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Wonka (2023)
Wonderful movie but falls short of expectations
Fans of Charlie and the chocolate factory will be delighted in this movie about Wonka and his attempt to make a name for himself.
It's fun family movie that has many humorous characters and a pinch of nostalgia for the previous movies.
The musical scenes were splendidly done and so were the special effects. I only wish the plot had been grander as it felt short sighted compared to the kind of story you would expect with Wonka in the driver's seat.
The overall movie is solid, and has a very similar "feel good" vibe that Padington has.
I initially hesitant with the casting for Wonka but I'm glad he did the role justice.
Silo: The Book of Quinn (2025)
The Book of The 100
The one thing Silo does not need is more youthful actors added to the roster. Sadly however, it seems the show-runners are doing just that. I did not read the novel so I'm not sure if its the result of creative liberty or a poorly written reveal.
My gut feeling however cannot be denied, Silo must not go the route of The 100. Not only would that alienate the audience from the more serious tone of the series but it would greatly detract from the already gripping cast.
Season 2 was off to a great start, with some interesting reveals scattered throughout the episodes since its beginning, including this one. Unfortunately, as the season rolled on, too little is being done to actually move the plot forward and uninteresting bland characters are being focused on, particularly in this episode.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
Squid Game has become a parody of itself
Season 1: 8/10
Season 2: 5/10
Season 1 of Squid Game was solid, riveting and thrilling television. It was a shocking take on real injustices and social inequality and held no punches in showing it. Furthermore, there was clearly no reservations on the gratuitous exploitation of the "players", it was jarring, gritty and horror-esque. Beneath this, was a concrete story with interesting characters and motivations, diverse yet relatable.
Season 2 of Squid Game ignores everything from the above, and goes in the absolute opposite direction. The writing is poor, the characters are uninteresting and bland, the creative direction has clearly shifted to be more "family friendly", and yet this is Squid Game we're talking about, the horror-esque elements have all been toned down dramatically. That thrill factor is gone. The reason for all these changes stems from Netflix's drive for marketability of the Squid Game name, you can't promote Squid Game merchandise in video games if Squid Game is too violent... And yet Season 2 still had a few graphic scenes but not nearly as insane as Season 1's depictions, Season 2's graphic depictions borders on medical and general violence, things you'd see in video games.
Overall, everything that made Squid Game unique and interesting has been erased in Season 2, almost as though Season 1's world building was retconned in order to preserve marketability of the brand name.
Ojing-eo geim: Chinguwa jeok (2024)
The Game Will Not End Because...
The writing is bad.
I really liked how Season 2 started off but the season finale was so poorly handled compared to Season 1's conclusion. You can tell they really needed another two episodes for parity with Season 1's performance. "The other plot" running alongside the main plot was just completely ignored in the finale, like it didn't even exist.
Characters do out of character things that they've suddenly developed in the last two episodes for the sake of rushing towards an ending.
I wish the writing was better, I so wish it was because you could tell there was at least a few people in the room who tried to nudge the writers in a better direction but by the end of the season they were overruled.
It's ok, not nearly as good as Season 1 of Squid Game.
My unpopular nitpick of this season was also the lack of interesting new characters, it was just the same "play it safe" archetypes, like everyone behaves the same in society.
From: Mouse Trap (2024)
Child actors holding back this show.
Ethan. Delete Ethan from the show.
Then From becomes an easy 10/10. I don't even understand why Ethan is in the show, why is there? To appeal to other kids? This clearly isn't a kid show.
That being said, another great episode in Season 3. I'd say at this rate From is on track for another Season. I only wish the show had better marketing because it genuinely is that good, aside from the handful of annoying side characters. Essentially, everyone from Season 1 besides Ethan are great. The side characters introduced in Season 2 are an unnecessary burden. And it shows in the writing, by clearly focusing on the characters from Season 1, Season 3 is already reaping the rewards.
From: Shatter (2024)
Good start but still shackled to the ankles
What a start, the suspense was through the roof in this Season opener, so glad Boyd is back and trying to pull everyone together to survive the nightmare.
It's just a real pity that the writing is trying to make me care about the worst characters on the show, you can't undo how annoying a few characters are such as Ethan, the child and his mother. Every time they're on screen, I just hope they're there to further the plot in someway and not yap about arbitrary things with no relevance. The same goes for some of the side characters that were introduced in Season 2.
Overall, I'm glad the mystery is being expanded upon and they're taking chances and not playing it safe.
The Simpsons (1989)
This review is for The Simpsons Seasons 1 through 9, so far.
The Simpsons at first glance is just a cartoon, but the show's writing and humor expressed through the characters is something which has laid the foundations for family comedy. The foundations which many other shows have tried to replicate but either fail or come short. The reason for this in my opinion, is that The Simpsons was created not to sell a show to an audience but to sell the experience of the inhabitants of a town called Springfield, with special focus on a family called The Simpsons, who live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in that town.
Whilst I haven't heard good things about the most recent seasons of The Simpsons, I can assure you that the earlier seasons of The Simpsons is absolute Gold. Nothing compares to it. It's just perfectly written family TV that leans into reality.
So far, Season 9 is by far, the most captivating.
The Boys: Wisdom of the Ages (2024)
Below average. The writing just doesn't make sense anymore.
Some of the motivations characters depict in this episode just don't make sense, it feels as though the writers summoned up these random plot points in order to force the characters to do something shocking.
It brings into question, why didn't these characters address these issues sooner.
It seems to be running trend in Season 4 overall that instead of resolving the existing plot points, newer ones are being conjured up. This overall leads to a weakening of the show's overall plot, which was meant to be "Stop Homelander".
As usual this episode relies heavily on shock value, to the point where it feels like shock value has become a constraint on the show, where unless every episode has some form of shock, it is unacceptable.
Overall, I found myself skipping through many chunks of this episode because I just couldn't concern myself with the subplots.
The Boys (2019)
Could've been Super.
Definitely worth watching if you're a fan of the superhero genre. It's a very adult take on superheroes and how they would integrate with politics. It's just a real pity that this integration is done so poorly with little explanation.
The action scenes, cinematography and soundtrack are all 10/10.
The problems however relate to the show's writing. As the seasons roll on, it feels like the writers forgot what made "The Boys" standout from the saturated crowd. I believe the first sign of decline was found in the spinoff "Gen V", where "Gen V" was quite literally a teen drama by comparison to Season 1 of "The Boys".
All in all, it's a great watch but hampered by later creative decisions.
Gojira -1.0 (2023)
Best Godzilla movie I've ever seen.
The acting, the score, the CGI, the action scenes, the pacing. All of it is a 10/10.
Each of the characters performed phenomenally is their role.
The score perfectly captures the internal dread characters experience and the awe and scale of Godzilla. It's truly reflects what's on screen.
The CGI proves you don't need the best cutting edge graphics to make a good sci-fi monster movie, all it takes is the right creators to be involved, creators who know what the audience want.
The pacing really was the cherry on the top, the way the movie handles the passage of time and the progression of the story is well done.
Well worth your time. I hope for a sequel with the same cast.
Atlas (2024)
The dialogue and writing is a burden on the visuals
There's no denying Atlas has great visuals, much like most of Netflix's Sci-fi movies. Unfortunately it suffers greatly in the writing department. It feels like a handful of random topics were thrown into a blender and this was the result.
Within 30 minutes, none of the characters avail anything to make them interesting, the whole plot is not interesting and was clearly rushed. As such all of this compounds into a super forgetful experience.
The music and sound design of the movie is also remarkably subpar for a Netflix production which is really sad considering the inspiration for the movie was Titanfall which showed a clear emphasis on sound to really emphasize the immersion of the world which characters found themselves in.
This is a poor attempt at what should've been a remarkable sci-fi experience.
Blood of Zeus (2020)
This animation brings its interpretaion of Greek Mythology to LIFE!
There's so many diverse portrayals in this show, I only wish Blood of Zues expanded upon all of the deities. Who knows, perhaps it will further down the road.
If you remotely enjoy a good fire side story about celestial beings and stories about love and anguish, then you will no doubt enjoy Blood of Zues.
It's by no means a word for word recantation of Greek Mythology but it's clearly not trying to do so, it's trying to tell it's own unique story based heavily on such Mythology and I am here for it.
It's gripping, it's visually enthralling and the soundtrack is heavenly.
My only qualm as I said, is that it focuses too little on other deities but Season 2 seems to have changed this, focusing on other deities too!
All the Light We Cannot See: Episode #1.4 (2023)
Tear-jerking finale
This final episode is in my opinion the best episode of the series. Mind you I have not yet read the novel but after this ending, I fully intend to.
I could not take my eyes off the screen, It was like I was there, the drama was through the roof, quite literally.
I only wish the ending was a little more fleshed out but despite that I think it was perfectly fitting for a mini-series.
Marie is hands down, on my list of favorite protagonists and so is Werner. Their love story is strange but it resonated profoundly with me, that through turmoil and war, hope and love will always prevail, if you remember that the most important light is the light we cannot see, yet.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
Huge budget, no substance
It's hard to review this movie without comparing it to all the other forms of media it is so similar to.
It's a bit like watching a mishmash of all the popular science fiction media of the last 30 years or so. One would assume this yield a fun and entertaining result, but not so. Rebel Moon left me wondering why should I care about these characters, there is next to no character development, a handful of characters are thrust upon your lap and you're suddenly expected to feel invested in their story. It really, feels shallow and under developed.
The only positive about the movie, is the visuals, that's about it.
I would recommend watching the other similar material it clearly drew inspiration from instead.
Fallout (2024)
Tons of fan service but very open ended, kind of like the source material
Straight of the bat you're thrown into the world of Fallout, and that intro is really, one of the best intros I've seen in any piece of media. It's just a pity those initial scenes were so limited, sort of like the first sip from a cool Nuka-Cola.
I wish I cared more about the characters and plot but they really just feel like 2D cardboard cutouts serving the purpose of tour guides to show us the world of Fallout. They do a really good job at this but as a result they do little to make you care about them.
There's also zero original soundtracks for the show, relying on preexisting soundtracks which were heavily used in the source material, once again reinforcing the idea that the show is relying heavily on the fan service element.
It has great action sequences and world building but beyond that, it leaves much to be desired regarding the world of Fallout.
3 Body Problem: Judgment Day (2024)
Phenomenal, best episode so far.
The suspense as the "antagonist" explained the predicament humanity is now up against is simply goosebumps inducing. I think every human who is familiar with the Fermi paradox and the idea that humanity for all intents and purposes could exist in a petri dish, felt seriously uneasy during that sequence. That something, real, is manipulating reality to their own benefit, and that quite literally, we would be unable to stop it.
It's kind of scary, I would put that sequence in the same genre of Horror, because it was just that terrifying as it is something that could very well be real, and the most scary things in the world, are what's real.
This is ironic given the amount of scientific inaccuracies the series has thus portrayed, but this series isn't a science lecture, it's a fictional piece of media. So despite the 2 dimensional characters and other issues, this episode deserves a 10/10 for that sequence alone.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Intriguing, very intriguing.
Straight of the bat, there as some inconsistencies with the story, such as with the time periods and certain character placements within those periods but beyond that, the series is rather palpable in that regard. Oh, and expect to ignore the "science" in this show, because it makes almost zero sense... Perhaps that's intentional given the story... It's quite off putting when the physics of the show is literally contrary to how modern physics depicts it with literally no explanation as to why. You need a great suspension of disbelief to enjoy the show, particularly with how the Sun works.
The only other criticism I could muster is that some characters suffer from being 2 dimensional, showing little to no deviation in their portrayal of said characters. It's not a train smash but I did find my self skipping those scenes but it was quite boring and detracting from what was an otherwise thrilling watch.
I only wish the series took the liberty of expanding upon the story with what the Russian and American scientists initially discovered and their reaction to the discovery too. Since it wasn't just an exclusive broadcast to China.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)
A vertitable golden trove for fans of Lois & Superman
I can't believe it.
Literally everything I wanted from Lois & Superman was created in 1993.
It has charm, it has wit, it has an awesome soundtrack.
I think I might be in love, of course it's hard not to love Lois but still, my point still stands, the first episode was absolutely phenomenal and I imagine the rest of the season likewise is.
I'm super glad that the series was not afraid to embrace this sorta humor, it's refreshing given what's around in the 2020's, where every series is either over budgeted or just not at all entertaining in the true old fashioned sense of Television.
This is good TV and I highly recommend watching it.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 5 (2024)
Probably the worst written episode thus far.
Nothing about any of the actions the characters take makes any sense anymore. Maybe that's the point, to try and guess why people do what they're doing.
Maybe we were the True Detectives all along...
This episode by far has the worst pacing, and the most forced references to Season 1. Let me just say, just because you repeatedly reference Season 1, doesn't mean it's gonna combine with the merits of Season 1. This Season needs to stand on it's own and the writing just isn't doing it.
The cast is good, the cinematography is great. But my word, I can't emphasize enough how badly the writing nose dived here.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 4 (2024)
Finn Bennett and Jodie Foster are carrying this show and yet it focuses on everyone else
Probably the most filler episode of this season.
There a few moments in this episode where detective work was taking place. And by few I mean like two or three minutes of the 50 minutes.
And wow, those minutes were meant to lead to a reveal but instead led to something that made no sense. It's just very bitter as I expected better than to be led on through filler, filler that expands on characters the plot has nothing to do with, and the filler that did expand on the main characters are touched on for just seconds before the screen flickers back to the present moment. It's just jarring to be frank, jarring and boring.
The only reason why I give it a 5/10 is because of the cinematography and set design. It's simply superb and makes me feel like I'm a True Detective in Alaska's Night Country.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 1 (2024)
Solid but then the mixed second half happened.
I have no idea why the second half of this episode was so poorly written, especially when the first half built up the suspense so well. It's almost like someone else wrote and directed the second half of the opening episode.
Firstly, there was a very unnecessary sex scene that moved the plot no where and had no effect on building anyone's character. Literally no point, it should've been cut.
Secondly, there was a conflict between two persons for the sake of conflict that did nothing but pull the audience out of the show, this also should've been cut.
I just don't get it, you have all the resources and the backbone of a great series to build upon but this is the execution?
Jodie Foster is the best part of this episode and I have a feeling as the season goes on, we'll see less of her... which is just sad and telling of the direction they had in mind for this season.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
Missing a convincing plot.
Whilst the movie obviously focuses on Snow before he became who he was in the trilogy, it does a good job at show casing how the Hunger games became what it was. I only wish that it focused more on this and not the interpersonal relationships Snow formed, relationships which had little to no impact on the story beyond just serving as plot devices to move the narrative forward.
I wish the capital was explored more as well as the victors who won the war. None of this is explored beyond mere references that we already know about from the trilogy.
Overall, the movie is an average attempt at revisiting the lore of The Hunger Games.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Thrilling first half, awful second half.
This film involves a common scenario where a writer introduces a bunch of mysterious questions that ought to be answered but then never answers them leading to a very unsatisfying conclusion.
Despite this, the adult cast is phenomenal, the children/teens on the other hand shouldn't have existed. They add and contribute nothing besides trying to convey a message that most of modern society relies on "escapism" or some kind of entertainment to get through the day.
The narrative is obscure, and considering Sam Esmail's work, one would assume the narrative would lead some where eventually and that the build up is all part of the thrill but it does not. It simply drowns in the mystery.
Ultimately this was a waste of time.
For All Mankind: House Divided (2023)
Yay, back to the played out writing.
If there's one series that bounces between good and bad it's For All Mankind.
I have no idea why the show writers insist on spinning this conflict between Russian and the West when they have nothing to base it on, instead opting to base it on something that makes little to no sense. Going from a situation that was 100 percent stable to basically a code red all because of something petty when compared to what's at stake is insane, it's the writers poor attempts to try make the Soviet Union appear as antagonistic and it's a very poor attempt given what's transpiring in the show.
There's so many other ways of creating an antagonistic force than this...
This episode is the perfect example of why For All Mankind is an average series that had potential to be great.
For All Mankind: Have a Nice Sol (2023)
Probably my favourite episode of the Mars saga.
The show is called For All Mankind, and this episode really highlights the differences in the way mankind perceives differences in the wealth classes. Sure it makes sense that veterans such as captains and commanders should be afforded more luxury due to their obvious amount of time dedicated in their field of work, but about the fresh blood? Are they not entitled to similar remuneration?
This episode draws contrasts in ways that seem natural and helps flesh out the newly introduced character who is probably my favorite in this season.
The episode is still riddled with filler but that is to expected when the writers aren't sure what they're doing.