Definitely a big departure from the books. Not horrible for it though; it's been an enjoyable watch, for the most part. It falls off a bit the last few episodes. I think people who haven't read the books will have an easier time enjoying it maybe than people who have and can't get over the fact that adaptations are a thing and changes are made. Doesn't make them bad, necessarily. Also, how about of all those beautiful, naked, rehydrated Trisolarians (or San Tinos, I guess?) in episode 2. Didn't get that image from the novel, I'll tell you what :tongue: As for any comparisons with the Chinese series, it was definitely truer to the source material and I'm usually the guy saying, "They should have made a limited series out of (insert novel here), this movie didn't do it justice at all." But damn, the Chinese series was so unnecessarily long and drawn out. It really could have used some trimming in the adaptation and editing phases; pacing was dreadful. This series may be a big departure from the novels, but it was done with the author's blessing as he understood the need to make it appeal to a wider, international audience and more accessible than the source material may have been for some people.
I watched a couple of episodes of this show on its original run and remembered it as being a solid scifi show. So I thought it would be a good idea to watch the whole thing. Now, I know it's makes a difference at what age you watch a show but this took an effort to make it through.I was on the brink of quitting more then once.
There are two points I want to adress that I repeatedly read about this. The first being that this is Star Trek under water. Not from where I stand. Star Trek always took strong position on social issues whereas with Seaquest the scale always tipps for the entertainment angle instead of really adressing the issues.
The second thing is that the individual season are becoming worser. Again from where I stand I wouldn't agree. Both, S1 and S2 and amazingly stupid episodes as well as a couple of decent ones. My average episodes rating of those seasons only has a margin slightly above a half point. They are pretty much on par. Season three includes the highest rated episode and does on average better than one and two.
I won't go into much more detail as I've written comments about every individual episode. So here is my average rating for each season:
S1: 5,565
S2: 5,000
S3: 6,308
Overall: 5,624
That's barely a six overall. It's my personal opinion so please don't let this disuade you from watching it yourself.
I'm probably not part of the target audience for this movie. My last Nintendo console was the Game Boy Color, so I wouldn't call myself a big fan of the series. Nevertheless, I definitely had some fun with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie". There is no time for boredom because the pacing is extremely fast. Furthermore, the animation style is consistently of high quality, and the voice actors are terrific. There is no complete failure in the cast; the performances range from solid (Chris Pratt, Seth Rogen) to good (Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key) to perfectly cast (Jack Black, Charlie Day).
On the negative side, however, the film doesn't offer a single surprise. Illumination plays it safe with every decision; risks are completely avoided. Thus, the result is a film that is exactly what one could have expected in advance. The story is thin, the ambition low. Unlike many other animated films, there is only one layer to "Super Mario", and that is that the film must definitely work for even the youngest children. As an adult who isn't swept away by fan service (which there really is plenty of), you're on your own a bit.
Overall, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is thoroughly entertaining. However, I doubt I'll ever watch the film again. For my tastes, the story could have been a little more creative.
Do you remember The naked gun movies? Spy hard? Hot shots? How about Men in tights, or Spaceballs? Monty Python's Life of Brian? All of them are absurd humor comedies, a genre that encompasses many of the most hilarious movies / books / shows, including some occasional masterpieces, such as some of the Discworld books, or the unsurpassable The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the books - the movie was ok, but nowhere near Douglas Adams' brilliance).
Anyway... With Medical police, they went down the same path of absurd humor. Yay! But sadly, they only achieved the absurd part. The humor, not so much. They tried, but it didn't work, at least for me. Most episodes don't have more than a couple of laughs in them; some (such as the pilot), not even that.
It's still worth a watch... if you don't have anything else to do. The first season is only 4 hours long, and the episodes are short enough too. At least they got that right!
I found out afterwards that this is a spin-off of another show called Childrens Hospital, with all the same cast. I didn't watch it, but according to IMDb, it was much better and lasted for 7 seasons. I doubt there will be a second one of Medical police, though. The idea isn't bad, and the cast is pretty good, but they lack the most important thing you can ask of a comedy show: to be funny.
People need to stop being so obnoxiously negative. This show is extremely entertaining. Maybe not always funny, in a sense, but certainly always entertaining. Entertaining isn't as subjective as funny. And if you don't find it to be entertaining, at the very least, you're doing something wrong. Lower your negativity, lingering expectations, and I bet you'll begin to find it entertaining, a little bit, at first.
Anyway, all that aside, I enjoyed watching this show very, very much. The fictional history of the in-show world and the subtle references to little bits and pieces of it came out of nowhere and was probably one of the most shocking aspects of it if not the most. But it was super interesting from the start, and then began to be entertaining and a very wonderful running gag, so to speak. The gradual descent into anguish and madness made for a compelling theme and didn't disappoint.
The VFX (or CGI?) of outer space, and maybe the space ship itself as well, something that I think I've seen a person or two complain about and call bad, or at least comparing it to a much older show that had "bad" VFX/CGI that also didn't age very well, didn't look remotely bad to me. In actuality, it looked quite good and...crisp or whatever, I don't know. Each significant character was entertaining. Yes, even Karen. Sure, if you're more passionate and generally immersive in what you watch than I am, you probably hate her and don't particularly like any of the other characters. That's fine.
Moving on, the main issue which a lot of people have with the show that I've seen is that it isn't funny, and I think that's a load of bollocks. While the show is advertised as a comedy or considered to be a comedy, first and foremost, you're supposed to be entertained. Not to mention, this is, without a doubt, and very obviously, a much different version of the comedy genre than usual. That alone should've been obvious before going off and complaining about how much the show sucks, and how remarkably unfunny it is. That being said, feel free to freely act negatively towards the show, most of you probably already have. I liked it and I'm looking forward to the second season, and it's a good thing for the show that those of you who I've mentioned, you know who you are, have been weeded out and won't be returning. Goodbye.
