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Fallout (2024)
The Show Was Rigged From the Start
The cast: unattractive men, a strong independent woman who deals with raiders at level 0, and a couple of veterans like Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Emerson.
There is no chemistry between the characters. Everyone who could've carried this piece of art appears for 5 minutes at most. A vault dweller sees the ocean for the first time and shows zero emotions with the phrase "Okey-Dokey." Stanislavski gives a standing ovation.
Absolutely everyone wears clean clothes in any situation. The locations and props are either restored from the video games without imagination, or are similar to modern times, except that they painted burning debris here and there.
10% clowning, 60% fan service and 30% fixation on sex. The series leaves you with the feeling that the script was written by a teenager with sperm toxicity who overplayed Fallout 3.
The Iron Claw (2023)
The most disappointing movie in recent years
I had very high expectations, since wrestling is a dynamic and spectacular show. The real events that inspired the writer/director are frightening even as the Wikipedia article. Unfortunately, there was no thriller or entertainment in this film.
"The Iron Claw" biopic intensifies despair with every second. In happy moments, disturbing music plays and everyone suffers. Kevin talks about the family curse almost at the beginning! All of this makes the story predictable, even if you avoided spoilers and didn't know about the Von Erichs before watching the movie.
The reasons for the "curse" are presented too straight: strict father / harsh living conditions, only one WC for the whole family / setbacks in life. Filmmakers seem to have a low opinion of their target audience, providing them with something chewed instead of food for thought. Of course, they didn't forget to add scenes of self-pleasure and sex to attract those who find a story without thought-provoking content complicated. I swear, "Idiocracy" looks more and more like a documentary film every year.
The wrestlers are shown as some kind of losers fixed on titles. Their massive popularity has not been disclosed at all. The WCCW promotion, which was founded by the head of the family, was mentioned only near the end. There is no emphasis on the Von Erichs' signature move. The brothers' team matches are practically not shown. No performances of Kerry with a prosthesis. The youngest son, Chris Von Erich, is not mentioned at all! If this continues, scripts from ChatGPT will look better than the work of human scriptwriters.
The appearance of the fictional Von Erichs complements the picture. The real brothers were harmoniously built, and the hairstyles of that time looked natural. The actors pumped up like Hulks, while for the entire 2 hours they wore stupid wigs a la He-Man. Oh God, why?
Some say that they managed to recreate the accuracy of movements, events, etc. Alas, it is difficult for viewers who is not into 1980s wrestling to notice this. Instead of a sports drama, we have just-a-drama about a bunch of jocks with chronic depression. In this state, people don't achieve success worthy of being included into the WWE Hall of Fame!
In short, all the flaws could be forgiven if the movie about wrestling was focusing on wrestling itself. Instead, we have 2+ hours of tears and suffering, with the teaser of wrestling somewhere in the background. For comparison, the documentary "The Dark Side of the Ring" (season 1, episode 4) covers all aspects of the Von Erichs' biography in just 40 minutes.
However, kudos to the crew for their efforts and showing the story, which many learned about for the first time.
Chang'an shi er shi chen (2019)
Water flows in to flow out
A high-quality series with dynamic scenes, action in almost every episode and no wire fu. Chang'an life, architecture, and crowd scenes are well covered. I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but the attention to detail seems more thorough than in other Chinese series I've watched.
The show has many pros and the script is not one of them. The plot twists are predictable. They focus on the main character until the last episodes, where the focus shifts towards the secondary characters. As a result, it is not clear who to feel for and why.
It is commendable that there is no division into good and evil. However, there are so many characters and not one of them opens up completely. They try to use flashbacks, but it doesn't work well: here are some tough guys today, and here's a five-minute dive into the past. Now I know them well enough to drop a tear! It would be easier to sympathize with Zhang Xiaojing if he was the main character in more than just the first 2/3 of the series.
The last 1/3 of the script seems to have been censored and rewritten due to some political reasons. The conversations in favor of the poor look ridiculous. Officials lecturing the emperor in the presence of the crowd, seriously?
In short, the series raises the quality standards for subsequent shows. It's nice to watch and never gets boring. Personally, I won't watch it again: it doesn't evoke any deep emotions because of the flaws mentioned above.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
Good but not great
The movie was made with high quality production and a professional cast. There are no forced jokes or fake drama like betrayal and vulgarity between the characters. It feels like an adult, mentally mature person worked on the script, which is rare these days.
However, here are cons that are difficult to pass by:
- Even if you don't know the plot of "Dracula", the ship's story is spoiled right at the start. This is unnecessary in conditions where you have to worry about the fate of the crew.
- As events develop, we see more screamers and the rubber-faced creature on the screen, which ruin the suspense.
- Holes in logic. One of the characters failed to escape from the ship on a boat. 5 minutes later... the team comes to the ingenious decision to repeat the experiment. But the first they boarded up the hold... that was broken by the creature at the very beginning!
- Too much borrowing from the other movies. For example, the ending of one of the characters was obviously copied from "30 Days of Night". The protagonist's background is from "The Knick". The setting, concept and half of the plot twists are clearly reminiscent of "The Terror" series.
- Dynamics is typical for British horrors. It's difficult to watch the movie from start to the end from the first try.
In short, it's an interesting view to a well-worn topic. In itself, it does not evoke any strong emotions.
Muhtesem Yüzyil: Kösem (2015)
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
A beautiful series with wonderful supporting actors... and repulsive moral choices.
Pros:
- Atmosphere. Despite its flaws (see below), the series successfully portrays the atmosphere and customs of an Ottoman harem. Personally, this made me interested in the era, so I started studying historical literature and watching documentaries.
- The supporting cast makes up for the mediocre performance of the main actors. However, it's hard to stay engaged in a drama when some actors are intense while others lack emotional depth.
- Costume design. The variety of appearances helps to remember dozens of characters in less than half a season. ;D
- Adaptation of some real events (borrowed from the biographies of various people like Roxelana, Nurbanu, Safiye and others).
- Budget. The crew's lack of experience for this project was compensated with money, in my humble opinion. The series was made in an expensive way, and despite production flaws, the picture looks good.
By the production flaws I mean the following:
1. Video production is at the level of television series of the 90s. For example, imperfections in appearance are not masked by shooting angle or lights.
2. CGI. They constructed an entire set with luxurious chambers for filming, but clearly saved on heating the location. I feel sorry for the actors wearing négligée and talking with steam coming out of their mouths. The steam, background noise and other things should be removed in post-production.
3. The stunts lack realism and fail to entertain. During battles, the actors wave their arms so much that they actually would become slightly shorter after the first fight. Also, they use too much sloooooooooow mooooooootiooooooooon in each episode, especially in action scenes.
Cons:
- Struggling to mix two genres. On the one hand, the series is a costume drama that focuses on harem intrigues instead of political games. On the other hand, the creators included a lot of violence in this work, making its rating suitable for viewers aged 18 and above. (In comparison, a good example of a harem costume drama without too much politics is "The Empress of China" (Wu Meiniang chuanqi, 2014). If you just want political intrigue and military strategy, then "The Three Kingdoms" (Sanguo, 2010) is beyond competition.) The more you watch, the more you understand why the subject caused such outrage in its homeland. You expect to see a historical series or at least a fairy tale. Instead, you get a disturbing story about maniacs who harm people and then act as if nothing happened. The worst thing is we have to empathize with these characters without questioning, because there's no reasonable explanation for so much blood other than Sultan's desire. In some situations, Ahmed personally executes criminals, in others he forgives and sets them free. Often these are identical events several episodes apart, involving the same characters!
- Constant repetition and characters with short-term memory. Episode by episode, scandals and intrigues go through a full cycle, then everything repeats all over again. The characters team up against their enemies, only to betray each other and join forces with enemies to defeat their friends. Even if someone hurts or kills a loved one of another character, enemies quickly forget about it and become allies.
- 0.01% of historical accuracy is the least of the problems, but still worthy of mention. The solutions found by the writers to escalate the drama are confusing. Concubines live in one room all the time, like in barracks. They frequently visit the Sultan in his personal chambers without asking in almost every episode. The ages of the characters and historical dates are incorrect, so many events could not have actually occurred. The characters behave in a completely different way from what is described in historical literature. Usually they make even worse decisions that their prototypes did. At least, in real life they could die from natural causes.
Perhaps the plot carries some political overtones that are difficult for foreign viewers to see. Even if you focus only on the love story, watching the series is unpleasant and sometimes even painful. With so many deaths in the news last years, it's already too overwhelming to watch so much violence and hatred on screen. However, kudos to all the cast and crew who made the story watchable.
As an afterword, I'll note which people we have to feel for in the "Magnificent Century" franchise:
When the Sultan's Divan functioned as a law court for the trial of capital cases of such officials, it was usually without the knowledge of the offender. If he was found guilty an usher was sent with the court's decision and an order of death, which was given to the nearest official with power to put it into execution. The condemned man hurriedly settled his worldly affairs and made his peace with God, and was then quickly dispatched and his head cut off and brought back to the Sultan by the waiting usher, as proof that the deed had really been done. It has been said that as many as forty heads had been known to arrive at the court of Suleyman the Magnificent in the course of a single day. (Raphaela Lewis "Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey")
Hijack (2023)
Watchable
An exciting thriller, you don't want to take a break from watching it. There are many dialogues due to the genre, but no small talk; everything is to the point. Lots of action too. Events take place in different locations, not just on the plane.
However, the show has cons as well. Spoiler alert!
- 200+ people behave, give or take, the same way, like a trained football team. No one falls into hysterics, all of them control their behavior. There are no passengers with phobias, heart problems or suffering from motion sickness. In reality, many people experience discomfort from regular air travel, but everyone feels cool under the stress in this show.
- Judging by what is happening on the screen, there are only 2 children on the huge plane.
- There is not much stupidity compared to other modern series, but it still hurts. For example, the main character considers sending a photo of a deceased passenger to avoid killing a new one. Somehow no one except him thought of this. The hijackers become dumber each minute and do not understand that the dispatchers speak English. The terrorists, hiding from the drone behind the trees, changed cars, catching the observers by surprise. This is what I call innovative script moves. This has never happened before and here it is again.
- Terrorists' plot line is silly starting with absurd reason for plane hijacking, ending with pickup truck driving off scene. Who are these people? How could they organize themselves so well if they don't trust each other? Why did the hairy guys kill the bald one? What happened next? So many questions but no answers.
- An airplane is a fragile thing, even under the control of professionals. Planes crash from a scratch IRL, but here it landed nose-first into the ground and didn't even dent! Most passengers would be minced, while survivors desperately struggle to escape, only to die in fire. I say this as an experienced viewer of "Mayday". :D
In short, it's a good, watchable series. The cons can be forgiven due to well-directed, dynamic scenes.
Into the Night (2020)
"Langoliers" on steroids
Perhaps, it's the best recent sci-fi series. There are some logical cons to consider, such as lack of answers to the questions like "How there is always flying weather during the landing?" or "Why can't you hide in a mine or subway for a day?" (there are deep subways in some cities that could be officially used as bomb shelters). However, the pros allow you to forgive these fictional assumptions.
The show feels refreshing because it's a European series without Hollywood clichés, superheroes in tight suits, and an abundance of weapons everywhere. The plot twists are surprising and the drama feels real because the characters act stupid and hysterical like actual people in a stressful situation. The relationships and character arcs are well written.
The concept is also interesting. There's been enough post-apocalypse sun-related stuff written/filmed/developed. Here I finally see a reasonable explanation for why the story should take place now, instead of billions of years in the future (like plot based on the Sun cooling down).
Season 2 is a bit worse than season 1, but still good. All the fun was spoiled by the dull setting in the bunker. Drama, action, plot twists are at the same level, in my humble opinion. The writers are consistent: the heroes of season 1 behave in approximately the same way. Hysterical characters keep escalating problems, the stupid ones keep delivering facepalms. The new characters should have been introduced more smoothly, so you could remember their names before they vanish in history. The intensity of conflicts reaches its peak in the last episodes, leaving the ending open. We can only hope for a season 3 (there are rumors the show was extended, but no information on IMDB).
In short, it's "Langoliers" on steroids. If you like the genre and setting, it's a definitely must see.
The Witcher (2019)
Incredibly untalented work
This TV series shows absolute disrespect for the original book, its author and Slavic culture in general.
Creators took a famous fantasy book series with a well-developed world and characters, then changed these characters, hired total miscast, replaced the plot with their own story and inappropriate political agenda.
Netflix will soon realize it's bad for business to slip your piece of "art" to the viewer under a well-known title. You need to work with the material or create a new title.
So save your time and nerves, don't watch this adaptation. Play the video games and read the books instead. The world of The Witcher deserves it.