jasonhirthler-51722 Reviews

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Cruise as Clown

[5/10 · 9 January 2024]

This is a poor addition to the library of MI movies. Cruise is played for laughs, with slapstick stunts that aren't funny and all of his edge is removed as he is constantly one-upped by the new additions, who themselves have precious little charisma. Tinseltown Tom also looks jowly and botoxed and seems to have been slightly manipulated at points by CGI or AI or de-aging-God only knows. The action scenes are eternally long but don't ratchet up the tension. It felt in some ways like a swan song for hapless Ethan Hunt and a franchise looking to extend itself with new young lackluster characters.

The Last of Us (2023– )

Most ratings mean next to nothing

[4/10 · 26 February 2023]

Half are bought, many others are by people posting after one episode in states of high excitement. This series is so very average. But wildly overhyped because it's on HBO. Same old apocalypse storyline. Stupid zombies chasing people around. Everybody scarred by loss. Same old 'heartrending' relationship tale of a makeshift family formed in a dystopian world. Who cares? Critics (better labeled flatterers) will praise the show for 'challenging narrative expectations' to focus on the fragile bonds that develop blah blah blah

This is also a vehicle to elevate Pedro Pascal into superstar status in the U. S. He's okay. The girl is okay, too-the latest overhyped product on the assembly line of child stars...

This explosion of entertainment content over the past decade has made virtually every genre a massive cliche. Originality is hard. But better to wait for it than celebrate mediocrity.

Wilder (2017– )

Soulless people

[6/10 · 25 August 2022]

Well filmed, cool location, nice casting. But the script. Geez. Tired of Rosa's self-indulgent pity party. Woe is me. Every character literally insulting every other character. Nobody helping anyone else. Everyone clinging to their own demented dreams. Everyone thinking they know best. Ugh.

The Punisher (2004)

Have you ever looked at a Punisher comic book?

[3/10 · 17 August 2021]

The Punisher is a physically imposing beast of a man, not a meekly built Thomas Jane. You have to match the graphic novels, not hand over the franchise to some director with a new "vision." This isn't The Punisher. Not even close.

Chance (2016–2017)

Quite good with one big flaw

[7/10 · 11 October 2020]

Enticing plot, high tension, gorgeous femme fatale, believable bullies, and good dialogue that's half psychological profiling and half special forces technique. The flaw is that Hugh Laurie's character is an annoying idiot: high-strung, impulsively stupid, a blundering bourgeoisie who gets himself in deep water. If you can stomach this anti-House, you'll enjoy this series.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Idiotic Garbage

[2/10 · 23 September 2020]

Such sophomoric and simplistic junk. Weak and boring script. Manichean conflicts. Glorification of "good wars", this one fortunately won by a supermodel superhero with only the highest principles. But it is adults who praise this film. Superhero movies used to be for kids. Now they are for infantilized adults, who still possess the simplistic moral outlook of children. It's no wonder the country is in the state it's in, given that this is the intellectual level of our culture.

Bordertown (2016–2020)

Bourgeois Nonsense

[6/10 · 9 July 2017]

Interesting series, good acting, but episode five is such a piece of bourgeois propaganda. The kids throw a party and distribute pills. Of course, this is terrible and scary. The main character's daughter has a seizure, demonstrating that the use of illegal drugs is horrible and wrong. The police have to resort to violence to get the truth from the kid who sells the drugs, demonstrating the legitimacy of violence against suspects. A child is wrapped into the plot to make it all the more devastating. Such manipulative crap.