CJWar Reviews

Night of the Hunted (2023)

Tries too hard...

[3/10 · 18 April 2024]

This started off fairly promisingly. Nothing original, but well done to begin with and, more importantly, well paced. The protagonist showed herself to be resourceful. We have to suspend our disbelief a bit in how she distracts the antagonist, but that's fine.

Then the dialogue took over, and I started thinking the film was written by an angry teenager who wants to change the world. How many hot button issues can you cram into one conversation? All of them, apparently. The film tries too hard to pander to the echo chamber the writer clearly lives in and (sledge)hammers the points home with the subtly of a young bull in field of cows.

We know extremists are dangerous. We don't need the social commentary regurgitated every time a new writer enters the genre.

Goblin Slayer (2018–2023)

Should've ended after the first season.

[6/10 · 11 April 2024]

They should've ended the show with the first season. It was dark, violent, fast-paced and had a complete arc. It attracted viewers who were looking for exactly that.

The second season completely flips the script, becoming more slice-of-life. There are plenty of slice-of-life anime, and they're much better than Goblin Slayer.

Trying to cater to both crowds has created something that satisfies neither. The violent scenes are too much for the slice-of-life crowd and those who enjoy the violence aren't interested in exploring trauma and daily struggles. I'll be very surprised if there's a third season.

Season 1: 8/10 Season 2: 5/10.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024– )

Looks amazing. That's it.

[4/10 · 29 February 2024]

The effects are great. The opening battle is really well done. That's about it. I stopped watching towards the end of the first episode. It's just another one of those terrible live action adaptations of a successful animation.

The acting is wooden and emotionless. The dialogue feels like nothing more than exposition, which I expected in the animation as it's a trope in that medium. Here, it's tedious and off-putting.

I didn't know much about the production until I gave a try tonight. After a quick Google search, I think it's clear why the original team decided "creative differences" were enough of a reason to step away.

Watch the animation.

Shadow and Bone (2021–2023)

Great first season. The second was awful.

[6/10 · 27 January 2024]

I really enjoyed the first season. It felt gritty - well, as gritty as it could be with the rating - and I was invested in the characters.

The second season feels like it was made by an entirely different team. Screen time is divided between too many characters, leaving little time to really care about any of them. This seems to a failing in a lot of today's shows which end up being cancelled. Side characters should remain exactly that - side!

I'd give the first season a solid 7/10 and season 2 a 5/10. Overall, I'm happy it's been cancelled. Maybe I'm being optimistic but perhaps Netflix will learn a lesson from S&B and the backlash against The Witcher.

Escalation (2023)

Below Average

[4/10 · 6 January 2024]

I find it difficult to justify watching films like this these days. It's below average in every way possible. The story is a played out trope involving a hard drive and the acting isn't good enough to elevate it. The soundtrack doesn't fit what's on screen. The dialogue is emotionless and sounds like it was written for a soap opera script. There is no character development of any kind.

The fight choreography is terrible. The actors move at a snail's pace and the hits look like they barely connect. It's like watching inexperienced professional wrestlers.

There's nothing here you haven't seen before. I'll be surprised if it ever gets more than maybe 5k ratings on here.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

Wait for the R-rated cut.

[6/10 · 28 December 2023]

The film is too clean. You can tell there's a gritty, down and dirty sci-fi gem hidden in there but it's been neutered to get an appropriate age rating. I understand why it was done - larger target audience etc. But first impressions count for a lot. Netflix and Snyder have played a dangerous game by realising a sanitised version.

I may be biased as I enjoy the whole ragtag band of misfits trope, but the film isn't as bad as most reviews make it out to be. The film basically takes that trope and runs with it for 2.5 hours. Then it ends. There lies the main problem; we now have to wait 5 months for the pay off. Would a 4 hour long R-rated offering rather than two (essentially four when the r-rated cuts are released) 2.5 hour long films really turn people off? I don't think so.

I know Snyder loves to make use of slow-motion, but he's gone a bit overboard here. I've taken another point off for that.

The Royal Hotel (2023)

Pointless.

[3/10 · 27 December 2023]

I'm not quite sure what I'm reviewing here as the entire plot went nowhere. The film is pointless. It's slice of life in an isolated Australian pub. That's it. There's no drama, there's no suspense, no twists or big reveals.

There are two protagonists, who get a job in a bar, serve a load of guys who have nothing to do after work except drink alcohol and act surprised when the guys turn into misogynistic idiots. That's it. That's the story. Throw in a ridiculous, over the top ending and you have a film that makes me question the sanity of at least four good actors who chose to join the project.

The Continental (2023)

Could've been a film.

[7/10 · 16 October 2023]

I'd been looking forward to The Continental since it was first announced. Parts of it lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, other parts followed the far too common mistake of adding unnecessary backstory to every character.

In the grand scheme of things, only Winston matters. The majority of viewers are watching because they've watched John Wick and loved Ian McShane's character. They don't care about dojos or a cop's trauma. They want to see Winston rise up from obscurity to become the man they know from the movies. Show the parts that relate to Winston and quickly move on.

If this had been a 2 hour film, with a focus on Winston and Cormac, I might have given it a 9. What felt like 2.5 hours of filler takes that down to 7.

Corsicana (2022)

Soulless

[2/10 · 14 October 2023]

I can only assume the reviews giving this 9 and 10 are paid for, or know the cast/crew. I realise it's a subjective matter, but I don't know how anyone could give this film more than a 5.

As it stands, it's the first western I haven't been able to finish. The writing is awful, the direction is all over the place and the music feels like it was added by someone who hasn't watched movies since the 80s and 90s. It's soulless.

The only thing that saves it from getting a 1 from me is opening 20 minutes, which made me think I was going to be watching a darkly engaging, if basic, western. It was a strong opening. I'm really not sure what went wrong. Perhaps the team thought they were making a statement piece, when they should have been concentrating on the entertaining the viewer.

I'll keep waiting patiently for a film that does justice to Bass Reeves.

Torn Hearts (2022)

Could've been great.

[6/10 · 15 March 2023]

Like others, I mainly watched this for Katey Sagal, who is as great as ever. However, like others, I feel like she was held back by writers who were afraid of going over the top; there's a constant feeling throughout the film that it's about to turn up to 11, but it never does.

That said, there's still an above-average film here. One that's worth a watch if you're a country fan, horror fan or a Katey Sagal fan. It's better than a lot of low budget productions being churned out these days, and infinitely more memorable than the majority of them. I imagine everyone involved will go on to bigger and better things.

No Exit (I) (2022)

Not bad. Final 20 minutes disappointing.

[6/10 · 12 March 2023]

Not a bad film. I liked the premise, and it was nice to see that the protagonist's addiction wasn't used to demonise her.

A few too many twists and shocks that just didn't hit the mark at all, but these were easy to overlook as the film was fast paced and didn't appear to take itself too seriously.

The final 20 minutes were disappointing. Logic was thrown out the window in order to add shock and suspense that just didn't engage me at all. It became a predictable race to finish the line, with a bland, predictable resolution and fade-to-black.

It's worth a watch, and I expect the cast and crew to go on to bigger and better things, but it isn't one I'll revisit.

Fall (I) (2022)

Good film ruined by unoriginal "twist".

[5/10 · 11 March 2023]

I was really enjoying this film until it played the hallucinating-dead-companion-is-still-alive card. Until that point, I was pleasantly surprised by the visuals and the acting. Once it became clear where they were heading, I lost all interest.

It's all the more annoying to me as I said to my partner that the film reminded me of 47 Meters Down but the characters went up instead. It would appear the writer was a fan as well, or a fan of any of the other countless films that have employed the same played out trope.

The film could have gone in an entirely different direction, and played with the rebuilding of a friendship through shared hardship after a betrayal but it took the easier, safer and infinitely more bland route.

Unwelcome (2022)

A horror film for horror fans.

[6/10 · 11 March 2023]

This isn't a film with wide appeal, but it's worth a watch by those who love the horror genre as a whole. The plot is simplistic, wacky, a bit trashy, often forced, sometimes non-existent but entertaining. It doesn't take itself seriously at all. Even in its darkest moments, it's surreal and nonsensical.

This isn't a film for new horror fans who have come to the genre on the back of social commentary works like Get Out. Nor is it a film for those who prefer the current trend of slow-burn, artistic films like Hereditary and Midsommar.

If you enjoy films like Grabbers and Doghouse, you should be able to appreciate the fast-paced nonsense that is Unwelcome.

Slayers (2022)

Better than I expected but still bang average.

[5/10 · 28 January 2023]

As my title states, I didn't expect much of anything from the movie. Thomas Jane and Abigail Breslin were the two reasons I watched it at all.

It isn't that bad. It just isn't good. The pacing is all over the place, the story is... disjointed at best. Let's be honest though, when you watch a movie like this, you're just looking for some gory, camp entertainment. It has that - sometimes.

Thomas Jane's character was an enjoyable take on an old trope. I'd quite happily watch him play the same character with a bigger budget. A crossover with Dolph Lundgren's character from Don't Kill It would be mindlessly entertaining - up there with Machete.

White Noise (I) (2022)

Absolute nonsense.

[3/10 · 1 January 2023]

It isn't funny. It isn't horrific. It isn't dramatic. It isn't mysterious. It's just nonsense masquerading as social commentary.

It's hard to imagine who the target audience for this film might be. Judging by the plummeting score (it dropped significantly in the time it took me to watch) and relatively low number of ratings, there might not be a target audience.

There is some material that may have worked well in some sort of absurd anthology series but as a film, it's an incoherent mess made more frustrating by what sounds like dialogue ripped wholesale from amateur philosophers, activists and/or conspiracy theorists on social media who rarely, if ever, converse offline.

Castlevania (2017–2021)

Great series. Quality dips a little.

[8/10 · 10 December 2022]

Season 1: 10/10. The pacing is fantastic, the characters are compelling and the animation style is some of the best I've seen from streaming platforms.

Season 2: 8/10. The increased episode count messed with the pacing a little but the characters and plot remained compelling.

Season 3: 5/10. The show lost its way during the third season. Irrelevant characters were brought to the forefront. The plot moved a glacial pace. The animation seemed less fluid - possibly due to more ambitious action scenes.

Season 4: 7/10. A slow burn but pacing improves in the second half of the season. The animation still seemed less fluid than the first two seasons but the big action scenes delivered. The final two episodes carry the season.

Overall: 8/10. It's worth suffering through the third season.

Lesson Plan (2022)

Too slow.

[5/10 · 5 December 2022]

Not only does the story move at a glacial pace, the action moves just as slow. Every move looks over-choreographed and lands so slowly it looks like it does no damage. Not only that but even when the main character's life is threatened, he rarely does any permanent damage to his opponents. He leaves random drunks with more bruises than those responsible for his friend's death. It completely breaks immersion.

Overall, the story itself isn't a bad one and the film could've been an entertaining if unmemorable action flick if some sort of action coach had been hired and a script editor hired to remove the cheesy, recycled lines from old kung-fu movies. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and it instead ended up disappointingly average.

Wednesday (2022– )

Wednesday isn't clever.

[6/10 · 4 December 2022]

Jenna Ortega is fantastic as Wednesday. She captures the character perfectly. Although there's very little character growth, I wasn't expecting there to be. However, the rest of the Addams family - with the exception of Fester - are poorly cast and lack any sort of chemistry with each other.

My biggest problem with the show is the fact we're constantly told how clever Wednesday is but never shown it. The fact she eventually stumbles onto the correct conclusion doesn't change the fact she got it wrong almost constantly. Furthermore, there's no acknowledgement of how wrong she got it on multiple occasions; the show ends with us still being told she's some sort of edgy genius on a level with Sherlock Holmes.

Overall, the show was enjoyable and I'm sure there'll be a lot of memes created from Jenna's great facial expressions (or lack thereof) but the writing isn't nearly on the same level as her performance.

Westworld (2016–2022)

Stop at the first season.

[8/10 · 20 November 2022]

Like others, I thought the first season was fantastic and my rating is based entirely on that. It quickly went downhill from the second season. What was an entertaining and relatively fast paced plot became dragged out and convoluted, with nothing really happening at a glacial pace.

The premise of interesting characters driving the story and conflict was abandoned in favour of inorganic conflict and story driving the characters. That's when the show lost me as a viewer; it began to feel like one of the stories ripped from the in-universe theme park.

The first season has a satisfying main arc, and I recommend you stop there. Moreso now that the show has been cancelled.

Gleipnir (2020)

When it's good, it's average.

[4/10 · 4 September 2022]

It's rare I don't finish a show. However, Gleipnir isn't worth my time. I watched the first 6 episodes and I'm convinced half the screen time is spent on close ups of muscles and tendons on the female characters.

The plot is practically non-existent. Someone came up with what they thought was a good idea and somehow got paid before fleshing it out in the slightest.

The voice acting is over the top. Moreso than most anime. The characters are tropes with no personality or growth. The soundtrack wasn't bad but that doesn't make it watchable.

All in all, it's sub-par. It may appeal to some if other reviews are anything to go by but I'd suggest only watching the first 2 episodes before making up your mind. It really doesn't change after that. There's no "pay-off" moment that makes the slog worth it.

The Batman (2022)

Self-indulgent mess.

[4/10 · 18 April 2022]

There's a good film hidden between what is nothing but self-indulgent filler. Unfortunately, the filler makes up at least 3/5 of the run time.

I'm curious in the director's insistence he wanted to create a "realistic" version of Batman rather than a superhero. I think to achieve that, you'd need to at least imply your hero is somewhat hurt or even out of breath after taking on a gang of gun wielding thugs. I'd assume actually showing blood when someone is having their skull caved in would help too. You also need to show emotion of some sort. The only actor who shows a modicum of range here is Paul Dano, which is why it's a 4 rather than a 1 from me.

What we ended up with was a Wish version of Se7en mixed with Blade Runner's disastrous narration.

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Almost perfect.

[8/10 · 21 March 2022]

This may have made my list of favourite war films if it wasn't for the romance. There wasn't enough time to flesh it out which left it feeling awkward and unnecessary. The battle of wits between Jude Law and Ed Harris could've carried the film to greatness.

The Witcher (2019– )

The first season is fantastic. The second is not. The third is worse.

[6/10 · 17 December 2021]

The first season was a great adaptation that honoured the source material and added some new, interesting plot. The second season, other than the first episode, is almost unrecognisable. This wouldn't be a problem if the changes were good but some episodes are so poorly written, they feel like a cheap parody. The final two episodes were very well done but didnt quite make up for the slog that was episodes 2 - 6. There was another dip in quality in the third season. It was 8 episodes of nothing. The writers took some of the best scenes from the books and somehow made them incredibly boring.

I've updated my review after each season. I don't plan to watch the fourth season. My recommendation is watch the first season, then move on.

Season 1: 9/10 Season 2: 6/10.

Season 3: 4/10.

Hellbound (2021– )

Entertaining. A little too much filler.

[7/10 · 11 December 2021]

The CGI is decent, the soundtrack works and the acting is good. It suffers from something I'm beginning to think is very common in Asian or Asian-inspired TV shows - filler. There's a lot of it. Hellbound is an above average TV show that could've been a great 2.5 hour film. The fact it's only 6 episodes rather than the more common 8 or 10 saves it somewhat.

Sweet Home (2020– )

Starts out amazingly well, slowly goes downhill.

[6/10 · 11 December 2021]

The first few episodes of the show had me completely invested in it. From episode 7 onwards, it lost me. The writing is just too inconsistent. Far too much time is spent on characters introspection, and not enough spent reinforcing the world the writers are trying to build.

I Googled a few questions I had about the show and came across post after post - from those who have read the web comic - lamenting the fact that certain information wasn't included in the show, and questioning why background information was included. I have to agree with them. Far too much time is spent showing us flashbacks. We don't need "origin" stories as the characters are already in a dire situation that's going to change their personality going forward. What we need are explanations of why certain events are happening now, why certain monsters seemingly appear from nowhere and a bit more time spent showing us character interactions in the here-and-now.

The soundtrack is good. Unlike some, I also really like the CGI. Yes, it's cheap but it's well done and the style appeals to me. Some of the early monsters are reminiscent of those glimpsed in old films like Beetlejuice.