ZippyTonguetwister

I could share all sorts of insights about characters and plot lines and nuances and musical score, anon anon. But the truth is, it had me captivated (no pun intended) from start to finish. I honestly can't describe it, it's just absolutely breathtaking. I wept in pain for the boy, and I wept in pride for the boy, knowing full well this was fiction. The actor who played him (to take nothing at all away from Brie Larson) was absolutely brilliant in this movie.

All I can say is what I titled this review: this movie was spectacularly, hauntingly, painfully, stunningly beautiful.

Most will probably not find this review helpful. But I'm fine with that. Find a couple hours that you can give this movie your attention, and sit down and immerse yourself. I found it 100% worth it.

I really liked this movie, start to finish. Someone says it's a rip-off of Vikings. So, is that really a bad thing? That's like saying Vito Bratta's no good because he rips off Eddie Van Halen a bit. My point: rip-off or not, it's a very entertaining Viking movie! I liked the characters. I don't think it's a spoiler to say not everyone lives to the end of the movie. So without detail, I felt for the ones who died. That means I enjoyed the characters. It was fast-paced, and kept my attention throughout.

The plot wasn't perfect, there were some things that really needed the director saying, "Well, shoot, the only way for them to survive this next scene is if a badger chews off the leg of one of the bad guys." (No, there wasn't a badger, but I hope the point was made.) So I liked the story, liked the pace, liked the characters, liked the battles. That for me makes it an 8/10.

Lot of negative reviews. I get it. But hey, it's a CW show aimed at anywhere from teen to early 30's most likely. With that in mind, I think it's a great show! I'm entertained, and the storyline(s) keep my attention. I like the characters, which is important. They're not out trying to win awards, it's an action series and I've genuinely enjoyed each week's episode. And it's not just the good guys and the bad guys, I think there are some intriguing layers to it all, so that keeps my attention as well. I think they have a lot of room to grow, too.

I'd say if you liked the idea of Terra Nova (lots of outdoors, fighting for survival, a bit apocalyptic, lots of dirt on faces, that sort of thing), then I'd say give it a shot. But for sure you have to watch a few episodes to let it all develop a bit.

I'll say this: definitely seems like it might have some promise. The main character seems interesting enough. Problem is, the entire thing is set up to say that he's 200 years old. And yet, he seems to have picked up knowledge and wisdom as if he'd been alive for 500-1000 years. 200 years is just not long enough for him to have accumulated all that he has.

At one point he mentions "outliving" someone, as if he's done it multiple times before. But for that to work, he'd have to have lived 25 years at a time max, and that only gets him 8 rounds on the eternity carousel. It just doesn't add up, which makes it hard to get immersed in the story.

So for me, if they had made him about 800 years old, I think I'd have been able to get into it. But as such, I couldn't. It just ran about as mediocre at best.

Now if you can look past that, then give it a go.

I would just say "this is just plain dumb" but that wouldn't fill my quota. So here are the TOP 10 ASININITIES (yes I made up that word) about this show, in order of least to greatest:

10. The "Chosen One's" dad gets absolutely no chance to reveal any sort of depth. Maybe keep the dude around for just a bit before killing him off with a butter knife (see #9 and #4).

9. Even if you worship trees, the very nature of an angel turned evil makes it a demon (in most religious and folklore ramblings). So wouldn't Gabriel and his vast minions be considered demons and not angels? But hey, perhaps I'm too hung up on semantics.

8. They made Gabriel seem extremely wicked, to the point of laughing demonically while sitting on a dark throne. I'm sorry, but making him seem like Satan just doesn't go with the premise. He wants humans wiped out, but to make his character maniacal adds a completely different layer not explained at ALL in the opening narrative (nor anywhere else in the episode).

7. They call the city "Vega" when it was Las Vegas before. Even in ruins, people don't just rename cities. It's not like it's been centuries. They'd still call the blasted place Las Vegas, or at least Vegas. It was probably 3am one morning when the writers giggled together, peed themselves a bit and said, "hey, let's drop the 's' off of 'Vegas' to make the city sound cool." Sigh.

6. This show does the absolutely lame thing that so many are doing lately: mixing in archaic "tech" with modern tech. They have a flippin' nuclear reactor powering the city (that can withstand massive explosions without leaking) and some sort of presidential bunker, yet they have piddly machine guns to try to ward off flying angels. Heck, if 3 angels can do all that damage, this show is over by the end of episode 2.

5. They're in the bunker with craziness all around, and yet some nice maid somewhere has put out some tasty cheese and crackers. Which of course is necessary because the writers said, "Hey, we need to kill someone with a butter knife" and then, "Gee, how in sam hill are we gonna get a butter knife into the shot?"

4. The writers made it very clear that having children was extremely important, to the point of having a city filled with "child-bearing" girls as an important part of the plot. At one point the Happy Chosen One is angry with his father for leaving him an orphan, because they don't get food or a place to sleep. And YET, orphans (which last time I checked were CHILDREN) are somehow relegated to the lowest "caste" in this sudden new "system" of who is more important than whom. So if having children is so (absent)god-durned important, why the heck would they be Untouchables?

3. God and Satan have somehow ceased to exist, and now there are just a bunch of Wicked- Angels-Formerly-Known-As-Good flyin' all over the place trying to kill humans. It's like the writers said, "Gee, we better get rid of God, or else this show could end as soon as He merely speaks." And then, "Uh, but what about Satan? Wouldn't he win if God is gone?" And then, "Um, yeah, so maybe we better just not mention Satan at all..."

2. Somehow Michael knows these tattoos are supposed to lead mankind to victory, yet he says not even he knows what they say. So, if there is no God, no Satan, just a bunch of angels (see #3 above), then how the heck does he know these tattoos mean squat? No one can read them, and yet peeps can transfer them all over each other like bad Copperfield and SOMEHOW they hold the key to EVERYTHING! Redrum!

1. The writers felt compelled to show a man's butt in the shower scene so they could be "current" (read: PC). Next thing you know they'll make sure no side wins (angels or man) because winning and losing hurts people's feelings and isn't fair. Then again, this entire show hurts and isn't fair to subject anyone to (PC or not).

Loved this movie! The relationships have depth. The unwinding of the story is engaging from start to finish. Don't want to give a lot away, but it was compelling in my opinion, and well, well worth it. I thought the acting was very solid. Sometimes when you put "popular" stars in movies like this, it's just not believable. I think the cast was perfect for the characters, and helped make me believe.

No real downside for me. I'm know I could nitpick it apart, but for me movies are kinda pass or fail. The boy in the story is a character that is all too real in society today. It made me watch the case worker critically, and I think she did an excellent job unwinding her character as well.

Definitely strong language, so be aware of that.

OK, so as far as teenage comedy films go, this one is funnier than most. One reviewer used the word "chemisty," and I think that's the key to this: the chemistry between the two dudes (Olsen and D'Agosto) in this film. And then between D'Agosto' character and the leadin' lady (Sarah Roemer) he's trying' to woo; it's believable, which is huge considering big-name stars can't handle such things in big-budget flicks. That means solid, engaging acting in my book.

Eric Christian Olsen (now on NCIS: Los Angeles) is hilarious. My two cents. Oh, and David Walton as the evil-current-boyfriend is hilarious as well.

Just a tight script, because Olsen and D'Agosto play off each other the entire time, and it just never got old for me. Again, chemistry. Even the bit characters had some really funny quirks that had me laughing (so I didn't have to rely on Olsen and D'Agosto to keep me laughing and engaged).

So yeah, it's just a teenage comedy flick. But I've watched it several times over the years, and I laugh every time. Just watched it again last night, it just draws me back in every time (prompting this review). So not to over-analyze it, but that means 8/10 for me, if I keep it in perspective.

I signed up for an account with IMDb just so I could show support for this sitcom.

It seems like 99% of the sitcoms out there are bent on using sexual, crass humor to attain and retain their audiences. Most new sitcoms that come out, you can hold your breath without passing out before a crude joke breaks. It gets old.

So when a show comes out with a fun premise and actually makes me laugh WITHOUT being crude and crass, I enjoy every moment of it. Because inevitably it will get bad reviews and be canceled after (usually) one season-- if that.

So here's my take, in a nutshell:

The character are fun. Simon Templeman and Toks Olagundoye are hilarious as alien parents. Great delivery and timing, and Toks can do just about any accent under the sun. Watching them (and the rest of the cast) tackle "normal human" trappings has thus far been creative and fun-- and CLEAN. Which to me just makes it more classy. Supposedly I have a good sense of humor, so I'm hoping that others can find the humor in this show as well. It's still early, but I feel like there's a lot in the tank for growth in the characters. And the amount of "normal human" trappings they can explore are so vast, I feel it can last for a while.

For example, they just took on the subject of sex. Yes, they could have gotten pretty crass. This episode was, to be honest, the one that would have me either continuing to watch the show (if they did it with class), or turning it off. Throughout the episode, I felt they handled it really well, which was (again) refreshing.

Granted, this isn't the type of sitcom that's going to run for a decade and all that, but it's a breath of fresh air and I am discouraged that it's only getting (at time of review) a 5.4 out of 10. Sadly, though, I'm not surprised.

I know this review doesn't help with in-depth analysis, but I hope it at least sheds some light on a sitcom that doesn't (at this point) follow in the footsteps of the same old tired, dirty, trite junk that seems to bombard us from every angle.