I really want to like and was very much looking forward to it. Season 1 was somewhat boring but laid a decent foundation, so I was hopeful for S2. The show is quite well made from a technical point of view. Unfortunately none of the characters are engaging or ever seem like normal people. In very wooden dialogues they go on about how they love each other and how brave the children are but I never felt anything for any of them (except Iorek, he's great). Even Ms. Coulter is neither threatening nor beautiful, she's just weird for no reason.
Reviews
11 Reviews
Giri/Haji
(2019)
Good for four episodes
23 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Intriguing in the beginning, but goes down hill quickly. The second half has huge plot holes and doesn't make much sense (what was the British police doing all this time? Why can a murderer whose face is known just get into the airport without any problems? Is the grandma's house the only one on Highway 139 or why is it so easy to find?)
Family Romance, LLC
(2019)
Interesting story but hard to watch
18 July 2020
I wanted to like this movie. The story is great and asks some serious questions about how we "act" in our everyday lives. However, the movie is quite hard to watch with many incredibly awkward scenes. It also looks a bit homevideo-y and the script is a quite thin.
The Mandalorian
(2019– )
Collection of set pieces instead of story
18 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
It doesn't really have characters and story but clichés and set pieces transported to iconic star wars locales. The lone warrior gets a quest, makes friends, defends the helpless village and so on. There's also a prison break which was by far the worst episode. The last episode rights some of the mistakes and even had a few little surprises (before it the show was extremely predictable).
His Dark Materials
(2019–2022)
Somehow it's both to fast and to slow
18 April 2020
The show is well made, good actors, great look. But it lacks a certain spark and never quite gripped me. Especially in the beginning it feels too slow. But then it jumps ahead and many of the developments felt unearned. Especially the very close relationship between the bear and Lyra is weird, since they share very little screen time. Of course, the audience can be expected to fill in some blanks but it's a little too much. I want to like it, but it has to improve.
Jojo Rabbit
(2019)
Doesn't quite work
14 February 2020
For me the movie felt somewhat uneven, as if it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Some parts are very over the top, then it becomes very serious but the drama didn't do it for me. Plus it was even kind of dull at times. I was never convinced that Jojo was a real fanatic no matter how many people insist that he is.
Plays it safe and ends up being boring
24 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Rise of Skywalker rewinds all intriguing parts of the last Jedi (Rey's parents, Snoke) to bring back the old emperor and kill him off 30min later. The gang go on a galaxy wide fetch quest, meet the emperor give some inspiring speeches and save the day (also the resistance suddenly has more than 10 members again). The Rey-Ren dynamic is still interesting and of course there's some fun parts but ultimately I found it all quite silly and even boring towards the end.
Beautiful
15 August 2019
Stereo
(I) (2014)
Interesting thriller with some weaknesses
4 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I agree with almost everything in the previous review written by Artax88, and would just like to add a few things: I disliked the esoteric/mystic parts in the second act. The old, blind man and his "prophecy" didn't fit well with the rest of the film and was in, my opinion, redundant. Additionally, it was a little ridiculous and framed by silly lightning effects.
Also, I would have liked to see a little bit more of the hero's and villain's relationship. It was only hinted at, but seemed very interesting to me. The villain was a strong character and could have benefited the film by having a little more screen time. Room for this could have been made by cutting out some of the "father of my girlfriend doesn't like me" scenes and the previously mentioned mysticism.
Also, I would have liked to see a little bit more of the hero's and villain's relationship. It was only hinted at, but seemed very interesting to me. The villain was a strong character and could have benefited the film by having a little more screen time. Room for this could have been made by cutting out some of the "father of my girlfriend doesn't like me" scenes and the previously mentioned mysticism.
I expected much better
16 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I was looking forward to "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", but was quite disappointed by the result.
In the beginning the film felt hectic to me, spending too little time on some scenes and jumping right into the next one. Then, as soon as Gandalf and the dwarfes+Bilbo were split, the transitions between the two or three plot lines were rough and were always created as cliff hangers which I found quite annoying. (I don't have a problem with cliff hangers per se, but the frequent crude switches made me nervous and pulled me out of both plot lines).
Apart from the exchange between Bilbo and Smaug, most dialogue was overly lofty and dramatic for my taste. I expect talk of "evil itself" and the like from a LotR/Hobbit movie but every once in a while an ordinary, mundane exchange would be nice.
Lastly, the plot: the quest started out fast paced and I thought it was on a good way. But then needless side plots and distractions were integrated. I don't see why this had to be a 2,5h+ movie at all. And the ending is an extreme cliff hanger that could have been resolved within ten minutes. The dragon flies off but with all the foreshadowing we already *know* what is going to happen. Of course there will be more side plots and a huge battle, but still, so much drawing out was unnecessary. Moreover, in Gandalf's plot line almost nothing happens. He goes on a quest to find out about the necromancer that takes a lot of screen time with very little happening. He walks around in several ruins and speaks about "the darkness spreading" but that is all. Similarly, the whole evil mayor against Bard plot was basically superfluous. That the dwarfs think only of themselves was clear without being spelled out. And that Bard is the one who will kill the dragon with the black arrow didn't need to be telegraphed for twenty minutes. On the other hand, the addition of Thauriel and some more inside view of the Wood Elf King's motivation is nice. (Although Thauriel's healing scene was way overdoing it with bright, shiny elf-lighting). Lastly, the change of "the villain Orc" felt really weird. I can't see a reason why Azog was replaced by another big, evil Orc. I'm sure Azog will now lead the Orc army into the final confrontation and have his big showdown against Thorin, but that could easily have been accomplished without introducing "generic-big-evil-orc IV" into the plot.
I did like a lot of the ideas, the special effects, locations and characters were as great as always, but this movie just felt drawn out and histrionic.
In the beginning the film felt hectic to me, spending too little time on some scenes and jumping right into the next one. Then, as soon as Gandalf and the dwarfes+Bilbo were split, the transitions between the two or three plot lines were rough and were always created as cliff hangers which I found quite annoying. (I don't have a problem with cliff hangers per se, but the frequent crude switches made me nervous and pulled me out of both plot lines).
Apart from the exchange between Bilbo and Smaug, most dialogue was overly lofty and dramatic for my taste. I expect talk of "evil itself" and the like from a LotR/Hobbit movie but every once in a while an ordinary, mundane exchange would be nice.
Lastly, the plot: the quest started out fast paced and I thought it was on a good way. But then needless side plots and distractions were integrated. I don't see why this had to be a 2,5h+ movie at all. And the ending is an extreme cliff hanger that could have been resolved within ten minutes. The dragon flies off but with all the foreshadowing we already *know* what is going to happen. Of course there will be more side plots and a huge battle, but still, so much drawing out was unnecessary. Moreover, in Gandalf's plot line almost nothing happens. He goes on a quest to find out about the necromancer that takes a lot of screen time with very little happening. He walks around in several ruins and speaks about "the darkness spreading" but that is all. Similarly, the whole evil mayor against Bard plot was basically superfluous. That the dwarfs think only of themselves was clear without being spelled out. And that Bard is the one who will kill the dragon with the black arrow didn't need to be telegraphed for twenty minutes. On the other hand, the addition of Thauriel and some more inside view of the Wood Elf King's motivation is nice. (Although Thauriel's healing scene was way overdoing it with bright, shiny elf-lighting). Lastly, the change of "the villain Orc" felt really weird. I can't see a reason why Azog was replaced by another big, evil Orc. I'm sure Azog will now lead the Orc army into the final confrontation and have his big showdown against Thorin, but that could easily have been accomplished without introducing "generic-big-evil-orc IV" into the plot.
I did like a lot of the ideas, the special effects, locations and characters were as great as always, but this movie just felt drawn out and histrionic.
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