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Reviews
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
Enjoyable and not as bad as some people say.
I went into this movie yesterday and didn't expect anything. Could have been trash or bad, I didd't care - I went into this movie because I very much enjoyed the first one, because I like the director James Wan and a lot of the actors.
And the result was - I had a very fun evening in the movie theatre. The best movie to grab yourself a large bag of popcorn, put your brain on stand-by and enjoy a fun ride.
The story, admittedly, was nothing special. It was enough there to make you follow the plot, but other than that - there wasn't much there. Could it have been better? Yes. Does that kill the movie? No.
This movie is more like a guilty pleasure for me and I would watch it because of the world of Aquaman and all of its details. This is were the movie really shines. The production design is 10/10 for me. And the action is good, too.
So, if you want a deep and very good story, you might be disappointed.
But if you are somebody to enjoy a fun and very well made "Superhero Aquaman theme park ride", a classical "grab yourself a bag of popcorn and turn your brain off" movie - this one may be for you.
The Last of Us: When We Are in Need (2023)
They had to drag Christianity into it, didn't they?
In the game the community with whom Ellie (and Joel) have an encounter in this episode, was just a community that was cannibalistic. There was no religious theme there whatsoever.
I don't understand why the showrunners decided to make this community Christian. It's almost as stupid as calling yourself "communist" just because your community lives as a commune (see episode 6).
First of all, it makes no sense that they would resort to cannibalism - cannibalism is a big no-no in the Bible. Also, raiding is not very Christian either. So it makes no sense at all that a devout Christian community would behave in such a way. So the only reason for making this community Christian, is because you as a writer or showrunner want to make an anti-Christian statement for ideological reasons.
It didn't elevate the story in any way. It was just there to make that anti-Christian statement.
Apart from the issue with unnecessarily bringing Christianity into it, this episode was another example for "this has been better in the game". The show just keeps being lackluster and disappointing. They had to drag Christianity into it, didn't they?
The Last of Us (2023)
Had the potential to be great. But it is just mediocre HBO stuff and sometimes really bad.
I can't say that the show is bad in general. But it is far from living up to its potential. And episode 3 has show us that it can really suck (no pun intended) at times.
I am going to loosely address some reasons for why I think this show is disappointing and not as good as it could be:
- Bad casting of main characters, unnecessary type-switching.
Though I think that most of the actors are good, a lot of them and especially the main characters are not matching their counterparts from the game and the game (at least TLOU, Part I) just nailed it. The actors are good, but the casting choices still are just bad.
- Bad chemistry between the characters.
There is no matching chemistry between the actors of Joel & Tess or Joel & Ellie.
- Pointless deviations from the original story (see episode 3).
Those deviations don't add anything good to the story, they are just annoying distraction at best and derailment at worst.
- Sometimes just stupid, boring or pointless.
There is more examples than just the bigger part of episode 3 for that.
- Mediocre storytelling.
When it sticks to the main plot, it's not bad. But it's not really good either.
After episode 3 I decided to take a break from watching the show and before I would continue to watch, I will wait till the whole season has aired and the reviews came in. If according to the non-shill and non-cheerleader reviews the show will give us more crap in the direction of episode 3, I'm out for good.
The Last Kingdom (2015)
Great, but could be better and decreases in quality in season 4.
I am writing this review after having watched season 4. I have binge watched this TV show and loved it overall, but I was disappointed of how the show decreased in quality in season 4.
One reason for that decline might be that the former showrunner and head writer Stephen Butchard quit as the head writer after season 3. Another one might be that a central character of the seasons 1-3 died at the end of season 3 - resulting in a major shift for all the other characters and especially for the main protagonist of the show.
Another reason for the decrease in quality seems to be that it becomes more unrealistic, inconsistent and carricaturistic in season 4 than it already was to some extent in the seasons before.
To give some examples: I simply hate it when stupid stuff is presented, like kings (or even queens) unnecessarily throwing themselves into the frontlines of battles and thus stupidly (and out of character) putting the whole kindgom under unnecessary risk (as it is very destabilizing for a kindom when a king unexpectedly dies and finding a good successor who is capable of keeping peace and order is difficult and takes time). It may be important if the king is present at the battlefield, but it's ridiculous when they are fighting in the frontlines, they are too valuable to do such things and when they do, it should mean something and not just happen on a regular basis. Especially, since it is established in the show that sudden death in the battlefield frontlines is a likely thing to happen even for the most capable fighters.
Or, I hate it when characters do stupid stunts which would get them killed in no time in real life (like running through a shield wall alone and then finding themselves fighting alone surrounded by enemies). I don't mind in general when characters do stunts like that, but it should be consistent in terms of world-building and it should be explained how the characters can do such things without wearing plot armor and for example without enemy fighters who are surrounding them just standing there, doing nothing and just waiting for their turn to be attacked for no good reason.
So, it has always been a problem in the show that such stupid stuff happens. But season 4 took that to a new level and I hated it. Especially when we are looking at the character of Brida for example - she is transformed into an inhuman monstrocity regarding her capabilities and her motivations, therefore I can't take anything that happens with her seriously anymore.
This review is more a rant about season 4 than it is a balanced and complete review of the whole show. So let let me give an overall review with this short summary: it is or at least was a great show and seasons 1-3 would deserve to rightfully be given 8 or 9 stars out of 10, but right now after season 4 it is just a 7/10. The show is still good and it has the advantage that it is based on an already finished book series of 13 titles (2 book titles resulting in 1 season each, so there are probably 3 or 4 seasons more to come if the show remains successful) - so that it probably won't get much worse than season 4 as the new authors don't have to come up with a plot from scratch and thus will be able to hold some level of quality thanks to the already existing books. But I really hope that it gets better than that again, just as it was in seasons 1-3.
The Last Kingdom: Episode #4.6 (2020)
I am sorry to say this, but this season shows a big decrease in quality.
As I already stated in the title, it feels like the show hast decreased a lot in quality in season 4 and this episode was a lowpoint so far.
It feels like they changed the writers or the head producers.
I loved the first 3 seasons. And this season is just significantly worse than the others - so far until episode 6 at least.
The whole season is like this episode : the plot is all over the place, stupid stuff happens all the time, cliche after cliche, trying to be a discount "Game of Thrones" (minus the big plot thread that keeps GoT together) - and so on.
And the loss of King Alfred in season 3 (though it is surely justified historywise) seems to be almost just as bad for "The Last Kindom" as the loss of Ragnar Lodbrok was for the rival TV show "Vikings".
Sorry for this rant and I don't want to write spoilers. I think the reason overall is that the writing got worse. Maybe the source material book on which it is based upon is just an exaple of the "weak one" in the series. I am just just disappointed to see this great TV show to decrease in quality so much. I hope it gets better again.
EDIT: After some research I found out that my feeling was right - the showrunner of seasons 1-3 stopped writing this show after season 3. So they really changed the writers. That explains a lot.
Tenet (2020)
CONFUSE THE ... CAT!
I think this movie will divide viewers into 3 groups:
1.) The group that thinks that this movie is a flawless masterpiece, like everything Christopher Nolan does, has ever done, and will ever do.
2.) The group that argues that this movie is a vastly overrated pile of garbage, and who give the movie a lot of hate because they are angry about the brainless praise this movie gets from the Nolan fanboys.
3.) The group that thinks that this movie had potential and is certainly not "the worst Nolan ever" (which is in fact "Insomnia"), but still has a lot problems and is way too confusing.
Needless to say, I belong to group 3.
What I certainly like about this movie is that it encourages interesting thoughts about time travel. And you can see how much effort went into the production.
But let's be honest: this movie has a lot of problems. A lot of logical holes and inconsistencies. Bad sound-mix. Bad dialogue which lacks build-up. Superficial characters which are hard to care about. Wooden fatuous acting, especially from the lead actor. Bad overloaded script with characters and a story whose only purpose is to serve the pretentious plot line. And A LOT of unnecessary (and maybe intentional) confusion for the sake of confusion.
It looks like Nolan overstrained himself with this one. And like actors and even more so producers failed to restrain Nolan from going too wild with his ideas without anyone checking on whether the whole thing would work.
I didn't hate it - but I didn't love it either. And I wish people would stop praising it as a masterpiece which it certainly is not and admit that the movie has a lot of problems.
And if you have a cat that is moping all day and badly needs to be confused out of its rut and you cannot afford the services of Confuse-A-Cat Ltd., just show it this movie - it'll do the job just fine!
Looper (2012)
Unausgegorener und schwacher Genre-Mix mit einem blassen Bruce Willis
Der Hauptcharakter als absoluter Anti-Held vermag es nicht, den Zuschauer emotional für die Story zu gewinnen - das wäre ja OK, wenn die Story wenigstens stimmig wäre. Ist sie aber nicht. Die Zeitreiselogik funktioniert nicht. Der Telekinese-Quatsch wirkt unglaublich überflüssig. Die Love-Story(s) kaum nachvollziehbar bzw. nachfühlbar. Und auch ansonsten werden viele Dinge angefangen, ohne sinnvoll zu Ende gebracht zu werden. Schade - wäre mehr drin gewesen. So ist das ganze nichts weiter als ein solider Durchschnittsfilm, trotz aller Genres, die da (unnötig) vermischt werden.
Einziger Lichtblick für mich: Die Maske und die Mimik von Joseph Gordon-Levitt, die doch eine gelungene Interpretation eines jungen Bruce Willis ist.
Der freie Wille (2006)
Mut zum Erzählen ohne zu urteilen.
Wer sich auf eine Geschichte einlassen kann, deren Macher den Mut haben, über Menschen zu erzählen, ohne das, was diese dargestellten Menschen tun, in "dürfen" und "nicht dürfen" einzuteilen und andauernd den Richter zu spielen, sondern sich auf das subjektive Erleben dieser Menschen konzentrieren, der hat mit diesem Film eine echte Empfehlung.
Es ist kein "schöner" Film. Keine einfachen Antworten. Aber das Empfinden und Erleben der Beteiligten wird sehr eindringlich, unverzerrt und realistisch dargestellt. So ehrlich und offen, das es weh tut.
Allen anderen seien kunterbunte Disney-Filme empfohlen. Da gibt es immer einen "guten" und einen "bösen" und darin bekommt jeder, was er nach dem Urteil der ununterbrochen moralisch wertenden verdient.
Leider werden wohl die Kritiken der "moralisch überlegenen" zu Glasners neuem Film ähnlich negativ ausfallen, denn "Gnade" gibt es nach der Auffassung dieser Menschen nur für die "Guten"...
Pumping Iron (1977)
Der wohl bedeutendste Film über den Bodybuildingsport überhaupt.
Der Film ist ein Lehrstück für jeden Dokumentarfilmer - wobei der Film eher ein Doku-Drama ist, denn ein Dokumentarfilm. Denn Fiktion und Dokumentation wurden bei diesem Film geschickt zu einem Film verwoben, der den nachfolgenden Bodybuilding- und Fitness-Hype mitbegründet hat. Und jemanden der breiten Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt hat, der auch später noch vieles mit großem Erfolg gemacht hat, manches als erster überhaupt und manches, wo niemand für ihn eine Chance sah: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnie auf seinem Zenit als "Körperbauer", wird als jemand gezeichnet, der es faustdick hinter den Ohren hat und alles, aber wirklich alles, seinem Erfolg unterordnet. Lou Ferrigno, der spätere Hulk-Darsteller aus der TV-Serie, stellt seinen Antagonisten, mit einem schüchternen und verletzbaren Wesen und einem dominanten und antreibendem Vater. Diese beiden Gegenpole werden genutzt, um die US-Bodybuilding-Szene der 70er zu charakterisieren und zu der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen.
Timber Falls (2007)
Billig, schwachsinnig und ohne jede Spur von Originalität
Man, was war der Film für eine Zeitverschwendung. Es ist nicht nur, dass der Film immer auf B-Movie-Niveau dümpelt und sich mit schlecht und billig gemachten Splatter-Szenen lächerlich macht. Die Story ist der reinste Schwachsinn! Wer zudem ein Problem damit hat, zu sehen, wie christliche Symbole in den Dreck gezogen werden, sollte einen großen Bogen um diesen Film machen. Was wahrscheinlich auch der einzige Grund ist, sich mit Absicht und Vorwissen den Film freiwillig anzusehen: wenn man einen Hass auf christliche Symbolik hat. Und selbst das würde wohl kaum über die schlechte Story und die billige und uninspirierte Inszenierung hinwegtäuschen.
Ich glaube kaum, was am Filmerlebnis zu trüben, wenn ich nun was aus der "Story" verrate: Ein Päärchen geht in den Bergen abseits der Zivilisation wandern und wird von religiösen Fanatikern gekidnappt, gefoltert usw. usf.. Der größte Schwachpunkt des Films sind die "Bösewichte". Denn auf der einen Seite werden sie als Bibel-Fanatiker hingestellt, auf der anderen Seite jedoch scheint es diesen nichts auszumachen, gegen so ziemlich alle Gebote zu verstoßen, die die Bibel hat (gegen Lügen, Stehlen, Töten, Beneiden).
Holt Euch lieber "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" oder etwas, was in einer ähnlichen Liga spielt, denn von solchen Filmen kupfert dieser Film lediglich die ganze Zeit ab. Meine Empfehlung: Finger ab bzw. Finger weg!