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Reviews
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
Ignore the false fans
I have been a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender since it first released in 2005. The animated series was a masterpiece, as was its sequel series. And in spite of being a fan of the series than many of its newer fans have even been alive, I still enjoyed this adaptation of the series.
The series isn't perfect. It's not a scene for scene adaptation of the original series, but if you want that then go watch the animated series again. It's condensed and compressed for the sake of making a coherent series in 8 episodes. It's a little out of order, and there's some episode beats missing, but if you want the original series, go watch it.
The actors feel a little young for what I expected and not all of them are putting out Oscar worthy performances. The only two casting choices I disagree with are Elizabeth Yu as Azula and Thalia Tran as Mai, and I'm not 100% happy with Utkarsh Ambudkar as Bumi, but outside of that they do their absolute best on all fronts.
The action sequences are fantastic, with a brilliant adaptation of bending styles. I'm not sure they replicated the real world styles they were based on, but that's not a major issue. The music is sublime, with many beats referring to familiar songs.
Was it the same as the original series? No. Should it be? Absolutely not. It's its own adaptation and it's a good one.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (2023)
It's for kids. Clearly.
I find it bizarre - unsurprising, but utterly bizarre - that people are getting mad that this kid's show, made for a very young audience in mind, is not suiting their own personal adult tastes.
It's a show for children. In the same way that Sesame Street is for children. This isn't Rebels, or Clone Wars. This isn't for a range of audiences. This is for young children, maybe ages 6 and below or so. It's 'Baby's First Star Wars.' If you're old enough to register an account and leave a salty review about a kid's show, it's not designed for you.
As for the show itself, other than being for children, it's a very good kid's show. The animation, music, sound fx, acting, and action is very good. It's low stakes, full of morals on basic life lessons like not being mean and helping people, and there's no violence involved. It's a great start for your Younglings to get their does dipped into the franchise.
Oh, and did I mention for all the big babies leaving low-rated reviews? IT'S A CHILDREN'S SHOW.
Mark Rober's Revengineers (2023)
Super cringy and fake
I like Mark Rober's stuff, even if he does use his popularity and net worth purely to play act at charity-washing - by selecting one (and one only) photogenic sick kid per year with a guaranteed positive outcome and play up how philanthropic he is, making maddening amounts of money for himself in the process.
This show is just like Mark - fake and designed to fleece money from his fans with the pretence of being for the public good. It has all the trappings on mid-2000s science-entertainment cringe TV.
The cast are himself, a token Asian, a token Latina woman, and a token white woman - the Latina wears short skirts and tights and presents herself as a 'coder and hacker' while displaying fake code on her setup of four monitors in a square configuration, pretending it's super secret. Oh, and in addition to being an elite hacker, she's also apparently able to solder, build, and paint.
The welder gets about wearing tight overalls and boiler suits, all designed to show off her 'assets.' They make sure to remind you that she's super flexible by having her put her foot on top of the bench when she's cutting and welding, as well as making sure we see the footage of her acrobatics where she contorts herself into shapes in skimpy outfits.
The Asian 'maker,' (whatever the hell that is) is just there. He exists in the show.
The whole show is centred around getting revenge on people that do things that are minor inconveniences like not putting away shopping trolleys, over-engineering low grade pranks on people that are well and truly in on the gag.
I got one episode in and deleted the rest. Not worth your time or brain cells.
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021)
Great kids entry to the Star Trek world
Giving it a 10/10 to counter the petty review-bombing from grown dudes complaining that it's "the death of Star Trek." It's a kid's show, based on a 55 year old franchise about space travel. Grow up. It's time for Star Trek to appeal to a newer audience. If your world is so fragile that it can be shaken up by a cartoon, I recommend therapy - these are the same types of people that got upset over She-Ra not wearing a skimpy outfit, after all.
For everyone else that loves Star Trek, this is a great way to get your kids into the franchise.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021)
New He-Man for a new generation
It absolutely blows my mind to see people rating this show in comparison to a nearly 40 year old cartoon made to sell toys, or its nearly 20 year old reboot.
I grew up on the original He-Man, and watched all of the reboots, and it's only now that He-Man is actually getting good - with modern story-telling and animation techniques, implementation of more complex lore and backstory, and actually making female characters part of the story instead of eye-candy.
But the thing that really blows my mind are grown adults getting petulant about what is a children's show, getting upset that it is not the same as the trash made in the 1980s, that the female characters are actually interesting and utilised.
Is this the He-Man of your childhood, grown men? No. Is it He-Man? Absolutely yes. Is it good? As an old man that grew up on the old stuff, yes. It is for children, but it is fun to watch for me as well. The voice acting, animation, music, pacing - all well done. This is a great show to introduce your kids to He-Man without the trappings of the past.
What If...? (2021)
Fantastic fun!
Only one episode in, but I am hooked. Never been a big fan of cel shaded animation, but this worked well. The attention to detail on the flow of action pacing was especially excellent, giving me many jaw-dropping moments.
Unfortunately, like so many good things, "What If...?" is subject to the incels at 4chan and Reddit, who organised a campaign to downvote the rating because apparently "What If... Captain Carter (a woman) Were the First Avenger?" is such a scary concept and they are all incredibly scared and intimidated by women for some reason. Hopefully review and review aggregate sites can soon work out a way to deal with this whining cancel culture.
I will keep watching, because only one episode in and I am hyped!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (2017)
The worst thing to happen to bad movies
This was the worst thing I have ever seen on Netflix. Felicia and Patton have no sense of timing, and don't let the jokes settle and hit before moving onto the next barrage of comments - they think that just slamming the movie non-stop is a good cover for a lack of actual humour and lack of chemistry.
Here's how Felicia operates - her acting career stagnated entirely after Buffy, so she took a turn at vlogging and content creation. Unable to build anything successful, she tricked Wil Wheaton into joining forces, then ran a Kickstarter campaign to make the every day people pay to launch. When it started getting successful and gaining popularity with some great content, she sold it to Legendary Entertainment for about $18mil, then allowed it to spoil until the deal was done, screwing Wil in the process.
Now she's done the same thing with this, taking people's money and leveraging Patton's success to try and boost her failed career. I have no doubt this will end poorly and she will move onto her next victim, draining the other actors of all they have in the process.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)
Brilliant!
I watched the entirety of part 1 (5 episodes) in one sitting. I grew up on He-Man in the 80s, and this brought back all the nostalgia and sent me into fits of pure joy in seeing one of my old favourites brought to life once again.
Just like She-Ra, Voltron, and all the other great cartoons of my childhood, this one takes what was nostalgic, and elevates it beyond the cynical, toy-selling cartoons of my youth. The animating is excellent, the sound and music design is brilliant. They developed and are showing us a rich lore to supplement the world. And the voice acting! The people chosen for the roles nail it.
It is unsurprising to see so many people slamming the show - after all, we live in an era where Reddit and 4chan will launch hate campaigns against things for no other reason that they deem it to be 'woke' or whatever they're calling it these days (the only 'wokeness' is that He-Man takes a back seat in favour of some of the more interesting female characters). Kevin Smith is a smarter man than that, though, and called these idiots out on their crappy behaviour, so I hope the money men at Mattel listen to him and to the true fans and keep this series going strong.
Jupiter's Legacy (2021)
Brilliant, and something we need more of
I have no idea why so many people are panning the series. I assume they're either fans of the graphic novels and dislike their precious being turned into something for TV, or they're fans of CW superhero shows and dislike shows that have any amount of challenge to them.
Jupiter's Legacy was great. I'm a fan of Mark Millar's work, and love seeing any great graphic novels converted to a new medium. Some don't work, like American Gods, and some very much do, like The Boys. This works as well. The pacing, acting, sets, design, and CGI all work well. The hint of how things came to be kept me watching, and how things ended made me want more.
I support attempts to make more challenging works into streaming series because we need to see more of it, and we need to see it well done.
BNA (2020)
Great little show
I've never really liked anime, but after finishing Kipo and being at a loss on what to watch next, this popped up in my recommendations.
The animation is solid, the soundtrack and voice acting is solid, and the story is great. It's a Japanese anime without going too weeb, loses a lot of those annoying annoyances they traditionally come with, and is digestible for an ordinary audience without needing a neckbeard and naked girl pillows to make sense of it.
The American Barbecue Showdown (2020)
Don't watch while hungry!
I love food shows, especially ones with colourful characters, and this show delivers. We get to see a great cast of truly passionate home and competition barbecuers execute a wide variety of meals for the expert judges. While much of it is the same, we see that each person more or less relies on their local cultural backgrounds for inspiration, we do see them branch out on occasion into new things.
A lot of people complain about the contestants not changing clothes - this is an old trick to make it easier to edit. You can take an interview from episode 4 and splice it into a section in episode 7 without breaking continuity. It doesn't mean they were run on a ragged schedule, like some suggest. It just means they were using tricks to make it easier to edit.
People also complain about the presence of some hosts/judges. I found that Lyric and Rutledge didn't really seem to have a place there. The judges seemed fine enough in front of the camera that they could have easily hosted and judged, or they could have got two more actual judges on board. We rarely even see the hosts sample the food, which makes me assume they weren't contracted to.
Others complain about Cookston being severe or rude. Y'all need to calm down - she's a hard working southern woman, an expert pitmaster, owns two restaurants, and has won more competitions in her field as a woman than most can boast. She sounds harsh, but she's forgotten more about barbecue than most will ever learn.
Overall, great show. Can't wait to see more!
Enola Holmes (2020)
Fun, quirky, and entertaining!
When you learn how to interpret reviews, it's very telling what the intent was behind the reviewer. Claims of period inaccuracies and the titular Enola Holmes being a 'perfect Mary Sue' character are smoke and mirrors to hide the true intention; to down-vote en masse because the title is good, and elevates women. The sad man-babies of the world truly seem to get their underwear in a bunch all too easily these days.
Enola Holmes is brilliant. It's not a period piece, and there will be period inaccuracies. It's also got a plot designed for a teenage audience, which really explains why grown men are complaining about its simplicity. But it's a hell of a lot of fun and as a mature, grown man, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Millie is proving herself to be a flexible actor, and her choice of co-stars fleshes out the world nicely.
I look forward to seeing more movies. I also would love Netflix to come out with a series.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)
Funny, irreverent, and gets Trekker's shorts in a bunch - perfect combo
I've seen every Star Trek series and movie there is. I've watched all things Trek since my dad introduced me to TNG in the late 80s, and have followed the franchise ever since. That said, despite being a fan, I still love this series. It meshes the irreverence that people like about The Orville, the comedy and animation of Final Space, and the lore and world of Star Trek.
You can tell who is just review-bombing the show because they hate the idea of Trek not being a 'monster of the week' thing like it generally always has been. People have always complained about the new Trek when it comes out, but these days it's different - it's people using their access to sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes to review bomb things in co-ordinated attacks that drives new, interesting, and different concepts out because they want the same old drivel from the old series.
Personally, I like this show for the same reason I like The Orville. Itt's laugh out loud funny at times, doesn't take itself as seriously as Trekkies seem to take it, and makes good use of lore and the world. This is what Trek needed more of.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)
Funny, irreverent, and gets Trekker's shorts in a bunch - perfect combo
I've seen every Star Trek series and movie there is. I've watched all things Trek since my dad introduced me to TNG in the late 80s, and have followed the franchise ever since. That said, despite being a fan, I still love this series. It meshes the irreverence that people like about The Orville, the comedy and animation of Final Space, and the lore and world of Star Trek.
You can tell who is just review-bombing the show because they hate the idea of Trek not being a 'monster of the week' thing like it generally always has been. People have always complained about the new Trek when it comes out, but these days it's different - it's people using their access to sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes to review bomb things in co-ordinated attacks that drives new, interesting, and different concepts out because they want the same old drivel from the old series.
Personally, I like this show for the same reason I like The Orville. Itt's laugh out loud funny at times, doesn't take itself as seriously as Trekkies seem to take it, and makes good use of lore and the world. This is what Trek needed more of.
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (2019)
Trying to be Bourdain, without everything he meant to us
Ramsay's show is trying very hard to pick up where Anthony Bourdain stopped, prior to his tragic death. It is very hard to explain unless you have followed Bourdain as long as many of us have, but there is a certain vibe to how Bourdain works that Ramsay cannot hope to match.
Bourdain's acerbic wit and commentary cannot possibly hope to be countered with Ramsay's general off-colour swearing and carrying on. Where Bourdain embraces the places and people he visits, Ramsay simply makes jokes and remarks at their expense.
In New Zealand, he keeps reminding the audience that the pilot of his plane is young looking, despite being accomplished and 30 years old. He swears and carries on when he has to climb a hill, spits food out when it's distasteful - literally spits it onto the ground - where Bourdain will eat it despite his reservations. Bourdain respects those he comes across, Ramsay does not.
It is a shame to see that he is unable to fill the massive shoes and gaping void left by Anthony.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020)
A new gem from Dreamworks
Everything about this show is fantastic. The animation, art style, music, plot, world building - all top notch.
Some people complain about 'politics' in the show, but they're referring to a single moment where one character tells another that they are gay, which is apparently 'too political' for the commenters.
This show is a true gem. If you liked Dreamworks' prior Netflix cartoons, you will love this.
Get into it before the Reddit crowd ruins the ratings with a mass protest against it.
Batwoman (2019)
Subjected to an unfortunate online hate campaign
Honestly, I can't help but assume - based on the tone and words used in the reviews - that this show is targeted by the current trend where basement dwellers from 4chan and Reddit organise to try and 'destroy' anything that has female protagonists, non-white characters, and non-straight characters. We saw it with Ghostbusters, with Captain Marvel, and with both this and Supergirl.
Here's the thing. Batwoman isn't amazing. It's on par with the rest of the CW super collection. People are just here to have a whine because it's got bi, gay, and black women in it, just like they've done to Supergirl. The CW has obviously decided that its shows are going to be inclusive. That's their modus operandi for this collection. People need to stop being surprised and either don't watch them, or watch something that fits their personal tastes better.
Charmed (2018)
Not bad. Not great, but not bad
To be honest, the swathe of one-star reviews seem to be a result of your typical keyboard warrior campaigns. I feel sorry for any content producers these days for having to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to these forms of dedicated campaigns to ruin any and all attempts to make something.
The complaints seem to come from one of two places; people that liked the old Charmed and are taking offense at the existence of a reboot that doesn't meet their lofty expectations, or incels from 4chan and Reddit who are upset that it has strong women, lesbians, a black woman, and feminist themes.
All in all, the series so far is interesting. Greatest weakness so far is that the acting is a little wooden, but it has its moments - I put it down to actors finding their feet. If you don't like the new Charmed and prefer the old one, go watch the old one. I like this one just fine.
Stargate Origins (2018)
Utterly deplorable
I love Stargate. I saw the original movie in the cinema when it first aired, and I've watched all the TV series. The cancellation of SG:U was regrettable, especially given that it was just starting to get interesting again.
So it was with much joy that I saw this pop up.
I couldn't be more disappointed. It's not the changes to the canon that I dislike - I don't care if new writers make changes. New Star Trek, new Star Wars - whatever. As long as the story is good.
It's the utterly deplorable acting, bad set design, and bad writing that disappoints me. The only saving grace is that the episodes are so short that you don't have to see a lot of it. This screams of being an amateur production with a high budget. I've seen better on amateur YouTube channels.
If this is the start of something new, they're off to a very bumpy start.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Good start. Will keep watching.
No one hates Star Trek more than Star Trek fans. For every new series, we see a new generation of 'fans' bellowing and moaning about how this series will spell disaster for the franchise.
Lucky for me, I only started watching Star Trek in the last three years, catching up on something I never really saw before, so I get to come to it without decades of seething hatred for the smallest change.
Most of the complaints seem to be because it features an Asian-American woman as the captain and an African-American woman as the first officer, calling it a cliché, liberalism, or tokenism. I can't imagine a worse reason to dislike a series - because of the nationality or gender of the lead actors.
As for how I felt the first episode went? Well, it's a promising start. First, it looks gorgeous. This new generation of Star Trek is the realisation of fifty years of improved graphics, and while the shine and shimmer of the constant lens flaring is a little on the nose, it does look good.
Acting is a little wooden, but like a lot of things, my guess is that well see improvement as they settle into their roles a little more. The first episode contained a lot of exposition, of course, but they had to set the scene with the length of episode and amount of episodes they have at their disposal.
I look forward to seeing where this all goes, and unlike other 'fans,' I'll do so with an open mind and heart.
The Orville (2017)
Very promising
I had a read through the reviews, and I'm just gonna say it: people that dislike the series that badly most likely expected Family Guy In Space, or don't understand that humour can be subtle.
The Orville isn't Family Guy In Space. You're not gonna see the same banal humour that McFarlane is known for; dick and fart jokes, stupid flashbacks, etc. What you get is, so far, a well designed, fleshed out science-fiction show, which takes itself less seriously than Star Trek, and adds a small amount of humour to lighten the mood.
The acting isn't the best, but the CG, sets, costumes, and makeup is pretty good. It's not as highbrow (or attempted highbrow) as Star Trek, not as low-brow as Family Guy (etc), and not as action-adventury as Stargate. It's a great combination of smart, funny, and action, and it works well.
DuckTales (2017)
A fantastic and faithful reboot that goes even better.
I grew up on the old Disney universe cartoons, before they started getting weird with mid-nineties and beyond. Your classics, like DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck.
Like a lot of people, I eyed off the idea of a reboot with suspicion, but my fears were put to rest with the very first teasers to come out, and with the actual release, I fell in love with the first scenes.
The new DuckTales looks and sounds different than the old one, and that's okay. Die-hard old fans who can't abide by the smallest adjustments are just dinosaurs waiting for the comet to hit.
The art style is great. It's more reminiscent of the comic art style that the series is based on, and more smooth than the old series. It's not CGI, which makes it stand way out.
The voice acting is perfect. It's not the same voice actors as the old series, but again, it doesn't matter.
The characters have been given more personality than before, which is great. Huey, Dewie, and Louie are finally three different kids with personalities. Scrooge is more than just a trillionaire. And it seems we're going to see Donald as the adventurer and find out more about the kid's parentage.
I'm absolutely beyond excited for this show and look forward to following it. I hope the success makes for some more additions.
The Nine Lives of Chloe King (2011)
Not bad for scripted tripe.
With vampires well and truly done with this season, there's a lot of agencies looking for something new to help stand out from the crowd - some bright spark came up with the idea of 'cat-people' as a foil to the previously overused 'werewolf' option, and Nine Lives was born.
For scripted, obvious, plodding teenage pap, this isn't terribly bad. At least, not as terrible as Teen Wolf. From the get-go, every actor in this series has been handed a card with a one-line description of their role, and likely expected to work with it. Most of the actors aren't bad - they all more-or-less adequately fill their roles as Teen Girl With Super Powers, Funny Best Friend, Evil Bad Guy, Bitchy Mentor, etc. Grace Phipps keeps changing her role from Wacky to Bitchy to something else. Ben and Grey (almost as unfortunate a name as 'Skyler') are possibly the worst young actors I've come across, though. Grey can't act for the life of him, and for a 'love interest,' there absolutely nothing there. Ben, similarly, can't pull it off, and can't seem to settle on an accent.
The plot plods along with no definitive structure. There's an attempt at some overarching plot, and occasional tries for one-off plot insertions, but they conveniently forget things here and there. There's things mentioned and never touched on again, questions left unanswered, and answers left unquestioned - I can only assume that budgetary or time constraints meant that they had to add and remove stuff without cleaning it up so it made sense. Hell, even the point of the show - the girl with cat-like super-powers - is reduced early on to some basic super hearing, sight and empathy. Perhaps the budget for 'running and jumping' ran out?
All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if season one was the last season altogether. Silver lining? It's not as bad as Teen Wolf.