Gondre19Wedj Reviews

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023– )

Biggest Disappointment of 2023

[3/10 · 1 February 2024]

This was an extremely disappointing series. I was so excited that Percy Jackson was coming back to the screen in a more faithful retelling. While that may have been true compared to the movie, this show was disappointing in so many other ways. The lead actors had poor chemistry. The action was too little and too poorly choreographed. The entire show was rushed. The dialogue was extremely clunky. While the overall show was more faithful to the books, some changes were so poorly made. The biggest example for me is when Percy and Annabeth go on the love ride in Hephaestus' amusement park. In the books, their attacked by mechanical spiders and pretty much have to fight their way out of the park. This was changed in the show, and at first, it wasn't a big deal because another thing was removed: we hadn't found out Annabeth, this fearless leader, was afraid of spiders. This was ok. Until they put in at the end of the show that Annabeth was afraid of spiders, therefore removing a great moment that shows that, even though Annabeth is great, she can't do it all on her own and needs others around her too.

My biggest complaint about the show is that they rushed through a lot of events, particularly at camp before the quest began. They didn't take time to establish characters and their relationships, so they really didn't feel important. I don't care about Luke in this show. My biggest nitpick in the show is that, when Percy doesn't know that he's a son of Poseidon and he's trying to figure out what he's good at to figure out who his parent is, he undergoes sword training with Luke. Percy gets his butt handed to him until they take a break. He sees Luke poor some water over his head, so Percy does the same, thinking it looks refreshing. When they get back into it, Percy disarms Luke on his first try. It is a really good moment that shows Luke's charisma and leadership, while building Percy up to be a son of Poseidon with potential to become a great warrior.

All this said, I hope we do get a season two. Hopefully they can create longer episodes so they aren't rushed and the director is able to clean the show up in almost every area.

Chosen One: Alexandre Daigle (2024)

A Revealing Look at a Life in Hockey

[9/10 · 29 January 2024]

This was a very well-made documentary following Alexandre Daigle's journey to the NHL and the life that came out of it.

It was a very revealing documentary, particularly the scrutiny that these players are put under when they aren't necessarily ready for the pressure. Alex was a perfect subject to follow, as a No. 1 pick who became a bust. He languished in a terrible Ottawa Senators era when he was the one everyone expected to turn the team around. But it just doesn't work when you don't have the support for your top players in place and the pressure crushed his spirit for the game, eventually leading to burnout and depression after he was moved around the league.

The best part of the documentary, in my opinion, is how he bounced back from this era of burnout. He moved away from the NHL for a period and did other things that he enjoyed, including playing in a beer league. From there, he was able to reignite his passion and come back to the league with a different mentality, before moving to Europe and achieving his greatest successes. It's a story that I find very relatable and important, and highly recommend this doc to everyone, particularly hockey fans.

Saltburn (2023)

Fantastic Ending Let Down by the Rest

[2/10 · 24 January 2024]

This move has a fantastic ending. A great twist that was pretty unexpected but makes a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things. However, the rest of the movie lets it down. Most of the characters weren't very likeable or engaging, the plot felt weak, and I wasn't super enticed to keep up with the story. I found myself doing other things with the movie in the background because I didn't really care. Definitely a big part of it is that I'm not involved in the party scene like the characters are, so in that sense I'm not exactly the target audience, but I have to fault the movie for my experience with it.

The Devil on Trial (2023)

Unnecessary and Overly-Dramatic

[2/10 · 8 January 2024]

This really didn't feel like a story that needed to be told. It feels like Netflix was just trying to make a quick buck off of this family.

So much time is spent telling the story of the possession; the priests, the "experts," the tapes, the dramatized recreations. They literally hired people to play the family to recreate the events. In a documentary. That feels like bad documentary making.

Very few people outside the family was involved in the filming. The main defence lawyer and the journalist were the only two. It doesn't feel like enough of an outside perspective.

In the end, it all feels like a big waste of time, because the last point the film makers present is that the mother was drugging the family for a long time, which could've caused some long term effects.

I highly, highly do not recommend. I, as a Protestant Christian, do believe in demons and the devil.* If I didn't, I would've given it a 1 because that would mean there was no need for this perspective at all.

2/10

*just because I believe in it, doesn't mean I'm not questioning and trying to be discerning. I still have lots of questions and try to approach the subject with a healthy amount of scepticism.