Tronic2 Reviews

Bored to Death (2009–2011)

Not boring but annoyingly stupid to death

[4/10 · 19 November 2010]

The main character Jason in an emo guy and his best friend Zach is a social loser. Every episode seems to repeat the exact same story: the recently- separated protagonist meets with some extremely sexy lady while playing private detective but then that never leads to anything. Solving a case consists of (1) answer the telephone, (2) meet the caller in person, (3) look in the place suggested by the caller and find the missing person there.

Meanwhile Jason's boss harasses him with some very personal issues, leading to tacky situations. The loser friend's issues get ignored while Jason keeps going on about how bad it is that his girlfriend left him and how he maybe should be drinking less white wine or smoking less pot to win her back.

At the end of each episode the situation resets back to normal: there is no character development and the the next episode is going to have an even sillier story than the one you just watched. Watching this crap makes you dull and I had to give up during the fifth episode of the first season as my brain just could not take this anymore.

The title sequence is nice and the music and directing are OK, so 4/10 for that.

The Experiment (2010)

Hollywood storytelling + a psychological experiment = a mediocre movie

[7/10 · 8 September 2010]

The Stanford prison experiment was about group dynamics when people were assigned roles of prisoners and guards but the movie only revolves around the two main characters most of the time, with others being almost entirely absent. As group dynamics do not really get into play, they miss many opportunities for personality development, which is what made the actual experiment interesting in the first place.

Due to the complete lack of character development (with one exception) the movie feels rather dull and the behavior of the characters, as well as their backgrounds, suggest that the researchers had knowingly picked individuals who had mental or other problems in the past. Even though the plot is about as linear as it can get, it is still full of holes.

The German version is much better, not because The Experiment is a remake but because it is dumbed down way too much. A typical reality-watching simpleton may find the remake easier to follow, though.

Even with its flaws, I give it 7/10 because the basic premise is interesting and the movie is refreshingly different. The set and the cast were certainly good enough.

World's End (2010)

An overlong B movie

[4/10 · 28 August 2010]

The movie takes place roughly ten years in the future, after the world has collapsed due to suddenly running out of oil. The premise is interesting and the story kinda hooks you up in the beginning, making you want to see where it goes.

Unfortunately, the production quality as well as the story declines quickly and by the ending credits you will only be disappointed. I made the mistake of watching the movie all the way, all the time waiting for that big twist to make it worth watching. Also, do not expect to see any cool sci-fi tech or you'll be disappointed even more.

The movie is rather brutal and this certainly will upset some viewers, even though I found myself wondering why they didn't do it all the way instead of making it dull like they did. This could have saved it in the lack of an actual story.

Battle for Terra (I) (2007)

Pocahontas in space

[7/10 · 12 September 2009]

Terra is a pretty basic animated "family" movie. The story is nothing too spectacular. The CG is mediocre but gets the job done, but the floating things (e.g. whales that fly as if they were swimming in water) and toxic green oxygen are somewhat detrimental for my suspension of disbelief. If you can watch the movie without being annoyed by the totally flawed physics nor the flat storyline, this is a movie for you.

The story is straight from Disney's Pocahontas, but I don't see that as a particularly bad thing, as the story is still good, even though it is quite predictable and exactly something that one would expect from a family animation.

This movie would probably be best suited for children around 12 years or younger, but I found watching it quite relaxing too.

For teenagers and adults interested on animated sci-fi I would recommend Titan A.E, Heavy Metal 2000 or Wonder Woman (the last two not for people easily offended by explicit content, though).

Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (2002 TV Movie)

Better than I expected

[8/10 · 28 January 2002]

Babylon 5 never worked fine in movies - there are The Gathering, In The Beginning, etc, but none of those really worked without watching the series. This led me to believe that this would be just another boring B5-movie, but fortunately I was wrong. While it has flaws, it is certainly a lot better than other B5-movies and pretty good as a movie overall. If JMS can write a movie this good, I just can't wait for the series...

Special effects, especially jumpgates, were worse than in B5. Well, maybe they'll learn. I don't know which software was used for CG in this movie, but I have seen AMATEURS creating VERY high quality CG with LightWave 3D (the software used for CG of original B5), so I must assume that professionals, with that software (current versions of it, with today's fast computers), could create real miracles.