Reviews

Look, it's difficult for "sci-fi" to be wrong, but this movie somehow does it by contradicting itself frequently. More specifically, it makes the classic amateur sci-fi/fantasy blunder where someone (a scriptwriter presumably) says, "We want X technology to be in the story" but then doesn't consider the wider consequences of including that element in their story. For example, in a magic setting it's like giving wizards the ability to shoot fire but somehow nobody realizes they can use their magic to also cook food, heat homes, or do anything other than fight with. Similarly, the scriptwriters seemingly said "we want an indistinguishable-from-human android" and "we want storm-trooper-like combat robots" which are completely incompatible ideas.

Now, maybe this just bugs me more than the average person because I've got personal experience with robotics and software development but even the non-technical people I watched this movie found it odd that on the one hand you have Leo, the android, shooting perfect headshots with a pistol while moving (only when convenient) and on the other you have literal walking combat platforms that are unable to hit the broad side of an insurgent with from their stabilized weapons system. It's ridiculous. If you have the capability to program fully capable AGI (artificial general intelligence), making a robot shoot headshots consistently is a preschool level Sunday school arts and crafts project difficulty-wise. Almost any postgraduate computer science major could do it today.

The most offensive scene was the hostage situation in front of the bank. Realistically, the bad guys shouldn't have had a chance--they (squishy humans) were caught outflanked and out of cover surrounded by 12+ combat robots. Sure, they had hostages, but even today's military systems can electronically synchronize themselves for coordinated fire. The robots would've just lined up headshots, then simultaneously executed all the baddies in one fell swoop before they can even think to shoot the hostages.

The promise of ageless immortal warriors is really cool, and this movie totally delivers on that. Overall, a solid movie. While I'm no expert on acting, I found that all the characters were played very well, and captured the "feel" of an ancient warrior or people who've been side-by-side for hundreds of years very well.

The action sequences are absolutely delicious. Fantastic choreography, and they didn't feel like "They fight"-type filler. Watching them, you really get the feeling that these people have been fighting for hundreds, or even thousands, of years and the action sequences are what make this movie so good.

The music was hit-or-miss. Personally, I would've enjoyed something more in line with the theme of ancient warriors, or inspired by historical music. The extremely modern pop and rap didn't fit the tone all that well.

The plot wasn't anything special but that didn't detract from the movie. If you're familiar with the superhero genre, this played out textbook including all the classic twists, an archetypal villain, and a hero's journey. Still, I didn't watch this (or go into it) expecting some masterful narrative journey, I watched it to be entertained, and I was.

Special effects and setting were fine. I couldn't tell (like some other reviews state) that this was "low budget" and even if there were less-than-perfect elements, they didn't break my immersion into the story.

The end sets up a sequel, and I'd gladly welcome one--however I'm not sure if movies are the right format to do so. There's a lot you can do with this concept and I think that they'd have more freedom to explore unique plots in a serialized format.

Yes, suspend your disbelief that there's a train which somehow can't stop. It's unrealistic. Get over it. All storytelling involves some suspension of disbelief from the audience.

Overall, while this series isn't brilliantly genius, it's good and I'll be watching every episode as it comes out. So far I've seen three episodes and each has been exciting and kept my attention. Some of the exterior view CGI is a bit meh, but otherwise all the sets and people are fine--It doesn't scream "low budget" to me. I'm also admittedly not the best judge when it comes to acting talent, but again, I don't see what crimes this show committed to garner 1-star reviews. Furthermore, everyone seems to be calling this a "crime procedural" which it is clearly not. Yes, investigating a murder is one of the plots but this isn't "CSI Snowpiercer" or a classic "murder mystery"; but as a watcher, "whodunnit" isn't my main question and not even the main plot imo.

First, the positives: + Sound design, especially the space sounds are done very well. + Visually, especially in 4k, this movie looks fantastic

Now, everything else (the negatives):

• Convoluted and nonsensical plot
• People portrayed as "experts" eg. military are pathetically unskilled and unintelligent
• Scene design and props make no sense. According to beginning text, movie takes place in "near future" but all astronauts are wearing suits that are straight out of the 1970's and drive around in modified LRV's (which are like 100 years old)
• Moon dune-buggy chase with handheld shooting action and stereotypical bad guys in old Russian space suits that are painted black
• Just a ridiculous amount of wrong physics, bad orbits, and nonsensical rockets. Anyone who's every played KSP is groaning at literally every scene of spaceflight in the movie
• Strangely, this move appeared very surrealistic. Lots of scenes and sets appear dreamlike and so do peoples actions. Up until the credits rolled, I was awaiting a "it was all a dream"

First of all, I might've gone into this show with the wrong expectations. I was expecting some sci-fi family adventure where the characters are thrown into a onto a dangerous planet and need to survive. This is clearly a drama with a sci-fi setting which takes place in fantasy.

That's not really what this is. Most conflict is driven by interpersonal issues and one psychopath woman that the characters just can't seem to get rid of. Seriously, I'm all for rehabilitation of prisoners and criminals but catering to the whims of a psychopath in a colonial life-or-death scenario where life or death scenarios are common and absolute trust is required is just ridiculous. Honestly, so much of the plot is driven by contrived writing, characters who don't communicate like regular people, and an unrealistic scenario. Also, occasionally, the writers try to throw in some "science" which isn't "hard" enough to be enjoyable (like the martian) and ends up feeling like a middle-school chemistry lesson.

I've always loved realistic/gritty depictions of super-powered individuals and find them interesting to watch. If you've already got youtube premium, give this a watch, just beware that it's not a "feel-good" show.

While many other reviews complain about an "unlikable protagonist" I think that's a critical point of this series (as of review, seasons 1 and 2). Without spoilers, season two really picks up where every lie that Henri spouts and what she tells each character. At the end, everything comes crashing down and while I found the ending unsatisfying, it felt right.

As to the themes of sexual assault and overcoming trauma, I can't really comment on those as I personally only have secondhand experience with those topics. Some parts of the show I found uncomfortable to watch, although I expect this is just the feeling the producers were aiming for.

Overall, I thought this series was good and I hope there's a third season. My main complaints are:

• The end of Season 2 feels somewhat incomplete, it could use 10 more episodes. In a narrative sense, I'd typically describe it as the end of "act 1" as it didn't quite have a final climax.

• The Mennonite-Lucas arc in S2 was weird. Could've been much shorter or less prominent

• Nikolai's origin story episode (s2e4?) was interesting but I was missing the main story line. I don't think it should've been a full episode even though it's contents are very important to what I'd expect 'major plot' to be in S3.

I could hardly get through the first episode, this show is just so non-rational. The basic plot is that there are alien artifacts which landed on Earth and they send a spaceship to check out the source of the alien artifacts. So, how does Earth go about this monumental task? Do they fill their one spaceship with professionals? NO. They fill their spaceship with individuals who are all emotionally compromised and all exhibit signs of severe mental illness. Seriously, the characters all act like preteens trying to solve the case of the missing football or something. It's painful to watch characters who we assume are Earth's brightest and best behaving like nutjobs. Even the CGI isn't that good. The alien artifacts look like something I could whip up in Blender in under a day. Just no. Netflix, I appreciate that you're trying to make more Sci-fi, but please, try again with better writers.

Let me start off by saying that the problems that other reviewers state are real and this show has its problems such as:

Cons

-Extremely bad cheesy dialog scattered through season 1

-The first slow-motion scene where Dutch beats up the dudes in the hallway is just cringey

-At times the background music gets a bit annoying (the "sneaking" soundtrack is used multiple times)

-At times the show suffers from the age old "this problem would be instantly solved if the main characters talked to each other like normal functioning human beings"

However, I think the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot.

Pros

-It's very funny, more than most modern sci-fi. Interactions between Dutch and Johnny are extremely good

-Breaks stereotypes and clichés often. For example: Johnny, the "smart, brainy, engineering" type character isn't the outcast shy scared nerd. He's just as badass as the rest of them and is in general probably the best character (and actor) in the show. For people who have seen the show, this is highlighted in the bolt gun scene in the Royale.

-Prop design and sets are very convincing. Despite it's low budget, the props, guns, ship interiors, and everything that contributes to worldbuilding are extremely well done and fleshed out. Really nails the futuristic divided society feel with the ultra rich and ultra poor.

-It's refreshing how well the team works together in a variety of situations. Particularly with Dutch and Johnny it's easy to tell that they are a well-oiled warrant claiming machine. Although plans do go wrong often, I find the way the characters react and adapt very realistic.

-Suffers less than other shows from the "this problem would be instantly solved if the main characters talked to each other like normal functioning human beings" problem than other shows. Characters often talk to each other and work out their problems to find solutions. Again, the dynamic between Johnny and Dutch is very good.

-Grows as a show. I've found each season better than the last (and I've seen s1-s3) and the show grows from a "one warrant per episode" to a more overarching plot with multiple threads direction as the show progresses. -lots more

Overall, this show scratches the "firefly" and "expanse" itch for me. Although it has it's small flaws, I think this show is underrated and a hidden gem. It's a show I come back to when I need some spaceships, mysteries, and shooting bad guys with lasers. I'd recommend this to anyone but I'd warn hardcore sci-fi fans to go into this a bit relaxed and looking for fun as it's usually not very serious and doesn't teach many life lessons--but that's what makes it great!