pagangod
Joined Apr 2000
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pagangod's rating
One has to ask the question that although this mini-series was completed almost 2 years ago, and post-production (VFX/Editing, etc) would have taken some additional time, yet it was teased, to British audiences at least, for a possible Summer 2019 release, which of course never happened. Why the big delay, I hear you ask? Well I think some of you, if not ALL of you now know why. It's a clunker - they simply got it utterly, horribly wrong. Now normally I would reserve such vitriol in the final analysis, after the show had completed it's run. But no, it's already a mess, a big bloody mess. I fully suspect that BBC Executives, NOT Peter Harness - the credited writer, dictated most of what we actually see onscreen. Harness adapted the wonderful Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell into an equally wonderful TV adaptation, so why did he fail so miserably here? I would suggest interference, why? Because I am a Writer with experience of BBC Executives and their propensity for full-on interference. You go into a Script meeting and everybody is upbeat and the general outlook is postively very good. But then, as the meeting progresses, you slowly start to realise that they're gradually trying to change it, not just in certain sections, but in the piece as a WHOLE, until essentially it is completely, if not radically different to what you first presented. Now you might not notice this at first, because they're REALLY that good, but it is totally insiduous and basically standard practice at the BBC right now.
Like many others, I had hopes for Quantico...they were ill-founded.
I enjoy cleverly conceived procedural dramas with intelligently constructed narratives and well-developed, fully rounded characters.
Oh, and good acting helps too.
Sadly, I found Quantico to possess none of these qualities.
There is zero attempt made to create believable situations and characters, this show is clumsily thrown together in a haphazard manner, that defeats any internal logic and stretches credulity beyond belief.
It is superficial, insipid, pointlessly convoluted - NOT complex, there is a vacuous, slick feel to the show that fits in perfectly with the overall tone of Quantico - all style, no substance.
The characters are merely sketches of what they should be - which doesn't help the actors at all, who are left floundering.
It's fast paced, glossy, populated by some extraordinary pretty people, who have been clearly cast for their looks rather than any overt thespian skill set.
Some of the cast just about manage to overcome the virtually non-existent characterisations, the lesser talented actors simply fail, epically.
Quantico had plenty of potential, and it would have worked - in more capable hands.
But ultimately, this is a massively dumb show - and not in a fun way, what should have been a compelling, fascinating, insightful and dynamic look at the individuals of and the organisation that is the FBI, is sabotaged by it's own wilfully shallow and tedious mission to throw intelligent story-telling out of the window.
Peace.
I enjoy cleverly conceived procedural dramas with intelligently constructed narratives and well-developed, fully rounded characters.
Oh, and good acting helps too.
Sadly, I found Quantico to possess none of these qualities.
There is zero attempt made to create believable situations and characters, this show is clumsily thrown together in a haphazard manner, that defeats any internal logic and stretches credulity beyond belief.
It is superficial, insipid, pointlessly convoluted - NOT complex, there is a vacuous, slick feel to the show that fits in perfectly with the overall tone of Quantico - all style, no substance.
The characters are merely sketches of what they should be - which doesn't help the actors at all, who are left floundering.
It's fast paced, glossy, populated by some extraordinary pretty people, who have been clearly cast for their looks rather than any overt thespian skill set.
Some of the cast just about manage to overcome the virtually non-existent characterisations, the lesser talented actors simply fail, epically.
Quantico had plenty of potential, and it would have worked - in more capable hands.
But ultimately, this is a massively dumb show - and not in a fun way, what should have been a compelling, fascinating, insightful and dynamic look at the individuals of and the organisation that is the FBI, is sabotaged by it's own wilfully shallow and tedious mission to throw intelligent story-telling out of the window.
Peace.
It's got a simple, but hugely unoriginal plot - Special Ops agent gets doubled-crossed (yawn) and proceeds to exact her revenge on those who wronged her, yeah, it sounds very much like the standard plot for your average Steven Seagal straight-to-DVD actioner - not a film directed by Steven Soderbergh!
I suspect that Soderbergh is not overly familiar with this particular genre, otherwise he might have avoided the clichéd script like the plague...
The direction for this piece is restrained almost to the point of inertia - any energy generated within the action scenes comes sorely from the mixed-martial artistry of Ms. Carano, it almost feels as if Mr. Soderbergh is embarrassed by the notion of directing an action thriller.
Soderbergh does his usual thing of peppering his films with stars and/or solid character actors, but despite the presence of the likes of Ewan MacGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, etc, they are underused in what are essentially expanded cameos - only MacGregor gets to shine a little, but his character is underwritten and lacks any credible motivation for his actions.
Gina Carano acquits herself quite well, especially so given the fact that she is carrying the movie on her inexperienced shoulders - that and the cold, hard reality that her character is basically a Jason Bourne clone, albeit with female genitalia...
The film also suffers from the fact that it doesn't have a climax, it just simply stops.
The restrained approach Soderbergh adopted for this film is it's undoing - short, sporadic bursts of action in an uninspired and leisurely-paced script damage Haywire badly, if Steven Soderbergh had bothered to have injected a bit more zest and flair into his direction, the film might have been redeemed somewhat and not turned into the lifeless, miserable clone that it is.
PG.
I suspect that Soderbergh is not overly familiar with this particular genre, otherwise he might have avoided the clichéd script like the plague...
The direction for this piece is restrained almost to the point of inertia - any energy generated within the action scenes comes sorely from the mixed-martial artistry of Ms. Carano, it almost feels as if Mr. Soderbergh is embarrassed by the notion of directing an action thriller.
Soderbergh does his usual thing of peppering his films with stars and/or solid character actors, but despite the presence of the likes of Ewan MacGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, etc, they are underused in what are essentially expanded cameos - only MacGregor gets to shine a little, but his character is underwritten and lacks any credible motivation for his actions.
Gina Carano acquits herself quite well, especially so given the fact that she is carrying the movie on her inexperienced shoulders - that and the cold, hard reality that her character is basically a Jason Bourne clone, albeit with female genitalia...
The film also suffers from the fact that it doesn't have a climax, it just simply stops.
The restrained approach Soderbergh adopted for this film is it's undoing - short, sporadic bursts of action in an uninspired and leisurely-paced script damage Haywire badly, if Steven Soderbergh had bothered to have injected a bit more zest and flair into his direction, the film might have been redeemed somewhat and not turned into the lifeless, miserable clone that it is.
PG.