basanakin Reviews

Malevolent (III) (2018)

To the people saying that the cinematography looks good

[4/10 · 29 September 2020]

To the people saying that the cinematography looks good: just count the amount of times we are staring at the back of the pretty head of Florence. It is comical how often this happens. And if that wasn't enough, we also get a lot of close-ups from people. So much in fact, that I honestly lost any sense of how big the house is suppose to be they're in. At times, they seem to be yelling really loud, without the others even noticing it. I believe even castles bleed more sound through the long hallways.

As for the rest: it is a horror movie, meaning that the story was most likely not going anywhere, which shouldn't be a standard for this genre. At no point does a character change, no point that they reflect and act upon their realization. There is no arc. Other issues I had with this flick, were the predictability and the lack of dread. The screenwriters and director aren't building anything up before showing anything disturbing. Aside some pathetic jump scares, most of the time they show the ghost(s) too early or too much of it, completely destroying any sense of mystery around them. Another horror flick that is infamous for this, is The Nun.

Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019) Season 8, Episode 4

Terrible editing

[4/10 · 6 May 2019]

The series is no stranger to bad pacing in the past. Since season 6 it was more and more common to see characters teleport, or see scenes tied together like it the last was a day after than before, despite months has gone by. This episode takes the cake in that sense. It made for a very jarring watching experience that threw off any viewer.

However, if the editing wasn't the problem, than the writing would have been. Brienne and Jaimies love was platonic, not physical, so why the intercourse? Why isn't it snowing in Kings Landing? The North only lost half their army to the Night King? And after that, their forces still match with that of Cercies? In fact, Without the Golden Company, Danys army was more than twice as big as that of Cercie before the Long Night! The writers glance over these numbers like they don't mean anything, but to me it is like they were ashamed to it.

Offcourse it hard to not mention the apparantly invisible fleet that attacked Dany. As for the plot, I don't mind that a dragon dies, it would made it more interesting, but this ambush was really hard to swallow. Instead of creating these huge cognitive dissonance, the writers could have laid traps in the Dragonstone castle to reach the same plot development, which would have been less costly too, I imagine.

And why is Jon so heartless towards Ghost, a companion that saved his life multiple times?

Brienne and Jaime having intercourse didn't make sense and even disgusted me. Their love was always PLATONIC. They grew a serious appreciation towards each other, not an attraction or romance! Their scenes in this episode were just fan service, nothing more.

Lastly, this episode suffers from the same fate as other episodes do these last seasons, which is being a filler. Conversations are hollow and predictable. The first 10 minutes of the show mean nothing to us.

Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019) Season 8, Episode 3

One night to remember

[6/10 · 29 April 2019]

This was perhaps the most antipacted tv episode in recent history and it almost delivered. It was dreadful, horrific, terrifying and incredibly intense. Not one moment was boring and it all looked amazing (to which we got used to by now from the series). I also appreciate how the team didn't constantly cut to another scene that is happening at the moment, like with the Battle of Endor in Star Wars where it cuts back and forth from the space fight to Luke and Darth Vader. This GoT episode overwhelmed us with violence, but only took us into the (sometimes really silent) castle to take a breather.

That being said, there are certainly problems me and lots of viewers couldn't ignore. Issues that - for me - makes this episode good instead of being perfect.

WARNING: spoilers below!

The biggest issues involve the climax: Arya that seemingly snuck by a huge group of wights and walkers to stab the Night King from behind. Not only was that hard to believe, considering she had to sneak passed hordes through tight hallways, but she also killed of the most intriguing and mysterious villain of the series we saw glimpses of throughout the last 8 years!

If it was for me, the battle would have atleast been a two-parter, where the northerners flee to the Iron Islands to continue the fight from there with the survivors of Winterfell. Which brings me to the other problem.

A suprising amount of main characters survived this seemingly unbeatable undead force. With Jaimie and Brienne standing with their backs against the wall, you would think they would eventually succumb to the unlimited army that probably also stood above them at the wall, ready to drop onto them. Or how Sansa and Tyrion with many countless, defendless people in the crypt would get trapped in the grave with the undead.

Some beloved characters have died, but they weren't "big" characters like Ned, Jon and Margaery who took the spotlight more often and thusly had a far bigger impact on the viewer. Yes, Theon and Jorah were somewhat big, but their deaths were predicatble as their story arcs ended prior to this battle. Multiple main characters get saved by the last second and others survived almost impossible odds, like Jon surrounded by the horde and yet be able to fight back into the castle - part of which happens offscreen.

It was almost like the writers were too shy, too scared to kill of a character we love. They made us ready for it and we were. We were ready to shed tears, ready to feel defeated, ready to be shocked. Afterall, we withnessed Neds death and the Red Weding. But this time, Game of Thrones didn't make the moves we were expecting.

Lastly, I had a small gripe with the cinematography. All in all it was really good; even better than what the Lord of The Rings series showed us. The darkness of the deep night is a great setting, but also made it really hard to see what was going on at times, which made it obligatory for the viewer to (1) see this in the dark and (2) find a high quality copy of this episode.

The episode starts out really strong, holds that tension for really long - which is why everybody should see this episode - but not only does it prematurely end a long anticipated story arc, but also does it so in a unsatifying way.

The Walking Dead: What Comes After (2018) Season 9, Episode 5

Closure, but not without issues.

[7/10 · 6 November 2018]

So currently, the reviews are raving about this episode. I understand that they treated Rick in an appropiate way, but there are some serious continuity errors in this episode that made me pause the video so I could only say 'Hold on, how in the **** does that make any sense?".

The storytelling and the camera angles, as always, feel like they are directly influenced by the animated novel, for better or worse. That aside, I thought the transition from the last episode was extremely jarring along with some later situations. The last seconds from episode 4 made us believe that Rick was literally 1 second away from a walker that was about to bite him as Rick laid there stuck and unconcious. I figured either one of following four would happen: (1) Rick gets eaten (2) a friend saves him (3) an explosion from the conflict attracts the horde or (4) Ricks pulls himself out, which honestly I thought would be the most ridiculous and unbelieveble sequence that could happen.

This episode seems to throw that cliffhanger out of the window, by giving Rick a whole minute to get away from that walker...by himself. My jaw dropped from disbelief. The writers chose the worst sequence I could think of and altered the original stage to make it work.

We reach the end of Ricks run (ignoring some TWD clichés along the way). After that Rick learns the bridge is too strong enough to hold some walkers (no crap, I though), we discover that there is still a lot of dynamite sitting on the bridge. Why isn't this taken away by anyone? Surely, the rebels would have had interest in taking it!

Rick blows it up and the horde slowly walks of the bridge in a spectacular fashion. From the angle Rick shot at the dynamite, we can safely assume he is still on the other side of the bridge, away from the horde, on land.

We cut to the fleeing lady who waits down near the river. The walkers - all apparantly dead from the fire, water or fall (really??) - float by her. Than she notices Rick on the shore, the only body who actually stranded there. Yes, of the hundreds of walkers, who all died from the bridge, didn't get stuck on the shore except for Rick. But most importantly: how did Rick even GET IN THE WATER? If it was on purpose: why?

The coginitive disbelieve certainly was hard to ignore! Jarring.

After another scene or two, we cut to the future, where we see Judith at the age of 9 (more or less). We learn that the crew is still doing fine, but this isn't what some of us would find satisfying, as we didn't see them find closure on Ricks departure. Maybe they'll still talk about it (as they always did with others), but now it made it feel somewhat empty. Not bad, but not great either.

Long time viewers might actually call it here for them, as it does look like the show is going through a transtition: new era, new people. For the first time, the show skips about 6 years, which will make some us feel disconnected with the show. I'll stick around I guess, but after so many clumsy writings and clichés this show has created, I don't find myself getting excited for it anymore.

Attack on Titan: First Battle: The Struggle for Trost, Part 1 (2013) Season 1, Episode 5

Best episode of this season.

[9/10 · 14 September 2014]

----Dont read this until episode 9

So yes, these series cannot get better than this episode. That is not to say that the rest isn't worth watching or considered 'bad' in my book, because this series in overall is very exciting to watch. However, the particularly episode gave an empowering feeling followed by a defeated one. Near the end, my jaw dropped to the floor. Erens death was unexpected and shocking. It seems like the story continues with Erens spirit in the minds of the others. Although he did die, his character had a significant effect on others. His death felt as big as Sean Beans death in Game of Thrones, but it turns out it doesn't.

It is too bad the writer negated this plot twist a view episodes later by turning the main story into, what I would like to call, a 'there is only One' -storyline. Think about tales surrounding an exceptional hero, like Neo in The Matrix or Goku in Dragon Ball Z. Yes, there allies matter, but the primary weapon of 'the good guys' is this solitary warrior that does what others can't.

The acting, music, writing and directing felt in sync with each other in this episode, ending with this excellent climax. I can only hope the writers dare to take the risk of keeping their characters dead next time.

Under the Dome: Imperfect Circles (2013) Season 1, Episode 7

Poor writing/plotting

[6 August 2013]

After the first amazing episode, the series quality declined. Some characters are (not) doing unexplainable things, and some episodes feel like 'fillers', meaning that at the end of it, we hardly know more about the actual Dome. But this episode takes it. Unlike what I said before, this episode doesn't feel like a filler. But the thing that frustrated me is that they finally - finally - decided to investigate the CENTER of the Dome. With 'they' I mean the two loving teenagers (because why would any adult be interested in unexplainable Dome??). The girl says to the boy 'you're smart' after he suggests about investigating the center. Well, if that is smart, than I (and undoubtedly many other viewers) are geniuses because I (we) came up with the same plan within the first 2 episodes.

'Delays' like these, accompanied with the fillers, are the definition of these series. It's an mechanism to milk out more episodes than it actually needs.

Another typical thing is that people went crazy within the first three episodes. But when we see a scene where a girl asks the boy if she could use his power generator to charge up her ipod, she receives a comment that 'it has only been 1,5 days'.

People go crazy within 48 hours because of a see-through Dome?

Don't get me wrong, I kinda like the series, but the writing (which is NOT on par with the book!) is just extremely poor. Either put the events in a different sequence (for example: start the riot when people KNOW that other people discover that there is NO off-switch of the Dome), or keep your focus on that which makes these series interesting to watch: the mystery of the dome.

Hell on Wheels: Revelations (2011) Season 1, Episode 7

Best episode so far

[10/10 · 4 January 2012]

I don't have much to add to the review of whitewolf80 above. I totally agree with him. This episode showed depth, tension, and for those who don't care so much for that: action! We really get to know the characters better this time. Not only does our view of them alter by there revelations, but also does the settings(!) of this episode. All the scenes in the second half takes place outside the mobile town of the workers, and it's refreshing to see the characters in a different surroundings.

Another welcome deviation is the pacing. In contrast the first six, this episode has a higher tempo/follow-up of scenes and story development. It's like there is so much happening in this episode, hence the title of whitewolf80's review: it's like a little movie (although he probably meant it in another way).

This episode is a real surprise, and worth being watched by anyone who is not familiar with this increasingly more interesting series.

The Twilight Zone: No Time Like the Past (1963) Season 4, Episode 10

Very interesting, but flawed in its execution.

[21 July 2011]

Without outlining the the story - presuming you've read the other reviews or watched the episode - it's clear that this story contains two smaller episodes. Both are interesting, but ultimately also not really thought out.

The first half of the episode is about a scientist trying to prevent historical moments which had horrific consequences for thousands - and in one case millions - human beings. This part of the episode has many plot holes, nicely outlined by one of the reviewers here. This dark side of the coin is accompanied by a brighter side, however, because this episode leaves room for a debate for the historians about 'how the could change history if you could go back in time'. I have my own thoughts, for instance, for how Nazism was 'born', but the other might hold on to a whole other theory about the same subject.

The second have of the episode has a whole other kind of pacing: its slower, it has more eye for details, and it develops a romantic story, which is executed very well. However, one small segment annoyed me very much: why untying the horses if the character KNOWS the lantern at the back is the cause of the fire? WHY NOT JUST GRAB THE LATERN? When I saw this for the first time, I just had to pause the video, close my eyes for a moment, and get ready for the unthoughtful writing of the story. So this latter half has also a dualistic nature: its story is a very good concept to work on - stating that destiny is inevitable - but its told in a very unthoughtful way.

It's not a bad or good episode; its somewhere in the middle...perhaps in the twilight zone? ;)

The Twilight Zone: Five Characters in Search of an Exit (1961) Season 3, Episode 14

Entertaining/wearisome episode

[8/10 · 15 January 2011]

I'll keep it short. So no - unlike all the other reviews above - unnecessary summary of the story, presuming that the reader already watched the episode.

On the one had, this is a very well written episode, with great mystery and a great climax. And that tear rolling over the cheek of the ballerina is a great touch. The most impressive aspect of this episode is the setting; it's comparable to the philosophy of Satre, and Rod Serling obviously knows that, because the characters talk about 'the essence of truth'.

For these reasons alone, besides the great acting, is the episode a must-see for all TZ fans.

On the other hand, was the same ending also kind of predictable. Within the first five minutes I thought the characters could be toys/dolls, and they are stuck in a toy-box of some kind. Moreover, the fact that the characters come up with the plan to reach the top of the wall after (a seemingly endless) 15 minutes, is just wearisome. Although it does make space for some interesting dialog, it feels like they are stretching time for the episode.

Don't miss it, but don't expect to much of it...

The Twilight Zone: Twenty Two (1961) Season 2, Episode 17

Slow pacing...needless filling

[7/10 · 15 January 2011]

Despite the interesting plot and the comparisons to real-life events described in the other reviews, is this episode still a bit annoying. Primarily because of the execution of the visualization of the dreams; these are amazingly slow. To sit out the first one is already wearisome cause of the incredible slow pace. Just time how long it takes for the leading actress from the moment where she steps out of the bed to the moment she leaves the room. And time how long the close-up takes within this part. It's so stretched out that even the actress is thinking 'my lord': just watch how see tries to makes these shots more interesting by putting 'random' hand to her cheek, while she shuffles to door...

This whole dream takes like seven to ten minutes, and you get to watch it twice! The first time might be suspenseful to some, as the director probably intended it to be. But it is no surprise that the second time you see it, at the same pacing, is simply boring.