I don't get nearly as excited about the MCU as I used to (mostly because they're churning out movies and TV shows at a rate that I just can't keep up with), but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Definitely worth watching.
Some loose thoughts/things I enjoyed below (spoilers are marked):
- the story is good, the 2nd act is kind of slow, but it picks up towards the end
- the fight scenes are super cool and creative (especially the one on the bus and the one on the scaffolding)
- I liked the way they utilized the rings in fights, it felt really fresh and like something we haven't seen before
- the final battle is actually awesome (monkey brain loves big monsters and explosions)
- the cast is excellent (I'm particularly thrilled to see Awkwafina getting more recognition)
- the soundtrack is beautiful and I love the way they used traditional Chinese melodies
- badass women all around (Michelle Yeoh my beloved)
- impeccable CGI
- some gorgeous scenery
- MORRIS
- loved the callback to the Mandarin mess from Iron Man 3
- Brie Larson cameo (I know the fandom has collectively decided to hate her, but I don't care, that was a treat for me and me only)
- Xialing effectively utilizing girl power by taking over her father's crime empire (I feel like there was definitely some comic book reference flying over my head there but who cares). My friend and I joked that she'll be getting a Disney+ series shortly
Overall, it was a treat. Strongly recommend.
As I said earlier after I watched the second episode: THIS IS NOT PARANORMAL.
They should've called it something else, and they shouldn't have mentioned that it is based on or inspired by the book series that is written by Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik “May Allah have mercy on him”, because it is NOT, It is something entirely different.
And I'm not talking about the ugly different narratives of perfect stories or the hideous portrayals of beloved characters, I'm talking about the beliefs of Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik and the essence of his writings.
Dr. Refaat Ismail is standing on a chair, tying a rope around his neck, and about to commit suicide?!! REALLY??!!!! Did the creators of this show even read one novel of the +80 book series?!! Did they even read any of Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's other book series like Fantasia, Safari, or any novel he wrote?
Dr. Refaat Ismail wouldn't even consider committing suicide, the thought would never even cross his mind!
To tell you the truth; when I heard about this project and that they will adapt Metaphysics by Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik into a TV series, I wasn't optimistic; for so many reasons I don't have the time to mention them now, but even then I couldn't imagine what a mess they will be able to turn this show into.
The only thing that is fairly acceptable about this show is the portrayal of Dr. Refaat Ismail's character by Ahmed Amin, he did a decent job, at least for the physical appearance, and that is it.
If you haven't read the novels you might enjoy this show, if you don't mind the terrible decisions taken by the characters and bad CGI.
But if you have read the novels; Please be warned, don't watch this awful mess of a show, and if you must watch it, please push away any thought about the book series out of your mind, because if you didn't, you will be slapping your forehead every 3 minutes, and that will be a preliminary event before you start banging your head against the wall.
With every episode, there were things about this that made me say, "wow!".
Sometimes I was saying that in regards to the incredible visuals on screen, which are truly top quality and show incredible creativity and imagination. Other times I was saying it in regards to the unbelievable plot, ridiculous characters and insane happenstances that plagued it from beginning to end.
This really is one of the worst written shows currently. The characters are endlessly bland and meaningless, the plot is completely contrived and each episode just flows from one disaster to the next which our characters manage to miraculously escape from every single time.
Then part of me remembers that this is a kid's show, or at least a family show, and I have to give it some leeway. It betrays that at times by including some moderately adult elements (violence, gore, language, punchable characters), but always snaps back to being "safe". The focus on the children as the main characters is very much to the detriment of things, as they are all quite annoying (despite being generally strong actors). Will in particular seems to be either emotional or on the verge or tears in every single one of his scenes. Reign it in a bit please, writers.
In the end, this show wasn't made for me. It's for older kids/young teens who still enjoy reading YA novels about heroic kids saving the world. I know it's somewhat constrained by following the parameters of the original TV show, but one of the kids here is a FULLY TRAINED DOCTOR. I don't know how I'm supposed to approach that.
Then we have the appalling Dr. Smith, who derails every scene she's in with pure nonsense. She exists purely to be a spanner in the works with no genuine reasoning behind it. The human colonists are a bunch of morons who are supposed to all be geniuses, but are far more interested in their selfish needs and egos and don't behave as any kind of highly trained group.
It certainly wasn't all bad, and most episodes did have moments that made me want to pay attention and know what's going to happen next but it's got no depth whatsoever, and I'm genuinely bummed about that because I was really excited about watching this.
Being Canadian, I remember following this case. It was quite a shocker on the level of Bernardo/Homolka and Pickton Farm cases. Still, the documentary gave me a whole lot more to think about. The internet hunt for the killer angle is actually pretty fascinating. These people picked apart each video and each photo for the tiniest of clues, and they actually succeeded at identifying the suspect and tracking him down much earlier than the police did. It's all great and entertaining to watch. However, there is a reason why police choose not to engage with so-called "armchair detectives". Civilians being involved with a potential serial killer is trouble waiting to happen, evidence might get dismissed in court based on how it was obtained, jurisdiction and chain of command issues, you name it. They don't need vigilantes running amok and potentially messing up their case and hurting themselves.
The "nerds" claim that if they were taken seriously the murder could have been avoided. I doubt it. Knowing how easily people get away with animal abuse due to some loosey-goosey laws on the subject, the cops probably couldn't have done much beyond a ban on owning animals and some probationary crap for distribution of explicit materials online. There was no stopping the murder from happening. In fact, there is a big question, and it's touched upon in the documentary, whether the existence of the "internet nerds" and their persistent efforts to track the guy actually egged the killer on. He craved the audience and they gave it to him. He wanted a game of cat and mouse and they gave it to him. Unfortunately, you can't help but think that they were unwitting participants in this thing. While Baudi Moovan acknowledges this fact and obviously feels somewhat conflicted, I thought that John Green character was disturbingly nonchalant about it. I mean, the guy watched the murder video at least twenty times when it came out because he just couldn't stop. Just saying, it's a bit creepy.
And there is also the whole debate about the guy in Africa, and how the group's actions and witch hunt actually might have contributed to a very tragic event.
Also, because I am an animal lover and cat owner, I was very worried about the disturbing content and subject matter of the show. So here's my two cents for anyone hesitant to watch this. The first episode is all about the cat videos, so prepare to be sad. They don't show the graphic content, but the show's participants describe the videos in some detail before breaking down at the most horrific parts. So if you don't engage your imagination, you can get through it. It's still very upsetting emotionally, but there is no gore or visuals to give you nightmares. I thought the documentary was worth the discomfort because it is very well done if you enjoy true crime.
Some details are really stretched far though. While I can accept the Basic Instinct connection as a loose inspiration for the murder, the poster, the Casablanca clue, the cigarette, and the leg crossing thing were all just hilariously overestimated. It makes for cool entertainment, but obviously not realistic. I think they did get Manny's origin correct though. Use your own judgment and don't give in too much to the sensationalism.
