jillian01

This film is hilariously over-the-top to the point where it's almost a satirical look at the genre altogether. The first 15 minutes were fun with the "oh no, we got married" plot and introducing some more serious themes. But at almost exactly 20 minutes, everything goes downhill. The director chose to insert animations, make the characters unlikable, and camera angles that were abhorrent.

The writing is so grotesquely clunky that it's a wonder it was ever greenlit by production at all. Then you remember it's low budget and realize they though they could make a blockbuster out of pennies. They cannot.

The film isn't all bad. Sprouse's comedic timing and line delivery (even if the lines are terrible) is the saving grace of an otherwise over-the-top film. If you can detach yourself completely from a cohesive storyline, believable lines, and hyper-sexualized female lead, the film is...okay. It's fun and light, but doesn't come close to matching the bantering fun of the first film. You can tell it was written by a man whose peak humor is in sock puppets and Adam Sandler films.

For book fans...Just skip it altogether. If you need something to play in the background or critique for a film class, this is perfect.

After We Fell exceeded my expectations in directing, cinematography, score, soundtrack, and all other behind the scenes aspects. The acting was amazing from everyone involved, even if some of the lines were a bit hard to digest. The only problem this film had that the others also had, is its inability to propel the story of Hardin and Tessa. The books were exceptionally long and full of complexities and moments that really allowed the reader to delve into the psyche's of these characters. To understand why they are so toxic to one another yet inexplicably addicted to the love they each offer. We saw the beautiful moments and the terrible ones. But the film fails to capture that and instead, turns the relationship into something kind of...flat. Its male lead became a whiny emotional train wreck who is hard to relate too. While Hero does an incredible job portraying Hardin's complex emotions, the writing doesn't tell us why those emotions are happening or give us insight into his feelings which makes him across as whiny instead of traumatized. An ass instead of someone struggling to inner demons and deep-rooted childhood trauma. He has no substantial plot outside of the relationship, which makes it difficult to want him to succeed. He doesn't do anything outside of his scenes with Tessa.

The main female lead is turned into a co-dependent woman whose dedication to her studies and work is the only consistent thing in her life. The writer(s) did a good job of translating most of Tessa's trauma and past to the screen, but didn't go deep enough into it because of the limited time. Josephine also did a good job in the film, but I felt as though she was holding back or that the script didn't allow her to show her full potential as an actress.

AWF is a 90-minute film when it should be 2 hours and split into two parts. If you're a fan of the After books you'll leave feeling as though you watched your two favorite characters while also feeling a little sad for the moments they couldn't include. If you're a casual viewer, you'll enjoy the drama and ups and downs of the relationship and the people around it. It's the best of the series so far, it just had so much potential.

The show starts as a fun, light-hearted take on the original series, paying homage in a respectful way. The series excels in diversity but lacks deeply in comedic lines and delivery. Most of the jokes in the first half of the season are the same from the film or same tropes that we've seen before, just simply executed poorly. This issue carries throughout the show. While the lines themselves and timing can be funny, the delivery by actors such as Josh Peck and Lyndsy Fonseca are done in a way that emphasizes the lack of intelligence behind the writing. Which is a shame, as Lyndsy Fonseca is an esteemed actress in her other projects, though her delivery in this show is flat. The same can be said for Peck, whose time on Nickelodeon and YouTube skits is apparent in some of his scenes. Acting aside, the show's "criminal of the week" format is fun and light, with the perfect balance of seriousness and Disney-serious themes. It's the perfect show to watch if you can turn your brain off, give into the Disney-ness, and watch comfortably with your family. However, plot wise, nothing ties to the overarching plot of investigating the original Turner's final case. Instead, the lack of involvement and belief from Peck's Turner, forces Fonseca's character to seem obsessed instead of brilliant for her independent investigative work. By the end of the season, jokes begin to repeat, the growth of characters is basically non-existent, and the only things making the show minutely enjoyable are the presence of Hooch and the potential love story between Turner and Erica. The show could be amazing and funny and witty with the right writers, but the show starts flat, gains momentum, and then plateaus before reaching a state of repetition that leaves viewers feeling like they've seen the episode already.