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Reviews
The Lazarus Project (2022)
Interesting premise
Worth a look but there are some questionable cgi and acting moments.
Probably the worst cgi plane take off I've ever seen.
A 1980'a Lada with airbags! 😂😂
Some badly edited chase scenes.
The main female actress speaks wayyyy too fast, I can see what they were attempting - which I guess was a directorial decision but even so, misses the mark.
Outside of that a good premise, time travel aspects handled well.
With better editing, cgi and direction this could have been a top class effort. But still watchable. Think of it more as a BBC production than a sky show and you'll be fine.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
How is this rated so high?
When I can't find a review over 5 stars!
Firstly, toooo many plot holes to mention.
But let's mention some:
A group of refugees waiting for 4 weeks to get evacuated from a planet, waiting for Obi's ship to come, when (apparently) there's a second fully working ship already in the space port? (That isn't actually visible when obi's ship first lands)
People getting lightsabered through the stomach and completely recovering. Even Qui Gon didn't survive that.
The sister left for dead by Vader with no apparent way to get off the planet and at deaths door, then miraculously appears on tattooine in the next scene she's in.
Obi not finishing off Vader when he blatantly had the opportunity. They couldn't even figure out a way to make Obi leave prematurely (even when Luke was in danger and would've been the perfect excuse as to why he could have rushed off).
And there's really no need to keep one upping the Jedi powers every film/show. We loved the basic powers from episode 1- 6, good writers could make it work with these.
And let's not even start with Obi's tactic of smuggling leia out under his coat like a cartoon from the 50's or that Star Trek chase through the woods in the first episode. Comical - Which isn't how I want my Star Wars.
Disney should be throwing way more money then they are at this franchise, and get better writers and gfx people.
Villain (2020)
Not bad actually
So as British gangster flicks go, this is above most of them. Not on the level of Ritchie but better than foot soldier fare - If you've watched Carlitos Way any amount of times you figure out where this is heading within the first 20 mins, but we'll acted, especially Fairbrass, who carries some weight when placed up against the rest. Never really rated him as an actor but a pleasure to watch him skulking around in this. The characters are what you'd expect from British east end gangster types, I get the feeling the writer watched way too many gangster films than actually submerging himself in the east end. But this being said, he recognises that the main character is a dinosaur walking around lost in the haze of modernity and out of touch with the younger crews coming through. He brings a gun to a knife fight and the youth bring a sub machine gun.
Cinematography is decent enough but the editing is great, several scenes are chopped up and intermingled within themselves - works very well in my opinion.
So worth a look if you're into gangster films, if you like late 80's & early 90's British ones then you'll love it. Few reviewers on her saying that's it's gory but to be fair, you don't really see much, I've seen some Japanese films that are wayyyyy worse. So don't miss it for fear of gore.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Very good, but...
This is a slow paced series, some good twists and turns and characters disappearing before expecting which was refreshing. Not overly a horror but some good horror moments. The only draw backs for me, who isn't in the slightest bit religious, was the prolonged versus reciting passages from the bible. Yes, I get the whole premise of using the scriptures in a secondary interpretation as justification of the mind set or beliefs of the preacher and how those scriptures are subverted to substantiate their reasoning. And how the bible can be interpreted to support pretty much any mind set. But oh my god it would have been better paced if they just trimmed out some of the rhetoric. You think a character is done reciting the bible and then they carry on for another 3 mins... and why does no one know about vampires? All they had to do was shout out 'but it's a vampire, not an angel!' In the church scene and things woulda been a little different at least - still thumbs up for the idea, visuals, acting. Just a bit less Stephen King meandering and it would have been perfect.
Ted Lasso: Carol of the Bells (2021)
Gone is the fish out of water from the first season
And in its place is Americanised feel good tosh.
I don't get it, first season felt like it was written by British writers with a strong understanding and balance of American sentimentality. This second season is starting to feel like it's written by Americans with no understanding of British understatement and sarcasm. This episode could have worked better if it was actually played at Xmas instead of August?! There's nothing in it to muck up the timeline so why not? But it's definitely loosing its sharp British side and becoming way more American (think modern family sweetness) - too saccharine for me now.
Loki (2021)
Started well but...
Loved the first two episodes, the muted, 50's inspired art direction was superb, the storyline was intriguing and acting was great - and yes, it's only the third episode but all of the work done before appears to have just been dumped in favour of a hyper neon 80's world, alongside some terrible writing and acting a la Dr Who. Third episode felt cheap in comparison to what was delivered in the first two. You can almost see the green screen. As with wandavision the first two episodes set the tone for what's to come so you'd expect them to feel highly polished but where Wandavision carried it through all episodes Loki hasn't.
Some pretty bad acting from the leading lady, Hiddleston does his best with the charm but even that was struggling by the third ep. Plus I'm a little lost as to how a 'god' can be beaten up by regular train guards. Only person who ever did any real damage to Loki was Hulk.
If it's just him and her running around in some weird soul searching, buddy/buddy show with bad dialogue and a whole episode to tell, what in any real terms is, 5 minutes of story, then I don't have high hopes for this. And If, as some are guessing, you are going to introduce a new actress to replace as beloved a character as Loki then at least make sure they can act above BBC level.
And here's the problem, it would appear you have to watch these shows in order to enjoy future Marvel films. I've already given up on The Falcon series when he was denied a bank loan (the writers obviously believed no one picked up on the anchorman reference there). And yes, I understood the point they were trying to make but watching someone apply for a bank loan in the first place is not the height of entertainment. So if these shows aren't of a high enough caliber to engage with people then surely this will have an impact on the films? I'm not saying that all Disney+ marvel shows are bad, but as with the last Star Wars trilogy I just feel there's a whole bunch of suits making safe decisions. God knows how wandavision made it through. That was bold in its choices and you could tell it was a huge risk that paid off. I just feel Loki started in a similar vein but with the latest episode the suits decided to play it safe.
Outside the Wire (2021)
Borefest
Some nice cgi on the gumps but outside that a zero for everything else.
Why didn't they just blow him up with the drone? Nonsensical
Giri/Haji (2019)
Quirky, fantastical & gritty
Not often I'll write a review but I've just finished this. Hints of the quirkiness of Legion, The brutality of Gangs of London, a 'true love' story surrounded by not so true love relationships, the life lessons that only the Japanese can convey and comedy all of its own. A yakuza/gangster tale (And all that entails in the best way of Japanese film) interwoven with a brilliant British sense of humour. Some excellent one liners that had me in stitches. Not for the faint hearted and definitely not a family watch. But a refreshing approach to television in general, especially from the stalwart BBC. The ensemble roof top ending was captivating, you'll know the bit. (If let down only by the set, but I can forgive that as the shooting probably couldn't have been done in situ). Strong performances from the Japanese actors, so much so that they outshine most of the UK cast. Also refreshing to see strong, female characters portrayed in the Japanese segments.
I can't really advise as to the kind of person who'd like this as it doesn't really focus on one element enough to say 'oh you like yakuza stuff? Watch it' or 'you like British gangster stuff? Watch it' or 'you like watching comedy? Watch it' - you could be into any of these things and find it misses the mark, but you'll know within the first episode.
If you're after something refreshingly different, something that shocks as much as delights then this is definitely worth a look.