okrebs

When this came out first, I did let it pass me, but now I had some time to catch up with season 3 starting. I am just around the middle of season 2, so I can only review those episodes. *EDIT* Now into Season 3...changed my opinin with it, will tag that to the end of the review.

As have watched all other incarnations of ST (except for the Animated Series...yet), I would consider me an avid ST nerd. Maybe not Trekkie status, but I know my way around that universe. My favorite series as of yet was DS9 (except the first season), followed by TNG and TOS, then Voyager (hated the last episode thou)..much later STE (did not really feel like ST) und STD. Haven't seen too much of Picard to judge it, but I do not appreciate the Kelvin Timeline...that is a piece of dung. Now you know where I stand. Let's go reviewing...

My first impression was, that it is - of course - too advanced. Had the same problem with STE. If something is happening around those star dates, it should be consistent. They did a nice job to give us the Enterprise later, but even that was a bit too flashy for my taste. On the other hand, if your series looks like in the 60s, you might lose some viewers to that. So can work with that. Still not getting why they have those uniforms, while Enterprise has the original ones.

I was happy to see the Michael character fleshed out really well. With a lot of backstory, flashbacks, tied in the original series as Spock's sister (although it is a bit weird that he never mentions her "later" in TOS). Unfortunately this is the ONLY character that will get any depth. OK, Saru get's his story, too. That is nice, but way too late for that character. And we know Tilly is nice, nervous and smart. Way too smart to just be a cadet. She is probably mid-20s. Remember Wesley Crusher? He was not even half as smart and promoted to Ensign when he was a teenager. At least they should give her a "specialist" status and make her run her own lab. But ALL the others are just one-dimensional cut-outs. The doc is, well, a doctor and the husband of the engineer. He dies and then comes back. And that is all we know about him. When he died, I felt nothing. His character was so generic and unimportant. Same goes for Airiam, the cyborg who died in season 2. Yes, we have seen her, but not even knew her name until the one or two episodes she became best buddies and died. The whole crew on the bridge is recurring unknown people we know nothing about after TWO EFFING seasons! And that just makes be angry. I can live with the random transporter guy I see every five episodes for a few seconds to not have a backstory, but the bridge crew? You could at least give them one or two establishing episodes in the first season. Or show them interacting here and there so we at least know their names, ranks and how they get along with each other. There is nothing. I had a lot of fun with Lorca, but then he was evil and died. I also liked Georgiou...until she died and was reincarnated in the mirror universe. The most bland character of all is Ash Tyler. When he met Lorca in Klingon prison I knew he was put there as a sleeper agent. It just was too obvious. And when they showed his torture, I knew he was Klingon. His connection to Michael feels forced. There is no chemistry between those actors/characters and thus no explanation why there is a love story. They haven't experiences years of yearning, camaraderie, or even a crisis. There was no courting over several episodes. It was just in the script. Here, you two like each other, have fun. Aaaaand...ACTION! Heck, even the story between Lorca and Admiral Cornwell is more natural and that was just a few hints of a backstory and a private conversation. The Klingons...well, I can actually live with them that way, as there always was this huge gap between TOS Klingons and TNG Klingons. It was later explained by the Augmentation Virus, but I always went with Worfs explanation, that we should not discuss this^^ I see the lack of honor and the strange changes to Klingon culture as more of a problem than the exterior appearance. But you have to ask yourself, why they not went with the original design from TNG and DS9. It worked well. As you can see, this is where I have the biggest problems with STD. It's not about the characters. Most of them stay one-dimensional and you are not invested or interested in them. What a waste. And ST was always about the people. This is all about Michael and that is just not enough.

Now we get to the stories...and it will not get better. As stated above, I see the first season as the one to put us into the universe, help us get our footing and learn about the characters, their roles and start the first quest arc, usually a small one that will deepen your understanding of that particular series and the characters. But usually that arc is interspersed with anecdotal episodes to have fun and introduce characters and their interactions. Maybe create a few tense moments to show how the UFP and Star Fleet work, what their morals are and what other races and planets are involved in it. I would have liked that very much. But the first season made the same error than every 14yo role playing dungeon master: Starting at the top, because those monsters are the coolest and the loot is great. In this case the crew of Discovery was tasked with saving the multiverse, possibly in all time lines (since those spores can also time travel). Essentially the most epic task possible. You can't top that. There is literally nothing else you could save after that, you have't already saved. It's downward from that point on. And they had it all said and done after half the season. Plus, they traveled to the Mirror Universe, solved the mystery of Ash, Lorca and Michael and found a better solution for the Spore Drive. Oh, and there is that pesky war with the Klingons. We ended that, too. All in season one. What else could you task them with in season 2? Anything beneath saving the universe again would feel like a massive step back...hence, they did that. There is no evolution happening, no subtle increase of power over time. There is your task and now solve it. And they just do. If there is a scientific problem, you just put 3-4 people together and give them some time limit and they will solve it. Easy. Just ask Tilly, she knows everything. What angered me right from the beginning was how they engineered Michaels downfall. She was convicted of mutiny, attacking her captain and trying to attack the Klingons under false pretenses. And she got a life sentence? Why? Her captain did not suffer any injuries or pain and she had good reason to order the attack AND SHE WAS PROVEN RIGHT just seconds later!! It makes no sense, that she was convicted at all (where was her lawyer anyway?), let alone a life sentence. And she was hated by all people, because she "started the war"? No, the Klingons started it, she just happens to be there when it started. If she would have had her go at it, the first battle would have cost a lot less lifes. From the ships computer date alone Star Fleet would have gotten all this information. Yes, she would have been stripped of rank and even would have to spend some time in jail, but she would not have been made responsible for starting the war and not been universally hated. And the funny thing is: You could have done exactly that and nothing beyond a few scenes would have to be changed. It's not like the whole series depends on her being hated and sentences for life. Why do that? It makes no sense. Season 2 is not getting better. You get strange signals, leading to special places that need help. But we later learn, this is all linked to Michael and a strange AI, which just pops up at some time and is the instant evil of this season. And as this evil it is not even following logic someone like Spock could use to reason with it. Nope. Here I am. I need that data. And then I destroy all life in the universe. Making me the only one to exist....for whatever reason. It is never explained (as far as I watched). Evil gotta evil, I guess.

I will watch the show. It's not bad. It lacks the ST charm and finesse I would have expected, the character development, the more down-to-earth problems and solving said problems, the ethical dilemmas and prejudices, etc....and all of this makes it not feel like ST. It's a nice SciFi series and I like most of the actors (except Ash...Ash is bland), but if you expect ST, you are gonna be disappointed. Watch Picard instead. I will give it a try. DS9 did not win me over at first and Voyager was annoying, but eventually they got on their track. Could happen here, too. I hope they scale back on the destruction of the universe. Go small. Develop your characters and keep them alive for some time. And if they die...let them stay dead. It's still better than all that Kelvin crap. Picard is s worthy effort, but since it is taking place in the Abramsverse, it will not go far. That happens if you go against canon.

*EDIT* for Season 3 up to 8 from 6 stars

NOW WE ARE TALKING!! It took two seasons, but ST:D FINALLY started trekking in Season 3. They used the old "separate them from everything they know and make them look weak" plot, but that at least worked for all other series ;-) With season 3 it FEELS like ST again: They start to flesh out other characters, they give them worthy causes to show their skills, they go with ST ideals. YESSS!!! I really can't believe they needed TWO EFFING SEASONS of mediocre non-ST to get this going. Yes, other series also needed a little time to get into the flow. I personally consider the first season of DS9 a total booooring disaster (but they presented the characters at least) and do not get me started on Enterprise... Even the story arc in TNG was a bit off in the first season. And remember this stupid Kazons in S1 of Voyager? Discovery could just do a one episode rehash of S1+2 and then start with S3 to make it good. Stay on course, captain!

Yes, I know this series is only loosely based on scientific grounds, but most of the time the errors and falsehoods are not so blatantly trust in your face.

What did happen? A man died and was discovered 3 weeks later. He was bludgeoned to death, but the coroner(!) did not find this cause of death? It was later discovered by a forensic anthropologist using only two thumbnail-sized pieces of cremated and ground bone.

OK, we are used to our little genius pulling rabbits out of hats. Just a look on any given piece of bone is enough to determine ethnicity, age, gender, profession, nutrition, health and - of course - cause of death. But that can be stacked higher...

Now we determined the killer from tiny micro diamonds within the cremated bone fragments, transferred there by the killer wearing them within the nail polish, while hitting the victim once(!) with an ancient golden chalice. Oh, and they also found multiple sets of remains within the urn of the cremated victim, but could without doubt determine which tiny fragment belongs to whom. Oh, and they did a drug test from charred remains from the furnace. Oh, and did I mention the micro diamonds? Well, diamonds do not like fire. Since they are only a pricey form of coal, they burn. So...they could not have been found inside those bone fragments. And they sure as heck did not melt.

And the bones they showed were not really cremated bones. Cremated bones will be sintered. They will be shrunken and more or less ceramic in nature. Due to shrinking the proposed skeleton will be much smaller.

Angela did - of course - another "I can morph anything"-computer animation, which - of course - did find the victim in a database. And the good Dr. B. did excel in her archaeological (NOT anthropological) knowledge so much, that she knows the exact numbers of rare mesopotamian artifacts stolen from a far away museum AND recognizes it instantly. And of course she is invited to write an article about the murder weapon turned chalice, which also is not within her field of science.

I like the little over the top weired series, but with a protagonist so hell bend on science and facts it just does not do well to stretch the frame of reality that much. Most of those assumptions, that are far fetched even with a fresh corpse, are treated as facts, which they are not. I would love to see them go to court with that "evidence" bag of assumptions. The lawyers will have a field day with it.

Problem is, people think that this is real. That all of that can be said and done. And then they come to real forensic experts and are angry, because we can't conjure up some evidence from a piece of compact bone and some rust. It's like forensic McGyver! Be funny and have wild ideas but stay inside what really is possible AND probabel.

When I heard about this, I was like "Awww, not another YouTube-Wannabe-Fan-Crew killing my beloved ST:TOS with half-made props, bad effects and some school kids trying to be actors".

But then I watched it. And it was brilliant!! Mind you, I'm a Trekki by heart, but I'm not one who can quote every episode and tell you what color the dress of Ensign Someone was in episode X or things like this.

So, as far as my "I saw each episode at least 20times"-knowledge is concerned, they did an EXACT replica of the NCC-1701 (TOS). Bridge, transporter, corridor, quarters, EVERYTHING!! You are right back there, it's so perfect, it hurts! They got every cheese effect right, every sound, every blinking light, every knob and buckle.

Yes. There is no Bill Shattner. And no James Doohan. And no DeForest Kelly. And not even a Leonard Nimoy or someone named Roddenberry. But, as blasphemes it may sound, they are not really needed. TOS is about characters, but not necessarily played by the same actors. Those "new" guys capture the essence of their characters quite well and if you would show it to someone, who has never ever seen or heard of ST (which excludes everyone born on this planet...), he could not tell who came first and who just copies his act. Yes, they are not perfect actors...but TOS never was perfect. It was cheesy, they had episodes so out of coda (up to then, of course...) they should never been made (but were made, so they are coda and therefore are kinda perfect^^), and sometimes you could tell when Actor A, B or C had no fun doing his job. But we love it anyway.

And this new crew is as enthusiastic as it gets. Because they are not only actors paid for a gig, but FANS who want nothing more than to build a monument for their beloved series. That's what I call motivation. And BTW James Doohans son Chris looks so much like his father back then. I didn't know, his son was playing and I had not really read the cast, but I thought "Wow, they really got an actor who looks exactly like James Doohan!" And he even got the phony accent right.

The special guest stars and the innuendoes ("garbage scow"...classic) are priceless. Casting Lou Ferrigno as an Orion slaver...with green skin(!!)...just beautifully done.

I hope they will continue. This is the best fan based series I have seen up to now. They did boldly go where a lot of people have gone before just to fail....and they prevailed.

If Rod Roddenberry is a clever guy, he will make this an official (and actually paid) series within the ST universe. I bet it will work. Worked for me and I'm quite picky.

I had (and still have) high hopes for this series. But unfortunately they rushed the plot. All those questions and uncertainties and WTFs could (and should) have been played out over at least 5 to 6 episodes.

All was fine. What with that girl? Draining this creep somehow? And those detectives? FBI? What do they know? And who's that tea-man? From there on the answers rained in before you could come up with the questions. BAM! Those Detectives are not normal. BAM! There are factions and those are their leaders. BAM! Succubus. BAM! Test her, make her choose sides. BAM! Underfey are not nice. BAM! Let her live for now.

It was like watching a whole first season in fast forward. That is not right. OK, I think I know your fears. You didn't want to create another "Lost" or such where you answer one question per episode and find another gazillion new ones so you basically know nothing even when you watched the whole show five times. Right. That's good. I didn't like "Lost". But where is the suspense? You blurted out a lot of information nobody asked for yet. Maybe let her find out she is a succubus and that there is something/someone out there that knows. Episode one. Bring in those police guys for episode two, maybe hint that they know a lot about supernatural stuff and have connections. You bring them together in episode three, ending with the meeting with the faction leaders. Learning what these factions are, how they work, separating friends and foes, is episode four. The Test and the aftermath is episode five.

You can always fill in the non essential plot parts with character studies. Giving them a little depths, some twists, a problem, a family, a hobby. Now, that's how it is done.

If Wheadon had done the Buffy-Pilot in the same way, she would have known everything about Darla, Angel and the Scoobies within 20min, probably killed the Master in episode three. What senseless waste of a good plot line! When you have sooo much information you do not spend everything on the first episode. Be happy and save it for a rainy day. Reveal something but not too much. Leave the audience wanting. The more you put on the table the more they want from you. Slow down. Breath. And let the characters catch their breath.

There is a lot potential in this series if you focus on the characters, the plot and put a lot of work in the background story. Or just put a big "Spoiler Alert!" right before the Pilot^^ OK

You cannot complain. It's a nice action movie with a good looking woman. Good guys, bad guys, good guys turning bad, bad guys turning good. Asassination, atomic war, gadgets, firearms...all that stuff.

Of course, it's not very realistic. That is not expected of an action movie. So, yes, she would not budge most of her opponent, let alone bring them down. And all of those CIA/FBI/SecretService dudes are bad shots and can not get a heli within 10min. I liked it better with Die Hard...Willis can really suffer and looks like hell. Salt does not even break a sweat, smear her lipstick or get her white dress dirty. It does not really matter. It's an action movie...

But beware of the plot. It's a mess. You get the feeling, that this was written and rewritten a lot and nobody fixed errors between those versions. Or kicked some characters of the set. Her husband? Just needed for the spider venom and to kill. The dog? Never heard of.

The worst part is the ending. The CIA-Agent tells her "Even if you are telling the truth, I would be the only one who believes you."...??? He and that strange president (why take the real one from Russia and a fake one from USA? Morgan Freeman was busy?) the evil guy did not kill, because....I don't know. He kills everyone, but the president, although he just needed his fingerprints. Even after everything is ready he just did not kill him. But he has seen the bad guy in action and could at least tell that.

I hope there is no sequel. This one is better left alone...

First things first: This movie is baaaad! So, with that said, here's why:

1. I might be a little to scientific in some matters, esp. matters biological and genetical (with me being a biological genetecist), but I always keep one eye shut, because you can't do it right AND let 90% of the people understand it. BUT!!!! Hera are a few lines, that are just sooo wrong. When talking about the growth of the microbes, David made a horrified face and concludes, that those microbes growth is "exponential".......WOW! What a conclusion since EVERY microbe does it for some billion years now.

And this nice little whatever gadget that tells him, it is based on 10 bases. Why should there be such a machine or program, since everything is based on those ACGT. Has somebody build such thing "just in case"? And those cells growing within seconds...on what? How do they metabolize and what? There are some things called laws of nature, that work quite fine on this planet. And, of course, this "they are based on nitrogen and therefore selenium will kill them, because arsenic kills us"-periodic tabel mojo. I would have used neon, because fluorine is also deadly....as is everyhing if you use enough of it. And why do these creatures have to be breath a nitrogen atmosphere? How did he know? Because they choke? Because he used a handheld-instant-knowitall-gadget (and not a GC/MS which is bigger but IS used for those analysis)? Just remember what you breath -> 78% nitrogen. Let just stop here....

2. It's not funny. Well...maybe it is rarely funny. Two to three puns are delivered. That's all. The rest is just of the funny-fart, pie-in-face, white-boys-black-boys, and sexual anything (which is so not funny, because it really is just on pre-school level, as seemingly everything sexual in the US) variety. If you are not dead drunk, low(no)-brained or in need of a punishment, you just can't laugh about it.

The story is not bad. They could have made it a great movie. They blew it. A little more thinking, a little less fake-dog-poop-humor and scratch those cheesy CGIs.

2/10 stars, just for the story

Well, good news first: I could have been worse. There were some nice scenes in this movie. The sword fighting was fast and thanks to the gloomy lighting the errors were nearly not noticeable. The main plot was OK. The costumes were OK. The music is OK. Even most of the cast was OK. And that sums it up. Now the bad news, and bad it is, indeed: This is a movie is set in the 17th century France. Neither is it set in Asia nor is Jackie Chan playing a leading role. So why all this jumping, flying, ladder-stepping nonsense? And those "flying" scenes? Jumping 4m from horse to horse (bad cut this one), hanging (yes, hanging!) on the invisible rope. Disgusting! And those musketeers... Only Aramis was slightly usable, forget the rest. Rea as Cardinal was OK, but not as good (or "bad") as Curry. Suvari was a nuisance and even Deneuve was disappointing.

Don't watch it, if you liked the one from Richard Lester (1973) or even the one from Stephen Herek (1993). It pales in comparison to those gems.