Cleaners

I watched season 1 and 2 in 2014. Somehow I missed to write a review here. But this gave me also the opportunity to re-watch the show.

'Cleaners' has a fast, humorous, sometimes brutal style, you can even say it is a parody of ultra-cool modern pulp fiction. Dialogs are short, cliché-loaded on purpose, fighting scenes often over-the-top. The show plays with a number of genres, characters and plots, exploits them to a point, but also let them be where they belong, maybe even to honor them. There are a lot of moments where one can recognize some of the ancestors the show 'cites'. I think the movie 'Face Off' is one of them.

If one cannot stand the cut and some scene change, that's understandable. Some people may find that annoying. I liked it, as it is a big difference to so many other shows.

The show is remarkable reckless to its own story-line, but also very kind to its characters. Everyone, even the most notorious killer, gets a positive or sympathetic side.

I found the balance between dark comedy and thriller just right, at least in the first season. The second season is a bit slower, a bit less funny, and a bit too serious sometimes, but has at least 12 episodes instead of 6. The episode length is always about 22 minutes including credits at ~24fps.

Of course there are some mistakes here and there where you have to raise your 'suspension of disbelief', like in so many other crime shows. That is not an extra minus for a show like this.

About the acting, most entertaining for me was Gina Gershon as 'Mother', Clifton Collins as her 'Samurai' Julian is like a character from Kill Bill, and Emily Osment makes a great Harley Quinn-like companion to a bit colorless Emmanuele Chriqui. Her Veronica (or simply 'V') is the only one that didn't quite convince me, she sometimes looks insecure, what she should currently express, or what her role is in this mess.

But 'Cleaners' is overall very entertaining and funny, so I have to give 7 stars.

Though season 1 presents a highly contrasted, roughly shot experience, the main characters, their chemistry, and the pacing of each episode is actually quite refreshing. It's easy to get caught up in how cheesy it can be, at times, but for the most part the show offers more than what you first see.

Furthermore, the latest season (2) switches gears in terms of camera work, setup, and editing style. Gone are the quick jump shots, high contrasted scenes and flashbacks - it now presents itself as a much more professional series with diverse characters, exciting and believable action scenes, a more intriguing and intricate plot than the first season, and a powerful relationship between the two mains. All of which is spread apart in 12 twenty minute episodes, twice as many as season 1. The script in season 2 also takes a step up, the vulgarity, which was a tad overboard in season 1, has been decreased to a normal level, which adds to the viewer's ability to relate to the characters.

The presence of two strong, detailed, and witty female leads in an action series is also a great, and rare, takeaway.

The show is definitely worth a shot, most especially season 2.

The screen shots got annoying after the first 10. The editing was horrible. New is not always good. I watched 3 episodes and stopped. A waste of my time. What is it with "Mother" and her son? The kid's part was not well thought out. The background music sounded like a rehash from a porn movie. Yes, the chicks are hot, but beyond that the show had no redeeming qualities. There was gratuitous that seemed out of place. I have seen more violent movies where the violence did not seem out of place. Knitting to relax and you are a killer? Editing again. When they pull into the hotel the kid is not in the back seat. I guess they forgot about him.

Sat through some episodes and was constantly wondering why this series was ever made. Never seen such bad, ridiculous action shots. I mean, a shout-out in a room 5x 5 meters, a 1/2" wooden table stopping the bullets from a machine gun for you? A guy being strangled by pulling a plastic bag over his face? (stick your finger through it, moron!) A fist fight against a priest in habit, face hooded invisibly, because it's really the 'stunt' man... Who came up with this idea? All time low in cinematography. I'd demand to erase my name from the title roll... Really really: you do not want to spend a precious second of your life watching this. Spend it on reading a book.

One of the other reviews states that the running time of each episode is 15 minutes when you take into the account of the advertisements. This is INCORRECT because the fact of the matter is the timer stops during the two breaks in each episode for advertisements. I know because I watched the last half of season two just last night. Also, regarding the same review... how can take an opinion serious from somebody who apparently isn't familiar with the word "scene" but is reviewing movies and/or TV.

All in all the show is entertaining which is all it is meant to be. When one episode ends leaving you on the edge of your seat all you need to do is click the play button in the middle of the screen and the next episode starts.