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The Legend of Vox Machina (2022)
A very obviously biased review
After reading some of the reviews I've seen many mentions of the "inappropriate" language and a perceived rushed aspect of the show, the aforementioned I find very silly in contrast to the violence and the latter I agree with to some extent.
Vox Machina was funded by its creators and then got picked up by Amazon as a basically finished product, so they condensed a compelling story arc to fit within the budget that they had. If it gets picked up for another (preferably longer) season then we will get to know the characters beyond their façade.
What's interesting with a series based on a campaign spanning years is that first-off there's so much material to draw from and secondly that the "writer" of this show did not create his main protagonists. In D&D every character has their own writer and therefore they all inhabit their own style. This makes for a natural motley crue that feels truly alive.
If you wish to see something truly amazing take its first steps then I recommend you watch Vox Machina.
The Last Duel (2021)
A grounded western classic in a medieval setting
The way the movie is structured leading up to the final showdown is very reminiscent of those western classics we all know and love. The deviation from the formula comes in the form of a female perspective. It's not a movie about heroes and their honor but rather about the hardships of women in the 1300s as the property of their husbands.
In true Ridley fashion the actions scenes (Which appear sparsely throughout the runtime.) are unromanticized, entertaining bloodbaths and they add a much needed break from the sometimes droning dialogue. Although for a movie that relies on a repetitive structure there were only a few moments I felt less than engaged.
All in all, the movie left me feeling entertained and pleasantly surprised.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Ferris Bueller Holmes
I can't help but think about Matthew Broderick when a person of high school age does this much fourth-wall breaking in a movie. Millie does an alright job filling in those shoes, I just feel like the writing sometimes is a bit lackluster because it tries to be so many things at once. For example I found myself wanting more badassery from a 16 year old that have been trained in martial arts for so long but the comedy came in the way of that.(and the clichéd one move that she couldn't figure out until the end was so unnecessary.) Also I found myself wanting more depth in any of the relationships she had, i.e. with Sherlock, Mycroft or the Vicount, but the detective story came in the way of that. For a runtime of 123 minutes I felt little was accomplished or earned and everything just kind of fell into place out of nowhere in the end.
Young Wallander (2020)
A well made British take on a Swedish book
This is a great series and the fact that it's a collaboration between many countries, I think, adds to the fictional aspect of the book. It's filmed in a fictional Malmo(Lithuania), it's eloquently spoken in a british accent(fictional Swedish) and it's telling a fictional, although disturbingly realistic, Swedish story. Much like Rosengaard the series has it's roots in a global world but it's played out in Sweden and I for one am all for it.
The actors are solid, Adam I've seen in multiple brilliant Swedish productions and this is no exception. His friends Bash(Charles Mnene) and Rez(Yassen Atour) does a really great job of bringing out the warmth in both the Wallander character and the story. Hemberg(Richard Dillane) is an excellent mentor to Kurt and you can really tell that the older version of Wallander has been influenced by him.
The cinematography wasn't trying to coerce you into any particular emotion, it just takes you on a journey with Kurt and I really appreciated that. The soundtrack wasn't interruptive either it just further immersed you without you really noticing it. I liked the Opera easter egg for old fans too.
In summation, great story, great pace, realistic, and a great way to put a modern spin on a classic.
The Witcher (2019)
All the build up a Witcher 3 fan could possibly want
The first season is inevitably the starting point for something far greater and if you like me have played through the bombastic events of the 3rd game then you know what's to come.
What is most satisfying to me as a fan of the series is that the characters all won me over as believable substitutes for their counterparts in the video games. This I say with the initial intense skepticism of both the casting of Ciri but most of all Yennefer, as I first only perceived her as cute which is quite the opposite of what Yennefer is. Henry Cavill I knew from before and therefor there wasn't doubt in my mind he could pull it off, which he did.
All in all season 1 had all the exposition that I found super interesting as a player of only the "The wild hunt", speaking from my perspective it was great seeing the origin of Ciri and Geralt's realtionship but also with Yennefer and Dandelion.
Astounding work netflix, keep it up!
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
A movie that doesn't need a sequel but is good enough to warrant one
Coming from someone who enjoys both comic book movies and anime this is an excellent marriage of the two. It captures the fantastical setting very well it all feels very well thought out and it has the right amount of mysterious lore, not too much forced exposition.
Alita is an easy to love character without being too cookie-cutter strong female lead, even though she plays a fish out of water cyborg she's still 3-dimensional and interesting. The CGI for her looks great it fits seamlessly into the environment it's the closest I've seen to someone doing justice to a anime character,
The bad guys in the movie are pretty commonplace ruffians, but that's because the true antagonist only has a relatively small part to play in the movie. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the true villain in a future project.
All in all I'd recommend this for even the most skeptical of anime lovers, full-disclosure I haven't actually read the gunnm manga but based on what I've read and seen in the anime realm I'd wager this was a good adaptation.
Power Rangers (2017)
A convoluted way of selling donuts
Going in I had no nostalgic connections or any sort of prior knowledge of the "Power Rangers" aside from a few clips online, I hadn't even seen the trailer but that's mostly because trailers spoil to much generally. Taking that into account I'm confident in saying I went in from an objective standpoint, I didn't have any built up expectations that it would have to live up to, no childhood memories it had to reflect, all in all I was in a good state to enjoy a movie.
All that being said it was obvious from the get go that it was gonna be a cookie-cutter hero origin story. The lack of fleshing out characters I guess is reasonable considering there's 5 different backstories to take care of in its 2 hours of runtime which for example Marvel took independent movies to do, therefor I'm not super mad about that. I just wish they could have found a way to steer away from focusing on the most boring character, the red one, there's been tons of reiterations of the jock with a bad knee that's not a newly invented trope and they didn't have a new twist on it either aside from maybe him being less of an asshole than the norm.
When it comes to the Villain, she's very meh. Elizabeth Banks does a great job being a whimsical snob in "the hunger games" trilogy but as a villain or rather this particular villain she does not shine, she's in fact very, very dull. Her every line could be taken out of a children's TV show, and not a good one like I'm sure "Power Rangers" was, the bad kind that is clearly directed towards younger children that likes likes shapes and shiny things. I wish the writing was better so that I could actually judge her acting but the movie just didn't give her an opportunity to do so.
One thing that I actually loved about this movie is that the 2nd act so blatantly becomes a very high budget Krispy Kreme commercial, I'm a big fan of Krispy Kreme so I didn't mind but that may take away from the overall "Power Rangers":ness of the movie for those who have fond memories to compare with.
5/10 is all I can give this one, for you movie goers it might be more enjoyable but my experience did not amount to more than that.
The Defenders (2017)
Grotesquely disappointing
Everything about this mash-up feels rushed, the heroes themselves are pale shadows of themselves(except Iron fist, he's equally bad in this as he is in his own series), the villains are 2-dimensional uncomplicated stereotypes, writing/cinematography and production value in general seems to have been compromised because of time restraint.
Instead of cherry picking the best parts of all shows the creators of this debacle read the description on the back cover of the DVDs and conceived a poor 80s-esque action flick that they stretched out for 8 episodes.
Why don't they take away anything from their own achievements? Daredevil; The amazing fight scenes, overall dark tones, well-rounded villain. Luke Cage; Atmosphere, Soundtrack, Luke Cage style berzerking. Jessica Jones; Mental Struggle, looming but ever present villain. Iron Fist; *Blank* (They took to much from Iron fist actually.)
When you give a great recipe to a sub-par chef on a time-limit the yield is not gonna be fantastic. Give the reins over to someone with a deeper understanding of your already set-up framework.
For the love of god just turn this bad streak around, no more Iron-fist casting or Defenders writing.
Marco Polo (2014)
Why was this cancelled?
Great show, amazing depiction of a legendary journey in the far east. The fact that the show tethers to an actual historically significant person makes this so much more interesting. The added extravagance of flying kung-fu moves just takes it from an interesting documentary to a full-out almost superhero-esk series, which we know from experience Netflix does very well. I'd choose Marco Polo over any Superhero series not only because it tells a story of a real man but also it's refreshing settings of the beautiful far-east.
All and all, this series was deserving of many more episodes and why it has been so overlooked is beyond my comprehension. 9/10 average for every episode, a strong recommendation for all history lovers and everyone else for that matter.
Seventh Son (2014)
Except nothing and have fun!
The thing with creating an entire fantasy universe with one almost two hour feature is that it is almost impossible. If you're looking for extensive and interesting lore you won't find it with this movie, read the books it's loosely based on instead. Alicia and Ben create a romantic angle that might be appreciated by a S.O. that you need to convince to watch this fantasy flick and Jeff delivers some refreshing comedy into a largely dark setting. If you expect nothing beforehand and if you're looking for magic & swords clashing in cool battles you should have a great time watching this. The production was a disaster for this movie but what ultimately got released was a fun experience for those of us that are in the mood to get entertained with no strings attached.