Reviews

It's similar to Dynasty in more ways than one in that everything improves as it goes along. The first episode establishes the tone immediately. It's silly, but fun. The first season is reasonably good. The second season is even better, and the third can hold its own with network television. The production values keep increasing, and they were pretty impressive to begin with. Every time you see another piece of jewelry you'll keep asking yourself, "Is that real?" The cast is interesting in that some are acting veterans with a long list of credits, while some are newcomers that you swear you've seen before. I'd like to give a shout out to Michael Caruso for his dialog. That is what is getting so many special guest stars on board.

The Patty Hearst kidnapping doesn't really get coverage in the history books. The people who lived through that era remember it well, but for the rest of us, this is a well detailed account by most of the living participants, except Ms. Hearst herself.

What will stick with me the most is hearing Patty Hearst's spoiled rich girl voice on the kidnapping recordings. Think Hillary Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She literally says in one of them, "Tell mother to stop wearing black. It's not helping." I can see how she gradually lost sympathy with the American public. At the same time though, she also sounds like she is reading prepared statements.

I'll give Patty a pass for doing what she needed to do to survive the kidnapping, and as you'll see, that was no small feat.

I'll credit Alfonso Cuaron for his fine direction. I certainly believed the reality of the future presented, and the action sequences looked very real. The problem is that the characterizations, besides Michael Caine's, are flat. I doubt you'll shed a tear for anyone in this film. Maybe it's a "read the book first" kind of movie, because I honestly don't understand how it was rated so highly. It's currently ranked higher than Gone With the Wind, for goodness sake!

It's a shame, because Children of Men has a great premise worthy of a more global exploration. Maybe it will be remade into something better a few decades from now.

I had hesitated on watching this sequel because it good bad reviews, but I really enjoyed it. They had to come back for the cocoons, right? What makes this movie worthwhile is that all of the Seniors struggle with whether they want to leave Earth again. Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be.