Skip to main content


Rating: 3.5/5
Review: "The Magicians season 1 TV review"

People are saying that The Magicians is like an adult Harry Potter. Though there is the common theme of magic, the settings and characterization are completely different. Magic in The Magicians is seen as a dangerous form. It is not glamorized and some side effects are nasty. No character here is perfect, there is no role model. Everyone is stripped down to their individual behavior and thoughts. What you get in the end is a decent TV series that give you a reason to follow through the whole season.

Episode 1-13: I admit that there are some episodes that seem to go nowhere in plot development. One thing commendable is that you never know what will happen to the characters next. Right down to the end of the first episode where the mysterious villain attacks the school. The characters are vulnerable. Although some of their characteristics are annoying, they feel real. Most of their actions have believable motivations. Most of the episodes are entertaining. The rest of the episodes are still entertaining but feel lackluster in terms of moving the plot forward and act as a filler for the 13 episode season. The humor helps bring the gloomy series to a slightly lighter mood. But there is real tension where the characters are threatened. As it ends with a shocking finale, it is clear that the creators are not afraid to put the characters in dire threats.

Overall: For a Syfy series, it is pretty decent. Decent cinematography and special effects. I have not read the source materials so I can't tell how faithful it is. This stands out among the popular superheroes, supernatural romances and crime TV genre for its characterization, real threats and it is not afraid of not glamorizing its theme; magic. With season 2 announced, I am eager to see what lies for the characters in future.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Rating: 3.7/5 Review: "Terminator Salvation DVD review" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is not bad. It is not the worst terminator movie, I actually thought Terminator 1 is just okay. Terminator 2 and 3 are quite entertaining followed by also entertaining Salvation. MCG, the director of Charlies' Angels, takes the directing seat and turned terminator into a dark and gritty world. As what he said, he did not want the future to be a shiny world but a dark and gritty world. He is considered to have done a great job in that and creating the realistic and cool action. But his story pretty much stays the same as his other movies, a simple mindless thrill ride. The story: The future is here and the year is 2018...John Conner is a daring man who will be willing to save people from Skynet, a evil organisation which creates Terminators. A mysterious man who is supposed to be dead suddenly finds himself in the year of...
Quick DVD reviews Rating: 3.6/5 Review: "Batman: Gotham Knight DVD review" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 2D animated movie has six different stories which are interesting on their own. The stories are fast-paced and some of them are action-packed due to the short runtime. The whole movie is only 1 hour and 16 minutes. Some of the famous villians are featured like Scarecrow and the Lizard. The six different stories also have their different styles, Batman seems like a fat monster in one of the story and he is a sleak man in black in another. Overall: It is a good watch even for those who are not a Batman fan but are into the recent live-action Batman movies. DVD special features-3.7/5 The second disc features two good and informative featurettes. One is about the villans of Batman (36 minutes). The writers and producers explain some of the famous villians like Joker and Scarecrow. The interesting facts are that they even ...