rarepunkrock
Joined Sep 2022
Welcome to the new profile
Our updates are still in development. While the previous version of the profile is no longer accessible, we're actively working on improvements, and some of the missing features will be returning soon! Stay tuned for their return. In the meantime, the Ratings Analysis is still available on our iOS and Android apps, found on the profile page. To view your Rating Distribution(s) by Year and Genre, please refer to our new Help guide.
Badges2
To learn how to earn badges, go to the badges help page.
Reviews41
rarepunkrock's rating
I was waiting for this to be released for a long time. I couldn't wait to see an updated dinosaur show, both in terms of CGI and in scientific understanding. We almost got both, but neither shines the way they should.
What we do have is a character-driven narrative style for each episode. These stories feel entirely unnatural and based more on the writers' ideas of what makes a compelling structure than what the science actually shows. Amongst these contrived scenarios we get some insight from actual paleantologists, which are quite good but feature far too prominently.
This is not Walking With Dinosaurs the way we know it. The show should have presented the animals as if we were observing them in a nature documentary. Instead we get a series of silly what-if situations, very loosely based on scientific evidence.
The storytelling element and lack of actual dinosaurs on screen ruin this. I get that it's cheaper to interview people than it is to make complex computer animations, but it doesn't work for this show. We want the dinosaurs on screen acting in a way that seems natural.
What we do have is a character-driven narrative style for each episode. These stories feel entirely unnatural and based more on the writers' ideas of what makes a compelling structure than what the science actually shows. Amongst these contrived scenarios we get some insight from actual paleantologists, which are quite good but feature far too prominently.
This is not Walking With Dinosaurs the way we know it. The show should have presented the animals as if we were observing them in a nature documentary. Instead we get a series of silly what-if situations, very loosely based on scientific evidence.
The storytelling element and lack of actual dinosaurs on screen ruin this. I get that it's cheaper to interview people than it is to make complex computer animations, but it doesn't work for this show. We want the dinosaurs on screen acting in a way that seems natural.
I'll be completely blunt: I did not like this film.
Dog Man tries really hard to be action-packed, zany and funny. It fails at all three.
There is action, no doubt about it, but it is constant. Right from the off, everything happens at a frantic rate. Loud noise, high-stakes chases, everything you would expect from an action movie. The problem is that having one calamity after another ends up detracting from the finale. The urgency is used up within the first few minutes, so by the time the final fight arrives, it just has zero impact - it's just more of the same. A shame, really, because the ending is by far the best bit.
Similarly, the dialogue is one quick quip after another, all screeched, shouted, screamed or yelled. Barely a word in Dog Man is spoken in a normal level voice. After a while, it wears you down and starts to really grate on your nerves.
Ricky Gervais isn't too bad as the evil fish. That's the best thing about the whole film. He sounds a bit like a caricature of himself, but it works.
Oh, and despite trying really REALLY hard to be funny, guess what--it isn't! No one in the cinema laughed. At all! People were more engaged during commercials and trailers.
I seriously hope by the time this movie goes to streaming platforms my kids will have forgotten all about it. Dog Man is possibly the worst film I've ever paid to see at the cinema.
Dog Man tries really hard to be action-packed, zany and funny. It fails at all three.
There is action, no doubt about it, but it is constant. Right from the off, everything happens at a frantic rate. Loud noise, high-stakes chases, everything you would expect from an action movie. The problem is that having one calamity after another ends up detracting from the finale. The urgency is used up within the first few minutes, so by the time the final fight arrives, it just has zero impact - it's just more of the same. A shame, really, because the ending is by far the best bit.
Similarly, the dialogue is one quick quip after another, all screeched, shouted, screamed or yelled. Barely a word in Dog Man is spoken in a normal level voice. After a while, it wears you down and starts to really grate on your nerves.
Ricky Gervais isn't too bad as the evil fish. That's the best thing about the whole film. He sounds a bit like a caricature of himself, but it works.
Oh, and despite trying really REALLY hard to be funny, guess what--it isn't! No one in the cinema laughed. At all! People were more engaged during commercials and trailers.
I seriously hope by the time this movie goes to streaming platforms my kids will have forgotten all about it. Dog Man is possibly the worst film I've ever paid to see at the cinema.
An interesting case with enough tragedy and mystery to keep you hooked... for a little while.
The problem is that this entire story could have been told, without losing any of the nuance or intrigue, in about 30 minutes. We really didn't need three drawn-out episodes.
At first, we aren't even really told what happened. I'm guessing the producers recognised that they could keep viewers on the edge of their seats as everything (very) slowly unravelled, but that just didn't work for me.
The case is sad and moving but the documentary should have been more succinct. I will never watch this again and I'd be genuinely surprised if even the people who left glowing reviews would find much rewatch value in it.
The problem is that this entire story could have been told, without losing any of the nuance or intrigue, in about 30 minutes. We really didn't need three drawn-out episodes.
At first, we aren't even really told what happened. I'm guessing the producers recognised that they could keep viewers on the edge of their seats as everything (very) slowly unravelled, but that just didn't work for me.
The case is sad and moving but the documentary should have been more succinct. I will never watch this again and I'd be genuinely surprised if even the people who left glowing reviews would find much rewatch value in it.