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Reviews
Hijack (2023)
Boring and requires that you suspend disbelief
I give it a five for some solid acting and some nice, tense, moments. That aside, there are so many plot holes that unless you are able to suspend your disbelief significantly you won't be able to enjoy it.
On top of this, the pacing is bad (boring) and most, if not all, of the subplots add very little and make even less sense. The "cleaning crew" sent to Sam's house because he was "causing problems" on the plane made absolutely no sense.
We get no resolution on the escaped prisoner who betrayed his partner, characters who committed murder seen to walk away freely and the final confrontation with the "bad guy" made no sense and just felt forced.
Could have been a 2 hour film and I would have saved 5 hours of my life.
The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023)
Save those you care about!!
Great episode of television.
The pacing was quite slow, and the main story does not move forward all that much, but it is a very well written and well acted episode.
I would have liked to see Bill interact more with Joel and others as the character is very interesting and Offerman does an amazing job, but the choice to keep those interactions to a minimum and focus on Bill and Frank served the goal of telling a self sustained love story.
However the story told here, as shown through Bill's letter, does set the stage for big things coming later.... Do everything you can to protect those you love and care about...
The Last of Us (2023)
Very good start! Hope the quality remains
As a huge fan of the first game and having enjoyed the second more than I expected after all the backlash (I do agree with some of the criticism, especially about the week secondary characters and it being overlong in some parts), I was quite worried about some of the casting choices and worried they would change things just to change them.
So far (2 episodes in) I can happily say that almost all casting choices are great and the changes made work quite well.
On the casting side, the only one I'm not convinced 100% yet is Ellie, while the performance itself is great, I just don't get Ellie vibes from the actress, maybe my own bias from having played Part 1 many times. However the Joel choice is really great as is the Tess choice, and the Sara choice (still need to see more Tommy to have a firm opinion).
For the changes made to the story, so far all of them have been great additions for me. I especially like the intros to both episodes giving us more detail on the outbreak. The change on how the virus spreads is also a good one in my opinion as otherwise the actors would be walking around with masks the entire time, also it adds a level of creepiness to the infected.
One of the great things I really enjoy is how the shows captures the tension of the encounters with the Clickers and other infected.
On the negative side, that "kiss" at the end of the second episode was just weird and made little sense to me, it completely broke my immersion with the tension of the moment and affected the impact the moment should have had on me.
Overall though, great start, hope it maintains the quality and they keep making the right changes to adapt to this new medium.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: Pickman's Model (2022)
Weird in a bad way (5.5 out of 10)
Another episode that failed to deliver.
I cared little for the characters, the plots moves at a snails pace and the ending feels hollow and meaningless.
That being said, this show does continue to deliver great visuals and the Lovecraftian imagery comes through very well in this episode. Another positive is the actor who plays Pickman, he is just the right amount of creepy and saves the episode from being a complete, failure in my opinion.
In conclusion, this is another middling episode from a show that so far has only delivered one really good episode (The Autopsy,) so it is in good company.
5.5/10.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: The Outside (2022)
Great acting by Kate Micucci, weird episode
Maybe I'm missing the artistic sensibilities necessary to fully enjoy this episode but I just found it weird and i found the plot a bit boring.
On the flip side, the acting throughout is great. The bank ladies are just the right level of hateful and annoying (hopefully that was the intent) and the husband (played by Martin Starr) is just creepy enough while still maintaining an air of genuine love and support for the main character.
The stand out, however, is Kate Micucci delivering a creepy, disturbing and intense performance that makes the episode tolerable and is the main reason for the 6 it gets from me.
The other positive point comes again form the visuals, good lighting, great CGI and overall very good sets.
Back to the negative points, I really did not care for the ending, it was weird and not in a good way. The final close-ups of the laughing faces might mean something that escapes me but it just felt empty to me, like the director was trying to be artsy just for the sake of it.
Overall a 6 seems like a fair score given the good performances and visuals.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: The Autopsy (2022)
Best episode so far
With likable characters and an interesting and creepy plot, this episode is the best of the 4 that are available as I'm writing this review.
As in the previous episodes, the visuals are great and the acting is good, however, what sets this episode apart for me are the main characters (the coroner and the sheriff). Both are likable characters and you quickly root for them giving the necessary feeling of fear when they are threatened. This is not the case in the other 3 episodes available so far (maybe in episode 4 you kinda root for the main character and her husband but they are both a bit creepy so I couldn't relate to them as much) which to me elevates this episode beyond the others.
Additionally, the story feels complete, there is proper development in the plot structure that I feel is missing in the first 2 episodes. Here you get a mystery that gets resolved by the end of the episode and they use flashbacks and conversation to fill in the blanks just enough that it feels satisfactory without feeling overbearing.
As mentioned above, visually the episode excels and has some really creepy and gory scenes (I don't recommend eating while watching). The score is also good, properly punctuating the more tense moments.
All said, best episode so far, hope 5 and 6 are equally good...
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
Disappointing first 2 episodes. Episode 3 is great
So far (2 episodes in) I find Cabinet of Curiosities to be quite disappointing. The first episode is quite bland and feels largely incomplete leaving you feeling like you did not get a return for the time you invested on the episode. The second episode is a bit better and delivers a mostly complete story, however, i found the dialogue distracting and annoying.
My biggest issue with the 2 first episodes however is with the main characters, both are unlikable and just... bad people, making it hard to root for them or care about their fates. Same goes for the secondary characters, most are unlikable and even the ones you are supposed to like (the Latina lady in Lot 36) act like bad people in the end.
On the positive side, visually the show delivers (as expected from del Toro) and the acting is mostly great (especially in episode 1).
Hope the new episodes that are coming will be a bit better so I can change the score but for now a 6 is generous, I really don't get the 8 average it currently holds...
Update:
Changed my score to a 7 after the great 3rd episode. Great likable characters, exciting and fleshed out story (the higher runtime helped) and some truly disturbing imagery.
I will continue updating this review as a watch the remaining episodes, episode 3 left hopeful that more greatness is coming.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: Graveyard Rats (2022)
Slightly better than the first, not by much
The themes of this episode are similar to the ones in Lot 36 (greed is bad), thought this time at least the story feels mostly complete.
That being said we again have an unlikable protagonist (though this time at least there seems to be an attempt to redeem the character) and unlikable secondary characters.
The plot moves along at a good pace and the visuals are quite good for the most part. However the music and sound design was a bit distracting to me and the dialogue was just okay (the protagonist speaks to himself quite a lot and likes to monologue to other characters in a grandiose manner that I found a bit annoying).
All said, it's a bit better than Lot 36 but nothing special. Hopefully the quality continues to rise until it reaches levels of good and great.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: Lot 36 (2022)
It's missing something, Hope it get's better
It may be the short runtime or the writers did not know how to finish the story in a satisfying way but it feels like it's missing something.
While there is some story development, it is mostly done through dialogue (exposition) and not by showing the audience, making it hard to relate to any of the characters. This is exacerbated by an unlikable protagonist (though the acting is quite good) and mostly unlikable secondary characters.
I believe the intent was to create a "be careful what you wish for" or a "greed is bad" story but in the end that is not what I was left with, I was left with "it's okay to be an a#-hole as long as you do it to a bad person, even if you cause their death". By the time the credits rolled all i could say was "that's it".
Weak start, hope it get's better!!
Five Days at Memorial: Day Five (2022)
Powerful but very hard to watch!
Great episode from an acting and direction perspective. Filled with powerful scenes and some really hard to watch moments.
The scene with the animals was brutal as were the two scenes with the patients being left behind (mother and obese guy).
Only complaint from me is the scene where the woman enters the boat with the dog and they say "it's OK, we have room" after all the other pets had been put down. That felt manipulative and just added frustration.
Some hopefull scenes (nurses carrying the guy to the helicopter and seing him make it out with the nurse) make up for what would otherwise be an almost impossible episode to get through... but I guess that's the point, to show how the people in that hospital suffered and how the government failed to act fast enough to avoid all that loss.
9/10.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: A Normal Amount of Rage (2022)
So far so good, CGI is distracting
Interesting fist episode that serves mainly as an "origin story" and delivers in introducing Jennifer Walters to the public.
The focus of the shows seem to be on humor and, so far, it's your typical MCU type of humor, so if you like that you should find the episode enjoyable, if not maybe wait until the story arc is more fleshed out, with only this episode it's impossible to tell what that arc will be.
Maslany is the highlight of the episode (expected I guess) as no other characters are properly introduced in this episode. She brings a fun quirkiness to the character that works well for the most part, however some of the dialogue can be cringy and unnatural (for example: "Your transformations are triggered by anger and fear." Jennifer: "Those are, like, the baseline of any woman just existing.").
Another concern watching this was the CGI, specifically for She-Hulk, it just looks off to me, smart Hulk looks fine but She-Hulk looks very cartoony and unnatural. It's passable but it feels like they could do much better, also I don't really see Maslany's face when looking at She-Hulk the same way I see Ruffalo's when looking at smart Hulk.
Overall, a fine first episode that really does not go into what the show will be like moving forward (I believe they are going for a workplace comedy type of vibe) and mostly focuses on Jennifer acquiring and learning to control her powers. Due to that, some weird CGI choices and some sub-par dialogue it's a 7/10 for me. I'll certainly keep watching for now!
Rick and Morty: Rick & Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular (2021)
Is that really C-137 Rick!!
I enjoyed this episode more than most I guess.
The wacky plot and twists kept me engaged and it was a fun ride in the end.
However this does not feel like our usual Rick and Morty. This Rick (this season) feels weaker somehow, less in control and Morty feels like all the character development we saw in previous seasons has been completely erased.
Maybe the writers are trying to bring Rick down to up the stakes and maybe they want Morty to learn nothing from past experiences to show he is just that dumb but it feels off to me, somehow.
There is a theory circulating online that we are not really watching our usual Rick (C-137) and Morty and that this as something to do with evil Morty.
If that is the case, it's taking too long for the reveal and they should get it over with sooner rather than later, if not, I'm not huge fan of this season and it's direction. It's still entertaining and people need to stop with some of the exaggerated hate. But all in all it's just less engaging, exciting and thought provoking.
Yasuke (2021)
Good Binge, Lacking in character development
I watched this in 2 sittings, it's easy to watch and a fun time that feels rushed in the last 2 episodes.
The good:
- Main character is interesting and developed to some degree
- Action sequences are mostly cool and exciting
- Good chemistry between the main and secondary characters
- Backstory sequences are interesting but...
The bad:
- ...They don't spend enough time with the backstories and character development.
- Needed more world-building (I would say 2 to 4 more episodes to really flesh out the characters and the world)
- Could have done without the "magical" aspects, even if some are central to the plot (something more on the lines of the "Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuioku-hen" action would have been more interesting for my personal taste).
At the end of the day, I did have fun with it and would watch more of this world if it's made. There is potential to really bring depth to these characters and the world they live in.
Regarding reviewers calling this "Woke" or "Political" I completely disagree, There are a lot of cases of shows being worse than they could be, because of "on the nose" political stuff (The Good Doctor and The Rookie for example) but this does not fall in that category. If your problem is the race of the protagonist, than that is on you, not on the show-runners.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Poor Vilains bring it down, not enough Bucky and Zemo!
This is an average show and a poor entry when compared to Wandavision.
The Pros:
Sam and Bucky banter.
Zemo.
Action scenes are well made and exciting.
The Cons:
Poor and uninteresting vilain with unclear motivations and morals.
Not enough Bucky (kind of sidelined for Sam).
Power Broker twist is unearned and makes little sense (will not say more to avoid spoilers).
Drags a bit while doing character development in the wrong areas
Overall the show is entertaining and a average binge, but these cons drag it down.
Regarding the "political" stuff that is mentioned by many reviewers, it is a bit "on the nose" and preachy at times but not detrimental to the overall experience, I can see what they were trying to do and they failed in some cases to make it seamless and less evident, however, there are many important things that drag it down more than that (maybe not being from the US helps me ignore this better)
Overall a 6/10 is a fair score. Hope the second season brings Zemo back and focuses a bit more on Bucky.