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Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
Snake may have Eyes but not much brain
I've only seen the films and haven't watched the cartoons or source material so my opinion is purely based on the merits of the film itself.
Overall the film is entertaining enough, provided you treat it as a filler film...the main protagonist makes questionable decisions in the film and plot twists are almost as obvious as what happens if you get bitten by a poisonous snake.
Personally the most jarring aspect to me even as a non-Japanese is why in the world are people from a so called patriotic Japanese ancient clan driving around in Hyundais (non Japanese) cars....was the budgeting so tight they had to partner their marketing with a non-Japanese car manufacturer for the film? It may be a minor complaint but for me the credibility goes out the window with such obvious details that are just not thematic.
Chao ji de wo (2019)
A Pretentious fantasy film
I thought I would give this film a chance and it was worse than I expected.
A quarter way through the film I thought the film was pretty much all style and not enough substance (shallow) while pretending to be a film with some depth (unlike Inception.
In the entirety of the film there is no proper explanation of why the protagonist can travel between reality and this other realm except some mumble-jumble science about splitting the of his ego. Films such as Narnia, The Dark Tower, Tron for instance provide in my opinion satisfying explanations on travelling to other worlds that I could sit with. There is no explanation on this other realm and the objects in that realm.
Then personally the film went from entertaining but shallow to worse halfway through the end of the film.
Generally to enjoy a film, the person watching must somehow find the character(s) relatable or the film to be impactful. Why did I not find the protagonist relatable? Let me elaborate
The protagonist decides to splurge and live lavishly as soon as he was no longer homeless....as if he somehow knew he would have ongoing income in the future at that point in time. Apparently he stalks the girl he likes for years and wins her over through the course of film by displaying he is rich and impressing her with his wealth and she is ok with and somehow proclaims she loves him for who he is and not because of the money.
His "best friend" treated him poorly and only became his best friend when he became rich and didn't really do all that much to help that anyone else couldn't have done.
The film's climax lead to a scuffle of sorts where it looked no one was really actually trying hard to fight and somehow all the characters, both the good and bad looked like they had been hit by a disability spell when they reached a set of stairs.. The protagonist was so naive he didn't have any precaution to protect himself and his home because he was rich. His doorsman fails to recognize a hostage situation and instead encourages his girlfriend should meet up with him during the said hostage situation.
Then finally the twists at the end of film made no absolutely no sense and the punchline from the twists just felt flat (it didn't really add any value to the film). The final reveal of the fantasy realm felt like it was meant to be a moment of epicness but the problem was "it felt like it was trying to be epic". Usually epic fantasy realms are revealed as a statement to something like in Interstellar, anime and video games. In this case fantasy realm itself was a just a statement for eye candy (if you even call it that) and there nothing really much more it.
All in all, if you turned off your thinking brain was under the influence of alcohol or something else, this probably wouldn't be bad for background film.
Sex Education (2019)
Skip Season 2
I had enjoyed season 1 and would say it's definitely worth watching but what has prompted to write this review is because Season 2 was a infuriating disappointment with each episode I watched.
The main reason I disliked S2 was because all the characters seem like they have a 2 dimensional personality (with no intelligence) that can only act in the way their 2D personality are prescribed without any kind of other intelligence you would expect from a human being. Naturally people who can only act on a 2D plane with each other will give arise to a lot of drama, and that is predominantly how I felt a bunch of (forced) and unnecessary drama is the content that drives S2.
Daybreak (2019)
Teen drama in post apocalyptic world...
The show was captivating enough that I binged S1 in one night.
I feel like from both the humour and plot, especially cheesy jokes and references are targeted more a younger or close to teenage age group audience.
The show manages to deliver a good enough combination of cheese, flair, humour , plot and drama that it's hard it take it too seriously...however the pacing of the plot itself feels somewhat like a teenage life drama ; going from a mixture of light humour and plot to some pretty intense character background story discover drama towards the end of the show.
At the end of the day, despite being an entertaining binge worthy show, I feel the show isn't too clear on what it wants to be, a more serious-toned drama or a goofy humour adventure ride. A ride that doesn't quite know where it's taking itself and can't quite help think that the plot is written on the fly as it progresses...
coupled with the fact I didn't find anything likable about the protagonist at the end of the season puts me at pause on whether I will watch the next season where presumably it will continue.
El dragón (2019)
Home and Away in a Cartel Setting
To be fair I watched 2 episodes before I lost interest.
The show is creative take on our protagonist being a Japan raised Mexican , who is played by a Mexican version of Guy Pearce, who gets involved in the cartel business from a position of a share broker director company.
The settings, costumer and actors are nice enough looking and the show is an easy watch with a lot of drama based on the premise that our protagonist is a very confident and smart guy who I assume takes over and expands the family cartel business through wit (rather than violence).
The main character acts his part well enough though I feel ultimately the punchline of his witty schemes don't really deliver as in say Peaky Blinders. I can't help but feel the thoughts of B grade and made for the aesthetics akin to popular Kdrama resonate with me as I watched and would think the show would be enjoyed by people who like that genre and more by a female than male audience. (there's drama more for the sake of drama rather than thought provoking drama)
However at the end of the day I neither felt intellectually or emotionally simulated enough to continue watching the series.
Osmosis (2019)
Arthouse drama in a scifi setting
I will admit the show is intriguing at first. Even though the premise is based on scifi, it lacks technical and credibility on the science front. The protagonists are flawed, however some of their shortcomings make it hard to believe how they got into the 'prominent' job they have.
The show is predominantly more drama driven, a study of different flawed characters, their interactions and how they deal with their situation. Numerous subplots are crumbled along the show, but none are really that clear making it feel overall messy.
If you can get past the lack of credibility of the setting and the plot, then this might be a show you enjoy if you're into slow burning messy dramas. As for me personally it was a pick out of curiosity for a chill tv night on Netflix but find it lacks anything of interest for me to come back and finis the complete season.
Dong wu shi jie (2018)
Eye Candy without the flavour
The film can be described as one of those fantasy/mystery/thriller genres that a mass entertainment consumer such as myself will recognize, games/shows like Steins Gate (visual novel, anime), No Game No Life (anime), 999 (video game).
The film delivers enough tension for most audiences to be hooked on/watch to the end. Really high end visual graphics (CGI) and attempt along the way to show some character development and smart writing/or explained thinking of our protagonist.
Sadly as an entertaining film as it is, it feels like sometimes the use of high quality CGI was more an excuse rather than an enhancement. The story seems to come across as pretentiously wanting to create some depth/mystery but fails to deliver on these so in example to previously works of the same genre.
The protagonist is seeming meant to be portrayed to be a cunning, playful and at times cool in anime tropes, but I fail to identify/admire him when the film comes to a conclusion.
A good entertainment cheese to watch with a mixed audience when you can't agree on a really good film to watch instead.