Jeff Munroe

Skip. It's basically Men In Black smashed together with a very conservative It's A Wonderful Life premise. And it doesn't work. Very preachy 'Christmas is ours' story, the action is a B movie at best, and most of the budget went to CG. The only reason why this flick gets 2 stars is because I can't give it a half-star. The star and a half is purely for Chris Evans and his son, because everyone else was either uninterested in trying to sell the premise, or just couldn't. At least those two showed up for work.

I rarely give shows on local television a 5, and this one does deserve it. As far as procedural tv series go that get airtime on local channels with no need for censors, it's refreshing to see one that does step outside the box into the land of quirk. It's as good as any others I've watched and enjoyed, such as The Mentalist or Monk, even though I had my doubts at first. She was often an annoying character on The Good Wife that stuck her nose in where it wasn't wanted, but on this show with the premise of her being a police watchdog of sorts, her curiosity and biggest quirks are huge assets. As a main character instead of a supporting cast member, she gets the opportunity to set the tone for the show, which is a being a thorn in the side of wrongdoers of all walks of life and on both sides of the line as so few crime procedurals often do. What sets it apart is it's done in her odd style which does allow you to enjoy the ride to it's end. That, and it is rounded out by a very likable supporting cast that has to adapt to her style, and they do it well. Unlike some other shows that stray from the norm, her character doesn't need treatment or therapy. She is quite simply who she is, and it's perfecting okay to be different without special considerations.

For those of us that did watch the whole show, it doesn't pick any sides in politics, first of all. So much so, it makes the whole premise pointless because the ultimate message is that everything beyond any family's front door is pointless. Left is bad, right is bad, and change is bad. Ultimately, this was a story about a family being bullied by powerful people, with little in the way of thrills. The family itself seems to lack any real decision making skills. The reason why they're bullied or being terrorized seems set up a powerful secret cabal, or some other dark human-caused force (no spoilers). The reality? It's an 8 episode exhausting exersize in apathy. The message seems to be that if we don't care about anything past the front door of our homes, everything will be okay. So no, although it's well acted, it's a show that promises a grand finale and delivers nothing in the end other than to make sure to ignore everything. It's a waste of a huge premise that has no reason existing. A lot of bad decisions keep getting made with no real payoff for your time spent watching it. Not worth the time.

This is a show one watches if they're really desperate to stare blankly at a screen. It was so full of plot holes one hopes that the book wasn't this bad, since it didn't live up to what one expects from a good European novel series adaptation. There is no real investigating happening, since not only did the police had severe tunnel vision but so did the main character. One can understand her lack of focus given her lack of experience and the situation with her history, but only to a point. Her investigation board with all the neatly arranged photos and colored string were all but completely pointless when it comes to the weak ending twist, if one can even call it a twist. Solving it hinges on something that should have been Investigation 101 Day One on how to narrow down potential suspects. This was lazy writing at it's absolute worst, and appears as if the author didn't even have anyone in mind for the girl's abduction right up to the last chapter, and just winged it. The characters were all basically two-dimensional and this treatment of a serious issue was hokey at best. Why they even tapped a talent like Jose Coranado to be in this channel-changer is the real mystery.

This movie was too all over the place in a lot of spots, but it does at least redeem itself in the end. It's another nod to great behind-the-scenes people who do risk their lives to make movies look good, and it does thankfully remind us of them after it pulls itself together in the end after jumping back and forth between awkward exchanges that happen frequently (with clunky and bad dialogue at some points that seem far too 'Deadpool fourth wall' monologues as if neither of them knew the other was in the room). The romantic nature is pretty much the stuff of Harlequin, and the dialogue matches to the point of cringeworthy, basically. But if you get past the fact that they've been poorly directed to do those scenes in a combined movie and stage sort of monologuing, you do get a nice, albeit predictable payoff. It reminds me of the days of Hooper and Burt Reynolds, but like most of the movies that seem to idolize the 70's and 80's, it simply reminds us of an age without really taking us there. Good movie for younger gens who were never there or don't realize what it takes to do even simple movie gags (stunts), but it takes too much time explaining why it and movies in general exist instead of taking us on an adventure otherwise I'd say it was worth the price of a theater ticket and an extra star. So if you know and appreciate how movies are made, wait for it to be free on streaming services. If you're young and want an inspirational crash-course in practical effects (understanding that you can't just take your phone and bike into the mountains and do dangerous nonsense for likes) it could be a decent night out at the movies. They even give you actual behind the scenes shots at the end of what stunts and stunt folks it took to make Ryan Gosling and others look good, and of course to validate what the movie was largely about.

Having actually seen all the original Star Wars movies in the theaters when released, yes, I am a longtime fan of the show. That said, this show isn't Star Wars not because of errors, but bad writing. The original Sith, for example, was not started by Darth Maul, but was established by a rogue Jedi . . . however, thousands of years ago before 'A New Hope', the first Star Wars movie ever made. This series is merely a hundred and thirty seven years before that movie. The so-called jedi-turned-sith in this show is just some wanna-be, and the relationship between him and one of the sisters is reminiscent of Twilight, not Star Wars. He's comes off as some anti-social kid who dreams of buying a Harley. The show starts off slow, the actors seem to have no ability, direction, or interest in promoting any sort of tension, suspense, or even delivering lines that engage us in the story for at least 6 episodes. The 7th, is finally when things kick higher, but we're left feeling that we've wasted our time watching it . . . it would have been far more interesting even if Jar-Jar Binks was in it, and I hated that character (until after I found out that Lucas didn't care much what fans thought, because his daughter thought Jar Jar was funny, so that was sweet). With this show, I suspect this was a script and directing issue, simply because far too late, in the 7th episode, they finally find their character's motivation. That's the part that's also troubling, is that most of the main characters seem to change their minds about highly important ideals or goals at the mere drop of a hat or suggestion. It was like watching an even more naive Forrest Gump navigating life in the Star Wars universe. I understand why they did it, telling the tale from two perspectives, but the first perspective is overly bad, flat, and dry. There is no character that can be related to as written and played. Truth is, I don't care much about canon like some cheese-eating teen anymore, but I do care about being entertained. This is no Andor, Kenobi, Bobba Fett or even some of those stupid cartoons I used to ignore. It's almost like some fan-fic story written by someone who watched Harry Potter and Twilight a lot, and bad fan-fic at that. Many of the actors are talented individuals, and I know they're capable of much better, so I can only say direction or script was the problem. After having sat through the whole mess with only ONE scene at the very end that peaked my interest, basically when the High Jedi was to be consulted, that's it. A few seconds that are now pointless, due to cancellation. Just do yourself a favor. Give this one a miss.

My reaction to the first Orphan Black was lukewarm, sometimes bored, sometimes interested. I had thought then, "It's been done." I admired the effort and the acting skills of all involved, particularly the work of Tatiana Maslany. That, and I often thought it wasn't bad for a Canadian show (being Canadian myself). I was hoping for a better show this time having enjoyed many other works of all actors involved, especially Krysten Ritter and Keeley Hawes. Sadly, the most nuanced and layered metaphor in the new season was the title itself. Otherwise, it spends much of its' time poorly hammering home the message of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. So much so, the lifeless dialogue of the screenplay the actors had to work with was even forcibly wedged directly into the script's dialogue much later in the season, just in case the comparison wasn't already painfully obvious by episode two. The one interesting returning character, Felix, could have been replaced with a cardboard cutout of Felix dressed as Sigmund Freud, to be honest. So that was a huge disappointment. As for any ideology issues, there weren't really so many flying about to struggle with that they couldn't all have a place to land. By 2050, the show's present day, all of the issues tracked as well as the technology. Let's face it, with the snail's pace it takes to get anything done socially or technologically (evident even in this reviews section on how the social tug-of-war makes it difficult to get acceptance on issues we as young people accepted in the 70's and 80's), within the framework of the story all seemed logical and about situation normal with the constant tug-of-war. But none of that nit-picking or name-calling on any ideology matters since the whole point of any fantasy or science fiction show is to suspend disbelief, not become someone's arguing point of 'whose side is right, and whose isn't'. What does matter is that no real progress is made on any of the issues within the context of the story, and everyone on every side in the show is a hypocrite. It feels more like a philosophical Ted Talk ending with nothing resolved and handshakes begrudgingly passed around than a well-made bit of fiction. That's the part that feels forced . . . it all feels like it's juggling everyone's social political pet peeves with science and faith, and not dealing with the story itself. It simply takes every side and yet none at all. At the end, you're not really left with any conclusions that can carry onwards into another season. Just promises of the same ping-pong games being carried forward. So if there is ever going to be a second season, they really need better writers or script doctors in order to try and land at least one of the story's self-aware social points, simply because it's still just a blizzard of philosophical dead-ends that was dealt with far better in the original Mary Shelley's Frankenstein/The Modern Prometheus, a story that was written by an 18 year old teenager, so it's difficult to imagine a socially aware story with multiple elements on the big subject of what is life and death can't be done. It's been done many times, even in film, such as the original Blade Runner or to a lesser degree, Logan's Run. As it stands right now, I can't recommend Orphan Black: Echoes. It's not entertainment in its' current messy state. If anything, it seems little more than a vehicle for people to complain about what they dislike about our current society.

People with patience will be rewarded. It's billed as a drama, but I'd submit it's also has enough comic elements to keep you chuckling, if not laughing out loud. The dubbing is well done in the context of Korean culture doing largely justice to the intent of the script and dialogue being translated to English, though others might not appreciate the subtle differences. I find the more I watch the Korean-made shows, the easier it is to simply absorb and enjoy the writer's intentions, and this show does cross a few items off the list of expectations for this show's general sales pitch. In fact, the ending payoffs were more than I expected, hence the fourth star. That, and the actors involved were thoroughly enjoyable, and seemed to wrap themselves happily in their roles.

While the build-up in the first 3 seasons put this show into a 4 or 5 star range, season 4 sinks it completely. Ultimately, the theme of the show is 'Don't try. The world hates us, we hate ourselves, and we're not worth living.' There was no character development and a LOT of plot-holes along with pure nonsensical, and really lame emo collapse at the end with dialogue that felt unimaginative to the point that even the actors couldn't sell it. That part of it was truly cringe-worthy. I originally thought the show was clever and would avoid that trap, but the finale was hardly a twist since they moaned and whined through the show's entire run that they were the cause of the various apocalypses. Did they beat the odds? It was given the bum's rush right out the door, and the moment I saw season 4 was only 6 episodes I was concerned. Netflix took yet another great show and blew it completely with a weak ending. If it wasn't for the first 3 seasons and the fantastic performances by the core actors, this would be a one-star rating.

A few chuckles, but after having already watched satirical movies about the Omen, Exorcist (Repossessed with Linda Blair and Leslie Neilsen to name one), and who knows how many sketch comedy bits on the subject, it's getting old. This one had no twists, no original jokes, and nothing to really involve anyone except for the monster truck crowd. Sad to see so many big names involved with this. Somebody seriously needs to create a new horror genre and be original for a change.