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Asaf (2024)
Overdramatized
The show certainly can pump out the drama. The music especially: it just hits in a way, that you expect there is something wild going on. Some operator work also tries to add to the atmosphere, but... In the end it feels like those old TV novellas I saw as a kid, I think they were advertised as Brazilian, but not sure if all of them were.
The plot is extremely simplistic. Think low budget "Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven". And with very little logic. I mean, if you look at the story as a whole - yes, there is some level of logic to it. The kind that you see in Hallmark Christmas (or generally "romantic") movies. They do even suggest some "paranormal" at some point. Or at least there is a bit that may be interpreted as such.
The main problem is that this should have been a movie. I see potential, especially, since the 1st episode started with comments about bad phone battery, and they tried to utilize those comments only in the last episode, where it did kind of work. Not ideal, but still.
If they went with approach similar to Statham's "Crank" from 2006 but more emotional, or recent "Mercy Road" but with more people - it could have been great. They do have fast dynamics after all, it's just that all the unnecessary and stupid fluff (which is "talked about", not so much "shown") just ruins it.
But we have what we have, and as is... It's not good. Soundtrack is still the best thing about it, and perhaps they should release is as a digital album.
Sweet Tooth (2021)
Got worse with every new season
As seems to be the unfortunate norm, this series got worse with every new season.
First one was amazing. It felt fresh. It was a fairy-tale, that was grounded, no magic, could be serious and somewhat deep, when it mattered. It looked really good, pacing was great, world-building was interesting enough to make you want more.
Second season diverged quite a bit, especially since it now not so much of a "travelling show", most of the season was happening in just a few places. It made total sense from narrative perspective, and it was still working on building the world, even though the pacing became worse, and overall it became a bit more predictable.
Third season is mostly a rushed mess, though. It's too flat and one-dimensional, it's too... Childish? Yes, it's not like people started throwing fireballs or anything, but it felt like the core of the story became magical, which made little to no sense to me and felt like a way to quickly wrap up the show rather than make a good story.
So, my recommendation is to watch 1st season, maybe 2nd one, but skip the 3rd one.
Interview with the Vampire (2022)
Good
It is quite good. I have not read the original book, and I barely remember the movie (not even sure I watched it fully even), but I definitely enjoyed the show. The characters were complex enough, and they were being properly developed and expanded upon through-out the show. The story was intriguing overall, too.
In fact, I think the story is the main dish here, and it makes sense, why the original book became so important. I mean, it's not so much about vampires, as about emotions in general, and vampirism is more like a tool here to peek into (sometimes darker) depths of relationships.
The aesthetics are also quite good, and they mix with the story nicely. I like that there are quite a few "dirty frames" in the show, too, since they make the scene more believable, if not necessarily relatable. Certain theme may be a turn off for some, so I may not be able to recommend it everyone, but if you are ok with that theme (we all know what I mean, right?) - this show is definitely worth a try.
Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka (2023)
Disappointed
It's gonna be an unpopular opinion. Or so I thought, but reading some reviews, maybe not as unpopular as I expected. In short - it's just not that good.
Yes, the art is great. It reminded me of how I was watching all Ghibli's movies like 5-6 years ago and they did not feel outdated by any means. The style and general approach to art allowed those movies to age quite nicely, unlike some other old movies or shows. It looks unique, somewhat catchy even, and generally is a pleasure to watch, especially fluidity in certain scenes. But that's all there is here, just the view.
Ok, maybe not the only thing: the story does have a nice structure to it. Probably nothing special, and I would say there have been other stories with similar structure, but still. I was surprised, that it reminded me of one of the unfinished (and unpublished) stories, that I have called "Ira", even though it has a much darker tone and has spiders instead of birds. The problem is, that the story being told is... Shallow.
Don't get me wrong, I think I get the overall message(s): accept loss, accept new people, accept change, accept challenge... But there was little to no substance backing up these things. There was nothing behind any character besides the surface-level masks their showed. Besides maybe Heron, but that's more because of how chaotic he was. Which was part of the issue: his motivation are really ambiguous. Everyone's motivations are ambiguous.
I understand that this is a "weird" world, it does not have to follow our normal rules, but it does not mean it should not have some rules, that can make sense in the context of that world, whether the rules are forced or not. But things are happening because a writer told them to happen, not because there are rules. We are suggested to just accept everything because "it's magic". It might have worked in "Spirited Away", for example, but that world also had clear-cut rules, even though we were seeing just a small portion of it.
Till the very last scene I was hoping to see something "special", but I did not. And the ending fell completely flat for me. I think it would have been way better if everything turned out to be a mid-summer dream, or something that would have been questioned as a potential dream. Kind of like "Alice in Wonderland", where Alice also came to an insane world (still with rules), and then grew through her encounters to wake up a better person (regardless of whether it was a dream or not).
Instead the ending felt as if the deadline approached suddenly, and there was just no time to do something better. I felt like I wasted 2 hours of my life, and I would recommend you not to repeat my mistake.
Eric (2024)
False advertisement
I am conflicted. It's not a bad show, but I feel like it's been misleading in its advertisement, at least. When I read the premise, I expected something like a look back at father-and-son bonding experience, and the affect of separating the two due to cruel circumstances. But it does not really have much (if any) of that.
Other has pointed this out, that it tries to cover a lot of social issues. The issues covered are absolutely valid, they are important, and it may, indeed, be a good idea to cover them in a good show. But the way the show does it is very shallow and narrow. Even Vincent's mental illness (and anguish) is... Just too obscure, too wishy-washy and, in the end, somewhat pink-glassed. And Vincent's and Edgard's relationship is not described at all besides a few inconclusive scenes in 1st episode. I get it that lack of true connection between them could be the point, but it and both sides' reaction to it is just not believable. A short story "Father Dearest" I wrote a decade or so ago is about the same thing, and it is way more detailed and believable, and I am not a professional writer.
The second main storyline was way more interesting for me, because it was a detective work, and Ledroit felt way more human to me. It genuinely felt like he is an honest, but not perfect cop, that wants to really help the world. It might have been a bit cliched at times, but still good. It also worked nicely in terms of introducing little threads here and there and then converging them all at the end to show bigger picture. Predictable to an extent, but still good and satisfying.
But even this storyline, human connections felt... Underdeveloped. And this is the ultimate blow to this. The actors are amazing here, the way they bring the characters to life gives those characters weight, like there is a big background story behind each and every one of them. Those background stories are not tapped into, though. I get it, that in some cases it's done for the sake of "suspense" and mystery, and in some - to make things feel more "natural", but I feel, that if they stretched the show just for 1 or 2 more episodes by leveraging flashbacks, they could have enriched the characters and made them more relatable.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. You can definitely enjoy the show thanks to the actors, and you probably will be satisfied with the end of the investigation here, but the overall ending of the show will probably leave you somewhat empty.
Shogun (2024)
Great
I do not really have that much words about this: it's just a good show.
I have not read original book(s) and I saw some glimpses of the original show when I was like 5 or something, so only thing I really remember about it is "it was bright and colorful". Definitely not like this modern adaptation, which is dark both in terms of narrative, images and lighting. That "darkness" made the show feel "real".
I am not talking about the show (and books) being based on real life events, though. I am talking about the overall feel of the events and emotions portrayed by the characters and some sense... I do not know, fatalism? I wonder if this is just part of Japanese culture, though, since they do have a somewhat special view on death (and life). Mariko's character in last 2 episodes kind of cemented this feeling, and then a single phrase from Toronaga in the last episode made it monumental for me.
So I do recommend trying this show. It also has good soundtrack, and it is one of the few modern shows that embraces "dirty frame". I think my 2 main complains are that Blackthorne learnt Japanese a bit too quickly, or at least is shown understanding it way too often, and that there were places where people were supposed to be speaking Spanish (if I understood correctly), but English was spoken.
Suki demo kirai na amanojaku (2024)
Plain
It is plain. It is shallow and uninspiring. There is nothing unique in this movie, nothing that could really catch your attention and stay with you for a long while. It is almost formulaic. You won't see anything that can surprise you here, and there are maybe just a couple of shots that may potentially be exciting, but that's it.
Even one of the main cornerstones of the premise of the movie, Oni hiding for some reason, starts to fall apart quite early, falls apart even more once the "Hidden Village" is visited, and completely crumbles, with a single comment in the very end of the movie.
Yes, animation is good here, the art style is good, too, even though kind of boring, but it means nothing is story is not good. Don't get me wrong, it may be quite ok for children, but for me, who saw a lot of other movies and shows with similar idea, it's just boring. And it feels like, writers did not bother to even think through the world they are describing.
Knuckles (2024)
Should be a short movie
I agree with other reviewers, who say that this is kind of false advertisement. This show is, indeed, more about Wade, rather than Knuckles. Echidna is more like a McGuffin in this story, that prompts Wade to at least try to change. But who is really that interested in watching Wade? When the title does not even suggest his "importance"?
Don't get me wrong, the plotline of the show is still good overall. In a way a Christmas special would be. It's essentially about "physical does not matter", acceptance, and friendship. There are dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of stories, that have this moral, and are good, and it's popular for a reason.
But this show ain't good. There is no real chemistry between the characters and kind of flat. I mean, Knuckles is, essentially, Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, but way less complex and less funny. What made Drax a good character was also chemistry with his partners, but I do not see it between Knuckles and Wade. They feel forced.
Not as forced as the padding of the show. It should have been 1,5 hours at best. Most of the content here is absolutely useless. And if it was shorter it would have been more tolerable, because there would have been more Knuckles, who is supposed to be the main attraction, after all. As is though - at best it's an ok white-noise.
Dead Boy Detectives (2024)
Meh
It's not bad per say, but it just does not seem to have anything truly eye-catching. Or "mind-catching" if you will. We've seen dozens of supernatural detective shows, so obviously it's difficult to bring something fresh into the genre. The original, at least, had the of the boys being... Well, you know, boys. At least, in my understanding they were in early teens, but now we have another interpretation, where they are more like young adults.
In Doom Patrol one would not care really, since it was a cameo, but in a standalone show... I would prefer to rewatch The Dresden Files, because it had a charismatic character. Or first season of The Hardy Boys (maybe 2nd one, too), since it did have good detective plot with magic being secondary. Or Locke & Key - at least, it has an interesting magic concept, even though it does become a "overly positive" story at some point. This one... I guess they want to win people over by being British? If that's the case, I would better rewatch Being Human. Or Torchwood. Or Sherlock. Anything really.
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024)
Only aesthetics again
I think this is at least 3rd series in a row for me, that has nothing but aesthetics. The other recent ones were Fallout and Ripley. As with them, I can't say anything bad about the aesthetics and general style: it does look like what I would expect from a fairy tale. But the essence of the fairy tale does include the "tale" part.
It's just boring. Completely unremarkable, with quite a few moments ruined by telling things, rather then showing them. For example, pretty early in the show there is this moment, where Ogre (or whatever he really is) is trying to manage his temptation to eat a human. Most of the scene it's the girl (whoever she is) literally saying "Are you not hungry?". A good narrative would show a trembling hand trying to reach out to doorknob, but stopping (o being stopped by the other hand), or showing some more emotions, including hunger, on the face of the character (licking lips, salivating, clenching the jaw).
But alas, we have another case where book is transferred to screen in a literal manner, forgetting the whole point of such an adaptation. In a book you have to spell everything out, because you can't show things, since you can only rely on text and reader's imagination, which is dependent on how much details you provide. But on screen, you can not only tell things (which uses hearing), but also show things (which uses eyes - the main consumer of TV shows). Why modern shows has forgotten the art of visual story-telling is beyond me.
Fallout (2024)
Meh
I guess reviews for the show are written by die-hard fans. Or maybe people now ready to eat-up whatever content, they can get, that looks good. I mean it, the show does look great. It gets post-apocalyptic aesthetics to the T, and is filled with little details that are capable to tell a story of their own. In a game this would be a real achievement, and it was: even though I never got into Fallout series, I can admit, that it had high detalization of the world through-out. At least in the main series games, that I did try.
But even for a game it's not enough: you need a good story, and good gameplay there, too. I never liked the gameplay part of the series, it just did not click with me unlike The Elder Scrolls, but TV shows don't need to bother with that. TV show creators' job is much easier then, right?
In my opinion, these TV show creators fail at their job. I often complain about series, that have too much talking without using visual to tell the story. This one is the reverse: there is too little of talking, or at least of talking that would develop character, world of move plot along. Some reviewers did notice this as well, pointing out, that it feels like screenwriters were writing for a game, and for TV.
If this was a short movie, this might have been fine, but for TV show - not so much. For me it was boring. Only the first part of the 1st episode was somewhat interesting to me. It was a cliche, but still a good starting point for a story: a sheltered society gets raided, and that forces a character (or characters) to go outside of that society and learn about the world. But then we switch to part of that outside world, and it's not as interesting.
It's not just Brotherhood of Steel, but the outside world in general. The creators are trying too hard to make it look "uncivilized" or "militaristic" or "sterile" or just "weird", and as result it all feels forced. As if they had a list of things to show, and they progressed through the story by checking items off that list.
At the least, I think they should have used just 1 main plotline with the girl leaving shelter. It could have become a travel-show with fish-out-of-the-water theme, and each episode could have explored all the weirdness of this strange world, while the girl was moving forward. You know, a bit like The 10th Kingdom back from 2000, but post-nuclear. Alas, we have what we have. As is, I would rather rewatch Silo. It was not a perfect show, but it was much more interesting to me.
Ripley (2024)
It has style
The show definitely has style. I am not talking just about the black-n-white film, which some may consider to be enough to call a media "art house". Camera work, decorations and costumes. They seem to present the era nicely and give this... "Vibe", I guess. It somehow feels realistic, even though it probably is not, if you look closer.
Unfortunately, for me, that's all there is. I did not get a connection with any of the characters showed in the first episode, and for the most part I was wondering "what is this show really about?". I get it, that it's a slow-burn, that does work in some shows and movies, but I am not sure it works here, especially, since the show is about a conman.
I am not saying it should be running at a much higher pace, essentially turning into a short movie, no. But there are just so many shots, that do not enrich the story in any way, let alone move it forward. They look amazing, yes, but from narrative perspective they are mostly pointless.
Sugar (2024)
Strange hype
I see a lot of good reviews giving it 8/10, but I do not see much reason for praise. The show definitely has some interesting "vibe" to it, that people can like, for sure, and the style overall is not bad. But what about the story? Or maybe not so much the story, which is somewhat classical for a "noir detective" genre, but the narrative. It feels... Disjointed? There are these weird cuts here and there, including flashbacks, and Sugar himself often seems to be doing things that feel out of place and strange. Maybe there is some plot that will explain everything in next several episode (or even during the last episode of the show), but I just do not feel it. And I was just plain bored watching the 1st episode. But probably just me.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Uneven
I share the notion with some other reviews, that this show is a bit uneven. I have not read the book, but the 1st episode hooked me good. Good pacing, good mystery, good science-fiction, feeling of something big and important going on. Just perfect. But soon other aspects of the show started appearing, and it became... Not bad, but probably not as good.
It, actually, kind of reminds me of Dune, and what made Dune so difficult to adapt to screen, with politics being the main problem. There are quite a lot of politics here. They do make total sense in the context of the show, especially as more information is revealed later on, but they can still be a bit boring. And sometimes on the nose.
Another problem is that I just don't believe these characters are scientists. Especially, when a cult comes into play (let me phrase it this way to avoid spoilers). I may entertain the idea, that they are smart, but that they are scientists? I don't know, they do not match the pattern that I've seen among a few real scientists, that I've known during my higher education. In fact, I would say that it is difficult for me to buy whatever occupation is for most of the characters in the show, besides, maybe the teacher guy. They do not feel "human" enough, I guess.
Nevertheless, this was overall a good watch for me. Can't say I will recommend it to everyone, but I can definitely recommend trying it, while keeping in mind, that this is partially like a prologue, based on certain things happening in the end. I expect, that things can get closer to what was happening during 1st episode.
Renegade Nell (2024)
Bland
Characters here feel quite bland, and I think I can already predict some "plot twists" down the line. Even though, at this point the story does not really know where it goes.
But let's start with the characters. They are completely uninteresting and villains are cliched. The latter part could be tolerable, if the main character was unique, but... She's not. It is obvious, that creators wanted to show "a strong woman", but not only did they go for a literal definition, but they make her strong only if a magic bug flies into her mouth. And there permanently, and takes a couple of seconds to get inside, too (which, actually, can be an interesting "flaw" of the power).
Problem is, Nell is completely average without that bug. There is nothing outstanding about her. And I am not saying she needs to be "special", but she needs to have some character. For some reason I was reminded about Aladdin while watching this, and Aladdin had character even before the lamp. He was not just a thief, but one with conscious, and desire to help others. It was shown pretty early in the story (and probably most adaptations, including Disney's). Nell, on the other hand, tries to act spunky and sometimes cocky even, but... Only because she felt a surge of power. Again, not a bad thing by itself (Spider-Man, anyone?), but she is not showing any level of humility, even though the times, in which the show is set kind of demand it.
Speaking of times: this show is promoted as "historical fiction". The "fiction" is a given, considering magical bugs (ok, inclusive fairies), but "historic"... It's supposed to be 18th century, England, right? Well, I was not entirely sure, so googled this: black men were in services and usually as slaves at the times. I am pretty sure, that I saw a few "nobles" in this show, who were black men. This alone means that this will not be historically accurate to the society of that time. Maybe beside clothes and (sometimes forced) "lower standing" of women.
But again, this can be more "fiction", than "historic", and it has good sounding pirate-like tunes, so maybe the story can somehow redeem itself? Yeah, unlikely. The bug seems to not even know, why he is protecting Nell, and I am pretty sure he is, actually, supposed to be protecting Roxy, cause that girl has the most character (and character development) than anyone. It will also turn out, that the black "nobleman" is part of some secret order, that has plotted all this in one way or another. But what's most obvious: Sofia, sister of "the villain" will rebel against her brother and join the good course, but then will also forgive him, because he was actually manipulated and hypnotized and all that.
So... I do not know. This is just... Uninspiring. It may be good for providing you some background noise, but other than that, I'd suggest to skip it.
Constellation (2024)
Better than "Das Signal"
This is definitely better than "Das Signal", which is also about a woman returning from space, and "things going awry" for her husband and daughter. At the very least it does not jump from one conspiracy theory to another.
No, instead this is a proper psychological thriller. Or, at least, it's trying to be. I think it does very well with overall atmosphere, with all the uncertainty, until it get to a point, where certainty is established. After that point it's still psychological, but probably not much of a thriller.
Despite that, the last episode was bringing me very close to tears. It was a very bitter and sad finale, that expressed very well the feeling of "no one believes me, but I don't have strength left to fight for truth". It hit close to home, and it may be familiar to quite a few people, who were telling something they knew to be truth, when they were kids, but no one, even their own parents believed them, and they had to push it down.
If this was the goal of the show - they definitely succeeded. On the other hand, I do share sentiment from some other reviewer: this probably could have been shorter. I would not go as far as to say it boring at times, no, but episode 7 (and maybe part of episode 6) did repeat quite a few things that we saw back in episode 1, since those things turned out to be flash-forwards. Which is not necessarily bad by itself, but the way it was stretched out, though - it did diminish the pressure of the story.
Still, a good watch. Has promise for potential 2nd season, but not sure we need one, because it probably would go a very different direction, considering how this one ended. I am afraid that direction may become somewhat generic.
Ark: The Animated Series (2024)
Meh
At the time of writing, IMDB has only 3 reviews: 2 are 10/10 praising everything, and 1 is 1/10 with complains based mostly on the perceived show's agenda. I would say the latter is a bit more honest, although main character being a lesbian woman of color is definitely not something that detracts anything from this show. I would even say, that inclusivity in this scope was done right: it's simply neither here, nor their, which is the whole point of inclusivity, in my opinion.
The show has quite a few problems, that may not necessarily be because of the agenda, although I do see, why it may feel that that's the root cause. For example, that 1/10 review complained about white men being shown as villains. That is somewhat true: in the 1st episode we see, I think, 4 men, if counting those with lines, and 2 of them are definitely villains, with a goal to conquer. But you need to keep in mind, that they are from times and places, where this was kind of normal, especially, when talking about the Roman guy. Roman Empire would not be as big as it got to be, if there were no people like that.
The problem with these characters is that they are... Flat. It does not look like they have anything to them besides desire to conquer and dominate, and the desire is there just because, and not because of some deep reason. In fact, the Roman guy is also shown relatively stupid (albeit not a complete idiot), which kind of contradicts an image of an actual Roman conqueror. Those were smart, arguably had more smarts than brawn, often time resorting to politics rather than actual war, despite what Hollywood wants us to believe.
There was also a kid, which did not mean much, and a soldier from 1944. The soldier seemed to be the most interesting character, to be honest, because he was shown first as somewhat rude, but then also not as avert to kindness, too. I mean, he did try to help the girl, too, although did not get a chance to do that properly, partially to the fault of that girl.
That's where I do agree, that modern agenda may be taking over a bit. Not because strong female leads are bad, no, because this particular character just does not make sense. She tried to off herself, before she appeared on the island. She had no idea, what happened, where she was, what were the rules of this new world... Nothing. She sees a human, and the first thing she does is give him attitude towards his joke (or probably half-joke).
But maybe this was first reaction, due to stress? No, not really. She was giving attitude to everyone. Instead of being weary of people riding dinosaurs and shooting arrows, she behaved... Almost cocky. And she even tried to "poison" her captor right away, in order to run away, because... She likes dinosaurs.
Like, really, that's her main characteristic. The main thing, that in the end makes her say "I will survive", even though she intentionally took too many pills before this. I was a fan of dinosaurs when I was a kid, and I would be fascinated to see them up-close, but in her situation, I (and probably most humans) would first think of how to survive. And not try to domesticate creatures around me. Which, by the way, is not how things work. A wounded animal will not bond on you just because you pulled out an arrow out of its side. It will definitely not run back to you, while you're in a place with dangerous predators.
It's not just unrealistic behavior of both humans and animals, that makes this show mostly bad. It's pacing is all over the place: it started really fast, but then it slowed down to almost a crawl, and then suddenly became fast again, when it was a great time to give some more exposition. I guess creators wanted it to feel "edgy". Animation is also inconsistent in quality, relying heavily on blur in certain shots.
The storytelling is bad, too. It relies heavily on flashbacks, which are thrown into us in small chunks every few minutes of the episode. It would have made way more sense to show all those flashbacks in the beginning of the episode, all in one chunk, and then start the island story-arc. Something that's been proven to work time and time again with lots of isekai stories. This could have allowed for proper pacing, too.
In the end, I do not recommend this to anyone, really. Unless, maybe you want something running in the background, or you find main character so hot, you just can't resist. I get that, but for me it's not enough. I have lots of other stuff to check out.
Das Signal (2024)
It went nowhere
In the end it went nowhere. The whole 4 episodes are, essentially, about how the creators of the show pick up an idea, juggle it for a couple of minutes and then replace it with another idea, as if it's a brand new and shiny toy.
There were psychological thriller elements, there were potential aliens, there were multiple multi-layered conspiracies, there were potential outsiders, that may know stuff that would click with the knowledge main characters have... They even had something that looked like a cult. Oh, and yeah, the main premise had a "mysteriously missing airplane".
None of that led to anything, and was ruined by the ending. I won't spoil it, but it just did not fit. If I strip away all the nonsense mentioned above, and leave only main premise and the ending - there is potential for a good story in-between. Even with several good "messages". But all this jumping from idea to idea without even providing proper closure to any of them simply destroyed all suspense of disbelief.
There was so much potential. Actors were quite good (except places, where the girl was not able to chose whether she can lip-read or not in the last episode), it was atmospheric, and well shot. But that's not enough for a sci-fi show. The story is king, and here it's a very poor king.
A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022)
Good
This is definitely an experience.
I probably have the same complaints about this one, as about the original game. It sometimes introduces mechanics that seem like one-offs, and potentially could be a cinematic instead, and some dialogues (mostly secondary ones) feel a bit rushed or shallow. But, boy, does it delivery on the narrative overall...
It's the little things here and there. Some small comments, small interactions, not necessarily from Alecia or Hugo, too. They make things feel... More real. There is proper character progression for most characters here. It's not always perfect, but it is there and it makes sense. Anger, desperation, abandon, relief and even fleeting happiness. They just work. We probably should have spent a bit more time with some characters (beside Sophia) for the connections to feel more solid, but objectively they were secondary to Alecia's and Hugo's relationship.
Gameplay wise this also seems like an overall improvement on what was provided in previous game. I would say there is no drastic changes, and additions are rather minor overall, but they all fit quite nicely and give you enough flexibility and challenge. There was also this "open-world-like" section, and it worked quite well, aside from the fact that you had to walk a lot. They also could have merged chapters 14 to 17 into 1, because individually they were much shorter than the rest, and it felt off to me.
Not sure if it's really worth it to replay it even with NG+ mode, unless you just want to try a higher difficulty, but its 16-20 hours are definitely worth the (full) price.
Argylle (2024)
False advertisement
I would not say it's bad, but I would not say it's good either. It is mostly forgettable, but aside from that I see 2 main issues, that kind of ruin it.
First one is somewhat simple: false advertisement. The ads, that I've seen suggested heavily that Henry Cavill plays a main role in the movie, but... He's not. In the end he is more of a side character and a "gateway" to inter-franchise thing they are planning. So if you went in for him specifically - you probably will be disappointed. I do understand, that doing it differently might have been difficult because of certain plot twists, but I am sure there was a way. Unless I greatly misremember the ads, that is.
Second thing is a bit more complex: the movie does not really know what it wants to be. At first it starts as a clash of ideas of a spy from a novel and a real spy. That part was quite enjoyable, really, although, personally I would have doubled down on the "real" aspects, to show even more how reality is more cruel, dirty and generally not idealistic. But the level that they did was kind of fine, too.
But the real problem is that they abandoned that idea relatively quickly, which started the next portion of the movie. It became the "spy novel" thing all the way. But not really all the way. It felt like they were trying to keep it real, until they dropped that as well with some serious plot holes (even for a spy novel, like the "server authentication" thing).
Closer to the last 4th of the movie they seem to realize that and start going more into the "stylish" aspects of proper spy movies, but it feels a bit forced and all over the place. There was the scene with smoke of multiple colors, which I liked, since it looked really cool. But later they also had a... "Oil skating" scene? I think it did not fit not only the earlier "pseudo-realistic" approach, but also the wacky spy action approach.
I am also not sure I see Bryce Dallas Howard in her role. It won't be much of a spoiler, I think, but she kind of "becomes a spy" at some point. They even gave her a make over, with blonde hair and weird make up, which was really bad, and did not suit her at all. And she just did not fit that role. The clumsy novelist - perfect match. A spy - no. I was reminded of her role in "Jurassic World" franchise, where her character did not make sense most of the time because of all goofiness, and she just did not connect with me.
Still, as I said, it was not necessarily "bad". I can totally see it as a one evening movie, that you watch and forget right after. Probably would have been better if it was at least 30 minutes shorter, but we have what we have. Just don't go in expecting much from it.
Poor Things (2023)
Somewhere in the middle
Initially, I got a feeling, that it's successor to Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog". I mean, the premise is somewhat similar here, in a sense that we also have a human being, that appeared thanks to a scientific experiment, and we are meant to see the world presented through the eyes of that experiment. Even some scenes in the very beginning were very reminiscent of what you can see in Vladimir Bortko's adaptation of Bulgakov's work. But the comparison does not go further.
Bulgakov's work was more... Subtle, more elegant, even though it also could be quite vulgar at times. It was also more multi-faceted, unlike "Poor Things" that has a very large focus on sexual relationship. That's an important topic, especially considering, how polarized society can be about women's sexual behavior, but still hardly the only topic you can (and should) explore in such a story. Granted, other topics are also touched here, but they seem even less than secondary.
"Heart of a Dog" was also way more than just "weird" (which was rather rare, really). It simply was way more funny, satirical, since it was using various humorous instruments in the narrative. "Poor Things" is mostly a one-trick pony in that regard: just apply a logic of complete disregard for self and/or society's norms. It does work in some cases, but for me it was mostly like "ok, so this is supposed to be funny, but it's not really that funny".
Of course, one could say, that the movie is not supposed to be funny, but it is rather supposed to make us think deep thoughts... But is it? It does not really go that deep. Yes, I can see the places, where it could be through-provoking, but the narrative is still surface-level, if not to say superficial. Maybe if it was a TV show with like 12 hour-long episodes, it could get deeper into topics and become sort of "Black Mirror", but we have what we have.
From cinematography standpoint it is good. It definitely will be not to everyone's taste, since it can feel really weird. I was reminded of "Clockwork Orange" more than once. Lack of music in certain scenes also added to the general atmosphere of weirdness. Actors were great, too, something tells me filming certain scenes might have been quite fun for them. It is generally a very art-housy movie. My only complain in this regard would be the black-and-white earlier in the movie, because it felt inconsistent, when they switched to colors briefly multiple times, before full switch.
Dune: Part One (2021)
You need a mood
This movie once again proved to me, that sometimes you need to be in a certain mood or even state of mind to appreciate certain art.
When i first tried watching it soon after it became available digitally, I found it boring, and was barely able to get through 20 minutes. That impression was not necessarily wrong, though. Even compared to David Lynch's adaptation, it felt slow, and if you compare it with John Harrison's TV series it was almost static. I was not alone feeling this way, too: I heard similar sentiment from people in my circles, and found quite a few reviews saying the same, too.
But in light of the 2nd part coming out, I decided to give it another try, and... I liked it. I would still consider it a bit overhyped, but it still was quite good. I think what changed was my state of mind: due to various events in my life, I've been feeling "small", and what Denis Villeneuve' adaptation is really good at is providing sense of scale. Something, that I think the other adaptations failed at, for the most part.
Lynch went in for "the weird", especially if you look at Harkonnen men: even people who did not watch the movie have seen memes with Feyd-Rautha and Baron. Harrison, I think, was a bit more religious. He was a bit closer to the sense of "fate" from the book, but it was somewhat one-sided and mostly "contained".
What made Paul's story impactful, for me at least, was not the he saw the future and tried to change it or even the way he behaved in general. It was the fact, that he felt as if he was being crushed by all of the responsibility falling on him and his kin. Those who read past the first book will understand what I mean.
This new adaptation delivers that almost to a T. In quite a few scenes you can see glimpses of hesitance, reluctance, despite a seemingly brave front. He feels... More human, I guess. It resonates with my own feelings: I am scared, but I know, that there are things that I need to do, no matter how scared I am of the world consuming me. The only moment that I did not like was when Paul mentioned his father's death: it was too emotional, when in the book there is a specific very vulnerable and powerful moment related to mourning much, much later.
Aside from that personal resonance, it is quite a good movie by itself. It's a a breath of fresh air even, considering how different it is from the overly "clean" shows. It feels very close to original, even though there were some little (and not so little) changes here and there, and it feels... "Grounded". You can believe what's happening on screen and relate to it to an extent, despite it being a fiction.
Definitely want to see 2nd part, and hope, that it won't stop there: I would love to see God Emperor adapted as well, because it affected me even more than the first book. But something tells me it may leave out certain sensitive topics.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series (2023)
Stiff
The game felt stiff. Not just the characters and their animation, but overall. I mean, in the first 20 minutes (maybe even less) you see multiple characters, but they do not feel distinct at all, and feel like robots, even when they try to joke. What's worse, the story they are trying to follow is just... Boring. I did not get into the original show, because I felt like it had too much politics than anything else, but at least the first episode grabbed my attention for some time.
In the game, though... It's just too slow. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it makes sense to have a slow start, nothing wrong with that, but here it feels too tedious. What adds to that is how empty and sterile everything feels. As if there are no real details. Maybe it is because it is space (although the show had much more clutter around), maybe it's because the art is not using cell-shaind that worked great for previous Telltale games, but it just feels too clean, like most modern movies.
Even the gameplay feels worse. Seems like you only get 2 choices for everything, and they seem to have even less meaning than in other games. But the the way how character movement feels is extremely outdated. It reminded me of "Dreamfall: The Longest Journey", but that's a game from back in 2006, it was low-budget and still felt much better.
I guess I just expected too much. I liked most of the Telltale games, even Jurassic Park one, which a lot of people disliked. I knew they were far from perfect, but the writing was generally good, the story grabbed you and did not let go till the end. They were exciting. But not this one. Or maybe I got spoiled by all "Life is Strange" games.
Evil West (2022)
Needs more attention
This game definitely needs more attention, than it's been getting since release. Don't get me wrong, it's not "best game ever" and it's never been "game of the year" candidate. But it's a really solid B-Game. You know, like B-Movie, but a game.
The story is... There. It's ok, do not expect any plot twists here, characters are flat and, to an extent, stereotypical. Main villain is just a brat and is just annoying. The lore, though, seems interesting by itself, I would not mind exploring some proper RPG in this world, and the fact that it's also a western with vampires - it just adds more to it. But it is more about experience, I think. It is extremely linear, but environments do feel relatively unique, and they do present quite a few moments, that just feel good.
What is really worthy in this game is combat. Yes, it's not Devil May Cry, not even by a longshot. But it does involve juggling between melee combat and several types of range weapons. What's more it feels satisfying. Like there is this "oomph" to your actions. You also feel a bit more vulnerable than Dante or Nero, so you may want to be a bit more strategic.
It does have a few issues. Bugs with some achievements (I had one), low-resolution models inside the game (when you look at your character or weapons), periodic dips in performance... The switching between weapons is also kind of inconsistent: in some cases press of a button switches between several weapons, in some you literally "equip" a weapon, in some you just press a different button. You do get used to that, but something tells me it could have been done better, still.
Overall, I am not sure if this game is worth replaying with its New Game+ mode, but as a one-time fun experience - definitely worth the time. Probably, at a discount in terms of price, though.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
Something felt off
I watched the 1st episode yesterday and something felt off the whole time. I could not put my finger on it, but interestingly, I was able to understand what after I watched "Enter Magneto" episode form X-Men animated series from the 90s. There are 2 main things, that I feel "wrong".
First thing is that there is a lot of talking for the sake of telling things. X-Men from the 90s is dated, for sure, but even that series used little things to tell you more about characters, their emotions, about the world and its rules. Facial expressions are the obvious things: they were exaggerated to make them more obvious due to limitation of the medium, but they worked. In "Enter Magneto" Beast is in prison and his intent to stay there is clear way before he actually voices it to Magneto.
In the new Avatar? We had something like a 2 minute rant from Aang about how he does not want to be an avatar. His emotions on the matter are clear and understandable, when said out loud, but... There was not that much things shown to really make them believable, to make them have weight. I may be misremembering original show here, but I believe we saw way more little things showing how "connected" Aang was to his tribe, how happy he was with it, and... That he was still a child. Original also showed us the guilt that Aang had after learning about genocide, while new adaptation seemingly brushed it off.
Second thing is that it's... Too clean. And this is true not only for this show, but for a lot shows and movies in recent decade or so. There is even a good YouTube video about how recent media is too "clean". There is practically no dirt or dust or blood or debris anywhere. Everything is just picture perfect, and to me that ruins the immersion.
With animation lack of details is understandable: there is a lot of manual work going into each frame even with modern technology, and bringing in the imperfections "the right way" is difficult. It is definitely possible ("Invincible" adaptation is good at that), but difficult and we understand it almost intuitively, so it does not ruin suspense of disbelief, when we see it. But with live action? Dirtying clothes or skin should not be that difficult, and it can make it more realistic and relatable.
There are some other minor things, too. For example, wind does not look as exciting here, simply because it's not as visible. It looks like dust magic rather than wind. They also re-ordered certain things. Not in terms of chronology, but in terms of when a thing is told to the viewers. It does not necessarily make things worse, but it does not bring anything either.
This brings me to a thought, that we need to stop with adaptations for the sake of adaptation. When you adapt a story from one media into another you need to elevate it in some way. You can criticize, say, "Attack on Titan", "My Hero Academia" or "Demon Slayer" anime adaptations for quite a few things, but what they did really good, and what really hooked lots of people was that they elevated the respective manga. These adaptations utilized the technics of the new media to make things look exciting, to increase your heartrate, when you see something truly insane.
But what has new Avatar brought compared to original? Special effects? I mean, they are not bad, but original show was not about magic, really. Magic was just part of the setting, a tool. Did it bring stellar performance from actors? Yes, it may be to premature to judge based on 1 episode, but I would say no. To be honest, I disagree with majority on "how good the casting is". I think only uncle Iroh felt good, but others - kind of "meh". Even Gran-Gran looked as if it was a young woman who was aged with make-up.
So no, I do not think this is a good adaptation, that everyone was expecting to get. Good thing, that I did not have expectations for it.