Sophia Bauer

The movie struggled to keep my attention from the beginning. I was bored the entire time despite the story itself being interesting. The actors simply weren't convincing- I didn't see a callous "Mama", nor a hardened girl who grew up in a deplorable situation. She had short hair, that doesn't make her tough. It's not a bad movie, and I think that it will either be well liked by some who don't require strong acting or realistic emotions, or for others like myself, they will be thinking of what they could have been doing instead of sitting through this movie. The biggest thing I can compliment the movie on is the cuteness of the lead girl. She had a lovely and charming face that was not tainted by plastic surgery as you'd usually see in Korean movies or shows.

Giving this a solid 4 star rating. It definitely uses its anime inspiration to its advantage, understanding that what makes anime popular is not solely the style (like many pseudo-anime -or "fanime", as I like to call them- seem to think), but also the well-written, relatable characters; the relationships between characters; the exciting action sequences; and the dangerous, but often sympathetic and unfortunate villains. The show feels light enough for children, but still entertaining enough for teenaged and adult audiences. I think it'd be a lot of fun to watch together. Every character feels like themselves, but also more modern versions of themselves. Lois has her attitude and crazy confidence, Clark is responsible and just, and Jimmy is spunky and youthful. - Long time fan of Superman ✌🏻.

I'll likely be the only person to admit it: this show is not good! It is a mess of weirdly and unnaturally aggressive lead characters who are exceptionally unlikable, bland attempts at comedy, illogical behavior, pointless plot drivers, and awkward writing. The show tries very, very hard to be "Fargo", with the dry comedy and violence escalation, but it only succeeds in coming off as a pitiful step-cousin without any identity. It's forgettable aside from the fact that the lovable Steven Yeun and the charming Ali Wong are the leads, and it really feels like a waste of their time, and of the other awesome actors involved. The whole thing feels like it was written by a teenager going through their "edgy" faze. My guess on why it has good reviews is most probably due to the casting of Asian actors, which I find exciting, but also embarrassing that this is the best anyone could do with an almost entirely Asian cast when they aren't stereotypes. Also, Steven's character is so racist ("Don't date white girls"; "Japanese?" *smug face*), but the show doesn't seem to want to accept that this is racism and he just is excused for it. If it were instead a black girl that his brother liked ("Our parents don't want to see black grandkids, they want grandkids who look like them") or perhaps an Arab man that Amy was married to ("Saudi?" *mouth shrug*) everyone would be freaking out because it's offensive. I can't figure out the reason for writing the lead character as a racist, but not as a villain, and thinking it's funny.

Rewatched this movie with my almost 11 year old niece yesterday, and it was better than I had remembered. Although it honestly isn't as good as the original, and neither of the adaptations are as good as the book, it's a nice introduction to what makes Japanese ghost and horror movies so unforgettable- the eerie atmosphere. I, myself, was 10 or 11 when this movie was new and I saw it for the first time, and I enjoyed it very much at that time. As an adult, I see more flaws in the acting and a few awkward moments with the characters' interactions, but I still think this to be an essential horror film. If one watches the original "Ringu" and/ or reads the novel, certain decisions could be better understood as this movie makes a lot of similar writing choices, but loses details that explain them (and also writes out characters who move the story along in a more natural way). I could watch it again, even if it doesn't fully measure up to the original. Oh, and a really fun treat is to spot the evolution of ideas that branched directly from the original story and understand how one idea became another.

First season: 4.5 stars. Great acting; memorable; lovable and well-developed characters, even in the background; great storytelling. Second season: 3.8 stars. Story doesn't move along as interestingly, and it seems to be more comedy-driven than drama focused, aside from when the drama "explodes". Third season: atrocious. 1 star. What a mess. Doesn't understand the characters anymore and just writes them to do whatever.