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jnorris441
Reviews
Serenity (2005)
Better than I expected
I am a Browncoat, so I'm a little biased. I really wanted to love this movie, and for the most part I did. Just a couple of things detracted from my enjoyment: In a few instances, Whedon's trademark dialogue seemed a little clunky and silly this time around. There are scenes where Mal is being absolutely serious, and he says something in Whedon-speak...and you try not to laugh at how melodramatic and silly the moment is. I felt myself cringe once or twice.
Something else I absolutely hated: Mr. Universe. What a crappy idea for a character! How about "Mr. Annoying Jewish Stereotype." It would have been cooler if they had to fight their way into an Alliance transmission station, rather than insert this guy. It even took me out of the movie every time they mentioned his name, especially what should have been an emotional funeral scene. There's Book's tombstone, Wash's tombstone...oh, who's that in the middle? MR. UNIVERSE?? More than a couple people in the audience laughed. It seemed like he was only there to say "Can't stop the signal" multiple times.
I miss Wash. I knew Wash would die, but it happened so quickly! I was pretty shocked. Whedon really had to kill someone to make it believable, and since Alan wanted it to happen I'm at peace with it.
That last scene with Mal and Zoe in the cargo bay needed something more.
Now the things that kicked ass: River's "My Turn" moment where she goes medieval on some Reavers and her first fight on Beaumont. The introduction of the ship. The final space battle, when the Reaver ships emerge from the ion cloud. Simon and Kaylee get jiggy. And Mal finally gets to stick it to the Feds.
All in all, it rocked. I will DEFINITELY SEE IT MULTIPLE TIMES!
Taken (2002)
Many weak points, but I enjoyed it
10 things I hated about taken:
1. The entire "Acid Tests" episode. Wow, was that lame. All the characters were flat! The menacing sheriff with something to hide, the inquisitive reporter, the misunderstood freak...it was almost unwatchable. Then they had the obligatory "hunting students in the woods" segment. I was glad when those two burned to death. The only saving grace was Owen's death scene. You can skip this episode and still know what happened based on the recap, which is what I recommend.
2. Ally's trite saccharine voice-overs
3. Constant slips into over-sentimentality. Note to actors: you don't need to hug every 2 minutes.
4. All the scenes where we get to know the soldiers in "Dropping The Dishes"
5. The actress that played young Lisa
6. The relationship between Becky and Eric...what a load of crap. If I wanted to watch Lifetime, I'd watch Lifetime. This was definite padding, and shame on Bohem for writing it in the first place.
7. Anything that had to do with that radio show. "This little girl needs our help." Now let's all rally around her! The government isn't taking her anywhere! Hand me a barf bag please....
8. The German and Hebrew accents were terrible
9. The alien CGI. They looked like little dolls, and the abduction scenes were as generic as you could imagine...not frightening at all.
10. The ending! Yeah, we know she has to go with them...is there any reason to drag it out for that long? Why don't you save yourself some money, SciFi Channel: come to my house and try to suck tears from my eyes with a Dust Buster. It would be more subtle than that manipulative last episode.
If this mini-series had been DARKER and not so sugary, and if they edited it down to about 8 hours, this would have been amazing. That didn't stop me from buying Taken on DVD though. Other than the things I mentioned, I enjoyed it very much.
Timescape (1991)
Not bad at all for a TV movie
Jeff Daniels does a good job considering the script and the storyline moves along nicely. It's fairly predictable at times, but I still enjoyed it. The special effects are not overly cheesy, which puts it on par with the rest of the movie. The scenes with the time tourists were pretty tiresome.
********SPOILERS********
The end of the movie was contrived. He naturally goes back and saves his wife also, after saving his daughter and half of the town. What the hell? This guy now has a free pass to change anything he wants for the rest of his life? Why didn't that guy from the future confiscate his passport?
Rating: 6.0