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Reviews
The Orville (2017)
Not what it was - or what it could be!
The first couple of seasons, The Orville was IMV the best update on Star Trek that could be made in the modern era. With each reinvention and spin-off Star Trek itself got more 'up itself', drifting from a light hearted, amusing, optimistic, slightly camp vision of our future place in the Galaxy to self-aggrandising egotistical pretentiousness. It had arguably gone too far to come back again.
In this context, The Orville was the perfect reinvention. With Seth Thingybob's humour peppered throughout the scripts, there was never a risk that it would take itself so seriously that the odd little plot hole couldn't be overlooked. It was warm, humorous and a celebration of humanity. Simultaneously sending up and celebrating the camper and sillier aspects of Star Trek, the affection for the model was clear and infectious while in itself, being something quite new and original.
Not so much in Season 3. Yeah, the budget had obviously grown, the CGI being the main benefactor but YAWN, the plots are frankly rather flimsy at best and mundane at worst. Multiple episodes, I have found myself just hanging on, waiting to see if anything worthwhile comes out of a story that I just don't really care about... and then my son, sparks up and tells me exactly the same, "You know Dad, I'm a bit bored by Orville now; I'm not sure I can be bothered watching it anymore."
We'd already lost the Mrs: "I thought this was a comedy. I remember it being funny, or was that another thing?" and away she went to do more important things.
Such a shame as, like the original Star Trek was when I was a kid, The Orville was a programme that had the whole family invested in and enjoying. Not an easy achievement!
Foundation (2021)
Big Budget - Little Value
Stylistically, yeah great! The ships, the cloths, the planetscapes, all slick n pretty, like you get when you put decent budget into sci-fi or fantasy - and great for the posters and the trailers. The thing is, once you've been lured into watching it and you've seen that stuff, it's not that impressive the 2nd, 3rd, 5th or 8th time and that's why you need a story, plot, action or at least interesting characters to maintain interest. That Asimov dude though, he can put together a decent story. Except here, they've picked the wrong format for the story - or the wrong story for their chosen format. It's like someone is trying to string out an interesting anecdote into a full after-dinner speech using nothing but tautology, a load of fashionable buzz-words and 'cool look'. The experience is one of always waiting to get to the point, and when you do, it wasn't really worth the wait. 50% of the last episode simply told us, slowly, stuff we already knew because we'd been told it slowly in the first couple of episodes. Frankly, if the episodes were half as long or the content of 2 were rolled into 1, it would still be a tad slow, but bearable. As it is though, it's a real struggle.
Betty (2020)
Disappointed by the 2nd series
I loved the original film and thought the first season of Betty really did a good job of re-telling the same story, exploiting the extra time well to fill out the characters and detail the tale better.
So I was really looking forward to Season2.
Sorry, I know the general ratings seem to be a little higher but IMV it just didn't gel like the first one. As a skater, who lives in a big city I can say with confidence that S01 exuded the vibe of skaters in a big city, hangin, chillin and most importantly, skating! The pace, the rhythm, the flow, all felt so authentic. S02 though was more about what they were wearing or who they were making out with - even the Mrs, who is not a skater, complained "enough with the snogging, let's have more skating".
In all, the girls in S02 weren't represented as skaters so much as 'chicks who (mostly/maybe) still own skate boards'. The underlying tragedy is that the derogatory connotation of the term 'Betty' which was so neatly and artfully dispelled in S01, was actually affirmed by S02. The irony of using 'Betty' to describe a sick little crew of skater girls is now lost, and in S02 they have become, in the most part, girls who hang around skate spots but don't really skate anywhere much - Betty!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Please don't hate me...
I can see many think that Vol2 was as good as the first but I'm afraid I disagree. I was really looking forward to this as the first GOTG is almost my favourite (after Deadpool, of course!)
We saw this last night and quite honestly, I thought it had been directed by someone different: I was honestly quite shocked to see it hadn't! The first GOTG took a cast of great characters and told a great story with them, effortlessly peppering that story with humour. This one just seemed to want to pack the cheap gags in, often at the cost of the characters or the story. While the first seemed to just have the formula right, this one seemed to be just trying to stick to the right formula. As a result it was overall that much more superficial an experience. It wasn't just me either, the whole family shifted uncomfortably at the end, nobody really wanting to be the first to say they were disappointed - but unfortunately we all were.
I don't know how many times I've seen the first GOTG. Usually, I'll be trying to express to someone why it's worth seeing, then put it on to show them 'just a bit of it' and we end up watching the whole blimmin thing. Don't get me wrong; I didn't hate Vol2 and I don't regret watching it. It's just that I can't imagine wanting to see it again. GOTG = classic! GOTG V2 = meh...