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brandonclark-95436
Reviews
Slow Horses (2022)
Solid show but S3 took a dive.
Elite MI5 agents unable to shoot targets directly in front of them with thousands of rounds of ammo, guns misfiring at the worst moment, bad guys pausing to say one last eye-rolling line only to be "surprise attacked," guns running out of ammo coincidentally forcing two characters into a fist fight....what the hell happened to season 3? I've come to expect more out of this show based off the first two seasons. Season 3 (especially the finale) was like watching a predictable 80s action movie. I know it's supposed to be entertaining television, but these cliches were too frequent to ignore. The show is a spy thriller grounded in today's reality...during the finale of season 3 I felt like I was one step away from seeing someone's shoe laces tied together so they couldn't run away. Typically, this show balances suspense, tension, and humor very well. I can get on board with some of the less realistic sequences because the cast carries the story so well. Gary Oldmans character is a treat every time he is on screen. Season 3 tanked in my opinion. It started off well enough, but the writing just got progressively lazy. From the previews, season 4 looks much more promising. I hope they don't fall into the same traps as season 3. Keep us on our toes please !
Slow Horses: Footprints (2023)
Solid show but season 3 tanked
The first two seasons are enthralling. There are several moments a little over the top, but those moments provide entertainment value and you don't have to suspend your disbelief too much. The show does a great job of balancing thriller with levity and humor. It looks like they tried to downsize in season 3 and keep the scope small with a couple of interesting new characters. The plot was predictable, but the returning characters (especially Gary oldman) make it tolerable and worth watching. My biggest hang up about this season, particularly the season finale, was the countless number of cliche moments during action sequences. Several guns misfiring at the worst moment....bad guys pausing to say an eye-rolling line only to be attacked from behind, elite MI5 agents unable to shoot targets directly in front of them with thousands of rounds of ammo, two characters coincidentally running out of ammo at the same time so they have to get into a fist fight..... I get it's television and it should be entertaining, but this is supposed to be a spy thriller grounded in reality. Some of these redundant errors were too frequent to overlook and I started to feel like I was watching an 80s action movie. I felt like the writers just got lazy this season. I hope season 4 picks up The preview at the end of season 3 looks much more promising.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Best in the trilogy by far
This is the most heartfelt of all three films. From the opening scene I was engaged. The actions sequences are visually appealing while seeming more purposeful. The movie dives into Rockets backstory which is heartbreaking and surprisingly made me feel very sad watching it. The emotions from Rocket, Quills broken heart of Gamora, and more details which I can't give away, really tied me to the film. Right when I started to feel sad for the characters, the movie picks you right back up again with a fun action sequence and fitting soundtrack. The characters work very well during the action scenes and like I suggested earlier the scenes feel far less clumsy than previous installments, whereas they just needed an action scene to add to the story. It's a wonderful roller coaster with signature performances and sharp comedic timing.
Hijack (2023)
Strong start but crashes with silliness by episode 4
Never have I seen a show start so strong and throw it all away so hard. The first few episodes are tightly wound. There is a slow, tense progression with good pacing. Idris Elba's character is played well, the mystique surrounding his character feels very real and I found myself curious about who he was and what sort of action he might take. The supporting characters are kind of a mixed bag, some end up being interesting whereas others kind of feel like they're annoying.
The downfall-The audience finds out fairly quickly that the terrorists (or organized crime group) don't really behave like bad guys. I won't add any spoilers, but there are glaring incongruities concerning their behavior, language, and decision making...it zaps any ounce of severity to the situation. By episode 4 I found myself laughing at how disorganized they were and how quickly they are influenced to by the passengers to stray from their plan. I started episode 5 with high hopes but it's just beyond ridiculous now. What a bust.
Prey (2022)
Mixed thoughts on this
I read all the hype reviews so I got excited about finally watching something really good. To be honest I recommend skipping the first 40 minutes. I almost turned the movie off it was so slow and I was bored and let down. The special effects are sillyyy. Around the 40 minute mark things started picking up and the suffering decreases. The fight scenes are a little over the top but they are entertaining. The lead character is easily mistaken for Aubrey Plaza which was very confusing convincing myself she isn't. The predator is sort of duped in a way that contradicts his technological sophistication but we can roll with it. The end result is basically not quite as amazing as what I read, almost cringeworthy, to moderately entertaining.
Long Shot (2019)
Surprisingly fun
Was not expecting much out of this movie. I decided to give it twenty minutes before turning it off. I ended up watching the whole thing. Despite the odd pairing The romantic scenes do not feel forced. You can tell Theron's character is just looking to connect with someone in a basics human way. Seth's character fits that bill well. I genuinely laughed at the sarcasm and humor. None of it was thrown in pointlessly and there wasn't a long run of forced jokes that usually accompany Seth Rohan's movies. All in all the movie was emotional on an appropriate level,
Funny throughout, and contained some unexpressed laughs. It's also nice not to see the male in the story be vilified for once.
Willow (2022)
Confusing and uneven
So confused what the goal is here with this show. It can't decide what tone it is. Teenage rom com? Dark Fantasy? Drama? Some actors have English accents, some sound American, no characters seem to know what their role is. Some of the action scenes are decent, special effects are not terrible. Dialogue is elementary which is quite distracting. Many simple things don't make sense. Like why a queen has a castle so lightly guarded she herself has to come down and fight immediately, why a seemingly major, good character dies and upbeat music plays right away like everyone is celebrating. No one stops to talk about the death. It's very odd. I'm trying to make it through, not optimistic.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
Just no
Made it through about 20 minutes then turned it off. Nothing to see here unless you want to watch the antithesis of what marvel originally created. It is boring, anti-men drivel, hypocritical, and totally unfunny. The original films even did a better job of empowering the female heroines. This is just such mainstream bandwagon propaganda. Of course she-hulk is better than the original hulk (in her words) because she has immediately fully integrated her personality. We don't really know why. It just happened. No struggle. Everything just comes super easy. Unfortunately that works against my interest in the show. She has nothing to struggle with therefore no story arc, and nothing to look forward to.
The Northman (2022)
What happened ?
I couldn't tell you what this movie is about. The actors couldn't either. All the characters have no purpose and seem very confused. It was a long movie to watch the characters essentially moping around the entire time. Skarsgard's character does very little to justify his workout and meal plan. One would think he would be fiercely violent and motivated the entire movie. Problem is, he spends most of the movie actually avoiding any confrontation, his image is wasted. The movie didn't have to be grand and spectacular. If the creators of this film could have just committed to a well paced revenge story, or at least something that delivers on small scale, tightly wound tension, one could overlook a lot of the flaws and just accept It for predominantly being a heavily themed revenge story. But that doesn't even pay off. In the end I wound up not caring what happens to anyone I just wanted the movie to stop. And don't get my started on the CGI that came out of nowhere. I feel like I got 25% of a story and the rest was watching people go on about their day. The characters are all confusing and purposeless. The first 25 minutes are interesting. Then it fizzled fast. Skip this one.
The Black Phone (2021)
Letdown
It felt like an original horror/thriller movie at first. I liked the supernatural element sprinkled in to a kidnapping story. Had lots of potential. Ethan hawkes character was wasted, he could have been a much better villain who was much more interesting. But in the end you end up not caring about why he does any of the things he does. The tension could have been much tighter. You don't even get to find out why he wears the masks he wears. Story abruptly ends and I suddenly feel like I'm watching twilight with the ending teeny bopper music they chose to rock out too. A few unrealistic details are distracting. A lot of kid characters somehow knowing martial arts. If you watch the fight scenes you have to admit this is not how teenagers fight. Spinning back kicks, leg sweeps, etc. Wtf are we doing guys? Then you have a scene where the cops break into the house because of a young girls psychic hunch. No warrant and no other evidence. They stumble in the house and of course act totally clueless when they don't immediately find what they need. Bla bla bla.
Malignant (2021)
Garbage
I am genuinely confused by the high ratings here. This movie is trash. The acting, the story, the character suddenly knowing kung fu. What??? I actually laughed at how bad some of these scenes were. Do not watch this garbage.
Reacher (2022)
Not seeing what everyone else sees.
I'm surprised at the other reviews lauding this show. The acting is pretty bad, feels like a soap opera. There are so many impractical things that happen that distracted me from enjoying the show. Cops storming a restaurant with guns out not knowing if Reacher could be armed, putting children and innocent bystanders at risk, instead of arresting him outside. Reacher being portrayed as a ruthless expert killer, beating up everyone in his way, only to get his ass kicked in the pool scene by the smallest, weakest character in the show. Or even, failing to confirm a kill of an important villain simply so the show can have him pop up the next episode because Reacher thought he was dead, despite not even looking at him when he pulled the trigger and not bothering to check his body as it rolled down the hill. Why would he suddenly be so sloppy when his character is supposed to be meticulous and detail oriented the entire show ? It just doesn't make sense and it made me feel like the directors didn't pay attention to little details that could've helped the story be believable. I guess this story is somewhat okay enough to follow the episodes. Some of the action scenes are good. Some are terribly choreographed. The dialogue and the conversations are all pretty flat. The overall story is predictable and characters are flat and one dimensional. The flashback scenes of reacher and his brother come up meaningless and do very little to add to the overall storyline. They end up being annoying. I had this show on while I cooked and I ended up laughing at how bad it was.