frode-le Reviews

Final Space (2018– )

Took me by surprise

[9/10 · 30 September 2018]

I was not convinced after the first episode. In fact I was contemplating if I should keep watching or not, but now I'm glad I did. Yes, the main character Gary Goodspeed can be a little annoying but the overall feel of the show is great. The music and art is at times breathtaking, and I already feel a connection with several characters.

Don't dismiss the show after the first episode, It really picks up quite fast. If you're still not into it by episode 3 I can safely say it's just not for you in terms of humor and plot. For me it really fills the void left behind when Futurama ended, as I did not care much for Rick and Morty.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

Not a 1 or 10 star. It's just ok

[4/10 · 4 April 2018]

Just finished watching this and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. It's actually fairly entertaining at times but it suffers from overall poor writing. Before all of you 10/10 star people accuse me of of not liking the movie just because of all the main characters are female, I would like to point out that I find Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig all very funny (I'm not that familiar with Leslie Jones), but they can't just magically make medicore writing great. There is some funny banter between the four ghostbusters and Chris Hemsworth, (who plays the dumb, good looking receptionist) every now and then, but most of the time the parts that are clearly meant to be funny instead end up being a light chuckle or nothing at all. Especially some of the one-liners just made me cringe and it feels like whoever wrote them just though that as long as the line is delivered by someone who is normally funny it's going to work.

While I think that some of the 1 star reviews comes from people who are just upset about the all-female cast, the overall mediocre score is pretty much in line with my own impression of the movie. It's neither a 1 or 10 star in my opinion. It could easily have been maybe a 6 or 7 but the poorly written jokes puts too much of a burden on the cast to carry.

Gotham (2014–2019)

It grows on you

[8/10 · 5 November 2017]

I'm about halfway into season 2 and this show has really grown on me. It starts off a little slow and I wasn't really convinced after the first few episodes. Reading some of the bad reviews it seems that most of them are from people who have just watched a few episodes (or just the pilot), or fans of the comic books who complain about the origin stories to some of the more famous villains being inaccurate.

But as time went on and I got more invested in the characters, this show has really grown on me. There are times where the writing is a little off, which can put a dampener on great moments, but it's not as common as you would think from reading the bad reviews.

Don't dismiss this show after 2-3 episodes. In fact, I wasn't really hooked until the last half of season 1. While not my favorite in this genre, it's still pretty damn good.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Same story could have been told in an hour less

[4/10 · 9 October 2017]

This is the second time in my entire life I've found myself struggling to stay awake in the cinema (last time was during "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind "). The plot itself is interesting, but everything is just so dragged out for the sake of dragging things out. If you read the reviews, tweets or general comments from people who loved the film their argument is that everyone who thinks it's too long and slow paced are too stupid to follow the plot, or demand constant action. If that was the case I would not have enjoyed "Interstellar", but I was absolutely mesmerized by it and the just below 3 hours it lasted went by like it was nothing.

I enjoyed the general dark tone and cinematography, but that's pretty much it.

About halfway through the movie picks up the pace a bit, not action-wise, but the story starts coming together. Sadly at that point I had completely stopped caring about any of the characters and I just wanted it to end.

The Wave (2015)

Predictable, but still good

[7/10 · 10 April 2016]

I'm a big fan of disaster movies so I was anxious to see how the Norwegian take on the genre would turn out.

It grabs hold of you very quickly with gorgeous shots around the fjord, accompanied by a lovely film score. Even though the plot is nothing new, the solid acting, cinematography and music keeps you interested. However I do agree with other reviews that says the best part is before the actual disaster takes place. Even though you know what will happen eventually, there is still a subtle tension there all the time. Maybe it felt more real to me since I'm a Norwegian and that this event actually will unfold one day. The scientists just doesn't know when...

Despite the tiny budget that was less than 10% of most Hollywood disaster movies it holds up very well. The special effects are great and the ruined landscape after the wave hits look very realistic.

I still think that the Norwegian film critics got a little too patriotic when they gave this top scores. It's definitely right up there with the big boys in the disaster movie genre, but in my opinion it's neither better or worse than other films such as The day after Tomorrow, 2012 and San Andreas.

Overall I really enjoyed it and will probably watch it again.

Daddy's Home (2015)

Could have been an Adam Sandler movie

[6/10 · 26 March 2016]

Given how much I loved "The Other Guys",I was pretty excited to see Ferrel and Wahlberg back together again. But it turns out that "Daddy's Home" is for the most part just a normal family friendly comedy. It lacks the edge and twisted humor you'll normally find in Will Ferrel movies.

Since this is a spoiler free review I'm not going to say too much about the plot. Will Ferrel plays the role of "Brad", who is working his ass off trying to be the new dad for the two children in his new family. But suddenly one day their real dad, played by Wahlberg, shows up with a plan to win his family back. From there on out everything is pretty predictable. In fact, if you replaced Will Ferrel with Adam Sandler you might think to yourself "have I seen this before?"

If you're expecting a movie in the style of "The Other Guys", you will be disappointed. If you just want to relax with a typical family comedy, it's pretty good. You just might want to have your youngest kids sit this one out.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Why is it almost 3 hours long?

[3/10 · 24 January 2016]

Unlike many others who gave this movie bad reviews for the violence or the excessive use of the "N-word", I don't think that's the problem. After all, it's a Tarantino movie.

My main gripe with the movie is that it is simply too long and boring. I liked it at first. The cinematography, landscape, props and costumes are all really good and sets a great mood. But it just feels like someone is constantly turning a knob to just slow down and stall every single event. Every piece of dialogue feels watered down and dragged out. The cast is solid, but they can't magically turn almost 3 hours of mediocre dialogue into a great movie. There are some funny moments, but not nearly enough to save this movie.

For the first time, I've actually felt disappointed after watching a Tarantino movie, and I honestly think that if any less known director had made the same exact movie, it would not have been called "brilliant" or a "masterpiece".

Cop Out (2010)

Just awful

[2/10 · 2 October 2010]

Movies in this genre usually do the trick for me. They are not meant to make a huge impact on you, just give you some good laughs for an hour and a half or so. This movie however, fails in every way possible. The plot is bad and not even remotely interesting. A valuable baseball card that Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) is selling to pay for his daughters wedding, gets stolen from him, and he and his partner, Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan), gets themselves into a big mess trying to get it back.

I don't know what Bruce Willis was thinking when he agreed to do this movie, and watching him on screen makes me believe he had some regrets. He actually looks bored during most scenes, and there is no chemistry between him and Tracy. As if it's not bad enough that Bruce puts on the worst performance I have ever seen from him, Tracy Morgan managed to make me hate his character so much, that I actually hoped he was hurt in the scene where a kid kicks him in the nuts.

To top things off, there are two other "buddy-cops" in the movie, played by Adam Brody and Kevin Pollak. They add nothing to the story except for 20 minutes extra run time.

Looking for a nice buddy-cop movie to get some quick laughs? Then keep looking. Cop Out is nothing more than 1 hour and 47 minutes of your life that you can never get back.