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Reviews
Patrick (2018)
Sweet but a bit muddled
Fun lightweight film with some emotional bits but enough dog scenes for children to enjoy. The lead character is likeable, interesting and strong. Really nice to see a scene where a lady tells a handsome, yet arrogant leading man what she really thinks of him in a classy way. And a good range of supporting characters who added just enough to compliment the main story.
I just felt it was a bit muddled plot wise with some scenes near the end rushing to pull all the strands together at the very last second. And some subplots almost thrown away or sorted with a single line, e.g. the love story where after a bit of a false start, suddenly he's off limits and then this obstacle is removed with an explanation lasting one line at a totally unconnected moment not even involving the lead character who is one half of the romantic pair. A student who has their moment winning a race, gets a lame compliment from the PE teacher and then nothing is suggested for afterwards. The lead character's family scenes don't seem to add much at all yet receive a lot of time near the end achieving nothing.
There were elements of rom-com, buddy movie, animal caper type films but not enough of either to make it a resounding success at any one of them. Therefore may have elements that don't appeal to an audience looking specifically for those things. My 7yr old daughter likes the dog bits but got bored quite quickly in between which were longer than we expected when the film is named after him. I liked the idea of the lead character having a fresh start then suddenly having to involve a dog but just felt it didn't feel tidily seen through.
Lucifer (2016)
Light hearted fun
This is a light hearted show which is well executed to while away an hour. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny too closely but I don't think it's claiming to be anything too deep and doesn't take itself too seriously. Although I should confess that a crush on the lead actor in this show which does slightly compromise my objectivity!
It's main draw is Tom Ellis playing the lead with a mixture of suave coolness and quick funny quips that we would all love to deliver but only think of afterwards. He verges on Carry-On British humour at times but seems to be pulling it off. His lady LA cop; Chloe is also a strong character played well and liable which isn't that easy faced with an opposite character that gets all the fun bits. There is lots of humour and things going on that you would love to do if you were immortal and could get away with anything. The script feels well written in terms of conversations and pace. I think the mysteries are a bit simple and luckily each line of enquiry neatly leads into the next one. But as they have just a 45 minutes to solve each mystery satisfactorily, it needs to be fairly uncomplicated. And just enough is given away for viewers to solve it almost at the same time. I watch shows like Murdoch Mysteries and some British mystery shows like Rosemary & Thyme, Father Brown and this is similar in style.
The difficulty is that I simply don't believe that anyone who isn't police would get near crime scenes, suspects, information, police cells or be let within 100 yards of anything crime related without getting arrested themselves. Bones gets around it as she supports the police. Elementary, because they are private detectives. Agatha Christie heros and heroines because it was all a little less tight in the 1950s. But in the modern day, Lucifer manages to get around everything by being seductive, looking them in the eye and asking people what it is they really desire, momentarily debilitating their rational thought. I personally would certainly fall foul of this approach. But I'm not sure if it washes with viewers who don't feel the same as me about the actor. And I wonder if it will become too repetitive to be used numerous times in every episode eventually. The show appears to be self conscious of this making a joke early on about him not being a Jedi so again, maybe this will still work long term but I'm unsure.
Having said that, I was intrigued enough to watch the first 3 in a row. And liked the story arcs of him gradually revealing supernatural skills, Chloe investigating these to look for plausible explanations, Chloe's daughter (pleasingly not revoltingly cutesy) and ex-husband, his ongoing puzzlement that Chloe doesn't fall under his spell like everyone else and the fact that God is annoyed and sends an angel messenger with various warnings about what will happen if Lucifer doesn't resume his job in hell. I hope the writers have thought these through & I currently look forward to the next ones.
Outlander (2014)
Fizzled out
I was really attracted but the premise of this show with the historical aspect but a bit of time travel thrown in. But I watched the majority of the first season on Amazon Prime and then as it progressed to Jamie & Claire returning to his home, I just felt it fizzled out a bit. I haven't felt like switching on again to watch the last four. I know this undermines my opinion of the entire season but I feel it speaks volumes about how other things have appealed more. I'm usually very staunch about giving things a fair go and seeing them through to the end but just don't feel interested enough. I might now that season 2 is being trailed but don't feel the urge to watch one after another or find myself saying "let's just watch one more" like I do with other shows.
GOOD POINTS
As far as I know, care has been taken to be historically accurate.
Some strong acting from both main and supporting cast.
Initially, an interesting story with some expected but some unexpected moments.
Beautiful locations
Good costumes.
Actors who are actually from the right places or who can do the accent properly used. So relieved that they had the sense to do this when so many films and series attempt to use a famous actor who cannot pull an accent off.
BAD POINTS
The lead actress and character is very beautiful but just how many times can men pounce on her for rape. I know that historically, women did have this trouble and it's from the novel. But I think it was 3 times in one episode which just stretched belief and reduced the impact or the terror of it. It was so regular, I felt like she should be quipping "here we go again" to camera.
Jamie being a hero and coming in at the very last second over and over again. It started off feeling quite romantic but when he appeared at the tower window of the evil ancestor of Claire's husband, it felt like he needed a little trumpet fan-faring his arrival Robin Hood style. And then he did it again arriving in the nick of time at the court. I began to feel like he was hanging about off screen just waiting to bravely leap into action but only once we thought he wasn't coming.
Some of the violent parts are a bit gory. I'm not strong at heart so maybe I'm being a bit soft but found scenes such as Jamie's whipping a bit too much and seeing other characters reactions was more impactful, especially obviously his father, rather than the actual bloody blows.
Voice-over over-used and sometimes just plain unnecessary as the point was shown clearly visually. Then it switches from Claire to Jamie suddenly. I can see why bearing in mind what was happening but odd to use the device in that way and it interrupted being immersed in the action.
Mythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014)
Light hearted fun
If you are into fantasy genre or medieval backdropped goodies and baddies type films, this is quite a pleasant way to while away just under 2 hours. But otherwise, it is what it is, a lower budget film that cannot compete with Lord of the Rings, Game or Thrones or even the Narnia films. I imagine what has been achieved effect-wise is probably very well done considering whatever the budget was. But when there's such competition out there, I can't help feeling less CGI and more human characters could have been used more effectively. And the film just does not stand up well to scrutiny if you think about it too much as there are a few bits that just plainly make no sense. Spoilers below.
GOOD POINTS
Believable acting (considering the lines!)
Absolutely beautiful backdrops and locations
Good costumes
Collection of like-able characters that comfortably cover different personalities with a few clichés thrown in; 1. cheeky thief, love rat chappy, 2. brave and determined female lead, 3. strong and thick set man and 4. beautiful supporting female who cannot fall in love with anyone as she belongs to a religious order clearing the path for our lead to have romantic entanglements
Intriguing supporting characters
BAD POINTS
Story just not told very well, e.g. the lead is being attacked by an ogre so scoops up spider venom on an arrow. I think we can all guess what she plans to do but there's a shot of the arrow dripping in venom just to ram it home. And yet another section where our plucky lead inexplicably looks at one character as her eyes turn black, his go the same way, magic solves their problem, everyone coughs a bit and then moves on to the next stage of escape with no explanation about what she could suddenly achieve through magic she has never been taught and failed dismally at about a day before. I'm all for intrigue but it just feels they hadn't decided what the reason is behind her powers and couldn't tell us rather than it being by design.
Script weak and made me cringe a couple of times when someone said something cliché. A lot is said that doesn't need saying and then at other times, things aren't explained very well and would have come across better if there was better quality dialogue.
The lead's magic talents seem to include a bizarre range of skills that only work sometimes and are deployed suddenly without her knowing she could ever do them before.
The characters feel shallow and not well thought out. Maybe its because this genre usually springs from novels where characters have back stories. I might be wrong but I believe this is written as a film, not an adaptation. There are long montages of the characters walking across beautiful landscape and yet no overnight camps around the fire when their conversations could have told us so much about their characters and developed their relationships a bit more or small obstacles to their quest which would have drawn them closer together.
There are lots of small bits which make no sense, e.g. a character who was kidnapped then rescued, opts to continue her journey alone. I assume saving her again may be the premise of the second film? A opportunistic character who leaves everyone and runs away leaving our heroine under a bush while there are baddies about, then suddenly decides he loves her later on and therefore he will risk his life for the other people he pretty much hated when he last saw them?
Odd slow motion effect for some of the fights or running away sequences. I remember this effect being used when we are meant to be looking through the eyes of something un-human but it just kicked into this film and then stopped again. I found it a bit strange rather than having a positive impact.
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Started off alright and then goes completely silly
I'm not usually someone who goes for thriller style films and I may never watch one again after this. Please don't watch this. Choose another decent thriller or watch Fatal Attraction again for a decent version of what this is attempting to be.
It started well albeit predictably. And I generally like Jennifer Lopez & Kristen Chenoweth so thought I was in safe hands.
But as others say, the lad next door goes from being understandably appealing to a near-divorcée, to a complete and utter maniac in a matter of seconds. He claims he loves her and then does a set of weird things to upset, damage her career, kill her husband and son and so it gets crazier until the final scene which is just plain silly. Her response from the beginning considering he is 19 and therefore over the age of consent is downright ridiculous. Of course, she must be careful being an older woman but all she had to do was pick up the phone and report her worries to the police. I guess that would have been a pretty boring and short film though. Still better than what it became.
I'm actually still trying to get the moment where she finally stops him out of my head which is pretty annoying when that part of my memory could be used for something so much better.
Stonehenge Apocalypse (2010)
Really don't... really!
I usually like this sort of thing and was quite intrigued by the beginning of this film. But I must admit didn't make it more than half way through. I guess my review may have been different if I had, as some reviews mention how it is all brought together well at the end. But I gave up shortly after the discredited hero managed to wander onto a site apparently being monitored by all sorts of government agencies after something apocalyptic happened. And I think if you are going to mention an amazing landmark in your title, you could at least arrange to film there or make up a decent set elsewhere instead of using shaky CGI. Not for me and I can't imagine it's for most viewers when there's so much else to choose.
Hamish Macbeth (1995)
Charming but better if you haven't read the books
I agree with other reviewers that this is a charming programme showing the absolutely beautiful scenery found in Scotland. It stands on it's own as a TV show "based" on the characters from MC Beaton's novels. Hamish Macbeth is played beautifully and Shirley Henderson also stands out as the great actors they have both since proved to be, in numerous films and on TV.
However, I think if you have read and enjoyed the books, this programme is a bit of a mystery as it has a whole host of totally different characters. I'm unsure why when the ones in the books carried the novels along just fine in both the plot for each individual book and back stories running in the background.
I'm not surprised they couldn't run with a murder each week as there would quite literally be no- one left to murder and if it's always the "incomer", then half the guessing is a bit too easy. But I wish there was a little more of the humour and village stories kept on the TV show.