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gabrielle_1
Reviews
The Flash (2014)
Picking up speed
Here is an interesting show that surprised me from the beginning. I used to watched the old 1990 The Flash TV series, so my expectation were ordinary. I thought it was going to be just another reboot, but the different and original approach they took on Flash's background story, I actually began to like it more and more.
The characters are getting the screen time they deserve and the enemies are always interesting. Although the recipe of the story is a bit redundant from one episode to another (guy with superpower going nuts and Flash has to stop him over and over), I enjoy this show like a good dose of cheeseburgers. It calms my craving for adventure, action and little romance.
Grant Gustin didn't strike me as a good fit for the Flash at first but the more he got on camera and the better I understood why they chose him for the role. He has a strange and calm aura about him that reminds me (I don't know why...) of Richard Gere. Great intellect, soft and timid eyes, yet a man of action. Sureness and determination are making it work for him as an actor.
I'm looking forward to future episodes more than Gotham, which seem to be slowing down in ratings. I would give it a 8 of 10.
Strange Magic (2015)
Strange Result
The movie has a great story. But let's get to the point, the rendering is terrible. The musical is unbalanced. The story gets shattered and overpowered by it. Causing it to be shortened and lacking deepness. It eats all the time frames where the story could have gone deeper into moments, background character histories, fusions between them.
I also noticed that the movies is aimed for an audience of 12 yrs old girls, so why make the characters so old? How can a little girl gets connection to them? Especially an elf with the face of a 40 years old wrinkled Jamaican pot head who wants to date a little blond teenage girl by giving her a GHB type of potion. There is something very wrong with this concept.
And the ending, I remember shaking my head and going like : Why the kaleidoscope effects? Where did that acid trip come from? Not a clue. That effect was not present before and it broke completely the consistency of the movie.
Remove that, remove half the signing, get everybody a face lift and you probably could get a decent movie. Unfortunately I doubt Disney will want to invest in making a Director's cut out of that flop. Box office sales were terrible. It's unfortunate, the idea was good. But the result was bad. Better luck with Star Wars...
Agent Carter (2015)
Dick Tracy in high heels
Just like the Fedora hats that all characters are wearing a bit on the side, the series follow an nostalgic off-road path.
Without being bad, nor extremely good, the story is set around another conspiracy universe the-Marvel-way in the 1940's. It has a strange vintage feeling to it: like watching an old Dick Tracy episode but played by a woman.
To resume the plot in a short paragraph: after WWII, the disappearance of Captain America left behind agent Peggy Carter working for an agency that doesn't recognize her true potential. To make herself truly useful she decides to help Howard Stark retrieve his stolen weapon inventory. Aided by Stark's mysterious butler, Edwin Jarvis, she follows the trails of the secret criminal organization responsible for it.
I wish there was more to say, but so far, it did not get passed that. And it failed to make me believe in it. The story wants to be dramatic, when all characters have (most of the time) caricatural dialogs and scenes.
But the decors and costumes are impressively accurate and stylish. The actors are strong. I just wish Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark would appeared a bit more, the shows lack a funny, sensual character.
So I will not overrate this show, but I will not dismiss it either. It has a lot of potential and is very watchable. The concept is interesting and makes me yearn for more. And deep inside, let's face it, we all love her red hat.
Constantine (2014)
Like an unpolished diamond
I was expecting so much more to this show that the actual pilot left me on my craving. Instead of being mesmerized by an original story, I felt like watching an episode of Supernatural season 4 or 5 (which were not bad), but I found that Constantine was missing the originality that made the comic so entertaining.
I look forward to future episodes to see if the series will pick up the pace or if I will move on to something else. I'm also concerned about John Constantine who was originally created with the profile of pop singer Sting. I did not see that reflected in the show and was a bit sad about it and I felt that the show lacked a strong presence at the helm. Again maybe the show will adjust or else I doubt the series will last for very long.