djmotiv Reviews

Dark City - The Cleaner (2024– )

I'm usually not a very loyal Kiwi

[7/10 · 25 March 2024]

I tend to dislike most of the movies and television shows we produce, Once Were Warriors and a few other select few excepting. I'm also a fan of the Dexter series, my wife and I owning this series on DVD even - although that last bonus season ... don't ask.

Dark City The Cleaner is compelling and interesting, whilst light hearted and comedic - with a dark and sinister side to it - most like Dexter, but where Dexter was the kind of Protagonist who was also a bad guy that you liked - DCTC presents a Protagonist who you're not sure if you can like. In fact, everyone feels like a bad guy in this episodic offering.

Because I live in Christchurch, many of the outdoor shots have an air of familiarity for me; and yet I can't relate to this particular vision of Christchurch - and I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

Still I found this to be both funny and dark; and I did manage to enjoy it.

Totally Completely Fine (2023)

Very loosely based on the Angel of the Gap

[8/10 · 13 August 2023]

At least I believe it is and given that's an Australian story, it would make sense.

This series deals with a number of tough subjects with typical Australian/New Zealand humour. The most obvious tough subject being suicide; but it also delves into the various forms of trauma that can result in someone wanting to take their own life. Grief, abuse, feelings of failure and inadequacy, substance use and abuse - many of them make themselves known in a show where Viv is both helping others, whilst simultaneously crashing herself.

There is a lot of truth in "lived experience" and sometimes our experiences of trauma and our own emotions can be the catalyst for helping others, through our ability to relate and connect through a shared experience.

Occasionally bordering on ridiculous the show still manages to tackle the above tough subjects with some honesty and accurate portrayal of emotional distress; whilst also being funny from time to time.

But it's also painful at a few points as well; especially because if you have ever been in these shoes, you'll recognise the angst and the emotion and the pain.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023) Season 2, Episode 9

Look I hope they never do this again

[10/10 · 3 August 2023]

This episode was enjoyable and different and just plain fun.

The Klingon performance had me in near stitches, it was so funny.

In a world (or out of this world) where things have been so serious for some time - it was fantastic to delve into some fun with the STSNW crew - and can I just say, some stunning voices!

If you allow yourself to enjoy this for the entertainment value that it is, it will remind you that the original Star Trek also has many moments where it poked fun at itself.

This is TV that cannot be replicated by AI - this is why actors and writers alike need to be heard in their pursuit of just and fair conditions.

The Lazarus Project (2022–2023)

I usually dislike Brit TV

[9/10 · 28 June 2022]

But this is very cool. A few slow aspects and its hard to identify an actual antagonist because the work they do screws with their moral compass so much. In many ways they are all bad but all good and its entirely logical that they are both good and bad. Absolutely looking forward with hope to a S2 because otherwise that ending is gonna be a bigger mess with my head than the suspense and mystery aspects of this show.

Double Threat (2022)

Not great but a few laughable moments and credit where credit is due

[5/10 · 6 June 2022]

Firstly, the good thing is that they get the schizophrenia vs split personality/dissociative disorder confusion correct - they are 2 different diagnoses that are often assumed to be one and the same. Good to see a movie correct this myth and I gave them extra stars just for that.

The script is pretty terrible and some of the acting is cringe worthy, but it's fun and there's a couple of laughable moments. The innuendo with Tasha feels awkward at times but maybe that's what their intent was.

Don't expect a Hollywood classic. It's a kill some time kinda movie.

Big Sky (2020–2023)

Vastly different from the books

[8/10 · 23 April 2022]

So if you're a fan of the Cassie Dewell series of books, which I am, you should approach this with an open mind.

There are aspects of the books that obviously would have been too gory for TV and character development on a TV show requires more connection with a wider group of people to create appeal - so we get a lot more differing personality angles of people who were only supporting characters in the books. Jenny Hoyt is a prime example - she's a minor character in the books who doesn't feature much beyond Cody's death.

The Lizard King differs wildly from his book counterpart, as does his mother who is a hoarder and overweight in the book. Cassie herself is also described as having problems with her weight in the books, but not here. Legarski is killed when shot by Cassie in the book, he's also divorced and there's an additional backstory to the young girls - originating from the Back of Beyond book featuring Cody Hoyt is the main character.

Erik, who is Kyle in the books is a major character in the North Dakota set Badlands book and he doesn't meet the Lizard King until the following book.

Long story short - don't expect the books or even a close follow of the books, as the stories have been mashed into a made for TV series.

Does it work? Yes, kind of. I approached it as both connected but isolated from the books and in that respect it works.

I am however looking forward to the new Cassie Dewell book due out September 2022 for my next fix.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Rating belongs to my 8yo son

[10/10 · 3 April 2022]

Doesn't seem right for me to rate a movie that I'm only partly the target audience for at my age, so while this review is mine, the rating is my son's.

In saying that, the nostalgic musical injection which took both my wife and I back were a blast. Montell Jordan, Ice Cube, Run DMC and Ini Kamoze were all welcome components to a what is a fun, rather ridiculous, but seemingly enjoyable family/kids movie.

Yes it gets silly. But there's a spread of comedy that even adults can enjoy and some genuine feel good morals to the movie.

My kid gave it a thorough 10 out of 10 and he was happy ... and to me, that's what matters.

Reacher (2022– )

The closest Tom Cruise got to Reacher ...

[9/10 · 6 February 2022]

Was having to grab a stool and stand on tiptoes to REACH-up. His height and physique is nothing like the books, unlike this TV outing.

What's more this Reacher is believable in his imposing and intimidating sense - just as the books implied.

Fantastic job of bringing life to the books and stories that many have come to love. Works incredibly well as an episodic TV series too - acting is great (for TV), and the fight scenes are brutal.

Absolutely loving this and wishing it was a much longer series ... eagerly awaiting more!

Prodigal Son (2019–2021)

Can't believe they cancelled this after just 2 seasons!!

[9/10 · 22 May 2021]

The show actually offered some intellectual stimulation and a unique angle on the cliche crime solving genre ... surely another network is hungry to pick up what is probably some of the best tv out there!

IMDb Originals: A Salute to Asian Pacific American Filmmakers (2020) Season 3, Episode 103

Not a lot of Pacific ...

[3/10 · 10 May 2021]

A lot of Jon Chu though ... Taika Waititi is Polynesian, which falls under the Pacific bracket.

We Can Be Heroes (II) (2020)

My 7yo has watched it 3 times in 2 days

[10/10 · 30 December 2020]

As annoying as I find it, my son loves the movie and his view is the only one that matters because he is part of the target market.

Trying to claim this is a a terrible movie for kids without actually being a kid or thinking like a kid doesn't work. The reality is that this movie is entertaining, funny, simplistic with an underlying good moral to the story - all of which seems to appeal to kids.

Chick Fight (2020)

Doesn't pretend to be anything classy

[7/10 · 14 November 2020]

As far as entertainment goes, it's that at a basic level. It's not intended to be an award winning movie by a long shot. Lots of pop references which are a tad funny and it's shameless, brainless good fun. Don't expect to be wowed

The Boys (2019– )

Also makes me a proud NZer!

[10/10 · 5 September 2020]

Love it and best of all is seeing this with 2 fantastic New Zealand actors in lead roles - Karl Urban and Antony Star are both so perfectly cast in their respective roles!

Love, Guaranteed (2020)

Don't mistake this for anything more than it's meant to be

[7/10 · 5 September 2020]

It's a cheesy, sappy, highly predictable romantic comedy with a few laughs here and there. In that respect it serves its purpose. It is light entertainment to watch at home when you don't expect to be challenged intellectually. Don't watch if you would rather be stimulated and on the edge of your seat throughout.

Enter the Fat Dragon (2020)

So many missed comedic opportunities

[7/10 · 1 May 2020]

This movie could have actually been a lot funnier but the writers and directors missed countless chances to inject even more humour into this movie. There were lots of times the "fat" factor could have created more laughs and enjoyment. Instead they opted to make a movie about an overweight cop who can still do everything he could do as an athletic cop.

Doesn't get tired when running Can still do the splits Able to slide under a table Is agile enough to climb a lamp post Do flips and high kicks with no trouble

The list goes on. Good for a few small laughs but that's it. Wasted chances!

Prodigal Son: Like Father... (2020) Season 1, Episode 20

Well .........

[10/10 · 29 April 2020]

That just completely turned this show on it's head! That was a fantastic twist that came from out of nowhere and has reinvigorated my slowly waning interest in this show. Now I'm craving more!

Tommy (2020)

Enjoy it for what it is

[8/10 · 1 March 2020]

I'm surprised at how many people are so affected by the idea of diversity appearing in TV shows that they forget that the TV show they are watching is ultimately fictional.

Yes, it's a reflection of society, so yes all people should and could be represented. Lesbians exist! This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody in 2020.

TV shows are a micro-universe of the real world so you are more likely to see a reflection of the general population live close together in much smaller quarters, so that the world can be reflected on a TV screen.

That shouldn't detract from the fact that it's entertainment. The show is entertaining and it does just fine in doing so as well. The focus of the show is not the diverse components - that's just coincidental. Don't focus on the small things and you won't miss out on the big picture.

Batwoman (2019–2022)

So many people who don't know the backstory of KK

[9/10 · 7 October 2019]

The assumption people are making that this show is just an agenda pushing the LGBTQ message is borderline paranoid and silly.

If people actually bothered to read the backstory of some versions of KK, they would see this is entirely in line with her sexuality in the comic books.

The show differs very little from the almost cookie cutter approach of the CW DC universe. It is as dark as Arrow is, so don't expect the niche humour found in Flash and Legends.

It does have a female lead and is female centric, but we've had this with Supergirl too (which also features a gay character). In fact if you looked across the DCU on TV - they've all featured a main character who identifies as being a person from the LGBTQ community - from Mr Terrific to Sarah Lance.

This show is what it is. Basic entertainment fare in the same ilk as Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow.

Anyone who sees a political agenda needs to go back and read the comics and then lighten up a lil. The world isn't always after you.

Travelers (2016–2018)

I've been hooked since Ep1 Season 1

[9/10 · 19 December 2018]

10 episodes for Season 3 just isn't enough and I believe Season 3 is the strongest season yet.

Titans (I) (2018–2023)

Just when you thought Arrow was the dark DC TV offering

[10/10 · 17 October 2018]

This makes Arrow look like a TV show for children. This is very much a DC offering for an older audience. It is darker, more sinister, with an air of Gotham but unafraid to be ruthless, bloody and profane. Whereas Gotham often teased the dark side of people as they developed into either heroes or villains, Titans leaps into darkness with raw energy that is characterized by Nightwin (aka Robin's) first fight scene - which an only be described in one way - absolutely brutal!

As a Marvel fan, I am excited to see what else becomes of this show.

Devil's Gate (2017)

Some of my favourite TV actors badly put together

[3/10 · 27 August 2018]

With credits like The Last Ship, 12 Monkeys, Suits, Killjoys and Heroes behind the 4 main actors in this movie, you'd think you might be in for a hidden treat ... you're not!

The storyline is flawed, there is no real underlying suspense, so it lacks the typical anxiety build up of most horror and thriller genre movies. The antagonist in the movie is muddled because it juggles between these aliens and one of the leads, without ever really creating any suspense.

Disappointing is an understatement.

Scorpion (2014–2018)

I can't believe we have had 4 years of a formulaic show

[6/10 · 25 March 2018]

Parts of me loves the comedic aspect of this show but it is a bit worrying how clumsy and idiotic these geniuses are sometimes. Half of the problems they have to solve are of their own making. In fact if any business made as many mistakes that these guys do, they would not be contracting to the Government.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Much better than the initial critics led me to believe

[7/10 · 3 August 2016]

I've learned not to trust professional critics too much, doing so had me bored witless watching A Girl With a Pearl Earring and potentially avoiding Suicide Squad. Which in itself kinda explains why the initial movie wasn't to my liking.

Having been disappointed by BMvsSM, I was holding out hope that SS would improve on that disappointing excuse for entertainment. Especially since Marvel has had me firmly in their grasp, and Deadpool which I waited many years for, reigniting my passion for those beyond Marvel's firm grasp ... Even if it is in the neighbour's yard.

SS starts off at an intentionally and somewhat unavoidable slow pace for a movie, the only way this could possibly have been sped up is if the characters had been introduced in previous movies and this outing being their group debut. So you have to accept that for a large troupe there is character background to go through, although not enough to slow the movie down too much.

It's hard to work out who the main antagonist is in the movie, but generally speaking there are 3. The Joker, Enchantress and Amanda Waller herself. Enchantress arguably plays the main antagonist, but without a huge amount of screen time, which is one of my few issues with the movie. It was far too busy with too many antagonists and running story lines to stay focused and engaged and even passionate about their mission. The only person you do actually want them all to take out, ironically is Amanda Waller - which fits with her comic book character anyway - so in that respect, she us true to story. The Joker story-line for me just distracted from the rest of the story. It was obviously a set up for another outing but didn't need to happen here.

There is great chemistry between the key SS members and some funny lines that keep you laughing, even if a little nervously. This isn't however an Avengers ensemble type of humour. Margot Robbie and Will Smith both do admirably, with Margot Robbie even producing a very Harley Quinn sounding voice.

Overall, I loved it. Would have preferred a slightly less convoluted story-line but otherwise I thought it was great and well worth that first midnight viewing in NZ.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Really wanted to love this movie ... but I only just liked it

[5/10 · 28 March 2016]

Now I should say that I dragged my wife a long to watch this movie, so I was absolutely pinning my hopes on really enjoying this movie because otherwise my wife would not allow me to do movie selection for at least 2 years.

Visually, the movie is absolutely stunning albeit a bit too dark at times, and I don't mean as in the ambiance of the movie being a dark world ... but the movie was literally too dark in some parts making aspects (at least at the 3D showing I attended) to be quite hard to make out what was going on. It was a bit like watching a dark movie at night, with sunglasses on.

What you should not expect from your 2.5 hours of sitting down before this movie is a rushed introduction to the world of Batman and Superman, in fact, it doesn't really introduce you to them. At least in the case of Superman, we've met this iteration before already. Batman aka Bruce Wayne, at least this version we haven't met before - so he's just kinda there all of a sudden. What's more, he has seemingly been "there" for a long time based on some of the dialogue.

Bruce Wayne's character caused me the most annoyance because there were flashback scenes or dream sequences which just kind of appeared mid movie and they weren't clear that they were dream sequences ... not immediately anyway. There is perhaps some Easter Eggs in some of these scenes, some which were left unexplained. For instance, Bruce wakes up from one of the dreams hearing "Lois Lane is the key" ... but no explanation as to how he managed to attain this information and/or where it was coming from - although speculation is rife about the possibility of it having been the Flash.

The movie crawls through building up the tension between SM and BM, CK and BW, focusing particularly on their values as to why they might be against each other, with BW's being much easier to understand given he was present in Metropolis when Superman and Zod were playing hide the sausage with sky scrapers.

By crawl I mean almost painstakingly so ... it is well into the second half of the movie before you get any real action.

Plot is important and I can understand that, but the issue with this movie is that it serves as an introduction to the future of the DCEU on the big screen and is thus not only an introduction to this movie, but an introduction to the rest of the franchise as well. Without wanting to make too many comparisons with the Marvel EU - where that differs is that Marvel introduced Captain America, Iron Man and Thor in their own movies but created a connection through all of them that made their coming together much easier - this connection was largely created by "Phil Coulson" and "Nick Fury". They cleverly used post credits as well but the movie itself stayed focus on it's key character - even when Hawkeye appeared in Thor, the movie stayed true to it's focus on Thor.

Dawn of Justice is all over the place by comparison. Trying to give us a story but also trying to introduce the wider DCEU within the movie itself. The watching of the videos for Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg clearly shows that - not to mention the lingering focus on their logos when they are first seen (how did Lex Luthor manage to work out their logos anyway?).

Suffice to say, for me, DOJ was a seriously muddled and confuzzled cluster muck. It was fantastic to look at, but you can stare all day at an attractive man or woman and still be bored to death.

In spite of this, I still gave it a 6, for its visual depiction. The last 45 mins of the movie and I actually thought that Affleck was pretty good. Hoping that the next movies make up for some of the failings in this one.

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpoolicious

[9/10 · 11 February 2016]

I'm one of those people who first saw the leaked test footage some years ago and having been a Deadpool comic book fan from a young age, have been hoping that the movie would get made and in a way that honours the comic book.

If you are a fan of the Deadpool comics and can forgive that they have lightened up a little just to have this made at all, this is a fantastic movie.

Right from the credits (which you have to pay attention to) there are 4th wall breaches, which give you an indication of the type of movie that you're about to watch.

The initial part of the movie is interspersed with parallel telling of Deadpool's origin story and the current period time, a difference of about 2 years right up until Deadpool hits the motorway - which is where the test footage starts to look very familiar.

The movie is definitely bloody and not at all for the faint hearted, however the comedy aspect of it makes the gory scenes almost so unbelievable that you can laugh them off - between people being shot in the head, you have Deadpool being shot in the ass - which lightens the whole mood of near decapitation by a single bullet.

The laughs don't stop coming either, even in the midst of all that violence. The 4th wall is constantly broken - from the appearance of a toy "Wade Wilson" as a kind of Deadpool from that X-Men:Wolverine movie that we would want to forget him appearing in, to references of McAvoy and Stewart as Charles Xavier.

The jokes are juvenile and crude, and the action violent and bloody - apart from a few jokes which I don't believe translated as well to little old New Zealand - I absolutely loved it and plan to go see it again!

Do make sure you check the closing credits and stay right until the very last credits!!