jackatAU Reviews

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Want Star Trek doing Babylon style serial? This is closest to date.

[5/10 · 11 October 2017]

I have watched an entire series of Star Trek Voyager and majority of DS9 and TNG, some Enterprise, all the movies, hence I can claim I am quality to know what Star Trek WAS/IS. And I love Babylon 5 (B5)!

Star Trek Discovery (STD) so far to its Fourth episode presented to audience a show that borrowed heavily on the base setup of Star Trek universe, with visuals that is Closer to the 'Jar Jar' Abrams' reimagining/reboot Star Trek movies. The FX visual production value is up there with ten million dollar plus SciFi movies two decades ago. It managed to make the show look more militarised and feels 'real' than the three major seven season long series.

Yet, the story presented so far, is closer to any high budget scifi show that IS not Star Trek like. It is not a series that reset the status every episode, but a war themed and arced serial. One closer example is the legendary Babylon 5! Yet, Babylon 5 has rich characters and well developed conflicts of an entire war from start to finish each episode onward via the eyes of multiple key characters, audience so far was not presented such development or hint of such depth on STD.

No where there are the hints and sub plots elements of Star Treks' philosophical trademarks so far, audience is presented a crisis military show with Star Trek technical elements as basis of the world building. Therefore it can be any made up sci fi universe and the show still works! Therefore judge the show as a sci fi spin off that base on Star Trek universe technologies, it is not bad, it is pretty watchable given one can swallow the occasional plot holes the size of our moon.

I believe if STD can find an audience, a reboot Babylon 5 TV series with similar style visual updates would Trump STD to the nearest blackhole.

In the mean time, for those that wish to make Star Trek great again has to watch Orville and hope there won't be fart jokes ever...

If this show is not called Star Trek but something like Galactic Quest of whatever, i will give it 6 out of 10 so far. but i have to deduct that one point for mis using elements of Star Trek.

The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019)

Excellent pilot, wonderful atmosphere, high quality production

[9/10 · 8 February 2015]

Judge by the episode alone, without comparing the detail of the book it base on, it can be said that this show is of top quality, the grim, rusting, stressed and 60s styling photography, the camera angles and choice of equipment used at the time all looked extremely authentic.

That super sonic liner sequence was wonderful, it doesn't feel overly CGI for a TV show at all, then the nazi reception room sequence also shows the production quality in fine details.

It is a spy, psychological story with surreal elements and the show managed to capture that so far.

Any one with know a thing or two about ww2 history or a scifi fan would appreciate the effort spent here to make the world as authentic as possible in a TV budget.

If it was granted more episodes and the production quality remains, then it would easily be short list for the best mini series of 2015!

9/10

The Interview (II) (2014)

uneven toilet joke heavy comedy infused with forced propaganda!

[1/10 · 26 December 2014]

All right, any one with a brain can conclusion this flick is at best barely worth the 5.99 steaming price, surely not the full fare..

Compare to 2012's Dictator, this flick is far, far worst in the jokes, humor department, enough to make that film a benchmark on how to make a acceptable political Micky taking film.

The setting of The Interview is rather promising, but the jokes really fall too short of classy, as they stuck overly to the in one's face butt, dick stuff that often found in cheap summer holiday films.

There is a positive satire message regarding the trash celeb focus part of the US entertainment pop culture has, but the in-jokes never dip deep enough to the depth on commenting that aspect, always only face value remarks. If the script writers were clever enough, they can easily get jokes along those topics that would easily make the film last the test of time. Sadly, they didn't, instead we get farts and mention of sexual organs in almost every sequence of the flick.

Still, for what it managed to pull off, some of the comedy action sequences are OK. Hence make it worth watching just for a selected few sequences of the film.

The ending sequence was a bit surreal in logic, hence make the message rather forced and uneven to the point of smelling targeted propaganda. I didn't enjoy the toilet humor, since the laughs are far between... therefore not very funny at times.

The flick would fall in a 4-6/10 territory, but like that unacceptably high The Dark Knight, many is giving it top scores and they must be canceled out. Hence 1/10!

RoboCop (2014)

Exceptional Humorous Satire Action movie (Minor Spoiler)

[10/10 · 8 February 2014]

I enter the theater with zero positive expectation. In fact I expect a piece of disappointment on the level of Sony's Spider-man remake fill with dumb ass plot point (since it is another Sony production), in-line with loads of other 'dumb down' remake like Total Recall.

But I came out well entertained and surprised.

First of all, this movie shouldn't be compare to the now legendary serious themed violent original. It should be saw as a remake of the base concept only. One that pretty much done right for the current world / US political situation of 2014.

Sony, who fund the movie perhaps learn from their spidy mistakes, seem to gave the movie makers a free hand on the scrip, hence this robocop is light on glory violence, but rather heavy on political satire humor.

The underline story arc of the central character robocop is very simple, even more simple than the original one but it fit in well enough in the bigger picture that is the satire vehicle.

Whenever there are no shootings, the stars of this movie is not the robocop but the supporting cast that made up with big names, like 'Holy Batman original' Michael Keaton doing a Steve Jobs inspired chairman of big US multinational company in search of the next iSuccess product at all cost. The bad-ass Samuel L. Jackson without his fists and light-sabre still gave the Fox USA network big mouth anchors a run for their money and Gary Oldman played his Dr character more believable than he did with Commissioner Gordon in the whole reboot Batman trilogy!

Done to death but has to be there corrupt cop sub-plot aside, the film managed to show the audiences a couple of situation satires mirror the US policies today, among them: military robot troops walking on streets of occupied Iran, mega factories in China building high tech machines for US corporations while back in USA the factories are small but sophisticated illegal drug labs and illegal weapon processing plants. Cameras are everywhere, makes robocop's job look real easy so the Surveillance State justified!

For me, original robocop is the political satire violent action thriller where audience expected to take it and its message seriously. This 2014 robocop is more of a 'tongue in cheek simplified' humorous political satire infused PG action film, audience don't have to take it seriously but it managed to get its messages across particularly for those understood the wit and reality of the situation. It can be done better but sadly we have to 'dumb it' down further for today's younger audience...

One big complain of this movie is the Brazilian born director's experimental use of shaky cam action sequences that, in some scene, was done so badly that makes me think that first person handycam monster movie Cloverfield was shoot on rail! Thankfully it wasn't always the case.

Over all this movie would be polarizing for the audiences, particularly some US audiences agree the opposite view would dislike it for the political satire messages it carries.

If those political satire weren't there, then this movie will be less the mediocre, a 4/10. Simply because of those satire sections and a logically functional script, it elevated the movie to at least 7/10.

To balance out the foreseeable 1/10 score from the haters in IMDb, apply how they rank Olympic performances by taking out highest and lowest scores, I will give this 10/10. Allow the score be better reflect its real standing sooner, avoid a situation like that hugely logic flawed The Dark Knight getting 9.5+ out of 10 for years.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight: A different 'plot' of view (A reality check)

[1/10 · 23 July 2008]

The Dark Knight: A different 'plot' of view (Warning: Spoilers!) Movies are men made, there will always be errors and imperfections The Dark Knight is no exception. Its production quality was great, well directed and well acted but its plot was far from flaw less. I will not go as far as claiming it as a great movie without connecting that super hero context it was based up on.

The biggest problem for Dark Knight's story originated from its realistic theme. Since unlike other Heroes, the caped knight has no super power. Equally, his enemies should have no super power either. Yet this Joker character in the Dark Knight has power beyond any super hero or villain: Power to defy logic! The new Batman series was praised for creating a world that is not like the one in the comics, it tries to be as real as possible. In short, it takes itself seriously as a normal movie! Therefore, I expect the plot to be logical and can pass the test of common sense.

While the first half of the movie was excellent, though there was already a dent that foreshadows the problem that was to come: When the Joker crash the Wayne's party.

This is the first time we saw Joker's super power at work. He walked in to the party from the gate. How would a few thugs with a leader that has face paint not be stopped at ground level of the building armed security guards that normally assign to guard a party attended by so many important people of the city? How would Master Bruce not be warned by his men beforehand when they are at the lobby? An army of private security would be storming in from every exit long before the Bat shows up! The joker and his men would never get away as cops would seal the building before a dramatic scene involving Rachel. One has to remember that just a few scenes ago, our hero Batman have to pull all sorts of high tech strings to get in a building in Hong Kong then get out. The Joker must have used his super power to stopped logic for him to walk out of the Bat's property.

The Joker's super power gets overly charged in the second half of the movie. It all began after the poor judge got blow up in her car and the police chief gets poisoned, where the Joker puts a challenge to the Bat by abducting Rachel and Dent. It may seem smooth on the surface but if we think deeper, we would notice that, unless it was Joker's super power at work and resources rival Mr Wayne, both victims would never get abducted as they were snatch off the streets.

We can pretend whatever happened in 2001 never happened in Gotham universe. But with two such important person killed a few scenes earlier, it spells open war between the gangs and law enforcement. Mr 'two faces to be' and Rachel who was working so closely with him and has connection with the Bat would be well protected by the good police and the Bat's high tech devices if I was writing the plot. As smart as Rachel's character was, she should know better not to leave the watchful eye of the Bat until the crisis was over! The abduction attempt would be immediately informed to the police and the Bat's sources. Dent would not be snatched without sparking a fire fight or an all out alert! You can't just have him walked in to a car be driven off and not be notice of his disappearance until it was too late. It is simply illogical for both simply vanished like that. The two aren't homeless on the streets!

We can forgive the use of Joker power at the sequence where Lt Gordon was shot, but what happen next was unforgiving. Unless there are super natural forces at work, no one in the real world would set an entire hospital with the amount of demolition charges seen in the sequence while the place was fully operational all the time before that. We watch and enjoy the gang in Oceans 13 went to great length and effort to simulate an earth quake under the target hotel, and set in place all their tricks before the hotel was fully operational.

If that wasn't enough proof of superior Joker power, he loaded two boat prepared and guarded by the army with stationed big barrel bombs, not in a pick-up truck loaded with bombs like the one seen in the science fiction movie dejavu. There is no argument that sequence was great in execution but it would never have happen the way it was shown in a realistic world that follows real logic! Then, I wonder how many men Joker has under his disposal to help him round up so many hostages in the building. Logic tells us the bigger the operation the more attention it would draw, it would be impossible for the law enforcement not to aware all those are hostages instead of Joker's gang.

Where is the realism? Well, Joker already explained to us: he does not play by rules! So this movie has no rules on the plot! For me, the second half of the movies is nothing but a few great set pieces sew together by illogical lines. These illogical plot elements totally destroy the movie's credibility and realism.

I am not picking bones out of an egg. I simply apply common sense on the plot; therefore I will stop short of praising this film as a great logical 'normal' movie. It is a great Batman / comic movie never less, a great piece of entertainment if the audiences are willing to over look all those flaws.

The Man from Earth (2007)

1 of the best movie in years, 1 to watch with our brains!

[10/10 · 24 December 2007]

This is simply one of the best sci-fi or let along best scripted movie appeared (so far) in the 21st century.

Well made and well shoot, this movie has no special effects, not laser cannons, it all focus on one simple idea: What do you do with some one who claim to have lived for thousands of years!

It wasn't that others didn't came up with similar concepts, it was the way this movie has revealed the concept in such plain, simple conversations and human interactions, that it captures audience with the ideas, thoughts naturally. It's shine point was highly accessible. Anyone who believe their thoughts and philosophy aren't dictated by doctrine should watch this film.

As for some of the controversial concepts raised in this movie, it matches what I have read from source which tries to explain things without resolving the miracle of god. An open mind is required for some to take the idea. But see that as a logical way to explain certain things, just as between creation and evolution, which creation supporters puts their case. OH! Confused over what I was talking about? Go watch the movie!

Good films and good stories should be promoted. I wonder if there is a director's cut that throws an hour more...

Story / Script: 10/10 Ideas / Concept: 9/10 Acting/Directing: 9/10 Educational value: 10/10