marb-97222 Reviews

Happy! (2017–2019)

Yet another over the top violence pretext

[2/10 · 16 January 2023]

Watched season 1 and a good portion of season 2 a few years back. Although season 1 was quite enjoyable, during season 2 it occurred to me that this is just another pretext for creating over the top violence scenes just for the adrenaline kick of the makers and possibly the viewers. It starts kinda funny but the 'look at us doing over the top stuff' feels a bit lame at some point. It's a plot device just for the shock effect, trying to make up for the show's lack of true creativity. Like pulp fiction it tries to understate violence in general and sugar coat it 'for contrast purposes'. However, by now we're all too familiar with this effect and therefore Happy! Feels a bit dated and like a copy on steroids.

If you like sugar coated over the top violence, this show is for you. If you don't, you won't miss anything by skipping this title.

How I Became a Gangster (2019)

Well worth watching

[9/10 · 16 January 2023]

Atmospheric, well balanced and worthwhile. And, not the traditional 'violence and gangsta glorification' movie as we all know a bit too well from titles as & like Pulp Fiction.

We're being told the story of a Polish gangster, first hand. He takes us with him through his very first criminal steps during childhood, when communist Poland was part of the Warschau-pact, up to when he's become a seasoned capo in the 2000's.

Although it is obviously a movie and as usual scenes are therefore a bit romanticised every now and then, the entirety of this movie feels believable. Once it gets really started, the life of the main character enfolds and captivates the viewer. With realistic character development and a great music selection to add to the atmosphere, this movie progresses from a somewhat shallow story at first sight into a really captivating tale. Very well done.

A little gem afaic.