whiterose-54828
Joined May 2016
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As a child of the 2000s I grew up watching the BBC and Impossible Pictures' "Walking with" series of natural history documentaries, chief among them Walking with Dinosaurs. So you can imagine my excitement when it was announced that Walking with Dinosaurs would be returning to our screens once more 25 years later. However, there's just one problem with this reboot and that is that this just isn't Walking with Dinosaurs.
While the original show focused entirely on the dinosaurs created with both (ground-breaking for the time) CGI and practical puppets/animatronics in real world locations, this show instead features short scenes of fully CGI dinosaurs intercut with very obviously staged and rather dull scenes of palaeontologists uncovering their remains in the present. Gone is the iconic voice of Kenneth Branagh, instead replaced as narrator by Bertie Carvel whose voice lacks the same gravitas that Branagh brought to the original. Also missing is Benjamin Bartlett's powerful score which elevated many of the original show's most memorable scenes, as well as the involvement of original creators Tim Haines and Jasper James.
It is unfortunate that the BBC decided to attach the Walking with Dinosaurs name to this rather different and honestly subpar dinosaur documentary instead of focusing their efforts on producing a true successor to the original show, bringing back the original creative team that made it so special.
While the original show focused entirely on the dinosaurs created with both (ground-breaking for the time) CGI and practical puppets/animatronics in real world locations, this show instead features short scenes of fully CGI dinosaurs intercut with very obviously staged and rather dull scenes of palaeontologists uncovering their remains in the present. Gone is the iconic voice of Kenneth Branagh, instead replaced as narrator by Bertie Carvel whose voice lacks the same gravitas that Branagh brought to the original. Also missing is Benjamin Bartlett's powerful score which elevated many of the original show's most memorable scenes, as well as the involvement of original creators Tim Haines and Jasper James.
It is unfortunate that the BBC decided to attach the Walking with Dinosaurs name to this rather different and honestly subpar dinosaur documentary instead of focusing their efforts on producing a true successor to the original show, bringing back the original creative team that made it so special.
Camp Camp is a show that I have loved since it first released in summer 2016 when I was in my late teens. With it's likeable characters, unique art style and fun humour, it was a constant source of entertainment for me through both good and bad times in my life. As you can imagine I was excited when I learned that there would be a fifth season of the show after a long hiatus and uncertainty over whether or not it would return but unfortunately after watching this first episode I was left disappointed.
First of all I should address the elephant in the room, the recasting of the main protagonist Max. Previously voiced by Michael Jones, Max is now voiced instead by Krishna Kumar. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself and to give credit where credit is due, Kumar clearly tried his best to replicate the voice Jones created for the character but this change of voice just does not work after four whole seasons with Jones as the voice of Max and is noticeable enough to be jarring. I would be more forgiving of this change if the original voice actor had passed away or was no longer able to voice the character but this is not the case here.
My other issue with the episode is the writing which feels bland and uninspired. Much of the charm and humour that made Camp Camp so great seems to be gone and most of the characters we have come to love come across as boring with little to do in this episode's plot. The new character CJ is a nice addition to the show and was probably one of the highlights of the episode with him delivering some of the few funny lines of dialogue.
It sadly seems that the show's animation quality has reduced with the animation in this episode feeling stiff. This combined with the fact this season will only have a meagre four episodes in total leads me to believe that the show is no longer receiving the same budget and care that it once had which is a great shame.
Overall a disappointing first episode for this new season of Camp Camp but I will continue to watch the other three in hopes of improvement and the show's continuation. No matter what happens though, I will always cherish the memories I have of this show's earlier seasons.
First of all I should address the elephant in the room, the recasting of the main protagonist Max. Previously voiced by Michael Jones, Max is now voiced instead by Krishna Kumar. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself and to give credit where credit is due, Kumar clearly tried his best to replicate the voice Jones created for the character but this change of voice just does not work after four whole seasons with Jones as the voice of Max and is noticeable enough to be jarring. I would be more forgiving of this change if the original voice actor had passed away or was no longer able to voice the character but this is not the case here.
My other issue with the episode is the writing which feels bland and uninspired. Much of the charm and humour that made Camp Camp so great seems to be gone and most of the characters we have come to love come across as boring with little to do in this episode's plot. The new character CJ is a nice addition to the show and was probably one of the highlights of the episode with him delivering some of the few funny lines of dialogue.
It sadly seems that the show's animation quality has reduced with the animation in this episode feeling stiff. This combined with the fact this season will only have a meagre four episodes in total leads me to believe that the show is no longer receiving the same budget and care that it once had which is a great shame.
Overall a disappointing first episode for this new season of Camp Camp but I will continue to watch the other three in hopes of improvement and the show's continuation. No matter what happens though, I will always cherish the memories I have of this show's earlier seasons.
Long before Alec Trevelyan, Boromir or Ned Stark it was the role of Richard Sharpe that made Sean Bean famous. In recent years Bean's portrayal of Sharpe has unfortunately been largely forgotten and overshadowed by his later roles which is unfortunate because it is arguably one of the greatest roles of his career.
Sharpe is based on the book series of the same name by Bernard Cornwell and just like the books, the show tells the story of the fictional working class British rifleman as he fights in the Napoleonic Wars, rising in the ranks and facing off against his prejudiced superiors.
Despite being produced on a 90s British TV budget, the show is beautifully shot on location in Ukraine and manages to feel cinematic in places, though if you're expecting to see epic large scale battles then you will be left disappointed.
Where the show really shines is in it's excellent cast of actors. In addition to Sean Bean as Sharpe, there is Daragh O'Malley as Sharpe's patriotic Irish right hand man Patrick Harper, Jason Salkey as well spoken bookworm Harris and John Tams as singing sharpshooter Hagman making up the supporting cast. The show also has a revolving guest cast of top tier British acting talent, some of whom were unknowns at the time but would later go on to have illustrious careers of their own, including Brian Cox, Daniel Craig, Pete Postlethwaite, Mark Strong, Philip Glenister, Douglas Henshall and Paul Bettany to name a few.
Some stories are noticeably weaker than others (most notably Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Gold) but overall Sharpe is a very strong series with great acting and writing despite the budgetary limitations of the time and is definitely worth checking out if only to see Sean Bean shine in this forgotten early role.
Sharpe is based on the book series of the same name by Bernard Cornwell and just like the books, the show tells the story of the fictional working class British rifleman as he fights in the Napoleonic Wars, rising in the ranks and facing off against his prejudiced superiors.
Despite being produced on a 90s British TV budget, the show is beautifully shot on location in Ukraine and manages to feel cinematic in places, though if you're expecting to see epic large scale battles then you will be left disappointed.
Where the show really shines is in it's excellent cast of actors. In addition to Sean Bean as Sharpe, there is Daragh O'Malley as Sharpe's patriotic Irish right hand man Patrick Harper, Jason Salkey as well spoken bookworm Harris and John Tams as singing sharpshooter Hagman making up the supporting cast. The show also has a revolving guest cast of top tier British acting talent, some of whom were unknowns at the time but would later go on to have illustrious careers of their own, including Brian Cox, Daniel Craig, Pete Postlethwaite, Mark Strong, Philip Glenister, Douglas Henshall and Paul Bettany to name a few.
Some stories are noticeably weaker than others (most notably Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Gold) but overall Sharpe is a very strong series with great acting and writing despite the budgetary limitations of the time and is definitely worth checking out if only to see Sean Bean shine in this forgotten early role.
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