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Arrow: Spectre of the Gun (2017)
Too much politics, none of it currently factual
As soon as I heard phrases like "it's military-grade" and "it's the same thing as an M-16" I knew this was going to be an awful episode. If you're going to jump on such a politically-charged issue, at least get the facts right. The AR-15 hasn't been military-grade since 1964, when it was replaced by the M16, which is not the same gun. Or in other words, yeah, it WAS military-grade... OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO. Since 1964, AR-15's are semi-auto rifles specifically designed for civilian use, and as such, they are no more dangerous or lethal than any other semi-auto rifle of similar caliber.
As for stricter gun control laws, it's also a proved fact that going stricter does not help, especially not in the US. Chicago has some of the strictest laws in the nation, yet has some of the highest gun violence in the nation. The reason is simple and should be obvious. There are simply already so many guns in the US (estimates say over 300 million) that getting one illegally is trivial. If the federal government banned gun production today and started actively trying to destroy every gun currently in the US, you could still probably get one fairly easily even a hundred years from now. Stricter laws do nothing when you can get dozens of guns directly in private sales from some guy in the middle of nowhere.
It honestly doesn't matter which side of gun control you fall on in the US, because there's literally nothing positive additional government regulation can achieve at this point.
This episode made me want to vomit, and I was actually unable to finish it.
Reviews about this show shouldn't have to be about politics, but here we are. Hopefully this will never happen again.
The Revenant (2015)
Far too unrealistic to suspend disbelief
I can understand why this film is highly rated. For the most part, it's fairly well done. But the unfortunate complete disregard for reality in the first part of the film just totally broke my ability to suspend disbelief, and I was entirely unable to enjoy it as a result.
From the bear attack that was far less brutal than any such attack would be in the real world (it should have been fatal on the spot the first go-around), to Glass surviving wounds that would generally be fatal even with modern medicine, then miraculously going from being barely able to talk or move to suddenly able to crawl around like it's almost nothing after no more than a day or two, without tearing open the stitches or even bleeding... it was just too much to accept. Couldn't even finish it.
Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
Wish I never watched this
I really wish I never watched this show, because I've always enjoyed its older sibling.
The problem I ran into is what I was afraid I might. Seeing "how it all started" really broke the immersion for me, because seeing how it supposedly started, I know that in reality, something like this would never get that far out of hand as to become a true apocalypse. Episode 6 was what really was the tipping point for me.
The fact is, we DO have the means to prevent it becoming that serious. Even the National Guard itself, without even involving any other part of the military, has the weapons and tools to deal with it. In the scene where all the walkers from the arena show up, apparently all the "big military outpost" has to deal with them is a handful of GI's armed with automatic rifles. In reality, if such a threat was a concern at all, that would NEVER be the case. Even just a couple 50-cal MGs would make very short work of those walkers. A Humvee or two with such MGs mounted on the roof is all you would ever need to stop them. And that's just talking about weapons you'll find at even the most basic National Guard posts. Now toss in APCs, half-tracks, even tanks. There's absolutely no chance the military would get overwhelmed. No chance at all.
It's not surprising that for the most part, they never show how the vast majority of people get turned - they only show the hordes of walkers after they're already turned.
The one big example we do see of a GI getting infected in ep 6 is the idiot with the riot shield trying to block the gap in the fence with his shield. In reality, even a brain-dead idiot would know better than to attempt something like that, but even that's moot. Even if we assume the rest of it is plausible, and that somehow there did manage to build up such a large horde of walkers, we're right back where I started: set up a couple MGs, and that horde won't even REACH the fence.
All of this was a lot easier to ignore until this spin-off show, when they unfortunately shoved this major plot hole in my face.
Bottom line, if you have a hard time shutting off your brain to ignore big plot holes, and you still enjoy The Walking Dead, don't watch this show.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Nothing about this is worth watching
I went into this experience with some hopes of a decent movie worth watching, based on the IMDb rating, director, cast, etc.
The start was a little disappointing, with the producers obviously taking generous liberties with adding details that aren't in the original, but I was willing to overlook that. After all, we really don't know a lot of those details.
Then came the burning bush, which was really disappointing, and pretty much unforgivable.
But the part I just couldn't get past was when Moses returned to free his people. There's no Aaron. The Hebrews train for battle (WTF??), and the plagues are all caused by some crocodiles, and the details quickly glossed over.
This is where I had to stop watching, as it is completely unforgivable. First they added completely unnecessary fictional embellishments to invent a story where more details really aren't needed, and then rush over the parts where we actually DO know the details? No way is that acceptable.
I gave this a one-star rating because I cannot rate it lower. This film is worth neither your time nor your money.
I cannot understand how this managed a 6.1 rating, as even considering it only on its own merits and ignoring the fact that it is supposed to be based on history, it is mediocre at best.
The Dresden Files (2007)
Not sure who's Dresden this is, but it's certainly not Jim Butcher's
So after reading many of the books, I finally got around to watching this show. Sadly, it's all too obvious to me why it only lasted a season.
Normally when I watch a book-to-film adaptation, I prefer they keep it as close to the books as possible, even with word-for-word conversations if possible. In this case, I was prepared to give it a lot of leeway, expecting episodes where even the events are wholly different from the books. That I would have been OK with.
The problem is, the show is just nothing like the books, in any way. None of the characters are similar (including Harry himself). The feel of the show is completely different.
The Harry of the books is tall, snarky, sarcastic and tough. He's a total bad-ass, who wears a big black leather duster and generally carries a .45 or whatever other handgun he has available in his pocket, while wielding a big staff that barely fits in his banged up old Beetle.
In the books, Murphy is a very petite, smart-as-a-whip fireball with a softer side she doesn't like to show.
As for the feel, the books are far more detective noir, with a lot of insane action thrown in, none of which is present in the show. As I said before, Harry's a bad-ass. He's far more likely to be slinging fireballs than breaking out of jail and leaving behind an illusion. Heck, he's not even *good* at illusions.
I'm just left completely dumbfounded as to why they even tried to rewrite it for the show, because there's so much more going on in the books. Usually, the *reason* they don't stick too the books too much is because there's not enough action. In this case, the show actually has less action than the books. It's pretty sad.
I give it a 5/10, which is pretty darn generous considering what it should have been.