Homer Tipton

I've been a Tolkien fan all my life, so I was looking forward to this series when it was announced. Despite initial reservations after the first trailer dropped, I decided to give this show a chance. Unfortunately, it's as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. The three and a half millennia timeline of the Second Age has been warped and contorted to cram as many iconic characters into the series as possible. Vast distances across Middle-Earth are covered between scenes, with no sense of what should have been a long journey taking place. The dialogue between elves lacks the power and substance you would expect from immortal characters like Galadriel and Elrond. The plotlines are full of contrivances that Tolkien never envisioned in his works. There's more I could say, but why bother? The show isn't very good, but it'll probably be entertaining enough for those who don't care about staying faithful to the source material. I'd rather watch Game of Thrones again.

***NO SPOILERS*** I really liked watching this show. It was everything I was hoping for from an Obi-Wan Kenobi story set in this time period - a character study of a once great Jedi master, now all but consumed by his inner demons. I love how they handled his story. It ties in beautifully with everything we know about this man's past and future from the rest of Star Wars canon. As for all of the negative criticism this show has received - just ignore it and watch the show for yourselves. The vast majority of it comes from people that haven't even watched all six episodes, and the rest comes from armchair quarterbacks. You know the type - basement-dwelling geeks filled with righteous indignation at what Disney has done with THEIR story, stemming from unwarranted self-assurance that they could have done a much better job. (lol) Not to mention, 'rage' reviews get more clicks than rave reviews on YouTube. Just to clear the air a little... The Third Sister, Reva, is an excellent foil for Kenobi and it is fitting that a story in this time period would include the Inquisitors. In fact, for anyone who has watched Star Wars: Rebels, it would be hard to imagine a story from this period without them. The fact that Reva is black and female is not relevant to the story. She could just as easily have been a white male, or a purple alien, and the story would have remained the same. All of the criticism about Reva's race and gender is unwarranted. Bottom line - the character fits the story and Moses Ingram did a great job in the role. Speaking of the cast - I love seeing the original actors portraying roles they made iconic. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen are in top form and it was a treat to see Jimmy Smits reprise his role as Bail Organa. As always, hearing James Earl Jones' voice behind the mask of Darth Vader takes me back to my childhood. As for the production itself, despite what many critics have said the pacing and production values are really good. There's a lot of action in this show, but it doesn't sacrifice story for spectacle. The visual effects are fitting to the story without stealing the show. It isn't a slow burn, yet everything that happens later in the story feels earned. Bottom line - I really enjoyed watching this show and can't recommend it highly enough. True Star Wars fans will not be disappointed.

Don't be fooled by critics and reviewers praising this film's cinematography, the director's courage, or making bold claims about how beautiful the visuals are. This was a horrible movie from beginning to end. As others have stated, it is long, boring, and filled with scenes that either make no sense or drag on forever - or both. To say the director favored style over substance is a massive understatement and might suggest it’s worth sitting through just for the pretty visuals. Trust me, it isn’t. I don't care if it's an A24 movie. It's a bad movie. Why is it so bad? Because it wastes an opportunity to tell an excellent story. This film's version of Gawain has little in common with the brave and virtuous knight from the poem. Frankly, it isn't worth the time or effort to tell this Gawain's story. His characterization as a hapless rogue, doomed to suffer the consequences of biting off more than he could chew, squanders the rich source material on which his story is based. When coupled with incoherent scenes and supporting characters that are barely more than talking props, trying to sit through this film is a real chore. For those who can stick it out, you’ll be rewarded with a lackluster climax, no discernible resolution, and morally ambiguous themes. Unfortunately, that's just scratching the surface of all that is wrong with this movie. Lighting. Makeup. Casting. Score. Messaging. Symbolism. There's a lot to hate about this film. To be clear, this is one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. Watching paint dry would be a better way to spend two hours and you'd probably take more away from it. Seriously, it's that bad. Do yourself a favor and read a modern translation of the poem instead.