spaulagain

I went into this show with low expectations, the trailers made it pretty clear this was a CW level show at best. And with the first 2 episodes I was already uninterested, but it was about what I expected. A CW style, cheap cosplay show with "expensive" sets, and no real story that compelled the viewer to watch more.

But hey, why not give one more episode a try... That's when I screwed up. By even giving this show a chance, I have permanently damaged my vision and poisoned my love for Star Wars. EP3 was an insulting heep of garbage. Not only did they ignore the lore, they cheapened the Force. And the story makes even less sense than it did after EP2. The writing is so terrible, the acting embarrassing, that chant and dance, OMG.

Star Wars has always had its ups and downs. It's not perfect, but the underlying lore and story make up for flaws in execution.

With the Acolyte, that's all gone, it's all bad. And the story (or lack there of), is the worst part. How can I even say I'm a Star Wars fan now with this associated with the brand? And they spent $180m on this? What a waste. Whatever you do, don't waste your time on this show.

I've stuck around through the second season. It's entertaining enough to keep watching. Some good action occasionally and the stories are decent. I like the actor who plays Reacher, he seems to act like he's on the spectrum or something which is entertaining. Not sure if that's based on the books or just his acting style. There does seem to be an over reliance on "my previous team members of yesteryear", gets old quick but is a trope continued through both seasons.

My main gripe is with the script. The dialogue is so unnatural. Everyone speaks in formal long sentences that come off so corny. It's like every other interaction is full of exposition, often with the most unnecessary information. Makes everything feel very wooden.

Also, whoever chose Maria Sten's hair styles needs to be fired. So ugly.

This film is entertaining but lacks the grit and rawness I expected from a Neill Blomkamp film. There are some fun directing techniques that add to the racing scenes and video game roots. But so much of the writing and direction feels overly Hollywood, corny and cliche. None of the characters ever really feel fleshed out so massive events have very little weight to them.

As a racing fan and someone who does track days, I found that the ridiculous exaggeration of racing and the horrible inaccuracies completely took me out of the film and made it feel comical rather than authentic. Coupled with the use of contemporary technologies and content, it was very distracting from what was a true story (kind of).

Overall it's entertaining especially for the average audience. But if you're a Blomkamp or racing fan, prepare to be disappointed.