drago_85 Reviews

From (2022– )

It's alright

[7/10 · 20 February 2022]

Technically, I have seen similar story many times, most recently in Wayward Pines but three episodes into that I don't feel like not sticking around for more. The atmosphere is good, mystery feel also - it has some potential for a good story development. Some of the characters are less interesting than others at first glance but the majority of them work quite ok.

For now, mystery and atmosphere win over originality and characters but it is good enough to go.

Bad Girl (2019)

Not great, not terrible

[6/10 · 21 May 2020]

I actually have two problems (ok, not problems but things that bug me) with this movie - the acting and the very familiar and formulaic story setup. Acting is common issue with all Bulgarian productions with some rather rare exceptions. If I happen to watch Bulgarian production that is dubbed in English for instance it instantly gets better. So, here we get more of the same - stiff, emotionless, declarative. Deyan Donkov gives a performance above the others. Lead actress tries, but it is obvious she needs more experience. The story tries too hard to be dark and provocative but it cannot steer away from the million other movies exploring lost souls taking the wrong road, hanging out with the wrong people. During some scenes, it looks even forced. Still, there is a nice twist midway through the movie which surprised me and gave the movie a little bit of own identity and fresh perspective only to lead to cliched final at the end. Not great, but definitely not terrible. Camerawork and editing, along with the soundtrack is pretty much alright (especially building around old albums of Rammstein. For a Bulgarian production, though, it is one of the better ones for sure, comparing it to other new tv series or movies, it would get a solid 8.5/10 over the others. My score is given based on comparison with all movies I've seen, and I think it is a fair one.

The Twilight Zone (2019–2020)

It tries to deliver (sorta)

[6/10 · 1 April 2019]

I don't think that the original one can be topped at all no matter how many re imaginings are happening. The trick is actually not screwing up and giving us updated version with the current state of technology and society while staying true to the concept and the quality that is expected. From what I have seen so far I have to admit that i wanted it to work and after I saw "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" I got my hopes high. It was a descent episode with nice twists but so far this is the only one I like.

The rest of them so far are uninspired, predictable with too much political, racial undertones. Don't get me wrong I don't mind them as long as they stay within reasonable limits.

Will keep watching though, hope it gets better.

Altered Carbon (2018–2020)

Great visuals against generic average-at-best story

[5/10 · 6 February 2018]

I haven't read the source material and was attracted by the movie-grade special effects of the show. Unfortunately, once you get past the visuals and the actions scenes there isn't much left to give you value. The characters seem undeveloped, dialogue is rather weak, story is generic crime giving you nothing new, way behind classic cyberpunks and it unfolds rather slowly. Nothing though proviking even for a second. I read another user's review that he couldn'tmake it past the the second episode but to be fair it was hard to make it through it. I keep thinking that if I were a teen I would probably like it very much but it is not the case.

Acts of Vengeance (2017)

Descent B movie

[6/10 · 30 October 2017]

I've wanted to see the movie since I met Kart Urban in my gym last year, so maybe I am little biased. The premise of the movie is quite good but the story delivery is rather poor - it is like all things are "designed" to happen and not very convincingly. I mean, the animated TV series I watched as a kid (Michel Vaillant for instance) made a whole lot more sense. Acting is alright - Banderas and Urban do the job as much as the script allows them to, the rest is typical B-movie stuff. The main asset of the movie are the fighting sequence which while cheesy are very well choreographed and Banderas is surprisingly good in all of them. All in all, a descent premise and good fight sequences versus poor script and clichéd storyline make it for a good 6 out of 10. It is worth your time as long as you don't take it seriously and consider its low-budget nature.

Rings (2017)

Leonard Hofstadter (Dark version)

[6/10 · 21 April 2017]

The Ring was actually one of the very few movies back in the day that managed to scare me truly, so needless to say I am a big fan of it. It's been a while since I watched a horror but I decided to give this one a go. To summarize it - it delivers quite alright for a fan. It is upgraded, tries (moderately) to expand on the mythodology and we have the dark Leonard Hofstadter and his weird experiment/research in it which was actually the highlight for me. OK in terms of acting and visually The rest is however the good old recycled stuff we already watched this time the teen edition. As other reviewers pointed out it is not really scary but (kinda) keeps your mind occupied during it running time which is perfect for a lazy working Friday afternoon.

24: Legacy (2016–2017)

Same old but OK

[7/10 · 6 February 2017]

I am a big fan of 24 from the very beginning. Season 1 and 2 are still the best for me (meaning lesser plot holes and suspension of disbelief). From there the show kept repeating itself and became quite generic, even so generic that you can effortlessly predict the twists coming. And yet I continued watching and enjoying - the characters were solid, the pace was good and all in all I got what I wanted and what I enjoyed (just not so much as the the first season which is normal).

24: Legacy is no different - it follows the same formula, it doesn't offer anything new but also it does not take away what we need in 24 - characters and pacing. Which is alright for me - I don't expect anything groundbreaking anyway. Something that is bugging me a little - since this will be aimed at hardcore fans I just would like to see more references towards the old series (so far we got just one for Edgar Stiles and waiting for Tony Almeida to appear).

The new lead is quite alright, also I never thought that 24 should end with Kiefer (don't get me wrong he was born to play this role) so I am not taking out any points for him missing.

To conclude: it is the same old done according to the standards. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Odd Couple (2015–2017)

I want to like it

[3/10 · 27 February 2015]

I was actually looking forward to this for two reasons: - it was said to fill the void after 2.5 Men, covering the premise before Ashton - namely the laid-back vs. stiff one (like Charile and Alan). We all know the concept is not new at all but worked in 2.5 Men for the whole first 8 seasons and toward the end I really missed it. On the other hand, Perry was and still is my favorite "friend", I enjoyed his previous TV shows "Mr Sunshine" and "Go On" and I wanted to see him in action again.

After seeing the pilot I feel like listening to the recent work of once a favorite music band of mine - The Prodigy. Man, I want to like it! Here is what I saw:

• there is no chemistry among the cast at all

• jokes, situations, dialogue seem forced (very) and not funny. - acting in the first 12 minutes is of unbelievably low quality, Perry is like some underachiever from mediocre acting class (I could not believe this and I don't wanna get into much detail about the rest of the cast).

It started to pick up by very (and I mean very!)small steps toward the end, prompting me to give another chance to the second episode but after 5 minutes into it nothing really changed. So, this is good-bye from me.