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lima07
Reviews
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019)
Not for F1 fans
This series has made a great job of drawing new fans to Formula 1. However it is a really inaccurate depiction and frustrating experience to watch for anyone who follows the sport seriously. Radio messages that are spliced and often completely taken out of context, narratives that are completely fabricated, focus on things that are completely irrelevant to the season. There are just so many flaws that even giving it four stars feels generous.
Élite (2018)
Nothing special
Only watched the 1st season. Had higher expectations given what I'd heard about the show, but Élite comes across as a weird mix of 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale. There is nothing new or revolutionary about this series, it's just a typical teen drama with all the common tropes and characters. The series is well-acted for the most part but the character development is slow and only really start to happen towards the end of the season, at which point there already bigger things happening that take away focus from the personal journeys. The whole thing just leaves you wanting in the end.
Sintonia (2019)
Entertaining but lacks depth
Sintonia is a fast-paced series about three young friends trying to make it out of the Favela in one way or the other. It depicts the reality of life in the poorer parts of Brazil pretty well and manages to be entertaining and fun. However the story moves a little too fast at times and there is not enough character development. Things kind of just happen off-screen and it moves quickly from one plot to another without properly exploring the various plot points to their logical conclusions first. This is the biggest drawback of the series and I see no reason why they couldn't have created more depth because there are a lot of scenes that are unnecessarily long and could be cut down in favor of adding more scenes instead. That would really have helped to flesh out the series and transformed it from merely a good series to a great one.
Long Way Up (2020)
Beautiful but leaves you wanting
I was a huge fan of both the previous shows and was so happy to find out that they finally made the third - and presumably final - installment of the series. For the most part I loved it. There were so many amazing parts to it and the production is definitely much higher level this time around and we're given some absolutely gorgeous shots of the places they visit and drive through, particularly in Argentina and Chile.
My main issue with the show is that it seemed a bit rushed, especially the last bit. We saw a little of Ecuador, very little of Colombia (which I was super disappointed about because Colombia is such a beautiful place), then basically nothing of Panama, Costa Rica (another gorgeous place which I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't do anything more with considering Costa Rica is like THE place for eco-tourism and sustainability, there's a much larger story there that they could've used in line with the show's narrative and format), Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and, finally, they just zip through Mexico like it's nothing under the pretense that it's super-dangerous everywhere, which I don't buy for a second.
So the final part of the journey was incredibly disappointing for me. I loved the beautiful nature and all we got to see of Argentina and Chile, but the rest of it leaves a slight bitter taste in your mouth, as it could've been done so much better. I also dislike that we barely got to see anything of Claudio, a guy who is a pretty jovial and fun character in himself and should've been given more room, but I assume it had to do with them not wanting to acknowledge him driving a non-electric bike any more than necessary.
I also would've liked to see more of the crew, of David and Russ, on their journey throughout South America as well, but we only get a little of them, which I think adds to a feeling of disjointment in this show compared to the others where they seemed more like a team. Even the Ewan and Charley chemistry isn't quite there, it seems more like The Ewan Travel Show more than anything, which is a bit disappointing as well.
I sound very critical but it's just because I hold these guys to a high standard and I know that this show could've been so much more than it was. I still loved it and there were many great moments throughout. I liked the various projects they visited (UNICEF and others) but the one in Ecuador seemed a bit out of place and poorly planned. Anyway, definitely a great watch all-in-all and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes travel shows with amazing scenery.