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Kelly (279 KP) rated Babylon Berlin in TV

Dec 16, 2018  
Babylon Berlin
Babylon Berlin
2017 | Crime, Drama
Realistic portal of post Great War Berlin (1 more)
Not your usual boy meets girl story
Gritty, thrilling, engaging... need I go on?!
I have not found a series in some while that I was so attached, as Babylon Berlin. I confess, I watched the subtitles version, as my knowledge of German is pretty poor, but even this did not detach from the enjoyment of the series.

Babylon Berlin follows Gereon Rath, a detective struggling to deal with the aftermath of the Great War. He is supported at times in his cases by Charlotte Ritter, an administrator by day who supplements her families income through prostitution at night. I found myself routing for both characters throughout both series 1 and 2 of Babylon Berlin, even knowing Charlottes less than legal background, which is never hidden from the viewer. There was/ is a clear attraction between the two characters, which frustratingly is never fulfilled. Both characters are played by incredibly strong actors and are fully believable throughout.

What grasped my attention from the start was the clear portrayal of poverty that people lived in post war Berlin. Despite knowing some of the issues in living standards, I was drawn to the accuracy of the portrayal, many other stories set in this era would seek to romanticise the period at the end of the Weimar’s golden era, however the stark reality of degradation, sickness, depression and crime is always at the forefront of the story, and the political complexity of the time is covered well. This makes the the series very dark at times.

I was also surprised by the lack of Nazi input there is across season 1 and 2. We see lots about involvement of communists within the political system in the series, but there are only a small handful of references to the brown shirts - this is in stark contrast to what we are taught in schools, where the impression is given that by the late 1920s, Nazi involment is promenant in German society. This actually challenged my thinking on the subject, allowing me to realise that this is still a period, where, although the Nazis are known, they are not yet that popular.

I cannot wait until season 3 is released in order to find out what is next in store for Gereon and Charlotte. This truly is German production at its best.
  
Abominable (2019)
Abominable (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
You darted Dave
Abominable movie was one of my most anticipated animated films of the year and while it didn't live up to my own hype me and my nephew had an absolute blast watching it. Being such a humongous Big Hero 6 fan when I first saw the Abominable trailer I couldnt help but get extremely excited as it looked like it was heavily inspired by the baymax adventure it in every way. However while Abominable does share similarities with Big Hero I feel it fails to capture its charm, humour and heart which is a huge shame. Dont get me wrong its tremendous fun, has some truly stunning set pieces and its story always felt interesting its just let down by a pace thats a little to fast, some shortcuts in animation and no down time to let us understand and truly connect with its main characters. Visually colour wise it really is great to look at and animation is good (especially Everest his character design is simply wonderful fluffy and cheeky) its just not quite up there with How to train your dragon standards meaning sometimes I did notice some terrible textures. Messages are also strong as our main character feels alone with no purpose in life struggling with loss and feeling held back by those around her. That is until she learns to gain the confidence to take charge of her life, face her demons, realise her worth, embrace the memories/motivations of her past and become a stronger more appreciative person with drive of her own. Its inspiring stuff especially for kids and it really feels like shes taken this journey changing as a character along the way. Villains here feel refreshing too with one having a sad surprising back story of his own that shows why his heart grew cold and his motives in life become confused and muddled. My nephew loved every minute of it but said he became tired when the villain was on screen because he didn't like him.He also said it was almost as good as Big Hero 6 but not quite as good. I did really enjoy this movie I just wish a bit more time had been put into the animation and to fleshing out the characters because with a bit more heart/soul those set pieces could of really made a much bigger impact emotionally.
  
Blade (1998)
Blade (1998)
1998 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
7
7.4 (31 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Blade is undeniably a product of it's time. It's the late 90s, everyone loves leather and shades, everyone loves Wesley Snipes, everyone loves dumb one liners, so the character of Blade is ripe for adaption.
But the importance of this gory action flick should absolutely not be understated. Not only was it the first proper big (ish) budget Marvel film, but it's pre dates Black Panther as the first superhero film with a black lead, and it pre dates The Punisher as the first R-rated Marvel blockbuster.
But in a pre X-Men world, comic book movies weren't a big deal at this point. I actually remember me and my friends sneakily renting and watching it (we were 10 at the time...) and none of them even knowing that Blade was even a comic book!

Here we are all these years later and the Blade trilogy is now remembered fondly (well, at least the first two are!)
Wesley Snipes is of course the star of this particular vehicle, and here, he is the most Wesley Snipes he's ever been. The cheesy one liners still come off well, and lend a nice comedic edge to the buckets of blood on display. The charm that he brings to the Blade character is the main reason why it's been hard to imagine anyone else in the role for so long (although I am here all day long for Mahershala Ali)
The other big character throughout the trilogy is Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson, just generally being old, grumpy and badass, and is honestly the best character in the whole thing (here's hoping the MCU introduce a Whistler series on Disney+...)
Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the films villain, and he's really not much more than a generic superhero bad guy (the first of many).

The choreography and the fight scenes are pretty great, and the willingness to go hard R is what set Blade apart before comic book movies became a thing. It's sooooo bloody in parts, that it verges heavily into horror territory.
The CGI effects are utterly horrible by todays standards, but it's not used nearly enough to discredit the film too much.

Blade is a decent enough adaption of the cult Marvel series, and is a fun, gory blockbuster, but as mentioned, it's an important step in comic book cinema. Long live Blade!
  
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