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t-mclean1
Reviews
The Last Kingdom (2015)
Started weak, got better... and ended weak
The first season moves far too quickly and should have been stretched out massively to do the story justice. The second season is the best, in my opinion. The third managed to maintain it but the fourth and fifth are real let-downs.
Don't get me wrong, the last two will appeal to a certain demographic but that demographic is not those who are interested in realism or history. They are a bizarre attempt to gain the comicon/Witcher type of fans.
Brida is the worst character in the show and she's been given such a prominent role that it ruins almost every one of the later episodes. She is just completely unconvincing. No warrior would follow such a character and yet they all do, for no real reason and without question.
Aethelflaed and Alfred are the best characters by a long way. Even Uhtred is dull, predictable and without charm.
The fight scenes are generally unrealistic (although a couple are all right) and bare little resemblance to actual battlefield tactics of the period. The costumes are ludicrous. The armour is absolutely pointless. Why even bother wearing mail if a sword can just slash through it? It's just silly. For instance, Alfred's wife doesn't age throughout the entire show and is clearly the same age as her daughter. In fact, her daughter looks older than her!
If you accept it as silly then that's fine. I gave it 6/10 because it is watchable, but it definitely isn't great. Why can't production companies just use the source material properly?
Creepy Campfire Stories (2015)
Fun
The filmmaking is quite innovative but definitely not groundbreaking. If you like Creepshow, Tales from the Crypt or other anthology films then this might be for you, especially if you also like Troma style silliness.
I have a feeling people will either love or hate this. For me, it's just good enough to have rewatch value, but it's far from my favourite movie.
There's also a cool soundtrack.
Back to the Outback (2021)
Falls Short but Not Bad
The plot is pretty standard stuff in most respects and the jokes tend to be on-point and genuinely comical. The thing that lets the film down a bit is the silliness. Now, obviously you expect the movie to be fairly absurd when talking animals are concerned but some of the plot points and action sequences are just too much. This could have been a solid 8 but 6 is the fairest assessment I can give.
The voice acting is superb throughout, especially Eric Bana.
My kids love it. They've asked for it to be on again and again.
Kiri and Lou (2019)
One of the Best
Kiri and Lou is genuinely one of the best children's television shows I've ever seen. The two title characters are instantly likable and the episodes are just weird enough and just sweet enough to keep kids and adults enthralled.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)
Beautiful Animation... Awful Writing
I am thoroughly disappointed.
The male characters are all pathetic; the female characters are all awesome. We get it: man bad, woman good. This weird modern trope really has to disappear.
Why can't we just have a balanced, relatable and likable cast of characters? Teela is arrogant and self-absorbed to the point of being completely obnoxious.
Like I said, I am genuinely disappointed. This has been the biggest let-down for the last few decades. They could have made something amazing but instead they decided to jump aboard the "woke" train. The saddest thing is that this will likely be the last opportunity for a truly great Masters of the Universe show. Other than the great animation, they really dropped the ball with this.
Do You Know? (2016)
Good show, shame about the presenter
I guess I'm in the minority but I find the presenter really obnoxious. Her forced, sneer-like fake smile really irritates me. She is constantly using over the top facial expressions to emphasise her words... I can barely make it through an episode.
Ashens and the Polybius Heist (2020)
Worth Watching
This is a good film. The story flows really well and it never gets boring. The only thing I would say is that it doesn't have any genuine laugh out loud moments, although it does maintain a delightful, smirk-inducing level of mild humour throughout.
Ashens and the Polybius Heist is the kind of movie you can watch again and again because it has some great quotable lines. It's a definite improvement over The Quest for the Game Child, which I felt became a little dull at times.
Into the Woods (2014)
Really really bad
I won't go into any great depth, so, other than a few general complaints, the ins and outs of the story line will remain completely out of this review.
The songs are awful, none of them are memorable. Instead of catchy choruses they have horrible, repetitive melodies (which aren't even pleasing to the ear). The acting never really gets off the ground, mainly due to almost the entire script being songs... I know it's a musical but so is Beauty and the Beast and that manages to use songs in a much better way than Into the Woods.
I really tried to think of a redeeming quality, honestly I did, but I just can't. It really is a surprise that so many known actors agreed to be in this, the fees must have been enormous to convince them. This is the kind of film that actually has people walking out of the cinema.