Expedition Happiness

I can not understand why would Netflix buy such a soulless movie that ends up with animal suffering.

I think these guys did a pretty good job with this movie . It is exactly what it was was set out to be - an invitation to see Canada and Mexico and whatever else in between, through their eyes and to accompany them on their journey . I didn't start watching this movie because I wanted to see a break though in cinema, I did it because I'm stuck in London at the moment and I'm craving for that wonderlust feeling of going and exploring places. That's what the poster sold and I bought it. I think they've accomplished exactly that to make you remember what life can be like on the road, or make you wonder if you've never done it before "could I pull this off? Sure as hell converting that bus looks like hard work.." If you're expecting "Into the wild" -don't! It's something else completely. it's been quite a few weeks since I watched it and I keep thinking back to those amazing shots from Alaska and the beautiful scenery from Canada. For that I will give them a 6. Just because it stuck with me and the soundtrack was good.

I think there are a lot of jealous people who wish they could have done this adventure. Who cares how they paid for the trip? Who cares if they didn't show every last problem they encountered? The filming was beautiful, the intensity of their experience was evident, and the original music incredible. The work they did on the bus was amazing, and I respect the hard choice at the end. Just enjoy the movie for what it is, a beautiful adventure, and quit whining about how you would do it.

I don't understand why Netflix bought documentary. This seems like it could have a been a simple forgettable 15 minutes video on YouTube that I would watch and never think of again, instead I've spent 90+ mins waiting for it to get better or at least validate me choosing to watch it, but it never got to that point.

The fact that they are not comfortable English speakers is obvious and a bit cringeworthy at times, but better filmmakers have overcome that fact. Maybe the German version is better. There is a no point/arc to this documentary, which would have been completely reasonable for a random YouTube travel video/vlog but I expect higher quality for something on Netflix. Like other reviewers, (I don't know how to explain this) they seem like the annoying rich kids that always seem to whine/complain instead of having a more "let's get this done attitude". It might be due editing. I think they were trying to portray a realistic part of travelling, where everything isn't perfect but that is not how it is seen, at least by me.

Even the one positive thing turns out to be not-so-positive. The music for the film is done by Selima and I like it, but it sounds like the same song being repeated for the whole movie. The music is such a cliche, the typical white girl in her 20's with an acoustic guitar strumming and singing slowly/gently. Coffee shops across the world are littered with type of music playing in the background. It's nothing special but not bad neither in a way that it doesn't annoy you.

Overall I would recommend potential viewers to skip this and search for something more interesting on YouTube when the itch to watch a travel video strikes you. If we were at the beginning stages of the self-made travel videos era, this might have been passable. But other self-made travel videos have set the bar so high now that the industry has had time to mature, (in my opinion) these two simply do not make the cut. The fact that it was 90+ mins and it was on Netflix, I expect at least something that was 7.5/10 but I can barely give this 4/10.

Their dog Rudi is 90% on a short leash, not able to run free and gets sick after spending too much time in the bus, which is kind of a analogy for the whole movie: boring and absolutely no depth, no real plot and no personality, you don't get to know the two protagonist at all plus amateur camera work, which makes it really long 2 hours but great soundtrack.