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profpwainwright
Reviews
The Stand (2020)
Constructive criticism, not a hater
So, let's start with the positives. It contains the Characters from the unabridged story.
OK, the positive... Not plural.
Unfortunately it is very difficult to follow because of all the jumping around. The editing is poor to the extreme. Yes I know there needs to be a backstory to each of the characters, but when the first episode starts at a point 3/4 of the way through the book, it is a little difficult to recover from that.
The seminal work was the book by Stephen King, and the 1994 miniseries was close to the abridged book, but it missed out the details of the unabridged book release.
This had the potential to be absolutely awesome. It has the unabridged book to work from, it had the graphic effects of modern cinematics, it had a decent budget... It had everything that was needed to make a superb visual extravaganza.
But then it failed, it was 90% there, but the missing 10% was the most important 10%
The editorial changes did not seem to have any reason for the changes. I accept that technology changes, I accept that the sociopolitical environment changes, but that did not seem to be the reason for the editorial changes. The story has been diminished by the treatment of the production team.
For those who are new to the story, it is probably an OK taster, but it pales into insignificance to the book or the 1994 miniseries.
Shockwaves (2022)
Lazy
I gave this 2 stars because of its potential.
There is a big problem though. That problem is laziness. There is a phrase where something is greater than the sum of its parts. In this case, the failure is greater than the sum of the smaller fails. But the whole film is riddled with laziness. That I find hard to accept.
The story has the potential to be riveting, it could be a slow burn kind of riveting, but it could have been great. However there were corners cut for no apparent reason. This has nothing to do with budget.
When the woman gives up her car to save the family, there could have been a moment of human understanding, there could have been pathos, there could have been emotion... and it would have only require the existing lines to have been more thought out, and the emotions explored in only a few lines more.
When the casting was carried out, it would have not taken much work to ensure that the daughters actually looked younger than their mother.
The director could have worked with the cast to explore the emotions their characters were feeling.
The effects were obviously done on a budget, but that has not stopped other films becoming a cult classic. But that was because of the work put into the other areas of the respective films. In this example that extra work was not done.
The big shame is that this film could have been so much better, but failed to meet that potential because of laziness. This is the visual equivalent of the student who has a full term to complete their thesis, but has spent all their time and student loan on parties and social events, then tries to scrape a pass with several litres of coffee and a couple of late nights.
Then there are the stupid errors. The cave leader who did not take notice of the environmental issues. This is the kind of mistake that an amateur caving team makes before hitting the news as 'cavers killed in flooded cave' or, if they are lucky, 'cavers rescued from flooded cave'. (as someone who used to enjoy caving, when I was a lot slimmer, this seems to be an accurate analogy). Or when Peter reaches for the central console to hang up a call in his Merc.... I drive that model of Merc, and know that the phone controls are on the steering wheel!!! Why the stupid mistakes?
As mentioned earlier, the failure of this film is greater than the sum of the individual failures throughout. Therefore the only word that describes this is lazy. The biggest issue I have is that despite the poor casting and despite the limited budget, it could have been a brilliant film. That is the biggest fault.
The Hatching (2014)
Absolutely brilliant, with the right mindset
This is a really good, funny film, where absolutely nothing is to be taken seriously.
The effects are perfect for the mindset behind the movie. The rubber crock is perfect, when you compare it with the angry pack of dogs 🤣.
Everything just fits, but I think that the comedy aspect could have been raised a little, and it could have been just pushed a little further, but this is a film to be enjoyed in a group, probably with some decent under the counter cider, just to enhance the experience. Well worth looking at.
One question I do have is who sang the country style song? I have tried a Google search, and tried googling the question but no results. If anyone knows, please post a reply....
But well worth the time, and look for all the inconsistencies... they are really funny. And even the Frankenstein mob scenes are so in keeping with this.
War of the Worlds: The Attack (2023)
Surprisingly Good
So, amongst many rewrites of a classic sci-fi story, this is one of the best.
Yes, it appeals to those who know the original H. G. Wells story.
But it does hit the important facts in the story, from the artillerymen, Parson Nathaniel and many other points.
And as an extra bonus, it does not have Tom Cruise.
It is a really good film, and it is one of the best adaptations of H. G. Wells story set in a modern day setting that I have seen. It is really worth watching.
Some of the characters are slightly different, some of the settings are not exactly true to the original book; however, for the budget and the interpretation it is really good.