Reviews

I tried, gods I tried, but it was one feminist trope after another right from the beginning:

1) "Strong independent woman" that in one line incredulously asks a guy, "What, you don't think I can take care of myself," and in her next line says, "Help me with this" - presented unironically

2) She's a "doctor" (PhD holder), a lesbian, and was raised by a single mother

3) The guy is portrayed as every feminist's bogeyman, an ignorant knuckle-dragger that only knows how to fix something by hitting it - to make it more palatable, they made him from the early 1900s and a WWII veteran

Everything made these days appears to be pushing the same agenda - men are dumb and bad, women are stronger and more capable, women don't need men for anything. Except that isn't how real life works, as both men and women are needed for humanity to succeed. I assume they got some big names for this because they needed the money, because otherwise this is just sad, especially since the story wasn't all that compelling on top of all the nonsense.

I would advise against letting impressionable young children watch this, not because of violence, but because of the agenda on full display.

While definitely not the "best" when it comes to TV, season one is better than what I've seen so far in season 2.

They've done everything to ramp up the fake tension, with little regard to if it makes sense or not:

1) Running down the middle of a road when there are NUMEROUS options to avoid a chasing vehicle by simply running off the road

2) The protagonist's phone doesn't work, but the bad guy's seem to have sat phones because they can make calls at any time

3) Again, running out in the open when you know you're being chased, and then hanging from a cliffside instead of hiding - on top of that, after only minutes he's struggling to hold on. Anyone that's done a dead hang knows that it takes more than 1 or 2 minutes to tire you out.

There are more examples, but season 1 seemed to have a much lower number of these for the entire season, yet here in season 2, the first two episodes are packed with such nonsense.

Yep, yet another white goofy kid gets transported to an Asian country and saves them, while getting an Asian girl to fall for him.

If you saw the 2009 live action Dragonball Evolution, then this movie will seem VERY familiar to you, and equally as bad. This is because some studio exec is living his dreams via a movie that they approved for production, despite it being unoriginal and stupid.

Again, the trailer will show you everything you need to know. The only people that will enjoy this is a certain demographic lacking in maturity and good taste, that also thinks they're some sort of gift to women of the world.

It isn't good...

I get that this was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but tell you know nothing about the military or special ops by writing this silly story.

The best way to watch this is to turn off your brain, like completely, and pretend this is all happening in an alternate reality. Even then, you'll question the sanity of the writer.

I would say it COULD be fun to watch, but I was so turned off by everything wrong with it in the first 30 minutes, that it was a slog to finish the first episode. I suspect my expectations weren't properly set since I skipped the trailers for it too.

Consider this a PSA folks - watch the trailer, pretend you're a low-level moron, pretend that this is like the MCU's multiverse and they're in universe 89...and you'll likely come out of the experience better than I did.

Do not watch this if you're expecting comedy along the lines of Bill Burr's standup. He literally co-wrote a movie that is so by-the-numbers for Hollywood, that he should be embarrassed to be associated with it. Ten minutes in and you can guess the ending. 15 minutes in and you're angry that you even started watching it. There is only one scene/bit that tries to rise to a level of redemption, but then it all goes downhill from there.

I could explain how every character is a cutout stereotype that's exaggerated for comedy appeal, but that's actually normal for Hollywood. No, the issue here is that none of the people in this movie learned anything, no one grew, there were no consequences for anything they did.

Bill's character seemed to make some sort of journey, but it is made clear at the end that his journey wasn't that far, which perhaps was one of the better endings they could have gone for by this point in the movie.

The school principal - the voiceover at the end explains that she might initially have some negative aftereffects, but not lasting ones.

The mother that refuses to discipline her kid, or even put any sort of restrictions on him - that storyline just got dropped, never to be heard from again.

The lawyer friend - vasectomies are 99.9% effective - not his kid, but he accepted it as his like a champ with no testing whatsoever.

The wife (Bill's character) - doesn't back her husband at all, and even turns on him, but no consequences for her.

There were numerous other bits that just went nowhere, but they make up the majority of the movie, so I won't list them all. Too many were simply bits from other movies that were gratuitously inserted here to keep the movie moving or to hammer a point home in ham-fisted style - like the cab ride to the hospital.

There were so many missed opportunities to make comedy gold with this, but Burr chickened out and made a "safe" movie that will resonate, somehow, with younger people who will falsely label it as "edgy" or something.

Take note, if there was a message in this movie, it must have been this: Men, just bend over and accept whatever this new modern world throws at you. Don't fight for your beliefs, don't try to hold others accountable, just shut your mouth and let everyone walk all over you.

Quite a few reviews mention that this is "dreadful" or that it requires a considerable effort to "suspend belief" - and that effort begins right from the start.

As the show opens, you see what appears to be a woman that has a child that doesn't seem to match her ethnicity. This leaves you wondering if she kidnapped the child. No matter though, as we're jumping five years ahead pretty quickly, so the point is moot...except, five years later it isn't.

Then we see a child do something rather bad at school, but apparently there are no consequences, at least none serious enough to match what the child did.

Next, we see the moment from the trailer. A 110 lbs woman fights with an armed grown man that probably weighs about 175 lbs. I actually think this fight scene was filmed more realistically than most, considering she was getting her ass handed to her for most of it. However, the setup leading into the fight looked stupid. The framing of the shots made it seem as if the armed male should have seen both the protagonist AND the child, but apparently that mask made him blind to what was obvious.

Later we have the protagonist still in their bloody clothing, on the bed with their child. Then she wants to get freaky with her husband in that same clothing...

Usually there isn't just one thing that makes something "bad" for me, it is a bunch of missteps (small & large) that do it. Perhaps the writers, producer, and director just weren't "in the groove" yet. Maybe the producers of later episodes were simply better, I can't say yet. This first episode was a chore to watch though, so I'll trust some of the reviews that state that it does get better.

To answer my own question though, so far Erin Carter is simply another by-the-numbers "thriller" with little thought put into the actual storyline.

Well, I wasn't expecting a rehash of every recent spy/thriller movie over the last three to five years, but that's what we got. An almost all-female driven movie with men either as the big-bad or silly sideline support. Not that there's something inherently wrong with that, but the way it is ALWAYS implemented now is an issue - men = bad/stupid, women = boss. At least this film didn't go in for the typical woman versus man fight choreography where they use the exact same fight moves in 98% of films now.

As for the highly derivative story that lacked one shred of originality, being a rehash of several movies from the last three-to-five years, well, the less said about it the better. I will sum it up as good cast, poor story/script.

I should state that it took me three tries to watch this. I first turned it off during the opening montage because they were trying oh so hard to pay "homage" to 007. Then I had to turn it off again during a scene where the main protagonist makes a very stupid decision - this was also the cause of the third pause.

About the only thing in this movie that did make me smile, was the brake light on the back of the motorcycle in the latter part of the film leading up to the climax. Somewhat of a throwback to Gal's WW it seemed.

The acting - mediocre to bad The writing - mediocre to bad The FX, when they exist - mediocre to bad Horror - non-existent Pacing - slow to non-existent Originality - meh Should there be a season 2 - not really, but if there's money to be made

So, you're probably looking at my review's title wondering what it means. Turns out that based on your preferences you might think that they nailed the makeup/filters that they used on ALL of the female actors and some of the male actors (in certain scenes).

For ALL of the closeups on the women they used that HD TV makeup plus a combination of filters to make their skin look smooth. Now, you can chalk that up to them trying to show that werewolves just have "good" skin, but when non-werewolves get the same treatment, that sort of blows that hypothesis.

The makeup looks really unnatural in a lot of cases but is really jarring when the filter drops, and you can see details that were otherwise blocked (smoothed) out.

I know, I know, it seems like such an odd thing to point out. However, considering all of the other issues the show has, you can either view it as a good thing or a bad thing, again, based on your viewpoint.

In summary, just another teen "horror" drama with no teeth...

Within the first five minutes of the film, you will know that you've made a mistake in watching it. By 13 minutes in, you'll be wondering if you should even continue watching.

This isn't a serious film, not even close. It is parts slapstick and just plain old stupid parading around as if it were actually comedy. It is no wonder that none of the actors will be sticking around for any further movies in the various franchise films - they don't want to ruin their reputations any further. I really felt bad for Gal's initial reveal and how Ben's Batman was presented at the start.

The next issue is that the story is far from original. Sure, that is to be expected with comic book adaptations, but in this instance they're doing an adaptation that was already done better by the TV show.

Then, what was worse than the script and story choice - the CGI. This was barely television level, not multimillion-dollar level CGI. I felt like this was all done during COVID and all they could get was the D crew to work on it, not the A or B teams.

Sure, the film picks up a bit later on, but by then the damage is done. And it seriously isn't that much of an improvement. You can't take it seriously. The script is crap, the actors just phoned it in because they knew the story was crap and they weren't returning. The visuals and effects were crap...everything was crap.

I'm being generous with three stars, but I'm sure the 12 and under crowd loved it. I'm also sure that the studio hired a company to pad the reviews, because this simply isn't a quality movie in any sense of the word.

What a sad end to this leg of the franchise, all because DC couldn't pull it together after so many attempts.

Firstly, let me just note that Amazon has a history of deleting my reviews of their productions if they aren't favorable, but only if they are Amazon productions - unfavorable reviews of anything else they leave untouched. Shortly after posting a review (mediocre rating) of this film on their site, I received notice that they had pulled it and that I was being blocked from posting a new review of it. What follows is basically that same review...

This film unsurprisingly reminds me of a low budget Batman movie. The setup is very reminiscent of every version of Gotham we've seen - a rundown city steeped in corruption that the citizens have had enough of when a villain rises up to lead them to utopia...or some such nonsense.

It doesn't help that this film also gives away the central premise, via the narration, 25 seconds into it. They then confirm the "plot twist" about 1/4th of the way into the movie for anyone that wasn't paying attention, so by the time you see it, it isn't a surprise. However, by then you've already figured out how the remainder of the movie will play out anyway.

Fortunately, the movie isn't horribly acted, just horribly scripted as everything is predictable. It comes across as a hybrid of Batman, Unbreakable, and any superhero redemption (Hancock) movie you've ever seen and despite all of that, is somewhat still entertaining.

There are minimal effects, meaning it is essentially low-budget, and the one major effect they did have towards the end is the one you'll wish you never saw - the de-aging of Stallone. That last one is like a throwback to some pre-2008 CGI gone horribly wrong.

Anyway, Amazon can delete all the reviews they want to keep this artificially listed in the top 10 worldwide, just as they delete legit reviews of fake products, but the truth will get out - this is a mediocre film at best.

A couple of things - you look at the breakdown of reviews and you'll notice that women and older people think more highly of the show. One group is more prone to believe in conspiracies and the other is less prone to believe in actual science. I'll let you figure out which is which.

When you watch the show, you may initially be impressed by the psuedo-science on display IF you have no clue how the scientific method or scientific investigation works. They do a great job of throwing job titles and three letter degrees at you to impress you, but their actual investigative techniques leave a lot to be desired. In fact, if they were really about documenting the science and less about making a profit, then why do they even have writers on such a show...? Repeat your tests multiple times instead of doing them once and discarding them immediately and perhaps it would be more compelling.

They have literally taken the formula from SyFy's Ghost Hunters and barely modernized it to hook a new generation of sucke...um, viewers to get those precious subscriber/ad dollars.

Let's breakdown a single incident from a single episode. They launch a balloon that doesn't even reach their target altitude before they begin to yank it down (due to wind) and it eventually crashes. They launch a second one, but without leaving an observer they race off to their command center to monitor the data remotely only to find out after they get there it has gone dark. Do they even look for it? Nope. However, as a follow-up they decide to use single stage rockets that don't even go as high as the balloons and similarly, gloss over the fact that they don't get the data they originally were looking for.

I used to build model rockets so my question is this - why not build multi-stage rockets to hit the target altitude in question instead of single stage rockets that didn't even hit 1/4 of the altitude. Heck, why didn't they even continue the tethered balloon tests????? Turns out in later seasons they use larger rockets with larger engines, but still have issues. At one point Travis suggests using a blimp, but this idea is NEVER explored again just as the weather balloons are never explored again - it is as if they actively avoid anything that might actually work but isn't flashy or dramatic enough for the cameras.

Every episode follows this or a similar pattern. Another episode - let's dig for something - oh, we dug and didn't find anything at all, BUT instead of discussing the big nothing burger surrounding digging we instead manufactured another issue that we'll address in another episode and we won't dig any more at all this season. Ditto with radiation, caves, drones, draining batteries, transient RF spikes, and every other manufactured sensationalized issue they've come up with. BTW - what ever happened to the idea of putting sensors all over the ranch to record those RF spikes in real-time, because they NEVER did that...

They also use their editors expertly. In an episode they'll mundanely go over something and talk about how they heard sounds or voices, but later in the season or the following season the editors will change that to, "We had disturbing episodes of paranormal incidents that couldn't be explained." Even if their own experiments offered a possible mundane explanation of what happened - concrete echo chamber anyone. Essentially, they sensationalize everything after the fact and hope/think you won't remember the original.

If you watch these shows closely, you'll notice a pattern. They'll repeat certain things over and over and over...and over. Specifically, their clips that Bigelow purchased the property and that he began doing research there, plus he had contracts with the government, and a lot of the research is either confidential or unreleased to this day. They're incredibly careful to state certain things a certain way to avoid getting a lawsuit slapped on them. Wonder why? They do this with lots of things - filler - instead of filming more experiments they repeat nonsense and stretch everything out - to make more episodes. As the seasons progress it gets worse, with the third season so bad you may get confused and think you're rewatching an episode by mistake when it is in fact new.

SyFy's Ghost Hunters encountered credibility issues that led to the show being cancelled. I didn't keep up with how all of that worked out, but to my knowledge it had nothing to do with the guys that started the research group - it was the production team that came afterward, but I could be wrong. This feels similar, as if they got a neat and interesting topic/myth, some people that genuinely wanted to explore it, but then money and Television production teams got involved and said, "So, we could make a mint off of this, but we've got to give it the proper treatment." That "proper treatment" is Television talk for "we need to make money off of this."

Basically, this is the old 70's or 80's Bigfoot or Bermuda Triangle shows of old, just updated with more modern "science," but just as dubious research techniques. Sure it can be very entertaining, but just don't give it any serious thought.

Title says it all, but to elaborate a bit - Japanese anime is somehow better because the 2D drawings lack emotional depth, so the sometimes-ridiculous dialog doesn't seem bad because it isn't paired with ridiculous acting. On the other hand, Japanese live action shows often have ridiculous acting on top of over-the-top dialog, which is just a bad combination.

Which is the problem THIS film has, which is evident almost immediately - the acting varies from stiff to overly animated with over-the-top and/or bad acting typical of a live action Japanese adaptation. Don't get me wrong, not all of them are bad, just most of them.

Imagine all your favorite foods - a steak, lobster, crab legs, shrimp, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, etc. Now, imagine them all cooked together into a mushy mess where they were indistinguishable from each other. That is this movie.

It seems like someone saw Hardcore Henry and thought, well, I liked that, but I also liked all of the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies, and Escape From New York, and Mad Max: Fury Road, and Train to Busan, and a whole bunch of other movies, many of them maybe by Michael Bay. They then decided to throw them all into one movie with the resulting mushy mess.

Also imagine that they blew a large part of their budget on getting one (yes one) B+ US actor and paying for various set locations while skimping on CGI, choreography, script, story, cinematography, and other things that go into making a movie. Don't get me wrong though, not all of these things were complete flaming piles of dog poo - some things actually weren't bad, but when you see those things you won't remember them.

What you will remember are the blurry action sequences that made no sense, the dialogue that seemed to be perfectly fine English from one actor and butchered English from another - as if it were written by two (five) different people, a disjointed story that just kept going when it was obvious it should have stopped a long time ago, and a bunch of other issues that just made it feel like if it weren't for the insane action you would probably have just stopped watching already.

Really, the insanity of it all was the only reason to watch it. Every action piece in this movie harkens back to an older movie you may have seen based on your age - seriously, not one thing in this was original in any way and yes, some of the references were a bit old, so for you younger people I get that you may not believe it. Still, with all of that said four stars isn't TOO bad.

There are so many better Japanese anime than this - not sure why Netflix decided to pay for and air this.

The dialogue is beyond cheesy, the characters overly dramatic, the story is utter trash. It is like they took everything bad about Japanese anime/TV and rolled it all into one show.

If you watch anime you already know about the exposition that goes on and on and on and on. This show takes that and notches it up, while also giving you the most cringey dialogue you can imagine. Plus the main antagonist is like a caricature of a clown, with overly dramatic waving around of his hands and arms, dumb poses, etc - nothing you haven't seen before in live-action Japanese TV shows, but still just as cheesy.

Then there are issues with continuity. One character will do something in one episode, but in the very next episode other characters (that witnessed the previous action) will be clueless on how to proceed - just copy the other guy!!!!

This will probably be a great show for pre-teens, but beyond that I'm not sure who the intended audience is.

Most K-dramas are geared towards women and this one is no exception - look at the breakdown of ratings and you'll see that women favor this more than men. The same is about true for the actual critics, with the lone male (so far) critic taking a bit more of a wait-and-see attitude.

The main issue I see so far is that the main character is, to put it simply, the typical TV story moron. When he's told not to do, touch, or interfere in something - well, you already know he'll do exactly that. It doesn't matter if it has been explained to him why he shouldn't do these things and even once it becomes clear to him that the results can be bad, he still whines like a small child about it. I get it, writers think that women believe this to be cute, so we're stuck with a moron for a lead.

Outside of this, there are a few smaller issues that is typical of most such shows - hospital staff ignoring the character on the floor in the hallway, abilities being used brazenly in one public area and not others, etc. I don't expect perfection, but is logic and consistency too much to ask for.

The acting, setting, and story are passable and while some things appear out of sequence, it can be a good time waster if you don't focus too much on the idiosyncrasies.

The show has some glaring agenda issues and to a lesser extent writing/acting issues, but if you can get past that, then it isn't too bad of a show.

While I don't have an issue with the overall plot, structure, and premise of the show, the more you watch the more you become aware of the almost latent feminist agenda written into it.

Similar to how the newer Star Wars movies portrayed almost all of the male characters as either evil or incompetent, this show does exactly the same thing. Every single 'bad' character is male and every single 'savior' character is female - even the male lead (Dion) is incapable of doing anything substantial without a female to help him - whether it is his mother or best friend.

Towards the end of season 2 they even stop trying to pretend that this isn't the case. In one scenario they pull the 'bad' male off of the research team looking for a cure when an all female team of experts comes in. We also can't ignore that the female doctor, Kat, seems to be trained in every discipline there is, thus comes up with all of the discoveries, but takes none of the blame when they don't initially work.

There is also the entire relationship dynamic going on between Dion's mother and his trainer. He's portrayed as a thirsty broken guy to the mother's careful, but still very aggressive woman in charge that gets to call all the shots - he can't be allowed to actually show no interest in her because she's interested in him and that doesn't fit the agenda here.

There's barely any repercussions or discussions about how the mother's lying to her son numerous times is both hypocritical, but damaging to his growth - IF this were real life. Again, because it doesn't fit the agenda, they simply gloss over these things as if she had a good reason every time - even as she hypocritically does it to other adults and still expects complete honesty from them.

There are other issues with the show, some of the same issues I've noticed with the show Black Lightning, where it seems they're trying way to hard to show they have black cred. Essentially it just makes some of the writing come across as very unbelievable and awkward - and usually not even close to funny or whatever they were actually aiming for.

I won't delve into the other issues, as these were two of the primary ones I felt were the biggest drawbacks. It could have been better, but it really seems that with so many female writers on the show the men couldn't get more balanced representation, which ironically is what a lot of women claim they want.

You go into this expecting something different, somewhat new, perhaps even excitement. What you get is a retread of stories you've already seen 1000 times:

1) Single mother struggling to pay bills gets evicted 2) Family moves into house left by dead relative 3) House is rundown and in a rural area 4) Older teen child is a bit disaffected 5) Younger child is a brainy misfit

Stop me when I get to something original...oh wait, none of it was original. In fact the entire movie from start to finish was completely predictable except for the plot holes that riddle it.

I get that there appears to be a political agenda to dumb down people, but judging by the reviews for less than mediocre writing on display in today's movies, I think they've probably overshot the goal. Even a smart 8 year old will look at this and go, "...but why?"

I won't even get into the other problems it had, it just isn't worth it. If you simply want to get a dose of nostalgia in, by all means watch it, just remember to shut off any and all critical thinking when doing so.

We got The Mandalorian and for the most part it was good, sure, there were some cheesy moments, but overall the show had some good plots, acting, and action.

Then we have this. The very first episode we get what is supposed to have been the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter getting his butt handed to him by sand natives (Tuskens). Now, you could say, well he was hurt from being in that sarlacc's stomach, but then he gets his butt handed to him again in the 2nd and 3rd episodes too. Plus he apparently sleeps in a bacta tank because, well, probably because he constantly gets his butt kicked.

Then, he's quite the peaceful forgiving guy too - he takes over a ruthless crime lord's territory, but he refuses to kill people even after they've tried to kill him. He let's all of his enemies go after they've tried to kill him and frankly, it just seems odd - or perhaps DIsney.

I'm not sure who actually wrote this - I see the names in the credits, but can't believe it personally. Not sure if Kathleen got her dirty mitts all over this or what, but the 3rd episode with the brightly colored boutique hover bikes ridden by the Little Rascals led by Darla practically screams that she did.

There is literally so much wrong with this, that I doubt it gets a second season. It has none of the action, none of the intrigue, none of the Star Wars that you'd expect. It is mostly boring been there, seen that, stuff that you'd expect out of poorly written TV drama on one of the networks.

I'll watch every episode, just to see how bad it gets, and you will too - don't lie, but if this is any indicator of how the other shows are supposed to play out when they debut, then we're in for some horrible shows in the near future.

Is this a show catering to children - yes

Is this a show that wants adults to watch - yes

Is this a show adults will find worth watching - depends

This show commits the sins of recycling every kid's show trope that ever existed:

a) A main character that is both stupid and ignorant b) A secondary character that is an anti-hero smarter than the hero c) A secondary cast that is both stupid and only for comic relief

There are more tropes, but they're very apparent even to children on viewing the first episode - so I'll just go into the other issues:

a) Predictable script b) Very predictable script c) Very unoriginal script d) Script that challenges any canon

Honestly, you have to ask yourself why they didn't pitch this as just a space show for kids without it being tied to Star Trek, but then the obvious answer is - without it being tied to Star Trek no one would have watched beyond the first episode.

It isn't enthralling, it isn't original, and the only catering it does is to children that the writers assume are idiots. It doesn't even teach anything about morals due to the fact that the protagonist is an egotistical moron - like x number of other children's shows that assume the audience is brain dead.

You want to believe that Star Trek depicts a future that the human race can ascribe to, but when you watch shows like this you have to wonder - how can we advance if television writing remains moored in the past. Children are more aware of the world around them then in years past, but shows like this still want to assume that they aren't. Even more sad is that they expected adults to like this show as well and while there are those that do, we already know that there are numerous adults that aren't much smarter than children...

This 'remake' apparently put style over substance. They wanted popular young actors, they wanted to use more modern tropes, they essentially wanted a pretty version for younger audiences. As a result they cut out or changed many things that were central to the original book and that made the first movie better in my opinion.

While the Lynch version was a bit quirky in some spots and didn't completely adhere to the books, it did so more than this version and was better for it. I also feel that if you overlook the special effects, that were limited at the time, you can see that it had a grander presentation that did a much more effective job of showcasing the beauty and scale of the desert planet. I will say that this modern version finally gives the sandworms the justice they deserve.

I'm honestly at a loss as to some of the changes made in both the story and characters. Actually, I get the latter with politics the way they are now, but the changes to the story didn't do this film any favors - it simply opened plot holes for anyone not familiar with the books or made the story feel a bit dumbed down.

I really don't get how they basically removed almost all of the scenes that directly showed the political intrigue that was going on between the emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the various Great Houses of the Landsraad. I should say they removed the versions from the books and first film. What they substituted it with was a watered down version meant to play up the young actors in the main roles - actors selected for their popularity with young audiences.

It isn't a bad film though, it just didn't do the books better and certainly didn't really improve over the older movie - just showed a more modern version with better effects and a reduced storyline. It also lacked any sense of awe or wonder, as it mainly went by the numbers, taking no chances with investor's money - except for the worms, I'm glad they at least got that right, even if they barely make an appearance.

Every season I've had to ask myself the following questions:

1) Will the characters actually learn something and stop making stupid decisions

2) Will the good guys recognize that not everyone follows their same ideals and stop trusting everyone

3) Will the show writers stop taking viewers for idiots

4) Just how ludicrous can these storylines this get

5) How hard are they going to beat a dead horse each season

6) Why haven't the writers been replaced

Yet, somehow with every new season the writers prove that they can actually do worse than the season before. It almost feels like each season the characters start over from scratch in regards to applying any knowledge they have to current circumstances - "Oh, the bad guys laid a trap, we walked into it knowingly, and we still lost to the bad guys horribly...let's do it again, but with even less planning!"

Heck, this particular episode Dick is once again astonished to find that the computer system has already been hacked - just like two (?) episodes prior. Duh Dick! It has gotten so bad that you already know how the episode will end - with the Titans, usually Dick, screwing up.

Let's also not forget thought that the continuity from episode to episode and season to season has always been crap, but this particular episode takes the cake - not just Dick, but Crane's character as well.

Sadly, none of the characters remotely resemble anything from the comics or prior shows. There's nothing wrong with being original, but at this point this is more a show about losers with powers similar to the Titans, but not actually the Titans.

I'll finish the season out, stubbornly, but I highly suspect that if this hasn't been renewed already it may get cancelled - if not at the end of this season, then at the end of next. I know the fanbois will hate me for saying that, but honestly the show's writing hasn't improved, the ratings definitely haven't improved, and the writers always feel stuck on one track when it comes to story. Plus, I feel as if a lot of the issues we're seeing are because the show has no real budget, as if they're already planning to shut it down soon - why else avoid having Gar or Superboy use their powers if not to avoid having expensive Fx/CGI.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope it improves, but after three seasons of the same stuff I highly doubt it.

Right off the bat they started with the tropes:

* Parents divorced * Teenage girl blames herself for what happened * A dad who wants to help people, but his kid hates that

I could keep going, but we already know how this ends. TV writers can't write a show without the ole tropes, they think the audience is too uneducated or not sophisticated enough. I mean, if you look at the state of politics in this country they may have a point.

It isn't just the tropes though, the acting isn't that great and while a large part of that is due to the poor writing, we can't disregard the actual actor's contributions as well. In some cases it is over-acting and in others you simply get wooden acting or reactions that don't feel sincere.

We could also mention the set pieces, but I don't expect them to actually stage a few thousand tons of debris - what they did stage looks dumb as hell though. Perhaps we could mention someone just walking in a random direction, and then running into people instead of the wildlife first. Again, tons of things that standout (not in a good way), so take your pick.

If none of this was bad enough, then you probably won't mind the overall "Journey to the Center of the Earth" vibe, but not, and with horrible CGI animals to boot. Let's take a couple of Jules Verne's classics, which were obviously better written, and reduce them to this farce...um, no thanks.

This was a throwback to the 'good' old 80's horror flicks AFTER they became more comedy than horror. You have some sporadic bad music, some cheesy exposition and dialogue, some, "Don't go in there," moments, and some laugh out loud moments - at least for me.

A few things to note:

A) It isn't scary - not in the least

B) The first 3/4 of the film is basically crap

C) The last 1/4 of the film while a bit predictable is what had me laughing, but was more entertaining than the previous parts

D) This is a good 'group watch' movie, as you can all sit there and yell at the screen about how stupid everyone is in the movie without fear of missing important dialogue because most of the dialogue is predictable and not important

Just to make it clear - this takes numerous tropes from various other movies and combines them into a not so original mix, adds an 80s veneer, and then wishes like hell you won't notice just how cheesy and shallow it is. It actually plays more like a TV special than an actual feature length movie, but is typical for what passes as entertainment these days - especially with all of the 'you can't do or say this' crowd now despite there being some domestic abuse depicted that didn't ultimately add to the story.