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Reviews
The Empress (2022)
Dramatically well-executed high-budget period piece
Without much prior knowledge about Sissi and the Austrian state of affairs in the middle of the 19th century, thus little understanding or need for historical accuracy, this series has a great casting, production design and, most importantly, storyline.
The directing is for the most part nuanced and exquisite. Especially the emotional state of Elizabeth ("Sissi") is captured pointedly by diverse and conscious camera movements, perspective, distance and editing.
From extreme close-ups to landscape shots, the well-picked cast knows how to express their emotions and lines through minor changes in eye-movement in extreme close-ups to big gestures. Overall, the cast encapsulates each of their roles quite well, from the boisterous Empress Elizabeth "Sissi" (Devrim Lingnau), the thoughtful Emperor Franz Joseph (Philip Froissant), his envious brother Maximilian (Johannes Nussbaum), stepmother Sophia (Melika Foroutan) to the revolutionary Leontine von Apafi (Almila Bagriacik).
Of course, not all acting was perfect. As usual in many German-speaking productions, some lines and emotions are "over-acted" which probably stems from theatre-acting, where emotions, rhetoric and non-verbal communication are usually exaggerated to reach the audience even in the last rows. This leads to some scenes or lines jumping from a polite and calm conversation to sudden outbursts of rage, which subside equally swiftly.
The Empress was for the most part spared from the most common weakness of high-budget productions: Weak storylines. Instead, The Empress is a slow-burn where most character actions and dramatic developments feel organic and create constant, yet growing suspense of what's happening next. The last, too-soon arriving 6th episode is a perfect culmination of each major character's storyline. Throughout the series there are multiple key conflicts both on a personal level and on a macro-level, involving major political events. This way, there is a refreshing amount of simultaneous developments that keep the viewer hooked. Add to this characters that are multidimensional for the most part and have both likeable and dislikeable sides, and you have a good mix of surprising new developments, while being compassionate for most characters and genuinely caring for their future.
The storyline has, of course, also room for improvement. The macro-scale gets generally less screen-time than the personal relationships and conflicts. The prospect of war, balancing of political interests and capital is only scratched on the surface to the points where it feels as if Emperor Franz wields in fact very little political power. In this respect, it's by no means comparable to political drama television series like Borgen or House of Cards. The political agenda and influence of Emperor Franz Joseph seems to only be the construction of a rail line or mobilization of troops. The repeated theme of the suffering Austrian-Hungarian-people is never addressed in detail. The revolutionary groups seem to have no constructive demands, other than killing all nobles, while Emperor Franz is unable to build a single rail line - which seems to be the only piece of his political agenda. Instead of covering a whole range of political issues, like famines, working conditions, democratic demands, industrialization, civil reforms or discrimination against minorities in the huge empire, the macro-conflicts focus entirely on a rail line and potential war with Russia over 6-hours of storyline.
This is nowhere as prevalent as with Elizabeth. She is very compassionate to the people of his empire and mentions in multiple instances how bad the living conditions are, making her a key identification figure for the viewer. Yet, until the very end, she does not have a concrete political vision and doesn't actively try to involve herself and advocate reforms. Her role and problems remain almost entirely on a personal and individual level. She feels entrapped and wants more freedom. She feels not always heard. She doesn't want to be treated like a child. But she doesn't use her relationships and influence, as her stepmother does, to solve the problems of the masses.
Next to this, the production design is on an extremely high-standard, especially the costume design. The intro is amazing and music perfectly fitting to the current emotional state of most scenes, while immersing the viewer in the time period and creating a unique atmosphere.
Skruk (2022)
Exceptional acting, perfect example of a slow burn
The main actress carries the series from start to finish on her shoulders and does it magnificently! The story takes some time to build momentum but creates a very unique, insightful and heartbreaking conflict between the love for a partner and love for a child.
I am only 19 years old and children are still beyond my horizon but this series gives a great glimpse into the (future) responsibility of parenthood and the difficult choices of women at the end of their 30s, early 40s, who have to decide if they want kids now or never. While I am slowly becoming a young adult this series helped me to understand where I am going to be in 20 years and make present and future decisions accordingly. While the decision of the protagonist to impregnate herself in the last 6 months of being fertile is reckles and morally wrong, the viewer can identify with her and understands her motivation fully.
The resolution of the conflict and collaps of her lies in the last two episodes were long coming. They offer a great opportunity for the protagonist to redeem herself, but also to show the dilemma she is in. Either way she could only lose. Just like most women she was looking for a partner while the clock of her body was clicking. So she had to either rely on fate and fortune to find a partner at the right time, or to take her fate in her own hands while risking the career of a friend and losing her true love.
The music is very subtle, yet fits the overall mood of the series and theme. The characters are believable and storyline builds steadily and slowly. The cinematography, lighting and mood is both scandinavian due to the subdued colors and intimate through the constant focus on the protagonist's struggle.
Dota: Dragon's Blood (2021)
Both season 1 and 2 convince on almost all fronts
Loved the storyline and characters from early on. I played Dota many years ago, so I had almost no prior knowledge of the characters and their background stories. But the series delivers perfectly. The characters are original, plausible motivs and complex struggles. The second season was very fast passed, so much so that I was somewhat lost in the storyline from time to time. But other than that, there was a perfect balance between action and plot progression. Looking very much forward to season 3 (lets hope for the best)!
The Witcher (2019)
Enticing Season 1: 8/10, disappointing Season 2: 4/10
The first season had a great setting, great character constellation, interesting conflicts and great world building. It really felt like the show would become big and step at least to some extend in the place of Game of Thrones. Sure the first season left room for improvement still, but the storylines made sense, were complex and had a coherent purpose. It was intelligently written and characters mostly followed a long-term character journey that was believable and fitted to the timelines of the other characters. The first season was impressive, exciting and I was genuinely looking forward to the next, hoping the exposition and slow pace would lead to an equally exciting season 2, where all three main characters would finally come together.
Boy was I disappointed when seeing the second season. The characters acted irrationally. The world lost almost all of its magic and there wasn't much new to learn. The conflicts where often artificial, unnecessary and short-lived. There was no coherent main theme or motivation for most characters. Their motifs were all over the place and often very volatile, while their perspectives, emotions and opinions ofthen made no sense, making it hard to relate. The focus was much more on political and strategic power dynamics. Only two problems:
1) Most actions made no sense and showed incompetence. Why did Yennefer decide not to kill the Nilfgaardian general and fled? How could she flee without powers if the whole purpose of the test is to catch and kill her if she is a traitor? Why did she have to prove her allegiance after killing the full enemy army on her own in the first place? Why did the blood of Ciri burn the face of this one women, ordering the fire mage to get Ciri? Why was there a fire mage in the first place, if the blood of Ciri isn't used until the very end? Why was Ciri trained only in physical training and refused to learn magic by the redheaded magician who was in love with Geralt? Why did Yennefer lose her power and had to sacrifice herself to get it back, instead of killing the monster? Why does one of the northern kings betray the other northern kings, who are the only allies, while fighting against Nilfgaard and the elfs? Why did the possessed Ciri create portals to monsters instead of opening a portal to her home sphere if all she wanted to do is go home? Why does Ciri want to free Geralt from Cintra if she doesn't know how to use her power?
2) No party, neither the north, the one northern king betraying the others, the mages, Nilfgaard, the fire mage or the elfs was in any way interesting. All were just bad in their own way, so I rooted for no one and was generally bored from the conflicts between the six. All those rivaling parties could just be one single kingdom trying to catch Ciri and it would've been equally interesting to me. They are all the same without much differentation or sympathy.
Superstore: All Sales Final (2021)
Shows really can feel like family
The ending of superstore was just what I was looking for. The closing of the store was plausible, yet heart-wrenching. I watched all seasons in a couple of weeks and really felt as part of the cloud 9 staff.
Especially small moments of great actor and charakter chemistry often gave me just the laugh and joyful excitemend I needed that day. I really chipped some relationships.
The characters all felt so real, quirky and relatable, which is why the ending made it really hard to believe they leave the store behind and go their own way.
The store really mattered to me when Dina and Glenn looked reminisciently at the empty aisles. I really felt their emotionas after experiencing all those crazy moments with the characters and their own, unusual struggles and conflicts.
To make Garrett speak from his heart at the very end and not just stop the announcement without much thought is also sooo relatable. He was always the cool guy. Acted even tough when others wanted him on the emaillist. But once he actually had to speak into the mic for the last time, which was always his job and role, he got sentimental and spoke for all right when it was the last time all employees where still together.
The job interviews really helped reiniscent and get a retrospect on the characters, where they were in the beginning of the series and where they are the end.
Sure, the series is not perfect. It's not a perfect, but a good series - for sure! And the ending really wrapped it up perfectly.
As another reviewer has written: As sad as the ending was, all characters ventured into a new chapter that felt plausible and well-deserved. Glenn is something of a symbol for this: Instead of retiring and giving up on working, he decided to start a fully new chapter with a new store from Sturgis & Sons.
Amy and Jonah truly fit together. They really had to get back together eventually. Especially the interview of Jonah felt so fitting to his character, showed how much he changed and gave the right context (working only 6 weeks at dozens of other jobs) to explain the decision to get together with Amy. There was something at Cloud 9 that made him stay for so long, even though the job was definetly not fitting to his character. He was not carved out for the job, but stayed still for someone in the team. Once Amy was gone, he started to interview for new jobs which luckily didn't work out. And once she was back, it would've been foolish not to get together with her.
Castlevania (2017)
Not much of an anime expert. But this show is outstanding!
I watched all four seasons on Netflix within 1 or 2 weeks and was truly captured by it at all times. Belmont and Belnades have a dynamic similiar to The Witcher, where the main lead is a cynical character engaging with a much more optimistic and emotional person. Especially the tripple with "The" Alucard is so wholesome.
Definenetly not for kids or parents. I was admittetly shocked sometimes by the graphics. But it fits perfectly into the general animation style, setting, storyline and overall target audience of the series. But the series is not just an adult series because of it's graphic. It is mature in general. Lovers love each other without childich or young adult drama of 'Do they like me? Should I tell her/him?'. Instead it's direct, honest, but also brutal. Especially the beginning of the fourth season makes you sad, almost cynical. The fighting and real-life struggle of the main characters pulls you down mentally. The relationships start to frickle. And just because of it, the series is much deeper and goes under the skin unlike most others.
The ending of season four was just perfect. Within all the death and brutality every storyline (namely Belmont/Belnades, Alucard, Hector/Lenore, Isaac) came to an end that was not always positive, yet made sense and completed the character arc. What I loved most? The characters. They felt so realistic and complex. You could at all times feel the love and friendships between the main characters. I rarely felt so happy or sad for the journey of a main role. And even the Antagonists changed and evolved throughout the series (like Isaac) in a way that made them much more memorable. Why not 10 out of 10? Because the action scenes where just a notch too repetetive. Of course that's what it's mostly about. And they were executed extremely well, with great animations, diverse weapon mechanics, environment physics and realistic power dynamics. Nonetheless, perhaps because there were so many, it got a little dull from time to time.
Shadow and Bone (2021)
Incredibly much production value invested in a terrible script.
I never read the books. But if the storyline is even nearly the same as in the series, I certainly never will.
In the second last episode, shortly before the resolution of the final conflict, I fell asleep. I am not kidding. I closed Netflix and took an afternoon nap. If this isn't a wonderful commentary about the story, than what is.
Until the end I never felt any dramatic tension building up. The characters are as flat and predictable as it gets. The problems and inner conflicts of the characters could be written by a 12 year old and were almost identical to 20+ other shows I have seen in the past years. But worst of all, the main character is at once naive, ignorant, immensely passive and incompetent.
She is the most powerful Magician in the world. But until the end she doesn't do anything with it other than going through dark tunnels, building a small shield and creating a small hole in the Fold to get through, just to have it closed once passed through. At one point, she even gets the amplifier that allows her to be even more powerful. But instead of fighting against the main villain who stands right in front of her, she surrenders herself. Just to agree later on by her own will, very much deliberately that she loses her powers and gives them away to the very same villain.
The last episode was probably the most cringe-worthy. The villain is defeated. But not through magic or even the main protagonist. Instead, while the main protagonist is unconscious, the villain fights with his bare hands against a human. Only to be dragged away and 'finished' by a monster. While everyone thinks he is dead, he has actually survived (to no one's suprise). And the Fold, the main problem created by the Magicians, making them object of hate ever since, stays put until the end. Even though the protagonist is at the right place, without anyone to bother her. And worst of all, with the amplifier within her body. She flees and hides. So why didn't she destroy it and ease all tension existing against her kind? Well, let's be ignorant and try it in a few decades whenever 'new alliances have been formed'... Alina could just be a stature or tool allowing magicians to summon the sun, and she would serve the exact same purposes she fulfilled throughout the whole show. There would be no genuine change to how the story unfolds and the ending that came with it. It's hilarious how an protagonist can be so boring.
My apologies to the fantastic costume designers, VFX artists and actors. Once again a story as badly as it gets, getting the funding as oversized as you can imagine.