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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Not bad!
It's not bad. The cinematography and special effects are great, I like the world which is like a mix of post-apocalypse and prehistory. Acting and characters are mostly good, and there are some intense action scenes. The fights were good and the CGI is great.
The downside of the movie is the plot and overall story. The beginning and the pacing are good, but the story itself is just something we have seen a thousand times before: our hero's village lives alone in peace. Then the evil people come, burn the place down and take our hero's family. Hero barely survives and then goes on an adventure to save them, learns some crucial information on the way, but eventually gets captured, too. Then the hero devices a plan and helps his friends escape the villain. Villain is finally defeated and the hero goes home a hero and rebuilding begins. I mean...this is a textbook example of the most generic hero's journey story arc.
It's maybe not as bad as I make it sound here, but just don't expect a thrilling story with twists and turns. It's entertaining and fun and there are some great scenes here and there, but maybe not worth the movie ticket. This is a perfect flick for some rainy Saturday night in your home sofa with a blanket and a bucket of popcorn, but perhaps save your money until it's on Netflix or wherever.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Yeah, they changed a lot, but it's still good
I get it, it kinda sucks when they don't stick with the source material, but I think it's fine in this case. It's not a 100% accurate adaptation anyway, since they wanted to make it more "international", and that's okay -- you can change some characters and still retain the main story elements.
They cut a lot from the story, but let's face it, the first halves of the first two books were not that great. There was plenty -- and I mean plenty -- to cut; the books had a jarring amount of exposition, irrelevant stories, and mathematical jargon. I mean, yeah, the math and science bits were interesting in themselves, but they don't exactly make a good story for a book.
Sure, maybe they cut a bit too much at some points, like there happened a lot more in the Red Coast, they could have added a bit more of that. And I get that they cut off some the ETO stuff, which was quite boring at times, but not to mention the ETO even with one word? Yeah, maybe they went a bit far with that one. But other than that, I think the changes were good. Generally, they managed to cut the boring parts and expanded on the more interesting details and made the overall story much more cohesive. I think it was mainly for the better.
It's a great show, acting, casting, and script is mostly good. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but I liked it and it was entertaining and kept me on the hook. I literally binge-watched this in two days, so it is not really that bad at all. Give it a shot, it's only going to get better, as the story progresses and starts to show its more unique aspects. (I just hope they cut the boring bits about the second book, as well. Like, I seriously hope that one third of the season is not that random, irrelevant romance in the forest BS that had zero effect on the story.)
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Am I the only one who's not seeing it?
I mean, yeah, it's very entertaining and, of course, very visually stunning. The set pieces, the cinematography, the use of visual effects and lights, the sound design and music, all, absolutely amazing and almost literally stunning!
But then? I'm not really seeing much after that. As I have not read the books, this movie was a total mystery to me. There's barely any dialog--at least not any that would explain anything what's going on at all. The world and the technology etc just doesn't make much sense to me.
None of the characters are particularly interesting, to be honest. They don't really have that much personality to them, and even if they did, they didn't really make me care about them all that much.
I don't know, I'm a bit conflicted, it wasn't a bad movie and, as I said, it was entertaining and visually mesmerizing, but it lacked the depth that I was expecting of a world this size and this rich with lore and history. Maybe the movie makers assumed everyone has read the books? As someone to who the world is not familiar at all, it just seems rather confusing and strange. I feel like they just focused on making it as visually awesome as they can (in which they arguably succeeded), but left the story on the pages of the books.
Veden vartija (2022)
Different from the book, and not in a good way
I read the book first. And even though the book wasn't that great, they managed to make the movie even worse. The book had a lot of flaws, but being cliche was not one of them. The movie was pretty much as cliche as a cliche dystopian scifi movie can be.
The acting was not great, the plot was totally predictable. The story was even simpler than in the book and nothing was explained well or at all (though the book had this issue, as well). It was so rushed and they tried to fit so much stuff to so little time. There was not one second of a breather, but action after action. They should have built up the world and the characters a lot more, like in the book. Instead, we jumped into an unknown world full of characters we knew or cared nothing about.
The world was a perfect example of a dystopian world, when you are told to imagine any generic dystopian world. It was literally the same "red is bad, so everything red is evil and blue is good" kind of authoritarian World Government stuff we have seen at least a million times already.
I don't understand why they had to change all the things, which were precisely the best things about the book. But no, and they even changed the bad bits, too, so we end up with a movie, that doesn't even resemble the book. Well, sure, some of the characters had same names, but that's about it.
I'm super sad to say that this is not worth a watch. I wanted to like this so much more, just like with the book, but I just can't. We need more Finnish scifi, and unfortunately this is not filling that gap.
Life on Our Planet (2023)
Not bad, but some room for improvement
After watching Prehistoric Planet, this unfortunately falls a bit short. It was marketed as (or at least the impression that I got, was that it's) a prehistoric documentary, but the show actually had more than half of the screen time about modern animals. And while they were not bad bits, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. I was expecting a lot more prehistoric footage.
The CGI was not bad at all. It was mostly good, if not great, although the animations could have been better and on a few occasion the models looked a bit rushed. But one factor, I think, was indeed the real footage in-between. Had it been 100 % CGI the whole time, the bad bits probability wouldn't have stood out as much.
But one of the main issue was the structure. The time jumps were confusing and the focus was constantly going back and forth between present day and the before. The concepts were explained well enough and the modern-day footage was cleverly used to enhance the points made, but I would've still preferred the show stayed in one era at a time and then proceeded forward in chronological order. All of the real footage could have been cut and the freed budget from those could have been used to further enhance the CGI or add extra CGI footage.
Nevertheless, it's not a bad show, and there are a lot of cool scenes and the information value is quite good. Just don't expect another 'Walking with Dinosaurs' or 'Prehistoric Planet'.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Better than expected!
To be fair, after reading some reviews and hearing about the generally mediocre reception, I had my expectations pretty low. Nevertheless, I liked it! It's not a masterpiece, but definitely better than Crystal Skull.
The best thing is that it definitely feels like an Indiana Jones movie; all the action, the story, and the subtle jokes and humor is exactly on the spot! The director clearly had done his homework. Helena's character could have been better, but nothing that would have ruined the movie. It wasn't bad, per se, but there just wasn't that "something" that I cannot even directly point at. Mads Mikkelsen as the evil Nazi was great! He is such a great actor and the character was good, too. Even if a bit stereotypical evil bad guy, but that's pretty much what to expect from a movie like this.
I'd say the negative thing about the movie was -- a bit ironically -- that it's even a bit too much Indiana Jones. The story and plot was a bit too familiar and predictable, and the characters were nothing unexpected. It felt a tad too much like just a fan service for the fans and it didn't even try to come up with something new. But maybe that's exactly what we needed for a farewell for this franchise. I feel good about leaving Indy into his rest now.
(Although, I wouldn't turn down some prequel story with someone new as Indy. Just don't overdo it. Maybe some low key adventure/mystery TV-series, but maybe no more big blockbuster theatrical action movies.)
Silo (2023)
Totally different from the books
As someone who has read the books, this was a total disappointment. And not just that, but even judged only as a TV show, it falls flat and hard.
The first two episodes start the show quite well, even, but then it falls flat fast. The whole generator scene is just so stupid and full of plot holes, and the tension feels very forced. After that the show is filled with stupid sub-plots and filler stories that have literally zero to do with the main plotline. The last episode, then, was quite okay again, but it too was ruined by the earlier episodes.
They should have cut all seven episodes from the middle, and the three remaining episodes would have made a very strong start for the season. That way it would have followed the first book as well and they could have used rest of the season to follow the story of the first book. Now the TV show barely got to one third of the events of the book. Feels like they are just forcefully prolonging the story so that they milk money for more than three seasons.
The show has serious pacing issues, mainly the six episodes in the middle (the generator episode was okay for pacing, but it had other problems) are just soooo terrible. They are the most boring TV show episodes I have seen in a long time. The characters are very flat and uninteresting. The acting is average at best, and the script and dialogue are mostly quite subpar if not bad.
Like said, the story has quite a lot of plot holes that don't make sense in the show because the story is changed so much from the book that the key points don't work anymore. People just miraculously always figure out things when the plot needs it. Nothing is properly foreshadowed. And things just happen and don't happen seemingly for no reason, because the show doesn't know how to keep the mystery alive the same way the book does. The main reason is that the story moves so slowly, when things should be revealed to the viewer in small bits all the time. Now there is a black hole in the middle of the show where for seven episodes nothing is revealed and the mystery -- which is the whole plot point in the book -- just begins to look like a plot hole. Very weak writing.
It's actually quite funny, because usually the problem book-to-screen adaptations have is, that you can't fit all the little details and nuances the book has into the movie, but here the problem is the exact opposite; They have added totally unnecessary, boring story bits to the TV show, that were never in the books. The book's story would have worked perfectly fine if it was translated straight to TV. I don't think it would have needed any changes. I'm 99 % sure they are making this just to make more than three seasons, although the three books' stories would have fit perfectly into three seasons of TV show.
If you like this show, or like the premise, I seriously recommend to rather read the books. They are so much better (even if they have their own minor problems, too)!
65 (2023)
Weak plot line, good CGI
It's simply put a dumb film. I am like the perfect audience; I love scifi, dinosaurs, and action. But this still didn't deliver. Only good things are the acting and CGI, especially since it's a fairly low-budget movie.
But the plot is just too simple, predictable, and cliche. It was boring and there wasn't enough dinosaurs. Also, the dinosaurs were not realistic at all. I get that it's not a documentary, and artistic liberties can be taken, but these were just monsters that resembled dinosaurs. Why even have dinosaurs if they are not like real dinosaurs?
I don't get what was the point for the characters to not speak the same language. It didn't bring anything to the characters or the plot, and it just made all the "dialogue" shallow and lacking. The script was mediocre at best. While there was some cool technology, it was really inconsistent and didn't make sense. A space ship doesn't recognize an asteroid belt in space, but a handheld device can see an asteroid in space from the ground?
If you have nothing else to do, and like your monster movies, it is maybe not a total waste of time. Just keep your expectations very low.
Hello Tomorrow! (2023)
Totally underrated!
Apparently, I watched a totally different show from everyone else -- I just can't understand the negative reviews at all! "More action scenes"? What were they expecting? Why would they get that kind of idea from the trailer?
In truth, it is an excellently acted, directed and written show with a good set of interesting characters. The plot is quite unexpected and there is a good share of twists and turns. I don't understand how other people found it predictable and boring -- it was just the opposite in my opinion. The premise is rather unique: a man selling fake tickets to the Moon, and it is interesting that it is revealed quite early on, that they are in fact fake tickets. But that's exactly what makes it so exciting and you just keep waiting for the moment he gets caught. Because how on earth (pun not intended) could he get away with it? This will keep you on the edge of the seat throughout the show.
Love the world, it's so cool with all those 50's style atom punk retrofuturism wibes, which manage to be both familiar and fresh at the same time. It almost takes the future utopia setting to its extreme and presents the world kind of too perfect, boring even (to the characters living in it). Which is why you wouldn't bat an eye if they could actually send people to the Moon. At the same the show takes itself seriously enough and there's a certain realism in all this. It has the 50's style goofiness and silliness with a perfect balance of serious moments, which makes the world feel real.
The characters are interesting and have a lot of personality to them. Also like how there are consequences to things and things happen to those characters. Hate it when shows take it too safe and nothing real ever happens to the characters. I guess one reason people dislike the show is, that the main character can be a bit of a dick sometimes. But in my opinion that is just great character-building and he does have a lot of redeeming personalities. The actor also brings him to life so well, that, for a moment, even you do believe him and trust him, even though you know he is full of it all most of the time. He is a perfect example of that salesperson personality; excess positivity, annoying sales pitches, and head up so high above the clouds, so that you know he is selling you just pipe dreams. And yet, you end up buying.
The episodes are easily bingeable with their 30 min run-time and the season goes by fast. I seriously hope they are renewing this for a second season!