notraxx

I had never seen the original, then watched them back to back with my daughter. I get people not liking the wokish elements of this movie, but the acting of the kids in the original was horrendous with their behaviors and decisions making little sense to feed a never-ending plot. The second movie had better kid actors, better technology, and was tighter. Bette Midler was clearly the star here, and I enjoyed the singing and the arcs of their characters. I think people are getting caught up in the nostalgia. I feel lucky to be able to sit down and watch them both with an objective eye. Btw, I'd give the original a 5.

While the show has some nice tensions and quality dialogue, it really suffers from muddled characterization and arcs. We know everything about the main character, an overachiever who wants more than anything to be partner. Everyone around her sort of meanders in and out of her life and over the course of 10 hours, I'm not sure we find out anything useful about these people. There is definitely a woke agenda here, but unlike a lot of shows and movies, it is incorporated into the narrative pretty well. When I finished it, I thought, "ehh, that was probably worth binging," but I did find myself reaching for the cellphone at times as the show kicked into autopilot. They just played it too safe I think.

This show is quite entertaining and stands of the shoulders of the two British gents mentioned above. There are situations and personalities that are directly taken from The Office and Extras, but I don't mean to take anything away from this show. It executes its conceit with aplomb. The central character Toon is indecisive and a recluse. These central character flaws hit the sweet spot as everyone around him wants him to be famous, and he has to be decisive to get the girl. Strong storytelling and awkward situations ensue and catapulted this series to the top of my netflix list. Worth a binge at the least. Enjoy.