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Reviews
Severance (2022)
Solid story made less enjoyable by pretentious filler and terrible pacing
The seeds of an epic show are all there. The acting is good. The atmosphere is well done. Almost every episode has a few scenes that range from good to inspired. As for the characters, well... They aren't great, but I think they at least have potential. But the editing makes this show's strong points turn towards mediocre, and the weak points become glaring.
The tension and the atmosphere are all ruined by dragging everything out, and repeating certain plot points ad nauseam. On top of that it feels like it was edited by some pretentious film student that thinks overly long lingering shots are gonna earn him brownie artsy points for his bravery in committing to the shot or something.
If they had cut the run time in half, it could have been a fantastic show. As it is, it's still decent but you need to skip around a little to make the lousy pacing tolerable.
Colony (2016)
Yes, it starts as kind of a cop show. But it gets much better
Yeah, this is TV without a game of thrones budget, so every single episode isn't packed with crazy sci-fi set pieces. Yeah, it does start off the first season with some slightly aggravating characters, and yeah, the first couple episodes do feel a little TOO much like some serialized cop show you've seen before. And, yes, you don't see aliens -- at first. But there's a lot more in store. If you give this show a shot, it goes in some in some very different directions, with some unexpected twists and great action. Also this is definitely NOT one of those shows where they do not want to move the main plot forward. Things change in very interesting ways and the characters get a lot more real. By season 3, this is nothing even close to a cop show.
RoboCop (2014)
Want 80's action? Stay away. Want more thoughtful sci-fi action? Watch this movie!
This movie is Schlindler's List compared to the Total Recall remake. I usually agree with rotten tomatoes or metacritic, but I have no idea why people are bashing this movie so much. I went in expecting something dumb, but mildly entertaining (Transformers has 57% on Rotten) but instead I got a remarkably thoughtful sci-fi movie.
Other critics have said this movie is slow, humorless, and the action scenes suck. I'll agree that the movie is a little slow in parts, if by slow you mean that stuff wasn't blowing up. "Slow" scenes with Gary Oldman talking about robotics or Samuel L Jackson doing spot on parody? Not boring for me. Is it as funny as the original? Probably not, but they're going for a totally different feel in this one, exploring what it's like for the guy to be a cyborg WAY more than the original ever did. The action scenes? Well, they're aren't a TON of them, but I thought the action was great.
In short, if you want more of an 80's action movie like the original, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed. But if you can forget the original for a minute and enjoy this movie as thoughtful, political sci- fi with some good action scenes and fantastic actors, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good this movie is.
Man of Steel (2013)
Remember that sinking feeling you had watching The Dark Knight Rises?
I wanted to like this movie. Admittedly, I went in with high expectations, but I thought the names behind the movie, the actors and the beautiful trailer justified my high hopes.
And - at first - I thought it was all going to work out. For the first 40 minutes or so, this movie is awesome. Krypton, an ALIENated Clark Kent doing odd jobs on earth, a confused boy trying to cope with his powers...
Some reviewers have bashed the movie for being too serious, but there's nothing wrong with a little seriousness, or a little reverence towards the character. In the first half, I think the tone is perfect. A little dark, sure, but it all feels like we're building up towards something truly awesome. Then, kind of suddenly, the main story with Zod and the action starts. And, as much as I love action movies, I really wished it hadn't.
When the serious actions starts, all coherent story telling stops. In the blink of an eye the movie goes from feeling like a sci-fi Batman Begins to Transformers 3 minus the nuanced story telling. Suddenly Superman is here and we get these big sweeping beautiful scenes, and they're just completely boring and out of place. And I don't even want to talk about the totally contrived Lois Lane - Superman romance. (Lots of sighs, and "WTF?" comments at the theater I was in).
I kept waiting for it to recapture the tone of the first half, but the action just keeps getting bigger and dumber. In the middle of the unending action spectacle of the second half, I actually nodded off.
This movie had the creative talent, and the actors to make something really great. And I feel like without a Michael Bay explosion quota maybe they could have done it here... But in the end this is a missed opportunity.