deepc-188-206204 Reviews

Rick and Morty: Rickdependence Spray (2021) Season 5, Episode 4

Rick and Morty is going woke

[12 July 2021]

Rick and Morty is going woke. Oh, well. We got four good seasons from it.

White Lines (2020)

Worth a watch

[16 May 2020]

On the whole this was an entertaining experience. It's well acted with interesting (if not sympathetic) characters, has beautiful sets and locations, and a good score. While this is a crime story it is not a "gritty" or film noir styled production. The who-dunnit story is the main thread through-out the series but often that takes a back seat to what I'd classify as family drama. It's almost soap-opera in some scenes. A lot of the show revolves around the evolving relationships between family members and friends as they deal with their actions in the current as well as come to terms their actions in the past. (The show runs in two timelines: the present and the late 90s). There is quite a lot of screen time devoted to family interactions some of which is quite dark. Other themes the show presents are dealing with the transition of youth to middle-age, sexual morality and parenting. If that's not enough there is drug-comedy and a little crime family conflict in there as well. If that seems like a lot, it is but there is around 10 hours of viewing. Some of the situations and characters are quite unbelievable, especially in the drug-comedy sections. All the Romanians in the show are essentially parodies which is at odds with the rest of the characters. There are a few very good performances in this show. Daniel Mays (Marcus) and Nuno Lopes (Boxer) were standouts to me but whole cast was good. The lead Laura Haddock was fine. There is quite a bit of nudity in this show. It didn't seem out of place to me but definitely something to keep in mind if you're looking for something to watch with your parents! (Actually there are a couple of reasons not to watch this with your parents but I won't spoil it further).

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Meh

[1 December 2019]

This isn't a bad show but it certainly isn't a great one. I'd go as far as to say it's boring. I suspect I'm in the minority but The Mandalorian just doesn't do it for me. The title character is like a robot and not in a good way. I don't blame Pedro Pascal - he is a great actor who I've enjoyed watching in GoT, Narcos and Triple Frontier. He's been given a tough assignment to star in a show where you never see his face (or not in the first four episodes at least) and it's just not working for me. It is possible to have engaging characters like this and we have to look no further than the Star Wars franchise itself with Darth Vader and Boba Fett but they could just as well put up a cardboard cutout of the Mandalorian on the screen for all the charisma he displays. Another problem for me is the writing. It seems a little aimless. I guess the main thread is the parallel between the Mandalorian's childhood and what Yoda-baby is going through but I just can't get invested. The sets and special effects are good. Some of the supporting cast do a decent job. Werner Herzog plays his role well and Carl Weathers is OK. Gina Carano on the other hand ain't the best actor in my book. Storm-troopers still can't shoot to save themselves in this series. It would be nice if they were actually made a threat. One good thing about this series is that if there is a political message in there I can't see it. Thanks to Jon F. for creating a TV show that is just entertainment and not pretentious preaching. I wonder if this is the real reason there are so many positive reviews? I'll probably end up finishing the series but only because I've got this far.

Das Boot (2018– )

Two for the price of one?

[7 January 2019]

This is really two shows in one. There is a link between them but for the most part the two stories run in parallel with little interaction. One is the story of the men on the German U-boat. This story is - as you would expect - totally male. The second story is based on land in France from the U-boat base. It is mainly a story of women. If you come into this show wanting to see Das Boot the movie on the small screen and nothing else then you will - like at least one reviewer below - be dissapointed since around half the time is spent on land. Personally, I enjoyed both stories. The sets and costumes look good, the stories move along at a good pace and the acting is fine.

Bodyguard (2018)

Worth a look if you have a day to kill

[7 January 2019]

Certainly a watchable show - I binged the entire season in one sitting - but not without its deficiencies. It looked good, the pacing was good and contrary to some other reviews I didn't find the acting wooden. I thought the acting was fine. The writing was what I had a few issues with. Much of it was fine but some parts were eye-rolling and one part was so laughable that I could have been watching a parody of serious police thriller this was. In the final episode we find out the bomb-maker was a "meek" muslim girl arrested in the first episode that everyone thought was manipulated by her husband. She ends up spilling her guts for no reason at all and the acting in that scene really did make me laugh out loud. The writers also made an attempt to give most major characters an opportunity to shine and also a situation where they acted less laudably. I can only assume this was an attempt at "balance" but resulted in some writing that seemed forced or shoe-horned in just to tick this PC box. The casting had me eye-rolling a little as well. They dialled the "diversity and inclusion" up to 10 (which I guess shouldn't surprise with this being a BBC production). A case in point was in the first episode where all three of the speaking characters in a police armed response team - SO19 I think - were all women. Surely a case of presenting society as the producers wish to see it as opposed to the reality. The diversity box didn't get ticked quite so thoroughly when it came to the "bad guys" though: white male organised crime figure; white female police officer turned organised crime informant; white male "spooks"; white make sniper; female muslim bomb-maker (and her husband I suppose but he hardly gets any screen time). Pretty much all white and mostly male; still they managed to get a couple of chicks in there. I suppose they were trying to "subvert" our expectations of who the enemy is. The thing is my expectations we actually meet. In summary though if you're interested in this show it's worth a look. I don't get the amount of 10/10 reviews given to this show but it's definitely not a waste of your time.

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

Hollywood take note

[4 May 2018]

There are many things to like about this series. Probably the best thing for me is its rejection of political correctness and victimhood culture. Actually, rejection is a strong word and this isn't a protest piece by any means but there is definitely a theme of taking responsibility for one's own fate and confronting adversity with resilience and even some agression. (The show is intelligent enough to portray overt agression or anger as counterproductive). There is one great scene during a karate tournament where a competitor starts pretentiously virtue signalling to the crowd. The reaction of Johnny Lawrence is priceless. Hopefully Hollywood takes note that virtue signalling is not a prerequisite for great entertainment. It's great to see a show that is intelligent with messages to tell but doesn't take itself too seriously.