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KerryMaeD
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Soy Luna (2016)
The show is produced in Argentina, stop complaining it's in Spanish
A lot of people in these reviews don't seem to understand that this show is for Argentinian Disney Channel, hence why the show and songs are all in Spanish. If you don't like that, instead of leaving a bad review go find one the many shows produced in English on Disney or Netflix or anywhere. It's also a telenovela which is why it has that melodramatic over the top style, that's not automatically a bad acting thing or cheap production thing.
Compared to the shows produced for Disney US or Disney UK it's certainly not any worse. Yes the show drags out too much, each season has 80 full hour episodes and would have been better to have either shorter episodes or less episodes. However the plot is interesting and show is enjoyable. I watch in Spanish with English subtitles as I don't speak Spanish and still find it enjoyable to watch (however I'm also part deaf so subtitles are permanently on, I understand why some people dislike subtitles)
The show is ridiculous at times, Tino and Cato seem to only exist to be like court jesters which at times is annoying, I just fast forward most of their scenes. Also they could have written a larger range of songs, they largely sing the same 5 or so songs on repeat the whole of season 1 even though they have a regular open mic style contest. I've watched other shows from Argentina in a similar style and they manage to produce a full album each season and they have far less episodes to do it over.
Grimm: Star-Crossed (2016)
Littered with factual errors and painful to watch
Whoever does the background research for this show clearly doesn't know their stuff. There's a big difference between artistic license and poorly researched Wikipedia nonsense. It's not even a case of the inaccuracies are helpful to the plot, they're just ridiculous.
So apparently people are being murdered as part of some blood sacrifice Wesen ritual. Fine. Perfectly acceptable Grimm plot. Then supposedly this ritual uses 'runes' from a series of entirely unrelated cultures (Celtic symbology is not the same as Nordic runes, the Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn is not related to either one of them - the Order being an invented secret society). Then they try to draw it all together under the guise of 'Wicca', whilst mis-stating that 'Wicca' was in existence at least 100 years before it was actually invented by a New Age practitioner in the 1950s.
Usually Grimm's back reference of real groups or ideas are well researched and the artistic license applied makes sense and adds to the plot. But this was just a mismatch of nonsensical references, adding nothing to the plot, in fact detracting from the plot.
I have no issue with bending facts to suit the story but at least try to be realistic.
Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments (2016)
Not ABC's usual standard but not as bad as people are making out
I've read all the books on which this show and it's prior film incarnation are based off. I've also watched said film before watching this show. So I obviously know a lot about how the books portray things and the differences between the various formats.
I have to say that the casting and the trailers failed to impress me prior to the show premiering this month. Of the only two names I recognised, one was from the (also failed) movie Vampire Academy, which didn't bode well for this being the reboot of a failed movie. I also very much preferred the cast of the film. Not having much else to watch (most of the main shows I watch are on break), I gave this a chance anyway.
First off, those complaining it isn't really based off the books, it is. There's plenty of content in the first couple of episodes that are in line with details from the books. However much like Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, the details have been tweaked to better suit a television format (after all it would be hard to fit the intricate details of a 400 odd page book into a 40 minute weekly show). And the thing is, nothing produced is ever going to be 100% true to the books. Different people envisage different things when they read the books, it's impossible to completely match the author's vision with that of the director or script writers, something which many viewers fail to understand.
Second thing, the quality of the show is definitely below the standard I've come to expect from ABC (now Freeform), which is known for having shows in the leagues if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Pretty Little Liars. However, I kind of feel that maybe that's not reason to write the series off after just one episode (two if you have the Freeform app). It also makes me feel a little like people are expecting too much out of the show. After all, they already tried the big feature film and it didn't work. Maybe a stripped back, less serious, no frills, version is what's needed.
So to sum it up, I think people are expecting too much of this show and the relatively unheard of cast who are probably still finding their feet with the roles. Perhaps if this show didn't have books and a film by which to prejudge, the expectations of disappointment would be less. At the end of the day, it might not be a perfect recreation of the beloved series created by Cassandra Clare, but it's still an okay attempt. Lower your expectations a little and maybe you'll find you enjoy it.