Dracomilan Reviews

Foundation (2021– )

I was trying to watch it... then Salvor Hardin mocked him/herself

[2/10 · 25 October 2021]

For an hardcore Asimov fan Foundation is pretty hard to digest.

It is visually compelling, but it just uses the names of well-known characters to write a new story.

I do not mind the gender swopping, the race swopping, the clone-dinasty designed just to have a recognizable foe for centuries... thlsa are trocks that could hve worked, if just the writer loved this story a little.

But I do mind inserting religion in an universe that Asimov designed as too advanced to still believe in bogus stories, killing Seldon for no in-universe reason, trasforming Raych into a killer, Demerzel into a standard robot, Salvor Hardin into an armed goon.

My breaking point arrived when Hardin, the man known in all the history of the Foundation as the one who said "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent", SCOFFED at this saying and acted in a completely different way. This is just like directing a movie about a Julius Cesar who instead of saying "Ale Iacta Est" crossing the Rubicon starts singing Eminem's "My name is".

I'm done. Back to my beloved books (and hes, this is worst than that I, Robot movie)

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

Rewatched in 2020, it still is an amazing military space opera

[9/10 · 2 August 2020]

BSG is an extremely well-acted and appropriately-casted sci-fi mil opera. Not a single role is miscast, not a single scene (even if farfetched) is badly acted. The show uses the old Galactica for names, setting and ship shapes, but the lore is all new (here the cylons were created by humans and have an assimilation plan). Since the show was not scripted with a long arc in mind, some short arcs are slow, convoluted or not interesting (Helo on Caprica, Baltar the Prophet) but when the writing room nails it, BSG is solid gold (Miniseries, 33, Pegasus, Razor, first discovery of Earth). CGI still good after some years, even if on 4K TV some effects seem naive (dead Sharon, all in-atmosphere explosions). Still worth your time!

NOS4A2 (2019–2020)

Good writing, bad casting

[6/10 · 26 December 2019]

The novel spans over more than 30 years, so I understand they had to split the story in two and to make it chronological to adapt it to TV. But the choice to use the same cast for both parts is just plain wrong. The first part of the story (basically season 1) needs a 14 years old Vic riding a bycicle. The second part of the story needs a 40 years old Vic riding a bike. Using a 26 years old actress playing an 18 years old Vic during Season 1 is just a bad decision: the actress is stuck into a juvenile role with younger actors that give no credibility to her character. Her own acting is forced and seems incredibly fake. I dread season two when she will play an older, sicker, madder version of Vic, alongside the same cast. The only good casting choice was Quinto, with or without the monster mask. Awarded a 6 for writing and style. With a better lead character it could have been worth an 8.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

A solid space opera

[8/10 · 31 May 2018]

Solo was equal parts Firefly, Star Wars, The Great Train Robbery and Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo. It was fun and engaging, and despite not revealing anything fundamental about the sw universe it was likeable. I especially appreciated the chemistry/rivalry between Han and Lando, which explains a lot of their future meeting. A solid movie that I will gladly rewatch. ...next time, hire Bossk!