Reviews

As someone who cannot handle horror films I started this series with great skepticism. I was quickly disproved however as the series presented itself with fantastical keys, their mysterious powers and a mystery so convoluted that we are kept at the edge of our seat, straining for details trying to put together the mystery ourselves.

The cast is phenomenal and the characters are rich and deep. Kinsey's transformation is remarkable through the show. The internal struggles of Tyler finding his identity are excellently thought through and developed. Bodie brings reason to troubled teenage decision making and gives us the fearless curiosity and creativity that drive the fantastical nature of the series. Nina grounds the family in their grief and haul us through their emotional roller coaster with superb acting.

The fantasy elements of the keys are extraordinary and bring excitement and awe to the series. As a Sci-Fi fan, I hoped that some of the keys would be used more through the series. While the plot was really well written there were so many opportunities to use the different keys more thoroughly. Here are my reviews of each of the keys and some of the plot holes as a result. If you don't want spoilers don't read below. I rank the keys from 1 to 10 for how well they were used in the plot and for how powerful they were used.

The Music Key: Power = 1st. Plot Usage = 11th. To control people is an ulitmate power and this power was not explored to its full potential. This key made me hate Kinsey and even by episode 10, I still wasn't able to forgive Kinsey for her awfulness. Scot is such a genuine character and through the rest of the season I was continuously frustrated that Scot forgave her. I needed him to get mad at her for me and I didn't get it. They missed the opportunity to explore what happens when you try to use the music key on dodge? Why didn't sam or dodge use it on the Locke's?

The Fire Key: Power = 2nd. Plot Usage = 2nd. Most Amazing! Was used extensively and appropriately. The scene at the end fighting the shadows was very thrilling.

The Shadow Key: Power = 3rd. Plot Usage = 3rd. While the shadow fight scene was great, how Dodge attained it was ridiculous. Why in the world would the kids let Ellie take the key back to her house when they KNOW that Lukas hangs out/lives there. The key should have stayed in the Keyhouse in the possession of a Locke. The crown is great. The power of this key is only behind the music and fire key since fire can defeat the shadows (as seen in the last episode) and the music key could allow a person to control the person with the shadow crown.

The Brain Key: Power = 4th. Plot Usage = 4th. This key was fantastic and it's strength and power is clearly shown by Erin in the psych ward. The idea that you could be trapped in your own head, that you could hide things in there, that you could manipulate your physical representations of your emotions like fear were amazing. I do think that there was a missed opportunity to see inside Tyler's head. I also wish that Sam's alternate second identity inside his head could have been explored more thoroughly. Why didn't they go inside their Mom and Duncan's brain in order to figure out why something was suppressing their memories?

The Ghost Key: Power = 5th. Plot Usage = 10th. There were so many missed opportunities with this key. Whenever the group needed to find out information/spy on others, this should have been the very first thing they should have gravitated to. I also find it astounding that only Bodie was interested in becoming a ghost whatsoever. There was additionally a missed opportunity to use Sam as a ghost to help their cause (supposing that in dying he became a changed man, or, I guess, ghost). Also, why did Bodie never go back to his great great grandfather to learn more about all the keys or about his father's history?

The Identity Key: Power = 6th. Plot Usage = 8th. There were somethings I was surprised with here and other things that I was not. Ellie being framed as dodge at the end was unsurprising. It also wasn't very surprising that Gabe was dodge as something was fishy about him the whole time. I was not however aware enough to track if there were any plot inconsistencies with one person occupying multiple persons. While this key does have power in disguise it is not and deception is it less powerful than the Ghost Key because it is more dangerous and difficult to carry out spy work.

The Door Key: Power = 7th. Plot Usage = 1st. The ability to travel to any door is very useful but in comparison to the other keys it only sits in the middle in terms of power. The scenes in the beginning with dodge are particularly fascinating.

The Closet Key: Power = 8th. Plot Usage = 5th. One might be surprised I have this key up so high on my list. Repairing the omega key from the ashes of Randall was brilliant. How the closet was also able to act as a device for the desperation of Nina in her alcoholism was riveting and heart-wrenching. Can you think of a better way of representing grief than a 6 years-sober mother reneging on alcohol and going loopy with herself thinking that she can put her husbands ashes into a closet and have him come back to life when she opens it?

The Flower Key: Power = 9th. Plot Usage = 6th. I like the idea behind a grave for memories. I wish the memory grave was explored more extensively however.

The Echo Key: Power = 10th. Plot Usage = 7th. This key sits in the middle of the pack because the key itself is not the problem here; Ellie is. She is a weak character and even with the exposition and backstory I do not feel her story. The acting is also not there. Why so much grief for Lukas when she has Rufus? Why would she do it sooo many years later?

The Omega Key: Power = 11th. Plot Usage = 9th. I am still unclear on what this key does or what is behind the door, or why dodge wants it so bad. Why didn't Gabe just take the key when he was at the door. It feels like Gabe being dodge was written as an afterthought rather than the full fleshed out plan that someone like dodge should have.

The second mean girls is enjoyable and lives up to the kind of silly hyperbole girl drama that the original provides. The difference with this new film is it spins it in a more modern female empowering way the character of Jo and her eventual crew of "anti-plastics". However, the character development is quite weak through the film in that none of the plastics really change by the end, particularly Mandy whose conflict with Abbi was never resolved. The plot was somewhat predictable but that might also be because the plot is just a collections of schemes back and forth until Mandi get's thrown in jail. The original Mean Girls had theme's of choosing between friends, looking pretty, cheating and petty behind the back chatter. This new Mean Girl's goes with just bullying and doesn't even resolve that. Despite all this however, the comedic aspects are fun and the aesthetic is authentic to the original. Its a meh movie to watch once if you like Mean Girls and then maybe not again. It's just not that compelling.

This was a middle of the road show. Some characters were great (Angelica, Crumble, Wesley, and some may disagree but Turbo!). Others were just cringe worthy (Principal Michael, Sam, and Josh). The plot had some good elements but also had gaping holes in it and the environment they lived in felt more simplified with every episode. This show wants to build on a post apocalyptic world but seems to have little to no interest in it's sci-fi or political aspects.

The show begins with Josh sharing his intimate knowledge of the new political layout. The idea different clans occupying different territories through violence is novel and convincing, but by the last episode of the series it makes no sense that the most powerful clan in the area would suddenly go back to being regular high schoolers. Another example is the sheer fortification of the Mall completed by Eli that somehow was gone with Josh and crew just waltzing in and out whenever they like, then somehow controlling 30 people they bring to the mall not to go into chaos selfish mode and ransack the mall. The fend for yourself, violent, politically charged world they live in does not fit with such a narrative.

Talking about the characters, Sam and Josh are awful representing the new kid who is a hopeless, clueless, dumb romantic trope getting the queen of the school who is perfect in pretty much everything trope. Wesley on the other hand is brilliant. A black gay character who does not adhere to the standard gay script of hollywood was brilliant and the tragic love story between him and Turbo has more realness than anything Sam and Josh could ever have. Angelica, the "evil genius" ten year is amazing with her ingenuity and sometimes soft side towards crumble and her mom. Crumble struggling as a Ghoulie was intriguing, captivating and hilarious. Eli and his sneaky, hairstylist, mall curator comedian was funny, interesting and great at interrupting Josh's cringy fourth walls and making them somewhat bearable.

The show is gruesome and while the show was okay, the goriness of the show was a bit much for me. The redeeming factor for this show for me was Wesley and Turbo, Angelica and Crumble and the comedy of Eli sprinkled throughout. The plot was disappointing, the environment was disappointing, and the main characters were unoriginal and uninteresting. Also, the ending was really bad. If you are gay, you should watch it. If you aren't, I wouldn't bother.

The opening scenes of the 2011 film Hanna are immensely gripping and exciting. The film portrays a highly skilled and intelligent young woman who has been diligently trained and informed of almost everything regarding her life, who she is and the organization that created her. She has this confidence and near-emotionless state. The TV show rendition, however, completely throws out this character and replaces her in favour of someone whose only real shared traits with the old Hanna are her physical capabilities and heightened senses. The most stark comparison could be viewed with the original film where Hanna mentions to the boy beside her that "kissing requires a total of 34 facial muscles", then pins him to the ground before they can kiss. Sophie comes over and exclaims "Hanna!" She replies with "Should I let him go?" Sophie then proceeds to brings out her sass with "As opposed to what?!?". The scene is hilarious and I wish the series could have incorporated some of this humour around Hanna's character rather than having her appear sullen and depressed 99% of the time.

This is also a good moment to contrast Sophie from the film to the series. In the film, Sophie is much more outgoing and energetic. In the series, she doesn't have this same sort of "social" energy. Her energy more so derives out teen angst from her parents martial issues of which we never actually get to see. As a result, the parents are more like mannequins than characters and Sophie's development gets kind of stuck. We see some development with the silly conflict over a boy. This was also confusing since I had somehow understood Dan to be Sophie's new boyfriend, but with Hanna walking in on Dan with another guy and Sophie flirting with Anton the whole episode made very little sense and contributed nothing to the overall story arch.

I enjoyed Marissa's new character, even with the big differences from the sadistic Marissa played in the original Hanna. The weight of her past decisions fully carry through into her character and the addition of Oliver makes her a fully rounded character that I am excited to see more of. My one critique was that we did not get to see enough of the Oliver-Marissa relationship. The new antagonist, Jerome Sawyer, I did not enjoy however and I am glad he won't continue into a second season. The character was very shallow in that we saw nothing of him besides him carrying out work from some phone boss. He claimed to have a wife and kids during Erik's interrogation but no where else through the series did I see him consider the impacts of his actions on his family. Did he even have one? What were his motivations? The Marissa character as the antagonist in the film had faults too, but at least she was interesting. Her scene of meticulous hygiene, brushing her teeth until they bled, was a particular standout What makes Jerome interesting? What scene could I reference to say that this is quintessential Jerome and not just any other ordinary militaristic antagonist? I honestly can't say.

Away from characters and into the plot. The story starts out about the same as the film with Hanna in the woods being trained by Erik, except she leaves the confines of the woods in the series and meets a boy. The interaction was very interesting and its a shame we did not see more of that romance. She gets caught and taken into the facility with Marissa and then promptly escapes with much less grandiose than the film. She then meets the vacationing family, Sophie gives us gay vibes for Marissa but it doesn't go anywhere, the family takes her to France, and then they part ways with Hanna leaving to Germany and Sophie to England. Erik tries to pull out a plan to kill Marissa, which backfires and makes him an international criminal. His B-Plan ends up with him kidnapping Marissa and using her to try and pull off some crazy flight plan which fails horribly. By some miracle of god Erik does not die (he should have - he was running on an open tarmac with 15 people shooting automatics at him!). Hanna finds out Erik is not her father just before this, gets mad at him and leaves to go see Sophie where they do fun times with boys (as already mentioned). Now that you know the first 5 episodes, feel free to skip them and just start with episode 6 where the story actually starts to get interesting with Marissa going rouge, and the UTrax plotline developing. The first half of the season is bland with lots of filler (car driving up, getting out of car, walking up steps, checking into the hotel; like seriously, there were probably at least 6 scenes like this). The action is brief and generic and almost a little over kill. I would have liked to see more reserved smart action sequences. They were missing the feeling encapsulated by the original with the Hanna-Erik-Hanna rapid fire quote: "Adapt or die. Think on your feet. Even when sleeping".

My last criticism is the soundtrack. Most of it was boring. I don't think I can recall a single jingle. The film was way better in this regard. Consider when she escapes from the compound where they have her detained initially. The music for the series is a bleating metallic drum and string plucking. For the film, its an upbeat exciting "Oceans 11" punk beat that makes you excited to see what Hanna and her impeccable confidence and lack of fear will do next. The series relied mostly on music from artists with some thriller/action generic sound sequences rather than an original soundtrack. Sometimes this was appropriate, but it other times I found myself annoyed at the choice of music, or the frequency of the "musical scenes". They end up losing their weight if repeated too much. An excellent example of a successful musical sequence is "Person of Interest" at the end of the show's third season where 'Exit Music (For a Film)' by Radiohead is played. It would have been nice to see the musical scenes carry the same sort of impact rather.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It was different from the film and I enjoyed the more open ended conclusion to the series. The film felt too conclusive for the amount of set up that went into it. I came out of the movie desperately wanting more, even though they tied all the knots for every plot line. I would like to give the show a higher rating than a 5/10 because I do want it to be renewed, but the bland writing, shallow characters, filler scenes, non-impactful music, and the generic action each deducts a star. Despite my criticisms of the series and my lowish rating, I do recommend this to others who enjoy action, spy, thrillers, euro series, but probably only second to the other great series in this category such as "Counterpart" and "Nikita". If this show does get renewed for a second season I think it could have the potential to hit it out of the ball park if some improvements are made. Now that the writers are free from the movie, maybe this will allow them to shine better. I will eagerly await!