dawnrzr Reviews

Outer Range (2022– )

Unlikable characters, poorly written

[3/10 · 24 April 2022]

Brolin is a good actor but after 4 episodes of being cranky and angry i got rather tired of him.

Why are we supposed to root for these criminals? They have not done a single good thing this entire time (episode 4). We get an insight into their life yes, and therefore we should root for them? No. That can work if the characters are very likeable, but they're not. Brolin is angry, the son with the missing wife is angry but also sad and extremely unlikable in every possibly way.

The writing is very poor. Like at one point a cop is instructed to not let Rhett pick up the phone, they're trying to make the setup exciting but it just ends with the cop letting him use the phone, for no reason.

The quirky characters are just quirky for the sake of being quirky and they feel very fake.

What a waste, because Brolin and the wife character are both very good actors, the rest is good to. It's like a very poorly written version of Dark for simpletons.

Better Call Saul (2015– )

A stillborn missed opportunity

[5/10 · 26 March 2020]

Around Season 2 or 3 i was hoping the series would take off, there had been plenty of character building (which is great ofc!). But no, the character building just kept on going, and going. While that part is well made, especially for Jimmy, you would have hoped this interesting character would go in a interesting direction. I guess my hope, from the start, was that Jimmy would be meeting interesting (criminal) characters and getting into trouble. Perhaps one client per episode, each with a new exciting, smart and/or funny outcome. But no, we get Kim. We get a random client of hers who she wants to save (why??? They have no relation, and he's an stubborn a-hole!) She would last 1 day as a lawyer if her personality truly would be like this.

Ok, but so what does Jimmy do, is he up to anything interesting? No. For some reason he's trying to ruin Howards life(!) A man who's been trying to help Jimmy, who's totally harmless (sure, he's a rather boring and privileged "suit", but harmless nonetheless). It makes no sense at all. Also he's trying to get to the boss of Mesa Verde. Reasons? Nothing particular. He thinks he talks funny, a reason as good as any i guess when you to try to ruin someone's life.

Sorry but the writing of this show is really terrible. It's such a missed opportunity too, and with such great actors.

Too Old to Die Young (2019)

Anything but "slow"!

[9/10 · 16 June 2019]

Did we watch the same show? In the very first episode there's so many things happening. I was expecting perhaps one "main" event to take place (after reading how "slow" it is). Instead we get like 8 quite big happenings that pulls you into this extremely dark place, some things are resolved in the first episode, some are not.

I think people are perhaps not used to the cinematography or something. It's almost completely void of fast action clips, the typical Hollywood stuff. Instead we get long scenes, slow camera work, ambient drone music. This is not the same as a show being "slow"! A slow show would mean that very little happens, this is not true at all here.

It's dark, unsettling and beautiful. A solid 9/10 from me, so far.

Game of Thrones (2011–2019)

Great apart from S8

[7/10 · 6 May 2019]

I've really enjoyed GoT as a whole. Not everything has been perfect, but most shows are like that, and this is not your average TV-show.. This is an extremely rare genre - a dark fantasy show, i'm willing to cut them some slack. It's too bad about S8 though, i even liked the previous, rather fast paced season (which many people despised). Episode 4 of S8 really ruined a lot i think - it's overall sloppy and just plain dumb, very little effort and thought was put into it. You can tell the creators just got tired of it but continued due to it still making the $$$. We never asked for this.

The Bridge (2011–2018)

Decent but a bit ridiculous.

[5/10 · 31 October 2018]

The first seasons was decent, i'm a big fan of Kim Bodnia, wonderful actor.

Saga is the female protagonist, an expert on everything, extremely socially competent or absolutely clueless socially (*if* it makes the situation funny).

We're supposed to believe Martin complements Saga, but he's not good at anything really. He's not fast, he can't fight. The one thing he can do is tell Saga "that's not socially acceptable, you need to do it like this.." (if it makes the scene funny or awkward).

If there's something good to say it's not exactly as political as most/all series in Sweden are, that can get very tiring and especially if you don't agree with rich and privileged people's political ideas.

The premise here is quite interesting, but Saga is unfortunately not that great or believable as a character due to the poor and often rather childish writing. The villains are like straight out of a TV series aimed at kids / teens. I would have preferred less "epic" plots that seems to be inspired by american 80-90's action movies and instead have the darker more down to earth and gritty crime/thriller that Scandinavia usually does really well.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

All over the place

[1/10 · 21 December 2017]

This was a real, terrible mess of a movie! Very odd choices for actors Laura Dern (Twin Peaks) feels especially off here. The pacing was terrible, the creature design was terrible, it did perhaps 2 things right that were fun to watch, but 85% of the content is just plain bad, boring and often just tasteless and "off". I did not particularly like the previous (i rate it lower than the prequels), but in comparison to this it's absolutely masterful. This should have been a direct to Blueray release, it does not deserve a big screen release to scam people like this. Awful.

The Son (2017–2019)

Great first episodes!

[8/10 · 9 April 2017]

Yes, this series is a bit cruel, which is only realistic since it's set in early 1900 (and before). A show must be able to show topics like racism and savagery without people shouting "it's a racist show!" like one person did here. It has nothing to do with racism. The whites are not portrayed in a very favorable light at all many times, far from it.

The pacing is slow compared to more "actioney" shows like Hell on Wheels. It has a main and a secondary plot, both of which are very enjoyable. So far it does not contain any cheap nudity or such, which i think is welcome.

It's leaning far more towards realism than being over the top - everything from clothing to language e.g the native Americans speak their own language. So if you're expecting Xena in Texas, well, you'll be disappointed ;)

Like always I really enjoyed Zahn McClarnon's performance, great actor with such great presence.

Looking forward to see more.

Prometheus (I) (2012)

Horror sci-fi at its best

[9/10 · 5 October 2016]

Yes, it's not Alien (which i personally consider the best sci-fi movie of all time), but it's also NOT a 1/10 sci-fi horror movie which many IMDb users seems to think. FAR from it. I'd dare these people to give examples of recent sci-fi horror movies that does a better job!

We have to realize that this is a really rare genre. I'm personally very thankful for any title in this particular genre with a big budget, that can give us top-notch special effects and an interesting setting with decent enough actors and story.

The story on the whole is excellent, it might not be executed perfectly, but again, very expected from this genre. I mean we could all wish that the next slasher movie has Oscar material actors and story, but it would be slightly silly, it's not what we should expect or even why we would go to see such a movie. There are FEW examples (like Alien) where everything actually is great, greater than expected for the particular genre, obviously it is to be considered more like a happy accidents than anything else. The origin of sci-fi and horror is pulp fiction, b-movies, comics, it's not to be taken too seriously!

Instead of expecting a new Alien the next time you see a horror sci-fi movie, perhaps be more open minded, be FAR less critical to things that really doesn't take away from the overall atmosphere of the movie (what should be priority in a movie like this), and you will have a lot more fun.

The Leftovers (2014–2017)

No.

[5/10 · 5 April 2015]

First of I have to say that I really liked the actors in this series, they were the main reason i kept coming back to it.

As for the title, "The Leftovers" - I've seen a few people say "well duh, you shouldn't expect anything to be explained to you, it's about the people who got left behind". Well, no, not really. That's more like a really lame excuse for making a story that doesn't go anywhere at all.

It would be one thing to make a series about characters trying to move on after a tragedy, but actually very little in the story is about that. ~80% of the story revolves around the mystery itself and even more mysteries that comes into play, but nothing is explained - "because we don't have to, it's about the leftovers!" Uhh OK. How very convenient, then why don't you instead come up with a story that revolves around the leftovers instead of the mystery and more mysteries and mysterious characters that you don't need to explain because "the story isn't about that!". I mean c'mon, that doesn't even make any sense.

I'd even go as far as saying the story is extremely cheap, because it relies too much on some of the cheapest tricks in the book to keep the viewer coming back to it, yes, apart from some great acting.

No. I think i'd like my 7,5h back please.

I Saw the Devil (2010)

A complete failure

[3/10 · 14 December 2010]

This movie fails at everything except being quite violent and having nice photo and overall some impressive acting at times.

The characters are so one dimensional that you just don't care for them, at all. There's bascilly no introduction to anyone. Having at least one character that you care for is the most important thing to get right in a revenge movie, in this movie they didn't even try.

The protagonist is really dislikable and his actions makes very little sense at times, it's easy to hate him just as much as the "bad guy", which of course, makes the whole movie a complete failure.

The movie was neither shocking enough or exciting enough to be worthwhile.

Observe and Report (2009)

Twisted, dark comedy at its best

[8/10 · 27 July 2010]

This movie surprised me in a very positive way, i really liked the balance of dark and gritty comedy but at the same time also cute and beautiful (often in a very twisted way).

It was a refreshing movie to watch, maybe not as good as Bad-Ass (exact same kind of twisted humor) but nevertheless a movie that shouldn't be missed by anyone who loves dark comedy.

With comedy and horror it's impossible to go by the IMDb score, i think a 6 a way too low rating for this movie, but if you're frequent IMDb visitor you know about this already. People just have extremely varied taste when it comes to comedy and horror, either you love it or you hate it..

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Return of the outsiders

[7/10 · 11 April 2008]

Eagle Vs Shark is a roller-coaster ride of funny and rather depressing moments. On the whole its almost as cute as Napoleon Dynamite, but it suffers from being a bit too predictable and sometimes it feels like it tries too hard to imitate the humor of the American equivalent.

The characters are well played, the soundtrack is great, I never found it too slow / drawn-out which was a big plus. I thought the funniest character in the movie was the hacker, Mason, who delivers some of the funniest lines in the movie.

All in all, well worth watching for the laughs, total cuteness of the characters and the wonderful soundtrack which really fits the atmosphere of the movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Hollywood at its worst.

[2/10 · 24 November 2006]

I can see how some teenagers or even younger people can like "Dead Man's Chest", it has some really cool effects going on and the story is easy to follow. On several occasions i had to remind myself that i wasn't in fact watching a new Star Wars movie with loads of funky looking aliens, and that's not a good thing in a movie about pirates, IMHO. Cool effects and costumes perhaps, but too little effort has been put into making the story or the characters that interesting. It's like Star Wars and Indiana Jones but without a hint of soul. I would have been more forgiving if it was 1.30h long, 2.5h is just too much for the little material they really have. This is a typical "high budget but zero interest in originality or story"-Hollywood movie. It left me very disappointed.

Firefly (2002–2003)

Over-hyped!

[4/10 · 16 May 2006]

I bought the DVD-box after reading the numerous positive reviews here on IMDb. I thought the first three episodes or so was quite enjoyable, not great but entertaining enough, but from here it's getting old pretty fast.

The acting, script and, especially, the characters, are on pair with shows like "Xena: Warrior Princess" (which isn't exactly something positive in my book). There is no character development whatsoever, the characters are dull and most of them, unoriginal. The episodes are predictable and often just spin off's, things that has already been done to death, or just much better in other (sci-fi and/or western)series or movies.

Firefly is really easy to get into since it totally lacks any kind of depth and the characters are very two dimensional. This might appeal to the casual watcher and the younger crowd perhaps. The setting, "sci-fi-western" I find refreshing, but it's not enough to make it worthwhile.

Panic Room (2002)

Under the surface, it's just stupid.

[2/10 · 27 September 2002]

*Spoilers* This movie could have been quite good if it weren't for some obvious plot holes. When the police arrives, why doesnt she tell the cops about the situation?? The thugs can't hear her, only see her. After the policemen has gone she start destroying the video cams(!), so from being very careful not to risk her daughters life, she suddenly doesn't seem to care at all. The obvious reaction from the robbers would be that she said something to the police and that they were going in. Another plot holes (there are quite a few); the robbers knew she might had used the phone after rippig the cable from the wall, but they don't seem very concerned. Why taking the risk and stay? This film is trying to be "intelligent" but under the surface, it's just stupid.