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Reviews
3 Body Problem (2024)
Decent show but relatively poor adaptation
I have read both trilogy books and watch Chinese version of the show so suffice to say I'm a fan of the source material. I had high hope because Chinese ver had very limited budgeted (1/20th of Netflix ver). But overall the Netflix adaptation left some mixed feelings in my mouth.
THE GOODS
- Relatively faithful adaptation event-wise. That is to say, everything happens in the book happens in the show.
- Mostly excellent casting lineup and performance.
- Captures overall vibes of the book very well.
THE BADS
- Way too rushed. First episodes covered more than half of first book so nothing is earned. This left many plot holes which you will notice the moment you start ponder what happened.
- Terrible CGI especially in latter episodes. Like, no spoilers but one of finale had worse CGI than Chinese ver which is like again 1/20th of budget. How?
- Dumb down of some key scenes and scientific concepts. This made them less scary and impactful, like the final scene in the first episode. In the book and Chinese ver, there's science (sure, sci-fi science but still) behind everything. In Netflix of the show, a lot of things are in pure fantasy territory.
THE UGLYS
- Relationship between character is forced. In the original book, all major characters in the first book have different backgrounds but came together because of the plot. They don't know each other and of course there was no love relationship between them. In the show, most are from Oxford alumni and they were couples and love interests. Also, everyone just know each other without any explanation. This completely broke character dynamics between some characters. Also, it doesn't have the grand scale feeling the book has because you know, everyone knows and sleeps with each other and are all in London.
- Adding new plot to characters (eg., Evans) without changing their motivations and bring characters from different book (eg., Wade, Luoji/Saul, etc) for no reason. This completely breaks their motivational and as a result, a lot of things felt forced.
- Ye Wenjie's casting and some key plot choice writer forced on her are beyond terrible. She is one of, if not the most, important character in the book so she has complex motivations and character arc, which is required especially toward the reveal in end of 2nd book's finale. In the show, she is very one dimension character and that only dimension is hatred and it makes no sense.
Overall, Netflix's 3 Body adaptation is watchable, but a huge waste of source material's potential because producer/writer had to force their incompatible idea on it. It's remind me of Apple's adaptation of Asimov's Foundation - a decent watchable show, but disappointment for what it could have been.
Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)
One of the worst show on its merit
This is bad because anyone thought it as "sequel" of Squid Game - no one thought of that after 5 mins of watching it - but it's a 1 out of 10 on its merit as reality show.
I usually enjoy reality shows, which are over the top by design but this dumb show dialed that up to 100 (not 11). People's reaction is so exaggerated to the point that it's actually hurts to watch. Contestants are screaming at the camera in the fakest way possible to create a stake or drama but it's so badly written to the point no one believe it... like it introduce a contestant 2 mins before eliminating him and other contestant acting like they lost their family member or something... and viewers are supposed to care?
I had more cringe watching this show for 2 eps (had to give because it's so bad) than my entire life time up to this point. It's hard to describe how bad it is and not enjoyable kind of bad. If the show doesn't have any relation to Squid Game, I'd still gave it a 1 out of 10 but let's be real... no one would have watched it if it didn't have Squid Game in the title.
Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
Beautifully written/presented masterpiece
Beautifully written revenge saga that came out of nowhere. It's arguably the best show Netflix has to present this year.
The animation is based on 3D rendering but unlike many other anime of the same technique that results in an uncanny valley, Blue Eye Samurai has spot on artistic direction so everything looks natural and beautiful. Action scenes are in masterpiece territory, over the top but still in believable and natural. And protagonist Mizu and all the support characters have beautifully written natural characters arcs. The overall story development is also well paced and feels very natural. It does not feel forced in any way and every emotional scene is earned.
The only minor complaint I have is that it sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of artistic expression. The story is set in mid to 17th century judging by dialogue on Sakoku and flint lock gun that was used, but at this point Japanese have already using matchlock (Tanegashima) guns for ~200 years to the point that it's a standard equipment in the army. Even before that, Japan adopted mini cannons called Teppo as early form of firearms in 13th century before Europeans. Yet, it's no where to be seen in Shogunate's army.
The Last Samurai did something similar - ignoring widely used firearms in Japan during the era to cements the stereotypical beauty of swords wielding Samurai. Still, I think show-runner could've kept historical accuracy while still displaying superiority of flint lock gun European used at the time, emphasizing in the superiority in reloading speed. It's not a big issue but this does stand out for an otherwise fairly historically/culturally accurate show.
The Witcher: Everybody Has a Plan 'til They Get Punched in the Face (2023)
Can't force myself to watch anymore
One of the pivotal moment in the Witchers lore turned into a pretentious high school melodrama. Lines are so cringe and meaningless to the point that I lost count on how many times I rolled my eyes while watching it. There's not a single moment I can keep my suspension of disbelief and absolutely no logic in what happens. No amount of actor's charisma and CGI is going to this episode work when nothing make sense.
I was going to at least finish this season but nope, I gave up. It's a true feat to make someone who read all the books twice (one via audiobook) and played all the games (and by all, I don't mean just main trilogy but Gwent, Thronebreaker, etc) to completely lose interest. Don't get me wrong - I have no interest in drama surrounding Henry Cavil, writers, etc, it's not worth the time. And speaking of not worth the time, so is this show.
The Witcher: The Art of the Illusion (2023)
Forced story without proper development
Ah, Thanedd ball and coup. That's what part 1 of season 3 was building towards and apparently, it had to happen because everything is mashed together to make it happen. Yen's betrayal that happened in season 2 no longer matters, both Geralt and Ciri forgot about it now. And so do Vizimir, mages, etc. In fact, nothing matters as long as it's convenient to make things happen. Story development is forced together in a cringeworthy manner and some characters are outright forgotten (Francesca, hello?) because writer doesn't know what to do with them after they deviated from book. At the end, for most unbelievable reason, everyone needed to be Thanedd is at Thanedd... because that's what needed to happen.
Maybe there could've been more build up if they didn't spend time rewriting Radovid who was 12 years old at this time in the book, removing all his characters traits (paranoia and madness) just for it to have gay romance with Dandelion (neither homosexual nor bi in the book) without any other story purpose (yes, not even building toward Thanedd) but alas, priorities.
They say season 3 is true to the source material...correct, they stayed true to fast travel from game. Most characters moves half continent in one scene like space and time no longer matters. At some point I was wondering if there was supposed to be like 1-2 episodes in between scenes... yes, that level of discontinuity.
The only saving grace is that major actors are very good at what they do. Aside from a few awkward interactions because lines are just unworkable, chemistry among Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri is great. Chemistry between Dijkstra and Philippa is even better. Actors are the only reason season 3 part 1 is a 3/10, not 1/10.
The Witcher: Reunion (2023)
The show is losing me
... not because I'm not going to watch it anymore - I will finish it just to see where it goes - but I don't know what's happening anymore. That's a true feat considering I went over books twice (once through audio book), completed all 3 games as well as played standalone TCG Gwent so I know characters and the world better than most people. I can't imagine people watching this without having prior knowledge. So little time is spent on developing newly introduced characters and scenes jumps so often and nothing make sense to the point that I'm seriously starting to lose track of what's going on. It almost feels individual scenes are taken first without any directions, and then had to be cut and stitched together to have at least some resemblance of overarching story. It's so disconnected at this point that I had to clear my memory of what I already know about the source materials but when I do that, things actually got much worse because I realized that I've been unintentionally making justification and filling plot holes with what I already know. I know Henry Cavil's drama & leak stuff but never cared at this point but wow... this is much worse than I thought.
The Witcher: Shaerrawedd (2023)
Cracks are starting to show
So many unnecessary changes to make things worse.
To start, there's no baited ambush in the book. The problem of making such ambush out of the thin air is that such inserted event can't have consequences that moves the story. See... Rience cannot die because he still have large role to play in the story. So what happens? Geralt & Yen plan out the whole "bait" thing to get Rience and then Geralt only breaking his wrists when given opportunity to kill him because again, he can't die yet. That's like GoT season 8 level of plot armor which completely shutters suspension of disbelief.
Speaking of no point existing, what's the point of Francesca in the show? In the source material, she's one of the most powerful sorceress and play politics at the highest level. In the show, she's completely new characters leading Scoia'tael which I thought that it could be fine back then as long as writers have plans for her but alas nope. She's so far contributed nothing to the larger story by being an entirely different character. If anything, Francesca lost a critical role in the upcoming major event in Thanedd and overall became a much shallower character compared to the book.
Even larger character changes like Francesca aside, lots of minor details are changed for far worse results. For example, the show made it sounds like the reason elves are doomed is because Aelirenn fought against humans... like what? No, after The Conjunction, humans started to take previously elven land and it's natural for elves to fight back. In the source materials, there's been numerous conflicts between humans and elves already (of course) but after such conflicts, elf elders correctly predicted that the only way to win is to live among and outlive humans. Aelirenn, on the other had, was naive, hot headed, and wanted honorable "last stand" which end up dooming elven race not because she fought, but the way she ignored elders' words and rallying young elves who are needed to breed new generations of elves, resulting in a dramatic reduction in elven population for the next 200 years while human multiplied exponentially.
The point the source material wanted to make was that even justified, brave actions have unintended consequences. That's the moral of Aelirenn's story and it not only matches the overall dark theme, but the theme will be later repeated in Ciri's decisions. Whereas in the show, uhh... what is the moral of the story? You should never fight back? Like huh?
See the difference? The show replaces all the world building characters and fine details in the book with childish writing but they still have to follow overall story arc. The result? A fractured world and story that perplex both existing fans knowing the source materials and new audience alike.
The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022)
If this is the quality of The Witcher shows going forward
...then Henry Cavill dodged a nuke.
I can even describe what's wrong with this show because everything is just awful. Imagine a bunch of high schoolers are making The Witcher show for their film class. No one of them have read Witcher or even know what that is because they lied when they're picking for topic. The main story writers, who got a C in his/her sophomore literature class on second try decide to just grab names & events from google, come up an original story, and call it a day. The other line writer didn't want to even do that so he/she just opened ChatGPT as pasted the terrible story and asked AI to write lines. And none of other kids wanted to actually act, because just from the laughable story they know it's going to be C at best. But they still have to make something to turn in otherwise they won't pass the class, so they reluctantly finished the project.
That, is how get something STILL BETTER than Blood Origin. Seriously, this is in worst of show of all time territory.
House of the Dragon: The Princess and the Queen (2022)
Poorly Written & Lack of Continuity
Time jump is perfectly fine as long as there's continuity in story and character development but there simply aren't any.
Ser Criston Cole is suddenly a jerk who hates Rhaenyra and no, what happened in episode 5 does not justify this development. He become loyal to Alicent because she said something at his lowest point? But the show didn't even show what she said. And why does he detest Rhaenyra now because he can't marry her or thought he's being belittled? Seriously? That's like in-love high school teenager boy level of motivation and logic.
The grown Alicent Hightower is also contradictory to who she was - she suddenly cares about being honorable and really cares about Aegon's succession. Why? Where was that honor when she exploited Viserys mourning queen's death to become the new queen?
And Larys murdering the true father of Rhaenyra's son - the commander of City Watch whose name I don't even remember because he showed up and died like 30 mins after - comes out of nowhere and even makes less sense. Who is Larys anyway? Why is he suddenly becoming so central to the plot with only previous scene being telling Alicent about "the tea".
The only saving grace is Daemon's arc but no one asked ANOTHER child brith scene - the 3rd or 4th one we have over 6 episodes.
I honestly don't know what to say. The first 5 episodes haven't been perfect but they were very strong. Comparing first 5 episodes to the 6th one is like comparing first 5 seasons of GoT to season 6... not quite the season 8 level bad but the drop in quality is already noticeable.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)
Didn't expect a masterpiece
Basically expected CP: 2077 at its release state, but somehow got one of greatest anime of all time, which, funny enough, is like exact opposite of how CP: 2077 release went.
I originally didn't like the visual style (like vivid version of Cowboy Bebop) but grew fond of it after an episode or two. Because it turns out that over the top colorful visuals and much darker story underneath makes a great combination, reminiscent of the Nigh City itself... with its sins hidden under pretty colorful neon lights. It also got thrilling scores playing non-stop and these were on point making the overall scene better - not a single moment I thought music is off. And characters are also well constructed and believable in the world they reside, with some developments simply poetic. Overall just great... very easy and pleasant to hold suspension of disbelief until the very end.
The only thing I didn't like is the pacing. There were simply too much story and character development clamped into 10 episodes. Things were developing in such a quick pace and I don't think it gave audiences enough time to bond with the characters. With that being said, presentation is still solid in a rushed pacing so had no problem enjoying it... but can't stop thinking how much better the show would've been if it was a 2 season 24 episodes run.
Oh and a side note... there were also tons of source material and game references like Afterlife, Old Net, Basilisk, Adam Smasher, and gangs etc, but these were self contained so people who're not familiar with the game or universe can also enjoy it.
House of the Dragon: The Rogue Prince (2022)
Excellent build up episode
Unlike fast paced first episode, second episode is relatively slow but for a good reason.
King Viserys marrying Alicent Hightower, estranging house Velaryon against almost everyone's advice and destroying any friendships between Rhaenyra and Alicent surely set up for what to come. It draws parallel to Robb Stark marrying Talisa, triggering the the Red Wedding and fall of Starks. The underlying plot and character are of course very different but it's very clear that this is the first domino to fall. The slow build up of episode attest to it... this is where it all starts.
Also, Rhaenyra facing Daemon at Dragonstone with dragons in each side is also a great. It reinstates dragon's paramount existence as a weapon and behind what makes Targaryen the most powerful house in the realm - a much needed scene after how GoT treated dragons toward the end.
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Kanketsu-hen - Fukushusha Scar (2022)
A better joke than first one
But still a joke. Dialogues (in Japanese) and production value is so cringy and doesn't capture any of original manga/anime's greatness. Expectations were low but this is on the bad end even for live action adaptation.,
House of the Dragon: The Heirs of the Dragon (2022)
Off to an exceptional start
Had my worries going in because how GoT turned out toward the end and how most sequels/prequels doesn't come close to the original. But so far the first episode of House of the Dragon is matching or even surpassing GoT's exceptional start. Time will tell how the rest of the show turns out but so far off to an exceptional start.
Bullsh*t: The Game Show (2022)
Good idea, bad execution
Even reality game show need some suspensions of disbelief. The game show's idea is solid but contestants and they way things are presented are way too fake to enjoy it.
The Witcher: Kaer Morhen (2021)
Worrying direction
Not only did this episode unnecessarily kill Eskel and made Kaer Morhen no longer secluded place no ordinary can reach (contrary to the book), it also frames 3 Crones as "old gods" Elven ancestors worshipped and behind alliance between Francesca and Nilfgaard. And Francesca is not a member of the chapter as Yennefer didn't recognize her.
All of that completely changes Francesca's motivation in upcoming Thanedd coup, making quite a few plot holes unless writer can fill them without making other ones. And that's the danger of straying from source materials - writer still has to follow the overarching storyline but it now makes less sense because previous deviation.
Too early to call, of course, but this episode worries me.
Arcane: League of Legends (2021)
Not just the best video game adaptation to date
But also one of the best show to date.
Everything Arcane has to offer is just amazing. It has beautiful graphic, kick-ass scores, gripping story and most importantly, characters you actually care.
My only complaint? I need to wait a year to watch season 2!
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Devoid of any charisma
Out of all casting choice, Spike is only one that is passable (surprisingly). The rest? Bad, worse and WTF. Jet barely possesses the original feel & chemistry and Faye is a just an entirely different character. I'm okay with changing characters but they have to be for the better...not this.
Eternals (2021)
Eh...am I suppose to feel something?
You know a movie is terrible when you walk out the theater and already can't remember half of main characters' name and they're all named after mythical characters and god in actual history.
Dune: Part One (2021)
A galactic Game of Thrones, but it's a movie
And that's the problem.
Don't get me wrong. Almost everything in Dune was excellent, -- it had astonishing cinematography, compelling acting, superb interactions, believable settings, intriguing characters, etc. -- *almost* everything, because the pacing was terrible.
This is (supposedly) part 1 of 2 movies and it's already over 2.5 hrs long. Yet it still doesn't too a good job of telling a story with closure. The overall pacing is just ... really bad because it really felt like the movie just abruptly ended at nowhere.
And I mean **nowhere**. Usually, a single movie in a series still brings a closure to a smaller story within the larger story arc to further set things up for the next chapter of the arc. For example, Avenger: Infinity War ended on avengers losing to Thanos and losing half pops. It further sets up for Avengers: Endgame's climatic battle - and that was the whole Act 1, a complete story within a larger story with a closure. Dune: Part 1, on the other hand, didn't have any closure, nor cliffhanger...again, it just kind of ended nowhere. It really should've been the first movie of a trilogy, cutting off a bit earlier at a major catalyst event (no spoiler). Or better, this should've been a multi-seasoned show like GoT on HBO Max or something.
I really hope Dune: Part 2 happens but hopefully it will be better paced if it happens because this has some serious potential, just some pacing adjustments shy of a timeless classic.
Foundation (2021)
I feel bad for the special effect team...
Because special effect is only thing good about this show, and even that gorgeous blockbuster movie level special effect can't save the horrendous writing. The first episode wasn't too bad, but it got worse and worse, and by episode 3, I just can't take it seriously anymore. There just so more plot holes than actual plots and it's impossible to keep suspension of disbelief.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
A Masterpiece
Absolute masterpiece and a must watch. It has excellent premise, gripping & binge-worthy development, perfectly handle twist & turns, fantastic character arcs and overall exceptional writing and acting!
It's near the realm of perfection with little to complain but if I have to nitpick, my only minor gripes are:
1. Motivation revealed in last episode could have been more...philosophical (maybe it's lost in translation)
2. VIPs acting are really bad, like...they supposed to be world's richest a-holes, not jerk high schooler reading off a drama script...
Clickbait (2021)
None of the characters felt real
I'm genuinely surprised how positive the overall reviews are because none of the characters were believable, surreal even. From the initial reaction to motivation, and to the way characters navigate the world felt like it was designed by robot trying to calculate how human should act.
The overall story had potential, but it really felt like the writer had an idea, and then made a bunch of poorly manipulated puppets to make the story work, no matter how unnatural they seem.
Free Guy (2021)
Good premise and stellar performance
Good premise and exceptionally executed. Overarching story was good but it was nothing new. It was actors carried the movie. Ryan Reynolds' acting was fabulous and so was Jodi Comer, Joe Keery, etc. Basically everyone in the movie had a stellar acting, which is quite rare in these days. And chemistry between actors were all amazing. Taika Waititi's Antwan lacked depth but was very fun to watch nonetheless and fitted in very well.
Oh, there were also lots of references. My favorite (and one of the obvious one) -- Soonami =)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Pleasantly surprised!
Didn't have high hope before going in because neither Simu nor Awkwafina was a superhero movie casting material, and Mandarin is a very controversial villain of choice, but I was pleasantly surprised on how good Shang-Chi was.
The chemistry between Simu and Awkwafina was exceptional, and Tony Leung's casting of Not-Mandarin aka Xu Wenwu was not just amazing, but one of the best villains Marvel has ever seen. It's a villain whose motivation is actually both believable and relatable. Oh, and the actual "Mandarin" was also a comical gold.
Plus, fighting scenes were absolutely amazing. First half's martial art scenes were on par with some martial arts classics and later half of, well, typical Marvel CGI stuff were quite of eye candies.
Sure, there were few less developed character arcs like Shang-Chi's sister but overall, this is an excellent movie that won't disappoint you.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
Overall decent but writing is a mixed bag
The animation was gorgeous, combat scene was amazing and musics are on point, but some creative choices the writer made were mix bags. There are some good arcs mixed other poorly written arcs that neither fit into the Witcher universe nor make sense even considering the movie standalone.
Let's go over this one by one, starting with the worst one - sacking of Kaer Morhen.
In the source material, though not clearly explained, sacking of Kaer Morhen was by religious mobs instigated by propaganda pieces like the Monstrum, and with the help of handful mages. And because the castle was gate kept by the Witcher's Trail, which was considered dangerous even for young witchers to cross, the siege was only possible with mages' help. But there was definitely no monsters involved. It just makes absolutely NO SENSE that common townsfolks turned mobs would fight along side monsters as fear and hatred toward perceived monstrosity of witcher is the primary motivation of the attack (not to mention they're afraid of monsters too). And there was no Kaedwan knights assisting the assault either - such details seem minor until you realize that it affects all later interactions between witchers and Kaedwan knights, soldiers, nobles, etc., which there are few.
Most importantly, the movie choice to have Deglan and Reidrich breed hybrid monsters so that they can make more money make no sense and strongly contradicts how witchers are portrayed in the source materials. In the source materials, witchers are cold, indifferent and maybe callous, but as a group, witchers are was never portrayed as villains capable of such act, and that's even after Kaer Morhen's fall and witchers lose its core organizing structure. And in general, witchers' contracts aren't that lucrative to begin with. A Witcher can make much more coins (and safer) if he's willing to serve a king, as demonstrated by Geralt during his service to Foltest. So, basing the sacking of Kaer Morhen on such setting was both unbelievable and uncomfortable to watch.
Which leads to Tetra, whose character arc also leaves much to be desired. Mostly, her hatred toward witchers is not well explained. Initially, it seems like she hates witchers because of something about "purity", which is a noble concept in the Witcher universe - neither mage nor human are really "pure" to begin with. And though it's perfectly fine to bring a new concept, there's NO EXPLANATION of what "purity" even means here. And her personal grudge - something about her mother being wrongly accused because of a witcher wanted to make money - is wrapped into just few sentences. You really can't describe the motivation behind the most important story event on a hollow word "purity" and just few sentence of background story. It really felt like she hated witchers because story needed that to happen.
And Kitsu (name derived from Kitsune, which means fox in Japanese), an original creation but heavily parallels Aguara race (also means fox in Guarani) from the book, e.g., fox-based, able to cast powerful illusions, made from kidnapped elven girl, etc. These setting are fine but her arc was also heavily flawed. Mainly, why was she attacking civilians in the beginning and was spared at the end of the movie? Illyana said "she didn't ask for this" so Vesmir spare it her but uh... did everyone just forgot the entire story started because she used monsters to attack travelers for some unknown reason? And no, she was not under the control of Deglan or Reidrich, Deglan clearly said they thought she was dead.
Finally, the good ones - Vesmir and Illyana's arcs were quite good. Vesmir is portrayed very differently in the movie when compared to source materials, but it was nicely done. Origin story was simple and bit too romanticized compared to darker tone of the source materials, but it was complete and made sense. And Illyana's story arc is also surprisingly complete as both her actions and motivations are believable. The chemistry between two was also quite good.
Overall, it's still a decent movie, but much of the writings were shallow. It's not too hard to maintain suspension of disbelief during the movie, but once you're done with it and think about what happened, you will get so many "wait, what?" moments.