cayates1

I've only seen 2 of these - the Super Galaxy C-5M & VW Wolfsburg but a clear picture is evident.

The problem is Richard Hammond.

He lacks the insight & depth to offer anything of interest.

Schoolboy enthusiasm never compensates for lack of knowledge.

When I compare his efforts to what James May has done in similar situations like say Toy Stories you can see he's a rather mediocre presenter. Clarkson would also do it better.

Presenters like Guy Martin, Ben Fogle & Freddie Flintoff rarely make the grade.

I think the worst is Charlie Boorman.

Who would do this well?

I suggest Ant Anstead, Edd China, Jem Stansfield, Mark Miodownik perhaps even Jason Bradbury. Dick Strawbridge, though he's now pratting about with a French castle.

I just reduced my rating from 4 to 3.

This film clearly considers itself to be very clever (& classy). It is at least fairly well mannered. Clever? No. A decent episode of Columbo or Poirot(Suchet) is far more satisfying. I was glad when it finished. There's no depth to this. Kermode thinks it's a work of genius. It isn't. Was Daniel Craig impressive? No, not really. Was anything else impressive? Not at all. A decent cast which delivers almost nothing. A work of no obvious merit that's totally overblown.

The cartoon monster show is immensely disappointing. The BBC loves CGI which is fine but not when it's cheap 'n nasty CGI, the sort that would shame Channel5. You see the same rubbish in Doctor Who (which is rubbish anyway) & no doubt many other BBC co-productions which I've long since grown sick of. Outcasts, Bonekickers & Day of the Triffids are but 3 dreadful examples. It wasn't always like this. I kid you not the animation in Walking with Dinosaurs(1999)is easily better. The monsters in that have a gait & vitality that put this rubbish to shame. I can't comment about the palaeontological accuracy of this but I know when animation doesn't ring true. The landscapes look thin & synthetic, I've seen better work by amateurs on youtube. Tom & Jerry are more convincing. Ray Harryhausen must be wondering why his stop-motion technique was superseded by something that has been so shoddily rendered. Where's the quality control? The BBC is throwing a huge amount of prestige into this production with ancillary programmes on BBC2 & 4 by the likes of Alice Roberts, Jem Stansfield & Dallas Campbell(Dallas?) - a blitz really, so they obviously aren't aiming this at 5yearolds. Any simpleton can see this is not up to scratch. It's like evolution in reverse. I gave it 2/10 because the on-screen data blocks are OK, not good just OK.