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pete-dunne
Reviews
Fool Me Once (2024)
Binge worthy but flawed
We binged it all in one weekend and it certainly does the job in keeping you watching. It has all the usual twists and turns expected in a HC adaptation. (See Safe, The Stranger, Stay close etc) If you enjoyed them, you'll like this as well. The military aspect adds a different dynamic to the other shows though but it's essentially the same kinda thing.
Main issues are that while Michelle Keegan is a perfectly fine actor, she's not particularly believable as an ex special forces combat helicopter pilot, she looks like a pop star tbh (Cheryl Cole my wife said) like she was in a girl group and is now doing some TV presenting work and when she keeps getting the better of big blokes twice her size it does challenge the suspension of disbelief. She's 5"3 and probably weighs less than a hundred pounds.
They just need to do better with the casting here, there are plenty of physically imposing female actors out there tbh, Gina Corrano for example is ex MMA so when she kicks a guys butt in a TV show it's believable. The war time flashbacks of her flying the combat helicopter in full make up and fake nails/fresh manicure were laughable tbh.
Secondly the Detective (as good an actor as he is) was hamming it up a bit tbh...his story was like a different show (it wasn't in the book) and he was pulling all the faces and doing the dramatic Long pauses etc like he was doing Shakespeare in the park...it just didn't suit this kind of show when the rest of the acting is basic TV drama style.
Finally, the book is set in America so the military aspect makes a bit more sense there and the whole gun thing gives the original American setting away, it's extremely rare for criminals or anyone in the UK to have guns but it's just accepted as normal in the show.
But it's a good watch overall, you just need to turn your brain down a few notches and accept the flaws.
The Midwich Cuckoos (2022)
Decent but not great
I quite enjoyed this, I haven't read the book so maybe that helps? Keeley Hawes is great as always and the child actors are very good. The story is a bit silly but they do a decent job of stretching it out over 7 eps and keeping the interest up, which a lot of Netflix shows suffer at tbh...(so many Netflix shows are obviously 3 hrs of content stretched over 10 eps and its obvious) a few negatives are that it is a bit 'Dr Who' levels of production, scripts, acting at times and to address the elephant in the room so to speak, the setting and cast choices are rather odd truth be told. A market town (which is just a large village) in Rural England wouldn't be so diverse in terms of ethnicity and that does at times effect the suspension of disbelief. (You wouldn't set a show based in the Bronx or South Central LA and have half the characters as white, middle America types, that would be dumb, same applies here) the mixed race couple escaping the city to the countryside and the Woman from the home office from London makes perfect sense to be POC but half of the population of a small market town in rural England? That's a bit silly tbh...just set it in London or Manchester, Bradford etc if you want a really diverse cast, that would then make sense. Anyway it's not as bad as some say and not as good as some say (Ignore the 2 and 9 star reviews as usual lol)
Scream VI (2023)
Dead on Arrival
As a big fan of the Scream movies and horror genre films in general I thought I'd like this but man was I wrong. I enjoyed the last one but this one was so cringe...I was actually rooting for Ghost face to kill all the main characters as they were so annoying. We really didn't need them all back from the the last movie tbh, they seriously outstayed Thier welcome and what the heck is with them getting stabbed multiple times in the stomach, chest etc which would be certain death yet being completely fine a few scenes later?! The NYC setting didn't work either tbh, the small town setting is a much better fit for Scream and it was obviously not actually shot in NY anyway going by the bad sets. Bad writing, the return of annoying, unlikable main characters who I couldn't wait to see die and the whole thing was just a mess. RIP scream.
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
The 2 EPs of Mando are great, the rest not so much.
The only good EPs are 5 and 6 as they are The Mandalorian....and they are great. The rest is not good tbh...still love Fennec but even she can't save it. Big fan of the original Boba Fett but he's pretty lame in this show sadly and the space mod power ranger teens are the worst thing in the galaxy...like something from a bad Doctor Who Ep..I mean seriously, who was responsible for them! Hang your head in shame.
The Legend of Vox Machina (2022)
I'm being Critical, that's my Role
Fun D&D cartoon for adults. I'm a casual viewer of CR so I know the characters and Voice actors but it doesn't really matter if you don't. It's loud and brash with lots of swearing and some sex stuff...(Pearl clutchers beware lol)
It is let down by cheap, 'Saturday morning cartoon' animation tbh which can be rather clunky but it's fun and silly so it's not the end of the world. It's certainly not a 10, they are just CR Stan scores. A solid 7 is fare I think.
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
Dexter, but not as we know him
Dexter essentially gets the Tyrion Lannister treatment from the final season of GOT here....he goes from being an interesting, clever, devious, calculating character (in the original series) to being an impulsive, clumsy character in this sequel. The writing is rather sub par, more like the final 2 seasons of the original series and yeh, Deborah is kinda annoying tbh, although she does dial it down in the later EPs thank goodness. The high school stuff is like something from a CW show...On a positive note, the Native American angle is interesting and well done. I loved Dexter so it's a shame this sequel hasn't really worked as the early seasons of the original show were near perfect TV. This is watchable and it has it's moments, the later EPs are better but it's a frustrating case of what could have been.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Very Long SNL sketch
If you want to watch lots of famous actors do an SNL sketch for over 2 hours then turn your brain off and enjoy. It's mildly amusing and entertaining, if way too Long. It's certainly not as clever as the director thinks it is and it really isn't biting political satire, dispite what some might say. If you want that then watch In the Loop and The Thick of It. The 'Satire' here is so broad and rather ham fisted tbh...every character is such an obvious, lazy stereotype...The incompetent President, who only cares about the midterms, (Part Hilary/part Trump) the Nerdy professor who shaves his beard and suddenly becomes irresistible (been done so many times)...the analogy with climate change also doesn't work. A planet killing comet causing instant death and destruction is the complete opposite to the unseen, gradual, slow burn of climate change that won't even kill us or our children but will effect future generations to come, Hence why people still fly in Aeroplanes and have 3 cars etc. The ending is well done though and the mid credits scene is fun.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Fun, teen horror
Would make a great TV series....when it ended I wanted more. Nothing ground breaking but it doesn't have to be.
Into the Night (2020)
Decent thriller
Well acted, suspenseful, interesting characters. I watched in the original (Mainly French) with the subtitles which were well done and added to the European vibe. (It automatically came on with American dubbing but it wasn't very well done do switched to original language and subs...much better)
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018)
Average stand up gets cringe worthy & preachy
First half is very average stand up, think live at the Apollo on BBC. Then it gets bad. She spends 40 minutes lecturing the room on why men (particularly white men) are terrible. Bad things happened to her when she was young and it's very sad and horrible, no doubt. But blaming an entire demographic is ludicrous and quite frankly dangerous. She says 'I don't hate men but...' about 6 times... reminds me of people who say 'I don't hate black people but...' yeh it's a big problem. I've heard people say she is brave for what she says? What would have been brave is if she actually owned up and said 'yeh I don't like men'...that would take balls to admit that on a Netflix special. But no, instead we get what is best described as Yoda's speech from the Phantom Menace about fear leading to hate, hate leading to anger and anger destroying everything. Seriously, that is essentially her message. That would be ok if she was talking to children but come on, where is the nuance, the insight, it's just really obvious stuff...ooh anger is bad!!! Oh wow, thanks for that. It's basically her talking to her therapist and oh my, she is self obsessed and then some. She says 'my story' so many times I actually thought it was satire at one point towards the end. She reminded me of David Brent at times, such a narcissist with zero self awareness, again I was sure it was satire and that was the big joke! Alas...no. At one point she goes on about how she wasn't allowed to flourish. Really? You have your own Netflix special! I live in Australia and for quite a while you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing her, particularly on the ABC where she was on pretty much every show. She is a successful, wealthy (TV and Netflix pay very well) famous celebrity yet apparently she wasn't allowed to flourish. Now that is laughable. The reason why she didn't want to do Jokes about her horrible experience is that she isn't a very good comedian. Richard Pryor for example was sexually abused and raped as a child in his mother's brothel ( yeh, heavy stuff) but he was such a master craftsman that he could intertwine humour into his horrible experience. She just says no more jokes, tells the sad story and then does a misguided lecture on it. To be honest anyone who had suffered a horrible experience and could do public speaking could do what she did and we'd all feel sorry for her and empathize. I suspect this show will not age well. It's perfect for the self obsessed, Virtue signalling, perpetually offended times we live in, hence the fawning reviews from a lot of people. As I say first half, very average stand up hence 3 stars but then it gets really cringe worthy tbh.
The Outsider (2020)
Starts off great...
First 2/3 EPs are fantastic. Up there with some of the best recent TV. Kind of a true detective season 1 vibe, Ok not as good but of course nothing is. Essentially when Jason Bateman (Amazing as ever) isn't in it anymore and stop's directing which I think he did for the first few EPs it kinda gets a bit flabby as in how every Netflix show has like 3 or 4 really slow, unnecessary EPs mid way through the season. It gets better again for the last two EPs but yeh, it should have been a mini series. (The fact that it's a Demon type creature and not something more interesting is a bit 'been done before' tbh)
Black Summer (2019)
Not TWD but it's not meant to be
Fast paced, short chapters, zombies, killing, survival all at break neck pace and high tension. TWD is about characters...long slow paced drawn out story telling and that's great, this is the complete opposite, just straight into it no monologues or deep character studies. If you want fast paced zombie action you'll like it...is it a little stupid at times? Yep...but it's about zombies so ya know.
12 Strong (2018)
Rambo 3 remake
Was expecting something like 13 hours Black Hawk Down or Zero Dark Thiry but alas this was really bad...great cast but terrible script and the tone of the movie was very USA Hollywood as opposed to the 3 other movies I mentioned. Found it really boring tbh. Shame as I love based on real events war films. Chris Hemsworth was pretty bad in this and I'm usually a fan of his, same with Michael Shannon. Bad director maybe?
Wonder Woman (2017)
Wonderful Wonder Woman
I loved this movie - Gal Godot is perfect as WW, she kicks butt of course but has a heart and is on a journey of discovery from the moment it starts. She's not cocky, she's assertive, she's not arrogant, she wants to learn and has humility, Wonder Woman is a real character not just another hero in tights being super. The direction from Petty Jenkins works well, the pace builds after a nice set up, it looks great and the WW1 setting gives the plot some depth and context. The main villain at the end could have been better but that's a small gripe. This is Fun, inspiring, exciting, emotional and entertaining. One of the best super hero movies for sure.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
She kicks ass and it's visually stunning.
Alita kicks some serious ass in this and the visuals and graphics are genuinely beautiful. I hadn't heard much about it as I'm not really into Anime but this was awesome. They actually made some Alita inspired Prosthetic arms for an Amputee in real life as well, great stuff!
Ghostbusters (2016)
Just didn't work
Wanted to like this but alas it was not good. Big fan of Kristen Wiig but she looked like she didn't want to be there, she was phoning it in. The group just didnt work for me, no chemistry and the story was dull. Chris Hemsworth was the only really good thing about this, his himbo/air head receptionist was genuinely funny. I fell asleep before the end as it was dragging and I didn't bother going back to watch the last ten minutes as I didn't care.
Rampage (2018)
Does what it says on the tin
Dumb, Loud, stupid and entertaining. The Rock and some giant beasts go at it. Don't expect anything else but if that's what you want then you will be satisfied. It is what it is.
February (2015)
Great slow burn horror
If you have patience and like creepy, atmospheric, slow burners this is for you. I loved The Witch from 2015 and this isn't disimilar in tone. It's called February on Netlix Australia.
The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
80s slasher style flick
If you have nostalgia for those classic slasher movies you'll like this...yeh the plot is basic and some of the deaths silly and all the things happen pretty much as expected cliché galore but it's very well done and entertaining. It's a classic 80s B movie complete with 80s soundtrack. Some will hate it, probably younger people who didn't grow up with the original video nasties. Nothing original here, in fact far from it...but that's the point.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Starts well...then gets dull.
Starts off really well but from about ep 7 onwards loses it's way.