Reviews

It wasn't long into this movie before it started to become clear why this movies has such low reviews.

Apparently many men started watching it hoping for some manly man, post-apocalyptic, MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) revenge fantasy, & when it turned out to be more complicated than that & even showed how toxic some of that type of thinking could be, they had some big mad feelings about that.

It's a good twist on the genre, nothing super original, but still an enjoyable watch. Soundtrack was rather odd, cinematography was great.

Makes me wonder if maybe we could designate all of Montana as a "sanctuary" of sorts for all the men who keep threatening to Go Their Own Way but just can't seem to get around to it? Parachute in supplies for them too even. Think of all the money that would be saved on law enforcement, family courts, ER visits, therapy, etc. If they were gone!

To be fair, I only made it one episode in. Thought this was going to be a big apocalyptic sci-fi show about how humanity is trying to prepare for & cope with the apparent end of the world, or at least for everyone in Asia.

Instead it's just a bad soap opera of horrible people being horrible & cruel to others the first chance they get. Even supposedly good characters are unnecessarily cruel to people they're in charge of.

There's no coherent plot or clear reason for all the jumping back & forth in time either. It just kinda happens. Virtually none of the characters are sympathetic or even interesting. I wonder if all the girls & women come across as less bratty, mean, & selfish in the original Korean, because the English dub made my eye twitch with how whiny & inept they were.

Sweet Home Season 1 was an excellent Korean sci-fi/horror series. This is just awful.

So supposedly this entire town is a dedicated sanctuary for witches, has been for generations, and only... one witch lives there? Huh?

In this alternate reality witchcraft is an accepted fact, yet it's not clear how exactly this town is any kind of "sanctuary" when there's plenty of witches living outside it who seem to be doing just fine, better than the one inside it actually. Plus, theres a disturbing number of townsfolk ready to start up the bonfires and dig out their dunking stools the first time someone whispers that witchcraft is to blame for any sort of tragedy.

I'm guessing that there's some kind of "bad" witchcraft at play making everyone behave this way, otherwise just about the entire town deserves whatever horrors come their way.

Sarah, the main witch, has no real moral backbone. She performs various spells to "help" friends, but lacking consent and with questionable outcomes. Some real "Harry Potter" love spell vibes here that we're supposed to be OK with. She keeps engaging in behaviors that are foolish at best, and life threatening at worst.

Her primary nemesis is delightfully evil in regard to their machinations and how they manipulate people. Best character on the show.

One episode left, that will determine how worthwhile the series is overall. Just slightly better than average so far.

This is seriously awful, not in a "so bad it's awful" sort of way either.

Apparently the world turned its back on the UK for good reason... nobody in the entire film (except for what we briefly see of Bob Hoskins) is redeemable or seems worth going to any length to save. We're given no reason to care about a single character. Frankly, I was rooting for the virus at the end.

I will say that I used to look at all of this kind of media with some degree of scorn... humanity has proven time and again that overwhelmingly it doesn't devolve into savagery and selfishness when disaster strikes. However... seeing the incredible selfishness and willingness to believe obvious lies if it allowed the majority of the population to pretend everything is normal and not have to care about others has made me realize that movies like this might be closer to reality than we'd like to believe.

You'll have to look up the Scottish words for yourself.

Over half way in and we STILL don't know much of anything about anyone. What ARE the blue rocks? Why are they valuable? Why do they make the soldier black out? Why is he there? Why is the AI a psychopath? What are any of the governmental sounding organizations and why should we care? Why was Solomon such a soulless psychopath? Why didn't Black guy remember what happened to him? And on, and on, and on...

Episode four was a bottle episode and rather interesting. I'm all for a slow series as long as SOMETHING interesting happens and SOME questions are answered. It feels like this could have been a really interesting movie that's being unfairly (and rather torturously) stretched into *checks notes* SEVENTEEN EPISODES?!!? You've GOT to be... pooping me.

Five stars for potential, because I'm feeling extremely optimistic. Will adjust accordingly if I make it through to the season finale.

To be clear, I'm only one episode in but I can hardly stand how awful the English dubbing is of this show!

My Italian is not very good, but regardless it's easy to see how bad the translation via dubbing is with the captions turned on. The captions provide a much more nuanced and often subtle version of the scene, one that seems much more in line with what's truly being expressed by the actors.

The english VO on the other hand often basically translates to "Witch bad. Burn bad witch!" or some other simplistic variation. It's awful!

Netflix seems to have a consistent problem with this for some reason. Is it that their own in-house translators are that bad, or what? It's truly mystifying why any production would undermine their own efforts this way.

Has about the same amount of world building, backstory & character development as your (VERY) average video game. As in, very little.

In fact, it resembles a video game so much that two members of my family came in my studio at two different times, saw a fight scene on the screen, and each asked why I was watching video game footage. The fight sequence between the two knights was especially bad in this regard, including silly slo-mo punches with trails & poorly rendered, pixilated backgrounds behind the main characters.

It was so boringly predictable & the writing so cliched that I found myself pausing it several times just to see how much longer I had to go as I'm generally loathe to give up entirely on a movie, always hoping it redeems itself.

It does not.

This second season is off to a delightful start, pushing some well-known characters well out of their traditional comfort zones... even if they're unaware of it at the time.

Crowley and Aziraphale are absolutely delightful and perfect foils for each other's quirks and missteps. Their relationship is such a beautiful example of friendship... their intimate knowledge of each other's strengths, weaknesses, secret delights & sorrows is something I wish all men could have in their lives.

Imagine what a gloriously different world we'd have if this were true?

Jon Hamm is fabulous in all his abundantly blissful ignorance.

That is not an euphemism.

Or is it...?!!?

I still need more characters so I will say make sure to check out the X-Ray extras for delightful BTS scenes and interviews. HOWEVER- Whoever let David Tennant on screen in that mangy, pill-covered, bug-scuffle looking sweater should be sacked! IMMEDIATELY. Wardrobe was apparently MIA making fabulous Liberace-inspired evening wear.

GET THAT MAN A SWEATER SHAVER, STAT!

David- Turn your sweaters inside out, gentle cycle, and lay flat to dry, Love. They deserve better.

This series is basically a soap opera. Love triangles, back stabbing, lies, bullies, manipulating narcissists galore. Ot is NOT anything remotely sci-fi or horror... except for kind of a few minutes towards the end... sort of?

Oh, & there's a camera that appears from nowhere that makes people disappear to nowhere. There is not a single line from any of the characters wondering why, where it came from, where people go, how it works, or really any curiosity of any kind about this completely bizarre & impossible device. Only ways they can use it for their own selfish & sociopathic needs.

It's an incredibly shallow storyline that refuses to explore or even briefly indulge in exploration of the stranger aspects of the consequences of using it. One guy tells a whole bunch of easily disproven lies about a woman's whereabouts... NBD apparently? A whole bunch of people who disappeared from a secure facility suddenly reappear & not one direct mention of it?

At the center is someone who is having an affair, & someone else that's obviously abusive, & we're supposed to like them? I think?

Not one person is really likable in this whole show. The last episode has a big "WTF?!!?" that they *sort of* hinted at, but really just seems like a desperate ploy to force a second season that I will NOT be watching.

This is a low budget film with some vague references to some "time-e-wimey" stuff.

It works despite/because there are no special effects/fancy props/etc to distract from the story with their low budget appearance.

However, the music editor really dropped the ball here. I'm no expert in post production, but often the background music sounded very odd, like it was somehow in FRONT of what was happening on screen if that makes any sense.

In several scenes there was zero sound/dialogue from the action on scene, just this bland soundtrack music that was too loud. I get that they were usually a montage of sorts. It just didn't work for me and was distracting.

With the exception of Gillian Anderson, the emotions and expressions of most of the cast were flat.

The way the ending was brought about was clever, I would have liked more info about how it all worked out, but that's me.

Oh, a final note- I get that Osment has been sort of cursed with a babyish looking face. However there's no way a rough, unshaven look like his would have been acceptable in that situation. It would almost certainly draw the wrong kind of attention.

The plot is so transparent and derivative that nothing I write here could possibly come as a surprise when it happens on screen.

I used to do SFX makeup for haunted houses where we had like 15 minutes per person and had to do a dozen each a night. Even though it was only (barely) seen in a dark, poorly lit room by kids and/or drunk adults, it all STILL looked better than what's shown here.

I swear, the brunette looks like her "stitches" are some kids temporary tattoos they're so bad. The "creepy" nails on the old man literally look like they're just cut out of old yellow tape and stuck it on. I am gobsmacked that anyone thought ANY of that was good enough for film, and I'm not even watching on an HD set!

Not worth renting, not worth watching. At all.

I'm watching this in 2023, 8-12 years after it was all created.

It's interesting how much has and hasn't changed in the interim.

First, the acting and special effects held up surprisingly well. Makeup/injuries were typically well executed (except for the "spikes"), though I suspect they wouldn't hold up on an HD set.

Noah Wylie holds his own, though his vocal fry becomes grating towards the end. Connor Jessup was impressively nuanced as his son Ben. Maxim Knight grew into his role as the youngest son Matt in what must have been a tough time as an actor from age 8-14 or so. Colin Cunningham as John Pope was delightfully morally ambiguous and flirted with belly flopping right into being evil well.

None of the female characters were especially interesting to me. Virtually all had their value and sense of self worth dependent on the approval/support of a male character, & were at least one male's love interest.

The four lead actors/characters that appeared in every episode all appear to be white, straight, American men.

Of the top 11 actors, 8 are male, 3 are female. Among them the diversity consists of 8 white people, 1 Black man, 1 half Korean woman, and one woman who's a quarter Mexican and one quarter Italian. Nobody struggles with racism, aside from the (actual) aliens.

No characters, be they human or alien, appear to be anything other than CIS gendered and heterosexual.

Religion, race, sexuality, gender, politics are basically ignored. Sure, there's vague allegories that can be inferred, but because they're so vague they can be easily interpreted to mean whatever the viewer wishes them to mean.

There's nothing here that would push someone out of their comfort zone and provoke thought like Star Trek, or The Last of Us S1;e3.

Most plots are driven by people deciding to keep dumb secrets & tell stupid lies to people they supposedly love & trust, usually in service of their own ego, and at great rusk of harm to others.

The rest are people acting in a hyper aggressive manner, taking impulsive, emotionally driven and unnecessary risks that endanger everyone and go completely counter to all their professional training, but somehow don't usually incur great (unintended) harm.

If someone does succeed in advocating for a calm, thoughtful approach, it almost always backfires.

There is repeated mention of how we must "hold on to our humanity" and not become violent monsters like the aliens, as if humanity doesn't consist of the most senselessly violent and aggressive animals already on the planet.

I can understand why this was originally rated 7+, and I am glad it serves as a valid contrast of a decent show that could be done much better now with a lot more nuance, representation, thoughtfulness, and thought provoking storylines. It would be worth rebooting in 10 years or so.

As of January 16th 2023, some jack hole wrote a whole bunch of trivia notes and didn't mark them as spoilers, so do NOT read them if you don't want the entire movie spoiled for you!

I submitted edits to mark as spoilers, so hopefully those go through ASAP.

As for the movie, even with many critical elements spoiled for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it. A few elements seemed unresolved, or perhaps I missed something during my first viewing. I plan to watch again for sure.

I've eaten at many fabulous restaurants, and appreciate artful presentations, but the pretentiousness of some of them spoils it. This film skewers them in such a delightful way. It's like a horror version of the epic food critic review " Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever." Very much worth the read!

This film had so much potential to be something interesting, something poignant, and it completely wasted it all in such spectacular fashion that even the supernaturally charismatic Dwayne Johnson couldn't salvage it.

A diverse cast embodying refreshingly non-white heroes/anti-heroes & villains set in a beautiful and unique (fictional) location provided a timely backdrop for discussions about how well the world really works in a good or evil binary. Or what justification the "Justice Society" (whoever the heck they are, we don't really get a chance to know before someone in FX turns the digital blender on high and throws all the characters in together) has for stepping in and deciding that Kahndaq couldn't have their own protector after having ignored the suffering of it's people for decades at the hands of evil villains with access to superpowered tech & weapons.

Instead we get Transformers level of chaotic, unrelenting violence, characters you're never given a reason to care about, and an anti-hero who just straight up murders tons of people with little thought.

I've wanted to see The Rock in a superhero movie for years and I'm flat out pissed that I waited for it to be THIS one.

Best thing about it was that it's the last time we see Cavill as Superman. He burned all his bridges on set of Witcher, good to hear they're going a different direction going forward.

So you can imagine I was eagerly anticipating this movie with the added bonus of Will Ferrell AND singing AND dancing AND my unmolested toothbrush.

I really admired the unique take on the classic Scrooge story, with some BTS of how it all works. Reynolds as a slimy, conscious-free, 8-Chan contributing, GQP asshat is great. His character truly nails a core strategy of certain :COUGH!:gop:COUGH!: political parties in getting their base so fired up with rage that it literally short circuits their ability to do any critical thinking. It's also nice to see him in a nice suit as opposed to a blood stained lycra onesie and not looking like hemorrhoids on a Sharpei's prolapsed anus, after being in a horrible fire.

However (you knew this was coming), the musical aspect fell flat for me, and I don't mean just notes wise. Neither Reynolds nor Ferrell are Broadway musical caliber singers, and the music seemed written with that in mind. It allowed them to sort of talk/sing their way through it, without anything too difficult or frankly (awful pun intended) noteworthy.

None of the songs were particularly catchy, clever or memorable. Frankly the singing TikTok the two of them did was far more catchy than anything in this movie. The dancing/choreo was much more impressive.

While I appreciated the ending (no spoilers), I just didn't buy it. There just wasn't really anything leading up to it to lead me to believe it was realistic for that character.

Would I like to see a sequel? Hell yes I would! (See title) However, given the singing abilities of the leads, since you can't get fancy with the music, at least be clever with the lyrics. Channel (or better yet, HIRE) Lin Manuel Miranda for something more worth of all the great actors that were in this one (and hopefully the second).

I hate when a series has such a disappointing ending that you feel angry you've wasted time investing in the show. I don't feel that was the case here.

No, everyone doesn't "live happily ever after," but then it's post-apocalyptic, dystopian sci-fi, so what do you expect? I'd be disappointed if they did.

Good character arcs, & redemption for those that deserved it.

My one big frustration was that throughout the last several episodes, but ESPECIALLY this one, they know they have very limited time on the surface, yet you almost NEVER see anyone hurrying, much less RUNNING. The fate of two worlds, BILLIONS of people is at stake and they can't muster up a slow trot even?!!? WTH??? There's just no sense of urgency at any point, knowing connections could be irrevocably broken at any second, and it's still "Hey! How's it going? Bob sends his love" type small talk. Ugh.

Other annoyance was the fact that in England, where weapons and ammo aren't as easily accessible as the US, they seem to have endless bullets to shoot at all metal robots, when it seems like some good spears, lassos, bolas or the like would have been much more effective (not to mention quieter). I hope the UK isn't developing a gun fetish too.

Otherwise, has next to nothing to do with the H. G. Wells version, but still enjoyable.

NOTE FOR THOSE NEEDING SUBTITLES The diverse cast was nice, but side note- they really need to coordinate subtitles with in show text. It often said "Speaking French" over the French translation in show, making it impossible to read. My French is good enough that I usually got by, but a few times had to turn off subtitles, rewind and watch for translation, then turn on again. Really annoying.