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paul-63015
Reviews
Hijack (2023)
Watchable and very annoying
Hijack
The first thing I'd say about this show it's very watchable, but because it's a reality based TV drama that has zero basis in reality, it's also quite annoying. Airline flights by their nature are quiet, and if someone is pointing a gun and telling people to be quiet and sit still, I imagine it's going to be even more quiet. But they made a drama TV show and there's lots and lots of forced drama and many people behaving the exact opposite to which you would expect them to behave in a situation where they are frightened and terrified. The drama doesn't stop. On the ground the forced drama doesn't stop. It's more like a soap opera than an intelligent drama, but as I said, it's watchable and so incredibly annoying at the same time. Idris Elba is, as always, excellent and he carries the show. Without him I don't think I could have watched it.
Blue Lights (2023)
Good OTT drama but...
It's supposed to be a standard Police procedural about the "unique dangers" faced in Belfast but....it's more of an OTT soap opera style drama. There's lots of drama (psychodrama). As a Police procedural it's riddled with inconsistencies and downright howlers (rookie cop who isn't authorised to carry a firearm outside the firing range has a service weapon by the bed)....the list goes on. The vehicles the cops use all are standard mainland cop cars, not armoured vehicles. Yes, the PSNI do use a lot of standard cop cars these days but not when they know they're going into dangerous crowd disorder situations. But by putting them in unarmored cars increases the drama value.
As a drama it's quite entertaining. As a Police procedural it's not that good.
Willow (2022)
It's a teenage drama, not fantasy
This is a straight up modern teenage drama. It's the same as other US teenage dramas. It covers the same issues and has the same format. The fantasy/action content is secondary to the teenage drama, which is high. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy this show. If you're looking for hard, gritty, shocking, violent, action style fantasy more along the lines of GoT, then you might be very disappointed by this show.
I've rated it 7/10 for being a teenage drama, not a fantasy/action drama. It's a teenage drama first and foremost, so it's only fair to rate it as such. A lot of reviewers are, IMHO, rating it incorrectly based on the book and as a fantasy/action show.
The Recruit (2022)
Not a dark and gritty spy drama, just good fun
Anyone looking for hard hitting, realistic, dark and gritty kind of espionage show might be disappointed. After watching all eight episodes my thoughts were that this was none of that, but I took it for what was; an espionage drama that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't want to be taken too seriously. Just a fast paced fun and entertaining drama with some good action scenes and interesting, likeable witty characters that's well written and well acted. Good story, good pacing, good character development. I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I'm really hoping Netflix give it the thumbs up for a few more seasons.
Target Number One (2020)
Stick around to end, you won't be disappointed
A lot of reviews are negative about the the dual time timelines that the movie follows. I personally liked that and thought it made it a better movie. There's the story that leads up to Daniel's conviction in a Bangkok court and there's the story after where Malarek the journalist starts investigating. Both stores are running at the same time and the movie switches between them. It looks like some reviewers found this hard to follow. I personally didn't have a problem and thought it really helped the movie move along. You could argue that captions showing date/time changes in the story might have helped, but I personally didn't think it needed it. It's an incredible story and the movie really does it justice, even though Daniel Leger (in real life Alain Olivier) didn't get any.
Killing Eve (2018)
Season 1-3 are 9/10
The title of this show is unfortunate because it's an excellent show that needs to drop the weak link character Eve. Jodie Comer is the central star of the show and the one that makes it worth watching. Seasons 1-3 are excellent, but it just looks like they're trying to shoehorn in the Eve character in season 4 because her name's in the title. I for one wouldn't have a problem seeing her killed off, just as long as Jodie Comer is still there.
Entrevías (2021)
Typical OTT Spanish drama
It's the usual heavy on the black/white OTT emotional Spanish drama. More of a cheap soap than a suspenseful drama. Nothing nuanced or subtle here. The OTT two-dimensional drama and very basic, predictable plot can get boring and even annoying. With some fast forwarding through the very bad parts it might get you through a wet and boring Sunday afternoon, but there many better options available (but maybe not on Netflix).
Unicorn Store (2017)
Really great feel good movie
I really loved this movie. I ignored the masses of low ratings and gave it a try and had no regrets. I think Larson's super hero Marvel action character has attracted a lot of (probably) young men who, instead of accepting that it's not their kind of movie, get angry and hit out against Larson for making this kind of very different movie. But, if you like slightly odd, soppy, warm, feel good movies, then I'm sure you won't be disappointed with this one.