WakeyBakey Reviews

Snowpiercer (2020–2024)

Well worth watching. The first two seasons anyway.

[7/10 · 3 December 2023]

Season 1 and 2 are very very good. Well worth watching.

No, a lot of the actors aren't top listed AAA Hollywood stars, and it shows... But they do well enough an won't pull you out of your suspension of disbelief. I personally don't understand the negative feedback the show have had because of the actors.

Had it kept going like the two first seasons, this would probably have been an 8 or 9.

Sadly, this is a SCIENCE fiction show that suddenly starts using magic.

The whole idea of a train going on forever is, of course, completely bonkers, but they try to explain everything with science, and that is what keeps it grounded.

All admit, I stopped watching after episode 4 of season 3, because of this "magic" stuff. I don't know if it's actually magic or they made up some science explanation. I just couldn't get past it. So that's where my experience with the show stopped.

I can whole heartedly recommend season 1 and 2. Skip season 3 though. I might try giving it another go if season 4 every gets out of limbo.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)

Not amazing... But well worth watching

[7/10 · 22 September 2022]

Right off the bat, I don't understand the comparison to Arcane, in the overall quality-department.

It's no doubt a good watch. Above average.

But to me, it has some major problems.

The main problem being the runtime. Each episode is about 25 minutes, and it seems to wanna tell a lot in that time. So it jumps around A LOT. Quite a few montages, and even scenes that try to show the sadness of a character, goes by in a flash. You don't get the time to feel sad with them.

Granted, I don't have a lot of experience with anime, but the runtime combined with the low framerate, which I believe is quite common in this action-based anime genre, just makes it very confusing at times.

"What the *** is even going on!?" is something I felt more than once.

With that said and out of the way, the characters are engaging, the art style is looking good and the story is interesting. You want to know more and see what happens next.

Had this been 40 minute episodes, I have no doubt I'd rate it 9-10... But as it is, it's trying to do waaaaay too much in too little time. 7 it is.

The Good Place (2016–2020)

Deserves a watch

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

This is a strange one...

A woman who clearly doesn't belong in The Good Place, tries to become a better person, and earn an actual spot, before everyone figures her out and send her to The Bad Place.

It's a simple and "feel good" premise. And it's done quite well, with bright locations, diverse unlikely-friends and simple, sweet humor.

I heard this was always meant to be a 4 season story, and the season 1 cliffhanger very much implies there's a lot more to tell.

But season 2 and 3 feels like they're running in circles and didn't know what to do with the story. Like the characters are collecting one McGuffin after another... While there aren't actually any McGuffins, and they do progress, adding to the story and explain what is happening.

Its very strange, and I honestly can't quite put a finger on any exact reason why it feels like that.

Season 4 gets back on track though, and it does it very well. Like we get back to what it's really about.

This has earned a spot alongside Star Trek TNG, Gravity Falls and others, on my list of stuff to have running on my second monitor while working. Stuff you don't really have to watch closely to follow along, but can glance over at and think "Oh yeah... That part... I like that part"

All in all, the pacing is all over the place. We're running in circles and starting over... While not really. We're actually getting somewhere. And it's a very sweet and "feel good" story.

It's worth a watch.

Ragnarok (2020–2023)

More than average suspension of disbelief is needed

[6/10 · 10 February 2020]

This show starts out great. I mean, Norse mythology in a modern world? A kid discovering hes gaining these powers and some shady "giant"-stuff still going on to this day? Some interesting characters acted quite well? I was all in the first 2 episodes!

But sadly it looses steam fast. Everything seems to slow down, and people start doing illogical stuff.

These Giants who are well liked by the town, do everything they possibly can to expose themselves by constantly showing how terrible "people" they are. But nobody ever sees anything or puts two and two together. A young woman who makes a big deal about not being into her classmate, suddenly falls face first into his bed. And the worst part, the main character Magne, who are discovering these new powers, tells a few people about them, how he can run real fast, throw a hammer like... Well... Like Thor, and a few other things. Which nobody believe of cause. So instead of very simply showing them, he complains about how terrible it is to have these powers and everybody think hes crazy. And that last part reeaally got on my nerve. Your mother don't believe you? Pick up a hammer and throw it. It's that simple.

All in all, the start is great. The ending is good. But a lot of stuff in the middle made me pull out hair.

If you're into Norse mythology, and you're able to suspend your disbelief just a tad more than I'm able to, I'd say this a great show.

Life (I) (2017)

"Teens in cabin"-horror flick... But in SPAAACE!

[5/10 · 24 July 2019]

It's alright. Worth a watch if you got nothing better to do.

But it suffers from the same idiotic decision-making, so many in this genre does. It has beautiful and believable cg, the actors does a good job for the most part, it's nicely shot and the backbone of the plot is interesting enough.

But I facepalmed my way through most of this movie."WHY!? Why are you doing that!? That doesn't make any sense!" I'd guess NASA (Or whoever is in charge) would send the best of the best to retrieve and study an alien lifeform. But they flush all logic out into space and let emotions take control as soon as something bad happens. Scientist is attacked by alien, Reynolds' character decides he has to help and break the quarantine, and the boss lets him do it. All hell breaks loose from there.

It's too bad. It had a lot of potential. And we have seen it done nicely before, noticeably with Alien and Aliens. Acting professional and doing things that makes sense in the situation... But the creature getting the better of them anyway. Sadly, in Life, it is for the most part the characters fault, when they decide to throw every security-measure out the airlock as soon as the alien becomes hostile.

Buuut... If you just want a quick mindless horror-flick... It is still worth watching. The ending did send chills down my spine. Just don't expect much logic.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

The whole movie is a "I'm 14 and this is deep"-meme

[5/10 · 30 June 2019]

As a 30 year old guy, who doesn't know the source material, I was clearly not the target audience.

Why on Earth would you make a battle bot with the mind of a teenager? They even make the joke "If there is such a thing as a healthy teenage mind". Why would you put a potentially unhealthy young personality in one of the deadliest machines ever made?

Other than that, it's cliche after cliche after cliche. We've heard all the one-liners before. We've seen the overall story before. We've seen the action before and the overuse of slow motion which doesn't really add a whole lot.

The acting is good though, and the cgi is beautiful for the most part. So I'll give it 5 stars just for that.

But yeah. If you're not currently a teenager, or have fond memories of the source material from your teenage years... You should probably skip this one.

The Predator (2018)

R-rated, but too nonsense for an adult audiance

[3/10 · 10 November 2018]

You see soldiers shooting at something in a staircase. It's not a "shooting blindly into the jungle"-situation... They're very clearly focused on a target. And then a guy gets thrown from the other side. That really sums up this movie. Not a whole lot makes sense. Overall, it's an R-rated movie made for 13 year old teenagers.

It would seem, all you had to do to get a major part in this movie, was be able to either make crazy eyes or squinting to look badass. That's all the main characters do throughout the movie. And please, writers and directors, unless the whole story is about kids, like Stranger Things or Super 8, please don't make a kid a main character. Especially not in an R-rated movie. I can't be alone in thinking an autistic bullied kid is completely redundant in a Predator movie? Again feels like they're trying to make it relatable to kids. As others have said, this is sadly the worst Predator film yet. You wouldn't think the recipe would be that hard to crack... It's an alien who is supposed to be able to stalk and kill anything... But right from the start, it's all out gunfights and explosions. I literally facepalmed when the Predator uncloaked itself in front of our hero within the first few minutes of the film. You could just have put any random bodybuilder-guy as the big baddie... There's not really anything making the Predator special.

Extinction (2018)

Worth watching if you get past the first half.

[8/10 · 29 July 2018]

The beginning is both a bit boring but also feels rushed.

Peña has a few dreams and BAM! They appear to become real. They make the dreams out to be something that could course his downfall if he don't get professional help. But it all goes by so fast, I didn't at all get a feeling that it was much trouble.

Once the action begins, the movie starts picking up. You get a real feeling of distress from everyonee and a family trying to survive an invasion. It's edge-of-the-seat stuff. BUT! And this might just be me who don't like movie-kids... Especially movie-kids-in-danger... They scream, cry, stay put when they're told to move and move when they're told to stay put. The two young actors do a really good job of showing fear... But we didn't get enough time with them to feel a connection... They're sadly just a nuisance throughout the movie.

All in all, Peña's acting is a bit stiff in the first 15-30 minutes which are quite boring... But his acting gets back to normal later on. And maybe they should have made the film 15 minutes longer and given us more time to get to know the characters (Or made them a childless couple). But the twist is worth it. Absolutely one of the best twists in recent movies.

It's not an amazing film, but it does deserve a better score than the 5.9 it has (As of writing this). It's definitely worth watching but I don't see this becoming anyone's favorite movie ever made.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Same old, same old.

[6/10 · 27 July 2018]

Another mysterious group who wants turn the world on it's head, Ethan yet again gets stabbed in the back by supposed friends in a twist that surprises no one, goes rouge again, saves the day and ends up showing yet another opposing branch of US intelligence why they need IMF.

It's not a bad movie. Well shot, good acting, cool action and interesting characters... But it feels like I've seen this before.

In the end, I was thinking "Do they actually have the balls to make this a bittersweet or sad ending?"... But, alas, the world was saved due the biggest distance-leap in movie magic history.

So all in all, it's a Mission Impossible film... They're keeping to the formula that's worked before... Sadly, a bit too much. There's nothing new to it which makes it a mindless action flick.

The Rain (2018–2020)

Off to a rough start... But worth sticking with

[7/10 · 4 May 2018]

I'm a couple of episodes in... And it's pretty good.

The first episode isn't very good but sets the scene alright. The few extras we see in the first couple of minutes seems to have been pulled straight from a school play. Their acting is cringy at best. But the two main characters does a good job with what they have. That is, the writing is terrible at times. In the first episode, "show, don't tell" is thrown completely out door. The female lead talks to herself (Disguised as talking to her missing father) and explains what is going on and how she feels. Something that is very easy to figure out for yourself without an explanation. Something terrible happens but doesn't seem to have any impact on the characters other than a short scene later on. Also, and I'm sure this isn't a big problem for people using subtitles, but at times they talk in a very proper way. Which is VERY strange for young people. Like any other language, Danish words have been spelled the same way for a long time... But the way words are pronounced change over time. It's feels forced, out of character and pulls you out of the moment.

Episode two and onwards gets a lot better though. It reminds me of the first season of The Walking Dead. With the two main characters trying to navigate this new world. With very different obstacles. The new group of diverse (If not a bit one dimensional) characters helps the story move along and makes for some interesting interactions. It would seem they could learn from each other. The main characters, how to survive in a new world. And many from the group, how to remain humane and not become full blown baddies.

All in all, I'll give it a 7/10. A rocky start but gets better. I'll be watching the few remaining episodes over the next couple of days.

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

Not bad... But not good

[5/10 · 14 April 2018]

Where to start with this one?

I find the actors are doing a good job with the material they were given. I don't expect any of them to win any prices, but not anywhere near bad enough to pull you out of "the zone".

With that said, I did get pulled out quite a bit. The cinematography is kind of strange in some episodes. Like the director had just binged some movies and decided to use the same techniques we've seen before, but in places they don't fit. We see a sideshot of Will pushing a massive rock, with epic music playing. "Look at what he's doing!" The camera pans around, and to nobodies surprise, it's the robot doing all the work, while the music shifts to a more relieved tune. It just doesn't work.

And it's chuck full of cheesy clichés. The father says "I'll take care of it" and pulls out a knife and stands in a hero pose while the camera lingers on him. That's not enough though. You'll facepalm at some characters who's willing to risk all the survivors to save one person. There's no logic to a lot of the stuff they're doing.

The overall story is good enough. They need to get off the planet. That's fine. But each episode and it's conflicts feel rushed. It's problem after problem after problem that needs to be fixed. You get a tiny bit of background story on the main characters. But then it's back to another problem. I haven't counted, but it feels like 20+ problems in each episode they're rushing through. By episode 5, I just thought: "Come on. Enough is enough." It seems we're supposed to care for a character who's dying. But he's been a background character in a few episodes and a side character for 20 minutes. I don't know that guy... I don't care. And that's my main problem with the show. It's moving too fast without getting very far. I could live with cheesy dialog and a few facepalms if I cared about the characters. Sadly I don't. Could have been a lot better if they had slowed down a bit, given us time to get to know the characters, and had fewer and more impactful problems to fix. But when a character you hardly care about is in a deadly situation for the twentieth time? I don't think I'll come back for season 2.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Beautiful but boring

[4/10 · 16 February 2018]

This film, to me, seems like the same kind of "art" as a transparent globe in the middle of a black room. You're supposed to say you get it without it actually doing anything for you.

Without a doubt, this had some amazing visuals for a film from 1968... But man... It's just boring.

You'll have to sit through "paintings" on end for 25 minutes before anything story-related even happens. I don't know if it's just me, but I watch movies for the story. And the story is good when something finally happens. But at the same time, it's constantly broken apart by insanely long transition scenes that does nothing but to just show yet another "painting".

So I'm sure this is a masterpiece if you're the kind of person who can spend hours looking at a black dot on a white canvas. But for me, this was waaay way way too slow which just made me think "Let's get on with it already!"

The End of the F***ing World (2017–2019)

Gets better as it goes

[8/10 · 11 January 2018]

As a guy in my early 30's, I'm sure I'm not the target audience for this. It seems like more of a teen-thing. But, for me, this starts very strong. Interesting characters and a perfectly set up modern Bonnie and Clyde story. Sadly it looses a lot of momentum once they decide to settle down for a few days. It gets all about feelings and understanding each other. I'm sure this helps some people to connect to either of the characters... But for someone who's past these "What is life and what do I do?"-feelings, it's just too slow and boring to watch.

Then luckily, once the detectives get involved and the real cat and mouse game begins, it picks up again. This is when someone at my age or above can join in. Two pairs of quite dysfunctional people, somewhat funny, somewhat serious, trying to avoid and catch each other. There's a lot of interesting moments.

The cinematography is top of the line and I couldn't spot any faults with the actors. Everything is shot nicely with matching music... And the actors play their roles perfectly.

So... If you're like me who found it to become a bit too much teen feelings/problems... Stick it out past episode 3 or 4. It gets really good after that.

The Orville (2017–2022)

This is what Trekkies have been waiting for

[8/10 · 8 October 2017]

I'm not a MacFarlane-fan. Mostly I find his humor to be pretty basic and childish stuff. And this show is no difference. A few good laughs but most of the jokes fall flat. With that said, even as a comedy show, created by a guy I don't find that funny... This is worth watching.

Throughout the first episode I was constantly taken by surprise by the humor. A normal conversation or semi-serious situation, and suddenly a joke. It gave me that "What just happened?"-feeling. BUT... Me being surprised by the jokes is a positive. He has managed to perfectly capture the spirit of the older Star Trek series. You're feeling as if you're watching a show called Star Trek.

Initially I avoided this show. Because, you know, not being a fan of MacFarlane and all. But after, in my opinion, the disappointment of Discovery, I gave this a shot. And I'm glad I did. This is the superior "Star Trek" (Inspired) show of the two.

I can only imagine it's even better if you're both a fan of Star Trek and MacFarlane's humor.

The Mist (2017)

Boring political nonsense

[2/10 · 30 June 2017]

This is a show about boring stereotypes, who does stupid s***, and spend most of the time lecturing the viewers on all the problems we've seen in the news the last couple of years. Taking care of nature. When and if kids should have sex education. A white police officer mishandling a black detainee. An oppressed bisexual emo kid. A drunk girl raped at a college party. (All valid discussions... But not in a supposed horror show about a mist and monsters)

And let me just be honest... I only watched 30 minutes of the pilot. Which just makes it all the more amazing how much political c*** I got pushed down my throat. In a show about The Mist?!

And I get it. We have to get familiar with the characters before getting to the "action". But they all just feel one dimensional and boring. We need at least one character we can relate to and understand. But there were none. None of them makes any sense.

Well... If you don't see "SJW" as a bad thing, there's probably a few you can relate to. For the rest of us, this is a MASSIVE miss.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Pretty good action flick but disappointing for the fans

[7/10 · 2 May 2017]

It's a good action flick. Not much more.

I understand why they wanted to "dumb down" the story a bit for the mainstream market. I honestly didn't understand much of the original story the first time I saw it (Keeping in mind I wasn't very old at the time).

The characters and the world is quite solid. Johansson does a good job portraying the cold but likable Major. Only problem with her is a bit too much emotion... But I'm sure that's the fault of the director.

They missed some opportunities the anime did masterfully. The pan around the city set the mood perfectly and the dead silent spider tank scene made it extremely tense. I don't understand why they chose to remove/change two very iconic scenes.

But yeah... It's a good sci-fi action film for those who never saw the original. But a bit of a disappointment for those who did.

Also, just to add my point of view on the "whitewashing" debate. I honestly didn't mind it. They succeeded in making it a believable "mixed world". No skin color felt out of place and everyone fit into the unnamed city.

American Gods (2017–2021)

I don't understand

[3/10 · 1 May 2017]

The Devil (Or whoever he turns out to be) is perfectly cast and played, and the leprechaun's coin trick was very nicely shot. That's unfortunately the only positive I can say about the first episode.

This is a very confusing show. I don't mind the "What the f*** is going on?"-feeling as long as you get the general idea of what the plot is (Or will be) by the end of the first episode. It has something to do with mythical creatures... That's all I think I got by the end of the episode. Not anywhere enough to incline me to continue watching. I have no idea where it's going with that.

It feels like an artsy-fartsy project you'd see at an exhibition that makes you think; How is that art?

The Last Ship (2014–2018)

A dud

[4/10 · 21 April 2017]

Sounds interesting on paper, but it's another "MURICA!"-fantasy full of literal plastic heroes. Boring script that doesn't bring a whole lot of logic. It falls into the same old category of people doing stupid stuff and keeping secrets (That shouldn't really be secrets if they wanted the best outcome) to keep the tension going. Unfortunately Bay just can't help it.

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Waste of time if you're a fan of the series.

[3/10 · 15 February 2012]

Absolutely horrible movie. I've never been a big die-hard fan of the Underworld movies. But I have seen them all and they do indeed have an interesting story to tell. The dialog, sounds, effects, story and action have been topnotch in the first three movies. All of this is below average in this chapter.

It felt like it was oneliners all the way through. Maybe 5-10min of the dialog was actually interesting and had something to do with the bigger picture. The sounds were cheap. Mostly reminded me of teen horror/splatter design. A bullet through the arm sounded like the whole body exploded. And when we're at it... The gore was way over the top. Yeah yeah it looked "good" when a bodypart was riped off but who want to see the chainsaw-effect for each bullet? The action? There's some fast ninja vampires and big brutal lycans... And the fight between them are alright. But what really got on my nerve was the ooold mistake: "Oh look! The hero is out of ammo! Everybody drop your weapons and charge the super fast hero with the big knife!". Completely pulls you out of "the moment". The only thing connecting this movie with the rest is two characters we know and the fact that vampires and lycans doesn't like each other. That's basically what the movie is about. The movie description tells us that: "The vampire warrioress Selene leads the battle against humankind". I didn't see a battle against humankind. The only humans who died was the ones who was in the way between the vampires and lycans (And I'm not even sure they were human). Most of this review about the action. That's because 95% of the movie is action. It's a disgrace against the series.

The only reason I'll give it 3/10 is because Beckinsale and Eisley does an amazing job at what can actually be called "story telling".