Bluebeard (2017)

	Also Known As: Barbablù
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Lee Soo-youn
	Actors: Cho Jin-woong
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 23.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Korean with English subtitle
Synopsis: Seung-hoon (Cho) works in a clinic and comes back to his appartment above a butcher. He is in a sad period in his life because he still thinks about his ex-wife. After an examination post-surgery of the butcher's father, this talks in his senility about a woman's body that is cut and brought away. Shortly later the news relate that the torso of a woman has been found in the river after ice melting. Seung-hoon starts suspecting his butcher buddy.
Review: The story of Barbe-Bleue by Charles Perrault may have been a kind of inspiration as the movie also deals with the murder of women. And it stops there. The movie deals rather with the suspicion of the butcher by the surgeon and the inner disturbances for the surgeon, who is in a weak situation due to his recent divorce.  All along the movie it is not clear to me whether his night experiences, what he finds in the fridge, what he believes to hear is reality, imagination or a dream. In this sense the directing already managed one thing. To introduce the suspicion in my feelings during the movie. Unfortunately the movie is quite slow pace and I did not notice any climax.  The fact that the stories about the found body is very far (e.g. we don't see any newspaper, any policeman, any TV news about it) makes it quite distant and the suffer of Seung-hoon is even more abstract for me.
Rating: 4 /10

House of Cards - Season 5 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creator: Beau Willimon
	Actors: Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty), Robin Wright (The Congress), Michael Kelly, Joel Kinnaman (Robocop)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: June 2017, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: The Underwood couple (Spacey, Wright) make use of every possible trick to stay in power.
Review: I have unfortunately the feeling that with this fifth season the series finally slows down, and I am starting to loose interest. Oh it is still very tense in the line of the previous seasons, but may be suffering from a the lack of the novelty that I praised in season 4. It takes until Ep 9 - Chapter 61 to resolve the cliffhanger from the previous season and this is almost too much time to convey the message that Frank's opponent (Kinnaman) is not enough experienced nor determined. During that time I also had enough of the romance with Tom Yates, and the press scandal orchestrated by the character of the journalist Hammerschmidt which seems to lead nowhere. I could see attempts at re-using elements that were popular in the previous seasons (Frank's ancestor, a retreat in the forest...) but I didn't find many new things to like, apart from the two characters of Mark Usher the campaign manager and Jane Davis who befriends Claire, as they seem both very clever and hide their secret agenda. The manipulation of people is much less clear as in the previous seasons, and I would say sometimes even confused (at least to me) so that I miss simpler times when Frank was calling in favors and making threats. Also not much seem to happen in this season in terms of decisions for the country or world politics, apart from a shy conflict with the ever-likeable Russian president Petrov. The episode 12 - Chapter 64 does offer some surprises and the last one Chapter 65 spends more time reflecting on everybody's situation, leaving the presidency in a new state, but I fear the series will have to find a totally new angle to keep being attractive in the future.
Rating: 6 /10

Frequency (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Gregory Hoblit (Fracture)
	Actors: Dennis Quaid (The Day after Tomorrow), Jim Caviezel (Outlander, Deja Vu), Shawn Doyle
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 20.06.2017, VOD, 32" TV screen.
Synopsis: During an exceptional Solar Storm the cop John Sullivan (Caviezel) gets in radio contact with his father Frank (Quaid) who died 30 years before.
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this Fantastic Thriller which I was expecting to be more predictable and feel more like a TV-movie, probably because of it being from 2000 and casting typical B-movie actors. The calls to the past are not anecdotal and in fact half of the movie takes place in each time period. Quaid and Caviezel are good in the respective roles of a fireman in the 70's and of a cop broken by a family tragedy in his youth. Of course the son tries to change the past (it wouldn't be a good time-"travel" movie otherwise) but the side effects are quite unexpected, until an ending that leaves the audience fully satisfied with no time to ponder over the usual paradoxes and contradictions inherent to such a story. Family is at the center of this story, not the Thriller aspect which is really here to get the father and son closer, and even less the Science of the whole thing which is cleverly left aside.
Rating: 7 /10

MARS - Season 1 (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Creators: André Bormanis, Mickey Fisher, Karen Janszen
	Actors: Jihae, Alberto Ammann, Clémentine Poidatz
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 24.06.2017, in-flight entertainment system 10" screen.
Synopsis: 2016: Several clues hint that the world could be ready to conquer our solar system starting with Mars. 2033: the first mission arriving there has to face many challenges to just survive.
Review: There seems to be nowadays a boom of movies and TV-shows depicting realistically humanity's conquest of our solar system: Europa Report, Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian, Ascension, the Expanse. This sub-genre has never been very popular since it was born I think with 2001, a Space Odyssey. The first Star Trek movie gave me a similar feeling, and we remember better the simultaneous three movies on the conquest of Mars in the early 2000's: Red Planet, Mission to Mars and John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. In fact it seems that the genre has never been as popular as today! Is it a sign that we are ready to go back to space exploration, nearly 50 years after our first step on the moon? Barack Obama's motivated speech during the state of the Union in 2015 (visible here on Youtube and also shown on MARS) certainly hinted that way, and I recently saw a Documentary about the Google Moon Shot Prize (another documentary produced by J.J. Abrams is freely available here). The first episode Novo Mundo alternates between a documentary with interviews and research shot in 2016, and the fictional story of the first crew landing on Mars in 2033, depicted realistically based on what we learn from the 2016 status of technology, funding model, motivation and politics. I liked this approach from the start and thought the following episodes would stay with the 2033 events while in fact the parallel goes on, in each episode focusing on one of the challenges to be faced by the mission of going to Mars to stay, not just to explore and come back. MARS was produced by National Geographic, the documentary parts revolve a lot around the SpaceX company and his CEO Elon Musk but also other facts around the current space programs, and the fiction part looks good probably thanks to scientific advisors, although it seems to have been written by people who watch too many movies: the reaction of professional astronauts to difficulty is often exaggerated and feels wrong, which would be OK in a fully fictional movie or TV-series but here offers too much contrast with the visible wish to be realistic. In any case, the choice of putting in parallel Documentary and Fiction is excellent and has probably incensed more people to watch it than if it were a straight-forward Documentary.
Rating: 7 /10

52Hz, I love you (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Wei Te-sheng
	Actors: Chuan-ying Chuang, Chung-yu Lin, Ruping Sumi, Mify Chen
	Country: RC
	Genre: Romance, Comedy, Music
	Conditions of visioning: 25.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Mandarin/Min nan with English subtitle
Synopsis: Set in Taipei on Valentine's day, some are working for the celebration, others are looking for presents, others are looking for somebody to celebrate with! The flower shop owner Xin (Chuan-ying Chuang) meets the baker Ang (Chung-yu Lin) after a delivery accident and have to bring all the presents together. Lei (Mify Chen) wants to break her relation with Da He (Ruping Sumi) while he plans to propose to her.
Review: Just before one of the first songs, a characters explains that 52Hz is the lonely whale that no other whale understands and therefore Xin is not understood. There are over 70 minutes of original songs. These songs are colouful, naive and all turning about love stories. Either about one loving someone, one alone seeking for love, one disappointed by the lover. Several songs sound quite kitch and this is the fun in these Asian Pop songs, whereas not the kitch of the J-Pop or K-Pop. There are many jokes about oneself or about what happens. Even the lonely hearts and the disappointed hearts are singing quite optimistic songs. At least it sounds to my hear optimistic, even if the lyrics are not completely optimistic! The stories happening in the restaurant are already hilarious and when the music accompanies it, it becomes even more funny. The acting is good for this naive atmosphere. It is not my favourite style, but naive makes me feel good sometimes. The scenery, the setting, the light, everything was perfectly giving this naive atmosphere where the scenes can develop the content of the songs. The music is good! Therefore globally a good movie, even if it is not really my style.
Rating: 6 /10

Dearest sister (2016)

	Also Known As: Nong hak
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Mattie Do
	Actors: Amphaiphun Phommapunya, Vilouna Phetmany, Tambet Tuisk
	Country: LAO
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Lao/English/Estonian with English subtitle
Synopsis: Nok (Phommapunya) moves from her home village to Ventiane to look after a cousin, Ana (Phetmany), who she never met before. Ana is married with Jakob (Tuisk) and loosing slowly her sight. Nok soon notice that the servants are hiding things from Ana, stealing money and making business.
Review: This is my first movie from Laos. And from the few movies coming out from Laos, this is already the second by Mattie Do. The story is ok but the strength is the atmosphere created by Mattie Do. The suspiscion within the house. Many scenes are rather silent and slow until something is said or happens. There are many abrupt orders from Ana to Nok or to the servants. There are many crooked looks from the servants to Nok. It gives a tense atmosphere but no suspense, what is one of the main goals of a thriller.  On the other hand, the conflicts of the Laos society where money is coming fast in few families and creating envy in others. These social conflicts are suggested by the psychological and silent conflicts between the different characters.  For a young country which does not make many movies, this is already quite mature.
Rating: 4 /10

Scoop! (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: One Hitoshi
	Actors: Fukuyama Masaharu, Nikaido Fumi
	Country: J
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Japanese with English subtitle
Synopsis: Shizuka Miyakonojo (Fukuyama) is a 40 something paparazzi photographer. He is a skilled cameraman who has a gambling addiction and is in debt. Currently working as a freelance journalist applying his talents and fishing for celebrity scandals for the tabloid "Scoop!". He is joined by Nobi Namekawa (Nikaido), who works for his old magazine, who as a rookie reporter, becomes invaluable.
Review: A buddy movie with two paparazzi, one apparently idealist young woman and an experienced and jaded middle-aged man. The other buddy team is the same man with his old friend who looks quite relax and junkie, but is full of surprises.  The movie combines some car poursuit scenes, some action in the night Tokyo life, some tense dialogues in the media world. But most of the time, it is overacted. Only Fukuyama comes out as authentic rough dude. Therefore, it might be entertaining. But will not remain in my mind... The image quality for night takes in Tokyo is quite impressive. I do not know whether it comes from the use of HDCAM instead of other DCP medium...
Rating: 3 /10

Mrs K (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Ho Yuhang
	Actors: Kara Wai,Wu Bai, Siow Li Xuan, Simon Yam
	Country: MAL, HK
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Cantonese/Mandarin/Malay with English subtitle
Synopsis: K (Wai) lives in the suburbs of a big city with her daughter (Xuan) and her husband (Bai). She left Hong-Kong and has a nice family life. When her daughter is kidnapped by her former robbery partner (Yam), she has to reveal and revive her past.
Review: One surprising thing in the movie could be the many actors from Hong-Kong and also the story-line very inspired from the kung-fu movies of the 70s and 80s. But usually it was not the daughter who is kidnapped or killed or threatened but rather the sister, the mother or so. The introduction scene in which Mrs K kicks the ass of three young thieves but ends in a funny situation and off-the-wall dialogues reminds me the style of Jackie Chan in the 90s.  Then the question is What makes all this HK influence in a Malaysian movie?! Ok, Malaysia may have a lot of migrants from China and HK, so that the Malaysian market would like the movie. But it is the director Ho Yuhang who got these influences and gets inspired by it and it is something I noticed in the FEFF2017 more than in any other. This will deserve a dedicated Article...  The choreography is not necessarily the best point in the movie but quite impressive to see Kara Wai fighting. The dialogues and the situations are really cool. Both risky and thrilling on the one hand and with totally unexpected and thus funny dialogues on the other hand.  The idea of the movie is great but the realisation needs still some maturity. Let's see the next movie by Ho Yuhang.
Rating: 4 /10

Born to be blue (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Robert Budreau
	Actors: Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo
	Country: CDN, GB
	Genre: Drama, Romance, Melodrama
	Conditions of visioning: 22.05.2017, Schauburg, Sneak Preview, English with German subtitle
Synopsis: When Chet Baker (Hawke) stars in a film about himself, a romance heats up with his co-star, Jane (Ejogo). Production is shelved when Chet's past comes back to haunt him and it appears he may never play music again but Jane challenges him to mount a musical comeback against all the odds.
Review: Again a biopic. Finally this year has been full of biopics in the Sneak preview! This one at least not to present only the positive side of the character. And Chet Baker is rather presented as the unstoppable, unreliable, selfish and self-destructive junkie who has a gift to bring out emotion in his listeners with some notes of trumpet. Of course the whole romantic and melancholy of his life sweat from the trumpet music and from his voice (this is an amazing job by Ethan Hawke!). His melodramatic life is terrible and by luck compensated by his love for music and the support and help he sees coming from Jane. With regard to Whiplash, the authenticity of jazz stories is much more present and the spirit of competition is almost completely out. The fact that amazing jazz is coming from the suffering, from the poverty and fragility of musicians and composers. The acting of Ethan Hawke is amazing, how he transmits the fragility and love of Chet Baker, and not only his work on the voice, but also the body and facial language. Robert Budreau is not at his first trial to tell about Chet Baker, after his short movie The deaths of Chet Baker, available here. Very good movie and even better, I guess, for jazz fans.
Rating: 7 /10

Veloce come il vento (2016)

	Also Known As: Italian Race
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Matteo Rovere
	Actors: Matilda De Angelis, Stefano Accorsi, Giuseppe Gaiani, Paolo Graziosi, Lorenzo Gioielli
	Country: I
	Genre: Action, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 29.05.2017, Schauburg, Sneak Preview, Italian with German subtitle
Synopsis: Giulia (De Angelis) is a young promise of GT racing. When her father dies during one of her race, her life falls apart. After a time of suspiscion, her only hope is her brother Loris (Accorsi), a drug addict and former rally champion. Without him, her brother Mario (Gaiani) would go to a guest family and she would have only the support of Tonino (Graziosi) to continue the competition. And to pay back the cars and the house to Ettore Minotti (Gioielli), she has to continue the race.
Review: This is not a sport movie based on the the poor guy achieving success by being the best boxer, the best basketball player, the best baseball player (yes, Europeans don't make that many sport movies and therefore my reference are rather North American!). Ok, the family of Giulia is rather poor. But the movie deals actually with the relationship between Giulia and her brother Loris, and with the desintoxication of Loris thanks to (late) mutual family support and to his passion for car racing. And sport is a mean to tell this great family story.  The characters of the movie are very well constructed and they all manage to call my sympathy. This is not only due to the main acting, that is excellent for the siblings Giulia, Loris and Mario, but also due to the complexity of daily life that is made visible via a gesture, a silence, a short dialogue, and also due to the secondary actors who fit really good with their roles. This shows therefore an excellent directing of the actors.  The quality of directing is also shown by the image quality and composition, during the many car races, but also during the scenes in the family farm. This in particular because there is often someone who wants to hide something and others who want to know something from the other. And the image composition enhances this impressions on the characters.  On top of it, the role of Loris proposes several hilarious scenes, when he picks up the kids from school, the way he reacts. And this gives a good comedy-like aspect to this drama!
Rating: 8 /10

Empire State (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Dino Montiel
	Actors: Liam Hemsworth (Knowing, Triangle, The Hunger Games, The Expendables 2, Independence Day: Resurgence), Michael Angarano, Dwayne Johnson (The Scorpion King, Pain & Gain)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 07.06.2017, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: In 1982 more than 10 million dollars were stolen from a security company. Did the Mafia do it, or the local small-time crooks like Chris (Hemsworth) who was guarding the money on that night?
Review: After Pain and Gain this is the second movie with dumb gangsters based on a true story in which Dwayne Johnson plays. This time he is not one of the dumb ones but a cop, and in the front of the cover for no good reason because he see him only a little. The same goes for Emma Roberts that we barely see. Advertising stunt... The main actor really is Liam Hemsworth, little brother of Chris (THE Thor), recently seen in The expendables 2. He may be too handsome for this character born in New York's Bronx among Italian and Greek gangsters, but he plays well the good-willed guy. Likewise Angarano is very good as his big-mouthed childhood friend. Most probably the true story was improved to give more depth to the character of Chris who wanted to be a cop and it thus torn between two choices. The way the story unfold is interesting: many robberies occurred in that place known for its bad security (aah, the innocence of the 80's...) and it is unbelievable that the two friends still dare attempting something without the shadow of a plan. A movie that can be watched for its depiction of small crime during this time period in that neighborhood.
Rating: 5 /10

Ares (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Jean-Patrick Benes
	Actors: Ola Rapace, Micha Lescot, Thierry Hancisse
	Country: F
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 07.06.2017, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: In a world where corporations rule, Ares (Rapace) still fights in Arenas to survive ten years after an accident provoked by doping drugs, legally administrated by the pharmaceutical corporations to their sponsored fighters. His niece Anouk rebels against the Corporations' dictatorship.
Review: FINALLY a good French movie that kicks some ass and that is not pretentious. I found that it depicts a possible future Paris in a much better way than the recent Virtual Revolution does (although still too close in time), first via a short narrated introduction and then subtly via chatting and news messages (ahah, China decides to increase its help to the poor Europe). Some digitally enhanced cityscapes of Paris further set the oppressing atmosphere in which Ares survives. Making this movie may have been motivated by the current popularity of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), but its fans were probably disappointed because the fights are few, short and lack of ... punch. I on the contrary like the movie because it refuses the follow the classic boxing movie underdog storyline with a challenger first defeated and then making a comeback (well the recent Million Dollar Baby or the classic Rocky don't follow it either). Instead we follow the fate of a handful of characters prisoners of this society. In that case fewer is better, and all characters are thus interesting. So to summarize the story surprised me, I love the characters and Ares packs its message in an efficient hour and a half. And the movie ends with a cover of Tear for Fears' Mad World which brought back Donnie Darko to my memory. I want to see more such French movies.
Rating: 8 /10

20th century women (2016)

	Also Known As: Jahrhundertfrauen
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Mike Mills
	Actors: Annette Bening, Lucas James Zumann, Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 15.05.2017, Schauburg, Sneak Preview, English with German subtitle
Synopsis: The ignorance of a free spirit embodied by Dorothea Fields (Bening) against the needs of a young man Jamie (Zumann) trying to find his true character and beliefs. They are living in a bohemian household shared with three free-minded people to help pay the rent. After the communication disaster with the male flat mate William (Crudup), his mother asks the young woman flatmate Abbie (Gerwig) and Julie (Fanning), Jamie's girl friend, to take care of him for discussions she cannot have with him. Slowly life unravels for them all.
Review: This coming-of-age story is original as Jamie will be supported by three women to grow up. Abbie is the most influencial as she is already adult and brings him in many "cool" places for his age at that time in the 70s. Nice punk bars and discos where he learns the some exciting aspects of adult life, being taken seriously, contact with women, free dancing and finally enjoying life without mum. His eternal ideal girlfriend on whom he is stuck, makes him feel the deception. As secondary stories, all experience new things in their lives. The most important thing for all is that they talk about life and then learn something important for their personal lives, or about wood and hmm not much then. As usual (see Frances Ha and Maggie's plan), I liked Greta Gerwig. Somehow she often has roles of women I like and also plays these roles perfectly. This free woman without exaggeration nor extremely extrovert behaviour. The great acting is coming from the promising Lucas James Zumann, who has a very complex role of a normal teen contronted with life. As in some other movies with Greta Gerwig, this one shows how it is already heroic going through normal life and that talking about this normal life is important to come through.
Rating: 6 /10

Mr Zhu's summer (2017)

	Also Known As: L'estate del signor Zhu
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Song Haolin
	Actors: Sun Bo, Li Haoze, Wang Jixian
	Country: CN
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 23.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Mandarin with English subtitle
Synopsis: Mr Zhu (Bo) teaches his class with non-conventional methods for his school in North East China. When two of his students Grasshopper (Haoze) and King-Kong (Jixian) are in the limelight for a supposed good action, he is happy to become some recognition for his work from the usually despising teachers and parents. When the kids admit their real intention, the bubble blows and Mr Zhu resigns.
Review: From the sociological point of view the movie is very interesting, as it shows China's educational issues, the culture of the social hero and good person,a picture of the middle class parents and children. The story is basically fine, but there is nothing that catches my eye or my mind.  The acting of the two kids is good. Especially Wang Jixian, King-Kong, manages to bring some emotion and not only acts as his role asks to. The race scene is great for Li Haoze, who seems to be freed during the race as it is in the story.
Rating: 4 /10

Tragedy Girls (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Tyler MacIntyre
	Actors: Alexandra Shipp (X-men: Apocalypse), Brianna Hildebrand (Deadpool 1-2), Josh Hutcherson (Red Dawn, The Hunger Games 1-3), Kevin Durand (Real Steel)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 04.06.2017, Cinemateca Capitólio Petrobras, FANTASPOA2017
Synopsis: McKayla and Sadie (Shipp & Hildebrand) dream of becoming famous thanks to their Twitter account that thrives on tragedy. To help boost the number of followers, they kidnap the local serial killer (Durand) and don't hesitate to participate themselves.
Review: This is the kind of movie that makes me wonder whether I am not getting too old to appreciate such movies made by young directors with very young actors and following very modern codes. I already wondered the same after watching Detention (also with the eternal teenager Josh Hutcherson), Kaboom! or It Follows. Fortunately, once again and for how don't know how much more time, I manage to differentiate between the social behaviors shown and that I abhor, and the quality of the movie itself. Director Tyler MacIntyre, present at the FANTASPOA 2017 to introduce his movie (see picture below) manages nicely to reproduce a US high-school atmosphere, with the two BFFs ultra-happy and always glued to their phones. To that respect the movie sometimes feels Japanese (like when little pink hearts pour out of the phones). He also places some nice Horror movie classics references for who is there to find them: the family names of the heroins Cunningham and Hooper like the directors of respectively Friday 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a murder as seen in Cannibal Holocaust, a scene copied frame by frame to one of John Carpenter's Halloween... I appreciated that. And then I hope that his message in this movie is to criticize such behavior as the ones of the girls, living only through what others see of them in the social media. But it is not very clear and I would be tempted to think that he just pushes such behavior to the extreme with no particular goal. I should have asked him. The murders are bloody and funny enough and the conclusion very Carrie, but in the end I did not like the movie so much.
Rating: 5 /10 Director Tyler McIntyre (right) speaking with passion of his movie.

The Shannara Chronicles - Season 1 (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Creators: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
	Actors: Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero (Pan's Labyrinth), Manu Bennett, Poppy Drayton
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: May-June 2017, VOD, 32" TV screen & 10" tablet
Synopsis: In the Elvish city of Arborlon, the princess Amberle races to become a Chosen One. Soon after the sacred tree known as the Ellcrys starts fading, releasing Deamons that were emprisoned since the end of the last War on the Four Lands.
Review: Such a Fantasy series could probably not have been produced before the times of The Lord of the Rings, to which it borrows John Rhys-Davies (Gimli then) also know as Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies, or the professor in the Sliders TV-series. Also helping a lot is the existence of the Game of Thrones TV-series to which it borrows the bloody deaths (often quite uselessly), including the surprise ones of the major cast, but replaces the sex by teenage love stories. The sets, the special effects and especially the costumes are very well-done, but the one thing that makes the series interesting is the fact that in the background of every episode you see relics of our contemporary world, underlying that this world of Elves, Trolls, Magicians and Gnomes was born from the ashes of our own. The opening credits sequence confirms that, as well as some clues given throughout the season, and the location of the last two episodes. The purpose of the series is not (yet?) to find out how it came to that, but it certainly adds some depth to it and surely probes the interest of the audience. My personal theory to explain everything we see on screen: nanobots left over from a global war. Unfortunately all those things do not suffice to make a good TV-series, and in fact to me the problem of this one is that it feels too much like a TV-series: good vs. evil, the love triangle, obstacles that appear always at the same point in the episodes, even if they don't bring anything to the quest you need the same amount of Action and Drama and Romance and Adventure per episode. I do not know if this comes from the original novel but I find the story weak, not thought-through enough. The characters are not consistent (the druid can be all-powerful or very stupidly defeated) and neither are the distances (the same one can be traveled in a week with many obstacles or in a few hours with none). Even if the images look good I didn't end the season with a feeling of completed adventure like a good Fantasy show should leave me. Finally my favorite character in the series, in addition to Rhys-Davies, is not even one of the three main ones but the druid played by the very fitting Kiwi Manu Bennett. Also note the presence of Ivana Baquero who was playing the little girl in Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. How she has grown...
Rating: 4 /10