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NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service (2003)
Review after 12 seasons : show started OK to become the most unbelievably bad series ever
I'm reviewing NCIS after watching 12 seasons.
I don't know how I made it past 5 seasons actually. But sometimes there's nothing to watch. The show actually started out OK. But after Sasha Alexander was killed off it just became an avalanche of badly repeated recipes, mixed with some extremely cliché characters.
The NCIS is not an anti-terrorist task force. Yet this is how the show portrays them. All the characters are the worst stereotype you can think of. Maybe not Ducky. He's the only one that is likable.
What frustrates me most is how CHEAP the show is. 90% of the victims are found in the same setting : either a park or somewhere near a wooden area. Then the rest of the show takes place in the cheapest FAKEST office building, with very obvious fake walls, fake windows, fake doors, fake lights.
Save for the protagonists, no one seems to work in the office !! All they do is walk in the background, over and over again at the same pace for no reason at all. Not one bit is believable. Now the night scenes : the same stupid street is used for ALL the episodes. For a show that takes place in DC, they could have at least have SOME scenes in DC, right? Nope.
Conclusion : unrealistic, unbelievable writing, terrible corny jokes, unlikeable characters, can't believe they made 12 seasons of this
Yip Man chin chyun (2010)
Weak acting, dull storyline and poor combat scenes
Many actors from the Ip Man sequels starring Donnie Yen are cast in this Yip Man film. That is everything they have in common.
Acting : the main actor is no Donnie Yen. His fighting was OK, but he was inexpressive. His face and body language were that of an inexperienced actor. The other actors did a better job and were more believable.
Storyline : two useless love stories are included, but they bring nothing to the table. They don't help build up Yip Man's character at all. The child actors were probably the worst I've seen. Literally reciting line after line.
Action scenes : the fighting was very unequal. Some scenes packed a punch, while others felt very unreal. For a movie on Yip Man's Wing Chun, seeing roundhouse kicks and acrobatics was very out of place. Even on the characters voiced his concerns about high kicks not being appropriate!
3/10, Donnie Yen's movies were MUCH better
Paper Towns (2015)
Beautiful acting and cinematography, plagued by poorly written ending
After "The Fault in Our Stars" which was a very good movie for me, why not try another John Green this time!
To sum it up I would say "Paper Towns" has : + delightful photography, absolutely beautiful shots for the night scenes + superb acting, even for Delevingne who was more known as a fashion model + good pacing, no notable moment of boredom + very exciting first act
However, the marvel of the first act as well as the buildup it created only contrasts with a very disappointing ending. I blame the writing and even the director, for the sudden change of tone. It would have created a bigger impact, had he kept the sadness and bitterness of the bus station scene. However, the director felt the need to let Q go back to his prom and serve a halfway happy ending. Very unsatisfying.
And why would Margo leave riddle-clues to just "let Q know she was OK" in 2015? Wouldn't a text message be more appropriate?
A minor detail though I applaud Cara Delevingne's acting, she did slip in and out of her British accent throughout the movie.
Overall, entertaining movie with a solid cast but mediocre ending.
Selma (2014)
Slow pace, but irreproachable acting and splendid cinematography for a very powerful movie
I had high expectations for this movie and I was still impressed.
Though slow at times, boredom is never felt. The movie took its time to deliver an poignant film.
David Oyewolo was simply amazing as MLK. His presence and his charisma through his portrayal was very sincere. Carmen Ejogo was the surprise for me here. Her acting was top notch and faultless.
Even minor characters were supported by extremely talented actors. Thus throwing the spectator for 2 hours in an important part of history.
The make up artists and costume designers really worked hard on this one. It has been mentioned by others already but I mention it again.
Overall a very good movie that does not disappoint. 7/10
CSI: Cyber (2015)
Bad acting, poor writing, unbelievable characters, ridiculous use of tech
It is a rare occurrence to see a movie portray the use of technology in either a believable way, or in a non-boring way. In this case it is as terrible as you can imagine.
Arquette showed her best acting in the series Medium. However here she is less than credible as the leader of a cyber crime unit than as a psychic.
James Van Der Beek as a police officer? I tried and tried but couldn't get over his Dawson days. The worst offender here is Lil Bow Wow. Yes the teenage rapper Bow Wow as a "geek".
The other two actors portraying the geeks are even worse because of how laughably bad they look. An overweight neckbeard and the bleach-blonde latina, who both parrot the most ridiculous lines.
"Setting a fire through the internet"?! Seriously?
Not only are the writers technologically deficient, they also insult the regular audience intelligence with over the top flashy graphics that do NOT serve the story telling. Instead they're annoying and unfunny.
At some point, you see Bow Wow and the words on screen give his internet username and "ex black hacker". The writers may have wanted to write "ex black hat hacker" but the slip made me laugh. Just one more stupid example of how bad this show is.
Sicario (2015)
High promises, high tension, but low action and cartoonish characters
I was hyped up by the mainly positive reviews and the trailers. The posters also looked intriguing. Having mostly heard good things about this movie, I went in with high expectations I admit.
Very good start, a lot of tension throughout the first 30 minutes. However half way through the movie I began to fear the movie wouldn't deliver as it was pretty low on action. Save for the last 15 minutes, the rest of the movie is very slow.
Emily Blunt's acting was tense, raw and impeccable. However the character development was so poor. She literally serves no purpose but tag along being a bare witness to the events unfolding before her. As to Brolin and Del Toro's acting, what can I say? One dimensional, bland, half grinning tough guys, overly aggressive for no reason.
Expecting Emily Blunt to portray some kind of tough female special agent surrounded by guys? Pass. She hardly fires twice in the whole movie and cries more than anything. Benicio is instead the center piece here. An attorney turned Super Soldier who shoots more accurately than an aim-bot, motivated by an oversimplistic revenge plot.
Terribly let down by a story that could have been more developed.
Uneun namja (2014)
Unequal pacing, good movie overall
I saw this movie had the same director as "The Man From Nowhere", which was such a blast I couldn't NOT try it.
Those who expected the same type of movie may find it quite different.
1.) Yes it's a Korean action/thriller movie. 2.) Yes it revolves around a protagonist who's rather on the silent side 3.) Yes the protagonist is protecting a female character against many individuals who want to harm her.
Now, the issue I have with this movie is two-fold : A. the pace. One short action scene in the beginning. Then there's a lot of downtime until something else happens. Is it bad or boring? Not necessarily, but the characters speak 4 different languages in the movie (Korean, English, Spanish, Mandarin) which can make it confusing, even with the subtitles.
We're then given some more action in the middle and a lot more towards the end, so you will be entertained.
B. The tone. Some of the villains were too ridiculous in the way they acted, in contrast to the overall serious tone reflected by the main actors.
Still, it was a satisfying movie, with great action scenes. Would recommend
Chicago P.D. (2014)
Unlikable characters, poor script, cliché
I wanted to try this one after Chicago Fire, as I really liked the show. I expected Chicago PD to be different, as it focuses on police investigations. But to my surprise, it revolves around a team of hot- headed cops with no ethics, bordering on extreme clichés.
Jason Beghe's acting is one dimensional because his character is written this way. An angry pouty face for every single episode, totally irresponsible over the top reactions for any word he spits out. The writing is so overboard it's not realistic.
Not only does it praise police violence and non-respect of the law, it also does a poor job on investigating. The plot is thin, the characters never seem to rejoice but only have negative issues, everyone has a raspy voice, Sophia Bush included (which makes it hard to understand at times).
Why would the audience feel any sympathy / sense of attachment to such characters?
I tried to power through a few episodes, but I must admit it didn't get better. Pass
Ajeossi (2010)
Very good thriller, powerful action sequences
Not a particular fan of Korean movies, I decided to give this one a try after a friend's suggestion. I must say, what a surprize !
The pacing was good, though it's a bit slower than movies in the same genre. The main actor gave a convincing performance, with minimalist dialogues. He doesn't say much and his haircut hides half of his face. Yet his presence is felt with impact.
The plot unfolds bit by bit and keeps us breathing tight till the very end.
The action sequences were convincing. From the fist fights to gun fights and one excellent knife fight towards the end.
I highly recommend this one.
Spectre (2015)
Poorly written copy of Mission Impossible 5
This installment was a big letdown for me. The main problem being the script. The second being the action scenes.
Let's start with the poor writing : not only is this movie a copy and paste from Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible 5, it does not know where its tone lies. The story is not only similar to MI5, it's also too slow to detach itself from Skyfall.
The dialogue was full of cheesy one liners that dug deep into nostalgia. However Daniel Craig is no Arnold and the lines appeared unfunny and ridiculous.
In this movie, some characters are written with no use in sight. Batista literally says ONE word during the whole movie. Monica Bellucci's role could have been written out without much difference to how the story could unfold.
The romance was so forced it felt unreal. Seydoux's character blurts out an unconvincing "I love you" after only 48 hours with Bond. Nonsense!
Now the other problems with this movie : the green screens are everywhere. Unlike Tom Cruise who decided to strap himself to a plane and do his own stunts, Daniel Craig uses body doubles for every scene where he's not talking.
Every fight scene, anytime he runs, jumps, anything with the most obvious green screen. Oh and what about this torture scene that served absolutely no purpose? James Bond has two holes in his head but no consequences... OK.
With a budget of $300M, it was a huge letdown.
Empire State (2013)
Boring movie, nothing happens
I don't know why I decided to watch this movie, despite the generally bad reviews I've read online. Maybe I like Hemsworth, The Rock or maybe I was bored, but that movie sucked.
Nothing ever happens. It starts OK, but it never goes anywhere. Throughout the whole film you expect some action, something that will entertain you. But down to the last min the whole piece falls FLAT.
Not only it is very slow after the first phase, it never develops. What bothered me is the acting isn't even bad. It was unfortunately a waste of a good cast.
Please, save yourself some time and money. Pass
Grave Encounters (2011)
Laughably bad
I saw it had good reviews online so I decided to give it a try. Goodness, how bad was this! I mean ridiculously bad, to the point it was illogical.
It started out pretty OK. I thought they even tried to make a parody of Zach Bagan's GHOST ADVENTURES. But after about 30 minutes, the movie decided to change the genre. Instead of being a horror movie with ghosts, it decided to switch to a fantasy movie where walls and doors appeared and vanished for NO reason whatsoever.
The characters were running around in circles and one after the other, they disappeared with no explanation. Really, do NOT waste your time and money on this film.
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
One of the most boring horror flicks ever
Seeing all the praise and positive reviews this film has, we decided to watch it tonight. 30 minutes into the movie, we were still expecting SOMETHING to happen. But the whole script was just pieces of unbelievable characters strung together.
No one has any connection to another, yet the writers tried to make it look like all the protagonists were linked. My biggest issue : it did NOT make any sense at all!
No explanation whatsoever as to who is who, why some people have superpowers, no character development, incredible. The color palette was really dark, but the movie was not.
For a horror flick, not one second will you be scared. There is no tension. It's just a teenager direct to DVD piece of trash you should never see. I have rarely been so bored in my life.
Jurassic World (2015)
Badly written. Main characters were never threatened
Spoilers ahead.
The whole movie is badly written. D'Onofrio and Pratt's acting couldn't save this poor attempt at some nostalgia ca$h grabbing. Given the film's budget, the CGI could have been much better. It wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. But it was quite generic.
The dinosaurs were laughable at best, ridiculous most of the time. For a dinosaur movie, there was NO tension at all! The main characters were never in danger. Not even an injury, a bite, a scratch, nothing!
Howard' character is running through mud and stones with a pair of high heels, she never even falls or gets her skirt damaged. The secondary characters' deaths are barely suggested, the camera turning away when the I-Rex bites them. What's the point?
I'm not saying it should be a gore fest a la RAMBO but come on. What about the characters' totally illogical decisions? Let's watch the T-Rex fight the main enemy instead of running away !
What about the Velociraptor that was hit by a car and in the final fight, Deus Ex Machina style arrives just in time to save the day? It could have been a great movie, but there was zero tension.