Change Your Image
stephen-whipp
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Magicians (2015)
Fun fantasy with little depth
I am keeping this one short. I'm mainly reviewing to point out a massive mistake in all the other reviews I have seen.
This isnt Harry Potter grown up. The only resemblance is that there us magic and a school or rather university... there all similarities end.
What this is, is a story with hints of Narnia etc in its source but which is presented in a much more Buffy like manner they give repeated nods to this throughout even if it wasnt plain as day anyway. Sure its more explicit and course, has a lot of more adult stuff in there, but the basic structures and tongue in cheek, laughing at itself humour is all there.
The casting and acting is good, the effects and CGI more than passable.
The plot isn't that unique or special but none of this matters cause its managed to fill a niche which many have tried and failed to really fill since Buffy S7 finished.
I like this show.
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Not worthy of the series
Ok to start with the positives and there are quite a few. They ard just over shadowed by bad bits but hey ho
Firstly I thought that the casting was ok and the acting was mostly fine. (Sure the diversity here was unnecessary and world detracting, but that bit is not too important per se). Rand was perhaps my only major gripe and mainly because he should be thd most important person in the story, except he's now not but we'll get to that.
I thought the sets, SFX and mostly the CGI were effective and well done.
I was engaged enough to keep going till the end....
HOWEVER... here we get to the big problems.
This needed great care and attention and real love to adapt... I know Brandon Sanderson was involved, I have tried to see it as a different turning of the wheel, BUT that doesn't excuse bad storytelling and using it as a political spearhead. If you are going to rewrite you at least have to be true to the spirit of the original and because of poor writing and just not really taking real care for the world its just not!
Here's the thing, i am a Liberal, I want a world where people are accepted and treated equally whatever their gender, sexuality, skin colour or in general, beliefs. I am saying this to make a distinction.
I am liberal in real life, I do not want to see these real world political matters despoil what is one of the great epics of literature in modern fantasy and I mean despoil in this case. A series that is already extremely inclusive, already has incredibly strong women roles etc, women already are very much the people in power to a very real measure which he manages naturally and believably. This isnt chauvinist sword and sorcery hack or older work like Tolkien. A huge number of the problems with this adaptation come from rewriting to push this social justice issue where it wasnt even necessary at all, in any reasonable point of view. Shame on you!
That said, I fully recognise that in adaptation to film there will need to be lots of little changes to the story to make it work on camera.
Here's the thing though, the unnecessary post liberal insertions aside, if I have a critism of RJ it was in his excessive detailed descriptions etc, to the point where it actually detracts and certainly stretched out the story by a few books more than necessary... the point is there was so much source material to go on, the writers didnt need to insert their own and change things, beyond necessary for adaptation is almost criminal.
In trying to fit 1000 pages into 8 episodes, its always going to need some very careful editing, there's no space for inserting asides that emphasise world building that is at best only inferred in the books and certainly unimportant. Sadly this is what the writers have done... which gives less time for an already difficult task of telling the actual story... no worries though, they just didn't follow the story, Instead mixing and matching, mostly from Book 1 but with the odd bits from later books into what ends up being sonething very different.
And I could live with that, if they had done it well but it really hasn't been. It doesn't follow well, still feels rushed and the ending is just an anticlimax.
Mainly, it feels, because they couldn't have the situation where a male role was centre stage. Even though he's the prophesied Dragon Reborn (sorry for ruining the mystery), the saviour or breaker of the world!!! No instead its almost a none event when he faces down the 'dark one' he decides to do it after some temptation to join the dark and bang its done... where the fight between them, it was a complete let down to THE EVENT THE WHOLE SEASON WAS LEADING UP TO! And thats without knowing just how far off the book it was.
The main effects and epicness saved for the inserted scene where Nynaeve and Egwene are ridiculously facing down the hords of Trollocs,
NB. This never happened in the books, they were with Rand at the Eye of the World, there's no way they could have! Nynaeve couldnt use the power at will, only in rage and Egwene was only a Novice in the Tower, scarsely able to control or do anything yet, let alone link... Its just appalling!
But its really there throughout the whole season ... and most changes they made were to the detriment of the bigger story line. Though there were great scenes dont get me wrong
The one power for instance and the whole yin yang balance that underlies the whole world view of the books is just now destroyed. But with it hugely important story arcs that run through the series which have now been butchered.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
Nothing great
This is so overhyped its untrue. 4/10
Here's the reality, without spoilers (not that there us that much to spoil). This is just so derivative of other series, be they far eastern or western and so there really was very little original to talk about. Its basically just a gore fest with the excuse that its an anti capitalist message... yawn, done before and far better in many other productions. I really dont get what others are seeing that is original about it.
This inevitably leads to there being something else needed to pull through and that typically means great characters or great effects. Sadly this really fails on the latter and doesnt really deliver on the former either,I have no issues with anti heros but if you have a full cast of them, then you've really gotta work saving graces in. There were ok, a couple of characters that werent completely abhorrent.
I didnt find the acting particularly convincing from any of them, completely overdramatized interactions were the norm. That however could be as much the direction as the actor/actress.
Also dont get me started on the sexism etc in this. I get annoyed at Holywood for the long term fad of trying to remove any masculinity from all things to the point of absurdity but that doesn't excuse things in the other direction, the chauvinism not just expressed by characters (which would be ok to a certain degree) but then underpinned by events in the show is just unacceptable and cost this show 2 stars in and if itself.
Overall, I watched it through just to see where it went and it just remained pretty poor. I doubt I will bother with season 2, whatever the hype.
Ad Astra (2019)
This is really bad
I'm not sure how much I can add to the picture if other reviews here, one point aside...
I am not throwing too much of the way of spoilers in, by style but you really don't want to see this movie anyway.
Sci fi can play with science a bit, indeed most does to one extent or another, but there's ignoring a bit such as the C limit of SR etc and then there's plainly ignoring everything without any explanation.
Others have commented on the structural problems, the travel time problems etc etc. But there is one thing that has been somehow overlooked, what about Uranus? The 7th planet doesn't get a mention, and yet we conveniently have to fly past Jupiter and Saturn to get to Neptune (any life in these planetary systems are likely to be on moons and primitive because of environmental constraints, but hey) and this was also ignored by the original mission... And why would Neptune be so important, why would TLJ's character be so convinced he'd find life there, that he'd strand himself? Because the script authors also forgot about the kuiper belt's existence which could be just a likely a home to life as any of the moons of Neptune.
Anyway moving on, we get to the ridiculous drawn out plot which just gets more implausible as the film goes on. Trust me its bad.
I usually like Brad Putt, Donald Sunderland and Tommy Lee Jones but good actors as they might be, none of them could bring this trash to life.
Which brings me to the effects, which are not only unrealistic, they aren't fantastical either, they are in the accursed middle zone, which is it people.
I got to the end of this movie through sheer stubbornness but I wish I hadn't.
Beyond (2016)
reasonable series to waste a few hours on
This show isn't awful as many of the reviews seem to state, but neither is is ground breaking etc, its mind pap that'll keep you engaged for a few hours, but don't expect to come away with some sense of awe etc, its what it is and just that.
The story line is decent within its rather unbelievable premise but there are problems, (already highlighted), if you allow your brain to start working on it. I suggest if you watch it you just sit back, disengage the mental circuits and just allow it to take you on a ride. The ride has twists and turns and is enjoyable.
The acting I found to be reasonable for the most part. The effects were middle of the road, the general choreography was good.
I would conclude to say its just another sci-fi series that doesn't cover anything particularly original but is reasonable if you are looking for something to fill a few hours.
Frozen (2013)
Over-hyped, but reasonable
This is a film with plenty to like, but much to hate also
Much has been said about the plot line issues etc, so I want to focus on technical matters
Firstly, Idina Mendzel, is totally wrong for the role of Elsa as scored. The title song is actually not well pitched for her and it shows in the higher ranges, it's well characterised, but otherwise it grates
Secondly there simply are too many songs for the plot line. I don't think as others do that they are bad songs, but they are unnecessary unless it's a musical, but it's not meant to be such
Thirdly: whilst the animation is smooth it's extremely stylised at times and at others very lazy such that it isn't like many Disney films, that are pleasant on the eye, it's just not that pretty. In particular Elsa just doesn't look natural.
Finally: it's just hugely derivative of tangled, from the music to the production
Inside Out (2015)
Totally unfocused
I honestly do not know how this film is being given ratings of 10.
This is an example of a film which didn't know what it wanted to be. Firstly what is the target audience? The style of animation is clearly aimed at children, but the content simply is not. To make any sort of sense out of the unfocused storyline you need an adults understanding of the underlying material, which is hopelessly dumbed down, to the point of actually being wrong anyway. You also need a reasonable degree of empathy, or to have experienced such feelings, something younger children typically do not have
Then there is the question of who is the main character, Joy or Riley? Because what you have are 2 simultaneous plot lines (such that they are), linked through metaphor only, blurred by the failed attempt to give the emotions separate personalities
Ratings of 1 are overly harsh in my opinion, there are far worse films, but once you start thinking about it, it just isn't great.
Total Recall (2012)
Not as good as the original
I have a long standing affection for the original Schwarzenegger film and this didn't put things off on the best footing for the remake, however I eventually decided to bite the bullet and see what they had done with it
The film has some good points but I wasn't overwhelmed, and was definitely left with the feeling that they hadn't really achieved anything with it.
Sure, it is visually far more impressive than the original, but that is no basis for a rating a film, and certainly not for a basis of comparison between films of different eras, any such comparison is meaningless. So lets look at the strengths of the original and see how it matches up in the new version
The original plot, was pretty deep really (For an action movie anyway) and well thought out for the most part so long as you suspend your disbelief a little as to some of the background. The new plot simply doesn't hang together as well. In the original the reason for needing to have such an elaborate deception for Hauser was to fool the psychic in charge of the 'terrorists'. There is no real reason for such elaborate mechanism in the new plot. They have attempted to keep many of the key scenes in, but somehow they don't work quite as well, probably because at times they feel somewhat forced. There are other problems but I don;t want to go into specifics
I think one of my biggest problems with this film, is the showy gadget (look at the effects) sci-fi. Why have something normal when you can make it extraordinary? SO rather than flying round the world, we have the ludicrous lift through the core, rather than having armed men, we have to have robots etc. Within reason gadgets are a good prop for the story however if they don't add up or don;t add anything other than flashy visuals then this is lazy sci-fi.
Its not a bad film, just not really worthy of the name total recall in my opinion.
The Whisperer in Darkness (2011)
Good if you like black and white horror, or are a Lovecraft fan
Firstly I'd like to say that this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. It is a modern film done in the style of old horror movies, not just in that it is black and white but also in some of the directing, set design etc. However as a portrayal of a H.P. Lovecraft story it is somehow right that it is done in that fashion. However there are some parts of this which would have been better done in a more modern thought.
The basic storyline is based upon a Lovecraft classic an the main elements of the story are kept in place, with some considerable embellishment, it was after all just a short story. These embellishments are broadly in keeping with the Lovecraft style and his Mythos.
I liked this film more than I was expecting, which is a present surprise. I am seldom overwhelmed with attempts to translate Lovecraft to the screen, it seldom works. This one however did work but still was far from perfect. Some of the acting was very poor and trivial details also hurt the film.
Finally, the ending just didn't work for me. Even though I know what they were trying to portray because I have studied a lot of Lovecrafts works, the way it was achieved in the storyline was poor.
I give this a 7 because it is a good film, but its style may put a lot of people off and it ends poorly.
Inception (2010)
Great Idea, Supremely Executed
This is a film which I heard about, loved the idea and somehow never got round to watching until the other day.
The Basic concept of being able to enter another's dreams and effect them is nothing particularly new, but the mechanisms and detail of this within the setting are well thought out, and the setting itself is top notch.
I don;t really want to say too much about the details of the film itself, it would ruin it for a new watcher
However I will comment on a few things,
The characterisation is generally very good, and the background detail for the lead character (Dicaprio) and the way this interweaves into the events of the storyline is top notch, both in the way it is thought out and in the way it is brought out throughout the film. This is all helped by the fact that the acting is brilliant in it, and the dialogue is great also.
the sets are works of art and the effects are monumental as is the sound track
Overall this film is one of the best I've seen in a long time.
The Watch (2012)
Terrible
It has been a long while since I had to switch a film off before its finished, but this one managed it. As I haven't watched it to the end, I have to right to comment on specifics, its not worth the hassle anyway. This is appalling.
however making up space:
Seeing the name Ben Stiller, I watched it thinking that at least it would be OK, however this just shows that even big names can drop a howler at times. The script writing is awful, the dialogue woeful and it was actually painful to watch to the point I got too, not that far in to be host. The moment it became plain Ben Stiller's character was going to 'humorously' get the blame for a second murder as well as the first both without reasonable cause, I had to switch it off. That kind of 'Humour' just makes me cringe.
Do yourself a favour and don't attempt to watch this film, you'll only wish you hadn't