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jellymcalpha
Reviews
Halo: Halo (2024)
Stands in stark contrast to the dumpster fire of the prior episodes
Something big must have happened, right? Suddenly this got good after the trainwreck this show has been for the longest time.
This spoiler has spoilers for this episode and also contains potential spoilers for future episodes.
There's many flaws here, but they're overall minor and come from a biased viewpoint as a fan of the games.
Kwan Ha's plot armor never ceases to irritate, but at least they sort of introduce the concept of the Gravemind so that scene isn't entirely wasted. Although I feel it's too early for the Flood to have a Gravemind literally minutes or at most hours after the outbreak. They should just be swarming at random, not using actual tactics like acting like they're frozen just to lure people in.
The scene with MC vs the Arbiter was strikingly plastic-looking. The cutaways to Makee really made it stand out as the crisp live action stands in quite stark contrast to the fight scene taking place in the Blender render. At least the fight was well coreographed, and it's obvious there's talent in the animation department, but the whole scene just seems poorly textured and rendered with a low sample rate (did they run out of budget?)
I'm glad 343GS got a tease but what is up with the voice acting? Why does he just "speak" like normal? Why doesn't he have a modulation filter? And the way he talks doesn't fit the character at all. Why is he being incredulous and wary of Chief? He's supposed to be sort of a fun/simple character that is eager to help, so that you don't see his underlying motivation.
Anyway, let me say some positive things I was left with.
The action overall was excellent. Kai's decision to collide into the Assault Carrier was pretty awesome and a good way to introduce a "Not Quite Dead" trope. Did she die, or did she live? We'll have to keep watching to find out.
I'm so glad they decided to kill off most of the bad characters. Parangosky and Laera in particular were terrible and annoying (not hating on the actors who did a great job, the characters just don't have any reasonable motivations), so I'm glad they got the same terrible fate.
For those lamenting the Arbiter's death, keep in mind this Arbiter is not the same as in the games. Thel Vadam is the name of the Arbiter in the games and he only becomes the Arbiter after the Covenant loses the battle on Halo. This Arbiter is not the same character; remember Arbiter is just a rank. Thel Vadam is the fleet commander during the time this period and can still become the Arbiter in future seasons, the timeline is still on course for that to happen here.
Andor: The Eye (2022)
Genuinely fantastic
Perhaps it's the fatigue stemming from lackluster or downright terrible Star Wars content that's flooded us for the last half-decade, but I am so surprised at how shockingly good this series, and especially this episode, is.
I had no hype at all for Andor. I liked the Mandalorian, disliked The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi Wan Kenobi was so cookie-cutter and predictable that I can't fathom why I even sat down and watched it every week. I won't even mention the feature films - we all know how bad they are.
So I had no hype when Andor was announced and the trailers dropped. Perhaps that's the reason why this series works for me, but I don't think it is. I think it just is good. And not just good, but great.
The stunning visual effects. This arc's simple but effective pacing over three episodes, structured in a classic setup-confrontation-payoff set of acts . The fantastic music and sound mixing. The genuine human moments exemplified best by no weak actors. Every character is believeable and every actor is giving it their all and succeeding. It all culminates in this spectacular climax of an episode. I was glued to my seat throughout, and felt actual emotions beyond the boredom that usually accompanies modern Star Wars live action.
The Eye is the best piece of Star Wars live-action content since... perhaps even as far back as the original trilogy. In my opinion. And that's hard for me to say, since I have so many things that came after that that I love, and have done for years. Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, Mandalorian season 1. Now Andor can be added to that list, and it will stay there if they can keep this up for the rest of the season.
It's not flawless, nothing is. The imperial mercenary arc of the two first episodes is not good. There's plenty of cheesy or stupid things in the OT too, and certainly in everything else I love. But that's okay. The rest makes up for it in a big way.
Halo: Inheritance (2022)
Skip!
Literally don't have anything to say about this episode. It's complete nonsense filler and can easily be skipped, and I urge you to do so. The entire episode focuses on the one character everyone universally dislikes, and the one character whose plot affects nothing of the main story. This episode is like if we got an episode of Game of Thrones where the entire episode focused on the family drama of a governor in some town that's completely irrelevant to the story.
Halo: Transcendence (2022)
Finally, they found out what Halo is.
This season finale was what we wanted all season along. An excellent TV-adaptation of the game series. They cut off the dead meat, finally, and really hit the nail on the head with this final episode of the season.
Really excited for what season 2 brings and I'm really hopeful they can keep up the momentum from this episode. Just still don't get what they were thinking with the prior episodes, had they all been like this one this could have been an excellent series overall, but having to chog through 8 terrible episodes to get to this one is not a good impression, even for hardcore Halo fans.
Halo: Contact (2022)
A surprisingly good pilot episode
I don't know if it's because of my rock-bottom expectations for this show, but I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this first episode.
I should mention I am a huge Halo fan. Played every single game multiple times on the hardest difficulty, and have gotten pretty much every achievement there is to get in these games. Safe to say I have spent thousands of hours in this universe. So I am very protective of the franchise and very adverse to when "non-fans" don't do it justice.
There are clear flaws:
-A human being accepted into the Covenant is one of the stupidest things ever thought up, it directly opposes the entire reason why the Covenant are at war with Humanity. This kind of reflects the story overall. It's cheesy.
-The music isn't great. The only semblance of good music is a little jingle at the end from the original Halo theme.
-The Elites' portrayal physically and their behavior does not work. They act like the Jiralhanae (Brutes), not like Sangheili (Elites). Their armor reflects this brutal new approach. I wonder if the brutes exist in this new show or if they just merged them into the elites? The elites are supposed to be honorable, nimble, and tactical. In this show they're just wild animals.
-Master Chief takes off his helmet and looks like your average Joe (or John, in this case). They're augmented superhumans who were subjected to what amounts to basically surgical torture as children, they should have scars, look pale, etc. Lots of people are annoyed with the helmet coming off but I really don't think it's that big of a deal. I would have preferred it to stay on and only come off when absolutely necessary (Mandalorian style) but it's not a huge issue.
-There are a few minor issues, like when Master Chief gets a DMR from his fellow Spartan it lacks a scope and iron sights. Aiming that thing would be impossible. When shown in the HUD later, it does have a scope, which is a continuity error. There's also a major violation of the Cole Protocol by bringing the Covenant ship to Reach, which is a pretty important protocol in the core canon.
-A few inconsistensies are present. When shot by an insurrectionist, the mounted .50cal seems to be shooting nerf bullets. However, that same weapon when wielded by Master Chief, annihilates the Elites. Doesn't really make much sense.
On the other hand, there are tons of things to like:
- The action is absolutely fantastic. The mature rating really does make the action elevate to thrilling and does the Covenant justice. Never before have we seen on screen what the Covenant weapons really are capable of when shot at humans: exploding limbs and bodies. This lethality really elevates the stakes and makes the Covenant as feared as they should be.
- The sound design is absolutely top notch. As a fan, I appreciate the fan service by using sounds straight from the games (including shield discharge, shield down alert, shield recharge, assault rifle fire, magnum fire, Wort Wort Wort and much more). And the original sounds also work really well to make the series feel real. The heavy footsteps of the Spartans audibly ringing through the ground (they weigh over a metric ton after all) is just one example of good attention to detail when it comes to the sound design.
- While on the topic of fan service, I'd like to point out a couple other things I appreciated:
-Using a familiar HUD and showing a lot of the fighting through the HUD - with accurate reticles - is a fanboy's dream come true.
-Accurate portrayal of energy shields, with them taking time to recharge and low-calibre weaponry being effectively useless.
-Plasma Pistol overcharge. 9/10. Only way to make that moment better would be if it was used to drop the shields of the Elite, then quickly headshotting it with the magnum. Would have loved to see the noob combo. But caving the skull of the Elite in with green goo was still very cool.
My conclusion: If you shut your brain off, and just embrace the visual spectacle, there's plenty to enjoy in this show. The acting isn't that bad, the action is amazing, and apart from a couple things, the show doesn't deviate too much from what Halo is at its core (unlike modern Star Trek).
The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue (2020)
This is the best Star Wars has been for 15 years+
This episode... genuinely made me cry tears of joy for a solid 10 minutes during and after the credits (which you should stick around for, FYI). I had given up all hope on Star Wars ever since Disney picked up the franchise. I'd gone to see all the Disney-era movies and none of them were "Star Wars" to me (Rogue One was okay). They all just felt lifeless and forced. I realize I'm in the minority by saying I liked the prequels (Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie, and that's simply a fact), so for me it's "only" been 15 years since I last enjoyed anything Star Wars, but for those who didn't even like the prequels, man, it's been almost 40 years.
But the wait is over. This episode was absolutely magical. I won't mention spoilers but you'll know what I'm saying if you watched the episode: the worst flaw was the CGI. I cannot think of another flaw during this entire episode. Yes, it was fan service galore, but it was good fan service. It was earned. And without fan service this show still stands on it's own.
I'm very optimistic with where Disney is taking the franchise next. The universally positive reactions to The Mandalorian should hopefully be a sign for what the fans want (hint: it's not whatever mess the sequel trilogy was).
A killer payoff to a fantastic season. A must-watch for any Star Wars fan.
Thank you Dave Filoni and George Lucas. George, for making this beautiful story, and Dave, for rescuing it when it was at it's worst.
Fear the Walking Dead: The Little Prince (2019)
Beer Balloon.
What is this show anymore? It used to be smart, it used to be self-aware. Season 4 and onwards has been pandering, moral-speech-throat-shoving garbage. The writing has dipped from one of the best shows on air during Season 1 through 3 to one of the top 10 worst, I'm talking worse than The 100. This episode felt like an episode of a show on Disney Channel with a sepia filter. There were 10 (yes, I counted) "moral" speeches given in this episode alone. 10! Also, beer balloon. I don't even need to explain why that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen from FTWD. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.