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skydiverphil
Reviews
Breaking Bad: Grilled (2009)
Great suspense, exciting to the end.
This is one of the best episodes, from the point of suspense. While not much happens back at the White home, except for Marie temporarily being excused for her kleptomaniac problems, the kidnapping out in the New Mexico boonies story is suspense-ridden and sometimes very humorous. The suspense derives from all the points at which Walter and Jesse just could have got away... if not for one small mistake. This started with Walt leaving his gun at home in the previous episode, on to Jesse calling the ricin "killer" in the sense that it's an awesome batch of meth, to Jesse ruining it all by inflicting his signature "Chilli P" (a reference to the pilot episode, well done by the writers, Jesse hasn't forgotten about his past) to the ominous bell ringing by a warning Tio Salamanca, maybe the best part of all. To have a seemingly senile, wheelchair-and-oxygen-supply-bound quadriplegic speechless old uncle in his underpants turn out to be a dangerous key player is absolutely brilliant writing. His menacing bell ringing really does send a shiver down your spine. The initial scene where half-delirious Walt sees his forgiving wife turn into Tuco, then scramble on the ground looking for his glasses is hilarious. Nice ending shot combining the slowly dying rhythm of Jesse's car's hydraulics with the heartbeat of the dying Tuco, with Hank towering above. Onnly eight points, though, because Tuco, having been shot in the abdomen, seems unrealistically strong enough to handle a submachine rifle and engage in a firefight.
Breaking Bad (2008)
One of the best shows ever
Breaking Bad combines terrific writing, superb acting and excellent camera-work for a suspense-laden, exciting, humorous and dramatic show. The story is just so rich and full of surprises that your eyes will be glued to the screen. I also like the in-your-face realism, one seldom thinks that some scenes are too theatrical, no, even the spectacular or very coincidental parts are written and shot in a way that makes you think, why not? and places you in the midst of the action. The masterful writing leads to erroneous details that a viewer well versed in chemistry or DEA work will find being easily forgiven for the plot's sake, it's not a documentary after all. It's great how the story focuses on all levels involved with the meth trade, including the street dealer, lab work, be it in an RV, a hidden superlab or using fumigated houses for concealment, the police, corrupt lawyers, money laundering, how families get destroyed, big corporate moneymaking, the violence of Mexican drug cartels etc. While some may argue that a weak point of BB is the fact that you have to watch it beginning-to-end to really understand what's going on, IMHO this just highlights the strong writing, trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible, having earlier mistakes come to haunt Walt in later episodes, and so forth. Hank is always just one step behind Walt by picking up clues from previous episodes that the audience can piece together easily. The suspense is the show's other strength, at numerous times Walt is so close to being found out and still escapes by luck or ingenuity. There's the whole cat-and-mouse game of living a double life, getting entangled in lies, hiding in plain sight that the viewer can piece together and eagerly wait for the characters to unwind. This also adds to the comedic value, a lot of which stems from the character's witty lines full of dark humor, and great acting, also from the supporting cast. Cranston rightly deserves his Emmys for an astonishingly wide and realistic portrayal of emotions. Saul Goodman is another great character, well acted by Odenkirk, hilarious but realistic, and the epitome of white-collar crime. I could go on and on about how the characters' lives entwine, how things very nearly go wrong, how many lives Walt ruins in his quest to satisfy his hurt pride. If the script was made into a novel it would be a bestseller. Add to this a variety of creative camera angles, beautiful scenes of the endless New Mexico skies and high desert ranges, and this is also a treat for the eyes. An absolute must-see. There is also a moral tone to the story, and we see very clearly the effects the drug trade has on all that are involved. Families get ruined, from the Pinkmans to the Whites to the numerous sad but realistic end users of Walt's drugs. The violence involved, the complete wreck that Walt becomes while everything is seemingly running well are also strong messages to the audience. While it's sad to see the show end next summer, even this speaks in its favor. Rather than milking a good brand until it becomes boring, like so many other TV series that started out great and then watered down, this masterpiece knows when to retire: when it's at the top. I for one cannot wait to see what imaginative ingenuity they come up with for Heisenberg's finale.
Skyfall (2012)
A random accumulation of action sequences without any storyline to connect them
There is one good sequence in Skyfall, namely, the fight between sniper guy and Craig in Shanghai, which is shot in a hyper modern skyscraper at night, with alternating illumination from the neon display from the opposite building. Kudos to the director for this artistic image.
We start with a high-speed chase of some villain who's stolen a revealing list of MI6 agents through Turkey, ending up on the top of a train. It's been seen before in QOS, but OK, it's a good intro. Why Bond doesn't assist reincarnated Moneypenny in taking a better shot, given that she apparently only has one bullet in her magazine, is beyond me, as is his resurrection from a hundreds-of-feet drop first from a railroad bridge, then down a waterfall. Now we know he's Bond and all, but even Batman had to be nourished back to health now and then. Having respawned, we witness fraternity pledge Bond making Ian Fleming turn over in his grave by chugging scorpion urine. Meanwhile in London, it's Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth who's switched careers to become M's boss, offering the full defined benefit retirement package to her, while we're treated to multiple shots of the English Bulldog figure on M's desk, stubborn as obstinate as she is, and hell no, there's still work to be done in the "Shadows", a term that couldn't possibly stem from Batman, right? So then we have MI6 blown up, Bond breaks into M's home, drinks some more whiskey, fails boot camp, and as the logical consequence is sent to Shanghai. Batman's Scarecrow has apparently taken Q's position and outfits Bond with 1. radio and 2. gun since we're all old school now, the subtleties of irony indeed. So it's off to Shanghai and Macau for an episode of "Fail your mission ", so let's let the sniper take his shot, do not stop him from killing watchmen, do not find out who he works for but let him fall to death anyway, let's go to the casino, drink with a prostitute transvestite, re-enact Gladiator with overweight Chinese bouncers and unusually voracious Komodo dragons, lose 4m Euros and let the Villain take you hostage in the bargain. The gay super-hacker behind it all turns out to be a former MI6 agent who's been tortured by months of sex with women, then seeks relief from the not-so-inexperienced Bond (poor Ian Fleming!), then goes Wilhelm Tell on the Bond girl, then Bond saves the day, surprise, and Blondie is locked in a panopticon complete with convenient escape tunnel to confront Mommy M about his wretched childhood, oh and he also has bad teeth. M doesn't want to talk to him, so his whole being captured only serves the story by offering him a free flight to London, where his mission, Joker-like, is to kill Mom in the courtroom where she's being grilled with icy Britishness. A tube train derails, with scenes reminiscent of Call of Duty. The old Thomas Crown trick still works, dress as a bobby amidst them and you can escape Bond. Anton Chigurh then shoots the two(!) guards that stand watch as the Prime Minister presides over M's court-martial, but Bond is quick to the scene and uses magical fire extinguishers that spew a lot of smoke to get M away to safety, for MI6's computer systems have been hacked by a guy who uses encryption that only six people in the world know of, and which the Scarecrow had invented. Interesting. I think I know who I'd arrest as my prime suspect. But no! young Q has more up his sleeve, throwing breadcrumbs at Blondie and the gang, to no avail however as they're right on the trace of Bond and M...
Notice how I've almost forgotten about the stolen MI6 agent list? Don't worry, though, it's all on YouTube.
Now for a completely different movie, "Home Improvement", starring James "B" (B for Batman), Scottish butler/nanny Alfred who lives in Scottish Wayne Manor, complete with way-too-short escape tunnel. And lo and behold, all the King's Men (MI6, the British Army, SAS etc.) could not be mobilized to the defense of Bond's mother, who this bad gay guy for whatever reason that we're never shown really wants to kill. So we board up the house with crates, stick firecrackers in doorwells and saw off shotgun barrels until the classic Apocalypse now! scene is made a pirate copy of, with a chopper and 70s music and with bad guys galore. To cut a short story short, Wayne Manor (aka Skyfall, a typically Scottish name), the boyhood home of Tuxedo B, is set ablaze by Blondie and what appears to be a chemical plant's worth of pyrotechnics hidden behind those Gaelic walls. Oh and the chopper crashes, huzzah! But all is not over in the siege of Skighe Faughlle, for Mommy and Alfred are hiding in the church (where else?) and Bond has escaped through said tunnel, which leads him straight into combat with Blondie's henchman, they both go under the frozen lake, Bond's gills enable him to survive for minutes beneath the ice and not freeze afterwards, Blondie finds Mom in the church, then offers her a double-suicide, but Bond is back again from the shivering Scottish waters and knifes Chigurh. Mommy dies too, because she's realized by now that the James Bond franchise has departed way too far from Fleming's novels. Oh and Bond is bequeathed her ceramic bulldog instead of something meaningful, inspiring, or even funny.
Then we're treated to a cheesy, but not so bad homage to the Connery and Moore Bond movies as a homage to 50 years of Dr. No and as a reminder to please go and buy some 50-years-of-007-merchandise, since Voldemort now runs MI6.
No contingent plot, no gadgets, too few Bond girls, ridiculous villain, countless unanswered questions, too much departure from realism make this the worst Bond movie alongside with The Living Daylights.