jamaisj-838-93732 Reviews

Jupiter's Legacy (2021)

Interesting Show, But There Are Better Shows

[7/10 · 9 May 2021]

I am so plus/minus on this show. The action scenes, acting, and sets were incredible; everyone seemed to be having a fun time on set. The origin story was actually pretty fun with all of the right elements; it was a fun pulpy story.

But..the superhero side wasn't bad but needed some more focus. Probably because it was an eight-episode season with about half of the time going to the origin, there was a lot missing: The conflict between Utopian and Paragon felt toothless, Skyfox was not developed as a villain, and the final twist just felt added on. Also, the characters were generic superheroes with all of the usual powers.

Due to the difference in quality, themes, even characters, it felt like there were two competing shows in the overall show, and it just felt really off.

Adding to the problem is that the major conflict, whether or not the Code was outdated, not only had no resolution but also felt a wee bit weird; there were seriously no exceptions? It feels weird that it never seems to have come up in 90 or so years. Also, it feels weird that it wasn't mentioned in the origin until the very end.

Overall, it's not a bad show. I'm just not sure that the series is worth a watch.....

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

Look! A family-friendly movie that's not cloying!

[8/10 · 2 May 2021]

This was all sorts of fun! I'm usually nervous when they throw a lot of weird stuff at the wall, but in this case it works. It starts as a family road trip, and then the family ends up saving the world from the robots in the best way possible.

Oh, and the villain is awesome: Never before have I felt sympathy with a villain that just wanted to eliminate humanity, but it does so in such an awesomely funny way that you can't help but relate. The family picks up two droids that are some of the best comedy relief ever, and while I have some issues with the technology used you just quickly go with it.

While I wish it would get away from the incompetent dad/competent mother cliche, here it's used to effect, with the dad able to do what needs to get done and the mother allowed to just kick butt (you have never seen a mother go full Gundam like this one does). The dinosaur-obsessed son is awesome, and the film-school daughter gets to have some serious fun.

Overall, this is a really fun movie and one you need to see: It does family-friendly without being cloying, and once you get into the groove of the movie it's a really fun ride.

Yasuke (2021)

Great Watch But Not What You Expect

[7/10 · 2 May 2021]

While I was looking forward to something a bit more based on history, this was actually pretty decent. While it was obviously compressed and so the cliches stand out a little more, that's pretty much the only major flaw here: The voice work was outstanding, the art was pretty good, and the animation very smooth.

There are a number of likable characters, and I love the mercenaries. There are plenty of ideas from different countries that combine to some serious effect, and I can live with the ending; it was satisfying, don't get me wrong, I just wanted it resolved differently.

It's short, it's sweet, and it's well worth watching.

Broken Swords: The Last in Line (2018)

This Is A Weird One

[8/10 · 24 April 2021]

The set-up is pretty simple: A group of soliders has decided to take shelter in a house and is preparing for a suicide run. The neat part is that they have access to D&D-style magic.

For those expecting wall-to-wall action, this is not the movie for you. This basically how a group of soldiers with a little extra magic would act: They would bind their wounds, defend their shelter, and prepare for the next battle.

In that regard it's a great movie. There are some really fun parts, there's some decent storytelling, and it's interesting to watch.

The Rebels (2019)

CW In Rome

[5/10 · 24 April 2021]

This is that filler episode you see where the four leads go off and try to survive on their own for a weekend, and so you get a lot of talking about life and other stuff, but no real action. Throw in that there's no sex, the drug scene is tame, and the four have no idea what they're doing in the woods despite living on the edge of them their entire lives, and it's just boring.

There's a decent battle scene at the end, but there's just too much happening off-screen that should be on-screen.

A World of Worlds (2020)

Interesting, but....

[7/10 · 24 April 2021]

This is basically a college short gone long. While there are some interesting points here and there, the acting is barely there and there is too much reliance on outside sets. There should just be a bigger difference between the two worlds beyond one is basically today and the other is a jungle.

The special effects are pretty decent for the budget, and the story is somewhat interesting but I'm not sure it should end in a cliffhanger for another movie. This makes for a good time-waster and there are some shining moments, but only a fan of low-budget fantasies will enjoy this movie.

NCIS: Los Angeles: Raising the Dead (2020) Season 12, Episode 5

Don't Count The Cliches

[4/10 · 7 December 2020]

The show is normally pretty good, but this was just so horrible. You had the creepy sex-obsessed psychopath who used a byzantine plot to obtain a pardon, the CIA escapee who hunkered down down in the woods rather than making good his good, and a horrible moment when two black men discussed race in the middle of the woods because they were described as "urban" even though they made an error in judgement based on...lack of country experience.

Yeesh. Normally I'd say watch the show. But this is the first of a two-parter, so you may want to avoid it for a while....

The Neighborhood: Welcome to the Movement (2020) Season 3, Episode 1

Tac Nukes Are More Subtle

[3/10 · 20 November 2020]

This show has been marginal at best, but this episode was pretty weak. While I appreciate that a comedy series can be serious, it helps if it actual has fun with the concept. There is nothing fun about this and all it does is exploits black victimization.

While it's an important point to make, this is not how you do it. This may actually make the situation worse.

Uncaged (2016)

Serviceable But Decent

[6/10 · 15 October 2020]

If you are looking for a movie to put on in the background, this is that movie; it's a good time-waster but will bore most horror fans. If you're looking for a decent horror for some teenagers, especially as their first horror movie. this should do; it's best for older teenagers or you'll have a lot of terms to talk about.

For anyone else, however, this is strictly serviceable. It's not a bad movie, and has some decent ideas, but it just doesn't really explore those ideas. If it had picked a direction and went with it, this movie could have been a decent movie.

As it is, however, it makes a decent movie but really doesn't get more exciting than a TV movie.

Hunters (2020–2023)

Good try, but....

[7/10 · 11 October 2020]

Overall, this is a great show; there's great plot and character development, the dialogue is good, and the attention to detail is incredible.

However, there are some serious issues that create some issues. When pop culture references are dropped they take you right out of the story; they are usually forced and are just used to reinforce the setting. They just oversell that the characters have a dark past, and spend just a little too much time working the Holocaust into everything.

The second biggest problem is that there are random bits that just don't work. The would be great if they were in the credits or used as part of the marketing, but they are just so random and while they're clever in and of themselves they just don't work in the greater narrative.

Then there's twists at the end. They aren't just unearned, but they mess up the entire series. The series is good to that point, but the twists are just so weird that they mess up the rest of the show. If the show had been about twenty minutes shorter it would have been great, but the ending needed some work.

Worse, there's that mandatory first season cliffhanger.....

So it had some great potential, but they wasted it. I only hope that the second series is better....

The Boys in the Band (2020)

Good but Date

[7/10 · 4 October 2020]

This is a great movie, but worked better when gays were taught to hide themselves and were full of self-loathing. This is an interesting artifact of a bygone era, and this would not have likely been green-lit today, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Project Power (2020)

The Same Old Movie, But With Superpowers!

[6/10 · 6 September 2020]

Project Power: Neat idea, but how many ways can you take someone out of a scene in one movie...?

if you're on the fence if you want to watch it, let me throw a rock at you: This is exactly the same low-budget black indie movie where the tragic black hero is trying to avenge himself against the evil gangter, the black kid deals drugs/steals while thinking school is whack but whose dancing/rap powers will make her rich, and the one local cops are doing what they can against an unjust system while the feds are corrupt. Oh, and the rich white people use the poor as lab rats.

But with a pill that grants powers for five minutes.

I'd throw up a "spoiler" warning but we've already seen this movie....

Warrior Nun (2020–2022)

A Show For Those Who Think Charmed is Too Suble

[5/10 · 3 July 2020]

This is pretty much the definition of "Serviceable". The acting is below standard, but acceptable, the plot goes where it needs to go, and there's some interesting twists. However, this show relies too much on slamming religion and the patriarchy, and does so as often as it possible can. It's just getting tiresome.

I'm honestly hitting the point that I need a series that's hardcore religious-forward.

Worse, the twistS at the end are totally undeserved, but nonetheless predictable. Also, the dialogue throughout is cringe-worthy and I've never been so happy to see a voice-over dropped; it just added to the cringe. And then there's that the show doesn't just add in a sequel-baiting cliffhanger, but that the last show exists solely to create new threads while not really solving most of the threads create at that point.

You just hope that there isn't a sequel because at that point it's difficult to care about anything. It's hard not to cheer for the bad guy at that point.

The problem with the show is that comic was light and favored religion; this show is the exact opposite. As such it falls into pretty much every possible atheist trap out there and it just becomes a bad polemic more than anything worth watching....

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

So Much Promise....

[6/10 · 21 June 2020]

There's a lot of really cool stuff going on in this movie, but the directing and writing gets in the way. Ultimately, the movie tries to link the Viet Nam war and racism, and fails miserably. In trying to fight the two different wars, it loses a lot.

There's a lot of issues with the movie, but they come down to three issues: 1) It needs to decide which movie it's remaking. It basically tries to combine Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Apocalypse Now, and Three Kings and fails at it because of how different the three movies are. 2) The length; this movie could have been told much more effectively in almost half the time. I know it's trying to combine three movies, but that's no excuse for just taking too much time on things. 3) The over-the-top racism. I know this is a weird call, but the movie could have been a lot more effective had it toned down the racism. Also, some of the incidents involved contribute to the length of the movie without really adding anything.

The apparent lack of any military knowledge on the part of Lee (the sheer number of military gaffes, such as salutes and ammunition) as well as the obvious call-backs to movies involved keep throwing watchers out of the movie.

This had the potential to be an incredible movie, especially as the acting is incredible and the cinematography is gorgeous, but it's just too long and too many issues to be even a satisfactory movie.

Deputy (2020)

Neat Type of Vanilla

[6/10 · 22 May 2020]

I've been sort of curious about the show and why Ive heard no real buzz about it since it started. It's not a bad show, it just lacks any real fire. It needed to brasher, bolder, and yet it keeps shying away from any real fun. Any potential conflicts are pretty ruined by events, and there's just no real reason to watch: The characters aren't compelling, it's nothing we really haven't seen before, and there's just nothing to really grab people.

It's just too vanilla for its own good.....

Snowpiercer (2020–2024)

Can I say "train wreck" or is it too obvious?

[6/10 · 19 May 2020]

It suffers from two basic problems: 1) It's been made into a detective show, and 2) the world doesn't work.

The problem with #1 is that the train's operators assumed everyone would play nice, and so got rid of any current technology that would have helped. This of course means that they need to go grab someone from the poor section to solve the case.

With #2, it just doesn't work. The show is just too dependent on its allegory and is so hooked into it that they didn't bother asking how it worked. They needed someone to make the ecology work, and personally I would have found a way to make the people in the last car work for what they get.

In all honesty, there are just too many issues on way too many levels for this too work....

Motherland: Fort Salem (2020–2022)

Decent Show, Seriously Flawed (Long Review)

[7/10 · 3 April 2020]

It's not a bad show, but one that comes with a lot of caveats. If this were a YA novel, it would be great, but for a ten-episode TV show there's a lot of issues.

I love the sheer amount of world-building, but there's too many details that just aren't built up (such as why the biddies are apparently linked to the fort's grounds and why they are required to age; I get the symbolism but still...). Nonetheless, this is a dense show.

This needs to decide if it's a show for teenagers or young women. The "lesson of the week" thing doesn't work well with an older crowd but the subject matter isn't suitable for a younger crowd. It feels like it's trying to straddle the two worlds, but not quite working for that.

Freeform is definitely earning rep as Lifetime Light; this series is unflinchingly pro-feminist, and it's sort of cool to see a series where the women are in charge but everything is pretty dark and pro-military. However, I always find it amusing that objectification and marginalization of women is bad but it's fine when it's done to men, and that sex is bad unless young women are on top.

Also, I'm pretty tired of seeing everyone on a girls' show divided into cliques and the conflicts are primarily between the factions. I'd really like to see the Big Bad be more prominent and the girls acting more like real-world platoons rather than the usual high-school soap opera.

I'm sort of split on the Big Bad: The Screed is definitely fun to watch and they are definitely a terror. I love the whole horror movie feel they project. But...they aren't used as much as they should be and they are just so much filler.

Throw in some pacing issues (they should be further along in the story by now, but they're still introducing characters and situations), and you have a show that's great if you like dense stories, but everyone else is probably going to be bored.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Actually A Great Movie....

[8/10 · 29 November 2019]

The first rule of a musical: It needs to be a good story first, and the music needs to back that. It doesn't matter how good the music is if the story doesn't work.

This is actually a pretty good zombie movie. This has everything you need from a zombie movie: Teen angst, ironic death, sticking it to the man; straight up, the story is solid and the twists are earned. If you removed the music, this would be a solid movie.

The music, however, makes it such an awesome experience. The music does exactly what it needs to do: Move the plot, add to the exposition, and provide a necessary break. The music director had some serious fun here, and the music works: It's snappy as needed, shows the character at their worst, and basically works to emphasize the story.

Combined, the two elements just make for an actually incredible movie. You've got a strong story, characters that you feel their pain, and this feels like someone cared about the production value. This is a movie you need to see and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Mixed-ish (2019–2021)

Trying Way Too Hard

[4/10 · 4 October 2019]

Remember those movies in junior high that tried to be entertaining and educational at the same time, but decided to go with education over entertainment? Yeah; this is another one of THOSE.

This show is trying way too hard to show that there was racism in the 1980s but little else. The problem is that it's operating in a weird universe where 1970s humor is in effect (stewardesses and hippies) while events from the 1990s are having an impact (David Koresh was mentioned) in order to describe race issues from the 1980s without proper context.

It just feels like it's being told by someone who didn't really live in the 1980s and is trying to cobble together different decades in order to create a specific effect. This could have been a great sitcom if they would have generalized the issue with being different to a more general audience (and there is an attempt at the end of the second episode), but it's just trying too hard to work in the racism issue.

Look: We know there's racism. I'm just not sure if yet another show that's just to hit people over the head with the idea is going to work. I'm not saying don't portray racism, just that a show needs to be entertaining first, educational second. Just look at how many edutainment shows failed because they didn't learn that simple lesson. This may be yet another failure in that regard.

There's just too much

The Ranch (2016–2020)

Best Podcast on Netflix

[7/10 · 14 September 2019]

For a conservative sitcom this is pretty good. The acting is good as the actors have settled into their roles. The writing needs a little more punch but it's still pretty good.

Now, if someone could just do something about the lighting. I miss Sam Elliot's sweet sweet stache but you can't see it due to lack of lighting. As such it's a great podcast....

Squid Man (2013)

SIlly Movie, Great Concept

[8/10 · 12 September 2019]

In every super-hero universe you have the also-rans, the heroes with silly powers that you're never sure how they made it onto the team roster. This is the story of one such person.

This is not a fast-paced movie, and that works. A writer is looking at Squid Man's life, and the exploration of that allows exploration of the universe. It's sort of fun to look at it through the lens of a third-string hero, and this does not disappoint.

The acting is on point, and there is some excellent casting, and it asks all of the right question while making the right points. If you're looking for a movie that explores the super-hero genre and want to have some fun doing it, this is it.

The Boys (2019– )

Definitely a Must Watch Show!

[9/10 · 27 July 2019]

First off: If you're expecting a show you can watch with the kids, unless those kids are over 18 this ain't it.

That said, this was a pretty good show. The acting was incredible; these were well-developed characters that when combined with the acting were nicely believable, even with all of the weirdness. These are definitely also pretty examples for what would happen if supers existed in the real world, from the noblesse oblige and pure arrogance of the characters to those that were just amazed that they had powers.

Just because: Homelander was way too much fun. That guy was just pure evil. Maeve was also pretty good, as she could from jaded to sensitive; she was arguably be the best-developed character of the show. The Deep was also pretty good, especially when he was out of his depth (pun intended).

The plot twists were deserved; not only were they hard to predict but they were built up prior to their showing. Sure, there were some predictable points, but that's fine as those were based off character development; they were a natural evolution of the character in question. The real plot twists worked pretty well, up to the dreaded final reveal, although I dislike the end.

The special effects were exactly what were needed. While I would have liked to have seen more use of powers, especially in non-combat roles, overall the effects were pretty good. There's a lot of blood, digital and otherwise, but it works within the context of the show. You just don't expect to see a lot of niceness and that is definitely the case here.

There was some really nice world-building, especially as you were able to see what would happen if supers were real. You had challenges between supers, drugs for supers, and what would happen if supers got into religion. Again, while I would have liked to have seen more non-combat use (such as in construction and medicine) this was done pretty deftly.

The only other major flaw was that The 7 were an obvious pastiche of the Justice League (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Dr. Light). While this allows it to make some interesting points, none of them haven't been done to death elsewhere. Even Translucent only works to show how dark the world is, and is quickly killed when the point is made.

Nonetheless, this is a pretty good show and definitely recommended. I wish it would have ended differently, but it definitely the way it should have. Definitely worth the watch.

Grown-ish: Strictly 4 My... (2019) Season 2, Episode 17

Worst. Episode. On. Appropriation. EVER

[3/10 · 12 July 2019]

This show tends to go between bad and mediocre; this is one of the bad ones. The gang goes after Vivek for appropriating black culture, but while some good points are brought up (such as people mimicking the culture because it's seen as popular and that the black community had to make their own culture from scratch), it fails on every other level; with the exception of the waves contest, everything else is done by pretty much everyone else. Even rap has its roots as a multicultural expression prior to gangsta rap taking it over.

This is the mandatory episode that was done to death in the 1990s when it was at least relevant. Now it just feels like it was done to be done; because of how much black culture is derived from popular culture and how much it has contributed to it, the mixture has just made the concept of appropriation more archaic, especially when almost none of the examples used originated in black culture.

Worse, Zoe takes a step forwards in realizing that not everyone shares her perspective on things, but two backwards in her relationship with Luca. While here first creation fails miserable, she then has an epiphany that she needs to create something specifically for her. The item she uses as the basis of the new suit is one of Luca's few cherished items, which Zoe has no problem giving away without even texting him about it.

While Zoe realizes that others have their own perspectives, she fails to take into account the feelings of her boyfriend. It just feels as if she's psychopathic more than a real person, and that's a twist the show needs to take....

The Code: Lioness (2019) Season 1, Episode 8

Well, this only gets worse.....

[3/10 · 4 June 2019]

In the episode the crux of the matter is that a solider shoots a superior officer in the unsupported belief that he was sexually abusing a teenage boy he had purchased from a local family. That is, there was no consideration whether or not the soldier had purchased the boy for sexual reasons or to rescue the boy from the dangers of his everyday life.

There are three issues here: 1) She could have reported him for doing so rather than taking action herself, especially as there was no evidence that the boy was being harmed.

2) Regardless of intent the solider was purchasing another human life, something that is illegal in and of itself.

3) The actual intent of the soldier was never a consideration.

The bottom line is that it just felt as if they went for the lowest common denominator rather than trying to actually present an actual case. That is, rather than exploring both sides of the situation it was pretty obvious they were just going for the worst case situation and not even attempting to make it interesting.

I am really starting to hope this show won't be removed....

Batman & Jesus (2017)

Preaches to Its Choir

[3/10 · 17 May 2019]

The idea behind this "documentary" is that Batman is modern mythology, Jesus is mythology, and so they are equal on every plane, making Jesus just another story. They even have a "First Council of the Bat" to comment on the Council of Nicea, where fans are brought together to determine what is canon. Batman is also presented as religion in and of itself in order to better drive the point home.

Ignoring that there are several different levels of canon when you're dealing with Batman (movies vs. comics vs. cartoons), the logic here is spurious at best. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies, as well as conflating a lot of stories.

The really weird part is that no one form the opposing side is consulted; this is presented solely to demonstrate that Jesus is nothing more than a mythological construct and is therefore of no consequence. It just comes off as assuming that all believers treat The Bible as a historical document, something that is hardly universal.

If you believe that anyone who believes in religion is mouth-breather incapable of any form of rational thought, this is the movie for you. For anyone whose thoughts on religion have any kind of nuance whatsoever this is probably a solid miss.