Reviews

This movie was utterly pointless, possibly because they did not want to change much in the cinematic universe timeline. The script was almost inexistent and felt inconsequential. Gadot and Pine desperately try to save the whole thing but it is impossible since they do not have much to work with. Even the time period makes no difference and is better used in films like Bumblebee, which was a superior experience all around. Worst of all, even the other bad DC/Warner films at least had camp to catch your attention. This movie is written in such a serious tone which makes it look even more hollow.

Seriously I wanted to like this movie so bad, but it ended up being literally unwatchable, actually worse than Catwoman, which at least had some funny bits and followed the character. Avoid at all cost.

Temperance and Booth deal with the death of a film student , which strangely involves an 18th century witch. They observe some footage shot by the students themselves and then meet with the victim's elder brother who appears to have a lot in common with Temperance. Also, Booth and Dr Saroyan's relationship goes out in the open forcing him to redefine his relationship with Dr Brennan.

This episode is rather predictable and somewhat lacks tension even with the presence of multiple potential criminals. The whole "Blair Witch Project" approach seems nice on paper but could be executed in a much better and satisfying way. It actually looks closer to the first season with supernatural elements that do not fit so well into the main story. But not everything is bad. The chemistry between Booth and Brennan is still running strong and manages to save things up. Also we observe more of Dr Brennan's poor social skills and her obsession about her parent's death. Hodgin's and Angela's relationship also continues to unfold.

In all, a solid episode, though not as good as the rest of the season so far...

Though the theme of this episode, which involves the main characters being buried alive has become pretty common ( mainly since Tarantino's Kill Bill movies and his two CSI episodes,) here it is well executed and fits into the series really well.

Temperance and Booth discover two corpses left by the mysterious "Gravedigger", a villain that buries his victims alive asking for ransom within a time limit. He also abducts Temperance and buries her alive along with Hodges. While the most obvious couple of characters buried alive in a car would be Temperance and Booth the episode works because it takes advantage of their confessions to each other throwing light to both Booth/Brennan and Hodges/Angela's relationships (especially to the latter which has been on the spotlight throughout the season)…The episode, in general, throws some more light into it's "secondary" characters and the ways they are connected making them appear more than just a few "squints" (to quote Agent Booth's characterization).

We also see, for the first time, the spiritual side of Temperance and what she thinks about God. Her skepticism serves the episode well in terms of dialog and gives depth to her character.

Trapping the main characters into a car deep underground doesn't lead the series out of the fields of science. As Temperance and Hodgins are trapped inside the car they try to find ways to survive, including how to cope with Hodgin's wounds (he was hit by "Gravedigger's" car) and how to communicate with the outside world etc. Thus though with time the agony elevates, the series does not enter the field of "scare tactics" and maintains its focus. As for the ending it showcases the slow changes in Temperance's psyche and brings her a bit closer to Agent Booth. A crime novelist that follows "Gravedigger's" path is also shown here (played by "shield's" Benito Martinez) but his character is not analyzed thoroughly (but that's way to much to expect from a 40 minutes episode and the ending definitely leaves space for him to appear in the future?).

In all one of the best episodes of the second, much improved series, which demonstrates its true quality in characters and script writing. Another proof why a good forensic show can be effective and satisfying in many levels.

We all know Jane Austen wrote remarkable literature about the social tissue of her Age. Her books place her amongst the greatest writers of all times like Flaubert or Maupassant being more joyful and less mean and pessimistic. However this does not mean that the author's life is equally interesting, or that every period of it is worthy of our attention.

I am saying this because "Becoming Jane" covers so little time from Austen's life that can be considered a fragment of a bio-pic. And while some can argue that the beginning of her career should be the most interesting part of her life, I'd say that every period in a writer's life matters. Writers like all human beings evolve and "idolizing" them in their youth to discard their elder years looks like giving them a "celebrity" treatment, which is unfair, to say the least.

Anyway, here we see how Jane engaged herself in the pursuit of happiness and eventually managed to become a great author. So another problem arises. Great personalities are not what they are simply because of the facts of their lives. Experience plays some role, surely we live and learn, but there are other things, too. The character of Jane here shows no sign of passion and she looks so ordinary and clichéd that ruins the whole movie. It's more like an A+ B = C procedure. But if that could be true for Jane then any woman that passed through marriage problems could be a great author. Thus instead of stressing out the writer's personality this films erases it missing its purpose.

Anne Hathaway surely is a gorgeous woman but lacks the charm her role desperately needs. She maintains a sweet face through the film and shows almost no expression, thing which does not allow us to understand her character's feelings. In all, I am sure somebody like Keira Knightley could do way better job than her. James McAvoy is a brilliant actor but suffers because his Tom LeFroy role is pretty clichéd too and does not offer him a fair chance to demonstrate his talent. His role is like a guide for the young author, helping her meet the joys of life but never shows any charm or wit. Veteran actor James Cromwell adds a fair but sterile performance lacking any tenacity.Maggy Smith also appears, quite predictably, we should add.

There are positive elements too, mostly on the technical aspects. The movie has a rather nice atmosphere, some scenes are well-executed, but boredom prevails... The ending finally gives us a glimpse of Austen's psyche and caps up the whole movie quite nicely but it comes way too late, leaving the viewer pondering whether a focus on the elder Austen could be more interesting and captivating.

In all it's a decent movie that fails to reach into Austen's soul and show us her unique talent and the events that helped her bring it out into the world

This movie has a really incredible opening. A speeding car rushes past a damsel-in-distress, she enters it and the title screen is projected through the car's wind-screen. Based on a Mickey Spilane classic, it chronicles Detective Mike Hammer's quest for a hidden suitcase with a deadly treasure. Some really strange characters appear (one of which is the Greek owner of a car repair shop and the ever appearing hero's paramour).

The acting deserves a special praise. Ralph Meeker is excellent in the role of Hammer looking tough and cold. Nick Dennis, a veteran actor, adds up well to the film. Some of the smaller roles are also good especially the main villain who makes a brief entrance during the movie's finale.

This movie is of course more than 50 years old, so it has to be said that certain of it's key concepts would be easily discarded today. Also it has to be noted that the pace slows down in the middle of the film and that the investigation takes way too long, gong from one character to another and confusing the viewer without any purpose or direction. But the strange and startling finale should make up for any plot inconsistencies.

In all, anyone interested in pulp literature and films should watch this one. For all the others, suffice to say that weak points make their presence, sometimes loudly but can't erase the strange sensation this movie brings to the audience. Though a similar film made today might have been completely different (with less investigation and a longer and better defined finale) even time can't beat up Spillane's dark humor and Aldrich's atmospheric sequences.

Director Mark Steven Johnson (of "Daredevil" and "Electra" movies) and his screen-writers made this homage to a cult-70's Marvel book a real mess. If I could I'd ask the people involved : "If you don't like a subject or a specific comic book (like our case) why go and make a movie about it?" Yeah, it's the money, stupid. Except that,in the end, your lack of interest is going to be very obvious. With comic adaptations stealing the spotlight they could surely do better ...

This movie fails miserably even in the visual level were similar films usually excel, which is kind of surprising since even old Mark Steven Johnson hacks like "Daredevil" packed some eye-candy. It seems like instead of progressing with his career and evolving his techniques MSJ goes one step backwards at a time."Daredevil" had some good moments (namely the first 15 minutes) "Electra" was worse and this hits rock bottom...

You could easily blame the original comic but that's not the case. Movies like the "Blade" trilogy (the first two parts actually) or even Sin City are based on similar books but are actually a lot better. I think that's mostly because directors like Guillermo del Torro (Blade II, Hellboy ) observing the weak and schematic scenarios, cover it all up with nice visuals and set a steady pace in their films, while MSJ works mechanically using as little imagination as possible.

Nickolas Cage, who seems to be picking his roles without any thought or care, also fails miserably here. He tries to fit in the role of the undead Avenger but lacks the charm and the guts of a powerful performance. He sports a melancholic expression that is out of place and can even provoke laughter and not compassion.Peter Fonda's participation as Mephistophelis could bring a lot of charm but in the end ridicules a man best remembered from the epic "Easy Rider".Eva Mendez is simply as wooden as it gets.

Small budget, bad effects and mediocre acting, make this movie hard to watch even for the die-hard marvel fan.

A script that's a total mess, story lines that go absolutely nowhere and generic characters did not help this American version of "Riget" to stand on it's feet.

At first I have to say I was attracted by this series because it seemed like offering something new and more complicated than your average "Jack Bauer-hour". I understood the fact that this adaptation needed time and space to find a steady pace, so it was OK for me to wait for 5-6 episodes to see the sparkles flickering on my TV screen...

Alas, it was all to no avail. The main story had no direction and although the hospital was clearly the central setting it did not give any sign of coherence to the series. The characters were rough caricatures of people and, sometimes, even their dialogue lines made no sense. It was like listening to stereotypical mambo-jumbo and, it may sound "arty" for a while but on the long run it brings nothing more than a head-ache. The level of acting was also average, even for a TV show. No explanation was given on anything and having a week's gap between each episode made the whole thing difficult to watch so I gave up after half season. I suspect that in DVD format, it's maybe easier to follow but I really don't have the guts to go through this series again...

This show was really really bad. But as I said earlier the worst part of this deal is not the quality itself rather than the abandoned promises... Looks like they promised us the stars but left us dangling in the gutter, instead.