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aswarp2007
Reviews
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Quite alright but already showing signs of script exhaustion
IMHO the first season is quite enjoyable so far, except for the episode on the sentient Avatar-like planet, which was an utterly absurd and poorly written Deux ex machina. The GroundHog Day episode, while not too badly resolved, was a warning sign that this show was running out of fuel (suddenly it felt like I was watching Spaceballs, instead). The water-bear appearance and spore engine was a nice little twist to an otherwise boring Alien / Space Hulk like episode plot. A nicely written villain, T'Kuvma, died too early, and since then, we only get revered mentions to himself whenever the show tries unsuccessfully to lift a depleted storyline.
PLUS: special FX are quite good, the star-ship troopers / Ender's game sentiment is faint, but there. Some characters and stories are slightly interesting, and somewhat well interpreted at times. CONS: too many Klingon speaking scenes, delirious Klingon uniform designs, too much "inspiration" drawn from other sci- fi stories, far too much gay-washing (not only the doctor and the navigator; did you take a closer look to Doug Jones' drag-queen heels?), cheap Styrofoam alien makeup, a plot that is getting weaker and more preposterous by the week. VERDICT: keep watching until they really screw it up. Or just quit watching now and prevent the pain. The first half season is not a complete waste of time. The rest of the show? We'll see...
Limitless (2015)
Save several hours of your life by not watching this show
Rewatch the original movie instead. The film was so good that I couldn't wait to watch the series as soon as I knew of its existence. First episode was interesting (probably used up most of the budget for the whole site on licensing rights and B. Cooper's cameo). Second was a total deception, as I watched it turn into a bad copy of the Numb3rs series. Didn't make it past half of the third episode. Sorry fellas... Get the script writers some NZT ASAP.
Legends of Tomorrow (2016)
First season is good, second is passable, the third one is a piece of deuce droppings
The first season is quite alright. There's a charismatic villain, time travel paradoxes hold consistently, and the team members as well as their stories are interesting. The script even draws from authors such as Asimov or Phillip K. Dick. The second season tries to expand on the story, brings another villain, and a few new characters. It's somewhat amusing. But the first half of the third season is just the milking of the cow: random characters with obscure elemental powers and little-to-none background or story-line, resuscitation of uncharismatic villains, iteration, monotony, doctor who-style fashion show, far too many Deus ex machina episode resolutions, dialogues full of the worst topics... You name it. Verdict: watch the first season, maybe the second, stop right there. I wish that they amended themselves and went back to good story telling, drawing from high quality science fiction, and from the original comic books. Instead, they're making a mess of the series, like the script writers took mind holidays and the rest of the creative team were just on auto pilot.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
It's Iron Man 3 bad. Very slow, with some good action scenes.
This movie is at the level of badness of Iron Man 3 or Man of Steel. It seems to be no script, just random fighting scenes intertwined with boring-to-death talking scenes. Some of these scenes (like the car scene with Tony Stark parents) are repeated as many as three times in the movie. They also introduce a random romantic episode for Steve Rogers that makes no sense, and shows no chemistry whatsoever. The point is, that no matter the strenght of the Captain, there is always a women above him. The target of the script seems to be "look at all these stupid males with big egos fighting each other: they would do much better if they all behaved like women do, because women are superior in all aspects, and males should be expendable, and subordinated. And rich". In fact, no female character in this movie is ever wrong as the plot goes, and one of those even beats the most powerful character, the Vision, in one blow, because "he had her locked up at home". Some other scenes are obviously written by a woman with no sense of gender balance, like male characters complimenting others on their eye color, double meaningful comments that the writer didn't catch, and excessively male ass from behind frames. Some character appear from nowhere in the middle of the fight, and they tell the Spiderman story _again_, but this time, making him look like an idiot, broke teenager (tough his aunt May who is supposed to be in her old age, is flirtable by Iron Man, because, reasons). aaand the black Widoe has to fight Hawkeye -again-, because... because that is what couples do, right? They fight! Really, I was expecting way more from this movie. The ending is left unresolved, and many of the side plots as well, not because they plan a continuation, but because they obviously didn't know how to tie up the loose ends. On the bright side: there are some action scenes that really nail it, like the one with all of the heros. Even tough they seem disconnected and ilogical, the CG and superheroic tricks can be enjoyable when watched on a large screen. Veredict: fast-forward to the good scenes, trash the rest.
Beijing Besieged by Waste (2012)
A necessary documentary
It was really in need that someone had the courage to speak up and show the reality outside of the fancy touristy areas. If the Chinese government does not smash him, this director has a really bright future. You will be able to observe anything from illegal dumps, to people living among trash, or animals eating plastic. One can assume where those cows are going to end... probably at some restaurant's table downtown, at a barbecue, or inside some vacuum packed snack. This is not a problem in China only, though. It's a widespread sickness of cities worldwide, from Africa to America and even the old heart of Europe. PRC just experiences one of the toughest, since their cities host the most number of souls in the planet... and not precisely the most organized, open or civilized. Watch this documentary and help to spread the word.
Dragon Crusaders (2011)
Underrated
This film is not LotR but has been quite underrated. Granted: acting performance is improvable, but for its budget it came out quite enjoyable and imaginative. It gets better as the party progresses to the dragons' layer, ending with an unexpected twist of the plot. The outdoor landscapes are great, it casts some (unfrequent) strong female leading characters and the makeup, clothing and atrezzo look quite realistic. After the initial supression of incredulity, the plot kind of sucks you into the movie. Though it exhibits some severe mistakes here and there due probably to filmmakers' inexperience and budgetary constraints, it is a good product for lovers of the D&D genre that can keep you entertained throughout a rainy day or late night.