soranamicooper

If you want to be moved and pulled about emotionally, there's plenty here. It repeatedly delivers painful, heart-aching moments, almost to the point where this viewer considered discontinuing to avoid the unbearable tragedy of it all, but it was just too compelling. And there are plenty of funny moments too. The first few episodes were very taut and you build up a love for each character and root for them. Some flabbiness and repetitiveness did creep in from about half way through and I watched the last few episodes with somewhat less compulsion, but with enough interest to see it through nonetheless. (As is so often the case with these multi-part series, the story could be told more concisely, perhaps in half a dozen episodes rather than ten.) But overall, it was a great ride, with quality writing, direction, production and some great performances. I'll definitely look out for more from those involved here.

Some decent cinematography and actors all do fine, which is some feat given the dross of a story they have to tell. The plot is woeful, with a lack of cohesion - looks like it was written on the back of a fag packet after a few too many wines by some duff without much imagination, then turned into a film by others who have little respect for audience. Just throw together a few good looking folks and a few stereotypical sci-fi monsters, have a few high energy chase and fight scenes, and there you go, that's a movie. No need to worry about plot, character development or things making any kind of sense. There just doesn't seem to be any good reason for so many things that happen. The entire premise of the film lacks clarity, such that someone has to appear late on and explain the whole premise in a little monologue, which is always a bad sign, as if the writers are admitting they don't know how to tell a coherent story through the medium of cinema. While that tactic works fine to tie up any loose ends in an episode of Scooby-doo, here it just raises more unanswered questions and does little to help make sense of this movie or understand its purpose. I very seldom give such low scores but I don't feel I can justify going above 2 in this case.

Getting your comeuppance? The past coming back to haunt you? Never give in and go get revenge on those that wronged you? Fair enough as the drivers of a story, I guess, if it makes for an interesting and believable tale. This one starts with a fair bit of intrigue, as a mature conman seeks to exploit his newly hooked online date, but then turns rather fanciful as the story opens out beyond the here and now. The big back story could have served as a focus in its own right - there's certainly enough material there for a good yarn. Instead, its inclusion is merely to provide justification for an elaborate revenge trick. There are twists and revelations aplenty but also quite a few lazy coincidences and scenes which rob it of any real credibility, and as soon as that goes, you're outside the story just looking at a bunch of actors going through the motions. Don't get me wrong, these are great technicians and the direction just about keeps you watching, but in the absence of any inner conflicts even they struggle to imbue the protagonists with the requisite depth to make them interesting and rescue the naff, woolly plot line from ridicule. This happened, then that happened, but then blah-blah-blah, while all the time blah-blah-blah, so blah...you get the idea. The end (rather than the ending) is a relief. I can't justify having spent however long it is watching it last night but at least one redeeming feature is its forgettability so I shan't have to worry about that for long.