Reviews

As other reviews, this movie was already in trouble on the fact: what success rate has a live Disney remake ever had? Ever?

I really tried to love this movie, I really did, but I don't think it even knows why it exists, and who it's for. I didn't mind it, is all.

Here's the score: 1) It's OK to change the original, when doing a remake: yes (e.g. Disney most DEFINITELY changed the story of the Little Mermaid in their original from the Hans Christian Andersen's original) + 1 2) Target audience: Kids? Adults? Kids: nope. It's long. Virtually ALL of the humor is gone in this live version. While some is inevitable (animation is intentionally exaggerated), they removed little bits that actually matter. All of the humor extends almost completely from Scuttle now, and many of his original bits are gone. Adults: nope. There is almost no true fear in this movie. Why? They mandated that Ariel get a brainwash in this take, so there is no real sense of urgency, no desperation. Want a make an adult movie? Try this movie, with the original true Hans Christian Anderson storyline as the foundation. -1 3) Effects: the metric for a movie like this is: special effects in water. Whatever you may think of Avatar 2... the bar has been raised. There is literally no comparison between the effects in Avatar and this movie. -1 4) Chemistry: Halle Bailey is almost impossibly beautiful, and I don't know if it is her acting prowess, or the fact the script called for her to be dazed and confused, but: between her and Jonah Hauer-King ... there was nothing. Just nothing. Like the lack of urgency or desperation, there is a major lack of passion here, even for things they are supposed to share in common in this movie (collectibles). It's almost as if Jonah was under Ursula's spell before they even started filming.

5) raison d'etre: is there a singular reason for this remake to exist? Did they do a dark, original version, of The Little Mermaid? Nope. Did they correct some serious flaw in the original? Nope. Did they render effects that are jaw-dropping? Nope ... there simply doesn't seem to be a single reason for this remake to be. -1

That said: I am happy I watched it, but my memory of it will fade quickly in time, like tears in the sea.

A well done Western on every level: empathetic characters, cinematography, acting, and plot movement.

What pushed this series over the top for me: the narration on top of some of the scenes are flush with philosophy, and have real reflection of what it all means. Feel free to discard if you wish, but it really adds dimensions to what otherwise be just another good Western.

Oh, that and it has Sam Elliot, with Isabel May radiating the fierceness of Jennifer Lawrence. You can't go wrong.

Final thought: they telegraphed the ending, loud and clear, from the beginning. Yes, that was one possible outcome, but -- I simply don't enjoy movies like this (leaving my rating as is), that are, by design, a bitter pill as art. Are we to claim a movie is good simply because it turns towards what we don't want? What is the point of this movie, for you, the viewer? If you've got one, great. For me, mine is lost in their camera on grief in almost every frame.

After scanning a lot of the negative reviews out there, almost all of them fall into two camps: 1) The series is not true to Asimov's books 2) Political Correctness (as in, gender and racial character switches). As a complete newcomer to Foundation (never read the books), neither of these are a problem, and really shouldn't be if the series stands on its own. So far, the series has plenty of mystery (how accurate, how detailed, is Hari Seldon's predictions exactly ... and does that explain the inexplicable behavior of some of the lead characters). It seems hard for a series to properly represent any highly advanced civilization (see: Jupiter Ascending, the bad Star Wars episodes), and in this case there are some oddities, as in: all of the Cleon's seem rather unintelligent, and simply mean: I'd expect a galactic empire that vast to be simply full of Gall Dornicks instead, everywhere.... but of all the attempts made, Foundation is quite a reasonable attempt. No one refutes how visually stunning the series is so far, and there's not much to complain about in the acting department. Overall, a very high-grade sci-fi jaunt.

I always liked (ahem love/hate) this show from the start, but the most recent episode. S2 E6 Backstory (and I HATE backstories) pulled a throwaway character out of the dust bin and made him one of the most import cornerstones of Mythic Quest. Perhaps the emotional content of this episode means nothing to anyone born after say, 1990, but this episode cleverly tied in Mythic Quests, its entire reason d'être, the main character in this episode, and the entire history of online gaming in what - 40 minutes? While the actors of this show deserve a nod for sure, the writers.... I am in awe, and thank you for throwing Michael Bay as an inspiration into the dust bin of history.

There are scenes in this film where the intent of the characters is visual, not spoken -- and that is what makes this movie special. All my nitpicks of the movie -- it's extremely linear, simple, most of the fighting is ADD riddled (think MTV 0.5 second shots, switch the camera angle), and there are big plot holes -- can be forgiven for the few Dragon Gems (forgive the pun) here and there in the movie, most of them at the end. Compared to other recent animation movies, this is at least one notch above.

Music: Random (and not fitting) Humor: Void Acting: Colin Jost ... um, plays himself. Is there any other kind? And the rest... I cannot put my finger on it, but it's almost as if they didn't care about the movie either. They were all there, just for the posh hotel and elephants.

And finally , Tom and Jerry -- are simply lacking any warmth. Sure, they fought in the old comics, but the lightheartedness that comes from those books through Jerry's constant good luck, or Tom's persistence in the face of constant bad luck, is barely visible. Just soulless.

I will leave it for other reviews to state: this is a series that really tries to explain the universe the characters find themselves in, and yes: some Seasons are much better than others, and yes some episodes are complete trash, other episodes some of the best material online at the moment... but I cannot think of a recent series that has a character as deeply flawed, yet as identifiable, as interesting, and as complex as Amos. This alone is worth watching the series, all the way through. You might think he's just the basic run of the mill thug-on-the-ship, but ... by the time the series is done, it's all the other characters that suddenly seem second-billed, and only Amos is left: never doing what you expect, never saying or doing what he SHOULD say or do, but always being a character you care about. In his own words: someone can be bad, yet still end up doing good. No matter the complaints, Amos is worth watching the full series.

I have few complaints for this series: it runs a bit cold - perhaps that's the British in it - but the fantastical happenings work beautifully so far. My Main nitpick: I have no patience for artificial plot twists based on stupidity of the main character. The alethiometer is Lyra's most important possession by far, and: *insert repeated and forgetful actions regarding this device* It's simply not believable, especially considering we are to believe at least one villain will use clever trickery to get what they want. Please have Lyra match their wit.

There's literally a little of everything in this series: a little Lost, a little Westworld, a little Aliens, a little Game of Thrones, and so on. As a science fiction setting, perhaps they lean a little to much on "anything can happen," but this is a solid production bit, both from the actors (acting), writing (motivation of the actors) and the scenery. It is too early to tell if we will be seriously disappointed by the closure of any of the mysteries introduced, but, so far, there's enough to early await the next episode. My only hang up so far is that Travis Fimmel is literally an exact clone in mannerisms as in Vikings, so much so I cannot block it out. Is that his shtick? OK -- it works here.

I haven't watched superhero shows in a long time now, in part because: the world has moved on, even for those still attached (the movies have evolved). Did the Producers of this show intentionally miss that memo?

This is a throw-back (both literally in time but also in formula) series. I would be OK with this, but the most recent episode: Shining Knight... is just one hot mess. They introduce a key character only to throw him away (a Mulligan), we have an out-of-control-with-no-purpose staff causing problems almost at the same rate as StarGirl herself, and no adults at all who are a source of wisdom or real knowledge [because, you know, this is a teen flick and they are supposed to be the superheros]

The entire show is a caricature, just to name a few: "Adult = you bad. You villain." (the entire villain set save one are adults) "Teenager = you good. You whine a lot or don't listen to your peers ... at all" (every superhero is a teenager so far, and all whine and are self-absorbed, except one)

I am still watching, but the writers better put some serious jeopardy (for the main characters, the "red-shirts" do get pummeled), character development, plot twists (hey! you have a cosmic staff there -- let's add a twist) or sincerity into this show.

It appears most of the bad reviews claim it's a rip off from Humans... never seen it, but, if it is, I am even more dumbfounded how they could write a screenplay so transparent: every character is a wafer thin cardboard cutout: the evil corp. villain, the obnoxious-and-rebellious-for-no-really-good-reason-teenager boy..., and their clever "twists" in plot to keep us engaged are inevitable.

Most of the main characters in this movie are unlikeable in almost every way (empathy, intelligence, including some bad acting), except for maybe Sonya, who is quickly written out of any scenes for most of the series, and poor Arisa... who spends the entire movie either being hated by those *while* she is directly helping them, or abused in some fashion.

The writers want to paint a world where humans despise robots -- a completely authoritarian world, hello Russia! -- and introduce Arisa (her backstory of creation is simply ridiculous, but that's OK) as , we are to assume, the very first robot that truly is "better than us". The characters we meet in this series make that really really easy -- they cannot even appreciate/be struck by the irony of how they use Arisa in advanced ways that directly negate their motives for hating (or ignoring) her.

I wanted to like this series -- but the main humans in this series have to seriously grow with Arisa, not just be her crate packing material.