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Reviews
Supergirl (2015)
A very uneven show which moves too fast for it's own good
Let's get one thing out of the way right away, I'm not a DC Universe fan boy and I couldn't tell you much about any of the people on this show. Nor have I watched the other shows these guys produced like The Flash so i come into this unbiased. I'm not trashing this show just because I think I'm smarter than the creative team.
I can discount some of the complaints (or chips on their shoulders I should say) about feminism because the show is called SuperGirl. It's pretty obvious who the center of attention will be. This is your typical hero in the spotlight show with sidekicks and the sidekicks happen to be two dudes. Yeah, the computer guy is a little too sensitive to be believable and the black photographer guy is too wise to be believable. But, putting that aside, let's talk about the real problems here.
The series structure is the real problem. Even starting with the pilot, the show runs away too fast. This is probably due to the way they wanted to make the series. Every episode Supergirl has to solve "a case" aka Fight someone while there are attempts to weave a background story along the way.
The acting, it's all over the place. Sometimes Kara comes off believable but just as many times it just doesn't work. Her baddie aunt never comes off well. The only person who comes off consistently good in the show is the DEO head (Martian black guy).
The costumes, as indicated I'm no fan boy and the SuperGirl costume works fine for me. If there's a better one, I haven't seen it. This talk about it looking like a Halloween costume I don't get. If anything, some of the various villain costumes suffer more than anything else. But, that's another issue caused by the structure of the series.
The effects, like the acting, the effects are a mixed bag. Some of them actually look really good. Some others look like something someone did on a home PC.
The structure of the series is causing almost every issue.
After watching 9 episodes, there is very little character arc going on. We're in too much of a rush to even go there. The villains in the show are paper thin. Who has time for that when this week we're fighting nuclear man and next week we're fighting a robot?
How can you spend the time to choreograph a good fight scene and effects when these things happen almost every episode? And the fights don't matter very much if the audience isn't invested in the characters (villains too). They're just an excuse to show off a mixed bag of effects, there's no tension. Some of the villains look crappy because there's too dang many of them. If there would have been 3 or 4 the whole season, they would have looked 3x better and the effects would have been solid throughout.
So in short, this show is just terribly uneven because of the way they decided to make it. Take a series like DareDevil, different structure and different result.
I could see how some people would like the show. In reality, SuperGirl is less a serious TV show and more like a live action version of the Super Friends cartoon. It has about the same level of depth to it as a cartoon.
For a series so uneven, I think a 4 out of 10 is a fair score.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
A Plastic Toy
I'm not sure why any fan of Terminator 1 and 2 would like this film. If James Cameron likes this film, I worry about his sanity.
I can accept the overly convoluted storyline and various plot holes.
But the problem here is the characters have no depth, which may be a result of miscasting, bad acting, bad dialogue or a combination of the two. As a result, I really didn't care what happened to them. Quite frankly, Kyle came off as kind of a jerk. Once you take worrying about the characters out of the equation, this film had no suspense.
While some of the effects were good (1984 Arnold) some others just looked really bad. Some of the worst CGI in this film (which is just riddled with it) was the helicopter chase. It looked and felt like a video game. If James Cameron could do a chase using real helicopters doing real stunts in Terminator 2, why couldn't they do it here?
The Audience isn't being fooled, this stuff looks really fake. If it looks fake, the audience no longer cares. Even some of the T-800 stuff looked like CGI.
Not to hit everything wrong with this film (because it would take five pages) but the 1984 stuff didn't work too well either. In the attempt to recreate the 1984 film almost shot for shot, all the film did was point out it's own inadequacies to people who have seen the original multiple times.
At least Terminator Salvation introduced some cool new Terminators like the T-600.
This movie just didn't have any of that. There is no tension in the film because we've seen almost all of it before (and done better).
Terminator 1 was not a feel good movie, it was bleak, serious and gritty. Terminator 2 was a much larger film that had a few comedy elements in it but was mostly serious and introduced some new ideas. However, this film is constantly trying to be funny. Why not just make the next one a total comedy?
I would not watch this film again. It's like a cheap $1 knockoff plastic toy in a dollar store. It's tied with Terminator 3 for worst film in the franchise.
Iron Sky (2012)
Great idea that wore out fast
I attempted to watch this film two or three times but for some reason i could never make it through. I finally did watch the whole film but admittedly had to fast forward through some of it toward the end. Like others, I found the film got duller and duller as it went on.
The film is definitely at it's best when it caters around the Nazi base on the moon. For a low budget film, I thought the CGI was fine although the quality was mixed. The Nazi ship designs were Very Well Done, props to the designers, especially the space zeppelins.
Where the film falls apart is as soon as the group falls to Earth. the film was a comedy with very little humor in it. There was almost zero character development here and many scenes just hung there without any real purpose what-so-ever.
There was a lot of potential here, alas it was totally wasted.
Even the black guy in the film, who could have been a major source of satirical comedy (see a movie like Blazing Saddles), was wasted and cut short. After that, the film was just really bland.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
No worse than Air Force One
For what it is this film is no worse than Air Force One. It's certainly no masterpiece, it's a check your brain at the door film.
Yes, the stuff in it makes no logical sense. I mean none. The worst offense in the entire film was probably when the seal team finally tries to enter the White House through the roof with some choppers and were rebuffed. At that point, why didn't they just storm the entire grounds with the troops and Humvees and tanks waiting across the street? They had nothing to lose.
But, in a film like this asking too many questions is asking for trouble!
Overall I would say this really wasn't worse than Air Force One and it actually reminded me of that one and In The Line of Fire. It's stuff blowing up, mindless explosions, a hokey overly contrived story that is a mixture of past action films and set pieces that make absolutely no sense.
Even though it succeeds as a dumb action film, it does suffer from some bad CGI. The plane attack and the white house are not totally convincing (Bargain effects company?)
Beyond Belief (1976)
A really silly film that is still pretty cool
This is one of those films you have to take with a grain of salt as they present various weird ideas. I think the people who would probably like the film are actually like me, people who do not actually believe a thing in it!
I find the film very entertaining because I view it and the serious people in it, as very amusing. Even the host plays it very straight, it's hilarious.
It's one of those films that is cool to listen to in the background while you are doing something else. Also, I have found it excellent to fall asleep to..........
I have most of this film on a VHS tape that I recorded off late night cable 13 years ago! but have never viewed the end of the film (some mysterious force caused the tape to run out).
The World's End (2013)
Not too great, Wow Surprisingly Boring in parts!
Let me start off by saying I love "Shaun of the Dead." "Paul" was also another good Pegg, Frost picture.
But, this film isn't very good. It's about as good as "Hot Fuzz" which was a major let down coming off "Shaun of the Dead."
When I say about as good, I mean it's tired. Come on Edgar Wright, can't you come up with anything new? Same old quick transition splices, same old pubs, stuff borrowed off "Shaun of the Dead" and done worse. A story borrowed this time off Halloween 3. Pegg looks ridiculous with that black hair. The film is actually boring in parts.
I wanted to like this film, but I just can't give the crew a pass for this mess and being lazy. About the only thing interesting about the film is the Very End.
I'll give it a 4 for the end and some of Pegg and Frost's performance.
Falling Skies (2011)
Giving it a chance.... but what were they thinking?
I never caught this show when it originally aired. I started watching it recently and must say that the review from: whatutalkinaboot hit the first five episodes clearly over the head. 100% right on all counts.
I'm surprised this show even made it to season 2. Perhaps it improves.
The alien design is unimaginative. I also agree about the wooden characters, bad script writing, unbelievable situations, etc.
You would think a series about Earth after an alien invasion would be really "gritty" like some episodes of the excellent Battle Star Galactica were. You would expect the human species to be pushed to the point of extinction. You would expect to lose all hope. You might expect to see tons of the human rebels getting picked off in the ruins before they link up and form a real resistance in season 2.
No, sorry but these script writers were out to lunch. They really got it wrong.
When you enter the show, the human race is just kind of camping out in this big group in the middle of the post invasion. They kind of stroll out here and there to engage a couple aliens or a battle mech. You expect them to pitch a fire, roast winnies and break out into song. The show goes nowhere at a crawl. It's about as exciting as watching someone's old camping videos, perhaps less exciting.
I'll give this a 4 only based on the fact that I've heard it improves. Otherwise, it's a 2.
World War Z (2013)
Film lacks Guts, 28 weeks later for Wimps
I'm not going to bore you with another version of the plot, it's unnecessary. I'll just get right into the main problems with this film.
For something that was supposed to be such an EPIC event, a lot of the film had no scale and little tension. You do not see any real fighting on the ground between the military and the zombies. Because you never see the HORROR on the ground, you have zero reaction when someone says "well, we lost that city because as you can see, it's on fire." It had no gore, no human suffering, no first person human defeat and so no feeling of DOOM or panic or hopelessness. It had no feeling at all.
It's hard to have any feeling when the zombies are mostly CGI which usually attack by JUMPING on people with these Super-Leaps. It reminded me of "I am Legend" another film that was hard to get into because the cheesy CGI vampires. But, at least that film had some touching scenes in it like Will Smith having to kill his dog. Not here.
Most of the enemy in this film is a guy using Photoshop and Brad Pitt looks just about as lifeless through the film.
Most of the film revolves around Brad Pitt's character who literally wanders from place to place with almost no point. Well, other than the point that everywhere he turns up something bad happens. He must be bad luck.
To have a film with this big of a budget which pales to just about every other recent zombie film should tell you something. This is no Dawn of the Dead, it is 28 Weeks Later but for wimps.
I heard they are planning a sequel, don't bother. You've already poisoned the well with this whip-lash, gutless production. At least half the audience you experienced this time will not be showing up.
The Dead (2010)
Dead Asleep should be the title of this one
I don't know where all these great reviews on here are coming from because that's not the type of reviews you are seeing on this film everywhere else. This contains no real spoilers because there is nothing to spoil, this film has no plot.
The Dead by the Ford Brothers is apparently distributed by Anchor Bay on DVD. Some box review says "best zombie movie of the year." Perhaps the reviewer was drunk but it's more likely this was something manufactured.
I give this film 1 star.
You know you're in trouble when the synopsis reads something like- The Dead are rising in Africa and a soldier has but one mission- To Get Home! Brilliant huh? Perhaps slightly more brilliant than me spending 35 minutes watching this garbage film before finally yanking the DVD out.
Yes, the dead are rising in Africa and at first you feel a little kinship for the film. It reminds you a little of one of those cheesy Italian Zombi films. But that's where the likeness fades off. We jump into the film as an American cargo plane is about to go down. Cut to an African village being attacked by those slow walking variety zombies. One American soldier escapes the plane that crashes in Africa and one African soldier is looking for his son.
Well, there it is. That's the plot folks. Deep.
We get to see some startling attacks by those slow walkers though. It reminds you of the action watching an old episode of the Six Million Dollar Man. Now perhaps the filmmakers are nodding to George Romero and mostly to those other Italian zombie films of yore. But, despite the fact that there are slow moving zombies in a Romero film, the Romero film itself isn't boring. That's because it has something The Dead doesn't have, that's called some humor and A Story. The Dead has none of that. It's all scenery and very boring, repetitive zombie kills.
There are tons of semi-slow zombies in The Walking Dead, but that doesn't mean all we see are people walking, running and driving around shooting them in the head!
Watch the soldier run around a field. Watch the soldier put a tire on a car. Watch the soldier looking around. Watch him peel out in the mud. All while those slow walkers are creeping up or shambling up anyhow.
Did I mention cinematography? The film makers are constantly using jump cuts and in all the wrong places. We don't need jump cuts of a soldier putting clothes on or jump cuts of him driving a truck unless the cuts emphasis the dramatic action going on. That's like me showing you a film of me shaving and using jumpy cuts for no reason. It's just plain sloppy film making.
The main American character almost never speaks, which is good because apparently he can't act and this helps hide the fact. Other performances in the film are equally weak. Although, the guy playing the African soldier wasn't bad but by the time he really enters the movie we're bored to death.
Who are the Ford Brothers? Apparently two brothers who know nothing about making a horror movie. What they don't know is people randomly running around shooting these slow walkers is boring. Glad I know the name, it will save me tons of future grief. Save yourself 35 minutes and don't even bother to slip this one in.
The Hunger Games (2012)
Did I miss Something?
I don't get it. I haven't read any of these books so I was going into this film as a regular viewer and can't figure out why some people think this was a great film, the best film ever made, best movie ever etc.
Huh?
We've seen this before, we've seen these themes before and done much better than what was done here. Part of this film reminded me of The Running Man from the 80's, part of it the TV show Survivor.
Despite the fact that the film lasted over 2 hours, as a viewer I had no real idea what the reason behind The Hunger Games was. There was very little character development done. There was very little building-up time to make you even vaguely interested in the characters or the main idea. We spend some time in the city before the main event but even that time is wasted. Nothing interesting happens here.
The last half of this film was people running around the woods while goofy looking technicians and even dumber looking aristocrat types watched. Clue- it helps if the Evil Guys look Evil and not Stupid.
I agree with some other reviews I have seen, this film looked like a Sci-Fi Channel movie. Where did the budget go?
Even worse, for a movie about a death sport, the movie was mostly pretty boring. You would get a little action and then back to boring dialog which itself did nothing to even help the plot.
If you've read the books you have something vested and a real background in this film already. I get it. You're probably going to like it for reasons other than what was on the screen. For those of us who watched without reading the book, let me tell you > not a good film.
The Grey (2011)
I liked the film, my wife didn't
I'm not going to go into the story or give stuff away.
I liked the film, even though some of it didn't exactly make sense and some of the male bonding dialog seemed a little "forced" to me. Neeson was very good in this film and I liked the way they presented his character.
I couldn't figure out why they didn't take more items from the plane wreckage to use as crude weapons, like there wasn't going to be any large sharp metals objects laying around after a plane crashed?
I would have rated it higher had the supporting characters been a little more fleshed out. It was hard to care about them as thin as they were.
I liked the ending a lot, my wife (who ironically dragged me to the film) didn't like it. (HINT: If your wife likes a romantic comedy or a generic action film, there is not much chance in her liking the end of this film.) I thought it was a brilliant ending.
Grindhouse (2007)
Cool ideas, not exactly executed very well
I'd like to commend the film makers for taking a cool idea of a 70's type flashback film and being brave enough to actually try it.
This film will ultimately have some life to it, the question is: Is it going to be remembered as a brave experiment or a gigantic bad film bust?
The movie is way too long. When I say long, I don't mean just because of the length...I mean it becomes too slow.
Terror Planet is a cool little film, nothing amazing and it isn't From Dusk Till Dawn. But it is entertaining. The John Carpenter music was a nice touch. The trailers are a riot to watch. Death Proof is really sub-par. It was almost painful to watch. We are bored to tears by long dialog which goes on and on. It isn't even interesting dialog, it just makes us want to throw popcorn at the screen! The characters are so paper-thin you want to cheer when they are killed. Kurt Russell's killer character made no sense. He turns psycho one minute, cry baby the next.
Yes, a cool but somewhat boring movie. How did this turn into a $60 million movie and counting?
I heard rumors that the producers are thinking about re-releasing Grindhouse as two separate U.S. films. Publicity stunt? Definitely. Like Death Proof could even stand on it's own as a single film. And, like the producers are going to fork out more cash to release a "loaded cigar" this way.
As another reviewer put it, see it at second run and walk out before Death proof- a little less painful.
Cult or complete bomb? time will tell.