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Ajaquai
Reviews
The Wheel of Time (2021)
A poor series and an even worse adaption
I guess to get it out of the way, I am a fan of the books, you know the very people the showrunner seems to dislike for some reason instead of trying to play to the built in audience. Putting that aside, I did give it a good go, and actually do like series that have not been great book adaptions, as long as the movie/series is you know... actually good. There appears to be liberal use of fanbaiting to create fake controversy in an attempt to cover up that this series is terrible.
This is not the case here. I've only watched season 1 with no interest in going back for season 2 so that is what the review is being based on.
Character development is really poor. Instead of making us care about the characters and doing some world building, they seem to have gone for the "mystery box" technique of "who is the dragon reborn?" Honestly, this should have been the least focus. More interesting is what happens once they know who it is. How does everyone react, cope, scheme? But no, let's spend most of the season thinking "anyone at all could be the dragon reborn" even when it doesn't make sense. (It is not sexist, but he can't be female. The whole thing is wrapped up in prophesies and he needs to be worried about going mad with the taint before the end.) On that end, they deliberately seem to ignore all the male characters in a clumsy attempt to draw attention away from them.
The characters are unlikeable, especially the men. They've aged everyone up so they can put adult scenes in there, and basically made all the men horrible, abusive, incompetent or some combination of the above. The women tend towards flat mary sue-ish characters which isn't much better.
They keep saying that "there isn't enough time" to do a proper book adaption, but then put in a whole heap of pointless scenes that weren't in the book and are bad. Like who really wants to see an entire episode dedicated to Rafe's fanfic character? Who wants to see Lan banging his chest and moping around for another? Why drown half the girls in the women's initiation ceremony by pushing them off a cliff into river rapids? Why... you get the point?
And no I don't expect a 1:1 adaption. That is a lazy argument. I just want interesting TV that makes sense. One of the few scenes I actually really liked (Logain battling on the castle) from this series WAS NOT in the books. But it showed information that you needed to understand what was going on (this series also suffers from a lot of tell don't show) and the actor gave a great performance. In a few minutes they established: Logain is charasmatic, powerful and a leader not afraid of getting his hand dirty in battle. He could use the power which was starting to drive him mad already. He wasn't evil by nature, but the power was trying to drive him to do evil things. In the show he had a loyal following of people who thought he was the dragon reborn. Logain is well cast here and the scene has a great use of tension and more carefully used CGI which looks tacky and fake at some other points in the show. Basically it told you more about the world and character in a few minutes, than most of the season to date. That's a scene done right. If it was adapted for TV that way, I wouldn't have an issue.
The costumes are too clean. Nothing looks traveled in. The CGI by the end of the series is horrendous. The writing is dull at best, cringy at worst. They insist on shoving the worst kinds of YA tropes in there like the good old love triangle involving the guy who has just fridged his wife. Pacing is all over the place. Scenes that need room to breathe are not given it (places like the ways and Shadar Logoth needed far more time to build tension), other scenes drag f-o-r-e-v-e-r. (Looking at that horrible funeral scene with Lan in particular but there are other examples.)
There are plot holes you can drive trucks though. Anything can just be fixed with the power. I'm not sure why anyone is even the least bit concerned.
And then there's that ending. Why would an entire fleet of magic wielding ships decide to kill one little girl on the beach. I'm going to guess they never tell us and it was done for shallow CGI specticle.
Anyway, as I said, not back for season 2 which from the clips I've seen has not improved at all. Do not recommend this series to anyone who likes the books as it has little in common with them, and I can't even recommend it as a show to those who haven't since it is at about the level of a poorly made, bland generic throw away fantasy series that likely wouldn't have ever hit the media's radar if it hadn't been attached to the WOT name.
Men in Black (1997)
When an interstellar cockroach wearing an Edgar suit comes to town, there's only one organisation you can count on.
This is such a fun movie. The movie features the Men in Black, defenders of the Galaxy (or at least Planet Earth.) Unsung heroes who keep their presence hidden from the rest of humanity by neurolizers which conveniently flash memories away. When an alien wearing an Edgar suit comes to town, someone has to deal with it.
Tommie Lee Jones has taken a new recruit under his wing (Will Smith.) The laughs begin early on with the crazy entrance test. (Who could forget Smith's justification of the text books in the live fire exercise or the painful sounds of dragging of the extra loud table across the floor in the middle of a written exam.) All the characters, but particularly Jones and Smith play off each other well with all sorts of funny quips and scenarios.
The alien designs are original and very good. The music is excellent. Will Smith performs his own song which was also a lot of fun and very catchy.
If you haven't seen them, recommend catching the first two, 3rd's not bad, can give the 4th a miss.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Amazing dark comedy for a touch of magic in the modern world
This is such an amazing movie. Who knew Bruce Willis could pull off a comedy playing a character like this? It follows the story of two frenemies competing against each other with Madeline's husband (Willis) caught in the middle. To say things get messy quickly is an understatement.
The characters are amazingly cast with the right mix of comedy and seriousness to pull off such an odd storyline of grudges becoming obsessions and being careful what you wish for. The special effects largely hold up extremely well, especially considering the film's age. I found myself wincing or holding my breath with the tension (that fall down the stairs!) at a number of the scenes they were so well done. Highly recommend.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Another pointless remake that's worse than the original
The latest in Disney's attempt to cash in on all their old IPs instead of making something new and originals has finally hit the screens and it's bad.
A far cry from the bright captivating colors of the original, this ocean is dark and muted. Have the animators even visited a coral reef before? Or are they just trying to hide imperfect CGI by just turning down the color and brightness? Perhaps they should watch Avatar 2 to see how to do a live action amazing underwater world right. The live action aspect actively hurts the film due to making the non-human characters unexpressive at best, uncanny valley at worst.
The run time is bloated, and although they have added some extra things in to fill the time, you kind of wish on the whole that they didn't. The rap song is particularly awful and doesn't feel like it fits at all with the rest of the music in the film.
Like many that have gone before, there's no particular reason for this live action remake to exist apart from being nostalgia bait. Give it a miss and watch the original instead. It's cheaper to watch and a much better movie.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Amazing and immersive visuals. A good escape movie, storyline could be a bit stronger
So why am I still giving it 9/10? Well maybe in part because I've been so starved for movies that just want to entertain. You can sit down and be transported to another place for a while and just enjoy the ride. Cameron and crew obviously were passionate about making this movie well and wanted to be there for more than just cash. He could have phoned in a crappy sequel years ago but didn't. Big respect for him and his cast. I'm glad they've made their budge back and more.
The visuals are stunning. Everything has obviously been crafted with care. You can tell that many of the stunts including underwater work were actually done instead of the much less convincing 100% CGI'ing it. Unfortunately I think it will lose some impact on the small screen, but on the large screen in 3D it blew me away. I know it's unlikely, but it'd be amazing to have it brought back to the theaters in a few years. I'd see it again and I know I'm not the only one.
The storyline is where things will get a bit more divisive. I kind of feel like they could have introduced a new "big bad", but given the length of time since the last movie I can see why they cast the person they did and if you forget about some of the potential plot holes it opens up then it works ok. Spider isn't used to the best of what his character could have been. Nyteri seems oddly hostile towards all humans considering she had a family with one. Some of the decisions in the film were purely there to move the plot along rather than be deep and thoughtful. It's not that the writing is bad, it just could have been better. I did like the theme around protecting your family. No frills or subverted expectations there. Just the story of parents trying to keep their family safe at any cost. (Even if the methods of doing so are sometimes questionable and not always right.)
Onto the main thing that divides people's opinions. The nature documentary! Honestly, I loved this part of the movie. I can see why people don't (you get this distinct break from action flick to ocean explorer) but for me it was just the kind of escapism I was looking for. In all seriousness, if Cameron wants to start making mock nature documentaries on other worlds, I'd been there for that!
Anyway, if you've seen the first one, you probably know the level of storytelling to visuals to expect and whether that's going to be your thing or not. Personally I'd say this was the most enjoyable movie I've watched in a long time. Will be there for part 3.
American Gods (2017)
Great first season, awful by season 3. Can't recommend.
Shame I can't recommend this series to anyone anymore. The first season was amazing. Interesting plot lines put together with care. Great acting. Fantastic use of mini plots scattered through the show (particularly in the openings) to give information about the world this is set in and to provide contrast where needed to the way characters were responding. In some ways I actually think the show was better than the books, something I almost never say! Might be a bit confusing at times for those not up with their mythology but it may also keep the mystery more too that way too as they drop hints from episode 1 if you know what to look for. This is a show you need to watch, rather than half pay attention to. (I'd give it a 9/10).
Season two started showing cracks. Sounds like some drama happened behind the scenes and they lost characters that hurt the show. Still, they seemed to be trying to pick up the pieces and it looked like it was going to find its way through. (Maybe a 5/10)
Then season three happened. It's mostly awful. The storyline is all over the place and sometimes it seems like they just decide to substitute interesting story for long drawn out scenes of "adult" activities for.... reasons? Most of the characters become boring to watch and the show had completely lost its way. Such a sad end for a show that had so much promise initially. I'm not surprised it was not renewed for another season. (Score 1/10.) Watch the first season, skip the rest if you can handle leaving a series unfinished.
Merlin's Apprentice (2006)
If you liked the first one don't watch this. It can't be unseen.
Let me start by saying I really enjoyed the first installment. Sam Neill is one of my favourite actors and he's perfectly cast as Merlin. They took the great decision to follow him through his life, so his motivations, actions and weaknesses were clear. There was a strong thread of conflict regarding the old ways vs Christianity to pull the whole story together.
The sequel is everything the first wasn't. The storyline ranges from fragmented to overly predictable to non-sensical. The acting is quite bad in places, even Sam Neill seems tired of it all at times (and not due to his character being so.)
Last chance to avoid spoilers (if you really want to watch this thing which I suggest against, but it's your choice!)
Merlin is overly angry and harsh in places, and seems to have no idea what he's doing in others. At one point he seems to throw a temper tantrum and lock himself in his room waiting for the enemy to come and kill them all? (Until he's talked out of it.) Of course there's the reformed bumbling, theif apprentice who turns out to have a true heart of gold. The gender swap girl knight, who is so obviously female that no one except Merlin seems to notice (???) You've got the Sir Lancelot stand in (right down to the "forbidden romance"). And the object of that forbidden romance that everyone (including Merlin) seems to be obsessing over her "purity" way too much. The very obvious traitors are also there. No real twists, just plain "these guys are baddies" from the get go.
Moving on... Does it get better? Oh no! No it gets worse. You see everything was swell until Merlin decides to take a nap in the hillside. The Lady of the Lake then enchants him to sleep for 50 years, during which time she non-consensually uh-hem has relations with him to create a child she wanted to use. Yes that's right. The previously sweet, helpful Lady of the Lake from the first movie, magically drugs Merlin so she can have her way with him. How completely messed up this is, barely seems to even be touched on.
Speaking of. Remember the Lady of the Lake in the first movie? How she was the opposite of Mab in many ways? Ethereal, willing to slide into nothingness without a fight as she believed it was their time? Yeah, well in this one she basically is Mab mark II. In fact I thought she was Mab until they said she was the Lady of the Lake. She looks like her, acts like her, sounds like her and is out for revenge to kill every single last person in Camelot because they polluted her lake I guess.
Um ok... Bit of a personality swap, and appearence swap, and everything swap really. Sometimes I'm pretty sure you can tell when a writer gets hired to do a sequel and kind of flips through the first scene of the movie. Decides it's too much work to watch the rest and so reads it's wikipedia page and decides "I've got this, how hard could it be?"
Anyway, there are lots of largely boring battles. Largely boring dialogue. People doing stupid things to move the plot along. The second half is definitely worse than the first, so if you are on the fence about whether to watch part two because "surely it'd have to get better?" Nope it doesn't.
The big bad of the movie that even Merlin couldn't go up against directly, apparently only needed a hand wave from his apprentice to destroy them. Quite anti-climatic, but I guess they needed to wrap the movie up and didn't know what else to do? Oh yeah, and there's a happy ever after for pretty much everyone including those who died in the last 10 minutes of the movie.
My advice is to avoid this movie. I really couldn't find much redeeming to it. Watch the first and pretend this one wasn't made if you can.
American Gods: Head Full of Snow (2017)
An episode done right
This is an example of what you can do with an episode that has good acting talent, good writers and enough of a budget to string it all together. A show which seeks to deliver a story, rather than just a message or dumbing everything down for the audience so they don't have to think too much. This episode in particular was heavy on evoking real emotion.
The opening was brilliant with the lady being led to her heart weighing ceremony. It was otherworldly and gives you shivers. I felt genuinely invested in her fate after only knowing her a few minutes. It was then contrasted with Laura's encounter. Set up and pay off.
Think snow was great. It keeps you wondering how that was possible, and mixes enough humor in to keep it light enough to be fun.
The sisters and Czernobog were amazingly portrayed.
This whole episode manages to weave the real world with mythology, and keep a strong storyline instead of leaning too far into relying on special effects to do the lifting.
I had so much hope for this series. Season one is one of the very few TV series I'd say was actually better than the books it was based on. Shame it fell apart over the following two seasons. (Season 2 is very patchy, season 3 is a mess.)
American Gods: The Rapture of Burning (2021)
Yeah alright, I can see why this has been cancelled now.
First season: Amazing. Really deep moving scenes which connect through the episodes. I loved the one where you get a contrast between how one lady accepts her fate with Jaquel, vs what happens with Laura.
Second season: Missing characters (I get it was behind the scenes drama, but it really hurt the show.) New characters are introduced then just disappear (like New Media who wasn't a touch on old media.) Pacing issues are starting to appear but it's still interesting enough to hold together.
3rd season. Wow. What happened???? It's an absolute mess. There's flashes of brilliance, but then it's back to a slog of overlong, weirdly paced scenes that are frequently totally irrelevant. It all came together with this episode (which I haven't finished). I've always though this show overdoes the explicit scenes in places, but in here we might as well just have a porno featuring Salim. It's barely even trying to be mythical anymore. It's just a bunch of people having adult times together for ages. Seriously, you could take most of this episode out and it would barely even matter. I guess "cut to black" isn't in the showrunner's vocab.
I dunno. Laura's boring, Salim's boring, even Shadow's story is getting dragged out. Vilquis' story seems to have gone off the rails into nonsensical (and not particularly interesting) weirdness frequently. Mr/Ms World changes his skin with no rhyme or reason again just making everything disjointed. Tech boy and his interactions with Vilquis are about the only interesting and on topic thing left by this point.
Real shame what they did with such a promising series.
Legion (2017)
Amazing, creative and strange. I love it.
This is the strangest, most creative TV series I think I've ever seen, and it's amazing. The story line is strong and ticks away with interesting characters and great (and sometimes pretty trippy) visual effects. Scenes sometimes get mixed in with musical numbers to great effect. Think people being disintergrated and transformed to "Swinging on a star", Mind battles represented by disco dance offs and David engaging in an epic psychic fight with Farouk over a desert landscape to the chords of "Behind blue eyes". Everyone seems perfectly cast and commits to the roles they're given with great performances.
Gone are the mindless CGI fights in the sky with beams which are so prevalent in superhero flicks, this one is a mind bender which makes you think. It's also obviously designed for mature teenagers to adults rather than being family friendly with mature themes.
The arc of the story is great. Apparently the director had a story he wanted to tell, and planned it into a set number of seasons. While I would have loved to have seen more, that's perhaps the hallmark of a great movie or TV series. It has a great story that is paced right and leaves you feeling great about it, rather than continuing to milk a series well past the ideas have dried up and it's there for $$ only. It's also interesting to note that it would have been cancelled except one of the higher ups wanted to see the rest of the series and so greenlit it. I am thankful to that exec. It's sad more people don't have your taste (and is why so many good fantasy series get cancelled after a single season.)
I guess in conclusions if you're looking for something a bit different, with a well produced strong, mature themed, fantasy storyline and characters you can get invested in, give Legion a go. It's a shame it is so under rated as a show. One can only hope this crew gets another series they can have free reign to make.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
If you enjoyed the original, there's plenty to like here.
I'll admit, skeptical doesn't even begin to cover what I felt when I heard Hocus Pocus 2 was coming out. Yeah I love the original, but in a world where soulless cashgrabby remakes that come from a place of dollar signs rather than inspiration is the norm, I didn't have high hopes.
And then I learned Disney was making it. I don't think I've seen a worthwhile Disney remake or sequel in a very, very long time.
Then I saw they were casting child actors to play the poor persecuted Sanderson sisters. Oh no, no, no, no. They're going to make them into tragic individuals that were never evil, just misunderstood. All they needed was the power of love to be shown to them the error of their ways by the plucky teenage heroines of the hour, and they're going to revert to only using their magic for the power of good and set aside their revenge to go about righting all the wrongs of the cruel world.
The Sanderson sisters are evil. No matter what their backstory is, it doesn't entirely excuse the wholesale murder of children to stop a few wrinkles appearing. No Disney. Please stop with the "villains aren't at all evil" thing. Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice... Forget it, you're not fooling me again.
Anyway, I was ready to write it off, and then heard that Bette Midler had campaigned for a sequel, rather than the studio trying to drag actors back into one to squeeze a few more dollars out of a pre-existing property. First spark of interest. Here was a project that seemed to have some passion behind it. Actors that apparently actually cared enough to convince a studio to make a movie they wanted to be in.
And then I saw the release trailer. Bette, Sarah and Kathy looked like they were having an absolute blast. No phoned in performances here. Maybe it would actually be worth watching? Maybe. So I got together the time to watch it, and was not disappointed. In fact this is the best movie I've seen in quite some time.
As I said before, the main actors are really giving it their all here. It's over the top and a bit silly in places, but so was the original. Some of the jokes missed for me, but there were plenty more to chuckle over. Bette belts out some good songs. (Her voice is still amazing.) Perhaps the premise for them leans a bit too heavily on the original movie, but it was fun none the less so it gets a pass.
The child actors were fine. They actually did a decent job at portraying the sisters and the prelude doesn't overstay its welcome. In fact, contrary to my concerns, this movie has actually been structured well! There is set up and pay off. You see the forest scene at the beginning in a very different light by the end of the movie. I was impressed someone had bothered to put that kind of thought into it. (And the older witch in the forest is amazing by the way. She played the role perfectly.)
Do they go for the redemption arc? You know, surprisingly not really. I'm not going to spoil things so can't go into too much detail, but although they do set them up as relatable figures hard done by when young, their actions as adults are never brushed away as inconsequential. In fact when people try to do so on their behalf, they get shut down by the sisters themselves. The ending to me, was actually quite fitting. It was a good conclusion. (Right up to the point that the studio teased a "but wait? Is that a sequel I smell?" after the credits. Seriously studio guys, the arc is good. Leave it alone.)
Is it as good as the original? No, but it is a lot of fun and worth your time. If you liked the original, it's highly likely you'll find a lot to like here.
Moana (2016)
Nicely animated flick with catchy tunes
I like Moana, and I rarely watch animated kids movies any more. This one was cute, interesting and family friendly without being at all patronising towards an older audience as well. It's a story about adventure and teamwork to achieve what needs to be done for the good of all. Classic tale structure, but well presented.
Moana and Maui are both really likeable main characters, and the animation used is beautiful. I loved the pacific islander themes, and the music was really catchy and memorable.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Souless cashgrab
So it seems many studios including Disney like their "reboots" instead of investing in creativity these days. The plan seems to be:
1. Take a franchise that has made money. That's gotta be a sure thing if you feed it back to audiences.
2. Rehash the storyline. Can't have anything too new in there, you might scare people away. You can do this easily by say, swapping out the gender of the main protagonist.
3. If there's any particularly beloved characters that are iconic to the franchise, have them killed off. If they won't agree to that, at least have them put in a cameo so fans can go "look, we know who that is!" Preferably do this after establishing how much worse they are than the new improved merchandising opportunities... *cough*... I mean characters that have been introduced are. Bonus points if the new character leads the old outdated ones to the light after they've undergone a 180 turn from their personality in the previous movie before being kicked from the franchise.
4. The protagonist must be perfect, especially if she's female. Everyone knows that giving a main character all the things from day one without them having to earn any of their achievements or skills, and causing them to be unrealistically OP'ed and better than everyone else makes them super relatable and likeable /s (Come on guys! Interesting characters have flaws and character arcs! Why are we getting so many Mary Sues/Gary Stus these days?)
Given these points, I'm sure Disney thought this movie ticked all the boxes and was a success.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
I didn't go back for the 3rd installment
Wow this was bad. I waited for this one to come out on TV after being disappointed in the 1st movie, but after this one I'm done with the series and haven't bothered to see the 3rd one.
This movie has it all. Rehashed storylines that often make limited sense, OP'ed Mary Sue protag who can do nothing significantly wrong, getting rid of the "old" beloved characters deliberately just so they can make way for the "new improved" ones.
And the way they killed off Han? Yeah... Can you say anti-climatic and pointless at all? As if it wasn't enough to crap all over Luke's character in the previous one and turn him into a bitter old man who has lost all hope... Until the new improved marketing opportunity... *cough* I mean protagonist.... comes to show him the error of his ways so he can die happy knowing she's in charge now :P
The copy cat Darth doesn't even come close to the original. He's not just not interesting. Actually none of the villains are. Actually none of the heroes are particularly noteworthy either... Why did I watch this again? Oh yeah, Disney pulled the nostalgia card and I was silly enough to fall for it.
The only thing they could have done to make this worse, was to have a guest appearance by Jar Jar.
Dune (2021)
Beautiful visuals, mediocre storyline and pacing
This feels like a movie that has had most of its intelligence ripped out to make it more palatable with the widest possible audience, and these days that means the trend of big budget blockbusters. Being able to largely switch your brain off and enjoy the pretty pictures and big bangs.
From a visual point of view, there's some really nice stuff. Lots of big wide shots to try and get a feeling of scale in there, with decent CGI to pull it together believably. The score is also nice, although it doesn't feel like it fits quite right in some places.
On the negatives though? I found myself getting a bit bored and distracted in places. Most of the politics and interesting undertones seem to have been muted or cut. Small scale scenes which carry a lot of tension seem to have been lost as well. The storyline just ended up being pretty bland. Also really wasn't a fan of Jessica's portrayal in the script at all.
Overall, it's watchable, and if you've never had anything to do with Dune before and like big budget films that look pretty you'll probably like it, but I can't say I'm particularly excited for the sequel to come out. For all their faults, I actually think so far the TV series are doing a better job than either of the movies. (Do recommend checking out the TV series. Children of Dune is the better of the two but they need to be watched in order to make the most sense.)
The Wheel of Time: The Dragon Reborn (2021)
The actor playing Logain is amazing, but the episode is patchy in quality
Can I just say, the actor playing Logain appears to be really invested in his part and is wonderful to watch when he's given a chance to shine. The King of Ghealdhan also played his part very well.
Unfortunately this episode like all the others is uneven and patchy in pacing and quality. The OP save by Nynaeve doesn't work at all. It would have been far better if she had only saved Lan from the brink of death, whom she was the only one upset about getting injured anyway. For her to do that would have shown her powerful potential as a very talented untrained wilder, instead of causing her to become more of a Mary Sue.
I get they wanted people to think she was the dragon reborn, but unfortunately they seem to have played that to the point they neglect good storytelling in scenes like this one.
6/10 might be overdoing it in the ratings I think it deserves, but it's the only episode I thought was pretty good out of the entire season. Please give all the writing and a loose rein to write how they want to whomever wrote the script for this one from now on.
The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World (2021)
A poor TV show, and a terrible book adaption
This series has not been good. Seemingly plagued by poor pacing, under developed, largely unlikeable characters, patchy CGI and set quality, and frequent script conflicts where facts are seemingly contradicted between episodes, and sometimes within them.
This series is Wheel of Time mostly in name, as it is a very, very loose adaption that often changes or outright ignores its source material. If that is something that bothers you, this may not be the series for you.
The show doesn't seem to know what its target audience is. They frequently ditch the source material making book fans unhappy, but then don't provide enough information for non-book readers to make sense of it. Graphically kill someone at the start of ep1 in an attempt to be grim and immitate GOT, but then keep all the "nude" scenes carefully PG. Pull YA type tropes like love triangles and the does she/does she not love me thing, but then fridge Perin's wife to give him a "motive". Basically the tone is all over the place.
The script often seems to go for needless, shallow drama that frequently doesn't go anywhere, at the expense of decent worldbuilding and getting to know the characters properly. Book content is often cut for soap opera like fan fiction.
If I had to describe any of the main male characters from Two River's, it'd be "sulky." They really don't do a lot for much of the season. On the other hand, Nyn and Eg seem to be involved in some OP'ed saves that often make very little sense in terms of what they should know how to do with the power, and give them no where to go in terms of power growth through the series, which makes me concerned for their ability to be interesting characters that learn and grow with time as most well written characters would. Most of the main characters, are seriously lacking in depth and they've gone too grim on them, making everyone seem pretty unlikeable.
Scenes are frequently rushed and not given the time they need to get the atmosphere required. Rand's "battle" at the eye was incredibly underwhelming. He kind of shoots a bit of light and his enemy disappears. If you haven't read the books, you'll probably be totally lost about what actually happened here. It's one thing to want to create cliff hangers. Another to leave your viewers completely in the dark so they're confused.
On the other side with the main battle, the use of an accepted to lead a circle in this way to kill what was being described as an undefeatably army was also nonsensical, and the fake out deaths are getting seriously annoying. Nothing carries any sense of weight or tension anymore, as you know someone will step in with the power and miraculously save the day, even to the point of bringing people back from the dead.
The Seanchan reveal/teaser at the end was just odd. I mean why summon a huge tidal wave to kill one little girl on an empty beach? Seems like overkill and doesn't make a lot of sense.
Some argue there wasn't enough time to let the scenes breathe that needed it, but unfortunately there was. Almost an entire episode was given to Stepin, a minor character who was dead by the end of it. And that's without the shoehorned in love triangles that don't go anywhere, repeat arguments over things that have already been decided, and that really, really slow start in episode 1.
Episode 8 was one of the worst in my opinion, but the entire series has had a lot of long standing problems that kind of came together at this point to make it a very unsatifying experience to watch overall.
The Wheel of Time: Blood Calls Blood (2021)
Do they really think anyone cares about characters they don't really know?
So point in case show runners, we actually have to know and care about the characters in order for your really drawn out attempts to make us feel something for the people in this story to have any effect. So, an Aes sedai died. Ok, barely knew her. So her warder is really upset. Well, yeah, I imagine he would be. Looks like Lan kind of likes him as a friend I guess? Great job at building up that show. Oh yeah then the warder kills himself and we need to have a chanty, teary session where everyone is really sad. Ok I guess? I mean I don't really care much about the main characters, let alone the peripherals that barely register. Why would you do this? The pacing of this show is all over the joint. It skips things that are important, while dwelling on stuff that could be missed or at least brushed over. There's lots of telling instead of showing. Pretty much every change to the books has no reason to be there. Not a good episode, not a good series.
The Wheel of Time: The Dark Along the Ways (2021)
How is this getting good reviews?
So I thought they might have been heading for something where they started to find their feet in episode 4 even though I was concerned about the script choices they were making, but nope. This series is awful and this episode is particularly awful (admittedly ep 1-2 are probably worse.)
Nynaeve is a total overpowered Mary Sue who just saves the day repeatedly without even trying and with no actual reason for being able to do so except the show runners have decided to cast her in an OP saviour role.
Everyone is boinking everyone else because? Well I don't rightly know why. Probably to get those sweet, sweet shipping discussions happening, because you know that's what's more important than using the time to make sure the core story line is told well in an epic fantasy series like this (/sarcasm).
They really looked like they really skimped on Loial's appearance. (Anyone who has read the book will know what I'm talking about. His design in the show is not at all good.)
The black wind is reduced from a terrifying entity that would drive people crazy as it stripped the flesh from their bones, to a casual female voice that calmly tells them things they probably don't want to hear about themselves.
The dragon mount scene was painful to watch. It was not well acted and they forgot to tell the audience why the maiden of the spear was even there. I guess they figure no one cares about motivations and relationships between the nations now or going forward.
Most of the characters are boring, unsympathetic cardboard cutouts. Rand in particular is as dull as dishwater. It was obvious he was going to be the dragon reborn regardless of how much it was hyped up it could be anyone because everyone else on the "team" had some attempt at character building going and they tried so hard trying to misdirect the audience to the extent that they forgot to give him a personality beyond sulky. And don't get me started on how the whole reveal is crammed into a few minute sequence where Min kind of essentially goes "Oh yeah, so by the way, you're the dragon. Here's your birth story I saw in detail to convince you. Good luck with that." (Producers why are you turning Min into an exposition dump character! Show don't tell please! The journey is as important as the destination.)
I could keep going but the show lacks any kind of heart. It looks like someone decided they wanted to make a GOT knock off with a PG rating and has tried to paint by numbers and failed. So sad. This could have been good with someone better running the project.