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Reviews
Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
Too much packed into one film after a long wait
We watched every episode and expected a suitable finale after waiting for such a long time.
This film crammed in too much information after such a long wait; many of the characters had been forgotten and needed a slow reintroduction - while there were far too many new characters.
The over-acting and wooden acting that seems acceptable in a series, is accentuated in a film. It just jumped from one wooden drama to the next - from one region or country to the next. It was even difficult to follow having read all of the books.
In the last three books: War of the Wolf, Sword of Kings, and War Lord, Uhtred ages from middle-aged to an old man (and Æthelstan is not gay), but this is not reflected in the film. The plot order is also changed. In the film, Uhtred is like an immortal warrior who hasn't aged, and the glimpse into Valhalla is unnecessary and kitsch, as is the closing shot of modern day Bamburgh (to show Americans that it's real!).
Overall, I found it very disappointing.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Bolted together pastiches interwoven with unnecessary unrelated black history.
This film was agonisingly long and seemed to be badly bolted together. The overall idea was very good, but not original I.e. Soldiers using an excuse to retrieve wartime treasure. Lee tried to put too much stuffing into this cushion and ended up with something that was over-stuffed, too contrived and uncomfortable. At every opportunity, Lee tried to pay tribute to someone from 'black history' who he wanted the viewer to know about - from flash-backs to forced and irrelevant script. The finale of the movie was a huge donation of filthy but justifiable lucre to Black Lives Matter. I feel that a perfectly good movie was drowned in politics and explanation at every turn - it was like wading through treacle at times. Thanks don't understand the rave reviews - The Emperor's New Clothes.
Pistol (2022)
Rose tinted Sex Pistols
The cut-ins of strikes and the mid-1970's grey gloom is accurate and frames this series quite well. The actors aren't really that believable - a bit wooden and I can see why John Lydon didn't approve. Lydon/Rotten is portrayed as being manic / borderline psycho and yet the actor misses his snarl and menace on stage and the pronunciation while singing isn't accurate. The character is a pastiche and could have easily been another character in The Young Ones. If you drop the fantasy and ignore the wooden OTT acting, it's actually quite enjoyable. It captures the 1970s quite well and has a great sound track. As an old punk, I thought that as a series, it was OK and a lot of thought went into it. It's not trying to be a Sex Pistols documentary, it's more like a fantasy punk series framed around the band.
Clickbait (2021)
Oh dear - tried hard to be complicated. Looks like it was written as it progressed.
Tries to lead you down the rabbit hole week by week. Slowly releases new information about the characters to keep you hooked. All you really want to know is (a) who is the cat fisher (because it's fairly obvious from early on), and (b) is the catfish the killer? They throw in red herrings (some obvious and others contrived) and eventually reveal all (left field choice of cat fisher!) in the final episode. Drags on and not very challenging.
Stay Close (2021)
Acting is hit and miss, characters wooden or unbelievable
The storyline is far-fetched, some of the actors (Dave!) are wooden and the assassins are laughably bad. Where on earth did those two assassins come from (?) - just an excuse to introduce Korean-style violence via cartoonish characters. The storyline is full of flaws. Tries too hard and doesn't succeed - shame, because three of the key actors are great.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
Tries to be Tarantino or Sergio Leone - but fails
Completely cliché. Tries to be Tarantino or Sergio Leone but fails. Lots of violence, storylines that we've seen hundreds of times before and more swearing than necessary - straight from the modern day 'hood. Splattered with blood and modern day black music, from R&B to reggae. Even if this wasn't a fake blacksploitation, it would still be dire. Cliché after cliché, wooden acting, lacks flow and direction etc. What a shame. A historic movie about black 'cowboys' with a great storyline and direction may have been better in these political times. Still, it will be put forward for awards.