This is feeling like The Walking Dead. Take an interesting plot and focus so much on drama that it becomes boring. I'm all for character development but I sure hope things start to happen in the show. This is no Falling Skies nor Colony but it sure isn't The Expanse either. Jury is still out
At this point I simply couldn't care less if it isn't exactly like the books, this show is setting a new standard for sci-fi and storytelling like The Expanse did a couple years ago or the Wachowski's did a few decades ago. Apple TV is winning the streaming war right now ( if we judge on quality )
I've been thinking for 30 minutes how to review this without spoilers but I'm as giddy as a 10 year old right now. Simply shell shocked. This was pure pleasure for any Star Wars fan, just go watch it (again)
This won't win an Emmy but let us have our guilty pleasure. All we want is a semi intelligent story and some action and boy did it deliver.
After 2 weeks of world and character building we finally get to the heist and I was maybe just as nervous as those guys. Everything felt natural and logical so the events unfolding seemed very realistic for a bunch of motivated amateurs. We all knew it would be risky and although everything happened like I expected, I was still surprised how it happened. That's as close to a magic trick that a writer can come.
Now I have seen 2 episodes it's clear that this show is what many Trekkies have been looking for : mystery of the week with some food for thought, camaraderie, some humor and (if it's not to much of a bother) some pew pew flying stuff in space.
Mount, Peck and Romijn hit the ground running in their own spin-off but Gooding as Uhura is amazing. Can't wait for an episode focused on the medical team. Of course I can't help but like Ortegas and La'an, although I see some similarities with a certain Naomi Nagata & Camina Drummer, but I'm certainly not complaining about that.
The special effects are amazing and the writers do an excellent job with giving known characters more depth while still respecting what other writers have done. The way they get Pike's command style smack dab in the middle of Archer and T Kirk is very impressive. Strong characters but with flaws. This is a crew I would actually like to be part of, something that hasn't happened since Enterprise ( Team Trip Tucker all the way )
If they can keep this up I say : "6 seasons and a movie"
I know generation X has a sensitivity of about 3 after growing up in the 80's and we really needed to fix that, but this episode had it turned up to 11. This is NOT how a vessel operates, civilian or not, and I sincerely doubt it'll change that much by then. Now the on board computer needs counseling, people can leave their post during a crisis and have a little debate about orders.
Sweet Roddenberry make it stop ! Somewhere in that room are people capable of writing good sci-fi, each week they get so freaking close and then the dialogue passes through the Dense Monologue Aggregator . At a certain point I was convinced the writers were trolling us by paying tribute to that episode of Southpark. Sensors are sensors no matter how much the computer "meditates" they can't go full Jedi after playing a simple game and get past the technical limits.
If I showed this episode to my kid's school PTA supermom ( you know the one ) she'd say they are overcompensating.
The acting of Ewan was phenomenal. He really sold the PTSD broken Jedi. The chemistry between Ben and Leia felt real and reminded me of the banter Obi-wan had with Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex. I smiled when rusty ben gets help from fearless little Leia. The intro of Vader was chilling and he looked and sounded exactly as I remembered. We even got some lore and name dropping. I'm really sorry that I have to say this but I do feel like they fumbled on the landing.
I get that Darth Vader wanted to make Obi-wan suffer and wanted to take his time, but this is only 10 years after their duel. He should have been way more unhinged and certainly would have had no problem in preventing Obi-wan's escape. Simple force crush of the loader would have been enough. Sorry but anything other than a vehicle getting them out of there at high speed is bad writing ( like they evaded Maul in episode 1 ). Vader searched the entire galaxy for a decade and he's now being stopped by 5m of fire in between two over sized molehills?
Second huge question is how Reva got to the pilot first? Was there a shortcut that Tala and Leia didn't take ? Why did they take the long way round ? Did Revan meet Tala on her way back and then did a forcerun flash to pass Leia ?
I don't expect Star Wars to be Godfather quality but I really hope they explain those things.
This episode was so dark I figured the Night King was attacking Winterfell
As a fan of Vikings I simple had to binge this. Set 100 years later we get introduced to the next generation of mythical figures. You don't need to have watched the original to be able to get into this story, at worst you'll miss a couple "I get that reference" smirks. What is clear from the start is that this show has been produced with a little tweak to the original. Same quality sets and world building but somewhat lighter. I'd say 20% less nudity, 20% more action and the drama needs to share the spotlight with political intrigue. Looks like they have a big budget, so we see bigger battles (like the siege of Paris in the original series) as well as the skirmishes. I think it lands somewhere between the original Vikings and The last Kingdom. If you are a fan of either I can highly recommend this season.
Now that I had some time to think about it I still think season 1 was better. It's a shame but they Americanized it. double the violence, everything spelled out, linear storytelling, (almost) no sex or nudity, less gore.The production quality has stayed the same but sometimes it felt like Geralt was a supporting character for others. Most monsters killed with ease. Thank the gods they didn't Mary Sue Ciri but Yennefer did almost everything out of line with the character's behavior in the previous season. I understand she was struggling but it's hard to accept that bad-ass hero is now hugging a Jaskier
A season final by the numbers. You could see the twists coming from a mile away but I enjoyed every minute of it. Maybe we have become a little spoiled, this was a pretty decent episode but it's very hard to beat the previous two episodes.The duel between Boba and Bane felt a bit underwhelming, maybe it got hyped to much but I can't help but feel there was more in that scene. Ah well . WEEEEeeeeee to next season
How can something with this much budget and such talented people working on it feel so cheap ? The CGI looks like Ghostbusters from the 80's, everything in the dark so you are trying to make sense of the shadows. I'm really trying to like it but this keeps feeling more like an episode of Xena or Hercules than a show like GOT or LOTR. The source material deserves better.
It's not easy to describe this without giving away spoilers so excuse me if I'm sometimes vague. This is a mystery-drama. You get that 1 WTF moment in the pilot and each episode you learn something more about it. To fill in the episodes they use truckloads of drama. 5 main characters in the main story and 2 characters in the side story.
Simmons does an excellent job in the mystery department and is very strong supporting the drama where Spacek rules. Both maybe give us one of their top 5 best performances ever. The supporting actors also win you over in a way that even the very tough topics like growing old and dependent, depression and family bonds get mixed in without it becoming a downer for the viewer.
The writing is excellent and keeps you guessing, it hints but then turns out different as you expected without losing credibility. Of course you'll have to suspend reality a bit for the mystery aspect but the show respects the rules it sets.
Because of the pace and the chosen topics I don't think this will score with teenagers but people with some life experience will be able to relate much better. You've seen shows like this before but never with this quality of writing or acting.
Curse you Favreau ! Each episode you make reminds me how Star Wars can be. This was a damn fine episode, give this guy his trilogy already. Fight it all you want, this is the way.
I really like the way how they are showing the conflict. Some politics and tactics, followed by action and the close bond of the crew. All that high tech but you get the same feeling from the Free Navy as you would look at the pirates in Black Sails. Minutes later you see a conflict between family in a civil war like North&South. I hope the can do the rest of the story in a few years ( pull a Dexter ? ) because I simply need more.
Has anybody picked up on the timeline of the war? First we had a Pearl Harbor moment followed by the Battle Of Britain scenario, last episode they captured the Enigma machine and in this episode the Free Navy had their Midway.
If you went to the bargain bin of a roadside truckstop in the middle of nowhere and found a cheap knockoff sci-fi DVD called "I can't believe it isn't Armageddon" this is exactly the movie I'd expect to find on there. Chinese money in a The Asylum style production that make Syfy TV movies look good. Good for a one time watch provided you leave any actual science outside.
I hope there's a huge payoff coming because this show is so slow at the moment.
Is Nick burned?
Is Luke finally going to do something?
How come Moira is timid now?
I'm happy Janine has been reset to s1 spirit but aunt Lydia needs to die, not redeemed.
Serena is sometimes defiant and at other times she's paralyzed by fear.
Agent Tuello is such a huge disappointment and I can't understand what commander Lawrence is doing
It's like they all developed multiple personalities that switch every episode or sometimes every scene. I hope I'm missing something because otherwise the writing has gone downhill by a LOT.
I know this was never going to be a Wolverines type of show but how much do you freaking need before you fight back.
Why do american shows always do this ? Jesse, Walter and Saul are the good , the bad and the ugly.
That Jesse gets away and gets a new start is a bit wishful thinking but I can accept it.
The arc of Walter who does things out of desperation, then breaks bad and then finally comes to his senses is also believable. Sacrificing himself to at least get his student/protégé free was also in his long term character.
But then we get McGill who was a drifter his ENTIRE life, tries to do better but eventually goes of the rails when Kim leaves. He became ugly, he enjoyed the success and tried his best to stay out of prison. This is a guy who was ready to hit a cancer patient over the head,or even strangle an old lady to escape. He was so angry and resentful at Kim he damn near broke the payphone ( for someone that never gets psychical the entire show ) . Him getting a sentence of 190 years down to 7.5 years was completely in his skill set and character.
But we can't have the bad guys win like in real life do we. So we let the ugly man get his redeeming moment and fall on his sword for the love of his life. I'm glad many people like it but I call BS. Those final moments cost the entire series at least a point in my review.
Personally I would have preferred he got his 7.5 years and as he is walking away with a big smile on his face gets shot by either Kim or one of the many widows, heck even shanked in country club prison by the cartel would have been better although VERY predictable.
The best ending would have been that he walked on a technicality. Nobody would have seen that coming, very realistic and at least it wouldn't have been so damn sweet. Free but poor and totally alone, a life sentence on its own.
As much as I enjoyed the Cruise movies, this is the Jack Reacher I always imagined. Kudos to Alan, I didn't even connect him to BMS until i googled it.
The first 2 episodes feel more easily accessible than the previous season. Maybe it's just because we already know the characters but the WTF moments are gone. It's really interesting that we don't get spoon fed who the good guys are. I'm happy we see this continue but a bit better. I didn't notice the CGI but I'm from the Atari generation, anything better than Minecraft gfx still looks amazing to me.
To borrow a quote from Fender, "I realize I'm not the target demo" but I enjoyed both seasons. I hope they do a third because this one felt like an in between season with more character growth than big events. I don't know how they managed it, but all the things that make Sex in the city such a chickshow make this show funny. Strong females but with flaws in a show that owns the weird that comes with it.
This show is the surprise of the season to me. Amazing cast with humor as dry as the Sahara. Yeah it is a situational comedy with stereotypes, but it owns it and still manages to make me laugh. Either mister Walken read the script and couldn't refuse or he needs to give his agent a bonus.
I was already a huge fan of this show but this episode really drove home how good the writing on this show is.
Every episode has a quote you can take to the bank. "Security is an illusion", "Win and walk away", "The axe forgets, but the tree remembers", etc so i caught myself actually cheering at the TV for this week's gem.
This episode has nearly no action at all but I was either completely immersed in the world building, the dialogue or the scheming. I really can't understand why people label it as slow when the quality and pacing is on par with Breaking Bad, Ozarks or House of the Dragon. Heck compared to The Old Man this show is a race car.
I needed to rewind a couple of times just to catch everything and it is one of a few shows where I can see the episode again, just days later ( I think this will be an excellent show to binge ) Every time I catch something extra.
The moment they show the K-2S0 droids got me the same feeling I had when I first saw The Terminator in '86. This show is everything an adult fan could ever hope for. Even Mon Mothma is being fleshed out into a much more interesting character than the clone wars did. Fingers crossed we get a Gerrera Guerrilla arc, Forest Whitaker would be ideal in this show based on his recent work in Godfather of Harlem
From the writing ,the acting to the set builders, this is top quality Star Wars. Can you imagine the level this show could reach if they introduced an actual Jedi ( they kinda did though cough, wink, wink ) or fan favorites like Alan Tudyck ( K-2SO )
As a life long SW fan I would rather watch this than Kenobi again. This episode is a solid 8 for me.
This has to be the most metal and the least metal movie I've ever seen. If you just focus on the soundtrack, use of music and the references it is a on the same level as Hesher (2010). However if you focus on the overall feel of the movie this is a pg-13 kids movie like School of Rock (2003) .
It's like it was written by a metalhead turned parent, sugarcoating, completely ignoring why many of us turn to metal as an escape.
It doesn't always need to be dark and grim but in Hesher the metal felt less forced. Maybe if they had turned this into a 8 episode season where we had a chance to see Kevin go from normie to full metal. Emily finding strength in metal to overcome her demons and Hunter struggling with his parent issues we also had more time to spend on the "training montage", friendship, romance and shenanigans.
Some things were really well done, charming, funny and other parts were boring, cliché or fell completely flat. Meh a 7 in the hopes we get a better sequel.
Well American crime shows are usually a hit or a miss and the fact that "subvert expectations" Johnson is involved was not really a selling point after the most recent "Knives Out", but I really like Natasha Lyonne and Benjamin Bratt so I gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised with a very solid pilot episode.
The acting was good but with those actors it would have been very weird if it wasn't.
The dialogue was organic and flowed fast enough that you'll probably going to discover new angles on a rewatch.
The story was intelligent enough to keep you involved all the way through. The deduction wasn't far fetched and reminded me off Elementary.
I've only watched one episode so far but I'm hooked.
I watched every episode of Supernatural because when it aired it was something new and refreshing. It was "The Boys" of its time. For years we were stuck with female oriented supernatural stuff. From the Scream franchise ... they clobbered to death over Buffy, Angel and even Lucifer, it was always love and relationships.
Sam & Dean were beer drinking, burger eating, rocking badasses! Relationships were more like a Bond movie. Instead we got banter with Bobby, Cas and Cromwell. Episodes of them breaking the forth wall or even Scooby-Doo tribute were legendary.
So I checked out the pilot and they cover a part that was already told in the original series. Without any explanation they changed that. I can't be bothered to look it up, but they also changed a LOT of lore. Introduced the most boring arc of the Original with the Men of Letters in such a tempo it had my head spinning. They don't speak like in the seventies, they don't act like that time and they don't dress the part. I know it's low budget but come on.
Now if that was needed to deliver a kickass spin off, I would have forgiven it, but then they showed us the supporting characters. A person of color and a dandy. I'm all for inclusion but both felt like the bare minimum to meet the quota. Either you go woke or you don't, this just pisses of everybody.
This pilot is something my son would have turned in as homework, something with minimal effort to get a passing grade.They even go hunting in a van like the Scooby-Doo gang. I was really looking forward to this but this only damages the original in my book
I know it's cool to hate on this show so I waited a few episode to give them a fighting chance.
If LOTR was a cake your grandma made, then the Hobbit was a store bought cake. This show is a wedding cake: very expensive, looks amazing, but inside is the most boring generic cake.
If you are going to modernize it anyway, then why bother buying the rights to the best known fantasy franchise. Tolkien was already on the edge of political correct thinking when Peter Jackson made his movies. It's like buying a hippy van, stripping everything but the chassis and then installing an electrical engine when you could just have bought the new E van.
I'll probably end up watching the entire first season but at no point does it feel like the same universe. In fact as soon as I started to watch this show like I did with The Orville ( close to Star Trek but not it ) I could actually enjoy Durin, Elrond and Arondir.
Amazon if you are reading this, next season cut 25% of the gfx department and hire a few solid writers. I won't miss a few waterfalls in the background when I'm focused on the dialogue, or Valar forbid, some action.
I binged the first 3 episodes because I love a good mystery but this isn't heavy on the horror. Not even half the atmosphere of The Fades or Outcast, very weak gore compared to Walking or even Evil Dead but it sure tries it best with jump scares. Can't help but remember that quote " a horror movie with jump scares is like a stand-up comedian who jumps in the crowd to tickle them " Good mystery show, just not horror in my book.
Read good reviews about it and I made the leap. This is a really unique show that fits only a very small group. So you either love the style or won't make it past the second episode. When it goes drama it doesn't pull any punches but it also manages to make you laugh just seconds later. It's not a drama, it isn't a comedy and it is not a show about the supernatural, it's all of them combined in a very charming way.
