stuartpbottomley Reviews

The Fall Guy (2024)

More Fail Guy than Fall Guy

[3/10 · 2 May 2024]

First if you have ever watched the original tv show then I highly recommend that you don't watch this. To be honest don't watch it if you haven't. It very loosely based on the 80s show.

It has the same character names of three of the originals with only Colt in his main job as a stunt man, the bounty hunter plot is more or less sidelined for an truly awful love story with original character name Jodie but now a camera person turn director. The scenes of them flirting constantly derail the film, they are cringing to the point of been unwatchable. They go on for too long and are in the stupidest parts of the film.

The comic relief character Howie is almost completely gone with his ability to understand French given to a dog. Gail the Bail Bonds character who sets up the main story in the original is now a crooked movie producer and is play by the normally super talented Hannah Waddingham, here she's possibly the worse portrayed one out of a massive cast of duds.

I'll be honest my expectations wasn't high and I was right. To sum up, the cast have no chemistry, the plot is thin and stretch too far and the action is very melodic.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

If there's some strange don't call these guys

[4/10 · 24 March 2024]

Where Afterlife was a fun film, this had all the fun(spirit) sucked out and put it the containment chamber. Lots of new characters added meant no one had anything to do. They was very little chemistry between any of them. Very little humour meant the film flatlined after 15 minutes. A plot point that could have lead to a fantastic twist was wasted. Then we have a big bad at the climax that was such a let down. Getting back to the overload of new characters, it spoiled any chance of development of the family dynamics that worked in Afterlife. It's hard to say which of them had the worse story arc so I'm not going to try.

Rob Beckett's Smart TV (2024– )

Not smart TV

[1/10 · 29 February 2024]

This is a contender for worst panel quiz show of all time. Not surprising really considering it's from the makers of the rebooted Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Too much time is given to the panellist to try and be funny and very little time for actual quizzing. Watching the the first episode, it looked like all the panellists and host was bored with it. Why do sky feel the need to churn out this type of panel show. A league of their own stop been good when the comedy took over too much from the quizzing, the movie one they did just disappeared and they ruined Buzzcocks with bad guest booking. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets buried in the 2am slot after a few shows.

Wheel of Fortune (2024– )

More wheel of misfortune than fortune

[3/10 · 6 January 2024]

I was looking forward to this reboot of the classic game show but it fall really flat. Graham Norton doesn't connect with the contestants so lacks the banter that he excels at with his chat show . This version which takes advantage of using a higher tech game board/screen so now does away with the need of a co-host which actually make the show less watchable. In a show like this you need someone for the host to bonce off to fill the running time. Now we have 3 quick play questions before each round of wheel spinning. It could be just the first show but the contestants did have much enthusiasm for the game and didn't put much effort in to each spin. If this show is to continue then it needs to address these issues and make it fun again.

Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Brilliant just brilliant

[10/10 · 9 December 2023]

Finally the doctor is back with someone in charge who knows how to write the doctor. The three 60th anniversary as a whole have been breathtaking. That Star Beast manages to re-introduce doctor 10/14 and Donna Noble without been too convoluted and tells a fun story. The Blue Yonder whilst been the weakest of the 3 specials is still better than the whole run of the 13th Doctor's. It allowed for the Doctor and Donna to bond again.

Then we get to the Giggle. From Star to finish, it sizzles , fizzles and bubbles off the screen. Then you get to the best bit but I won't say anything about that. SPOILERS My only gripe is this wasn't shown at the cinema, like the 50th was. It would look great on the big screen.

The Flash (I) (2023)

Non stop fun from start to finish

[8/10 · 15 June 2023]

First things first, up to about 15 minutes from the end I was going to give this a score of 8 out of 10, but then I upgraded it to a perfect 10. Why? Once you see it you'll know. This has the right balance of action and humour. From the opening scene to the end they is no flagging. They did the right thing not recasting Barry, Ezra plays him perfectly and seamlessly acts with himself. The supporting cast are spot on, particularly Michale Keaton. It's like he never was away from saying " I'm Batman " . If I have one grumble it's with the scene at the end of the credits, whilst amusing it doesn't add to the film or take away. It feels like it was added to include a certain character.

The Little Mermaid (I) (2023)

A shipwreck of a movie

[2/10 · 26 May 2023]

Even if you go in with low expectations you will still be disappointed by this shipwreck. From the flat acting to some flat singing, they is little to praise in this movie. It makes me dread how next years Snow White will turn out. What's next in the live action crosshairs remake? Since Disney still have a big catalog of classics still to mine it's anyone's guess.

Back to the film. Not just the leads but the whole cast have no chemistry with each other. I couldn't engage with the film on almost every level. The best part of the film is the new version of Under The Sea, that is until Ariel joins in. I'd recommend you watch the original and forget about watching this poor remake.

In with a Shout (2023– )

Scraping a barrel

[1/10 · 22 April 2023]

At the time of writing, I'm the only person to give this absolutely dreadful game show a rating and review. Considering it's now 3 episodes in and no one has given it the time to rate it yet alone do a review( which should tell you all you need to know) Imagine scraping a barrel to find another barrel in it, then scraping that barrel to find at the bottom another barrel which you then scape to find the premises for this show. You then get one of the worse possible compare to host it. He seems to grin after anything he says as if to say well that was funny when it's the opposite. How is this guy on prime time British TV .

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Saving the best till last

[9/10 · 24 October 2022]

It's taken Chris Chibnall best part of four year as show runner to get it right, whilst a couple of early episodes showed promise, in the long run he's never really got it right but here we have a good solid episode. Jodie gives her best performance as the doctor and shows that given the right script can nail the role of the Doctor.

Packed with a few surprises this was a fun story that must please fans of classic Who as well as new Who. Going forward I look forward to the 60th anniversary episodes and the new Doctor Something I'd like to see is a story with the former companions support group, which would give the chance to bring back other former companions.

Blonde (2022)

Disappointing on many levels unfortunately

[2/10 · 29 September 2022]

I was looking forward to this but now it's finally arrived, oh dear what went wrong. It suffers the same pacing issues that Elvis has, the story moves to quickly, trying to cram As many bullet point of Monroes life instead of taking time to flesh out her story. Ana de Armas puts on a great performance but it's not enough to save this mess. The supporting cast aren't given enough to do so don't get the chance to nail their part. Like with Elvis this would have worked better as a 10 parter a hour each to tell a more complete story. If this had been more widely released in cinemas, it would have had a few walk outs. One last thing the cinematography is dreadful, it seems to want to cram as many filming techniques as possible and shift from one ratio to another till they run out then repeat.

Iron Mask (2019)

Oh dear, what was they thinking

[1/10 · 21 August 2022]

Bad acting, bad dubbing, bad cgi, bad sound effects, bad editing and a bad story so it only deserves a badly written review and that's all you need to know. Watch absolutely anything else (even watch Cats )

Nope (2022)

Should you watch this NOPE

[4/10 · 15 August 2022]

I went in with low expectations, whilst it wasn't as bad as local word of mouth, it still fails to deliver. You get a little back story of the main characters but more back story is given to a secondary character that would have made a better film but is totally out of context for this one. The closing act was so is that it.

The Orville: Future Unknown (2022) Season 3, Episode 10

Filler yes but better than your average filler

[8/10 · 4 August 2022]

Whilst it seemed more like a mid season filler episode after last episodes action pact rollercoaster ride, it still was a good all round story closing out a couple of story threads but leaving a couple open for a future possible season or maybe a full movie. We can only hope we haven't seen the last of the Orvell and her crew.

Railway Children (2022)

Take a pillow to watch this

[2/10 · 28 July 2022]

I found it hard to stay awake watching this. The story was weak and boring, the acting was like a poorly produced school play. The script seemed like it was written on a wet weekend in November. More thought should have gone into the story. You can't really blame the actors for this, they could only work with the poor material they was given.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils (2022) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

What went wrong

[3/10 · 18 April 2022]

I couldn't tell if the bad script, bad acting or bad editing let this down the most. The story had some potential that would have benefited from a longer running time or been a two parter. Most of the scenes felt like they had been cut short causing to jumps in story telling. The episode seemed to stall and playing catch-up all the time which resulted plot points been lost to the cutting room floor. What was worse about the episode was the weird won't they won't they arc between the Doctor and Yaz. Fingers crossed they can redeem the show with the centenary episode.

The Larkins: In Which We Meet the Larkin Family (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

Watch Darling Buds Of May instead

[1/10 · 11 October 2021]

How can a show miss the mark on every single level. No one is cast right, the dialogue is flat, they is no chemistry between any of the leads, every one seems to be trap in a world where they have to fake been jolly or some unseen overload will punish them, the direction seem to be by accident, the camera work looks like it was done by a student on their first day on the course and worse of all is Bradly Walsh's acting. He's a great quiz show host ( one of the best around) but totally the wrong choice for this.

What amazed me was I made it though the entire first episode.

The Larkins (2021–2022)

Poorly executed remake

[1/10 · 10 October 2021]

This lacks the charm and warmth of the 90s version with David Jason. Half the cast of this seem to doing a poor impression of the previous incarnation equivalent characters. The other half don't fit the part they are playing. When I heard this was happening I was really hoping it would be almost as good if not better than the Darling Buds of May.

The Watch (2020–2021)

How not to adapt a classic and loved series of books

[1/10 · 12 August 2021]

My title says it all. I can only hope that this series will be used as an example of what happens when you don't understand the material your adapting. Did they even read the books or did they get an intern to read them and make notes for them to work from, only for the intern to drop said notes and get them out of order because the didn't number the pages. A truly disappointing wasted chance to make a modern classic series.

The Answer Trap (2021)

Not impossible to draw compassions

[4/10 · 12 May 2021]

This seems like a attempt to copy the BBC show Impossible with a slight twist. It would be greatly improved if you didn't have the two trap setters on the show, they are really irritating and come across as two low rent Bond villains. It's the sort of show you'd expect to last one season on Dave then disappear without trace.

Coming 2 America (2021)

A long time to wait for nothing

[2/10 · 8 March 2021]

This is maybe one of the worse sequels I've seen. The jokes are embarrassingly bad, the ways they try to tie it to the first film do nothing to enrich the narrative. The cast when they have nothing to do look embarrassed to be there. If this had been released to movie theatres it would have been added to the long list of Eddie Murphy flops.

Bank Balance (2021)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[1/10 · 25 February 2021]

Possibly the most boring game show ever devised. I was falling asleep. How did this get green lit ? Was the pitch blah blah blah blah blah "Gordon Ramsey" blah blah. Then the BBC said "Gordon Ramsey? We're in. A show so dull it only deserves this boring and short review.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue (2020) Season 2, Episode 8

What just happened

[10/10 · 18 December 2020]

Pure joy from start to finish. Each week it delivers and delivers and delivers. It wraps up one story whilst setting up another beautifully. One tip stay till the end of the credits for a big pay off. It's going to be a long year to wait for the next season

The Mandalorian: Chapter 14: The Tragedy (2020) Season 2, Episode 6

Can it get better than this

[10/10 · 4 December 2020]

IMDb need to revamp their rating system, this series just keeps getting better and better and better each week, when you consider it started out been the best original series on Disney+ the quality hasn't dipped. I rate an episode 10 stars then a better episode comes along I want more stars

Spitting Image (2020–2021)

Thank you itv

[2/10 · 2 November 2020]

I considered getting britbox for some of the original programming however after seeing the episode show on terrestrial tv I've changed my mind. This is a show that was best left in the 80/90s. It's well past it's best before date. The comedy in this revival is stale the impressions are way off the mark. So thank you itv for showing me how bad this show is and saving me the subscription fee.

The New Mutants (2020)

Not a fitting end to X-Men franchise as we know it

[4/10 · 7 September 2020]

It's been a long time coming this film, we all know it and all I can say it was not long enough. It had all the hallmarks of a reject pilot for a TV show. It felt like for the reshoots they didn't even try to match the previous shot footage Visually or vocally, the accents of each character changes from scene to scene. The scares where close to non existent ( the goosebumps movies have more scares) . They had a chance to make a different kind of comic book movie but got it totally wrong