charnelx Reviews

What If...?: What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World? (2023) Season 2, Episode 6

"Genius"

[27 December 2023]

What genius decided to make a Marvel "What if" EP that has not been in any of the Marvel productions previously? The whole point of "What if" is to put a spin on a familiar, not to introduce new. A lot of selections in season 2 have been questionable, focusing on characters that not many are curious about but this takes the cake.

Its like those eps of the mandalorian dropped in the middle of book of boba fett. Where the eps arguably ok? Yes but they did not belong there.

Choice to have most of the episode subtitled also did not help. Again, I watch a lot of things subtitled but it was not what I was expecting to do when I set down to watch this so it had an effect on my enjoyment.

Story wise wise I was unimpressed. Kahhori knew better then the elders so she went on seeking a cursed lake. Things happened, she ended up in a paradise world, tried to escape and got distracted by being better at magic then everyone else there, hunting plant/crystals and having a party. Then the Spanish attacked again and she was remined that she cant just remain in paradise and ignore people suffering outside (unlike another fictional nation) so she bent the plain to her will and went back to the regular world while retaining all her powers. In classical fashion she gave a big speech to other to come fight with her but no one did but then they showed up in the most critical moment. After the battle she teleported to Spain, humiliated the queen and said all would know of her peaceful ways, by force. Plus she brought a blanket for trade to show peace was more beneficial.

I think you can draw your own conclusions form this summery.

Ahsoka: Part Five: Shadow Warrior (2023) Season 1, Episode 5

Meh

[15 September 2023]

A visual tour de force with most of the actors bringing their A game and good management of budget when it comes to tv shows.

Main flow of the story was the mediocre B story yanking us away from the resolution of the previous episode. Time that could have been better spent focusing on the A story or having the B story show us what was going on with the antagonists.

Pacing is this shows problem and this episode is no exception. Simple things that can be conveyed in minutes take up hours. It does not help us savor the moment, it does not bring us new insights or information its remembrance for the sake of remembrance.

The Other Two (2019–2023)

Not sure.

[11 June 2023]

Molly Shannon is the best part of this.

Biggest surprise was how much more crass it was then what the trailers lead me to believe. I was also disappointed by how much of a non character Chase was initially/more like prop. I get that the show is called "the other two" but given that their lives are meant to orbit his initially, his presence and characterization was not there. It was an artistic choice by the script so I can't really say it was wrong but clearly not something that appealed to me.

It starts out somewhat grounded like arrested development and slowly (or not so slowly if you watch it all in one go) escalates into pure absurdity.

It has many interesting moments, moments and characterization I enjoyed a lot but their ratio to runtime is abysmal. Its better than the big bang theory so make of that what you will.

Tekken: Bloodline (2022)

basic

[10 March 2023]

A very basic story with a lot of time skips and almost no characterization. It realize heavily on you knowing most things from the games already but that also lead to one of the things I liked the most about this "mini series" which was that they actually used the moves from the game. I know it seems very simple thing but I have yet to see any other fighting game adaptation do it. In fact even among takken this is the 3rd adaptation I have watched and its the only who that used the moves. Usage of moves made everyones fighting style distinct. While the show is not without its flaws I think its serviceable for what it aims to be and is one of the better takken adaptations.

Interview with the Vampire (2022– )

Good it its own right

[30 October 2022]

Another recent adaptation I have watched were everything is amazing, acting, budget, even the green screen (mostly) every aspect of the production is good and I would even say its even better crafted than the 2020 dracula mini by Steven Moffat. In a way its nice to see an unexpected story but this is no real adaptation, it ignores major themes and settings of the source material, removing some of the most interesting aspects of it. It is good it its own right but it is not better than the original and is definitely a heartbreak for those who came looking for "interview with the vampire". There were major signs from the get go so my expectations where adjusted and I was pleasantly surprised because in the last 2 years I saw at least 6 adaptations where showrunners took liberties only to churn out complete garbage, it pleases me that in this case even though I did not find a "interview with the vampire" the story is still good and worth my time.

The School for Good and Evil (2022)

Good in its own right

[25 October 2022]

I don't think it captures the metaphors or the atmosphere of the book but I think it is good in its own right. Some of the changes made did cause the narrative to flow in a more clunky way but in the end it all worked out. I expect it will become a niche classic in some circles just like the disney's descendents. There is a sequel hook but Im not really sure where they could take the story next since its very self contained. If you want simple fun without writing issues that seem to plague majority of modern films, this one is for you. Its not going to be winning any awards but is a perfectly enjoyable move to spend an evening at home with.

Miss Scarlet & the Duke (2020– )

Adequate

[26 June 2022]

Adequate production brought down by 1)tepid plots 2) incessant bickering of william and scarlet which was meant to be "charming" but grows increasingly tiresome the longer it goes on 3) scarlets "user" behavior where she seemingly has no time for needs of others even when she calls them "friend"

The Time Traveler's Wife (2022)

I dont understand it.

[20 June 2022]

At its core the story is about relationships and growing up. The expectations of our futures we have vs messy reality.

A lot of the characters are pretty "messy" some of the views and moves are archaic or reprehensible to me, so I could not enjoy the relationship aspect of it because I did not like the people involved.

It is an impactful story, regardless of what you think of it, it will stay with you for a while. Which is more than can be said for a lot of stories that get put out these days. Still I do not understand why its favorite of so many.

Halo (2022– )

Mismanaged

[20 May 2022]

Have not played the games. The show has a week script, rushed plot point and a lack of focus and few combat scene could not save it. Feels like

I have watched "bones" of stories fit for multiple seasons while not even getting one good season. If tightened a little the show could have made a passable generic movie. Not high quality but something passable like elysium 2013, the 2 have nothing in common its just the first example that popped into my mind.

The Adam Project (2022)

Bland

[19 March 2022]

I was not engaged on any level, nor would I recommend it for family viewing. This is the epitome of "stuff you put in the background as noise while you do something else". Many cite visuals as its saving grace but Im not sure what impressive visuals people are talking about, it might have been impressive 20 years ago but I have seen same quality on tv in 2010. Then there is also the limited amount of those visuals, if you just want eye candy than there are vastly superior options out there when it comes to pure visuals.

The movies problem is not that its concepts/characters being dated, its in execution of those tropes. There is clear lack of effort on the writers part.

Catwoman: Hunted (2022)

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one

[9 February 2022]

An enjoyable self contained story that still hints at a wider world. Mostly down to earth action oriented cohesive plot with believable motivation. I know it does not sound like much but its more than most movies have delivered in recent history.

The voice Elizabeth Gillies used was like honey.

Catwoman was balanced and playful. Batwoman was softer than in her previous screen appearances. Both were a delight.

It has been a long while since I so fully enjoyed a DC movie. I defiantly enjoyed it a lot more than Justice Society: World War II or their attempts at adapting big name stories like injustice or superman red son,etc.

The only minor thing I would say slightly detracted from the movie is the number of villains, particularly the presence of one near the final fight felt unnecessary. While I greatly enjoyed the fight sequence itself, I felt the same could have been accomplished by simply having the final antagonist do those actions.

Star Trek: Discovery: Kobayashi Maru (2021) Season 4, Episode 1

50/50

[23 November 2021]

A strong start that gives me hope for the season. This show really needed someone like the president to at least lampshade some of the questionable things going on.

I liked how the ep was framed and what they focused on. Very much a self contained adventure and the crew working the problems.

What I do not like is the implication that there is going to be another galactic scale event they need to puzzle out and save/rebuild the galaxy from again.

Inside Job (2021–2022)

below mediocre

[23 October 2021]

It feels like most of the episodes where written 10 years ago with an aim at a demographic that would be in their 40-50s. There is an ep that mocks nostalgia but ironically this show would be even worse for people unfamiliar with events/peoples and pop culture the show references constantly, where the "joke" is the existence of the reference in of itself.

A lot of stuff is in poor taste or just plane not funny. The characters and the setting has some potential, would be nice if they ever actually utilized it and maybe drop the "funny" rude mind reading mushroom guy who is like roger and Jeff from American dad mixed into one(insufferable) .

The art style reminds me of lower decks but worse.

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021)

Where is the heart?

[28 June 2021]

Where is the development? Things happen and there are long action scenes. The events cover almost a year and in that time some relationship do a 180 but there is no real reason to care because 2 moments they have is their establishment and their disintegration, they don't feel real. The investigation is almost non existent and story flails from one suspect to another without any substantive clues beyond lack of options.

Jupiter's Legacy (2021)

Should have been a movie.

[9 May 2021]

Should have been a movie. The premise is ridiculously stretched out and at the same time spinning its wheels.

Im watching a super hero shows and yet the most interesting thing was the hokey vision quest that retreaded a lot of same conversations over and over, its like all they could do was argue about who was handed what. Ironically beyond skyfox and the brothers no one really gets fleshed out.

I did not much care for the comic and I saw the potential of changing they made to Paragon but overall I was not pleased with the story. Production value was good. Makeup was good enough for me. Ben Daniels (Brainwave) was the best actor in the lot and it was easy to see how much he was trying in the key moments but the show was only 10% those moments and that cant carry all of it.

If you wish to see an imperfect show that still is better than this one( despite having an a lot smaller budget) if you can find it, I would recommend. Powers the 2015 show made for the PlayStation Network, as far as I know they have shut down and no longer carry that show so I don't know were you might find it but if you can, check it out.

Please stop compering this show to "the boys" it's like comparing apples and oranges and makes me think you dont have many reference points.

Superman & Lois: Pilot (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

More superman less CW

[24 February 2021]

Everything that was about superman was good. The show really dragged when it was about the usually CW melodrama.

Trickster (I) (2020)

Yelawolf the tv show

[30 October 2020]

Episodes seen 4 out of 6

Yelawolf the tv show. Ironically the music choices in the show were bad and often very unnecessary, its like a music label financed the show. The same is true for the soundtrack.

Joel Oulette seems like a better version of Jake Manley. He is good at conveying things with his body language, would even say perfect. spoken acting was mostly ok, the emotion often is not in his voice.

"INDIGENOUS" people in these reviews are screaming about how indigenous the story/setting are. indeed its "ambiguously" indigenous in the sense that its all very surface level and not tied to one specific tribe, but you can tell vision of which indigenous people were in the author's mind through demonstration of beliefs that in other indigenous groups of the continent are represented very differently or not at all. The setting is stuffed full of tired plot aspects, there is even a pipeline protest, so if you were hoping for a fresh view, this is not it.

Lore wise, I don't think you need to be a level 9000 nerd to know what is going on from the mystical standpoint unless it's your first work of this kind. At the same time if you don't know anything about on subject matter you are out of luck because the show won't explain much to you, so it's in that place where you should not go in if you know nothing or if you are hoping to learn new things.

The mystery of the story is in the dynamics between the characters and as far as that goes the supernatural nature of some of the characters has very little relevance to the story, they might as well be humans involved in the criminal word as far as the impact of their nature goes. Since everyone and their grandma seem to be on drugs in this story, making drugs hallucinogenic would cover the visuals you want.

Characters were mostly well acted and mostly enjoyable but also very archetypal, especially Crashpad and Sarah who seem like executives copied characters from popular works in hopes of gaining similar success, making failed or at best uninspired ports.

There is a character who is a "talented underachiever" and a drug dealer who after the first episode is perpetually out of drugs and despite hints that he might remedy that, he never does. There is a character introduced as a selfish user of people only to have that characterization vanishes after the first ep. Its like they want to say "this is the characterization" but not actual have that characterization or consequences. like pirates that don't do any pirate work, it "looks cool" in their bio but otherwise has very little relevance or impact.

Budget limitations. budget limitations are there but its not low budget as such. what budget is, is used smartly. Instead of using money bad effects or stunt action they use cut aways and practical effects. I can say that there are some notably bad jump cut transitions that give you a feeling like there are bridging scene that have been cut(or likely were never filmed). Cast also seems to be kept at bare minimum, with peripheral characters vanishing out of the story with little or no explanation, having had little or no impact on the story or characters in it.

Pacing was abysmal, from painfully slow to lighting fast and back. There are jumps in the first episode that made me think "well they are going fast but I guess they want to get to the point" but then in the second episode time is given to stuff that was already self evident or adds nothing.

This editing and pacing combines into questionable character motivations, where after one conversation you will have romance, animosity,etc with no real development or breathing room.

I would not call it "darkly humorous". ep 4 and still no "crescendos to an epic clash of magic, monsters and mayhem" I mean I have seen more epic clashes of magic, monsters and mayhem in street brawls and I dont mind that but lets be honest about what things are.

The show was mostly fine but in ep 4 all of its flaws seem to have been amplified and gathered together. All the good seems to have been drained, even the acting took a dive.

If I had to call it an X meets Y, I would say its pg 13 shameless meets hemlock grove but worse than those individual shows separately.

Pandora: Shelter from the Storm (2019) Season 1, Episode 1

Mismatch

[12 October 2020]

There are a lot of flaws I can talk about but what was most critical for me was a big mismatch between what was happening and what characters reacted to. like X would happen and they would behave like Y happened.

The Idhun Chronicles (2020–2021)

Mediocre

[14 September 2020]

Lets start with the good. 1.Our protagonists often fail which makes the danger feel more real. When its good they fail because they are outmatched or the enemy did not fall for an obvious ploy, when its bad they fail because they overlooked something very simple. 2.In the second episode you see jack being unhappy about not being allowed to go into action yet despite having trained for 6 months and you can see everyones points of view. Not only are his feelings acknowledged by other characters, they make his value to them clear while not coddling him. bluntly put sometimes he will have nothing to contribute and he should wait for his moment. If this was any other show after a week of training he would have stolen one of the legendary swords, run of and gotten into trouble with the him saying that "I guess im not ready" and the mentor going "no you are ready" or some variation of this. There are few more atypical developments sprinkled here and there, It might seem silly giving show points for what it is not, especially since it has a mountain of other developments that are quite typical but I found this development refreshing. less so refreshing was what it ultimately amounted to but that is another story. 3. serpent soldiers remind me of serpent soldiers from other works and that invokes nostalgic memories of those works.

The bad. voice acting in Spanish felt hollow for the lack of a better word. Alsan especially sounded patronizing when he was meant to be sincerer. Shail is on the ok side of things when he does not have to use his non existent range. jack and his voice were a horrible match, I dont think there is single scene where his voice worked for me. I could swear in ep 5 around the 7:50 mark "yeet" is used as a sound effect, it was hilarious but also took me out of the moment. The show feels less like it was voice acted and more like it was dubbed over (if that makes sense).

My misplaced expectations. The summery reads "The day the three Suns and three Moons came together in alignment over Idhun, Ashran, the necromancer, seized power and the reign of the winged snakes started." I actually expected to see that, maybe even have Ashran be the protagonist.

Character design and animation. Character designs are acceptable but uninspired. animation is serviceable, except for some egregious moments, for example in ep 4 you have a fight with lizard troops that starts with 3 troop cutouts jump flying at the protagonists while being motionless in the air and the lizard battle does not get much better after that.

The cast and character motivations. With there being so few episodes, its understandable that we did not get much but I feel like key elements are missing. I do not care about the cast and even with more episodes I doubt this show can go beyond ok. 1.Jack wants revenge on Kirtash for killing his family and he has nowhere else to go. His anger helps deflect the guilt he feels for being the one who accidentally drew Kirtash's eye to his family. He is very fast learner(possibly chosen) and in ep 4 he pulls out the legendary of legendary swords. 2.Shail is a magic user who is more empathetic than Alsan but can also make hard choices. he teaches Victoria and wants to protect the last unicorn(it and a baby dragon somehow survived a homing destruction spell that got all others of its kind, a spell Ashran used to avoid a prophecy that a unicon and a dragon would stop his rule). I dont think anything is known about him as a person. also he is now dead (or more likely attack with 2 types of offensive magic somehow teleported him elsewhere) 3.Victoria is an earth born half mage who became a half by sometime in her life interacting with a unicorn. she has been hunted by Kirtash from time to time so she avoids making non magical friends to keep them out of line of fire. she is still going to school despite having had a train crash into her in the same area and she lives with her grandma who knows nothing about magic or what goes on in her life. Victoria wants to be a strong magic user like her favorite heroine from the legends and soon after its introduction she ends up getting heroines legendary lost staff, which was meant for her because it does not burn her (all legendary weapons that dont like their wielder, burn the wielder or otherwise cant be used). also she is 13!? 4.Alsan is a prince in exile, who is not very knowledgeable about the human world and likely only leaves their hideout for the missions. He wants to find all the refugees and unite them under his banner and the unicon/dragon. gets turned into a wolfman in ep 4 and that and angst over that becomes his personality. 5.Kirtash is an antagonist who hunts all the magical people(plus a unicon and a dragon as you find out in the 4th ep) of idhun who have escaped his boss. He has snake eyes that can suck out your soul and transfer your memories to him, even if you are in an astral form. He has hots for victoria and is the current prince or emperor of idhun(which you find out in ep 5). He loves his jacket and speaking in monotone!? 6.Elrion is the antagonist magic user who works with Kirtash because their boss told him so. He may or may not have wanted to be like Ashran. He turns Alsan into a wolfman and gets a book for kirtash, on that his contributions to the plot are finished and he is now dead.

note that I mostly told you about what happens to them or is around them but not about them as people. if I have not said it, assume that nothing more about the character exists (after 5 eps). Some of this might even sound grand to you but it often fails in execution, think of it like many titles of Daenerys Stormborn. I would not even call the story rushed, its like the show itself is just a summery of key plot points, a lot happens but non of it has impact on the viewer and in the end the fellowship is broken without ever having been really formed.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)

rocky start.

[2 September 2019]

Gets better after the 4th episode. acting from darker characters was interesting and engaging. Show shines most when the focus is on the antagonists, stone clan,aughra, "loyal" princess or basically anyone other than the protagonists

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020)

Not the old Sabrina but still an enjoyable show.

[10 November 2018]

Let us start with the bad The show is not without is flaws, most noticeable ones are 1. Dropped plotlines and set ups that go nowhere. You will often be engrossed in the moment only to find the story incoherent or poorly set up/delivered, after you stop to think about it for a second. This show is a visual experience first and everything else second. JJ abrams mystery box is in full swing and all the crumb dumping seems to have eaten up screen time so they had to rush the last 2 episodes, even then they still went for sequel hooks and crumbs for season 2. While I did enjoy season 1 (mostly) I feel no burning need to see season 2. 2. The pacing and structure, more specifically I would say that its structured somewhat like a conventional tv show, each episode ends with a twist or a hook for the next episode and each "A plot" is contained within the episode so you end up with episode where the story drags on to fill the runtime and episode where major events/emotional climax happen off screen. 3. Just there syndrome. many story elements and even some of the characters end up being just there, contributing to nothing and just snatching away screen time from time to time. Salem is one such character, no time is given to his relationship with Sabrina, He is like a new phone she got and got bored with quickly. Generally at some points it feels like you are watching stylized and more expensive version of Ravenswood mixed with The Little Vampire

the mixed 1.Character behavior/emotional response. The show goes for absurdist path where everyone acts like they are in a comic book and not like "real" people. I don't mind this as long as the show does not ask me to be moved. In same cases there seems to be no rhyme or reason for why certain characters do certain things, some of it can be excused with preexisting history that the viewer is not aware but most of the time that is not the case.

2.The politics. Given the absurdist bend this show often takes, its really hard to tell when and if ever they are serious about any of their politics. I feel like this was intentional and is challenging to the viewer in multiple ways, since the ideas often come from antagonists or are there to show someone is being naive. It drops some words, book titles and mostly leaves it up to you to decide how you take the whole thing.

and now for the good. 1. Acting. While the scripts don't call for much range I must say that actors for Zelda, Hilda ,Sabrina ,Father Blackwell,Ms.Wardwell and Prudence were a perfect fit for this incarnation of the show. 2. The humor. The show has a wonderful sense of humor and it's wonderful mostly because it does not expect you to laugh, it delivers the humor and moves on, leaving it up to you to decide if you found it funny or even if you noticed it at all. Not in your face like scream queens (That show is enjoyable in its own way). 3.Cinematography. There are often shows were you can just listen to without missing anything, this is not one of those shows. The visuals and camera movement are beautifully. Some choices maybe an acquired taste but they add to the overall experience

Titans: Titans (2018) Season 1, Episode 1

perhaps perhaps

[14 October 2018]

You would have a hard time convincing me that this is not a comedy. They key to this shows success or failure will be whether they can walk that fine line between plain bad and funny bad. I will say that it was not hard to watch like black lightning, supergirl or those cringey CW crossovers.

Ready Player One (2018)

fix it all the way?

[10 August 2018]

Much better than the book, at least I don't think the book would be enjoyable if adapted to film, maybe someone would watch a tv show of it but not a movie. Unfortunately some of the things that improved on the book were also the versions of those moves that are very played out in the movie industry. Thus it reached for the sky but ultimately only made to enjoyable mediocrity.

The Originals: When the Saints Go Marching In (2018) Season 5, Episode 13

Good episode

[2 August 2018]

Good episode but I fear it being ruined retroactively somewhere down the line. despite many afterlives being destroyed, many characters have come back from death in this show and if they come back from this one it will forever cheapen not only this ep but any hint of such an ep in the future.

The flaws. maybe this should have been a 3 part story. I felt the structure of this ep was abysmal, despite caroline having been in the previous ep I felt like she did not belong in this ep and all she said could have been said in another ep, I felt like this ep should have been exclusively focused on michelson. The wording of the bonfire speech seemed to focus on blood and strangely excluded marcel, who did chose this family.

rebekah and marcel getting back together felt rushed, as did the cure and vampires just leaving the town. It raises the question of why they were clinging to it so hard in the first place, I doubt it was lack of a bus fare. All of that felt like "X months/years after" type content but putting it afterwords would have ruined the perfect(well maybe not ruined but you know what I mean) ending of ashes being lifted to the sky

I feel the same about surrogacy subplot, if they wanted it then they should have had it in another episode. keelin also stood out in a bad way since she had no personal stories of klaus and was listening to their deepest goodbyes (at the bonfire) I don't know if excluding her would have been bad but it feels like she did not earn such deep access. surrogacy subplot felt like padding, as did Kol running off for the 100th time. I feel like all that extra time could have been used for more character moments or at least the struggle with madness, which I wish had been represented in some other way instead of mikael and cami.

The good. No gut punch, what I mean is that I expected something to go wrong maybe they would do the double stab and it would not work on klaus because he got overtaken or his blue eyes gives him auto defense or maybe klaus would pull one of his "did not learn a thing" and neck snap his elijah in hopes that after waking up elijah would change his mind.

Mixed. haley went out in a very meh way, seemed like one of those reversible deaths. I don't know if it is a good idea but maybe Klaus could have used all that magic and as one of his finally acts resurrected her. I have mixed feelings about it since Im not sure if it would have been good for the story.

Major Grom (2017)

as good as deadpool

[21 July 2018]

I enjoyed it immensely, its short and free. humor worked for me 90% of the time which is rare for me because even in the famed deadpool it only worked around 20% of the time.

Im not sure if they could keep the energy going for a full movie (if they ever make one) but im rating the short and not a full movie that may never exist.

people have made paraleles with other productions like sherlock homes with Sherlock Holmes with Downey Jr but things allegedly taken from there are story telling tools that existed even before that movie (it just made it more well known)

There were some questionable choices, the story was structured logically but at one point a character whos whole thing is thinking things through movies into the open to trigger an action sequence, its very puzzling since the same results could have been gotten with him being more careful. Statue of poseidon was shaking as the character was climbing it, showing its clear fakeness. I have not read the comic this was based on so I wish the cameo at the end had been longer so we would get a bit more clear picture of what it was setting up, I get that it probably the main antagonists but a hit about their plan would have been nice.

here a bit of personal preference. I enjoyed that there was no sex humor. Now Im not puritan, I enjoyed future man when many others did not but Russian comedies are known for their nausea inducing sex humor, to a point you would be hard pressed to think of single Russian comedy from the last 20 years that did not have at least a subplot of men whoring themselves/being forced to sleep with someone they don't like or being locked out of the house as they were about to get some. even the Russian version of Mrs. Doubtfire was full of it. anyways this has nothing to do with this short and maybe is just my personal issue but I found it refreshing.