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richardhj
Reviews
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
Disappointing
I loved Luther when it first came out. It had the age old problem of diminishing returns after each season as the plot became more convoluted. This movie is a natural progression of that but has taken a few leaps even after the last season which was iffy.
Plot is over the top silly. The baddie is equal parts super bond villain and equal parts sad pathetic psychopath. At one point he has a room of hundreds of people doing his bidding. Later on just a few blokes when it comes to the climax.
The overarching story is a bit flimsy. There is a lot of nonsensical plot threads to move us from one place to another. Several "oh that's convenient" moments. Case in point at one point a helicopter is going somewhere, their role is obviously to be the cavalry coming to help. Some helicopter probably 6 people max. They take an old bloke who could likely do nothing and helpfully 2 scuba divers who come to the rescue in the Knick of time... in the context of what is happening why would they have fully geared up scuba divers?
The effects are awful and scream of being low budget.
Also this has the usual BBC stamp... of course we know the type of people watching the violence.. only one type. Of course...
A huge shame as I was a fan of tv series. You aren't missing much if you are a fan of the show.
The Gray Man (2022)
Ok, far from a classic
Two hours of high octane action, perfectly good for something to watch where you don't need to think much, lots of interesting set pieces and locations and certainly has some big names in it (pretty obvious where the budget went).
The above outlines the positive points of the movie if you want something along those lines. When really analysing it? It has a poor screen play and the pacing is way too high. Similar to other action movies of the last decade the plot moves at a fast pace (something like taken) except here we are constantly moving from one location to the other with a set piece occurring at each one hardly staying anywhere for more than 5 minutes apart from the climax.
Character goes somewhere, bad people turn up (sometimes out the blue), a fight occurs, on to the next location.
The CGI is not great, and given a serious amount of over the top action you have to suspend your disbelief pretty often and instead of thinking "oh that's cool" you just think "that is ridiculous".
The plot is simple enough, something with so much action can't exactly be Shakespeare, but there isn't much in the way of character development.
There is a seriously heavy use of crazy drone camera shots in this movie.
The best way to sum up my thoughts watching this movie was that it is written and portrayed like you are playing a computer game. You movie through the story, wave after wave of bad guys attacking you. You meet mini bosses, you defeat them and move onto the next who is harder than the last. The action scenes are over the top with everyone jumping around and fighting like they are karate experts who also happen to be into their parkour. The main characters run around shooting guns and rocket launchers with no thought or effort and hit their target whilst everyone else can't hit a barn door. I particularly laughed at a scene where
Ana De Armand is running full pelt under gun fire hip firing a grenade launcher with pin point accuracy though you have to arch your shots to hit a target.
As I said, it is an OK watch, it's fine, I musky enjoyed it but the plot was weak, the pacing was all off, awful CGI and over the top action. Just suspend your disbelief.
Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go (2021)
How do you mess up Thomas? Like this
It should be a rhetorical question. How do you mess up Thomas? It's a solid concept with a grounded lore and you use that as a starting base for your stories.
The newer Thomas and his friends was further from the original source material then when I was a child but it was still pretty solid and at least made a distinction between the trains and the humans around them.
This absolute mess is a ridiculous disappointment. Especially as is now what is show on morning TV that my children watch. Like others have said it is just so chaotic and so abstract from everything Thomas was.
Awful art style, mundane stories, they inhabit a clearly cartoon world opposed to what was previously presented as the real world, they jump around, pick things up with the wheels that become extendable arms, the theme tune is joke and the way the characters are presented is weird.
In the UK anyway, on TV at the moment you have the big hitters, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Fire Sam and Thomas. I'm not saying they are all brilliant but the point is they stand out as unique concepts and are instantly recognisable. This new Thomas.. it could easily be any other of the background filler shows with abstract stories, poorly written episodes, generic cartoony look.. the fact they are trains is just completely incidental.
A joke.
Batwoman (2019)
I doubt they will ever learn...
Having a new TV show about a strong female character is NOT a problem, clearly there haven't been enough in the past and I'm sure there would be a good buzz about a show that was actually good, instead we get this crap.
As is always the case with these new leftwing propaganda shows they have the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. "Look, look it's a women lead? Oh you are fine with that? Well we are going to shove loads of in your face Virtue signalling messages in there to make you know you are a horrible person for being a man"
Look, if you want to make a fairer society with equal opportunity, just give people a chance in a role, straight, gay, black, white, female, not a problem but then don't make the show just a virtue signalling message based around the "defining" characteristics of the lead you put in that role.
If you make something right, well written, well directed, good cinematography, it won't matter who the main lead is, people will enjoy it, people will rave about, just look at something like Alien(s), great stories and great movies but with a strong female lead, references are made to her being a woman but that was never the main point of the movies, unlike with this TV show, it doesn't seem to have any other purpose than to say look this person is a woman!
It has no redeeming features, looks rubbish, poor script, bad acting and then tries to slam a propaganda message in your face and expects you to sit there and take it.
No thanks
Super Size Me (2004)
The lengths some people will go to..
An inspiring story showing the endurance of the human spirit. A movie showing the lengths a man will go to just so he can eat meat because his vegan chef girlfriend makes him it Quinoa every night.
The ABC Murders (2018)
Not worth your time
I love the novel and previous adaptations so I was looking forward to this new adaptation when I saw this being advertised. Unfortunately this was a serious disappointment.
Malkovich does a poor Poirot here, accent is bizarre and brings nothing new to the character. David Suchet brings real character to his portrayal. Here Poirot is nothing more than John malhovich putting on a funny (not Belgian) accent.
Other major characters are missing or... short lived. The structure of the story doesn't flow well, other adaptations bring to the fore the murderers struggle to understand what Is going on, where here you don't even think ABC is even aware what is going at any real point until the last 10 minutes.
The theme appears to be overly stylistic and "gritty" which just isn't Poirot in any way. Addtitionally there is a new addition to the overall story which is nothing more than a horrendously telegraphed attempt to insert modern day cultural issues into the 1930s. Simply put adding some pathetic "racist movement" and random comments made to illicit the thought of racism but add NOTHING to the plot and go NOWHERE is a sign of the times we live in and the BBC in 2018 / 2019. A classic story written by a brilliant author that stands on its own two feet would have been well served with a new adaptation to being this story to a new audience. It does not need some ridiculous attempt to shoehorn in current issues where it adds nothing, sometimes we want to watch something as escapism not to be bludgened in the face with the same stuff on a daily basis.
Do yourself a favour, watch the 1992 adaptation with Davis Suchet. Well acted, well written, no pretence, no attempt put some gritty edge on Agatha Christie.
Very poor from the BBC.