sofia36

Gladiator II has a massive budget and with that comes a great cast, an awesome set, good effects and pretty costumes. Somehow with all that in place they missed the most important thing: a great story and characters the audience would care about.

A bunch of random events take place and as a viewer you just don't care. The battles that take place in the coliseum are so over the top - the killer monkeys and sharks are simply a ridiculous concept.

The main character was bland. You can guess right away who his mother is and therefore his true identity is not the surprise it was intended to be. The two washed out looking emperors were just meh. I love Perdo Pascal as an actor but he was not given much to work with in this film. I was hoping he would have a memorable and shocking scene like in GOT but that did not happen. You could see from a mile away how it would all play out. Denzel Washington really steals the show because he is the only one who is given something interesting to work with. You can't quite tell if he's good or bad or who he is so it's at least somewhat intriguing. Even if he is bad you don't care you and almost want him to win because the 'good guys' are so lame.

The worst of all was the 'creative choice' to have all these drawn out 'dramatic' scenes in slow motion. Every take is minutes longer than it needed to be. The movie is a whole is long and disappointing.

This is an entertaining show. It is easy to watch but there isn't a whole lot of substance to it. The premise is interesting yet a bit ridiculous. A 40 year old woman who is getting divorced and has not worked in 14 years pretends to be 26 to land a 'dream' job in publishing. Sutton Foster who plays Liza was actually 40 in real life which is a nice touch. She definitely looks younger than 40 but she cannot pass for a 26-year old. Some of the outfits the costumes designers chose for Liza to make her like 'young and hip' were simply hideous. The plot goes in circles so the show can go on for multiple seasons. I like Liza and Charles better than Liza and Josh. Not just because of the age difference, but also common interests, long-term compatibility etc.

I love the actress who plays Diana. And Hillary Duff is very cute.

This should have been a 2 hour movie, not a 6 episode series. Stretching it out made it resemble a bad theater play. It was way too slow and a bit bland yet over the top at the same time. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a comedy - I hope so because some scenes at impossible to take seriously. That intro with the choreographed group dance was just so extra.

Nicole Kidman's wig is distractingly terrible. She wears wigs all the time but in this series it's particularly obvious. The character she plays is a fake, stiff and unlikable woman who tries to control her whole family. She shows no emotion whatsoever. Maybe that's because her face doesn't move.

Isabelle Adjani has obviously also done a bit too much to her face which is a pity. Dakota Fanning has changed a lot (I almost didn't recognize her) and she plays a very obnoxious character. Billy Howle is a terrible actor. Liev Shrieber seems very out of place - like he was counting the minutes till his film contract was over and he has no chemistry with Kidman. Meghan Fahy looks believable as the mistress.