TurtleLakePirate Reviews

Witchslayer Gretl (2012 TV Movie)

Dull

[2/10 · 19 March 2024]

As a person who loves "so bad that it's good genre", I have a very high tolerance for cheaply made, low budget, badly acted garbage that are so often spat out, especially for straight to TV scene.

This one is pretty dull even for this "genre" though. The best words to describe it are probably dull and uninspiring. The thing that usually saves this kind of movies is sense of fun, which is nowhere to be found here.

The story is very loosely based on old German folk tales and I would want to say... "tries to capture the spirit of fairytale adventure or sword and sorcery tropes" but unfortunately I can not. It seems quite opposite. It seems the production team didn't even try.

Action scenes are very badly made, even for this level of production, story makes little sense and the scenery in which the story unfolds practically doesn't change at all. It's like the whole movie was made on one small location, in someone's backyard.

The acting is not worse than it should be for such a film and all the female actresses look good. Costumes are okey, but all the other props and "cgi" is laughably bad.

Overall, you won't be able to enjoy it even if you're a fan of bad movies.

Zorro (2024– )

Better than expected

[7/10 · 23 January 2024]

It's harder and harder to find a decent interpretation of classic stories in our age and time so this Spanish production came as a surprise.

In times of endless reimaginings, reboots and "fixing for modern audiences" trends it is refreshing to see series that more or less follows the traditional roots of the tale.

Of course this Zorro is different from all the other Zorros before him and this story has its own twist that might not be the best, but it's what it is. There are no major and drastic changes that would overturn the character of Zorro and make him unrecognizable, like so many other movies/shows do nowadays. The main plot points that characterize Zorro are still there: The masked avenger who leads double life; Robbing the rich to give to the poor etc.

Sometimes the story goes into extreme left area where people are labeled "bad" just for the sole reason for them being rich, while all of the "poor" characters are portrayed as noble and decent fellows.

This kind of gullible approach is common for all Robin Hood trope stories though and I'd suggest to switch off Mr. Adam Smith in your brain and look at it lightly...

The mandatory part of all the Zorro movies and series - fencing, is done rather well. There is no shortage of fighting scenes here and they're mostly staged competently. (But in no way realistically). If we take Princess Bride duel between Westley and Inigo Montoya as an example of realistic and Antonio Banderas' Zorro as an example of unrealistic, it leans much more towards Banderas.

Actors playing their part very well in most cases and you shouldn't really have many problems with them. Musical score is also nothing to complain too much about but it's not anything extraordinary as well. I'd say, Zorro deserves better.

The series certainly had its problems with pacing, some plot-holes, inconsistent or underdeveloped characters and so on, but if you don't think about them too much, they can be forgiven.

Overall - if you like action, period drama, fencing and some mindless fun, watching this series won't hurt you for sure.