ocnav87 Reviews

Halo (2022– )

Cliche/"done to death" plot points

[1/10 · 9 April 2022]

Sick and tired of movies and shows which just cram in the same cliche nonsense - an evil military, the soldier who has a moral epiphany and goes rouge, the young idealist (almost always a woman) who verbally check mates people far more experienced on their morals, the mysterious object which does something plot convenient when touched, the scientist with questionable morals who's work is threatened by her employers, the overtly forced equality, oh and the exposition dumps which purely make up for a lack of imagination to world build any other way.

Even from a non Halo fan perspective, this show is trash. I mean it's fine (in that some colors flash on a thing called a screen) if you turn your mind off, but how many more of these sorts of shows and movies are we going to allow? Nonsense like this deserves no more than 5 stars (out of 10) as anything above that let's Hollywood and others know that trash like this is acceptable enough to make a financially decent return on, so they can just keep making trash like this.

But what's even worse about this Halo show, is the story in the games (at least the original trilogy - Halo 1, 2 & 3) is far more mature with none of the cliches mentioned above. Not only that, but it is a story which has a huge following, so all that had to be done was please the fans and the show would have been a success, instead of this nonsense which takes a dump on fans and serves the non-fans with yet another average and cliche ridden sci-fi story.

Horizon: Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe? (2011) Season 48, Episode 14

Nicely balanced and informative

[9/10 · 28 October 2019]

Could have included more information but I have to watch a documentary that I couldn't say the same thing about.

Black Panther (2018)

Way overhyped for political reasons

[7/10 · 12 March 2019]

Was a good movie. Entertained me, some nice action and comedy. I liked the vast majority of the characters and the acting. I thought the story was actually quite good too. What I didn't like: 1) Way too much CGI. There's no reason why the developers could not have had martial artists in the Panther suits for the fight scenes. That would have been awesome but instead they opted for CGI characters and the CGI wasn't that good. 2) Not even a basic explanation as to how an ancient tribe managed to harness the technology of the vibranium meteorite. Iron Man is awesome because we know how the suit came to be. Similarly with Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow etc. That's what adds so much more to a story yet here we're supposed to believe that ancient people where able to harness vibranium and a teenager is the one and only brain behind most of modern Wakandan technology. I wasn't expecting anything in depth, just some basic story behind it. 3) The injection of political opinion. And the movie was actually pretty racist. I mean black tribes hooting like monkeys? How is that not racist. Regarding the injection of politics - it is just so unnecessary. And it wasn't even accurate either, like taking the stance that black slums exist due to evil white people and how fixing up buildings in these slums is going reduce the percentage of fatherless black families. Anyway the movie was entertaining and that's mostly all I expect from the Marvel movies. Every now and then a Marvel movie offers a bit more but not this one.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Yep I'm giving this a serious 10 stars

[10/10 · 11 March 2019]

Was actually a heap of fun. And was such a surprise too.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Barely adds to the Marvel universe and not very interesting

[5/10 · 10 March 2019]

Not bad but not great. I could have saved my money and spent 5 mins reading the story if I felt FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), but then again this movie didn't added much to the greater Marvel universe anyway so not much of a story to read up on. For instance the event in which Captain Marvel aquired her powers is pretty damn boring and simple. I could forgive that if the movie gripped me more but it felt pretty dry compared to other Marvel movies. It did have some comedic moments and Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn were great, but otherwise the movie failed to capture me like most other Marvel films.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017)

Made my mates and I laugh constantly

[10/10 · 8 January 2018]

The way people's blood exploded is worth 10 stars haha

Lots of gore. The plot I thought was quite original for a zombie flick. Simple but original. It's just a not-to-be-taken-too-seriously zombie flick to make you and your mates laugh. Good times.

Transit (I) (2012)

Glad I trusted the reviewers saying it was good

[7/10 · 14 July 2017]

Kept me engaged. Good action, quite gritty overall and high energy. Quite a few in-your-face surprises. My only criticism is a couple of times the characters made a decision I thought was a bit dumb, but seriously, most movies are like that and this movie was no worse. Definitely worth a watch. Just a random point - what's funny is pretty much the only 2 movies James Frain has been in they've also had Jim Caviezel (this and The Count of Monte Cristo).

Europa Report (2013)

A very respectable sci-fi

[9/10 · 25 April 2017]

A very respectable sci-fi. It didn't go over the top or try too hard. Was nicely suspenseful with that sort of stranded, creepy vibe. Thankfully didn't turn into an alien- monster film. Also Copely did a better American accent than many Americans - he's a seriously underrated actor.

The Grand Tour (2016–2024)

Needs to be more about them...

[6/10 · 5 April 2017]

Way too scripted which I find incredibly annoying. I am a huge fan of these three and I've watched enough behind the scenes footage and interviews to know one thing - they're immensely entertaining just being themselves.

So let them be themselves. They don't need explosions or movie level stunts.

This is what needs to change in my view: -Get rid of Celebrity Braincrash. -Conversation Street is OK, but would be better if it were more car news related. I always liked that about "The News" - it was a good way to stay up-to-date with what's going on in the automotive world. Just make it each of them finding something they find interesting in the automotive world and sharing it and letting them chat. -Stop scripting the challenges so much. Things don't have to go wrong. Things don't have to be a surprise. Like I said, these three are entertaining enough when left to their own devices. -More car reviews. Simple. -What happened to the car vs car vs car road trips/shoot outs? (the less scripted ones). That one where Hammond brought the Hellcat grew so tiring with it's scripting. Just let them drive! The recent Alfa Romeo QV review would have been the perfect shoot out given those three were arguing over which car they thought was best. Imagine Clarkson in the Alfa, May in the Jag and Hammond in the car he liked (forgot which one it was). -Get rid of the car tester. Or at least stop the American jokes.

Long story short, more cars less scripting.

The Martian (2015)

Lacking for a Ridley Scott space film but still enjoyable

[7/10 · 26 October 2015]

It was enjoyable and Matt Damon's character was a good surprise but the film had predictable characters and storyline, almost Micheal Bayish dare I say, and for a Ridley Scott space film attention to detail was lacking.

The Martian really doesn't hold up as an epic film. Attention to detail was lacking, for instance with how the astronauts moved about inside the space craft. On two occasions I noticed they adjusted their speed without actually touching anything and most of the time it was quite obvious they were attached to some pulley around their waist (and this was inside the craft where they weren't wearing any propulsion suits). This lack of attention to detail should immediately bring this film down, as it should in any film, and was a surprising flaw from a director so experienced in space films. But the story line was a bit...immature as well.

**SPOILERS in the next paragraph** For instance, relying a young, brainy, eccentric scientist to come up with a plan to save the day is pretty typical. Or the commander instructing her chemical expert to make a bomb from equipment on board to blow out part of the craft to slow it down...that's something from a Micheal Bay film.

All things said I did the enjoy the movie. It didn't blow me away but it was enjoyable, charming, Matt Damon's character's humor (actually the whole movie had comedic moments) was all an unexpected pleasantry and it was interesting to see what plan the characters would come up with next. If you're happy with something a bit less fast-paced 'Moon' with Sam Rockwell is a better example of a space isolation.

Oh, I almost forgot. The most UNBELIEVABLE part of this film is Sean Bean didn't end up dying.

Planet Dinosaur (2011)

Best Dinosaur documentary

[10/10 · 13 November 2014]

I can't believe people bother so much about the CGI of a documentary. If the CGI detail matters so much then you're missing the point of a documentary. If you're more concerned with CGI then go watch Avatar.

I feel the best way to describe this documentary is to think of Walking with Dinosaurs where they cut in at points to explain how they know/have come to believe what they just stated/showed. For instance they show Spinosaurus preying on large swordfish like animals. They freeze the animation to discuss and show fossil remains and other findings as to how they know Spinosaurus indeed hunted these animals. It all makes for a documentary where you feel you're not being shoveled theory as fact...or straight up BS as fact, both of which are common place in documentaries these days. This style of documentary is a breathe of fresh air in that respect. My only criticism is each episode is only half an hour in length, but that's not enough to mark it down as it still displays more fact than most documentaries where the episodes go for the usual hour. Hopefully they plan on making a second series.