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Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
One forgets it very fast!
I didn't think one could beat the first part. But it actually happened. This movie is just bad! Zack Snyder tries to convey his art to us, but it just doesn't fit. The lighting, the music, the blurry edges, dramatic flashbacks, colorful wires at the bedside, and all that slow CGI... awful. The story is also crap, i.e. A few people in a medieval village against a battleship, of course with a few lazy tricks and Deus ex Machina reinforcements. Also that the princess just seems to be shot without any meaning, even though Kora was so enthusiastic about her, and Kora can just walk away from the ship, pointless. I didn't like all of that. And as I'm writing this review, I realize that I'm already forgetting these boring characters and the setting because I had zero interest in them, even though I'm such a big science fiction fan. Hopefully we won't see anything of this universe again. And this nonsense was supposed to be like the original Star Wars? Ridiculous.
Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
Brie is really good.
I am not sure, how to rate this show yet properly, since there is improvement possible. Maybe I need to adjust in some weeks, even down if it is boring. It's also a complex subject, making a story about a brilliant scientist in the '60s without it feeling like an indictment in the current entrenched discussion. Another point: In some comments (also for other shows) you read that you have to read the book first or, as with Star Wars, you need many other series nowdays. But that's not how entertainment on television works. It must still be possible to simply switch on and understand stories. Everything else is bad storytelling.
But I'm writing this review because of Brie Larson. After all the fuss about her and the demise of the MCU, I have to admit that I like her and she's a really good actress. I hope to continue seeing her in the future, fingers crossed.
Star Trek: Picard: Watcher (2022)
Boring and wrong
Oh dear. There was potential but this was just boring. And also wrong: When Picard met Guinan in the bar in 2024, I was excited and expecting Guinan to say "Oh no Jean Luc, not again!". Guinan knows JL since the 19th century (see TNG "Time's Arrow". Also, this should have been Whoopi, since Guinan looks always the same over 500 years. But I was fine with a new actress. Whoever is writing this has no idea about Star Trek and any continuity or time jump episodes. Maybe it gets better next week.
Mythica: The Darkspore (2015)
And the adventure continues ... somehow.
After a promising start with Mythica 1 I was disappointed with this sequel. Sure, as a fan of fantasy films, Independent movies and as Kickstarter Backer I still give here five stars, but it could have been done better. The makers seem to have forgotten that they have only a little budget. Instead of having bad CGI it would be better to halve the number of effects and improve them. In some scenes I really thought "What the hell?" Smoke, blood, riders and magic have to be done better. And therefore one must not always bring an "expensive dragon, especially if the fight against it is so clumsy. Some other parts are also not convincing: The fight scenes this time are surprisingly bad, annoying fairies are needless, and the story bobs up and down. It starts right after the events of the first film, but somehow it is not believable and seems constructed. The scenery and the costumes remain good, and I also like the girls of the troupe. As a fantasy fan you can watch this B-movie, but unfortunately I can't recommend it.
Mythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014)
Nice Indie Fantasy and two more parts to come.
With Mythica 1-3 Arrowstorm is going for adventures in a complete new world. Of course this is still a low-budget independent movie but the quality is increasing constantly. This is also possible since more and more money is collected from Kickstarter. Therefore the costumes and settings are already quite good, and I like the landscape. The effects are "ok" but could be better: Some spiders and the snake e.g. look really cheap, and the ogre has some good and some bad scenes. And by the way: The wolf was borrowed from Survivor to save some money ... but why not. The story is not new but not that bad. I like the idea of having the young disabled magician Marek running the gang, while she is exploring her dark side and her necromancy. Melanie Stone does a great job and dominates most of the movie. Marek is cute, but Nicola Posener with red hair as Teela looks gorgeous. Independent fantasy and those ladies are worth 7/10.
Survivor (2014)
Could have been much better
First of all this is a low budget independent science fiction movie, so comparisons with mainstream productions are relative for me. Anyone, who expects space battles or hordes of monsters in the same shot, will be disappointed. So for that mini budget the result is quite good. The space scenes are nice, I like the music and also the costumes for the mutants are not bad. I also enjoyed a lovely Danielle Chuchran running around, climbing up every single mountain in her way and performing all stunts and fighting scenes on her own.
BUT: The story is quite thin and questionable. In my opinion it is not logical at so many points with many questions (spoilers ahead): What exactly happened to earth and how did people and horses (!) survive? Humankind wanted to adjust Earth's orbit via particle accelerators and created wormholes throughout the galaxies instead? What??? They allow time travel, or was it time dilation like in the Planet of the Apes? Where are these super-fast-built fancy mother ships flying around? How can people and wolves mutate that much within some hundred years? In The Time Machine that took "realistic" 800k years. Why did Kate never took off the helmet of a warrior? Why did those Mad Max people wear masks at all and create a new silly language, when they speak English fluently? Anyone counted Kate's arrows? The distances and times to travel between places do not make much sense. And of course I tell my friend that she will die now instead of telling her, how fresh the air is and how beautiful that new planet is! And there was more and a lot of clichés.
The sad part for me is that it would have been so easy to avoid this: Take time manipulating worm holes as given by nature, forget Earth (this is not After Earth), choose a different planet with a lot of monsters (although Riddick did this), where another mother ship crash landed some centuries ago to have a post-apocalyptic human society and a transmitter, count your arrows, take of a mask, get your hands dirty while climbing, speak English, leave your shirt on, tell Anne that it is OK, kill that annoying Weston earlier and let Hayley live. And please let that scout ship break much closer to the ground during an emergency landing! You cannot just fall out of orbit for many reasons!! Uhhh, I am getting angry again. Nevertheless, since I like Danielle Chuchran and support indie movies, I give maximal 6/10.
Dragonfyre (2013)
Dumb Orcs with swords and shields versus guns don't work.
After watching a great SAGA I had to see this one! But unfortunately it just doesn't work for me. Dumb Orcs with swords and shields, who are shot down and slayed in dozens by people with guns, who are more or less never missing their target, is not cool. Even the dead orc bodies are vanishing magically. Don't get me wrong, I want Arrowstorm Entertainment to go on, and I am looking forward for their new Mythica, but Orc Wars as a crossover Fantasy <=> our world just failed. For a low budget movie the costumes and effects are in general OK, the dragon is great, and the princess is very sweet (although Danielle Chuchran in SAGA is much cooler), but all the action with the shooting is just not my thing: The effects, when the Orcs are hit, are often quite bad and also the fighting scenes are not nice. And there is only a poor story. With a big bonus for Indie-movies it is just a 4/10.
SAGA - Curse of the Shadow (2013)
Very entertaining Fantasy B-Movie.
"Don't expect a blockbuster" ... that is the main comment I have read now in the last days about SAGA. That is true, but you should simply not care, if you like Fantasy and Independent Films like me. With the low budget (I would really like to know how much it was?) the producers did a great job. Arrowstorm Entertainment and Mainstay Productions are small companies: They are making movies for fans, all sorts of short movies in different genres and offer young talents a chance to contribute their ideas. Originally SAGA was considered as a Webseries and they did a short movie, which is now the first scene. That was a test for the concept, shot in one day with almost no budget in Snow Canyon State Park. It worked out and they collected enough money (also from fans via Kickstarter) to make this movie. And it is very entertaining with even some funny moments. The costumes are very good in my opinion, especially the ones for the orcs. I like the music and also the fighting scenes. I would really like to see a sequel with our heroes. So give it a try! You will like the ears of that blue-eyed sword swinging elf. For me it's a 8/10, including a bonus for the elf, the main orc :-) and for the fantastic evolution of this project.