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Planet Dinosaur (2011)
A better, more evidence-based approach
The best thing about Planet Dinosaur is not the CGI, the narration or the story (not that there is much of the latter). No, the best thing about the show is that it describes the fossil evidence for almost everything it, er, shows. From a bone broken by a stegosaur to a bed of eggs, when you see it on screen, you can be sure it's backed up by science and will be explained soon after, if it hasn't already been, with few exceptions.
The rest of the show leaves something to be desired. Yes, the animals are quite detailed. However, the animation is of somewhat poor quality, despite the fact that a lot of effort has clearly been put into it. In particular, there is no sense of weight to the dinosaurs: when two carnivores collide, it feels as if two small stones banged into each other, rather than two towering animals intent on hurting one another. Given that every episode features multiple struggles between predator and prey or predator and predator, this is a problem. At many points they feel disconnected from even the ground itself. In addition to the lack of weight, their movements in general are either too jerky or too smooth, almost never at the right point in the spectrum.
Planet Dinosaur repeats things a lot, especially in the last two episodes, where I think most of the salient facts were covered thrice over. The writing, too, is not quite up to scratch. The constant search for synonyms for 'monster' is a major offender. In many cases, the gravity of the narration seems very forced: it just doesn't gel with the image.
This series is overall a major step in the right direction. Introducing the general public-myself included-to the discoveries that we base our knowledge of dinosaurs upon in such an interesting fashion is to be commended. I just expected more, and I hope we will get it in the future.
Smallville: Finale (2011)
Lamest series finale I've seen so far
After 10 years of building up Clark Kent as the greatest super hero the world will know, and a final season that introduced/reintroduced a cadre of iconic, dangerous foes, one could be forgiven for expecting the two-part finale to be a masterpiece of epic proportions. One would be mistaken. (One would also be ignoring the overall low quality of the entire show that preceded it, but that's another story.) Instead of the ultimate showdown between Superman and his strongest opponents, we get:
A pointless framing device that contributes nothing to the plot and, in fact, raises more questions. Two long and completely unnecessary subplots about wedding jitters and more idiocy of the time-to-discard-the-people-who-helped-me-thus-far variety, continued from the end of the last episode. A 2 minute long showcase of the show's special effects going from awful to mediocre over the years (also something about Clark helping people). The unexpected return of Lex Luthor, just because. The Unholy Trinity being unceremoniously triple-killed by Oliver Queen with ordinary arrows fired from an ordinary bow. About 10 seconds of Darkseid's poorly-rendered head, and another 15 seconds of said villain (but not in his own form, of course—we're on a budget here, remember?) combating our hero by using telekinesis, which is subsequently overcome by Clark's flight, leading to
Clark OHKOing Darkseid by flying through him. A few shots of Apokolips closing in (undetected until the last second) from far enough away that no details would need to be rendered. Superman (finally) pushing Apokolips away, carefully filmed to avoid showing any actual, y'know, activity. The abrupt and gratuitous (not to mention completely ignored) murder of Tess, complete with a last-ditch effort to do some major good that appears to succeed, then is mysteriously reset by the end of the episode.
Speaking of the end, we also get a nice little glimpse of a 'happily ever after' where everyone is cheerful and beaming while their worst nightmare comes true.
In short, if you're looking for a lack of payoff, Smallville's final episode is the perfect place for you.
Gettobakkâzu dakkanya (2002)
One of my favourite anime series of all time
Like sowbi, I too came across this series completely by accident. I turned on the TV one day and started channel surfing, and suddenly saw a new channel -- "Animax" -- with these two guys with cool powers fighting off a few thugs. The voice acting was pretty laughable, but the series captured my imagination. I started watching from the "Venus di Milo" episodes, missed quite a bit, then watched around 47 of the 49 episodes almost religiously! As I said, the voice acting was pretty laughable. However, it wasn't because the actors were bad. It was laughable for the simple reason that Animax appears to use the same three or four actors to do the voices for every single character in every single series. The actors themselves are extremely talented -- they'd have to be, in this situation! -- but it's a little weird to hear one of the villains being voiced by the same guy who gives the voice for one of the heroes (no, they're not supposed to be related or anything like that).
Get Backers is, as mentioned earlier, one of my favourite anime series. The cast of characters is amazing. Every single character encountered is fascinating. The animation isn't all that great; the art is quite inconsistent. However, far from dragging the series down, it actually improves on it by lending it personality. Also, the series ending (which has a fairly long buildup) is probably the most well-executed ending I've ever seen.
In closing, let me voice my only complaint: Get Backers only lasted for one season of 49 episodes. I want more!