andyofct

The writing is kinda bad-bad... the CGI and creature design stands out, but some of the fights are so long and convoluted they become boring. The time travel logic is lazy. Chris Pratt is kinda not good in this. Probably his worst performance to date. It's pretty clearly just a paycheck for him. That said, Yvonne Strahovski and Betty Gilpin deliver emotionally grounded performances while chugging through some pretty poor dialogue, which really is the test of an actor. Sam Richardson is funny. JK Simmons delivers a typical high quality performance. Edwin Hodges, Alexis Louder, and Jared Shaw create a badass team that you'd love to see in a better action movie. Mary Lynn Rajskub, Seychelle Gabriel, Jasmine Mathews, and Mike Mitchell are completely wasted. So much talent, but damn, it's just not good. The plot is really three separate segments stitched together without much care. It's really too bad. There is something in there, or at least in the grand concept. This film just never brought it out.

This just wasn't a very good movie. I watched a screening copy (with a friend from an appropriate guild) on a whim, and being a bit of a history buff, some movies people find to slow I still like. This wasn't one of them. It claims to be based on a true story (which it may VERY LOOSELY be), but the historical inaccuracies were rampant in nearly every scene. I'm actually surprised it was shot in Williamsburg, VA, because they clearly didn't hire a knowledgeable technical adviser. It also portrayed the indigenous Americans with a pretty racist slant. Additionally, there were a number of quality issues with the film. There was inconsistent depth of field throughout the film, making it look like something shot on Best Buy camera with a stock zoom lens. The color was off from shot to shot. The audio didn't sound feature quality and seemed like they relied on the score to cover up audio imperfections. The acting was very poor (with the exception of Mama- Joanie Stewart was good). It was either no feeling or EVERY FEELING EVER ALL AT ONCE!!! The dialogue was poor and the sisters' bond to each other and god kind of felt like it was a given, with no motives or honesty, just blind faith because Daddy told them so. It's almost a jaded rip off of An American Tale, except without any of the adventure or feeling (or cute animated mice). I was able to make it all the way through, but was left feeling empty and bored, rather than inspired and uplifted. There may be an audience for it, but I'm not sure who. It's really just a poor presentation of lower budget filmmaking. 3/10

Two episodes into the first season, this series came up on my Netflix streaming recommendations. While certain elements of the pilot caught my attention, the production value looked a mess. Clearly, time and effort were spent on fight sequences, which captured the feel of a Frank Miller graphic novel. They were perfectly lit, perfectly paced and used the visual effects with style. Everything else in the pilot, however, suffered. The scenes in the country, clearly shot on green screen, lacked lighting consistent with the background. The sex scenes went beyond stylized into the realm of tacky. The dialog contained expletives place more for shock value than effectiveness.

I considered giving up on the series, but I'm glad I didn't. By the fourth episode, the production found its stride and began to exceed my expectations. No episode is without an awkward transition or unnatural conversation, but overall improvement makes these easy to ignore. The fights are compelling as always, but now the expletives in dialog are used in context and sex scenes serve purpose for the story, not just the taboo. While this production will never achieve the critical acclaim of HBO/BBC's ROME, it satisfies the more carnal desire for sex, scandal and violence.