jonaslundell Reviews

Vigil (2021– )

S2 such a disappointment

[7/10 · 20 April 2024]

While S1 was a decent crime/drama series, S2 starts off like a joke and continue in the same dreadful manner.

Unfortunately a very poor sequel. Story is poor, script is even poorer, acting is terrible and everything is just very low budget, low quality.

And what about the country Wudyan? I thought we had stopped using made up countries? Last time I heard something similar was in Tintin and the Picaros in 1976.

It is a shame that the execution is not good enough since the basic idea of a political thriller is quite good albeit not unique. But the concept of the Scottish police solving international crises on an ongoing basis is quite far fetched.

The Last of Us: Look for the Light (2023) Season 1, Episode 9

Good but somewhat rushed

[9/10 · 14 March 2023]

I think the quality is there but I really think they rushed the last bits too much. Should have been either two episodes or at least a 70min episode. In order to understand, not necessarily agree with, Joels decision you need more background for his demons, longings and grief. And maybe his doubts as well. It is a pity that they decided not to put more 'meat' into this. Besides that it is of course a very well executed episode. It sums it up so well and it really brings down everything to what LoU is all about; it is not another dystophic thriller, or another walking dead. It is one of the most obvious relationship dramas ever produced, just in the narrative of another, mostly sad, world.

Red Election (2021– )

Not good enough

[5/10 · 25 October 2021]

No, this ain't good enough. What could have been a decent classic political thriller just felt like hasty "direct to TV" work with a story that gets worse and worse the longer into the series you get.

Acting is questionnable. Lydia Leonard (and most of the ensemble actually) has the same facial expression throughout all 10 episodes and the amount of frustrated "fuuu*k" is impressive. Must be the most commonly used word in the whole series...

Nothing to waste time on unfortunately.

No Time to Die (2021)

The Perfect time to die

[8/10 · 5 October 2021]

Surprised! That I read so many reviews of how insulting this is to Ian Fleming, poor plot, bad acting etc. To me, this tops the Craig era. He made Bond worth seeing again. They delivered at least 4 out of 5 really good Bond movies. QoS well maybe not so much. But: NTTD adds the cherry to the Craig-007-cake. It is the perfect ending.

2 hours and 45 minutes felt like 30 minutes. I cried a bit in the end but that had to happen. Nothing as beautiful as a bunch of missiles blowing up a whole island. And directly after that, them two in Bonds car... Love it! Great directing. Great photo. Love the story. If you want the Roger/Pierce feelgood-matinée-Bond then this is nothing for you. This is dark. Darker than ever before. But some things have to happen! Some things need to change. Billie Eilish soundtrack fits perfectly the film...

Rig 45 (2018–2020)

Full of gaps but kept me to the end

[5/10 · 11 October 2020]

It is weird with those series you can't stop watching, even if you think they are inconsistent, full of gaps and overall pretty bad. After have watched both seasons, I conclude this is one of those.

Now and then it is actually pretty exciting. And if you by any chance can stand the gaps in the storyline, the poor dialogue and severly bad acting, then it is mostly cleverly filmed in the, apparently by the comments from rig workers, not very realistic environment.

Despite that, for me (as a non rig worker) the rig environment works quite well. Narrow corridors, darkness, flicking lights, power breakdowns, wind and rain - and someone is getting rid of the crew one by one (in classic manner) in the middle of nowhere out on the North Sea.

Is it him? Her? Them together? Noone trusts anyone. Overall a 5/10 from me. Saved by some quite exciting episodes.

Partisan (2020–2022)

Old school B-movie

[2/10 · 6 September 2020]

Ok, how about this plot: Neo-nazis (kind of) striving to build a new aryan Europe, a new world of white "perfectly built" males and females. All this undercover (or funded by) doing business in ecological vegetables. The story is as bad as the outcome. If I explain the storyline to a friend, they think I'm joking. All the above is going on in this secret facility with an underground IFV unit, of course with long dark tunnels, in the countryside of Sweden. It is like a weird mix of Wolfenstein, Captain America and Änglagård.

The characters are as cliché as the plot; the drunken Polish drivers (of course they are Polish as we know they only drink, smoke and harass women). And the most wicked witch of them all - Maud, in search for the perfect female and who keeps her father alive with the intention of using him as an eternal breeding source. And Kent, of course you need an evil physical guy as well, played by Johan Rheborg. I would assume he wants to forget his participation asap. And Fares Fares - what did you think of when you signed up for this? Money talks.

And so it goes. What started as a decent thriller evolved into a story that only fits into the genre of 80s b-movies. It gets worse, episode by episode until the grande finale that - surprise - is not a finale at all. Just a halabaloo of everything. What a waste of time. The only thing I am scared of is a season 2. I am sure the writers could come up with a sequel.

Hinterland (2013–2016)

Welsh noir by Devil's Bridge

[7/10 · 4 August 2020]

To start with, kind of weird to watch this one after 'Hidden' as many (and I mean MANY) actors from Hidden appear in the third season of Hinterland. Wales seem to have as few actors as Sweden!

Anyhow, the bad things (or thing) first: the individual crime stories are not great. Some of them are almost on Midsumer Murders level... Some are decent, but let's be honest - each episode's murder plot is NOT the strength of Hinterland.

To the strenghts of Hinterland: Richard Harrington makes an excellent portrait of a haunted man. Several of the other actors are great too. I also like the (lack of) interaction between Mathias and Mared.

Secondly: photo and scenery, very stylish. Pace is slow. It is grey and dark. Rugged and beautiful. Few words are being said. The atmosphere, I love it.

Third and most important: the overarching plot that runs through all (well, almost) episodes from S1E1 to S3E4 is what adds to this crime series and gives it something that not all noirs have.

As the third season was aired in 2016(?) I would assume that a fourth season will not happen. Which is a pity, but maybe good to end at the top. Because that is what Hinterland does. Final episode ties everything together, and makes the whole series very watcheable.

Marcella (2016–2021)

Season 3

[3/10 · 22 June 2020]

Ok, this review is for season 3 only. Prior to watching the third season I rated the first two an 8. But this one is simply terrible. I am ashamed of being a Swede on behalf the writer Hans Rosenfeldt who has come up with one of the most far fetched stories ever. It is so dreadful throughout the episodes and the grande finale is a debacle. Actually one of the worst crime series I have ever watched. Directing, script, plot - everything is a complete mess.

If you liked the first two seasons, stay out of this one and keep your fine memories.

The Valhalla Murders (2019–2020)

Had to watch all episodes but...

[5/10 · 14 June 2020]

...overall it is not very good. Pros:

• camera work
• cool with icelandic crime
• cool places

Cons:

• characters, some are so stereotype
• acting, some are ok but many are terrible
• storyline, this is the major con: it starta off good but gets worse and worse

But despite the above, I felt that I wanted to watch it until the end. Which was not a good decision.

Lost Girls (2020)

Good intent but outcome is flawed

[6/10 · 23 April 2020]

Acting is overall good. Photo is good. But to tell this whole story in 1h 30mins is impossible. And that affects the outcome. It results in not getting to know the characters, there are gaps in the story and overall it is shallow. They could have done so much more with this (sad) story so it could have been developed into a mini series maybe. I would have liked more focus on the investigation. More focus on the characters living in Oak Beach. More on the daughters relation to their mother. And so on. Intent is good but it doesn't reach whole way through.

Agent Hamilton (2020–2022)

Such a waste

[6/10 · 8 March 2020]

Just watched all 8(?) episodes and whilst I must admit that I for some strange reason wanted to see how it all ended up, I can just say what a far fetched and poor plot. Such a waste of money. Maybe the writers wanted to get Hamilton a bit more "Bourne"? Anyhow this is nothing but poor quality action. Poor plot, poor script and mostly poor acting. Nothing to do with the original books.