Change Your Image
skot-21
Reviews
Jessica Jones (2015)
Jessica Jones, AKA 3 episodes longer than it needed to be.
Jessica Jones starts out very, very promising but sadly becomes a writing exercise in story padding so pedestrian Jessica Jones herself would be unable to sit through it without blasting it with snarky sarcastic comments.
Let's start with what's good about this series. The main cast members are really great in their roles, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, David Tennant, Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss and Eka Darville all deserve the chance to continue brining these characters to life for a second season
the rest of the cast we could do with out, literally, they only serve to slow things down and drag things out to fill up a 13 episodes order. Which, sadly only need to be about 8-9 episodes to get the important stuff.
The major issue with this series is that it could have been about 2 to 3 episodes shorter if all the arguing between characters was paired down. More screen time is wasted on characters arguing with Jessica about wanting to "help" than anything else. While this wouldn't be a problem if the cast of background and supporting characters was smaller OR if it was a weekly episodic, it's impossible to ignore watching back to back, becomes tedious and annoying very quickly. Many of the characters only seem to exist to prolong the story rather than working/moving it forward to resolve it.
The second major issue and it's a serious miss step many TV series fall into is lack of hook per episode. Mid way through the series the writing staff seems to have completely given up trying to "make" you want to watch the next episode and just assume you will. On Netflix that may work, but had this run on a network TV channel, I doubt Jessica Jones would have even finished it's first season before viewers abandon it like rats from a sinking ship forcing the network to pull the plug.
What the series does well, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, the building of their complex relationship. Kilgrave and Jessica Jones, the main thing that's going on in the whole story and the amount of screen time these 2 share is even less than Jones and Luke. Sadly, what's good and what I wanted to actually see it's all too brief. The writers clearly choose to waste far to much time on everything except those to major story arcs. Yes, the whole story is about Jones tracking down Kilgrave, and while it is very much the backbone of the story, these two mostly go back and forth with phone calls, playing cat and mouse and text messages rather than actually being on screen, face to face. Nope, instead let's just chewing up screen time with things like Simpson and Trish Walker, victims of Kilgrave support groups and the lesbian divorce BS and anything not Jessica, Luke or Kilgrave. All the other nonsense only serve as monkey wrenches to the story being resolved, rather than actually develop the supporting characters
with the exception of Carrie-Anne Moss's character, Jeryn Hogarth and Malcolm played by Eka Darville. The character of Simpson literally only serves to slowing down scenes, episodes and the overall story, nothing else
also it's worth noting, however unclear, if Travel is just vastly out of his depth as an actor surrounded by far more talented people or if the character really is just so poorly written he comes off paper thin, lame and totally unbelievable.. either way, I must say, it's interesting to see a normal human character be the least believe character in a show about a super powered woman. Porn stars are 1000 time more convincing than Will Travel performance as an ex military guy now NYC Cop
easily one of the top 5, if not the single worst performance in Jessica Jones season one.
Not the worst first season I've watched lately nor the best. The series has promise and I'd like to see more of Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones IF they can get better writers, stop wasting time developing character that ultimately don't matter and only serve to slow the story down
oh and it needs MORE ACTION! If Jessica Jones is any indication of what the upcoming Luke Cage and Misty Knight series will be like, this whole Netflix/Marvel thing might be in big trouble
well at least there's still Daredevil.
All and all , it's better than Supergirl, which really isn't saying much.
Robot Overlords (2014)
Entertaining... if you're a child... maybe...
Basic and by the numbers. I had extremely low expectations because It looked like a kids movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware not everything made is going to be something I will enjoy but this kind of watered down rubbish is completely devoid of any value on any level what's so ever.
It's a tired old plot, recycled and rehashed. Mailed in performances by the only two cast members with actual career (Kingley has been on a down slide since Iron Man 3, which I though he couldn't sink any lower) to the sci-fi channel level of CG, this film is a tragedy on so many levels and definitely not worth the time... clearly the people who made this didn't put any real thought or creativity into it. Robot designs were cheap, like Asylum Sharknado cheap, basically cubes, because cubes are easy to make in CG rather than designing complex, engaging robots that are visually interesting and worth showing off Instead we get cubes that are basically on screen very sparingly, either do to cost or embarrassment.
All the positive reviews posted are clearly by people who either A.) have some connection to the cast crew or producers, or B) are just idiots, which is why garbage like this continues to get made. What a waste... too bad all the time effort and money was spent on this wasn't put towards something people would actually enjoy, rather than cranking out this. Completely unnecessary, nothing we haven't seen elsewhere with better craftsmanship and purpose.
What a waste of a cool name and 90 minutes of my life, 90 minutes I will never get back.... do yourselves a favor, watch Red Dawn or any number of better films with the same plot, you know, the old "kids vs oppressors" troupe.
Z Nation (2014)
I want this 43 minutes of my life back
SyFy and Asylum, that's a crap fest and we're all well aware of it going in. No hiding it. When Harold Perrineau shows up I'm like OK cool maybe this won't be so bad, he's a really good actor. Maybe they are going to spend some money on this thing.
WRONG! Cheap junk, a half ass'd attempt to cash in on the Walking Dead. Which is sad considering a zombie apocalypse show it's relatively inexpensive to make compared to hard sci-fi or superheroes, you know, the stuff that should be on a channel called SyFy.
The over all premise is good and the people who created it probably had the best intentions till SyFy and the Asylum cheeped out on it as only they collective could. The story, special effects and acting is what sucks and that's too bad because with a little effort in any or all of these area it could have been fun.
I gave this 3 stars because Harold Perrineau was in it, and that does count for something. DJ Qualls is in it also and his character could be fun long term... but that really is about all this has going for it and I'm really being generous. With the exception of the these 2 actors, everyone else involved with this mess should be ashamed. This is bad, even by SyFy/Asylum standards, or lack there of.
So unless your standards are low and desperation for something Zombie to fill the next few weeks till The Walking Dead returns, avoid at all costs.
47 Ronin (2013)
Not nearly as bad as haters are making it out to be!
The reviews for this film seem to be pretty negative generally speaking. Pivoting around the historical inaccuracies and the addition of the "Half Breed" character played by Keanu Reeves to this legendary tail. More on that further in.
In a nut shell. 47 Ronin has a fair amount of mystical magic and demons peppered throughout a historical tail. A tale of Samurai who's master is killed and their status is reduced to Ronin. Only for them to rise up and seek revenge against the evil ruler and his witch who are responsible.
Let's get to some positive stuff. Visually the 47 Ronin is beautiful. The costumes design and color choices to separate each of the different clans is impressive in it's complexity. The villains are not just dressed in black, but a fair amount of purple and silver is mixed in to highlight the details in their armor. The sets have an epic feel that is grounded and doesn't feel to fantastic, but rather believable.
Now on to the "Half Breed", who mainly adds the taste of a forbidden love story as well as a lifeline to the audience, drowning is a sea of unfamiliar faces. Many, if not most reviewers who've pan this movie for the addition of the "half breed" character fail to realize his importance for the audience. Around the start of the third act, there's a scene where one of the samurai apologies for his treatment of the half breed in a way that communicates to the viewer exactly where a Ronin places in the Japanese cultural/social structure vs where a Samurai does. The inclusion of this character and his treatment throughout the movie is an important plot device. Seeing his treatment by the Samurai as an outcast in the first act, then later his acceptance once they are labeled as Ronin is vital to the evolution of the main Japaneses characters of the story. Not to mention it helps to bridge a gap for an audience unfamiliar with Japanese cultural and social structure.
Historical inaccuracy are common in Hollywood. I personally view the ones in 47 Ronin to be no more reprehensible then the ones committed in superheroes films. Yes, I am comparing changes made to characters from Batman, X-Men, Spiderman and Iron Man's cannon to this historical tale of the 47 Ronin. Deal with it, they're just stories after all. We really have no way to know it there really wasn't a half breed character, do we? After all, history is told by the winners, and often inaccurately.
With a 2 hour run time, it did feel a bit slow to start, setting the stage for the second and third act. Once it gets going tho, it moved rather nicely. I didn't find myself checking my watch every 10 minutes wondering when it would end like another holiday release I won't mention. If the trailer interests you then you could probably do worst at the box office this holiday season. I enjoyed it, but that's just my opinion.
Man of Tai Chi (2013)
Excellent first film by "Director" Keanu Reeves.
Personally I found this movie to be excellent! Here's why. Growing up In the late 70', early 80's I watched just about every Martial Arts movie I could get my hands on. I've seen the full spectrum of awful to awesome that this genres has to offer.
2 things immediately got my attention, the first was how much the film reminded me of the films I grew up on. Not from a plot or story stand point, but from a cinematic and general vibe. It felt like the martial arts films from my childhood. It felt like a seasoned Hong Kong martial arts director had made this picture. It felt like an authentic martial arts classic action film with some modern touches. Authentic, not just someone trying to copy one. That was impressive to me pretty much immediately.
The second thing was, Keanu Reeves. I found myself wondering, "Why the Hell is Keanu in this? It's not a huge Hollywood film and why on earth is he playing the bad guy?" I'm not a fan of Keanu, I don't hate him or anything like that, but I don't rush out to see his latest film ether. He's just another actor to me. When the end credits rolled, I was shocked he had directed it, I had no idea. I was impressed to say the least, so much so I checked IMDb to see if he had ever directed anything else. I was shocked again to see this was his first directorial effort! Hands down, in my opinion, Man of Tai Chi is the most impressive first full length directorial effort since Neill Blomkamp's District 9. Keep in mind Blomkamp had directed many shorts before that, so he had a huge leg up on Reeves.
People are ether going to love or hate this movie, it comes down to 2 things, knowledge and expectations. Man of Tai Chi isn't the Matrix, it ain't Crouching Tiger. It's a solid first directorial effort by Keanu Reeves that shows a long standing love/understanding for the martial arts films both he and I grew up watching.
I may not be a fan of Keanu as an actor, but I'm excited to see what his next directs effort will be.
Only God Forgives (2013)
Nobody Should Forgive anyone involved with this movie.
I won't lie, there's some really beautiful shots in this movie, truly. However that's the first major problem with this film. There's a major difference between cinematography and photography, this movie would have worked better if it was a 50 piece photography exhibit, rather then 90 minutes of people staring blankly while the camera zooms in or out. Yeah, that's not great cinematography anymore when you use it every other shot, that's being a lazy hack. Walking, lots of walking in this movie, people practically in slow-mo, not in any real hurry to get anywhere as the camera pans across them. There's a few scene of violence that is pretty graphic. Take out all the staring and walking, long slow zooms and pans this movie would have a run time of about 36 minutes.
No real character development, no likable character, very little emotion displayed by anyone on any level. It's trying to be all weird and trippy, but honestly it gets annoying real quick not being able to tell if the main character is on opium or just sitting around staring blankly. He yells 3 words of dialog around the halfway point to show us he's actually alive and not a prop. Seriously, he has about 10 lines total, little of it is important to the story and none of it memorable.
Yeah, this is one of those flick by a director that takes himself way too seriously and is trying to be an "artist" and is too pretentious to know when quit.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Is Pacific Rim Right For You?
If you even have to read a review, probably not. If the first trailer didn't give you goose bumps and have you so excited you had to see it as soon as it was released, then it probably isn't for you.
Now that said, I wanted to try and clear some things up, since most of the negative reviews are pretty bogus and misleading. I find the negative reviews fall into 2 categories. People the movie wasn't meant for, or just plan haters.
"It's to hard to see the action" maybe in 3d, I sat in the 5th row of the non 3d, non Imax showing, running off 2 hours of sleep and ZERO problem making out what was happening. I'm also the only member of my family that doesn't wear glasses.
"There's not enough character development" Their right, there's not enough character development of the actual stars of the film, the Kaiju and the Jaegers. Oh, they mean humans, well there I'd have to disagree, in my opinion there was just enough... maybe even a little too much. Because I don't care about the people who drive the robots, I care about the robots and the Kaiju. That's why I'm there. It's also important to point out that there's almost an hour was left on the cutting room floor and I'm willing to bet it's all that boring "character development" these people must be talking about. Some people mistake "character development" and "love story" and if that case, they are correct, there is no love story. Thank God!
"It's Too Cliché" There's a big difference between "Cliche'" and "Homage", much like "Literal"and "Ironic" cliché is more often then not, misused.
"It's a ripoff of Evangelion" This comparison really get's me hot under collar, because I'm a long time fan of Evangelion and it shows how little people hating on Rim know about ether. To sum it up, the only way that would be true is if Jaegers were built over top of captured Kaiju. That's not the case, so we'll move along.
"It's Rock'um Sock'um Robots" Wrong again, that would imply robots fighting robots. This is Robots fighting Monsters. It would also imply that it's only Robots fighting each other and no people, which this movie has way to much of in my opinion, people that is. It could use some more robots socking monsters tho.
"Charlie Day is grading" I 100% agree, can't stand him! If you like Sunny in Philly, then you'll probably enjoy his contribution.
"It doesn't have big name actors" Yes it doesn't have mega star actors and that's a good thing IMO. I like the fact that Bruce Willis isn't in it, because every time I see Bruce Willis he's Bruce Willis. If Sam Jackson played the character Stacker Pentecost instead of Idris Elba we would be waiting for him to say "I'm sick of these MuthaFn' kaiju on my MuthaFn' planet" or waiting for a kaiju to reach down and eat him while delivering the "Canceling the Apocalypse" speech. See where I'm going with this, big name stars would have been a huge detriment both in performance and cost. I had no issue with the casting except Charlie day. Charlie Hunnam was solid and being familiar with his work on Sons of Anarchy I thought he fit the role perfectly.
"It's Racist" This one makes me scratch my head. Having a very popular or recognizable Japanese actress in a movie about giant monsters that will be opening on screen through out Asia is not racist. Having actors form other countries in a movie that is about the world coming together to fight off an extinction level threat is not racist, it's refreshing and maybe even realistic. I'm an American and American's ain't smart enough to go see Pacific Rim rather then grown-ups 2, so why should I believe for one second they could fight off this threat by themselves? The answer is, they couldn't and why should they, this is for the species folks, the whole world has a steak in this.
I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop. I think if you've read this far, you get the idea. If you like giant monsters fighting giant robots, it's worth the regular ticket price just to see those scenes on the big screen, personally I wouldn't pay extra for IMAX or 3D tho.
If your looking for a love story, this movie isn't for you. If you want to watch a male and female character sitting in a coffee shop for 2 hours talking about life, this movie isn't for you. If your over the age of 15 and think Transformers is great, then this movie defiantly isn't for you.
So if this doesn't seem like your cup of tea, then go see something else, don't see it bad mouth it, it's not like there isn't plenty of other options to check out at theaters.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Die Hard at the White House
Literally, it's the first Die Hard at the White House. The only real difference is scale of the action, cast, location and terrorism isn't a cover for a heist.
Too bad, I really wanted to like it but at an hour fifteen minutes in, I just couldn't over look the glaring similarities anymore... then just 10 minutes later I almost feel like it's more of a homage at times. I'm really curious now about how much is Antoine Fuqua doing or why he would have even directed this in the first place, he seems to have more purpose.
Watch the first Die Hard before viewing this and judge for yourself, not bad but not great.