TV Show Review - Dash & Lily

I feel bad for broadcast television and cable TV, because all the good stuff seems to be going to streaming lately.

Dash & Lily is a 2020 8-episode teen-angst romantic comedy on Netflix. It is rated TV-PG and is appropriate for all ages.

 

The Good

The Concept. The concept is pretty cool and one that hasn't been done to death. A girl leaves a diary with a literary treasure hunt for some boy to find and find her. They use the diary to write back and forth and create dares to get each other out of their comfort zone while never meeting in person.

The Characters. The characters are very likable and very relatable with realistic concerns and challenges and just enough zaniness to make them fun.

The Pace. This series moves along at a great pace.

The Journey. A lot of shows talk about a journey and make a big deal about the participants' journey, but this show actually has a journey worth following alone and enjoyable to watch.

The Bad

The Wrap up at the end. This series doesn't follow the normal cliches, which is nice, until the very end when everything is wrapped up, even things you don't really care about. It was just a little too tidy and felt forced.

 

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I was satisfied.

Overall

Dash & Lily is a 2020 8-episode teen-angst romantic comedy on Netflix. The concept is pretty cool and one that hasn't been done to death. A girl leaves a diary with a literary treasure hunt for some boy to find and find her. They use the diary to write back and forth and create dares to get each other out of their comfort zone while never meeting in person. The characters are very likable and very relatable with realistic concerns and challenges and just enough zaniness to make them fun. A lot of shows talk about a journey and make a big deal about the participants' journey, but this show actually has a journey worth following alone and enjoyable to watch. This series doesn't follow the normal cliches, which is nice, until the very end when everything is wrapped up, even things you don't really care about. It was just a little too tidy and felt forced. I highly recommend this show and give it 4.5 out of 5 remotes.

    

  

 

Movie Review - Klaus (Netflix Original)

I'm a big fan of experimental animation, even though most of the time the experiment fails. But when it succeeds, oh how it succeeds!

Klaus is a 2019 animated Christmas film from Netflix. It is rated PG for rude humor but is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Animation. The animation was gorgeous. It was 2-D animation shaded to look 3-D, but because it was 2-D it was very fluid and nice to look at and looked painted instead of plastic.

Story/Concept. The story is basically where Santa Claus and writing to him came from. This was a clever approach and story that was fresh but classic.

The Bad

Main Character. The filmmakers made the main character such an exaggerated caricature of a spoiled rich kid that was really difficult to care about him until he changed significantly halfway thru the film.

Feud. The filmmakers played it too same making the characters very bland. No one could have a strong personality or any real conflict for fear of offending someone, so the characters came off as very bland and unremarkable.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the main character had been more likable and the feud had been dropped. There was enough conflict and drama without it. This also would have helped make the first third less slow and less painful to get thru.

Overall

Klaus is an entertaining family film once you get thru the boring and painful first third. The animation is gorgeous. The story of how Santa came to be and why kids started to write to him is clever. Once you pass the first third of the film, the characters are interesting and you care about them and what happens to them. The ending was really nice. I give this film 4 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.

   

 

TV Show Review - Marvel's Iron Fist (Season 2)

I like the character Iron Fist and was really excited to hear he would star in his own show on Netflix. When I saw who they cast as Iron Fist, I got less excited, because the actor just didn't have the same vibe as the character in the comics. And the first season was weak. I hoped for the second season, Marvel Studios would learn from their mistakes, and they did.

Marvel's Iron Fist (Season 2) is a 10-episode 2018 Netflix Original Mini-series based on the Marvel Comics superhero character of Iron Fist. It is rated TV-MA for language, violence, and blood and is appropriate for older teens and up.

The Good

Story. The first season suffered from a weak story that felt more like a first draft than a finished product. This time the producers started with a solid story that new where it was going and what kind of a show it wanted to be. It knew the characters, who they were, and where they needed to go.

Characters. This show includes not only Iron Fist but Davos, Misty Knight, Coleen, and Typhoid Mary. I was really excited for Typhoid Mary who is a great Daredevil adversary, but I was nervous if they'd get the character wrong like they had with Elektra. They didn't She is different from in the comic, but still an interesting character that keeps several important characteristics.

Ending. This series has a very satisfying ending. It isn't rushed, is satisfying tying up loose threads, and sets up a really exciting third season.

The Bad

Convenient Plot Points.  While the writing is much stronger this season, it still isn't up to the level of Daredevil. There are a lot of convenient coincidences that happen to move the story along.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the story had been stronger by focusing on one or two main arcs instead of fracturing the plot so everyone had equal screen time and things to do. I also wish the show had looked as nice as the previous mini-series with better sets and other visuals.

Overall

Marvel's Iron Fist (Season 2) is a very satisfying 10-episode mini-series with strong writing, great action, good characterization, and a solid story. The producers learned from their mistakes on the first season and fixed them. While not quite as good as Daredevil, it's better than any of the other Netflix Original Series from Marvel Studios. I give this show 4 out of 5 remotes.

   

Movie Review: Death Note (2017 Netflix Original Film)

I enjoy reading manga and watching anime, and I get excited for every film adaption that comes along, even though I usually end up disappointed. But let's face it--they only works that would work as a direct adaption are Astro Boy and Akira. Everything else would require a lot of adapting, and die hard fans tend to get mad at such meddling. And most of the time the adapting isn't a great film on its own nor contains enough of the original to make the fans happy. Death Note is an exception. I've never seen the anime or read the manga, so I had no preconceived ideas and can judge the film on its own merits.

Death Note is a 2017 Netflix Original horror film based on the manga and anime of the same name. It tells the story of a boy who is given a journal with which he can kill anyone by writing their name in it. It is rated TV-MA for language, violence, and gore and is appropriate for adults.

The Good

Adaption. I'm really impressed at what an amazing job the filmmakers did to adapt this story. They took the basic elements, ideas, and themes from the manga and created a wholly American production. Watching it, you'd never know this was based on a Japanese property. It had a solid story, a cohesive plot, and developed the themes well. I can understand superfans of the original being upset at all the changes (I myself do the same with properties I love), but they were necessary to make a good film. A direct adaption wouldn't have attracted an American audience.

Pacing. Even though this is based on a Japanese comic and show, it's been completely translated into an American film and so it moves very quickly and never drags. Those who are used to the extreme decompression of anime (it takes four times as long to tell the same story) have complained that it moves too quickly, but an American audience will appreciate the pacing.

Actors. I really like the actors cast as Light, his girlfriend, his father, and the rest (with one exception). They all fit the roles well. I think the reason there has been so much backlash against them online is because of how anti-white certain parts of society are becoming--this prejudice and bias blind them to what's really going on in front of their eyes.

Ryuk. The death god could have gone really badly, but the filmmakers played it smart by hiring a great actor to voice the character and they showed him in the shadows so the cgi wasn't so distracting. He was great every time he appeared on screen, but he wasn't overused so each appearance had maximum impact.

The Bad

L.  I did not like the character of L at all. I did not like the actor they chose to portray him, nor did I like the way he was portrayed. He started out as an interesting character but quickly turned into a schizophrenic nut who was little more than a plot devise.

Music.  During two dramatic moments at the end the filmmakers inserted two old pop songs that did not fit at all and interrupted the drama. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish it hadn't been so gory. It wasn't necessary to see the actual deaths, and the special effects used almost looked silly.

Overall

Death Note (2017 Netflix Original) is a well-crafted adaption taking the basic elements, ideas, and themes from the manga and created a wholly American production that has a solid story and clear plot. Superfans of the original will probably be upset at all the changes, but they were necessary to make a good film. A direct adaption wouldn't have been a strong movie nor attracted an American audience. I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

     

TV Show Review: Marvel's Defenders (Netflix Original Series)

When I heard about the Marvel's Defenders TV series from Marvel, I couldn't wait for it to arrive. After watching the masterpiece that is Marvel's DareDevil, I became even more excited. So how did the reality match up to my ridiculously lofty expectations? Fortunately, the other Marvel series were pretty disappointing and tempered my excitement.

Marvel's Defenders is an 8-episode 2017 Netflix Original Mini-series based on the Marvel Comics superhero characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Power Man. It is rated TV-MA for language, violence, and gore and is appropriate for older teens and up.

The Good

Characters. The best part of this mini-series was the characters. While Daredevil was the only character strong enough to carry his own show, as a team all the characters work well and are likable. I also appreciated how all the major characters from the previous mini-series were included in this, several having fairly large roles.

Lack of CGI, Wirework, Green Screen, and other Special FX. I love how down to earth and real this show looks. There are no cgi Hulks or green screen battle scenes or wirework flying or other special effects one sees in almost every superhero adaption that look mediocre now and will look terrible in ten years. This all looks very real, and will hold up for years to come while other superhero adaptions will just get sillier and sillier as time moves on.

Tying up Previous Threads. I was concerned about how the producers would be able to stuff all four characters and their stories from five 13-episode series into one 8-episode mini-series, but they did it. All of the storylines and conflicts from the previous Netflix Original Series were tied up nicely with the characters set up to start new stories. And it was all done very satisfactorily with nothing feeling rushed or short changed.

Colors.  The first two episodes make use of each character's unique color (Daredevil - red, Jessica Jones - blue, Iron Fist - green, Luke Cage - yellow) in the background to signal who was being featured at the moment. It was subtle, but a nice touch.

The Bad

Pacing.  The first two episodes moved very slowly and dragged. Too little happened both plot wise and emotionally. The story didn't really pick up and get going until halfway thru the third episode.

Fragmented Story Telling.  The producers made a very deliberate effort to give each character equal screen time and not wait too long to show the next character. This caused the first few episodes to feel like brief vignettes that felt very disjointed and unconnected.

Scope / Gravitas.  Other than the earthquake early in the series, the stakes never felt very high nor the danger very real. Almost all the peril came from characters saying this was series, but the audience never saw it on screen and so never really felt like the stakes were very high or New York was in that much danger.

Production Design.  The previous series had beautiful visuals in set design and action scenes. This mini-series lacked the grandeur and beautiful visuals I've come to expect from these shows.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the story had been stronger by focusing on one or two main arcs instead of fracturing the plot so everyone had equal screen time and things to do. I also wish the show had looked as nice as the previous mini-series with better sets and other visuals.

Overall

Marvel's Defenders does an excellent job of bringing these four very separate heroes and their stories together and tying up all the threads and storylines that have been playing out during the previous five series. While it begins a little slow and fractured, by the third episode, the story kicks into high gear and holds your attention. I'm excited for Phase Two. I give this show 4 out of 5 remotes.

TV Show Review: Marvel's Iron Fist

When Netflix first announced they would create a series of original mini-series starring Marvel characters, I was excited for only two of the four characters announced: Daredevil and Iron Fist. I was pretty upset that I had to wait years since Iron Fist was the last one to debut, but I figured it would be worth it. Oh, Netflix, why? Why?

Marvel's Iron Fist is a 13-episode Netflix original series based on the Iron Fist character in Marvel Comics. It is rated TV-MA for a few brief scenes of gore, but otherwise is pretty PG.

The Good

Story. This series actually has a pretty story, it's just badly told. But I was hooked enough to finish this in three days.

Joy and Ward. The brother and sister duo who run Rand are the most interesting characters in the show and actually show a lot of range and go thru a lot of changes. Both the characters and the acting are actually really interesting.

The Bad

Pacing. The biggest problem with this series, and probably the reason so many people are hating on it, is the sloooooooow pacing. The first two episodes could easily have been wrapped up in one episode without losing a single thing.

Fan Film Quality. The second major problem that has most people upset is the low quality. After the masterpiece that is Daredevil, fans expect a similar quality. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were both let downs and not in the same league, and this was another rung down the ladder. The acting was stiff. The dialogue was amateurish and too wordy. The fight scenes were few and poorly executed. The storytelling was weak. The direction was not at a professional level. The cinematography was disappointing. It really felt like a couple of high school buddies went out behind one of their houses and shot this in a weekend.

Weak Source Material. There is a reason Iron Fist is not one of the main character in the Marvel Universe and why he hasn't had a long running series. He just isn't that interesting. There aren't that many good stories to tell with him. He works much better as a minor character in someone else's story.

Cry Baby Protagonist. It really annoyed me how petty and easily angered Iron Fist was. He encountered the smallest obstacle and suddenly he flew into a violent rage. And his confidence swung from ridiculous bravado to a loss of all hope with no degrees in between. Not what I want to see from my heroes.

Power Constantly Shorting Out. One of the really cool things about superheroes that sets them apart from every other genre is their superpowers. I love to see the powers, I love to see what unique and clever ways characters come up with using those powers. I don't like seeing powers on the fritz for the entire 13 hours. Why even bother having them if that's what you're going to do? It didn't add to the story or the character.

No Costume. Iron Fist has one of the few comic book costumes that could be directly translated onto the screen and both look cool and make sense for the character (minus the giant yellow color from the 70s), and yet no attempt was made to show any sort of a costume. And the character had long, curly hair and a beard, two things that he doesn't have in the comic. Something that's made the latest Marvel adaptions so successful is their faithfulness to the comic. This is a huge step backwards by throwing away so much of the comic.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I was so excited for this series. I wish they had a better director who knew how to shoot a movie and pace it. I wish better actors had been hired. I wish the script didn't feel like a first draft. I wish Iron Fist had appeared in costume. I wish the fight scenes looked cool and there were more of them. I wish Iron Fist's power would work for more than ten seconds.

Overall

Overall, Marvel's Iron Fist had a pretty good story, it just wasn't well told. The script, the acting, the fight scenes, and pretty much everything else felt like a first draft and needed a lot more thought and work. I give it 3 out of 5 remotes and recommend it for hardcore comic fans who'll watch anything with their favorite character in it. It's not a waste of time, but it is disappointing.