledge of temporal mechanics isn't totally off, every event creates infinte possibilities. So they literally are facing trillions of possibile timelines and doing everything right to bring back theirown seems impossible.
Like I said, I understand why this didn't take off, and I probably wouldn't have watched it if it did. It was a dud.
On its own this wasn't a bad episode with the Clone Wars flashbacks, the images of Vader overlaying Anakin, and I liked little Ahsoka a lot more than her older self. It still left me very indifferent.
Not a shred of explanation on how Anakin could even be there. I never liked World between Worlds for reasons I already stated in other comments/replies. And here it just seemes to be a tool to have Ahsoka meet Anakin, have them involved in yet another lightsaber battle (I'm curious if they will have an episode without one) and count on the fact the viewer will be satisfied without asking any questions. The whole episode counts on that, it's full of these nostalgic moments with an almost angelic score to back this up. I'm a huge "Rebels" fan and am somewhat happy with how this played out aside from the Anakin part. But I wonder how viewers who don't have that connection will experience this. And why didn't Hera went with them ? I fully expected her to throw her commission at Mon Mothma's feet and go with Ahsoka. What can she possibly accomplish by staying behind ?
Let me make it clear again that I don't hate this show. I still believe that Dave is the Heir to the Empire. Maybe all my questions will be answered once we reach the end of the show. But at this moment the show is not taking me along on the journey I hoped it would be.
The most anticipated show in the SWU is finally there. Of course, every new show is the most anticipated but Ahsoka still is something special. There will be lovers and haters of that I'm sure. Right now I take the middle ground.
I like the look and the fact that it is basically the continuation of Rebels which I absolutely love. Therefore I'm thrilled to see all the characters in live action finally. The beginning with the crawl text gave me a bit of goosebumps I have to admit. I think the story has potential and I place my faith once again in Filoni to make this right. After all Ahsoka is his baby.
Of course we get a lot of character introduction in the pilot and I'm already regretting not having watched Rebels again as I'm sure I missed some easter eggs along the way.
From a neutral standpoint I'd say this was a "7" all day long. It had it's moments and it's flaws especially towards the end it became very predictable. And once more someone will survive a lightsaber stab. But because of the aforementioned connection to Rebels (you can call it fan-service if you like) I decided to go with "8".
Skyfall ranks right between the first two Craig movies. Not as good as the first but much better then the second. As I've mentioned repeatedly I can live with plot holes and logic errors in Bond movies. They are almost a trademark.
It's interesting that the pre opening credits scene for this movie ends with a failure. That's an interesting approach and sets a different tone for the movie. Although you know he isn't dead. We then get what I consider the first real Bond theme song of the new era performed by the remarkable Adele. And I think she's on the same level as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger".
Another step up from the previous one is the cut-down on action and the much better, less hectic, editing. The stunts are still top notch and I'm always amazed when I watch the specials how much was actually done in camera as opposed to CGI. That is something I really appreciate.
As for the story itself - it's kind of a mixed bag. You have the old vs new angle which is ok. Bringing back characters like "Q" or Moneypenny in a much different form is a concession to the more modern times this franchise now lives. I'm fine with that, too. On the other hand I don't think I needed all that Bond backstory we got here. I never felt it was missing. The absolute weak point for me was the villain, Silva. Barbara Brocolli called him "probably the best Bond villain of all time" on one of the specials and I strongly disagree. Yes, he seems like a throwback to the Blowfelds and Dr.No's of the old movies. But he lacks style. I find him neither intimidating nor creepy. Just comical, almost laughable.
I'm sad to see Dench leave the franchise but she's been there for a very long time and it was probably the right time to move on to, again, someone younger. Which is a theme for this movie after all.
Overall "Skyfall" was entertaining to watch with highs and lows like pretty much every Bond movie. There only were a couple really bad ones. And this isn't one of them.
This isn't a bad movie by any means but after "Casino Royale" set the bar very high it was a bit of let down.
Despite having all the ingredients I never really felt I watch a Bond movie. I can't explain it but something felt off. I like Craig's Bond very much. The rawness and solitude his Bond displays. He's a wrecking ball instead of a scalpell at this point. His motivations are understandable and relatable. He feels human despite practicall being invincible.
I felt this movie had too much action for actions sake. Especially at the beginning you hardly had time to breath as one sequence chased the next. Which didn't leave much room to establish the story. And that's the biggest issue - the story. Too busy, too much cramped into a movie that is already among the shortest Bonds. Green didn't made a great villain. He was just boring. Olga Kurylenko's character was rather flat. She seemed more like an apendix than an integral part of the story. And did I mention the theme song ? No ? because it's that awfull.
The good stuff ? Judi Dench - once more. I do like her very much in this role. She took it and made it her own. And that's not taking anything away from her predecessors. Stunts are once more top notch but like mentioned above a bit too many.
The "Goldfinger" hommage scene with Gemma Arterton was nice. Especially since the did that one in oil. And one thing I noticed right at the beginning: I remember reading the press making fun of Craig that he got an automatic Aston in "Casino Royale". Writing that this Bond can't shift. Well the director seemed to making very clear this time that Bond can drive stick.
Just let me get two things out of the way I think were weak storytelling.
First, putting the drive on the hub was the stupidest thing to do as it could only lead to her getting caught. It also was illogical as it was clear that they would just override it and/or claim it as false. Granted she didn't know about the Janitor room but she knew there was surveilance everywhere and because of that might reach the conclusion that all those feeds had to be watched somewhere. But the story needs to go on so I'll take it.
Second, its hard to believe that they didn't inspect the stuff they brought to Juliette or they would have found the note. Even not knowing what it meant they would not have let it through. Plus, from a storyelling point of view it was giving too much away. Would have been better to not show it. Instead they could insert a scene when Juliette is about to break down to explain that she didn't die. And speaking of dying, Where are all the others that went out? Does someone actually go out to collect the bodies ?
Now, for the big reveal at the end I have to say I didn't see that coming. After making us believe (and I did) that it is safe outside, not only do we learn it is not, but there are literally dozens of silos out there. Does that mean the whole of mankind lives underground ? My guess is that each one thinks they are the only one and each one does have someone taking care that it stays like that. But we still don't have an idea about why ?
There is one thing I noticed that I want to point out. When Juliette told Holland about the door below he seem genuinely surprised. As if he didn't knew. That was the moment he ended the conversation. Just saying.
So, I don't know the books but from reading elsewhere I understand we barely scratched the surface of the story. I wonder how slow they will go with this one. The second season is already confirmed but thre is always the chance of not getting a third, or forth, or however many they need to play this out.
I sure hope we're not getting left hanging in the air atsome point.
Brosnan's final outing as Bond starts as good as they come. After the opening scene it then leads into probably the worst Bond theme ever (Well, she got a role out of it, so for her it worked out). Unfortunately the whole movie never really recovers.
Now, I can live with the plot in general, be it a little bit ridiculous and stupid at times, as Bond movies were never known for their incredible writing or originality (oh, look, another diamond laden satellite in space). But this feel like they've entered the MCU and that's not to be understood as a compliment. The dialogues are extremly bad, like written by a teenager. The acting by everyone is bad to mediocre at best. And sadly this time that goes for Brosnan as well. There is nothing of the whit and panache of the previous movies. Rosamunde Pike still holds the record for not convincing me in any role I ever saw her play. Toby Stephens tries to portray the big bad villain and fails utterly. John Cleese is not even close to being in the same orbit as Llewellyn was. And Michael Madsen gives us his take on the overconfident, arrogant American. Oh, I absolute forgot about Halle Berry. Literally, she left that much of an impression.
Production wise this doesn't look to good either. While the opening sequence had a lot of pratical stunts the relied on CGI throughout the movie far too much. And in the early 2000s it just didn't cut it. Which has the result that it now looks extremely dated and fake. Addionally the sets do look exactly like that - sets. All that ice looked so fake it really hurts the whole movie.
This being the 20th official Bond I expected really something more. The little "homages" they put in where really lame. And yes, that includes Halle Berry appearance in Ursula Andress style.
While the movie has small fractions where it can be entertaining it fails as a whole and is by far the worst of the Brosnan era.
Oh, yes, that's more like it. This Bond has a great mix of humor, brutality, a dose of silliness plus tons of action. Brosnan instantly steps into the role of Bond and it feels like he's always been there. The tone of the movie is at times really grim and you sometimes feel you watch Rambo instead of Bond.
But I really need to do something about my memory. I had no recollection of Famke Jansen being in a Bond movie nor that Judy Dench has already been there with Brosnan. And she does a fine job giving us a very different kind of "M". And by that I don't speak of her sex. Famke was great also and she seems to have had a lot of fun with this role.
The theme song by the amazing, and sadly recently passed, Tina Turner is one of the best of the franchise and stands in stark contrast to the at times silly synth music used for the film.
One little weakness in the plot was that you don't believe for a second that Alec is dead simply by the fact you don't hire Sean Bean for a little teaser appearance. And since he then doesn't appear until later in the movie it's a safe bet he's the villain.
But like I said, little weakness. Overall a highly entertaining Bond movie.
Proof positive you need much more than Sean Connery to make a Bond movie. Whatever his reasons were to come back (having a say in the casting and creative influence f.e.) this movie turned out bad. And he looked about ten years older than he actually was. Which at least the'd taken into account.
Well, they couldn't use all the trademarks and it shows everywhere. From the opening scene this doesn't feel anything like James Bond. Funny enough some scenes actually do look like late 60s.
Concerning the cast: those aren't bad actors. But their acting is bad. But I guess they act like they were directed. "M" seems like a persiflage, totally over the top. Barbara Carrera is just a hanger for designer fashion. Her performance is one of the worst I've ever seen. I don't understand the Golden Globe nomination at all. And her final scene the most ridicolous thing. Brandauer is very bland as the villain. You can't say anything else above him.
And talking of blandness - re-heating an old story doesn't help. Seems to be that an original script would've been to expensive. And it takes about 1.5 h before the first decent stunt. It's also about the only significant one. I wonder where all that budget went. 36m $ compared to the 27.5m $ for "Octopussy" (all numbers imdb). Guess a lot went into Connery's pocket (actually it was 3m $ which was stupid money to pay for an actor back then). In case you'd like to know, roughly multiply the figures times 3.7 to compare it with today.
Like I said, in my eyes an unnessessary and forgetable movie. Well, since the boxoffice numbers were inferior to "Octopussy" we were spared another rogue Bond movie.
James Bond ventures into Space. How much bigger can it get ?
I know I'm rating this movie rather high but this one I must have watched a dozen times as a teenager. I absolutely loved it - I was kind of a space junkie. It sure is a product of its time with the Space Shuttle and the battle in space with laser guns. This was around the time that Star Wars and Star Trek were made so there might be some reason for that. According to imdb this movie was actually brought forward due to the success of Star Wars. The end credit of "Spy" said the next movie would be FYEO.
This one is another fun ride with the typical portion of Bond humor along the ride. There are some nice easter eggs in this one. Is it repetitive ? Of course, it's a Bond movie. It's almost in its DNA. You have a formula that works (stunts, beautiful women and grandious sets) so why change it. Those were the blockbusters of the time. And if you look at franchises like Marvel or Transformers they all follow there own formula. The story is mostly just the canvas.
Granted, it's not the best Bond movie so far, not even the second best. But I like this more than OHMSS. And not because Connery was back. No, that probably wasn't the best idea but one born out of desperation. His age (althought just around 40 he looked older) is clearly showing by now and he isn't as convincing as he was before. I do agree that there is a lot of sillyness in this movie. But in some way that's what I expect from a Bond movie. Not a parody but certainly a wee bit over the top. But it seems to be more aimed at an american audience. The addition of well known, and beautiful, american actress Jill St. John seems to add to that.
There is no mentioning at all of what happened at the end of OHMSS and I think that was a deliberate attempt to bury that movie. We start out again with Bond chasing Blofeld (again played by a different actor) around the world and presumably killing him. Which is later revealed to be a Doppelgänger. Not a huge surprise for the audience I might add. The two henchman Wint and Kidd add a little bit of creepyness and overall you get the usual plot holes and errors also typical for a Bond movie.
But it was "Goodbye" for Mr. Connery who carried a lot of the 1960s Bond with him. The next one would by the premiere for Roger Moore (who was the initial first choice for the character) who carries Bond into the 1970s.
The forgotten Bond. Or should I say the unwanted, unrecognized Bond.
But it's not Lazenby who's the problem. I mean, he may be part of it but he might have gotten criticism anyway because he had rather large shoes to fill. In the end he never got a real chance.
No, the main problem is the horrible script. It's cheesy and dull and there isn't much at stake. The movie felt off from the start with now Theme Song and flasbacks from the other Bond movies in the opening credits. There was no excitement going into it. I mean, there is an evil plot by Blofeld to destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. How ingenius is that ? (attention, sarkasm). And everything just so he'll be accepted as a Count ? And was that the same Blofeld as in "You Only Live Twice" I wonder ? He didn't seem to recognize Bond but he was asked how many millions he wants "this time". Which sounds like he was the same. Now, logic was never a strong suite of bond movies but this feels like a gaping hole. And the whole romantic angle ? That felt like a totally different movie. And it didn't fit. It felt completely hollow and constructed and it made no impact at the end. There isn't much more to say about that.
I also blame the director as he seem to have no idea how to get good performances out of his cast. Of course Hunt knew how to make movies as he was an editor for the first four. But knowing how to make a movie and making one are different things. Horrible German accents and weird, funny sound effects during the fights only add to the pile. And the movie was way, way too long. I checked the time after what I thought must be already two hours and I was just halfway in.
No, this was not a good movie at all. Bond or otherwise. Such a shame Diana Rigg threw away "The Avengers" for this one off appearance. And that after only being third choice for the role (after Bardot and Deneuve).
After season two I was wondering how they could top this. Well, they didn't.
And while that in itself didn't surprise me, because bringing back Luke was HUGE, I often felt they didn't even try. This season, while still good overall, felt like an over length movie where they did forget to cut out the unnessessary scenes. My average rating for this season dropped a full two points. And that's a lot. There were few great episodes, some good but also some really weak ones.
Din was a side player a lot of the time (which was later confirmed as being intentional). I expected this season to be about his redemption but that got dealt with very fast. The story centered more around Bo Katan which I'm absolutely fine with. I also like to have more Mandalorians in general. Now, Grogu's arc hit a wall. Aside from the finale he pretty much was there to be cute and eat something. Gideon turned into another Vader wannabe, he was more interesting in season two.
Overall this was an OK season that gets pulled down by a couple of weak episodes and weak moments within episodes. The main question for me, and I'm actually surprised to hear me saying this: do I want another season ?
Well, I still like the characters of Din, Grogu and Bo Katan and would like to see them again. But there has to be a better effort in terms of the overall story because where we stand now it seems there isn't much left to tell.
That's my impression. I have spoken.
Funny how now the Empire Remnant has a secret underground resistance against the New Republic. How the tables have turned.
This episode was way better in terms of storytelling but it left me very frustrated. I know that the Mandalorians are not likely to win if they want to keep the mythology. But just for once I'd like to see them come out on top. Gideon has become a bit ridicolous. He's the archetype of a bad guy. He was more interesting when he wasn't flying around as a Vader look-alike. I hate to see Vizla die but I should've seen that one coming because I really grew to like him. Grogu inside IG ? Come-on, he's a Force user. Despite the fact he choose not to train with Luke he still has the ability, no ? And we still must have a monster, doesn't we ?
Now, those are personal and, yes, biased points on my behalf. Like I said it was a great episode as such. In the end I see it as a win for the author if he invokes those reactions from me. There were also moments that gave me serious goosebumps. Like when Bo told them what happened between her and Gideon and subsequent how Din told her why he's following her. The talk about Thrawn didn't surprise me. I expected that pretty much from episode one forward.
Only one episode left and I hope there'll be some silver lining.
I watched a couple of episodes of this show on its original run and remembered it as being a solid scifi show. So I thought it would be a good idea to watch the whole thing. Now, I know it's makes a difference at what age you watch a show but this took an effort to make it through.I was on the brink of quitting more then once.
There are two points I want to adress that I repeatedly read about this. The first being that this is Star Trek under water. Not from where I stand. Star Trek always took strong position on social issues whereas with Seaquest the scale always tipps for the entertainment angle instead of really adressing the issues.
The second thing is that the individual season are becoming worser. Again from where I stand I wouldn't agree. Both, S1 and S2 and amazingly stupid episodes as well as a couple of decent ones. My average episodes rating of those seasons only has a margin slightly above a half point. They are pretty much on par. Season three includes the highest rated episode and does on average better than one and two.
I won't go into much more detail as I've written comments about every individual episode. So here is my average rating for each season:
S1: 5,565
S2: 5,000
S3: 6,308
Overall: 5,624
That's barely a six overall. It's my personal opinion so please don't let this disuade you from watching it yourself.
There is a very heavy message at the bottom of that episode. Saying that it is futile trying to maintain peace it's therefore natural to start a war. That's serious stuff and it ways heavy even, or especially, in today's time. The other side of the coin is because it seems natural to have war we should do everything to prevent it. It's easy being bad but it takes an effort to do good.
But instead of discovering those philosophies the show once more reverts to action like undersea battles and fist fights. The whole look and setup of the base looked bad. More like a cheap Mad Max rip off.
What happened on the bridge between Henderson and Brody would have actually made sense if she stuck with it instead of doing a 180. At that moment it becomes cheap drama. Brody should have been the reluctant one to fire in that situation. There is also the cliched saved-by-the-baddy-turn-good. Best thing in the end was Dagwoods arc where we once more see that he could be a much more interesting and deeper character.
On the casting side I find it very interesting they choose Bernie Casey for that role of the rogue Admiral. He also played Calvin Hudson on ST DS9. A Starfleet officer who almost started a war with the Cardassians and a high ranking member of the Maquis. That's a heck of a coincidence if it is one.
I'm torn about what to make of this episode.
It started really well, almost feeling like a Star Trek episode. They discover an unknown phenomenon in sp.... under water and are recieving a distress call. They go through and send an (away) team to investigate, where they find a deserted (but exceptional clean) city with a super computer in it and discover they went into the future. Mankind seems to be extinct. There was some form of plague (watching this post-COVID gives this another meaning).
Up to this point I was as hooked to the story. And then two giant killer mechs appeared and things start falling apart. From that moment on the episode balanced on keeping it serious.
I liked the angle where people became to dependened on the computer and stoped progressing. When they talked about that people had to stay inside and everything was done through the computer that was really hitting home. And kids rather playing games then going outside - I've been such a kid in the past. But nothing really made sense.
The past not existing because of time ending in the future ? How does time end with no people ? Even if those two died the universe would still go on. And you can't re-populate the planet with two people. It's just not possible. But they seem to want to make a point with the Adam & Eve version. Which is yet another religous reference I detect in this season.
This is the most I've ever written about any episode of this show so far. To be honest I still don't know what to make of it.
This wasn't quite the beginning I waited for a whole year. It had way to much action for action's sake. Oh, and way too short for a season premiere.
Started good though. I thought at first this would be some kind of flashback to when Din got his helmet. The monster fight did absolutely nothing other then sugar coat CGI. But we find out what will be the quest for this season: Redemption.
The Navarro part was OKish. I had kind of feared one of the pirates would turn out to be Hondo. Like I expected they explain Cara away with one sentence. Shame that she's no longer there as she really was a great character with potential. Great idea bringin back IG88. We'll see how this plays out.
The space battle was again just showcasing CGI, which does look great, but really did nothing then add action. I kind of fear those pirates will be along for the ride this year.
Din's meeting with Bo Katan was interesting and I hope we see a lot of her this year.
The ONE thing that had my blood pumping were the creatures that Grogu saw in Hyperspace. Those were purgill, no ? Now that's an interesting thing to show us.
Still, the pieces are in place and I'm exited for the story to unfold.
Watched it twice already and while it isn't in the same league as The Mandalorian or Andor for sure its not the worst Star Wars show.
cough Kenobi cough
I actually liked it very much. It had great moments and quite frankly, if not for that teenie mod-gang and some extremly unfunny humor I might be tempted to rate it higher. The story isn't bad. In fact, seeing what happened to Fett after the Sarlac and how he ended up with the Tusken was amazing. So was having many, more or less surprising, guests being in this. It's important for the overall plot of those shows. But that is also where the main problem lies: the show's identity.
This is as much a series about Boba Fett and how he's changed as a person as it is an interlude leading into The Mandalorian season three. If you haven't watched this you might not understand certain things moving forward. Since that season only airs in a couple of days I can't be certain about that but I thinks it's a save bet.
Either you want to know how Boba Fett survived or what happened after the end of Mando season two - this is your show.
When I started this show, I could never had imagined for a second, that I would reach a point where I actually lose all interest and drop out.
The first season was great in every regard. The second was slightly down. There were a couple of episodes I really didn't like. But I had no idea it was the beginning of a downward spiral. It became a different show with season three. Replacing the whole cast was a huge mistake. It took me right out of the show especially since there isn't a massive time gap in the story. But while I reached a point midway through the season where I could live with them, the focus shifted more and more away from historical and political facts to marriage proplems, relationships and love affairs. And that I cared little for.
With season four it was a full blown soap opera where the focus seemd to be only on Charles and Di where it was perfectly clear which side the writers were on. I made it to episode three of that season and decided this is no longer worth my time.
Sad, they had a gem here with a marvelous cast and decided to do a complete one-eighty.
My rating reflects the average of all the episodes I've seen. Which comes to 7,06 but I'm certain it would have gone down had I continued.
Despite being a huge Cate Blanchett fan this isn't the first movie of hers I didn't finish (Malick's "Knight of Cups being the other).
Having to sit through minutes of credits before the movie even starts, followed by a fifteen minute interview with the main character doesn't help to take me into the movie. So does not knowing all the musical terms they are using here. You hear the words but can't make sense of it (ultimately it might not even be important to understand it but you feel you should). Shortly thereafter another long scene at a restaurant were I again can't make heads or tails what they are talking about. I feel like I am already watching for an hour but it's just barely half of that and I'm looking for reasons to watch this for two more. After another fifteen minutes went by I give up. Why do I want to know more about this person, why should I care ? I don't know.
At the two hour mark, the movie just breezing by me, I decide it's not worth it for me. In the past I wrote somewhere, that I would watch Cate sitting on a chair for two hours. And I'd rather would've done that.
See, I can't even tell you anything about the content of the movie. I just described how I experienced it.
Not for me.
I don't know if i'd call this a reboot, remake or a sequel. It's a bit of everything yet nothing entirely. It's still a good movie that is underrated at 61 %.
I really appreciate all the little details and easter eggs that pay hommage to the original Superman movie. You can see that Singer is really a fan. Heck, they even made some of the flying scenes look a little bit dated althought I'm sure with the tech in 2006 they could have been much better. Story is OK for the genre but ultimately doesn't deliver anything really new or grand. Which is one reason I did not rate it higher. The other being, I was never a fan of the Superman / Lois romance. And, no matter what version, I never liked Lois Lane. And that, for me, takes up too much time in the movie. Trim that down, or leave it out, cuts probably twenty minutes of the running time. I might have even rated it higher. I know they needed something for the impact of him having a son. But I didn't like it, so ...
All in all still worth watching and ultimately massively better then the latest Superhero movies being put out.
Even my BluRay player refused to play this movie as if he'd remember something I didn't.
To quote Christopher Reeve: "Superman IV was a catastrophe from start to finish. That failure was a huge blow to my career."
And the sad part in retrospect, he never got the chance to make another one. But I don't blame him for the failure despite co-writing the story. I think he wanted to make a story about the threat of nuclear destruction out of sincere worry. But the studio wanted crash, boom and bang and the usual silly comedy parts. Both of them mix very, very badly. Due to the lack of budget (it was cut in half shortly before production began) the SFX looks at times rediculous almost like those cheap scifi rip-offs that were made around that time. And pardon me for saying that, but Marc Pillow is one of the worst actors I've ever seen in a movie. His performance is a prime example of over-acting. Even Hackman's return as Lex Luthor can't save this movie from being a catastrophe. And pulling out the kiss and forget act on Lois again ? Really ?! They clearly had no ideas left.
In hindsight it's amazing to see how over the span of ten years they ran the Superman movies into the ground.
Still good but not as good as part one. In general too comedic and even stupid at times. And I noticed the dialogue was sometimes weird. Someone said something and then camera switches to another character and there's a slight pause beofore the reply. As if the editing was off.
The whole thing with Lois finding out Clark is Superman was weak. It was supposed to make him understand his purpose I guess. And then a full one-eighty by having her memory wiped with a kiss ? How does this work?
And another huge whole: if he steps into the chamber it can't be reversed. And then he finds the green crystal and everthing's just fine. And the control panels where still burned down so he didn't re-create the Fortress. Since he gets his power from the yellow sun anyway it's all very sketchy. At least a little explanation would be nice.
I found Zod a bit overdone. Only thing missing was him twirling his mustache. And I always had problems when someone talks about himself in the 3rd person. I understand the purpose of making him look overconfident or even mentally unstable. But on the other hand he looks like a caricature not to be taken serious.
Well, probably too much analyzing on my side and it's still fun to watch overall.
That was the first episode that left me a bit disappointed because it felt like a step sideways. And no real twists or surprises. Everything just happens.
Maarva's death was to be expected, there has to be a reason for Andor to get back. The escape from Narkina 5 was too convinient, as they just stumble over those aliens and nothing about the other escapees. Yes, they asked the question at the end but it seemed rather to find a reason to seperate the two then really answer the question. Mon Mothma has to agree to Davo's terms to save herself. I wrote last week the scene between them felt like a deleted scene and now more so. They could have just added a line or two of dialogue to explain what happened there. Finally, Luthen's escape from the Empire works mostly because we are back to stupid minion officers who are probably glad they can put on an uniform in the morning. Oh, and Kyril wants to still get his hand on Andor as he blames him for his dilemma. I really thought the character would go deeper.
Sorry for the rambling but I am used to better writing from this show by now. Let's hope that the finale next week can shift up at least two gears.
This show is taking Star Wars more and more away from the fairy tale and to places that are uncomfortable. And I love it !
I was suspecting their is a mole inside the ISB but I did not see that angle. Luthen is willing to send fifty people to their death to let the ISB think they are still ahead. That's what Rebellion really means. Sacrifice. Everyone has to sacrifice for something they might never see. That's what fighting means. Awesome scene that also drops a rather interesting piece of information. Luthen said HE started this fifteen years ago. That would take it to about Episode III or just before. So, who is he ?! What's his connection ? Is there more to it or is it just useless dialogue ?
The prison escape was great, too. Not over the top and well filmed. I hope this wasn't the last we've seen of Kino as he really grew on me the last couple of episodes. I wonder how they will escape from the planet, thought.
The Mon Motha part seems kind of filler. I suspect she'll be forced to turn back to Davo for moving money. Even if she didn't like his terms. Which is why right now the scene feels like a dropped in deleted scene.
But hey, I'm always cursing when the credits roll in because I want to know how it's going to continue. And that's a good thing, right ?
