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Vikings: Valhalla (2022)
Fantasy series with viking-inspired themes.
I've almost given up the idea of the film-industry ever depicting vikings in a fair and historically correct way.
The costume design in this series is not only anachronistic but excruciatingly daft; vikings weren't dressed in rags of leather, nor did they sport drab colours.
Stop dressing vikings like biker-gang reject thugs. The leather "armor" looks ridiculous.
Vikings were, according to most research, highly fashionable and wore fine, dyed clothing of quality textiles and weaponry to match to show off their status. They were traders as well as raiders and would be able to acquire fine textiles, as opposed to skinning the local ox.
Notable vikings would carry highly decorated quality swords, not crude axes.
Not sure what impact crude, brown leather would have on people.
The dialogue spans from god-awful to slightly tolerable and I'm pretty sure King Knut of Denmark never talked with a dialect reminiscent of count Dracula of Transylvania.
The acting is overall decent, not spectacular.
The visuals are mostly good, as well as a rich scenery. Some use of crude cgi rendering and backdrops is distracting though, in particular where ship-armadas are depicted.
The fight choreography consists of the usual horse-***t spinning and flailing about with weapons and noone ever wears a helmet.
That said, the story is decently engaging and once you accept the series as a "switch off your brain"- fantasy adventure it's decent. Some decent characters here and there.
Give it a go, it's light entertainment.
Frenzy (2018)
Simply dreadful.
I like schlocky shark-movies as much as the next guy, but this was excruciatingly bad on many levels.
Awful effects, ludicrous script, boring cinematography and, to top it off, the movie takes itself way too serious.
The characters are bland, cardboard cutouts and none of them are remotely likeable. The fact that the movie emphasises that they're video-bloggers (in ill-timed, dreary flashbacks) made me wish for the cast to become sharkfodder that much sooner.
I simply couldn't finish watching the thing and I can't say I'm sorry.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
Deeply unsatisfying.
Great acting, wonderful visuals but the entire series was essentially euthanised by episode 3 in season 8. That episode killed the last shred of mystery and suspense.
The story arc of major characters, especially Jon Snow is abysmally lackluster.
I can understand and appreciate some finishing plotlines and the winner(?) of the Game of Thrones, it's just that the road to the conclusion was rushed beyond belief.
The worldbuilding and /or consistency regarding Westeros has suffered beyond belief this season; logic is thrown out the window for mere plot-points and individuals not only act out of character, but out of context regarding prior established rules of conduct in the "realm".
Valonquar? worthless
Azor Ahai and by extension Stannis Baratheon's story? worthless
Winter is Coming? winter was never a viable and interesting threat, failing to elevate the story
Jon Snow as far as a "classical hero" concerned? deeply unsatisfying
Final thoughts: The Finale doesn't merit a repeat viewing of the series as the story wrap-up is among the worst I've seen on television.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Well shot but disappointing
I used to love Coen-movies but by the time "True Grit" came out, they started to run out of steam.
I enjoyed the signature quirkiness and characterisation for about a third in to the storytelling. After that, I found it hard to be invested in the characters - they all share a similar arc.
The camerawork and setting is awesome but I got mindnumbingly bored rather quickly because the episodic storytelling doesn't work and the segments are highly irregular in quality. It doesn't help that the style from segment to segment can be vastly different - which lends a jarring and disjointed sensation.
The wagontrain part in particular in particular, was a complete dud, enormously unengaging.
Kriger (2018)
Halfdecent crime-drama with annoying flaws
The acting is overall good, as is the setting and camera-work. The story is serviceable and lends itself to some good moments of suspense. Action-sequences are good.
My main concern is the atrocious dialogue and lack of character depth - Tom, the main villain is particularly two-dimensional (he's only missing a monocle) .
I appreciate that there in all certainty excists coarse language between gangmembers, but the constant "danish f-bombs" wears really thin after 3 episodes - bad writing.
Some of the police procedure seems extremely far-fetched or downright inconceivable, again - bad writing.
Is every character in this series a raging alcoholic?
I may seem harsh; I want to like this but I can't help but compare it to "Sons of Anarchy", a much lengthier series, yes, but with both a much stronger characterisations and story.
Game of Thrones: Dragonstone (2017)
Not perfect, but solid all the same
There's always a huge anticipation towards every season premier of Game of Thrones and it's easy to go completely mental, having waited so long.
I didn't expect any greater moves on the chessboard. The first episodes are seldom the highlights of an entire series (a few exceptions).
I loved the human portrayal of both Arya and "the Hound". Many will say the "Ed Sheeran"-scene was shoehorned in but I disagree. I thought it made sense to give us a glimpse of Arya still being good at heart and not merely a coldblooded assassin. Her meeting with the soldiers and minstrel "Ed" also gave the viewer a wider picture of the ordinary soldier; the world is not necessarily divided into good/evil. Considering the hardships Arya has been through, I felt it was a well needed breath of fresh air.
The hound has his redeeming moment in the company of the brotherhood of banners as well. He may be a badass antihero (the best in my opinion), but he's remorseful of past sins and gets to show a different side to him.
The continuing dissent between Jon Snow and Sansa Stark is a bit dull & wearing though. Fuelled by a still scheming strong Littlefinger. Ew.
Sams initially fruitless search for knowledge of dragonglass in Old Town offers some levity through brilliantly edited sequences. His role is important, but I feel he's given a bit too much airtime.
Daenarys landing in Dragonstone. The scenery in Dragonstone was awesome, with the dragons circling the keep. I felt the scenes were supposed to be emotional, since Dragonstone is Daenarys birthright and the reclaiming of the throne to be pivotal. The lack of dialogue can be effective in a scene but in this instance it fell a bit flat. I was not convinced by Emilia Clarkes performance.
Still, solid show!