Thursday, August 07, 2014

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Jericho, Season One:
Jericho is a 2006 disaster show about a small Kansas town in the aftermath of nuclear catastrophe. Because of its surface similarities, it took about five episodes to wash the nasty taste of Under the Dome out of my brain. However, this show turned out to be much better in every way, with likeable characters, steadily progressing plot lines, and enough intrigue to pique your interest. There is zero resolution in the season finale, but this is no longer a dealbreaker since the next season is already available online. Free on Amazon Prime.

Final Grade: B

Orphan Black, Season Two:
I was worried that this show would be unable to sustain its momentum, but the second season is just as good as the first. The plot develops organically, characters remain fun, and the ten episode run leaves you wanting more. The complexity of the plot starts to get a little too dense towards the middle, but gets pared back pretty quickly afterwards -- there is no need to rewatch anything, and you can just go along for the ride.

Final Grade: A

Wish I Was Here:
This movie was billed as the movie that Zach Braff would make if he had complete control over Garden State. It's a pleasant way to spend two hours, but doesn't do much to veer from the cookie-cutter template of indie movies about life. Though there's an overabundance of Scrubs actors in the cast, everyone turns in a nice non-distracting performance. Mandy Patinkin is especially good in his supporting role. Like all indie movies, there's an overreliance on a soundtrack of whiny guys hoping to be discovered by mainstream audiences, and sometimes the movie meanders more than it marches forward.

Final Grade: B

Wildstar (3rd and final review):
My thoughts from last month's review still stand, and I'll be letting my subscription expire next week. The developers are patching steadily, and it was a good time sink for about 90 hours of playtime, but it's still not as polished as I'd like it to be. Also, PvP just isn't fun when your team is consistently losing and there's nothing that you, as one player, can do to change the momentum. This is especially noticeable with the existence of PvP hackbots, that just run around the battleground gaining experience so their owners can reach the maximum level more quickly. When your team has a 50% chance of having 3 useless bots taking up slots, it's not even competitive anymore.

Final Grade: C+

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