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danielsiouffi
Reviews
Castlevania (2017)
Amazing Adaptation and excellent story
An excellent adaptation of the video game. The quality of the animation and the story is really amazing. The second season is an excellent ending to the first part of the story of Castlevania. The fighting scenes are awesome as well.
A must watch for Castlevania fans and for any vampire story fans.
Seinto Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac (2019)
Interesting but lacking a lot compared to the original
Upon viewing all 6 episodes that were released, I have to say that it was actually pretty good in its own unique way. The story was interesting, modified though and not for the better I guess in certain areas.
The problem with today's world is that we have an annoying tendency to not show any blood in animation and although in some cases I approve of that (when it comes to very young children cartoons), in cases such as an anime like Saint Seiya it shouldn't be prohibited.
Another thing that annoyed me in this story version is the lack of some lore following.
Aside from these two problems, I do not care whether Shun is an efiminate man (which he originally is) or a woman as long as the story was fine.
And I do appreciate that they jump over those long and frankly boring moments in the original where they all go so emotional. I do think there is a way to do so without dragging the story for unending number of episodes where nearly nothing happens, but Netflix hasn't quite found the right formula yet.
But comparing Netflix's version to the original, the original still seems to be better in my eyes.
One last thing though, I watched it in Japanese so the names they call between one another has not changed. But from the looks of it, when you watch it in English or even use English subtitles, they have changed everybody's name completely. I honestly think that was unecessary.
The Witcher (2019)
Professional Production and Captivating Story - Toss a coin to your show
I will begin by admitting that I have not played the game nor do I know any of the lore behind this franchise, but I have watched these episodes with utmost curiosity and I have to say that this series is a top-notch quality story and filming surprise.
The story can be quite slow at many moments but it is made as such to deliver details and information. The actors playing each character display a tremendous talent in their roles and the effects and camera shots are very expertly done.
There are unfortunately some scenes I have skipped because of my own personal taste when I watch stories, but I do not think of them as inferior compared to the rest of episodes unraveling.
The only reason I give this TV series a 8 star out of 10 is because, it is a TV series, and added to that it is made by Netflix. By experience TV series (and Netflix itself) have a tendency to stop their shows, leaving everyone wanting (which annoys me), or to butcher their endings (which annoys me even more).
I sure do hope that it will not be the case for The Witcher but only time will tell.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
A very disappointing movie in terms of Production, Directing, Editing and Storytelling
How should I describe this movie without feeling a traumatic headache at the end..?
As I write this review, 6 months have already passed so I will not consider anything written as a spoiler at this point in time.
The Last Jedi was a horrible movie by and large in every aspect of movie making. In this review, I will describe the different movie directing and editing aspects, as well as the story aspects.
- Sound editing: the sound was horribly edited, where at many points of the movie scenes that should have the music feel more grave and sombre, the music was in fact mild and unemotional. This is of course not the fault of the music artist (as John Williams is still amazing in his musical talent) but rather the director's fault for wanting it to be bland.
- Special Effects: Although there some scenes where the special effects are nicely done, there are only very few of them. We find ourselves most of the time witnessing unfinished work. Many scenes showed us a mid-rough work, such as the scene of Leia in space. We can also see several scenes where the background looked like 2D cardboards behind the protagonists (Finn & Rose at Casino, specially while running from danger mounted on the animal they helped free).
- Directing: the movie's overall directing is far below average (and I mean crushingly below). The choices made by the movie Director were thoroughly disappointing. Where JJ Abrams, director of The Force Awakens, gave many possibilities to create character development and lore development, Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi's director, decided to throw everything JJ put in place into the trash bin. Rian Johnson's choices were made out of laziness and the personal need to save budget money. Every single moment where the characters could've gotten a great development, Rian Johnson decided that it was too much of a hassle for him to even bother to try and so instead he chose the easy answer, by giving no back story mysteries to the characters or even a grain of evolving insight to the characters (which would later have probably been a great opportunity to develop on either another movie or a book). Parallel to these, the misuse of everyone's beloved Jedi, Luke Skywalker, was saddening. Mark Hamill played his character to his best, and marvelously so, considering the disappointing turn of personality Rian Johnson gave him.
- Dialogues are bland and uninteresting, and seems to be just lazy rambling to fill the minutes (except for very few 1 minute exceptions where it is a serious matter), most dialogues seem to feel like emo moments, especially when Rose is in play.
- Rian Johnson in this movie proves himself to be quite a copycat artist. Not only the movie is about 70% a mixture of episode 5 and 6, but scenes where he declared on interview that were his own original ideas turned out to be just exact ideas and turnouts from other older movies. For example, Leia flying through space was taken from Mary Poppins and Luke's supposed Force Projection was a complete copy, beat for beat, of Kurt Russell in Escape from L.A.
- Story wise, we have just about everything wrong for this movie to even be called Star Wars, it has no essence of Star Wars, no soul of Star Wars, no mysteries of Star Wars. It is only Star Wars because it is in space and uses bad guys and good guys group similar from Originals, but with different names, only the known characters keep their names.
Vader: A Star Wars Theory Fan Series (2018)
Beautifully made
This is an exhilirating video. The short story actually electrified me into loving it. The dream sequence, the fight in the dream, the interaction between the Emperor and Vador, the voices that are near 100% perfect. The dialogues is something you'd actually imagine would be said between the two.
After the turds they made for sequel movies, this is actually reviving my interest in the Star Wars universe.
Disney's Lucasfilm really messed up on their movies and showed no talent in creation. This fan however shows a lot more creativity and talent than they do.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
A very disappointing movie in terms of Production, Directing, Editing and Storytelling
How should I describe this movie without feeling a traumatic headache at the end..?
As I write this review, 6 months have already passed so I will not consider anything written as a spoiler at this point in time.
The Last Jedi was a horrible movie by and large in every aspect of movie making. In this review, I will describe the different movie directing and editing aspects, as well as the story aspects.
- Sound editing: the sound was horribly edited, where at many points of the movie scenes that should have the music feel more grave and sombre, the music was in fact mild and unemotional. This is of course not the fault of the music artist (as John Williams is still amazing in his musical talent) but rather the director's fault for wanting it to be bland.
- Special Effects: Although there some scenes where the special effects are nicely done, there are only very few of them. We find ourselves most of the time witnessing unfinished work. Many scenes showed us a mid-rough work, such as the scene of Leia in space. We can also see several scenes where the background looked like 2D cardboards behind the protagonists (Finn & Rose at Casino, specially while running from danger mounted on the animal they helped free).
- Directing: the movie's overall directing is far below average (and I mean crushingly below). The choices made by the movie Director were thoroughly disappointing. Where JJ Abrams, director of The Force Awakens, gave many possibilities to create character development and lore development, Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi's director, decided to throw everything JJ put in place into the trash bin. Rian Johnson's choices were made out of laziness and the personal need to save budget money. Every single moment where the characters could've gotten a great development, Rian Johnson decided that it was too much of a hassle for him to even bother to try and so instead he chose the easy answer, by giving no back story mysteries to the characters or even a grain of evolving insight to the characters (which would later have probably been a great opportunity to develop on either another movie or a book). Parallel to these, the misuse of everyone's beloved Jedi, Luke Skywalker, was saddening. Mark Hamill played his character to his best, and marvelously so, considering the disappointing turn of personality Rian Johnson gave him.
- Dialogues are bland and uninteresting, and seems to be just lazy rambling to fill the minutes (except for very few 1 minute exceptions where it is a serious matter), most dialogues seem to feel like emo moments, especially when Rose is in play.
- Rian Johnson in this movie proves himself to be quite a copycat artist. Not only the movie is about 70% a mixture of episode 5 and 6, but scenes where he declared on interview that were his own original ideas turned out to be just exact ideas and turnouts from other older movies. For example, Leia flying through space was taken from Mary Poppins and Luke's supposed Force Projection was a complete copy, beat for beat, of Kurt Russell in Escape from L.A.
- Story wise, we have just about everything wrong for this movie to even be called Star Wars, it has no essence of Star Wars, no soul of Star Wars, no mysteries of Star Wars. It is only Star Wars because it is in space and uses bad guys and good guys group similar from Originals, but with different names, only the known characters keep their names.
Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)
A Delight and Reminder that Training is important
WHILE THE MOVIE MIGHT NOT GIVE AS MUCH AS AN IMPACT AS THE ORIGINAL, I FOUND MYSELF WATCHING THIS NEW VERSION IN DELIGHT. Alain Moussi shows his talent and lives up to his Martial prowess. JCVD playing the new mentor is also a delight, although doesn't give the same feel as the original's local Master. I agree to this change because it has already been done. Dave Bautista plays Tong Po and offers a new and physically tougher version of a once feared enemy fighter.
All in all this movie is a refreshing view to a genre that is slowly disappearing from the world of Cinema.
But I will always welcome this Genre back as it shows the viewers the importance of training, improving, working and learning. All these which is sorely lacking in todays Movies.
Thank you JCVD.
Kickboxer (1989)
A legend amongst Van Damme's earliest movies
A legend amongst Van Damme's earliest movies. Michel Qissi here plays the very first version of Tong Po, a feared and overwhelming enemy fighter. A character that could give you the chills. A movie that is mostly concentrated on fighting action but specially on a man's personal need to become stronger and tougher. A movie that shows the importance of improving oneself, showing the need to practice, to learn, to work and to expand.
These qualities in a movie are today sorely lacking in new cinema. We find less and less stories explaining these importances.
Would welcome back this Genre.
Thank you JCVD and Glenn Bruce for giving us this legendary story.
Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)
A Delight and Reminder that Training is important
WHILE THE MOVIE MIGHT NOT GIVE AS MUCH AS AN IMPACT AS THE ORIGINAL, I FOUND MYSELF WATCHING THIS NEW VERSION IN DELIGHT. Alain Moussi shows his talent and lives up to his Martial prowess. JCVD playing the new mentor is also a delight, although doesn't give the same feel as the original's local Master. I agree to this change because it has already been done. Dave Bautista plays Tong Po and offers a new and physically tougher version of a once feared enemy fighter.
All in all this movie is a refreshing view to a genre that is slowly disappearing from the world of Cinema.
But I will always welcome this Genre back as it shows the viewers the importance of training, improving, working and learning. All these which is sorely lacking in todays Movies.
Thank you JCVD.
Rectoverso (2013)
A really bad movie
The movie is just bad. The acting is poor and the plot and storyline lacks imagination and work.
This is one of the lowest point in the art of acting you can find in history.
The producer Cathy Sharon contributed a lot in the bad choices and direction of this movie.
The Perfect House (2011)
Bad Movie that's all
Just a bad movie. Not worth watching at all. And to top it all Cathy Sharon is in the movie. A bad actress and a poor movie.