HajiAltair Reviews

4400 (2021–2022)

I watched 10 minutes and that's it

[2/10 · 23 February 2022]

I liked the original, too bad that I can't find it anywhere short of buying the DVD and who has a player nowadays. I streamed this thinking it was the original.

It starts slow at first, a romantic moment between a couple, and their kid. Was there a kid? I don't remember. PAUSE.

So this isn't the original, but a remake huh. Allright, could turn out good. Afterall they have all their hard work done for them by the original. All they have to do is to not stray too far from its concept and it will turn out great. However starting a 4400 show with a romantic moment seems like a red flag, who's their audience really? Not me, but let's give it a try. I'd have started with something more menacing and mysterious. RESUME

Boring, boring, boring PAUSE. What the hell is this? The pace is all wrong. Where's the suspence. People fall from the sky, but there's zero suspence and no moment left to digest that. An out of place, comedic moment, of someone from the 20s shouting he's a doctor, who's amazed more of the modern car than the rifts in the sky. Never mind, let's see where it's heading. RESUME

Boring, boring, boring first actor "I need to speak with whomever is in charge" second actor repeats "I need to speak with whomever is in charge" STOP

I'm done with this show. It has potential obviously. I'm sad to say, for everyone involved in it, especially for the actors(they're ok for another genre, but not this kind of sci fi).

Black Summer (2019–2021)

28 days later the tv show

[7/10 · 13 April 2019]

Except these are zombies, who must be killed by headshots. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see another one, but I'm glad I gave this show a chance since it is rare to see fast zombies and characters in real danger.

It's average people who are in the middle of an apocalypse. Not everyone can aim perfectly. And the zombies are stronger and faster than the average person, which rules out any hand to hand combat. For example they can get up from a 20 feet fall or a car crash. The show doesn´t explain this, so I understand people's frustration with the characters opting to hide or run.

The acting has been decent most of the times. Not at all times (the school episode). The moral choices the characters take are fast and gritty. All in all, it's an ok zombie show.

Almost Human (2013–2014)

Almost CSI in the future

[3/10 · 28 January 2014]

Put two cops, one human and one android, and let them solve crimes in technology heavy future. Let them be Karl Urban and Michael Ealy and you've got fan. Well if it only was that easy.

Don't get me wrong, this is more of an action-oriented show than a detective show. This show has a good premise and in theory they have many venues to explore, but so far the main plot (which is clichéd) has been non existent except for in the first episode. Perhaps a loosely serialized cop show is your cop of tea, but not mine.

The actors don't have a lot to work with and their dialogs seem forced. After 10 or so episodes they still act as two teenage brats who fight about who gets to drive the car.

The crimes they solve and the technology they show is sometimes interesting and inspiring (future bank robbers take notes). But after a few episode I'd rather read a tech news paper or a Discovery channel documentary. The Black Mirror Scifi show does a much better job at exploring this subject.

Anyway, they promised a lot in the first episode, but I'm here to warn you that the show you're waiting for is not coming.

The Pacific (2010)

Well rounded mini series

[8/10 · 7 April 2013]

I thought Band of Brothers was great, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to see another mini series shot in the same way, especially since BB bored me at times and I've had bad experiences with movies about the Pacific war; Besides some good POW movies, there was that psychological and slow Thin Red Line and the boring Flags of our Father and those unspeakable Ben Affleck/Nicholas Cage/Mel Gibson movies. I was expected an equally long bore fest, with me being left as clueless about what was going on as I went in. In other words, a movie that only Americans can relate to.

But evidently, The Pacific is a well rounded mini series. It grabbed my attention right from the first episode. Unlike BB I could follow the story and remember the numerous characters, which is a big plus. This movie though doesn't clearly have the same budget as BB, both in the FX and actors department, but overall I liked it better than its predecessor.

The Pacific war theater was clearly a bloody one and this mini series did it justice unlike anything I've watched before. It's easy to follow the action and understand the marines' objectives. I even got curious and read articles and books about the pacific war in between episodes, so that helped.

Sword Art Online (2012– )

Great anime series

[9/10 · 10 December 2012]

So far I've seen the first dozen of episodes. It goes without saying that this anime is very beautiful and with strong memorable characters. I was hesitant at first to watch this because of the video game theme. But it's a very mature show for what is contrary to what it appears to be in first glance.

Teenage boy Kirito gets stuck in a futuristic MMO game and together with other players in his situation they have to beat the game to be set free or die in the real world.

It's not the typical action packed anime, although it could turn into another Naruto/Bleach/OnePiece of ridiculously overpowered action heroes, I think a better description so far would be a tragic romantic sci fi show. I can't remember when I've seen so many characters die in an anime in such a short succession.

Anyway don't miss this, I'm glad I didn't. There are very few animes these days that make me want to see forward for the next episode.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

A missed opportunity

[5/10 · 12 October 2012]

Steve Carell plays once again a serious role of a depressed guy as he did in Little Miss Sunshine, this time with a good reason, the world is about to end. Which means that he doesn't goof around as he usually does in most of his movies, in fact Keira Knightly does more funny faces than him.

This is more of a romantic movie than a comedy, it felt like they wanted to make another Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Broken Flowers where a famous comedian is so sad that you want to poke him and ask why he is so sad and in comes this lovely hot girl and says let's put a smile on that face, but in my opinion they failed since it lacked that magic. Why didn't it work this time? Because I was extremely annoyed by Keira's character, maybe because I'm recovering from her recent Freud and Jung movie, and Carell didn't impress me either, in fact their relationship seems rushed and came out of the blue with zero chemistry. They're no Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. In the beginning Carrel dates Melanie Lynskey who is portrayed as weird, but since Keira's character is also weird I don't see why the main character ditches her in favor for the smaller more fitter actress.

This movie should either have had actors with better chemistry or went straight towards the comedy root and parodied every end of the world movie out there.

As it is, this just feels more like an awkward movie that I don't really feel like seeing again.

Deranged (2012)

Begs for a Hollywood remake

[4/10 · 7 October 2012]

I wasn't expecting much from this Korean horror movie, but it turned out to be a little more entertaining. The movie starts comically with our protagonist Jaehyk who slaves on behalf of his failing pharmaceutical company and due to his bad choices the future looks bleak. We are introduced to his cute wife and two children for whom he no longer has much time or energy for. The horror aspect begins with people behaving abnormally and some ending up dead and floating in rivers. After that all hell breaks loose and Jaehyk has to start looking out for his family.

This movie is very similar to 2011 pandemic movie Contagion but with a lot more gore, much of the story dealing with how politicians and scientist deal with the disaster, posing a lot of dilemma decisions that has to be made. The other half is dealing with Jaehyk racing against time to save his family. I thought the acting and the chemistry of the family was superb and perhaps the main thing that saves this movie. But the plot seemed to me to be fresh and the pandemic is quite interesting. Unfortunately the movie doesn't seem to have the Hollywood budget and it shows, and it looks like a TV movie most of the time. There are not many movies that scare me and this certainly didn't but it was suspenseful with many race against time situations.

One thing that I absolutely hated about the movie is that they reveal what the pandemic is before even the half mark, after that it is pretty easy to predict why it is happening, even though the characters seem oblivious to it.

But despite its faults I can see a Hollywood remake happening, whether that's in your opinion good or bad. I actually think it would be nice, since I think one of the main downfalls of this movie is low budget.

Pros: Suspenseful, interesting pandemic, cute main actors, interesting difficult dilemma situations, deep moments, OK social commentary.

Cons: Too long, stupid main plot resolution, TV movie like, not scary.