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Reviews
The Gentlemen (2024)
Strangely limp
All fairly entertaining, all fairly predictable, and clichéd to a fault. The premise is promising, the two main protagonists are engaging, and the first two episodes directed by Guy Ritchie set the scene well enough. Sadly after that the series rambles, it probably could have done with being a couple of episodes shorter amongst other things; and by the time the last episode rolls around with its inevitably contrived happy conclusion all you can do is roll your eyes and hope this doesn't get greenlit for a second season, this was plenty and certainly doesn't merit any further exploration. 6.5/10 mostly for the premise and the cinematography.
Warrior (2019)
Good concept
Lots of action, some gore, a fair amount of nudity. An interesting time and place, reasonable acting, let down by somewhat trite plotting. The dialogue is occasionally shockingly bad, and rarely good. All that said it's perfectly watchable, so if you have nothing to do, knock yourself out. Anyway apparently my review is too short so let me fill it out with some random padding if you don't mind.... 200 more characters it seems, what to do now? Ah well soon enough we will be down to 100 but not yet... I tell a lie! Less than a hundred now for sure!!!! The anticipation is killing me.... anyway 6/10.
Griselda (2024)
Telenovela time
Honestly, this isn't terrible, moves along quite briskly, and Sofia Vergara hams it up reasonably well given the telenovela vibe this is going for. As others have pointed out, her character is only very loosely based on the actual Griselda and much more sympathetic a protagonist (and more attractive despite her fairly silly and distracting prosthetics). I imagine Netflix realized that tying this in to Narcos would massively increase its viewership but I can see why many felt they had been sold a lemon. That critique aside, the bigger issue is apart from glorifying a horrific human being, it just isn't very good, is very implausible, and feels like a mash-up of an old school Mexican telenovela and an MTV video.
Morbius (2022)
Better than expected
My 8/10 rating is generous certainly, but given the generally poor critic and viewer reviews I thought I should err on the generous side. This is reasonably fast paced, Jared Leto is more than acceptable in the lead role, the overarching narrative is solid and the VFX are better than most recent Marvel movies. I suspect this film suffered from the lack of a recognisable protagonist combined with the fact that is totally humorless, isn't a tie-in to a broader narrative, and frankly would have benefited greatly from being R rated given it's dark subject matter. Anyway I personally thought it was better than any other recent superhero movie but to each his own.
Mortal Engines (2018)
Mistakes where made
Well I can't say I know the source material, and perhaps it's amazing and this script and movie let it down. I am a Hugo Weaving fan but that only goes so far when the plot and dialogue are so inane. I couldn't be bothered to investigate who directed this movie but my word he didn't cover himself in glory. This seems like a reasonably well funded enterprise, and yet somehow a random episode of Xena the warrior princess would probably be more enjoyable. Apparently this horrible movie requires a longer review so out of respect to whomever is reading this I apologize for the rattling on! Do yourself a favour and do anything but watch this!
For All Mankind (2019)
A missed opportunity
Given the intriguing premise this feels like a missed opportunity. I give the show high marks for it's premise, production values, and at times it's science; sadly the plot, characters and pacing ultimately let it down. The show starts off slowly but does a good job of intertwining actual historical events and figures with the shows alternate history. The main protagonists' character development meshes reasonably well with the overarching narrative and the first season while a little slow lays the groundwork nicely for the subsequent seasons. Sadly however this all goes to waste is this stops trying to be an alternative history and instead turns into a melodramatic soap opera, filled with dislikeable characters all seemingly hell-bent on making bad, implausible decisions. If they are the future of mankind we are all already doomed.
EDIT: I still haven't watched all of the episodes but it gets worse not better sadly.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
An improvement on recent MCU efforts
This latest instalment in the Ant-Man saga moves along at a brisk pace, sets up phase 5, features a strong performance from Jonathan Majors (which poses its own issues going forward) and suffers from less frequent and annoying attempts at humor (looking at you Thor love and thunder). Now the initial set-up is pretty weak, rushed and frankly unbelievable, and Cassie is quite grating throughout, and as usual we are treated to the obligatory mass CGI bun fest at the end though i would say this one was above average featuring a bit more variety than usual. All in all perfectly fine if you are an MCU fan, and I suspect the generallly negative reception this film received has more to do with general fatigue with the MCU than anything specific to this movie.
The Night Agent (2023)
Jumping sharks
No animals were harmed during the filming of this series, but many sharks were jumped. No spoilers here but this was both engrossing and completely silly. This was less frustrating than for example the Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix series not the movie) but it suffers from many of the same issues, a plot that makes no plausible sense, thinly construted characters, average to below average acting. Despite all that, it was fairly entertaining and you could do far worse than this. 421098765432109876543210987654321098765432109876543210987654321098765432109876543210987654321098765432109876543210987654321.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Bore and blunder
Perhaps the worst MCU movie yet. An incoherent plot, endless jokes that never land, a weird tonal mix where cancer is trivial and amusing, a big bad who is neither big nor bad and an ending that makes absolutely no sense upon a modecum of reflection. Thor has gradually gone from an epic character to the butt of a long tedious joke.
Ragnarok on Netflix would be a much better option for anyone yearning for a modern interpration of the Norse god.
The actors here try to do their best but the blame must surely lay squarely at the feet of the director who managed to put this monstrosity together, hopefully his last rodeo.
The Last Kingdom: Episode #5.10 (2022)
Sloppy and rushed
This episode, a bit like this entire season was poorly executed, tried to resolve too many plot threads and had a little too much fan service for it's on good. Still overall a very enjoyable show.
Homeland: Krieg Nicht Lieb (2014)
It continues to surprise on the downside
I keep hoping for this series to stop nose diving, but instead it goes from worse to worse. Ratchet up the tension, toss in some family drama, set up some incredible coincidences and then let it all deflate yet again so we can go again. Perhaps next season 5 will have a better script, we live in hope!
Homeland: 13 Hours in Islamabad (2014)
Disbelief in permanent suspension
The sheer ineptitude of all the US military, CIA and embassy staff make this episode (and more broadly season) a fairly painful watch, this show has always required some suspension of disbelief but this is a bridge too far, feels like a poor man's 24.
Homeland: From A to B and Back Again (2014)
Nearly good, but so silly
This show is frustrating, it's trying to deal with interesting, complex issues and then suddenly turns into a telenovela and just loses all credibility, this episode and the prior are the most clear example of this.
Lost in Space: Final Transmission (2021)
Very silly
So SAR's only goal is to kill Will, he stabs him through the heart rather than vaporizing him and just heads off into the sunset without checking if it's mission accomplished? To be fair kudos to Will for shaking it off, very impressive!
Locke & Key: Best Laid Plans (2021)
Such ineptitude
Hard to see how this family could be any more incompetent, and why is the uncle anywhere near the scene is a total mistery, hard to root for such an inept bunch.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Fairly boring and derivative
Generic and slow, worth skipping even for fans of the genre.
Fauda (2015)
Getting more and more ridiculous
The 3rd season is very implausible and frankly incredible, and not in a good way. Doron can seemingly take down whole armies single handed and still has time to drop the pants of any attractive girl with a pulse.