Not going to lie, this was better than the previous episode. I still just want to make it through the end. And for a show I had high hopes for, that's a statement of disappointment.
The flashback with Obi-Wan and Anakin was really good but should have been in the movie in the first place. It would have explained more back than as it did today. Seeing Vader stomp through the hallways and holding of the transport was another great sequenz. Overall it's still nowhere near what could have been. Because of the writing...
When the Stormtroopers land and take position in front of the door, that's about as un-military as you can get. Line up for an enemy to maw you down. Is this overconfidence or stupidity ? If Reva could have just slice open the door with her Lightsaber than why not do so in the first place ? And when the door does open, Stormtroopers are dropping like flies and I counted three (!!!) "rebels" being killed, including Tala. And Reva stands just behind in the background. The revelation of her story was anything but a surprise, but it's another reminder that this show has the wrong title. And how many other force sensitive people did she kill or helped being killed to get back at Vader ? To avenge what he has done as Anakin ? Killing what was in your words your family for revenge ? Yeah, that totally makes her one of the good guys instantly. (Attention sarcasm)
But here is one thing I really have a beef with and it hasn't even directly to do with the story or show itself:
Why is Qui-Gon dead ?
He got punched in the gut by Maul's saber once. So did the Grand Inquisitor, and so did Reva. Apperently twice !!! And both are alive.
Right now, even another fight between Vader and Kenobi, which would at this point nake no sense, can't save this show.
"Nice stopwatch." "You want one, they're italian."
I am a car nut. I follow motorsports since the early 1980s up to today and I love the history of it. So this one was highly anticipated. And I was not dissapointed.
The movie is great. I'm sure they added or altered some things like they allways do but the basic story is right. This was one of the greatest moments in motorsports. The dawn of a new era. The racing footage is great and I was surprised to find out that it was all done practical because I expected a lot of it to be CG. However I don't think it depicts the excitement of racing like Le Mans or even Grand Prix did. I was much more immersed in those. Matt Damon was allright but I was awestruck by Christian Bale's performance. Bernthal seemed like an odd choice to play Iacocca because it is so far away from The Punisher, which is imprinted on my mind, but it works.
What can I say ? You like motorsports watch it. But this is also about friends & friendship. About facing impossible odds to accomplish your goals. And it tells the story not too clichéd. After all, this is how it went down. If there are clichès then they were probably born here.
So I decided to start the Saga once more, this time in chronological order. For sure it isn't the best of them all but at the same time it's not completely awful and/or unwatchable. When I saw it initially at the movies I wasn't negativ about it at all. I was more thrilled about getting a new trilogy going. Yes, Jar Jar is annoying and little Anni is a smartass brat. I remember back in 1999 I had trouble believing that from this would come Darth Vader. To which I also attribute the fact that Jake Lloyd just couldn't pull it off. Most of the acting was rather pale and only Liam Neeson did stand out a bit. Would have liked to see more Qui-Gon.
Back to the movie. The story as a whole is not bad but the story telling is. There are important parts here that will impact the story moving forward but you don't feel they are important. In fact if you don't know what to look for you might miss it. There seems to be no urgency in all of this. In hindsight I'd say you could start with Ep.II and still get the meaning of it all. It get's a little better once they reach Coruscant and later go back to Naboo. And of course we get the epic battle between Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan which is the reason it still get's a "7" from me.
A few words about the production side. In 1999 this was state of the art. It was actually ahead of it's time which is why some scenes still look great. When it comes to the Gungans f.e. you see the steps that have been made since then. And some of the green-screen work looks just like that. And it becomes more apparent in 4k. Overall the movie looks great in UHD, I saw many details I had missed before, and I am sure they smoothed some things out. And you would be surprised how many things aren't CG but actually model building.
It's not the best introduction to Star Wars if you've never have seen it. That would still be A New Hope. And it will always be. But as I said earlier, it's not unwatchable.
This movie is great on many levels. First it works as a really good sci-fi/action movie. But there is also a message, intentional or not, and it raises questions. But it's not being put on the foreground. Yet you clearly see the references. And it still works today.
The mix of documentary and cinematic style adds a certain level of realism, as much as this is possible with an alien story, but you are much more drawn into it because of that. The story itself is interesting. You don't have aliens coming to conquer or destroy mankind. They are pretty much a sorry bunch with little hope of existence. I like that angle.
Putting this not into the hollywood realm and not placing it in America also just adds to the positive attributes this whole movie has.
I am on the fence if I would want a sequel to be honest. If that would mean it gets the hollywood treatment I'd refuse. I mean - look at the Terminator franchise for a reference.
In any case, after re-watching this movie I raise my rating from "8" to "9" because I really think it is that good. Unfortunately, from where I stand, Blomkamp hasn't even come close to repeating with any of his other movies following District 9.
Let's not talk Ewoks or Special Editions. There's nothing that can be said or written that hasn't been done so before.
I loved Star Wars from the second I first watched it and that will never change. I made my peace with the prequels and can see what they brought to the whole despite the flaws they have.
This marked the first time I saw everything chronologically so far (incl. Clone Wars and Rebels) and some things just don't ad up.
F.e. how can Leia know anything about her mother ? Both children were taken away the minute they were born and Padme died right after giving birth. Bail Organa immediatly took Leia in. She should not be able to remember her birth mother.
And Obi-Wan was very reluctant to take on Anakin, let alone train him. He only did so because of a promise he made to the dying Qui-Gon.
You can find many more little discrepancies and this is not meant to be criticism of any kind. In any case in 1983 all this didn't apply. It just shows that it isn't easy to put a prequel story to an existing story without cutting some corners.
But like I said - I love Star Wars. I can easily live with all those things mentioned above.
Now, reluctantly I have to admit, I move on to the sequells.
I've been an Eastwood fan for basically my entire movie watching life. Ever since I've saw him in one of the Dollar western. If he's playing or directing - it's a reason for me to watch it. However his last directing credits were literally hit and miss the last youple of years.
Amerian Sniper (miss), Sully (hit), 15:17 to Paris (miss), The Mule (hit). And now Richard Jewell is somewhere in between but leaning more towards missing, again, for different reasons.
I knew nothing about the person or how he's been treated at the time. So I had really no idea what was going to happen in this movie. While I'm not surprised at how the story unfolds I have to say that Eastwood did not manage to invoke real sympathy for the man in me. The whole thing pretty much plays like you would expect it to. Jewell is the hero.
After I watched the movie I read about the controversy surrounding the portrayal of Kathy Scruggs. I know movies are taking artistic freedoms when it comes to the portrayal of characters but I think they went below the line here. Especially considering that she is dead. That made me read up a little more. I don't want to excuse what has been done to Jewell by the FBI and the media, and how terrible it must have been for him. But I found it interesting that the movie neglected to mention that the Attorney General formally apologized and that Jewell got a 500.000 $ settlement from NBC. Others settled, too, but I don't know for what.
I think it is really important to tell stories like this. But adding or leaving stuff out are intentional decisions on part of the writer and/or director and I really ask myself: why ? If you make a movie based on a real event, stick to the fact. Don't add or leave things out. Because if you do I really question your motive and your agenda.
If you made a movie that is making $ 544k domestic and a little over $ 1m worldwide it tells you something. There wasn´t much interest in the first place (no, honestly how many movie goers are that? 100-110k maybe?) Anyway, if you haven´t seen it I don´t think you´d missed out.
Yes, the story is - or rather could have been - interesting. I think it is to superfical. You have the innocent little girl that one day sees the monk burning himself and suddenly she went haywire and becomes anti-everything. From there on the story jumps through the years with little explanations or deeper investigation. It´s the father not wanting to give up on his daughter and the mother trying to move on. You could have easily jumped from Merry´s disapearance to the day her father found her because all what happened in between isn´t really meaningful. I don´t blame McGregors directing, I think he did a good job and since he didn´t wrote the script you can´t lay blame on him for that. I haven´t read the book, maybe it isn´t even a bad adaptation. Maybe the origin is as sketchy.
All the actors did a very good job and it is what keeps this movie above water so that you get through it. But that is just it, you get through it and after the end you just forget. If this was supposed to be a critical lock into that time in history it failed.
I try to be fair but seen with the rational mind of an adult this show is barely "meh".
The voice acting is absolutely overdone. Most of the villains are silly. Sound effects seem to come straight out of The Flintstones. Music between Pink Panther and Scooby Doo with a portion Peanuts.
Spider Man sounds like Adam West´s Batman, both in word as well as pronounciation and acts really dumb at times. "Oh, my spider sense is tickling" while someone stands right behind him.
Jamesson is completly possessed by Spider Man. Everything is Spider Mans fault, Spider Man is responsible - he sounds like a whiny child most of the time. That was my impression of the first season.
The Second season started with a great episode "The Origin of Spider Man" but that was a lone exception. In general 20 min episodes are just too long. They had too little content and oftentimes contain minutes of Spidey swinging around to some groovy soundtrack. It became increasingly more ridicolous, it felt like the writers were smoking weed. Elfes, demons, monsters or some kind of wild tribe, alltogether more sci-fi elements - it just doesn't fly.
Season 3 seems to be recycling old material with new dialogue.
For the intented audience that was probably under 10 I am sure none of this mattered. Unfortunately I don't have the fond memories of watching this as a child. I skipped some of the second season and the third just played with me paying no attention.
So I have to stick with "meh", sorry.
More pieces of the puzzle but still no full picture developing.
It actually wasn't too bad. We see more of Q, which is a good thing given deLancies great performance. Concerning Q: Why would he rip himself of his own power in a scenario he himself created ? Doesn't make sense and suggest that someone else is involved ?
So, Laris isn't Laris but a supervisor like Gary Seven. That's an interesting angle that I hope get's further developed than just this short mentioning. I'm also getting some Edith Keeler vibes with Renee Picard in the sense that she was essential for the timeline. Interestingly Keeler's survival would have let probably to the same future as Renee not making the flight. Coincidence ?
The ICE storyline is hopefully done with and it was obviously just there to make a point. Let's leave it at that.
I don't like the Jurati plot because I don't like Jurati. And I'm dissapointed in how they used the Borg Queen so far. But that's just me personally.
Bringing in Brent Spiner as another Soong ancestor is a nice angle that, in a way, gives more depth. Althought I fear he's just a tool here. And Isa Briones finally got to make her appearance in this timeline, too.
One thing that pains me to say a bit is that it feels that Patrick Stewart seems exhausted in almost every scene he's in. It could be intentional in how he plays Picard as a fragile old man. I hope it is because otherwise it would mean it's too much for him. Which could be normal given his age but makes me wonder about his involvement in season 3.
I think this story is based on a great concept. Being an atheist I love that it completely takes god out of the equation. Unless you consider those aliens to be god. It also resembles on a larger scale our own planet with different races and cultures and our origins. And like it happens today in our time the different races, Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans reject the idea and are even appaled by it. Of course it also explained why all those alien races had a similar anatomy.
But this episode is interesting, or better has become so for me, because of two facts:
Salome Jens playing the alien that looks kind of similar to The Founders who she also portrayed. Of course this is pure fantazising on my behalf as this was never picked up upon on DS9. But it would certainly be an interesting angle.
But here is another one I was just able to recognize now. When the Romulan commander talked to Picard at the end he implicated that in the future, maybe, there could be a time of understanding. This, at the time rather insignificant, conversation get's a new meaning if you look at the plot of Star Trek: Picard now and (please don't read this if you haven't watched this show) Picard's involvement with the rescue effort of the Romulans and how he even sacrificed his career for them. Am I reaching too far ? Could be, but it jumped right towards me.
Interesting how there seem to be more negative reviews here than in the ones before whereas I think this was the best one of the series. Or maybe I´m just getting used to it.
Anyway, I´ve critizised the Abramsverse a lot but this one was a small step in the right direction. I would attribute this largely to the fact that Abrams isn´t involved directly in this movie. Yes, it is still more like blockbuster cinema but there is improvement. We finally get rid of that annoying lensflare and this is something new not just a twisted old story (althought the crash of the saucer on the planet.....nah, it´s allright.) .
Gone is the sometimes silly behavior and unnessessary stupid humor. There is one part of the movie I didn´t like and that was the part where to music kills the bees that is the kind of > let us do something cool < factor I didn´t like in the first two movies but the rest was really solid. Still not comparable with the old, and it never will be, but for now enough to convince me to give the next one a try.
As I mentioned before - even if those new trek franchise would do nothing for me it generated interest and, more important, revenue that led to another tv show. Here´s hoping that it will do well.
I am really rather tired of sentient holograms and this whole oppression thing. And the Doctor always in the middle, taking sides, than seeing how he was wrong.
First off, when they created Moriaty it was a "technical glitch" caused by a slip of the tongue. You could already argue how the Enterprise computer created a sentient, self-aware hologramm. But it's scifi so you let it stand.
Than they created the EMH, which makes sense. A computer programm, meant to do certain tasks, put into a holo matrix. But, you just leave it running long enough, give it some subroutines and memory, and it magically develops a personality. And now we discover sentient or self aware hologramms everywhere.
With the Doctor it is the quest to find humanity, much like they did with Data. I can get behind that. The rest is just ridiculous and serves no real purpose. And a religious, fanatic hologram who sees himself as some kind of Messiah ? That's going overboard.
The positives of this story is that we again pick up consequences of Janeways actions because everything that happened here comes out of her decisions. I was actually surprised how they talked about how often they gave away replicator tech and stuff. I thought that was a absolute no-go.
In any case, you could probably do another seven season show that just deals with those kind of consequences.
You know, I'd actually watch that.
An episode that has no sci-fi elements and is sorely about people. There are so many things that I like about this episode. It was great seeing a mission from the point of view of the lower ranks who often don't get the picture of what is going on around them. There are hundreds of people serving on board the Enterprise and most of them are not in the loop. Much like, say, on an aircraft carrier today.
But we also see how much the high ranking officers, like Crusher and Worf, care for their subordinates. How they are taking part in their lifes and helping them with problems. Something we don't see that often but something that is essential for the ship to function. And that starts and stops with Picard who, after beeing witness to the trial of Ensign Sito, took her aboard the Enterprise so she could get a fair chance.
All those characters, caring for each other and not always looking for personal gains first, is something I am terribly missing from those new Star Trek incarnations.
This all is packaged into a well written script that makes you care for characters you didn't even know before the episode started. Well we knew Sito an Okagawa but you get my point. And so the emotional impact at the end is felt deeply.
Because of all that I will overlook the one thing in the script that I think I concieve as a bit of an issue. Wouldn't a Cardassian returning in an Enterprise Shuttle raise some questions ? Whether he claims to be a bounty hunter, returning with a Bajoran prisoner I'd say he'd had a hard time explaining how he got hold of that shuttle.
Told you they won't show us Spock until the end. The whole episode did not strung a chord with me. Another step sideways instead of forward. I am not surprised Hugh is back, always suspected he would be. They never introduced another doctor. Can't say I care much for the fact or how they did it. The whole explanation was a bit too far-fetched. Plus they milked they whole situation a bit too much. The whole ship is falling apart but again and again they went into all-out "let's explain it to death mode". At some point I was yelling "get the f*** out of there already".
I am somewhat surprised that Section 31 is so out in the open. Tyler walks around displaying his badge to everyone and it seems obvious that everyone knows about them. Kinda weird for a covert ops unit. And I am not just saying that because of continuity. Maybe they were operating like that in this timeframe and where disbanded later, at least officially ?
And Giorgiou is so full of shit. Who in his right mind would ever trust her ?
Best character this season by a wide margin is Pike. He at least seems to be a chip off the old Starfleet block.
Best episode ever because lightsaber fight !
Seriously ?! It was in parts better but it couldn't save the show as a whole.
OK, I admit I was wrong and there was another match between them. And it was better then the first. But no stupid writing ? Why did Vader just leave Obi-Wan under the rocks ? He couldn't feel he was still alive ? Well, he couldn't feel him sneaking up behind him, couldn't he ? But he knew he was on the little ship. And if that is how it went down why didn't Obi-Wan just kill Vader right there? Could have saved the galaxy lots of trouble. He clearly had accepted that Anakin was gone, he even called him "Darth" (which by the way is wrong because that's a title, the name would be Vader). And they now established that the Empire, and Vader, knew all the time that Kenobi was alive and where he was.
Luke having no memory of being chased in the night by a lady with a crimson lightsaber ? OK, maybe it's one of those selected memory losses.
Reva standing on the surface of Tattoine after taking a lightsaber in her guts just mere hours before ? How is that not convinient writing ? And wanna bet we see her again? Maybe in a spin-off?
Qui-Gon appearing at the end was nice but ultimately useless. This final episode was just ticking up boxes to preserve canon but it also creates logical errors by doing so. And there was never any danger towards the characters.
Hindsight is always 20/20 but after watching what I had high hopes for, I can only say it would have been better it didn't happen.
I know most people don't respond well if you say something negative about their favorite show but I can't help it. If you like it I'm glad for you (really) but please allow me my opinion.
I am one of those who doesn't think that this is THE best show ever. It's not even the best sitcom in my opinion. It had its moments but not many. Maybe it isn't fair to judge it 25 years after the fact because that is a long time in TV land and things change. But most of the stuff I dislike has nothing to do with timeframe.
First, why this is called Friends is beyond me. Those are the most dishonest, selfish, egoistic and sometimes even mean group of people I've seen on TV. They constantly try to withhold stuff and most of the comedic situations spawn from that. I don't see where it is funny to go behind your friends backs. There are those moments where there behave like friends should, but those come usually after they screwed up.
Than there is the characters. I've written in some episode's comment that Ross is the most obnoxious character I've ever seen on TV. And I've seen my share. And there is WAY too much of him and Rachel who I also disliked deeply. They pull down every episode they're in which is pretty much every episode. That constant back and forth, the bickering and their pretensious behaviour is so annoying. Joey was funny at first but that wears out fast once you get past 50 episodes. Very one-dimensional. I don't even know what to say about Chandler because he is that bland. Monica went from "I don't care" through "I kinda like her" but ultimately annoying. Phoebe I liked until she, too, got the I-need-to-marry virus. Until that she was honest in that she didn't care what others thought about her and just made her thing. Alltogether there was little character developement in any of them. I couldn't connect with them and was more interested in what guest stars might turn up next.
And what it is anyway with all the girls need to find guys to marry and get babies and the guys needing to score? It is a good thing there wasn't any social media available because with all those gay and trans jokes there would have probably been a lot of heat.
That laughing track is way over the top. It accompanied literally every sentence. It even ruined jokes by starting to early. And what is wrong with building up an emotional moment and going through with it instead of ruining it with a bad joke ?
So, why did I watch, and even complete, it ? It's simple. And I mean that in the true sense of the word. You don't have to pay close attention to the plot, f.e. you don't have to stop it if the phone rings, you can even skip an episode completely. It's like having a radio playing in the background. Sometimes reading the synopsis was as interesting as the actual episode. Let's be honest: continuity, logic and depth of story were not the trademarks of Friends. It is full of holes and errors. But it fitted my daily schedule. I could drop in a couple of episodes here and there. And I punished myself a little bit because I went out and bought the whole series at once. Had I watched the first season first I would stopped there and then.
This is the longest review I've written in a while which shows I thought about this show a lot. I like versitality, it would be boring if every show was the same. That doesn't stop me though from speaking my mind. This is a love or hate kind of show. I don't hate it as such. But there were only just one or two episodes a season I think were more than average. It became better towards the end (either that or I caved) but it was an effort to get through and I am glad I'm done with.
This has the potential to become either a smash hit or the bust of the season. I can see it go either way.
I had some difficulty at first getting into it because on the surface it seemed so cliched. Psychology student working as a dominatrix, gay BFF. It's not a comedy as such althought towards the end it had some really great laughs. Definately not sitcom format. For me it became much better once the focus shifted from the SM stuff more towards the personal issues both have. It's more of a tragedy, really. I like the character of Tiff and Zoe Levin plays her really well. Alltogether it reminded me a little bit of Secret Diary of a Call Girl if only vaguely.
The length of the episodes is an issue with some episode just barely making it to 14 min runtime. I'd say 5 min more per eps would have been good for more substance.
I am not sure where the story can ultimately go, or if they even plan to take it anywhere. I don't see this making it through multiple seasons. Had they switched the last two episodes around I would have been OK with this being a closed story.
So, let's see if there will be more.
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.
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.
Kudos to Marvel/Netflix for, again, making me watch a show I didn´t particulary enjoy to the end by tying it all loosely together and calling it a Universe. It´s the fear to miss something and not the quality of the show.
The whole setup doesn´t work for me. All that black gangsta hip hop style isn´t hitting home. The villian makes the hero and that Cottonmouth is just a smalltime wannabe. I mean, he just doesn´t have it. All those gangster types are so cliched that it hurts. And at the bottom of the story is a bad guy with daddy issues. That´s thin
Luke Cage, while he seemed to be interesting as a secondary in Jessica Jones he doesn´t carry a show. He just don´t, he´s boring after a short while. That indestructible thing kills all the drama. A character like Daredevil f.e. he can be hit, he bleeds, he can die - with Cage you know he enters a scene, get´s shot over and over then hits some guys and that´s it. When there finaly was the means of him getting hurt it became slightly better but there I lost interest already. And I am sure (up to now I haven´t finished the season) they will find a way to make him invincible again. What´s the point? Even Superman has his Kryptonite.
I'll be very, very careful to give this pilot episode too much praise as I've been burned twice in the past already.
I do like the episodic format, that's a step in the right direction. That doesn't rule out an overlaying thread developing, though. The way they displayed Pike's struggle with the knowledge of his impending death was the highlight for me especially since I just happened to watch "The Menagerie" a few days back. Anson Mount picks his portrayal of Pike up where he left it. And he really bears a good resemblance to Jeffrey Hunter.
The story was OK althought, again not really subtle in delivery. But I guess in a pilot the introduction and establishing of characters is more important, anyway. The look is good, you can clearly identify where the designs come from. But why has every room on the ship to be soo huge ? They do look bigger then on a Galaxy Class ship and that was many times the size.
There were some things I didn't like and maybe that's just me being cautious. All in all, not over the moon, but they literally just left spacedock.
So, let's boldy go where no one has gone before. And don't repeat the errors of recent incarnations (and that's a very personal point of view).
This could have been an interesting story about the pros and cons of keeping someone on life support and the question of euthanasia. Probably too early to do something drastic and with Neelix behavior it would have been hard to pull it off anyway.
The look of the Vidiians is actually quite creepy and I am not surprised to see Bragas name coming up on the script. They, too, are an interesting species and the moral dilemma Janeway is confronted with was solved a bit too easy.
What bugs me the most is how the dialogue plays out most of the time and how things are portrayed. F.e. Neelix's toxic levels are rising up to point of almost 100 % and the next moment they are back to normal. They are not dropping but are right back to where they need to be. I know, it's me being petty but it's just one example of many.
Is the Intrepid class the only ship that has a seperate dining hall for the captain? I don't recall this on any other ship. An officer's mess - sure. But just for the cap? Isn't that a bit opulent and a waste of space on a rather small ship ? She's got a ready room, a cabin AND a dining hall. Sounds more like a queen than a captain.
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".
Well, I am not a Marvel Fan as such and I certainly don't read the comics. I watched about 90 % of the movies but they became more and more tedious for me. I just mention this so you better understand my comment.
I watch the Marvel shows because they are on Disney. Simple as that. Some I liked (Wanda and Falcon), some I didn't (Loki) and this one is kind of in nowhere-land. Started well and I hoped it would make the character of Hawkeye more interesting. It didn't, and after the first couple of episodes I liked it less and less. The story just didn't make me care for anything that happened on screen. And the humor and awkwardness that nowadays seems to be a must-have doesn't sit well with me either. What some percieve as funny are roll-eyes-moments for me I could live without. There were no real highlights and I really didn't like Kate Bishop. Bringing back Kingpin only made me realize how much I would love to have had another Daredevil season.
Since this shows main purpose is to be a precursor for upcoming movies I might not even watch, it is entirely possibly I am not getting the point of them. Maybe they don't work as stand alone because they are not supposed to. And because of that maybe I should not watch another.
I am not ripping them of or calling them awful but that's my point of view.
One Hundred Million Dollar.
That's a lot of money to make a movie that does about nothing. Technically this is really good. It looks great but it's an empty vessel.
There are no surprises in this movie. None ! If you don't see the twists at the end coming from a mile away you're not paying attention (which I could forgive) or have never seen anything similar.
There isn't even hope in the story. Everyone on Earth is dead. Augustine will die, the two astronauts going back to earth will die. And in a best case scenario the couple on the ship will get back to K23, or what the designation was. And after living for who knows how long, they will die, too. Leaving their daughter and possible siblings behind to ....., die. Right ! There will be no new Earth as you can not rebuild a civilization with two people. That's about it. Mankind's dead. And in case I didn't miss it, they didn't really showed why.
There was no emotional investment on my part, I stopped the movie five times and when it was running I was looking for stuff on ebay. The story never got to take me with it. And the movie fades into nothingness.
What's the point ?
I wasn't expecting a lot from this movie, maybe some mid-level doomsday story. So my dissapointment is rather low.
This movie tries to combine a family-drama with said doomsday scenario and it actually works at first. The build up is good, you go through the different stages, like the selection and leaving your friends behind, and you wonder how you would react in this situation. Because something like this is quite possible. I found this very engaging and the athmosphere was really dire.
But right around the middle they seem to be running out of ideas. Things like the kidnapping of the child or the fight that broke out on the truck you could smell coming right away. It could have served for some good character developement but it was basically just filling run time. Especially the accidental killing by John was but an afterthought. The movie just rolls along for quite some time with both of them trying to re-connect and it's ticking boxes along the way. There are no suprises. Towards the end it becomes better again, which suggest a lot of the middle could have left out. But we need to clear the reason for them breaking up so we get that in a short conversation. Didn't do anything for me.
At the end, in the bunker, you get the feeling again that this was all for nothing and that they will die. I would have applauded had they had the guts to do it. But, since this is a movie, there has to be a happy end, and they don't. Here is where it becomes a fairy tale or fantasy, where Hollywood takes over.
Mere hours after a nine mile asteroid smashes into Western Europe, they all come out of the bunker and the sun keeps shining. Those things are called Planet Killers for a reason as there would have been darkness for decades. Ask the dinosaurs. Oh, right.
Yeah, I know, that's what movie's do but it adds up.
Everyone is always so eager to help our protagonists while at the same time hundreds if not thousands are left to their own devices. And, boy, Dodge really build tough trucks.
Anyway, alltogether just decent with a big hang-over in the middle. The CGI is pretty good though. Not something I would recommend but also not something I label as "stay away".
Good potential, bad execution. Fife points for the movie plus an extra for the looks.
I actually did it. Despite telling everyone I know, I'll never see this movie, I abandoned my principles. Well, that and I pay for Disney+ anyway. So, what the h***, right ? So, did I like it ? Not particularly. Do I hate it ? Same Answer. Truth be told I didn't expect anything.
First of, I felt I was sitting in front of the TV for at least three hours and was surprised it was way less. Is that a good thing ? I don't know. And I still feel they could loose an hour of the movie if the cut all the crap out. Visually it was great, althought at times overloaded. Which is true for many movies nowadays. But seriously, why? A hundred Star Destroyers are not impressive enough ? Let's make it one thousand ! You know what, it's CGI. Once we have the model they cost only pennies. So here's ten thousand (I didn't count them but I want to make a point). Same goes for the resistance fleet coming to the rescue. And those grand scenes where your character becomes a pin tip that is hard to make out. All this just to make the audience awe and to reflect from the fact that there is little content.
Because the story is all over the place with no real direction. Everything is coppled together. Is this the movie they wanted to make in the first place or is it them trying to plug the holes in the dam that came after TLJ? Everyone insists Johnson's movie didn't change a thing but I have my doubts. From my point it was a bad decision bringing Palpatine back. The way they did it with just the line in the opening text. Maybe do a flashback how he survived the fall, who found him, how he got to where he is. But he did little for me at all, that chapter closed with ROTJ. It was literally beating a dead horse. And with every scene and twist they try to climb one more step on the ladder to make something grand, not realizing they already went overboard two steps below.
How many times do we need to see a fight between Rey and Kylo ? Plus those fights were awful. Look at the Duel of the Fates or the Anakin vs Obi Wan on Mustafar as a template. They were full of intensity and emotion. Here it was one-two-three- STOP. Change position, repeat. I know a dozen vids on youtube with better choreographie.
And please do remind us another half dozen times that we are in this together because I am not sure I got it. Spanning the whole trilogy I didn't connect with any of the main characters at all. Which is another factor why this whole sequel is not for me.
In the end it is Star Wars as imagined by Disney. It's a benchmark at what is visually possible and at the same time an excample of what to avoid.
Now, I wrote a lot about something I didn't care about at first, didn't I ? I care for the franchise, but not for this sequels. I tried to see them as something seperate, removed from the Lucas movies. But even that didn't help. While TFA was not bad (or maybe it was the enjoyment of new SW getting the better of me) Ep.8 and Ep.9 are just not good movies.
Like everything I write it's my personal opinion. I don't attack people who like the movie so please grand me the same courtesy.
May the Force be with us.
@andreas1138
you wanted my opinion but it is not favorable.
Concerning Ren, I never liked him as his story is flawed to begin with. He wanted to continue Vader's work. But Vader came to the realisation that ultimately he was on the wrong side, killed Palpatine, and by that fullfilling the Prophecy and bring balance to the Force. He became Anakin again. Up to this point Vader was the ultimate evil. Kylo a wanna-be. He didn't understand Vader because if he had he would not have idealized him.
Still processing what I've just watched. Satisfied ? Can't say I am.
It would have been better had Picard really died. And I mean that with all the respect and love I have for the character and the actor. What sense does it make to have an emotional last scene and even showing how they all deal with his death and then, è voila, he's back. Then come up with a bunch of explanations why he's still old and why he will die because, that's clearly what he wants. I know he wasn't about to die with a second season already confirmed (althought right now I think it will be a long time before that happens) or that someone else would play a younger version of him (Tom Hardy, anyone ?).
The battle between the Romulans and the flowers really looked awesome but the stand-off with the Federation was a bit of an overkill. To many ships for a TV screen, they were literally just dots. A little bit too much of a wow-factor. And, like the cavalry always does, they arrived in the nick of time. The whole solution of all the problems presented at this point was to easy as everything just conveniently falls into place. They get into the compound, Soong sees the memory and has a little thingy to just shut Sutra down. I expected a little bit more creativity.
All bad then ? No. The scenes between Picard and Data were really great for an old time TNG fan. And even the conversion Picard had with Jurati (who ultimately redeemed herself) about what it means to live - I liked that very much and would have loved to see more of that in general.
The whole story itself would have been great for a 2 1/2 hour (final) TNG movie. Because that is what it felt like in the end. It tries to appeal to a larger audience while using the lore but ignoring the Vision of Star Trek.
So, Discovery is back and as I indicated last year I hadn't missed her much. But I am willing to give her a second chance. And I struggle with it, I already had the urge to stop during this episode.
I can't say anything about the story as it is clearly a season long arch. That new uniform looks much improved. That's about all the positives I find. What made me sigh a lot is those forced comedic element like in the elevator and those awkward moments fe between Tilly and Pike , again totally forced and not coming naturally. That almost felt like a sitcom.
Now, I understand that a new Star Trek show has to look more modern than a previous one. But the tech is just too much. It is basically just eye-candy. In every shot there is way too much happening on the screen. Way too many "uhh" and "Aahhh" moments. The quality is good but it's not nessessary, it's not Trek. And alltogether the show feels not unique, it feels ordinary.
Coming back to the story I still don't see how they can come up with a satisfying explanation that this is Prime Universe Star Trek. And since the general fate of Spock and Pike is established fact we are again in a situation that anything threatening to happen to this characters feels meaningless. And Burnham going through Spocks quarters - that's too much invasion of provacy. I didn't like that.
Honestly I don't know where to go. I want to like the show as there was too long of a time without Star Trek. Therefore I really look hard for reasons to like it but I only come up with reasons I don't. I will stroll along for a couple of episodes more but I won't force myself through the season.
I've watched each season of any Star Trek show more times than I can remember. The Next Generation was a show I rejected at first but with every time I watch it I embrace it more and more.
Yes, there are a lot of things debatable about the premiere season in terms of quality of the writing, continuity errors, character developement, actors performances to name a few. It is easy to critisize after the fact and with many years now gone. And even I am the first to admit that there are many cringe worthy or eye rolling moments in this first season. But remember, althought they had the original show to base it upon, they literally started with a white sheet of paper. Especially with the characters.
I also like to write a few words about the remastered HD version as I was initially oposed to that. Having now seen it I have to say it really looks great. The special effects are what most benefitted from the overhaul. They look much more crisp and detailed now. In general the picture looks great and I am amazed what they got out of the original source material. A minor negative is that the picture background looks very grainy at times especially if you're sitting close to your screen, whereas the important foreground is almost always amazingly clear. It also gets grainy when there is camera movement whereas static shots are really the best. But that is not really a downside. Brilliant and vibrant colours.
It is now easy to read the screens (which I did ocasionally). At the same time it is also easier to spot minor imperfections on the sets and props plus you sometimes spot the egdes of the make-up on characters. And it becomes really obvious now when a stunt double was used. But those are all not really flaws, nevertheless I thought I share this remarks.
