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Otway93 (580 KP) rated The War of the Worlds in TV

Apr 19, 2020

The War of the Worlds

2019 | Drama, Sci-Fi

7.2

(36 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Casting (1 more)

Special Effects

Story (1 more)

The Martians Reveal

Drawn out, dull, and not worthy of it's own title.

On first hearing about a new adaptation of War of the Worlds set in the original time and place as the book, I was incredible excited, as for some reason it has never been done.

Unfortunately, I, and my entire family were disappointed.

It's quite hard to review this without spoilers, as the main issue here is really the story, which has been so drawn out and distorted from it is no longer the story I know and love, but a show merely "based on" the book.

There are several critical differences in this story and the original story:
- The fates of different characters.
- The addition of pointless characters.
- The slow, intense reveal of the Martian invaders.

Despite these differences, the show could still have been enjoyable if it was not so drawn out. Without all the filler content, the whole thing could easily have been wrapped up into a much better 90 minute TV movie. Instead, the BBC drew it out in to 3 3 hour episodes that could bore the hind AND FRONT legs off a donkey.

Kudos

Lenard (726 KP) rated Fantasy Island (2020) in Movies

Feb 24, 2020

Fantasy Island (2020)

2020 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

5.7

(19 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Much like the recent adaptation of the Banana Splits Hour, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island took a show from my childhood and added horror elements to the premise. Five strangers land on an island where their fantasy is granted. The island is overseen by a mysterious Latino named Mr. Roarke, played by master monologuist Michael Pena. As you may have seen in the trailer, two are given everything that they want (money, sex, a mansion), one plays soldier, one is given a fresh start, and one gets revenge on a middle-school bully. However, a fantasy can easily become a nightmare and the island does not distinguish. As the five strangers are slowly brought back together, they learn that the island did not randomly select them. Someone else has their own nightmarish fantasy to live. I will not spoil the secret, but the mysterious person behind it all makes precious little sense unless he or she had a traumatic brain injury before and during the plot of the movie. Some scenes were very good and it could have been a good horror movie if it had just left the storylines separate like the tv show managed to do.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Call Of The Wild (2020) in Movies

Feb 25, 2020

Rather too big-budget Jack London adaptation is long on CGI and short on grit, but remains engaging and dignified entertainment. Pampered house dog Buck is abducted from his California home and packed off to Alaska during the gold rush, slowly getting in touch with his wild side. Harrison Ford plays the main human part - there was something oddly familiar about seeing the star team up with a huge, hairy, almost totally non-verbal partner and then I remembered the Russian word for dog is sowbacca and it all made a bit more sense.

The harder edges of London's book have been sanded down considerably, and this does verge on the sentimental and cutesy in places - for one ghastly moment I thought the dogs were going to start talking to each other - and the fact it's made with a CGI dog (Terry Notary has been mo-capped) will probably put some people off. But it's solid, likeable stuff, lifted considerably by performances from Ford and Omar Sy. I still think it was madness to spend over $120 million on a film which will probably struggle to find an audience, but it has a definite charm to it.