darrenpatterson Reviews

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: All the Comforts of Home (2018) Season 5, Episode 11

So frustrating.

[5/10 · 29 July 2021]

Why is it that the fastest woman in the world can disarm all the opponents but chooses to have a fist fight rather than point them at the masked assailants. What compounds is that she's already met her future self who could have easily said "don't throw the guns away; use them!" What's more how can someone who can out run bullets get their arms chopped off by a thrown weapon! And how does she get both arms chopped off at the same time. When you run one's out front the other behind. If they were by her sides how didn't her torso not get damaged!

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

Stop watching after season 1

[5/10 · 26 January 2021]

The first season is a smart take on the competition between the two main characters but as it progresses through to season 2 and 3 it just gets more ridiculous. Daniel teaches that Karate is for defence and seeking balance but gets into fights all the time. There are just too many frustrating cliches for me.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Good film but should and could have been better.

[7/10 · 20 October 2020]

This is a great and compelling story but the film looses its momentum at times which is frustrating. Despite that it's one to watch.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Ignore the 1/10s this was a great watch.

[7/10 · 30 August 2020]

I wasn't expecting much given the poor ratings but I glad I ignored them, this was great.

Rising Phoenix (2020)

A must watch

[8/10 · 29 August 2020]

The challenges and successes of both the athletes and the Paralympics are wEll told in this inspirational and must see documentary.

Warrior Nun (2020–2022)

Stop the banal naration

[2/10 · 2 July 2020]

I've only made it through to the second episode and I've had enough of the teenage angst. The premise is interesting but the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired- "Keep talking pretty boy, I don't care what you're saying, I just see some lips I want to kiss" 🤢 was one of the worst lines I've heard heard for a while.

Note: Given that some said it gets better after episode 3, I thought I would give it a chance and continue watching. Whilst the banal internal monologue lessens, having now watched all the episodes I really should have stuck to my first impressions and gone and watched something far better (almost anything else would have been). Slight Spoiler: In the end there is no real conclusion to the season and it's obviously hoping for a second season in which to explain the ludicrous plot of season 1. Netflix, if there is to be a second season, please, for the love of all that is good, spend more money on the script!

The Last Kingdom (2015–2022)

Season 4 has let the books down

[4/10 · 5 May 2020]

I've been an avid reader of the books since they first came out but this current season has seriously let that series down. The battle scenes have become increasingly frustrating for me. One of the key themes of the books are the shield walls and how important they were as a tactic during this period. Soldiers didn't run headlong into each other screaming but stood side by side slowly advancing until they met. The final straw for this season was the taking of Winchester by the Danes. Apparently they just walked an entire army into the city without anyone noticing until the arrows started to fly!! Really??! These were fortified cities designed by Alfred to be defensible from such attacks. The idea that they would let their capital be so weakly defended when the King's wife and heir were there is ludicrous. Another issue I have with this season is that there is no realism in the time it would take to travel around the country. One of the priests is sent to Wales from Wessex to get an army - which he does on foot and in time - really! Also there must only be a few roads around as characters are constantly bumping into each other or able to easily find others when they have no idea which direction they went. To the writers - stick closer to the source material and you'll end up with a better more believable story.

Jack Ryan: Strongman (2019) Season 2, Episode 8

Such a shame

[1/10 · 18 January 2020]

After a great first season that was smart and enthralling. This season started where the last left off but soon went to ludicrous levels of unbelievable plot twists ending in this final ridiculous episode. Ryan and a handful of CIA and black ops land on the roof of the presidential palace in the middle of the day and start shooting everyone in sight. Really!? Is there no air force or army protecting the palace's airspace. Are there not guards on the roof to ensure that this can't happen. Apparently not. They don't even have a locked door on the roof. "Just come on in boys and invade!"

There's even a party going on in one room that continues oblivious to all the gun shots until Ryan and his gang start killing guards in the room.

In the first season Ryan was portrayed as a man with a conscience that was working on the inside to make the world a better place. Well the bosses at the CIA better chain him to his desk because when he's let out he shoots everyone in sight regardless of the fact that they are soldiers (with families) guarding their country's palace and protecting their president. Imaging if the roles were reversed and a handful of Venezuelans landed on the Whitehouse and started shooting all its guards!

The final sequence see's Ryan taking the moral high ground and confronting a Senator about his dealings in Venezuela. Ryan should take a long hard look at himself in the mirror when he wants to preach morals to anyone after his actions in Venezuela.

The expression on John Kransinski's face as he walks off screen is not one of job well done but one of embarrassment that they have managed to turn a top show into something that would have been better done as a comedy by Monty Python.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Meh!

[6/10 · 17 November 2018]

This is a well acted film that is let down by the lack of a conclusion. It's like an overly long first episode that gets you wanting to see what happens next which works when next is next week (or even straight away when you're streaming) but not next year. Left the cinema with an overall feeling of Meh!

Outlaw King (2018)

They let Edward II go?!!!

[5/10 · 10 November 2018]

I was enjoying this film right up till the final battle scene. It wasn't great but was ok. What made me give this a 5 was the final scene in the battle. A one on one with Robert the Bruce and Edward II which was just ludicrous. The idea that that would meet could be forgiven but that the Scots would let him walk away after 8 years of war and destruction and not trade him just would not have happened. Rubbish!

How It Ends (2018)

How it Ends; badly that's how.

[1/10 · 13 July 2018]

I haven't been more frustrated with a film in a long time. The trailer promised so much but they then padded the rest of the film with ludicrous plodding dialogue and scenes. The main characters seemed to have completely lost who they are and all sense of reason. Whilst I could understand people being driven to extremes after months of struggling to survive this appears to happen in a matter of hours and the main protagonists go from law abiding office workers to gun toting maniacs who can spin cars around on a two lane bridge whilst shooting "bad guys" out of car windows at speed (having only picked up a gun for the first time that week). They are also responsible for the death of two people who "stole" their fuel (fuel they had technically stolen from someone else). Fuel they needed or they "would die". Really!!! And what does the main character do when his father in law dies and the car breaks down - pours the fuel over the car and sets it on fire!! Why!! Surely he would have taken the fuel or stashed it if was so precious. And don't get me started on the final act where he kills the neighbour who saved his wife. The film would be better titled "Just kill everyone"!

How It Ends (2018)

I'll tell you "How it ends"! Badly

[1/10 · 13 July 2018]

What a ludicrous film. A film based on a premise that once people lose power and phone reception they go round killing each other for fuel and food - maybe after months of terror not after 3 days!