hoffmanntho

I love the new Star Trek movies (at least 1&2, the third one is actually pretty bad) but unfortunately I hate to say that JJ completely blew the new take on the Star Wars Universe. This movie is truly bad!

The characters are poorly written and have zero depth, every single one of them. The humour is bland, there's no emotional depth, its all action and no reflection. As for the main plot, well it's a 1:1 copy of the very first Star Wars (A new hope), but so much worse it's laughable. What is this, seriously? And where the hell does this New Order come from?! And what happened to the rebellion? Did the screenwriters watch the previous (chronological) trilogy at all?

Oh my god, what a dumpster fire... Avoid at all cost. Shame!

I went into this series with quite a bit of apprehension. I mean, Faeries? Centaurs? In a victorian London-like city, mixed with some Jack the Ripper ambiente... What?! How about I told you one of my favorite shows is about a bunch of ever plotting loonies of which some can control animals, others can walk through fire and have dragon children...and they all play a game of thrones? Right... Don't be like me and be put off by some biases before you've started watching this show because damn, it's worth it! The acting is spot on, and while I expected no less from Orlando Bloom or Cara Delevigne, every single other actor/actress performance was no less good. My compliments to the entire cast! Then there's the production value. Simply put, it's brilliant. The decors, the lighting, the atmosphere... Superb work, you can pause almost anywhere and marvel at the frame. That's a TV show, really? Bravo! And finally there's the story. No spoilers so no details but let's just say that the writers did a great job coming up with a good plot, interesting, believable and well written characters. You can clearly feel the historical inspiration but that's absolutely not a minus in my book... It took me a couple of episodes to get into the universe, mainly because I had to overcome some silly preconceptions, but once I had done that I was hooked. I can't wait for the next seasons, and hope they will be as well written (!), performed and filmed than this first glimpse into a possibly great series. May there be more!

Watching this movie really felt like seeing an episode of Band of Brothers. And I mean it as high praise.

Following a small group of soldiers, all with different back stories, some likeable and some less but always believable. As the plot unfolds, you get to know them better and watch them evolve. This may not be an action packed blockbuster but it's a character driven, well acted and well written story.

I really enjoyed it and recommend it to everyone who loved movies such as Saving Private Ryan or series like Band of Brothers.