moonfog_sof2 Reviews

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009)

Very bad, but it can still be saved! (I hope)

[1/10 · 9 February 2008]

I really want this show to be good. I REALLY do. Sadly it is not. The storyline is messed up, and they constantly interfere with the future by doing something in the past, be it killing someone or blowing some building up, but oddly has no repercussions.

Every law official is lacking in brains, and civilians just stand there like monkeys looking at whatever danger is there. Cops and bad guys handle guns like they have never seen one before, and Sarah is almost like a terminator herself compared to everyone else.

The only good thing is the evil Terminator. The acting here is surprisingly good. And they manage to embrace the robotic acting of Arnold in the first movie. They even implement an original way of switching the actors by surgery. So far they have been lucky and both are seriously perfect fits as the role (in my personal opinion the new one in ep4 has the right look).

On the down side the good Terminator Cameron (Summer Glau) sticks out, and is VERY bad in this role. Her look and stature is not convincing for a Terminator. And the odd change in behavior from the first 2 episodes from being almost human suddenly changes to robotic and clueless.

It’s an insult to all Terminator fans this show. The show is feeding us with nothing, thinking we are idiots to buy into this as a worthy entertainment.

The show constantly refers to the movies, and that’s all it has to hold on to for a plot. It’s just about running and the plan to stop “Skynet” again.

I will not stop watching yet. I do hope they get their stuff together soon, and listen to our cries for improvement.

The Darkroom (2006)

Typical Michael Hurst....awful

[1/10 · 22 January 2007]

That might be a bit harsh for me saying that, but sadly so far in his directing career its true. Just have a look at what he as done so far. They barely make it past the 3 star mark.

Why did I watch this movie? 2 reasons. Lucy Lawless and Heroes star Greg Grunberg. Lucy was outstanding in this movie, her performance carries the whole movie. I do hope she gets a "blockbuster" and breaks into the bigger league of actors, she clearly has the skills. Greg was not so impressive, typical TV acting style.

The movie is oddly categorized as a horror. The only "horror" is short flashbacks, and they last a max of 2-5 seconds with a little blood in them. I personally would call this more a "drama/thriller".

But no matter how interesting the story actually is, bad directing, editing and acting (appart from Lucy) destroys it. You get no real connection to the actors, something which is very important in a story like this one. You just sit there watching feeling nothing. Its like watching a bad TV soap....actually I think the TV soap would be more interesting.

My advice: Stay away from this movie...or better yet just stay away from anything Michael Hurst is involved with.

Don (I) (2006)

Mix Scarface+James Bond and you get "Don".

[7/10 · 30 December 2006]

Don has the bad attitude of Scarface, with the coolness of James Bond.

Don does not disappoint, it might just surprise you. Like it did me. Goofy at times (some odd dancing/singing suddenly jumps in), but very well done action and filming. The editing could of been better during action scenes, at times you notice bad-guys waiting for their turn and for the final blow.

The story is not groundbreaking, but sticks to your typical James Bond style setup. Drugs and power. Almost seems like directors cant think of any other way to go when making action movies anymore...but hey, it works.

The thing that REALLY bugged me with this movie was the dialog. This is a "Hindi" movie, but every third sentence is said in English. Why the hell did they do that? Its almost as if they are desperately attempting to attract the American market and thinking this is the way to do it...but it does the opposite. It makes the movie incredibly annoying. Also its the main reason I did not give this movie a higher rating. They should of focused more on sticking to their own countrys style instead of blending in Americas.

All in all, its a good movie despite its flaws.

Jarhead (2005)

Not much of an effect

[2/10 · 1 June 2006]

At first I was worried that this movie would be your typical American Propaganda style movie. The kind were you see the flag in the air at the end, and the feeling of "Americans are the best" and all that jazz.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was a more psychological look at the war via the eyes of the foot soldier. Part of the time you are fed some elements that help you to see, and understand. But the amount of info is very lacking, and empty.

Sadly the movie leaves you in the place it takes place in....deserted in the desert. It fails at expressing itself. Jamie Foxx' performance was the only thing keeping the movie going. I only wish there was more of him in it. Perhaps if the movie took the view of his character instead it would of made a bigger impact.