Contrived, Confused, Inglorious Conclusion

The second half of The Glory always had its work cut out for it--not because it had to live up to some lofty standard its predecessor had set, but because it had to make up for its flaws. A dozen loose strings, some narrative incongruities, and a curious pacing to its story progression (or, in some senses, lack thereof) had left more than a few worries that the series might not be able to properly exact its tale of revenge--even if the hope was there in equal measure.

And, sadly, those worries turned out to be entirely warranted: The Glory (Part 2) is a bit of a mess, rushing its way to a series of endpoints possible only by the great efforts of not only its heroes but also its villains to reach them.

A story of this kind typically relies on what are technically conveniences or coincidences as much as it does on the willingness of the audience to not be bothered by such...but The Glory goes to the suspension-of-disbelief well one (or several) too many times, asking its audience to ignore a string of contrived beats, character inconsistencies, and unnecessary narrative detours on the way to its strangely toothless dramatic ends.

Ultimately, it's a disappointing (and at times confusing) conclusion to an otherwise watchable show, with far too much going on and far too little happening, giving you exactly what you want in almost the least satisfying way possible.

Leia Mais

A Slow, Aimless Traumafest

Trailers and marketing lie to us all the time, and such is the case with Mask Girl. What was pitched as a mystery and a psychological thriller is little more than a pretentious, too-episodic meander through the shallowest meditation on a theme--if it's even a theme and not a coincidence.

There is no real story to speak of, though the series of events does come around to neat, connected conclusion. (And whether that conclusion needed the six episodes it took to get there is a debate unto itself.) Yes, the characters are the same and, yes, there is a steady stream of cause and effect, but, just as no one would ascribe narrative to a literal set of toppling dominoes, there is no real through-line for the show.

The episodes progress as a snail's pace, fill time with needless character backstory as a way to justify their actions that tie directly to the cause-and-effect events, and take you nowhere.

The lone saving grace to the series is the acting, with every actor--and particularly the different actresses playing the same character over time--giving a solid performance, regardless of how well or poorly written their characters are. (And, really, there is maybe one interesting character and maybe two or three specifically likeable ones. That the cast can outshine this issue is a real compliment to them.)

Ponderous, dull, and (assuming it was trying to say something) pretentious, this one is a miss in nearly every way. So miss it, if you can.

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A Needlessly Good Two-for-One

Being two movies stitched together is usually a bad thing, but, in the case of Dream, it's actually a selling point.

With lightning-fast pacing, clever editing, and a cast of absurd everyman hard-luckers hellbent on riding the line between hilarity and pathos at every turn, what looks like it should be an interesting take on a typical sports movie quickly reveals itself to be a surprisingly delightful romp that just happens to take place primarily on a soccer field.

...until about the halfway point, when it genuinely becomes a sports movie, with as much heart as there were laughs only moments before.

Which is not to say that this change in focus feels abrupt or inconsistent or in any way a departure in quality. While it admittedly does feel like somewhat of a jump into a second movie, it's more a direct sequel to the first half than an attempt to have it's cake and eat it too, owing this seeming shift in attention as much to the movie's uncanny ability to deliver twice as much story from its first half runtime as to its narrative need to transition to the sports-centric plot they've been working towards all that time.

None of it needed to be as good as it was. And yet...

Solid. Surprising. And a heck of a good time.

Leia Mais

Very Watchable, If Annoying That Viewers Have to Wait for the Other Shoe to Drop, as Well

Revenge is a dish best served cold--though, cold or otherwise, it is not usually served incomplete.

Whatever else can be said about The Glory, the most important thing to know going into it (if you're watching in a timely manner) is that there is going to be a Part 2 that has not come out yet...and that, perhaps, you should wait for that before starting this. Because, as things stand with only Part 1 at hand, the hiatus only serves to unavoidably expose the otherwise mostly tolerable flaws in its storytelling.

The show is entertaining enough, aided in great part by the short-ish length of each episode, which forces the slow unraveling of the overall story to feel like it's constantly moving--even as, 8 episodes in, nothing seems to be happening. Except that also many things seem to be happening; and some of those things may actually matter to the plot. Assuming that the plot is what the show seems to tell us that it is.

Which, if the show were complete (or still coming out regularly), would presumably be fine, because any gaps or loose threads or seeming incongruities could be paused long enough to wait for the rest of the story to (we hope) explain or justify or minimize them as it slow-burns its way (again, we hope) to its climax and conclusion. But, as it stands, there are A LOT of loose threads, and a lot of story beats that don't quite line up, and a lot of story details that feel extraneous to the central plot--and, because it does nothing to act as a chapter closing that pulls any of these things into even a loose kind of wrap-up, Part 1 doesn't feel like a deliberate Part 1 so much as just where it happened to have its halfway point. And so we are left somewhat unsure about what we've just watched, rather than anticipating what could be coming next.

Which is a shame, because--whatever its storytelling flaws or overall quality--The Glory's first 8 episodes are very, very watchable, more than a little entertaining, and often compelling, both in spite of and (ironically) because of those storytelling flaws that make the hiatus so frustrating.

So, yes, this seems very much to be worth the watch--but we're not going to know until Part 2 is out, and we see if the ends really do justify the means.

Leia Mais

Social Media Gossip: The Show!

All in all, Celebrity delivers exactly what its influencer subjects do: flashy distraction devoid of substance, a quick dopamine hit that lasts just long enough to be forgotten--and a promise that never quite lives up to the bargain.

While the premise of a social media personality spilling the tea on her own murder is gripping, and while the characters and performances are surprisingly engaging, the story itself is ultimately a shallow hodgepodge of diverging, disconnected plots and stock cliches that undermine both its driving themes and its characters.

That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining, of course, because it is certainly, if nothing else, able to keep you attention long enough to be bingeable, especially with episodes running at about 45 minutes a pop. But it also probably won't rate much higher than a witty quip in a comment section.

Essentially, the show is a piece of internet gossip, providing you with a momentary rush of excitement, a passing feeling of moral superiority, and then a lingering sense that none of it really matters.

...but you're still going to consume it.

Leia Mais

Socially Conscious, Barely a Film

Next Sohee is a socially conscious screed that barely puts in the effort to pose as an actual story. While its core concern strikes an interesting turn as an expose, its messaging—though wholly sympathetic—is the be-all/end-all of the film, sacrificing all pretense of narrative for “pretense” and “narrative.”

Dull, preachy, and too lazy to do anything but the most perfunctory gesture at storytelling. Its one saving grace is the character work for its protagonists—though that may owe more to the solid performances from the lead actresses than anything in the script. It could and should have been able to rage against the machine while still weaving a compelling tale (either about an exploited worker or the investigation into exploitation), but it fails to deliver on it’s fundamental responsibility as a film: tell a good story.

There’s certainly something there, and the most fervently “activist” among the audience will undoubtedly forgive its failings regardless. But for anyone else, it will be an occasionally interesting swing and miss—sympathetic though it may ultimately be.

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