Reviews

Brilliant Film. Yet a Travesty. How to explain?

The acting, cinematography, directing are superb...standout. Viola Davis is scorching as the General of the Agojie. Formidable. Battle scarred. Weary. Resilient. Lashana Lynch is a standout. Sheila Atim is a standout. Thuso Mbedu as the new recruit nearly runs away with the damn film.

The physical training the women did paid off. The fight choreographer did a first rate job. They are believable as warriors, at a disadvantage in close combat with men due to having less strength, but making up for it in speed an agility, and using long range weapons.

So, what did I have a problem with? Well, the Dahomey are the heroes here, portrayed as reluctant slave traders. Actually, they were very enthusiastic at it, their 300 year old kingdom flourished because of it, and when the Brits started trying to end it, their King begged to continue.

The film is so inaccurate on this, its like portraying the SS as heroes, reluctant to do what they did during WWII. It also avoided showing the mass decapitations the Dahomey practised, executing hundreds of captives in rituals. The dialogue was clunky at times.

Really, it would have been better if they had done something like Apocalypto, which showed the splendour and brutality of Mayan civilization.

So mixed feelings. But I disagree with those who wanted a boycott of the film. I'd encourage people to go see it. It deserves to be seen.

Just finished watching the season finale, having watched 1-2 episodes of Vincenzo every day.

I started watching it on Netflix UK out of idle curiosity after seeing the giant thumbnail. I got hooked, and so did my family. I'm someone who has accidentally got into KDramas due to lockdown.

Vincenzo is a superb thriller, with comedy breaks in it to reduce the tension when it gets too taut.

It as about 4 plots, sub-plots, and is (except for the occasional lapse) VERY well written. And the writers delight in mixing genres- gangster, legal drama, heists- to name but a few. And they delight in fooling the audience.

It is EXTREMELY well cast.

Song Joong-ki is phenomenal in the title role. Cool, a strategist, always elegantly suited and booted, he plays a Korean who was adopted by Italians and grew up in a Mafia family, rising to the role of consigliere. He uses his intellect against opponents, taking on corrupt lawyers, politicians, businessmen, judges, prosecutors.

But he can also be extremely violent when necessary.

Jeon Yeo-been is also well cast as a feisty, designer clad, relentless, sharkish corporate lawyer Hong Cha-young, turned fighter for justice who becomes his partner in legal vigilantism after her idealistic father is murdered by corporate baddies.

The villains are many. And varied in their villainy. K-Dramas can do female villains extremely well, some are absolutely frightening and Kim Yeo-jin was a standout as a truly evil woman, Choi Myung-hee, a lawyer more deadly than any thug. The ultimate baddy is terrifying. A psychotic sadist who can be harming one minute, vicious the next. Don't want to give the actor's name as he's a surprise twist!

The supporting cast were amazing. I became a huge fan of the actors who portrayed the shopkeeper-residents of an ageing mall...where years before a Chinese criminal and Vincenzo had hidden in a vault under the mall basement, billions worth of gold bars statues... and a usb stick with info on corrupt bigshots in Korea that could bring down the rich and powerful. The mall residents have their own stunning reveals, in the twisting, turning plot.

Vincenzo's departure from Italy after a brief power struggle, returning to Korea to retrieve the gold, is the catalyst for a roller coaster chain of events that had me and my family gasping, shrieking, hiding our eyes, and bingeing on this dramatic feast. The only reason I didn't give it 10 stars was some unnecessary weakness in the writing in parts of the last 2 episodes.

I can't recommend it too highly.

I saw this film over 2 days with my family. We made the mistake of starting viewing after 9pm. Nearly pulled an all- nighter. BRILLIANT. The four hours flew by. Every character in the JL was better served in this film, compared to Whedon's version. The Amazons here are warriors. Their fight at the beginning is longer, bloodier, ferocious. They were the female equivalent of the Spartans in '300'.The contrast between Whedon's Amazons and Snyder's Amazons is ...startling. Many of the women playing Amazons are real life athletes (discus, javelin, shot put, boxing, weights crossfit champions) from the less glamorous sports. Snyder's version convinced viewers of their martial prowess. Whedon was more interested in them looking sexy. Reducing their battle was to the detriment of the film. Why did Whedon do it? Wonder Woman was a total badass. The bank robbery scene is brutal. The display of her powers in this film is greater than in any other live action movie featuring her character. Her powerset is reduced in Whedon's film, her action sequences shorter, lower quality. Why? The Flash is much more three dimensional, much more important in this film. The villain, Stephanwolf is way better, both visually and as regards character and dialogue. Ciaran Hinds was a caricature, with terrible CGI in the Whedon version. Affleck's Batman is a powerful, strategist and grim killer- not a feeble afterthought- in this film. His character was hobbled in Whedon's version. Why?

The Justice League in this film has echoes of the brilliant animated series.

The biggest revelation is Cyborg's character. He and Ray Fisher were done dirty in the 2017 film. Cyborg has a full character arc, his powers are immense in a digital age. The truncation of his story by Whedon made no cinematic sense. I had thought Fisher was exaggerating in his complaints. But every actor of colour in the Whedon version had their scenes shortened, or reduced, or were removed altogether. The quality of their dialogue diminished. I wasn't looking for that and it surprised me. Momoa, Fisher, Joe Morton, Ryan Zheng, Kiersey Clemmons and more all diminished. A waste of the great Joe Morton. Why? Now, I believe Fisher. Warner Bros should give him a damn Cyborg film. He has the most developed character arc, he' s that good. I now understand why Momoa and other actors were calling for Snyder's version to be seen. In fact the difference in the two versions of JL makes one thing clear: Zack Snyder is a filmmaker. Joss Whedon is not. He's a TV programme maker. His edits, cuts, new dialogue, etc were a lower quality than the original. Whedon destroyed this film. Me and my family were stunned at the massive difference in quality of the two versions. I was a big Joss Whedon fan. Now? Not so much.

Spartacus: Blood And Sand Season 1 review I watched this series with great reluctance, having been urged to do so by my 20 year old son. Episode 1 actually does it a disservice, being overly influenced by 300. Gratuitous, slo-mo violence and gore, and a stunning palette of colours. I declined to watch it again. However. As luck would have it, I walked into the room when episode 5 was on weeks later. Mocked, sat for a few minutes intending to depart. And was hooked. By the incredible dialogue, brilliant acting and excellent casting. I have watched every episode of season 1 since. When I saw the finale- we were actually clutching each other and shouting at the TV.

I would URGE people to see 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'. Take a deep breath as regards the violence and nudity. Because plot,dialogue and character-wise? This was redolent of the best of English theatre acting, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, or the National Theatre.

John Hannah- an actor I have never rated- was MAGNIFICENT as Battiatus, the owner of the Ludus (gladiator camp).Cunning, ambitious,humorous, vicious. Villainous, yet at times getting the audience's sympathy. Lucy Lawless was a revelation as his wife, Lucretia. I loved her in Xena, but would have pegged her as a light comedy actress. But here? She showed a range and power that made me long for some theatre producer to grab both her and Hannah and get them to do 'MacBeth'.Yes, Lucy Lawless would make a phenomenal Lady Macbeth, based on her performance over this series.

Lawless and Hannah are playing complex,three dimensional characters. As are the rest of the cast. Ordinarily, in a show like this,you get a great lead character, then one or two good ones and the supporting characters are two dimensional. Not here. The writers-led by Stephen DeKnight, fleshed out a good 15-20 characters. The casting directors then did an incredible job in finding the actors to portray them.

Characters like Crixus, Barca, Varro, Ithylia, Doctore, Solonius, Naevia,Ashur, Mira, and of course Spartcus (Andy Whitfield) make this a powerful ensemble.

Experienced character actors who usually don't get to have the story focused on them, took the opportunity and ran with it. The level of talent is on par with HBO's 'Rome', and at times exceeds it.I grew up on 'I,Claudius' and would have said there would never be a series about historical events in ancient Rome that could match it.

Wrong. 'Spartacus:Blood and Sand' is 'I,Claudius' on steroids. Its 'Rome' on crack. Watching it as a viewer became addictive. I will be bingewatching the other series that make up the whole 'War of the Damned'.

The main actors should have been nominated for Emmys,was a travesty that it didn't get the full range of prestigious TV awards. It should have got a Peabody Like Battlestar Galactica. Awesome

Intigued by the YouTube trailer, I decided to go see Battle:LA. I'd hoped for something better than the ultimately disappointing Skyline. Maybe just about at Independence Day level (updated for our more cynical age...).Wow- was I pleasantly surprised! I got great acting from the always good Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan,Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry, in TrueBlood). There was realistic, war-like carnage. Good SFX and I didn't want to laugh when I saw the aliens. The character development whilst sketchy, was enough to make us genuinely care what happened to the group of people who were the focal point of the film.

Its a simple premise. Massive asteroid shower turns out to be an alien invasion which instantly becomes an all-out onslaught. Staff Sgnt Nanz, a 20 year veteran,and his young lieutenant Martinez, lead a group of marines in a small mission to rescue a group of civilians trapped in a Santa Monica police station, whilst chaos reigns as all the different military machines in the major military powers on earth are being wiped out. Things have gone so bad, so fast, that the US military are having to adopt a 'scorched earth' policy, and flatten all along one densely populated coast. So the marines are working against the clock to complete the evacuation before the bombs drop, and everyone dies.

A simple plot.

I went at 12.30 in the afternoon, just before the Saturday shopping, expecting to be pleasantly diverted.It started off as per most of these alien invasion flicks...then turned into 'Black Hawk Down' with the intensity of the urban warfare scenes, and the desperation of the group's situation. I watched it with my 20 year old son and we were both mesmerised. I'm frankly mystified by some of the negative reviews I've seen. Honestly,people.This is well worth seeing.

Misfits is the story of what happens if teens who are juvenile delinquents (convicted of minor, not major crimes) get super powers. And as its a British TV show, there's more foul language, rough sex, sharp dialogue,obscenity and eccentricity than it would be if it were an American one. I watched the first one out of curiosity not expecting much, but was hooked. At first (and second and third) glance, the characters are unsympathetic. Kelly- an aggressive version of Vicky Pollard, Alisha- a sexaholic, Curtis a disgraced track star, Simon a kid so withdrawn he's heading into creepy territory, and Nathan the smart-arse whose snark makes you laugh AND want to kill him. A disparate bunch forced to do Community Service under court orders as an alternative to jail. They get superpowers from a freak storm- and then its a thrill ride all the way. Violent attacks, murder, burying bodies..from the action packed first episode its a hair raising thrill ride with some amazing music in the soundtrack. The actors are superb. This is MUST SEE TV!