Finally something actually happened after they dragged the season for absolutely nothing.
After four mediocre episodes in a row with three of them being filler, this episode is decent enough. Those previous episodes serve no actual purpose other than waiting for the plot to trigger itself by that call.
The dialogues in this episode could be better and so could the way the scenes are cut, especially for the first half. People seem too eager to join The Mando in his quest for the sake of moving the story. However the last 5-10 the minutes is quite watchable with enough tense. The brute killing in the last scene seems to suggest they're going with the "evil Empire" cliche, but I wish they could do better than that next episode.
It seems like the story just started to be set in motion and we will be left with more questions as Season 1 ends, which unfortunately seems to be Disney+ business model: just make cute Baby Yoda stuff for moms and Star Wars reference for dads, figure things out later in Season 2.
On positive notes, it's nice that they attempt to do more world-building like shocktroopers having signature tattoo, each Imperial province having their own insignia, and the Imperial warlord trying to convince people that the world is better with colonialism.
The Mandalorian started out OK, but ended up as some half-baked, lazily written show that exist merely to lure parents to justify a Disney+ subscription. Kids get the usual Disney contents, moms get Baby Yoda, dads get Star Wars nerdy reference. The show almost feels like being made by a bunch of fanfiction writers with familiarity of the setting but zero sense of screen writing.
Nothing wrong with liking it, it's just the show appears to be all style and no substance.
Storyline shows no complexity at all. In fact, most of them are fillers. You can skip 4 of 8 episodes and you'll still understand the story just fine. Characters are completely uninteresting. None of them are developed. None of them had nuances: protagonists are morally good heroes; antagonists are one dimensional evils. The show relies only on a cute muppet and flashy action, but has zero substance. Had a potential great world-building with some details, but they chose to abandon it for rule of cool (and cute).
The "it's Star Wars, so it'll be simple" excuse commonly said by the series' defenders doesn't hold up if you actually consider other Star Wars titles such as Knights of the Old Republic, Republic Commando, Jedi Academy, Thrawn trilogy, the original and Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, and so on. Those titles are known for having remarkable storytelling; something that The Mandalorian doesn't have for its poverty of creative vision.
Vikings turning into a WTHITH series wasn't what I expected when I first started watching it back when season 1 just came out. What does WTHITH stand for you wonder? Why The Hell Is This Happening
Why the hell is Lageartha dying in such a weird, uninteresting way that just leaves me thinking "wait, what, why"
Why the hell is there a plot involving Ivar's dead wife that is now ressurected and SOMEHOW ended up in Ukraine and SOMEHOW she met prince Oleg and told him all about Ivar and if it's not actually Freydis then it makes no sense and is unbelievably stupid
Why the hell does the Flatnose guy that Edge plays suddenly does a complete 180 and saves Bjorn when his goal all along was to kill him
Why the hell does the guy that saves Bjorn that looks like he's 45 say that he's too young to remember Ragnar
Why the hell there isn't a single character from season 1 alive anymore (and played by the same actor)
Why the hell there hasn't been one scene involving King Alfred this season
Why
Fuck me I'm glad that this is the final season. Let it rest already.
I've just stepped out of the cinema having watched the worst movie of the year. I feel like the director has played me for a fool. I feel like the joke here.
Joaquin Phoenix must want to shake Todd Phillips till his eyes pop out his head for he went 100% down the rabbit hole to create this performance - only for a horrendously bad director, languid editing, and a screenplay-by-numbers to fail this picture into the miserable, sodden, car-crash of a film it is.
The last time I felt so vitriolic after a 'much-hyped' film was Guy Ritchie's Revolver. Another stinker for the ages.
I particularly feel like a joke has been had at my expense by the presence of Robert De Niro, who must have had deja vu cashing his paycheck reminiscing back to his (actually a good film) The King of Comedy.
This film tries to marry that Rupert character to Taxi Driver and comes up with garbage. Much like the garbage epidemic denoted in the plot itself.
I paid 8 pounds to see this. You'd have to pay me 800 to watch it again.
It almost worked for a few minutes during the scenes with Bobby D's Johnny Carson bit. Almost. The rest was as predictable yet immensely tedious as it could be without me being handed a copy of the script on the way in.
Do yourself a favour... Don't ruin your opinion of Joaquin Phoenix by seeing this. It doesn't feel like he is to blame here. But it's best to just steer clear of the movie altogether. It offers nothing to the DC universe. It offers nothing to the Batman legacy. It actively dishounours the greatness of Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, Cesar Romero and all future Jokers.
This film itself IS the joker.
Utter crap.
3/10 - for the attempts made by Joaquin Phoenix saving it from 1/10.
Initial Reaction
The Good
• It is fun for the most part, giving you that rebellious feeling for the anti-hero.
• The design of Venom was pretty appealing to watch in action.
• When Venom and Eddie were fighting over the control and motives to their actions, it was very well done most of the time.
The Bad
• Starting off as a fun action flick, it quickly turned into the cash grab we all thought Sony was going to pull.
• Tom Hardy does do a good job at interacting with Venom, but everything else is a mess for him.
• The main villain in this movie is plain awful, so cliche and lacking proper motive. Not to mention the casting choice was so bad.
• I'm going to try not to say much, but the motive for Venom himself is the worst part of the movie. It suffers from the infamous show not tell rule, especially with this aspect.
• While the blacks, dark greys and blues are a nice colour pallet for the movie. Having Venom be primarily in the dark is not a good viewing experience or a good visual image.
• The lack of gore is extremely frustrating. The benefits of having this movie be R would have been great.
Conclusion
Venom could have been a good dark action anti-hero movie. But instead, it feels as if it is the typical Sony higher-ups demanding compromise over quality. No style to really think of, because you can't count night as one. But, I did have fun with it when the two partners were actually alone to argue and discuss. The action is okay and limits itself to not repeat or seem stale. Sadly though, it lacks in everything else. Leaving you with the feeling of a kids rollercoaster ride. A thrill to begin with, but leaves you wishing it climbed just a little higher.
I did not read the books, and I did not play any of the games (although I heard at least one of the games is of great quality in storytelling) so I went into this show more or less a blank slate.
And boy it is bad.... The writing is just dreadful. I think the writers assumed prior knowledge to the world and characters, and lean on that assumption too heavily.
From the very beginning it is poorly written. Timelines are messy and unclear, exposition is done terribly, worldbuilding looked like an afterthought and taken from a first draft, the pacing is all over the place and inconsistent over time as well inconsistent for each subplot. Episode structure is even irratic. They presented us a continuous story, but several episodes focused more on little episodic adventures that did not impact the main storyline all that much. And for a show with only 8 episodes, that is deadly and lead to other stories being rushed or simply put on hold for the next season (I assume.)
Toward the middle of the show, it started to get a bit better and I thought it could be promising after a bit rocky start, but in the end they could not deliver and it turned into an utter and complete trainwreck (oh that last episode, I almost fell out of my chair several times from disbelieve.) Rushed plot resolutions, while other characters stories crawled to a complete standstill with close to no progression or character development, in somecases even for the whole season.
What the show does have going for it: Photography, sets and costume design are beautiful!
I really did not want to dislike this, but it looked like they actively tried to make me stop watching.
Note: This review is about season 1.
Started off good enough enough. I thought this movie could pull off a decent sequel. After an hour the mystery of the child becaming painfully obvious. From then it became a typical hollywood drag of a dog (let's call him Pinocchio Runner) chasing his tail. As I'm waiting for the obvious to happen I remember that the bad guys did some cringey plot revealing monologues in the style of Sunset Beach, but looking like something from a superhero movie (adhere to the demographic?) It was looking bleak and felt dumbed down and boring.
It's fair to compare this to the look of the original as it's setting is simular and it really was a part of Blade Runner. This is less cyber punk and way brighter. It does still have its moments of beauty. Many. The pacing is simular, but the slow pacing of the original was held together with a plot that deveoped and a thick murky atmosphere, which are missing here.
The relationship between Joi and our main guy the serial number was too repetitive and obvious. I liked it at first glance. It looked great on screen. My issue was that the idea and thought provoking behind the relationship was done after a few scenes and the rest, of which there was a lot, felt like filler. The relationship was too linear and uninteresting to demand so much time and in the end it didnt make me feel much for the characters.
Before long there was no new ideas or interesting development in the story. When Gosling finally meets Ford it got worse - not better. The scene in which they meet was boring and silly. I start zoning out. Then... a rescue mission to conveniently take us to the end. Bye now I was completely bored and didn't care about the movie.
This movie didn't need to be made. It didnt feel like the writers wanted to write it. It felt like a cash in. Another cash in.
So it lacks all the main qualities of the original, doesnt stand alone as a good movie, and becomes increasingly boring as it progresses. Least we know Sylvia Hoeks can produce a single tear to roll down a cheek for the camera.
If you're into physics defying fight scenes / martial arts / choreographies then this show is definitely for you.
Anybody else: don't bother.
Acting is mostly awful if not straight abysmal (MK), with exceptions like Stephen Lang (the man in the wheel chair) who is sadly only a minor side character.
Story telling is basically non-existent, you're thrown into the world with nearly no explanations at all. Even in a 6 part mini series you could do a much better job than this. There's an intrigue running with many sides, what's not even interesting or good explained and only background noise for the fights. Similar with the world order of barons as factions ruling people / areas, only background noise.
Due to being thrown into this without any (explicit) explanation, the establishing of characters is non-existent as well. The show fails to make you care for any character and for whom you should root for. Forgettable characters overall.
There's no reason for me to care for a mass murderer like Sunny to get out of the badlands.
Plans to do something are almost never explained, like giving all women a voice. How to achieve that? No clue, but the ninja fighting is cool... It's understandable that Sunny wants to get out of the badlands with his pregnant girlfriend but that's it where the show stops making sense. Basically everything is incredibly vague.
Perhaps because there's too much: feminism, a family intrigue where the son betrays the father, the most loyal fighter betraying his master, the wunderkind story, the escape for a better life story, teenage love, love triangle between baron, his wife and his side-wife. Pretty messy.
A show lacking in many aspects, ending on a few deus ex machina and an attempt of letting the possibility for a full season or second mini season open. The really interesting things and questions are never explained at all.
Ehh.
"iF yOu ThInK tHiS hAs A hApPy eNDinG, yOu hAvEn'T beEN pAyInG aTteNtIOn"
Literally everyone except Daenerys got a happy clean ending.
This episode and this season as a whole have been a complete and utter disaster. the decline of storytelling quality from the last seasons is shocking. The show is barely recognizable at this point.
A character who wasn't a contender for the throne ended up on it even though they have done absolutely nothing this whole season, had lots of potential to make for a very interesting role but was ignored and swept aside then suddenly elected king.
Daenerys's character being completely butchered as she was turned from someone who never showed the slightest disregard to innocents' safety to someone who commits mass genocide and shows no remorse afterwards, all in the span of 2 episodes.
So many character arcs were neglected or wrapped up poorly. Jon being reduced to a secondary character with a combination of three sentences of dialogue, Jaime's development being thrown out the window, Cersei barely doing anything and then getting killed by bricks, Tyrion, the master tactician, turning to a gossiping idiot then getting promoted after he quits his job (seriously?)
So many plot points were discarded or turned out insignificant. Azor Ahai, Jon's lineage, The Lord of Light, Cersei's prophecy...etc
The whole White Walkers storyline being eliminated in one episode, then the whole Iron Throne storyline being eliminated as well in the end (FFS)
So much shit not making the slightest bit of sense. Dany's army multiplying, Arya's impenetrable plot armor, The North getting the independence while the Iron Islands didn't when they were the first ones to demand it, Drogon not killing Jon after he killed Daenerys, hell, the Dothraki and the Unsullied not killing Jon after he killed Daenerys, The point of the Night's Watch now that the WW are gone. Tyrion being in chains and holding up a presidential vote over who would run the 6 republics. HBO c'mon man.
Overall the pacing was too fast and inconsistent, the ending was rushed, anti-climactic and nonsensical. This couldn't have ended in a worse way. Kudos to D&D!
I am incredibly grateful to Game of Thrones for this adventure I have found myself sucked into for some years now. I am grateful for all the emotions it brought me since day one, bitter and sweet alike. I am grateful for all the laughs, all the tears, all the jokes and gags, every single bit of it, I really am grateful and appreciative of it all. It's been just... wonderful.
That said, I am feeling robbed and betrayed right about now. This ending is arguably one of the worst series finales in the history of television and trust me I realize how bold of a statement that is. The terrible violations the characters have suffered this season, the lack of proper resolution to many of the plots and narratives developed over seasons worth of buildup, the seeking of shock value at the expense of quality writing... that and much much more solidified this as an absolute disappointment of a finale, as opposed to the marvel wrap it could've given this cultural phenomenon.
This episode does have its positives, as always the score, acting and cinematography are perfectly performed but I just do not think it's nearly enough to compensate for how lackluster the writing has been, as much as I wish they did. Oh well, sad as it may be, I'll just hold on to the good stuff and hope that GRRM's book, once finished, will tackle the ending in a more coherent, more respectful and more meaningful way. It's been real y'all...
P.S: I'll leave this here lest some people jump me again. This comment is a representation of my own personal opinion, I am entitled to one just as all of you are. If you enjoyed this season and felt this finale delivered what you were looking for then more power to you mate, but that doesn't nullify my opinion nor does it make yours any valid. If you want to discuss or challenge my views, I'd be more than happy to engage you on that basis but if all you have to offer are petty remarks then please keep them to yourself.
What in the actual f*ck.
I'm a reasonable man, I realize I've been crapping on D&D even more than usual this season but I really do have to give them props for doing exactly what they set out to do. They hoped to subvert our expectations and they did just wonderfully in that regards.
We expected all of that buildup over the years to actually amount to something that at the very least passes for a presentable series finale but instead, we got an incoherent, steaming pile of shit. Expectations subverted!
We expected all of that character development to actually result in a beautiful pay-off that respects the journey of self-discovery each and every one of our beloved characters went through to get to where they are now but instead, we got a painful, disrespectful cycle of character regression. Expectations subverted!
We expected the final season of this show to keep us at the edge of our seats with thrilling writing that didn't subvert our expectations for the sake of subverting our expectations via low-quality shock value-seeking writing, but to introduce plot twists that make sense within the overall narrative of the story but instead, we got CW-level predictable, cringe material. Expectations subverted!
I get it. I really do. GRRM let them down by not getting the books ready in time and so they had to improvise away from his influence, but this? This? For a long while, Game of Thrones lived up to the slogan of its parent network, it wasn't just TV, it was something different, something unique and now to have to see it come to this... it's nothing short of disappointing.
On the bright side though, at least this episode didn't suck completely. The acting, score and cinematography were all on point, so I guess it's nice that I didn't walk out of it having appreciated absolutely nothing about it.
So why do I even bother anymore? I honestly could not tell you, though it's probably a mixture of masochism and a faint sliver of hope that they won't flush our collective investment into this series down the drain by the end of it, just one more episode dammit.
Good things about this episode:
Varys is no longer useless;
Sansa playing the game of thrones to support Jon’s claim;
Gendry Baratheon;
I like the parallel they’re drawing between the two queens - Daenerys is going to lose her three children just like Cersei. But how does Euron have pinpoint accuracy against Rhaegal and then the entire fleet shoots bolts at Drogon and they all miss?
Bad things about this episode:
More shitty battle tactics - D&D said Daenerys just kind of forgot about the Iron fleet and Euron's forces. This is so stupid. Even if she forgot her advisers shouldn't have forgotten;
Entire scene with Bronn;
Cutting out Sansa and Arya's reaction to the big reveal, because they have to do some dumb jokes and establish Brienne/Jaime as a relationship even though they were already great friends;
It doesn’t make sense that Cersei had Dany and Drogon in the range of those giant crossbows and didn't take them out;
I guess we will never learn any more info on the NK or white walkers, which is disappointing.
Next episode: Jaime kills Cersei
Last episode: Daenerys becomes Mad Queen and Jon kills her
This movie is OK at best. It's one of Nolan's better ones at least. But, it has some serious issues. See Krauss talk about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pG89gREWyI&t=1m12s
It's too long - he's right. The oxygen blight is completely scientifically silly. The entire basis of the plot (that Earth will run out of oxygen in tens of years) is unbelievable. This put me off from the start. There's some "formula" that Michael Caine worked on and half-solved, but it took data from the event horizon of a black hole (which also makes no sense scientifically) to solve it. Sorry, if you approach a black hole, you don't end up behind a bookshelf in your old house in the past - I have no idea how they can claim this is a movie about science. It is FULL of religious symbolism, though, so if you're into that, you'll be right at home. Apparently humans evolve out of the 3rd dimension too ... sure. There's one thing that was definitely right - outer space is quiet - FINALLY.
The cinematography is pretty good, and I liked how the dude went crazy on the barren planet, but this film would have been a lot better without the sappy happy ending. I mean, really - transporting all the way back from inside a black hole? Armageddon had a much more realistic ending than that, and it was SO STUPID! It would be great if someone fan-edited this into something scientifically accurate (dub over the lines about what's wrong with Earth replacing it with a feasible problem, have him crushed to death in the black hole, show Brand on the planet at the end all alone, FIN). I don't know how people can give this a higher rating than a 7/10. I wouldn't consider it to be a classic at all. It's at best a see-once blockbuster, just like Armageddon was.
That this movie, at the time of writing this, holds an 8.8 rating at IMDb is simply beyond my understanding. Needless to say I did not really like this movie. The story is not very good, the science is ludicrous and the visuals not all that impressive. Maybe the latter would be better in a big theater (I watched this on my home cinema system which has a relatively large screen by European standards) but I am not really sure about that either.
Be warned that the rest of this review might contain a spoiler or two.
The movie starts of with the usual “I told you so” wet dream of the green fanatics on a dying Earth so it is off to a depressing start right away. That is an overused concept today as far as I am concerned. Then they pour it on with a school official claiming that he Apollo missions and moon landings never happened. What the f…? If they wanted to depress the audience right from the start they succeeded, at least with this audience.
The story proceeds with our heroes finding these gravity waves in the sand and by a huge stretch of imagination decrypts them to mean coordinates which leads them to the secret NASA base. Once there Cooper is told that he is their best choice of pilot for a “save the human race” mission through a wormhole. Yeah, right! This guy was former NASA. His whereabouts could hardly been unknown to them. If he was their best choice why would they entrust a mission to save the human race to someone else until he stumbled onto their door? Typical Hollywood nonsense!
The movie is full of this kind of rubbish. Romilly wastes 23 years of his life doing pretty much nothing except deciding not to go into the sleep capsule. The supposedly highly trained and vetted professor that they do find turns out to be a psychopath as well as and idiot almost blowing up the ship when trying to proceed with a docking that all the systems tells him have not succeeded. Then they proceed to dock with the main ship and stop its spin as well as bring it out of orbit around a planet with the shuttles engines. That is one hell of a powerful shuttle not to mention the strength of the docking mechanism! This just goes on. When someone is not doing something illogical or stupid (or both) they sit around talking, philosophizing and dragging the movie forward at snails pace. 169 minutes is way too much for this movie.
The movie ends up in one big time travel mess (okay they do not travel in time, just sends messages through time but still…) during a bunch of psychedelic scenes while traveling through the back hole. Science? Not so much. And what about this totally ludicrous massively illogical and inefficient robot design?
The one good thing I can say about this movie is that the performance of most of the actors, especially Matthew McConaughey, are quite good. For the rest, not my cup of tea.
[8.4/10] I feel like this episode isn't going to please most people. The critical crowd is going to be annoyed at it for indulging in fan service at times and wrapping a lot of character relationships too quickly. The more casual fan crowd is going to be upset that this episode was full of yakking and sparse on action or narrative momentum. But honestly, I really liked this one. I have to imagine that the next four super-sized episodes are going to be filled to the gils with action and high drama and excitement. In the prelude to that, it's really nice to get a series of quiet moments to reflect on where everyone has been to get to this point, and the uncertainty of the future, amid the other grace notes that "The Rightful Queen" provides.
Those are the two big ideas at the center of the episode. On the one hand, you have this sense of everyone both assuming that they're doomed but worrying about what the future holds. More than one character declares that they're all dead. And yet at the same time, you have Dany and others worrying about who might have a claim to the Iron Throne or some slice of the Seven Kingdoms. You have Tyrion and others worrying about who might become (or remain) Hand to the Queen. And you have everyone from Misandei to Sansa thinking about what the world looks like when this battle is over. There's the sense of an inevitable, mortal threat, but also of concern for where things stand after they've picked up the pieces.
But there's also a sense of marking how long the journey has been to reach this point and how much everyone has changed along it. Arya is grown, with her own skills, directness, and desires that mark a sharp contrast from the aspirational little girl who went with her father to King's Landing. Jaime and Tyrion are both much different men since they were "The Golden Lion" and "The Imp" who previously set foot in Winterfell ("the perils of self-betterment"). Hell, even the likes of Podrick has become a capable warrior (and classy singer to boot.) There's a boatload of taking stock in this episode, of remembering where everyone's been and the distance between here and there.
What's more, there's tons of nice little moments. Lyanna Mormont gets a nice scene with Jorah, Gilly gets a little time to shine, and Edd gets a chance to reunite with his Night's Watch brethren. That's all on top of Tyrion's little gathering by the fire, which makes the most of the hang out vibe this episode summons when the time is right.
All-in-all, this feels like one of those Game of Thrones episodes we'll remember beyond the bigger clashes and contretemps the series usually has in store. It's a slower episode, but one that deepens our understanding of where these characters at psychologically and developmentally after nearly eight seasons, and lets us wonder about what the future holds right alongside them.
Contains major spoilers !!!!!
Huge and utterly dissapointing. After TFA I said this movie would make or break the story. For me it broke.
Where to begin? Let´s start with my biggest problem.
After that rebel cruisers bridge was hit and Leia was thrown into space we saw her drifting in the cold empty vacuum of space. This was a powerful scene and I had tears welling up in my eyes thinking that would be a great ending for the character dying how she always lived. Fighting. I did not realise, or care, that it would have been a huge coincidence had they written this scene at that point not knowing Carrie would pass away. But as I said powerful scene. And then she opens her eyes and floated back into the ship still beeing alive. At that point I was seriously considering leaving the cinema. It´s scifi but, please, without as much as a hint of an explanation that is just awful writing. It is Disney all over it. Anyway I stayed and watched the rest but in general I was done with the movie.
There are tons of other things I didn´t like.
way to much unnessesary and stupid humor. Most of the time it does not fit and just destroys scenes. Holding for General Hux - that might have been OK once but two or three times it just becomes goofy. And there is more of this througout the movie.
the writing was all over the place. So much things going on that do little to nothing for the general plot and just add playtime. Like that whole thing with the codebreaker, going to the casino. Just sugarcoating CGI.
and speaking of playtime - way too long. About five times towards the end I thought it was over. It could have ended when the reached the rebel base- no let´s add another battle. When they realised they where trapped. With Luke going out to face Kylo. At some point I would have been OK with the movie ending with the First Order defeating the rebels, everyone dying, and the franchise done with. But of course that is not happening and the movie ends.....no, just show us a kid with a broom looking at the stars and indicate he could be the hero of a future movie.
in many ways the continuation of storylines is not satisfiying. They introduce Snoke in the first movie without an explanation who he is, where he comes from and how he got there. Would have been OK, could have done later. So now he´s dead without so much as a fight and there are questions left to be answered.
what about Rey ? Are we really to believe her parents were some drunk and drifting scavengers that sold her for money like Ren said ? That would be very stupid because how in the universe could she master the Force in ways even the best Jedis or Sith couldn´t without as much as years of training. Another void in the storytelling.
too many, shall I call them, homage scenes ? A lot of times I felt I had already seen this movie. The scene in the throne room f.e. Snoke = Emperor, Rey = Luke, Ben = Vader, the destruction of the rebel fleet playing in the background and the Ben killing Snoke is like Vader killing the Emperor. I know that was said about TFA as well but I feel it´s much worse here. The Battle of Hoth reviseted would be another thing where they re-did some scenes to a T. All that was left was tow cables.
Those are just some examples of the things I disliked and maybe there could be satisfactory explanation later. There is a lot more but it would take too much time to write it down. But I doubt I will go to the cinema for the next one.
To be fair there where some positives in this movie.
I liked the scenes with Rey and Luke althought they did not really lead anywhere. But some nice insights into Lukes story after ROTJ.
The conversations between Kylo and Rey where very interesting and I thought there was really potential to steer the story to something new and exciting. Not happening.
So overall I was not satisfied. I really like TFA, it built some expectations that where all crushed with this. As far as I am concerned I am done with this new story. I am not not very eager to find out what else the canibalise and how they try to write themselves out of this. There is nothing left.
This is my view of the movie. If you liked it I´m happy for you.
May the Force be with us. Always.
Death is the only way.
Awesome episode. I thought these last two episodes were both going to be the climax but there's definitely more set-up here, which is fine...but if there's one thing I had to complain about this season, it is that half of it is build up. Having said that, this episode was really great and we did get a literal climax of one character, the likable Rahul Nadeem who sacrificed himself for his family, killed by the barrel of Dex's arguably naive obedience. Jay Ali did really well playing Nadeem, especially in this episode. There's one last ambitious grasp for hope when Nadeem tries to tell Dex that Fisk is manipulating him but Dex doesn't buy any of it, and it seems like he and his growing danger will be a huge part of the finale.
This all happened because of Vanessa, who requested for his death (although Fisk would've asked for the same). When she arrived at the beginning of the episode, I had a strong suspicion she had returned as a spy to get information out of Fisk, and especially later on when she is pushing Fisk to tell her the truth about his violent secrets, but clearly not after that evil decision from her.
The only way to stop Fisk now is to kill him, and Matt knows it.
What a phenomenal show! Being a Marvel production, I fully expected something of quality, but my expectations were blown entirely out of the water. Daredevil has easily taken its place among my favorite shows currently on air and far surpasses the current lineup of comic book-based television properties (including Marvel's own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
The cast is great. Charlie Cox brings emotional weight to Matt Murdock and an intimidating presence to his vigilante alter ego. Supporting players Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, and Rosario Dawson, all make their respective roles feel critical, never distracting or annoying. But it's Vincent D'Onofrio that really steals the spotlight as Wilson Fisk, bringing to life a villain who is not only vicious and truly terrifying, but also heartbreakingly pitiful.
Daredevil's writing separates it from the current crop of superhero television. The progression of the plot is well organized and dialog rarely (if ever) crosses that line into comic book corniness. You really get the sense that the show runners had a clear vision for where they wanted this freshman season to go, while still laying groundwork for future seasons. Never does it feel like you're just being strung along for bigger and better things to come next season. And the show doesn't constantly try to remind you of the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, as any references to it are (usually) subtle.
But perhaps Daredevil's greatest strength is its cinematography. Fight sequences are expertly choreographed and coherent (not to mention brutally gritty), even rivaling those of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The production value is top notch, probably thanks to the refreshingly limited reliance on CGI. But what impressed me the most was the brave willingness to let the camera linger or even meander occasionally. Ending episode 2 with a minutes-long single take fight sequence had me speechless, and is a testament to the level of quality brought to the show.
Daredevil is a strong addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think Marvel's partnership with Netflix could prove to be one of their best decisions regarding their television properties and I look forward to future shows like A.K.A. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
The show had a good start, potential everywhere the eyes could see. it's nice to pass the time but it lacks a lot to engage spectators. A banal example would be that the start of uthred relashionships were rushed and no deep elements have been introduced. They basically just smile at each other, then flirt and fuck, and sometimes there's a marriage. it's the main default of the show I believe. I didn't have enough elements to make feel anything when people supposed to be important died. There's no feeling of maturation, uthred stays childishly hotheaded and keep creating useless problems to dive into. All his fights are unrelated to his so-called goal. He has no drive on his own, always serving somebody. They claim he's Danish but beside being unruly and godless he's as docile as any soldier would be, no special ritual from the Vikings, no part of him as a Viking, he's supposed to be split between his origins and yet always fights for Wessex. Always put aside the main objective and wander around. One season is understandable but two seasons and he still has yet to go home, be it just to look or spy is utterly disappointing.
In the end everything seems and feel too shallow to me.
I think my old review said it all...so here it is.
How many times can you shoot the same movie without things getting stale?!?
Well...usually...not many...especially when you have done it so many times as they have done it with the Underworld franchise...AND...with a smaller and smaller budget to boot.
Even Kate Beckinsale in her incredibly tight spandex can't save this one. Don't get me wrong...she's as hot as ever, but seem dreadfully bored about the whole thing. Though...she's actually one of the few redeeming factors. One of the other is that the effects are quite good in places...except for the usual bad CGI of course.
Anyway...I'm not going to list everything that is wrong with this one because that would take a very long time, BUT...especially ONE thing bothered me throughout the entire movie. The lighting sucked all the way through. Most of the time you couldn't even see what was going on let alone any details. I know the movie is supposed to have a gothic feel...but talk about taking it too far.
Watch Underworld: Blood Wars only if you are a fan of the franchise, or have a masochistic streak.
I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I'll ever see this movie. There are too many GOOD movies out there I haven't seen yet to bother with this one again.
Entertaining, though lacklustre in telling an original story.
The highlight for me personally was definitely when the main characters enter The Shining. The way this is created looks to true to the source material and is full of recognisable moments from Kubrick's movie. Also, the way the added scenes tie into the original is really well done and the way the characters interact with the scenes we all know is good for a chuckle or two (like the scene with Aech and the twins).
The story itself is nothing special; poor guy gets a chance to make the world a better place for himself and everybody else by stopping an evil corporation from getting absolute power and in the end succeeds in doing so against all odds.
But that is not why you watch this movie. You watch it to be entertained and on that front it delivers. There is no point in the movie where you are bored as there is so much visual spectacle to behold throughout the entire movie. The effects are always great and the most fun thing in this movie is spotting the references to pop-culture both past and present. And trust me, there are a lot.
So even though the plot is nothing special, if you're looking for a movie to just have a good time with this one won't disappoint.
Mockingjay Part 2's biggest mistake is being completely faithful to the book, considering that it is the worst one of the trilogy. They had the chance to make the story better but chose to stick to what they had. Being the final chapter of the story, it has emotional bits, but miserably (and unfortunately) fails to sell them, rushing the scenes which we were supposed to remember the most.
— @aag's review (https://trakt.tv/comments/62697, and we need proper internal link markup on Trakt!)
Seriously. The big dramatic moments are unbelievably rushed—there's no time to dig into them. There's too much focus on bad CGI and not enough on characters. Basically every character is 2D at best, except maybe Katniss and Peeta. But that's also due to sticking true to the book. None of the characters in the books were particularly well fleshed out, either, as I recall (from reading them 3 ½ years ago).
I also found the story very predictable. Obviously there's some amount of subconscious influence from having read the books, but it's also just absolutely clear when the big surprises/twists are going to happen, and what they'll be. They end up not being surprising at all. (Not to belabor the point, but the book had this problem too.)
My other big issue—which applies to the whole series—is that we barely see anything that happens away from Katniss. I know it's quite common in YA novels to present a limited first-person perspective from the protagonist's point of view, but in a big political saga like this I feel like that severely limits the storytelling.
I thought this was a bit of a letdown. It's retreading the plot and structure of the first one with some minor twists added and a different ending, so its not seen as the blatant copy it actually is. By having the same structure as the first movie did, most scenes before the 1 hour mark feel like filler and most after feels like a copy of the first movie, slightly amped up. To me it felt too much like the first one, a feeling I last had watching Transformers 2 - and that is not a good thing, as I avoided the sequels. Though, to be fair, it was mostly because Transformers 2 was very annoying.
The movie felt long. Really long. I think it could have been 40 minutes shorter and it wouldn't lose any important things while actually giving it a better pacing, as the movie feels just stretched out just so it runs over two and a half hours. And because of that stretching, the ending feels like it came really quick and was over before I realized it. The ending also leaves you hanging, desperately wanting you to want to see both parts of the final movie, both being released in a November (2014 and 2015), taking the route of unnecessarily stretching out the lifespan of the movies like it's usual now.
I don't understand why they think they need to do this. The Harry Potter movies, a franchise with a similar target audience, had the two parter finale released in a span of 6 months. Even the Matrix sequels came out in the span of 6 months. Both were very successful and at least the former was beloved by most who saw them. Maybe it's because of Twilight, as its two part finale was also released in a November (2011 and 2012).
But for now, until both sequels come out on DVD/BR, I don't have any interest in seeing (or even reading) The Hunger Games in the foreseeable future.
This is an ok distraction, what you would expect from the usual Z monster movies, but with the budget to make it look (very) good. Maybe even too much budget, that allowed them to include many over the top cliche action scenes instead of focusing on the monster action.
I mean did it really need a 0G space scene ? Parachuting from a crashing plane ? And a B2 bomber ? I was a little disappointed in what was supposed to be the climax, city battle and monsters battle, so a little more attention to that instead would have been better. More military action in the city battle for instance, lots of tanks, some fighter jets, etc. (though jets are maybe not great for city fights ?)
And what's with the B2 ? What's the point of using the most expensive ever furtive plane during the day to send a missile on animals from several kilometers away ? Did they fear they had radars ?
The first wolf battle is nice though, and the crocodile looks AMAZING. The SURPRISE: the wolf can fly was a nice touch too.
The interaction between The Rock and the gorilla is nice. Can't say the acting is that great, so it feels a little weird, nut it makes for some funny jokes.
Morgan's character is really cool, though he's just that. He's clearly been written with a description: "cool cowboy, rough guy but nice, smart enough to be on the right side". That's it, nothing more. His background, job, role and interactions with the rest of the characters are inexistant or makes no sense with no questions asked.
The really bad part is the antagonists. There we go way beyond cliche. Typical rich guys, ready to go beyond what is legal or moral to make money. They apparenlty lead a billion dollars corporation, able to have its own space laboratory, though we barely see any employee, They seem to be the only ones in control and who knows all the nad stuff. But at the same time they're the stupid duo you would expect in a Home Alone level comedy. And the result is weird. The sister is definitely shown to be tougher, but she just looks that way compared to her brother. She might have been an ok character if by herself. But he's so stupid and useless and played so badly that it's painful to watch each scene he is in. It's bleeding bad (non) writing through the screen. And none of what they do makes any sense. Hey, let's make all the monsters come right tot the top of our building. What could go wrong ?
Naomie Harris' character is nonexistent. You could litterally remove her and not a thing would change in the movie. Her only useful action is to put the antidote on Claire before she's eaten which is a great wtf because we've never seen George have any interest in eating people so how could it have been a viable strategy ? It would have been much more likely that he'd just punch her out of the building and out goes the antidote.
I was also surprised by the intro declaring CRISPR a WMD but I checked and some US officials actually referred to it as one. Don't think it's been officially categorized this way though.
I finally watched the whole series (so far) and this is my comment for all seasons and episodes:
who writes these shit ?
I liked the history and mythology, until they started twisting it.
I like the battles and the music that goes along. No comments there.
The actors? Come on. Hand-picked for their muscles and their looks. Barely believable. With some exception I won't bother mentioning.
All in all I enjoy watching the show.
What I don't enjoy are the endless scenes of supposed poetic beauty, the pretentious anachronisms, the jumps in story-telling, the twisted timeline, the foretold deaths, the prophecies, the inner turmoils, the silly characterization.... It's poor. It has been all along and no-one seems to know how to fix it.
The biggest burden of the show must be its success. They did stupid things from day one, but people still accepted and followed the show, and instead of using that chance to get better story-telling, they kept re-iterating their teenager targeting plots, as if they were masterpieces.
Nothing was new or original in Season 4. It seems they said all that was to be said, in Seasons 1-3 and then got renewed and went back to the previous seasons trying desperately to dig the stories to bring to life: the same siege, the same brotherly betrayal, Floki's clinging to the past, more betrayals, Harbard, Lagertha's mishaps, child-births and christian woes .. Nothing original. And they wasted a whole lot of time in utter nonsense, then rushed things in the last episode, then decided to prepare for the next season with what was probably improvisation from Mr.Fimmel as I can imagine anyone writing his speech in paper and getting it approved as a final scene .
All the great scenery and costumes and hairdos and boats... all wasted in the hands of obviously young, overconfident and ignorant writers. If money and ratings is all that counts, then maybe they've succeeded. But if the final product and its filming legacy counts for anything, then they have failed and they did tremendously.
When you can write a summary of an episode in 10 words or less, that's a hollow episode, visually appealing maybe, but not at all profound.
My guess for next Season? Whichever actor/actress is favorite of the viewers and willing to keep the same salary will miraculously be alive. The rest, will be written off in one sentence or less. There will be cameos for the reunion-junkies. Then they will prepare for the Mediterranean . At least 2 or 3 episodes will be wasted in Kattergat with silly plots introduced in that same season only to be resolved in the next episode. Some events will be foretold, probably in an intense drug-induced frenzy with ominous music. New characters will appear, become prominent, overshadow everything, then die tragically, or not. One good fight mid-season, one in the finale. And in-between the never-aging Ragnar will fight the same inner daemons, restate his bro-mance with the over-played and long dead Athelstan and try to be the leader he hasn't been since Season 1. Mixed with some Wessex and Paris stories to keep the filming budget under control, we'll conclude the series with endless scenes of everyone saying goodbyes to everyone mostly through long stares and 'don't you die on me' moments...
I'm so disappointed. I hate not being 16 years old, for I cannot enjoy any of that. And I really wanted to.
"Wasn't sure I'd find you. Thought you might still be rowing." Davos finally said what the internet has been thinking for years.
So Jon is a true Targaryen and Sam is like shut up about the shits we got to go fight white walkers.
More reunions, besides Davos and Gendry, we have Jorah and Daenerys (which looks like he is still in the friendzone), Jorah and Tyrion, and Jaime and Tyrion (even if it is only for a minute).
Arya thinks she is spying on Littlefinger but acutally Littlefinger is manipulating like he always does. The scroll was from Sansa telling Robb to swear fealty to King Joffrey back from season 1. Trying to cause some sister fighting.
I love that Tormund doesn't even know Brienne's name. He just calls her "The big woman."
Is Sam the man of the Tarly house now? Or was there another brother? Does he have to back to Castle Black?
Cersei can’t have a fourth baby. The prophecy said she would only have three.
Thats a lot of wights. I’m not sure how 7 men are going to get one back below the wall. And is Tormund the only free folk that could go with them, wouldn't they want a few more? Next week looks like is going to be another Hardhome episode. Can’t wait!
Danys back! That last scene was amazing. It was a long time coming and it was worth it, now lets see what she does next.
The scene between Cersei and Jamie with Euron was great. I wonder what the gift could be? Maybe he is bringing Robert's last bastard, Gendry? Jamie's look on his face when Euron said you should try killing you brother made me laugh. It’s like it just crossed his mind that she is actually capable of doing that.
Arya is not content with just killing Walder Frey, she had to kill them all. I realized about halfway through that scene and it was awesome to see her be a badass. The North Remembers! Oh and there is Ed Sheeran I wonder if we will see him again?
I loved that The Hound basically made fun of Thoros for having a man bun. Its crazy to see the way he has changed as a person and burying the people he left for dead a few seasons ago.
Sansa questioning Jon in front of everyone makes me think she wants to be in charge. I wonder if Littlefinger is rubbing off on her? Jon is concerned with the North but I think Sansa has more knowledge of everyone else and she is going to be important going forward.
I can’t get enough of Tormund hitting on Brienne. "You're a lucky man."
Sam's poop/soup montage was disgusting. He might be the most important part of this epsiode though. Finding the Dragon glass "mountain" might give the living folk an actual chance. Jon will probably be going to Dragonstone next week and we will finally get Jon and Daenerys face to face. And we get a glimpse at poor Jorah which seems the grey scale has gone into full effect.
Great episode to kick off the new season. We don't have a full 10 episodes so hopefully some big things happen next week.
