All User Reviews

Woke obsession ruins good plot

They changed a story based on good books about a female cop into a woke Olympics. From the overtly gay team member to the constant reminders of how bad men are… they didn’t waste any opportunity to shove another woke theme into the plot. Ruins the show. Which has promise, like all of Michael Connelly’s writing does.

It’s woke, but..

..it’s kind of an equal opportunity offender. The woke elements aren’t done in a propaganda/agenda driven way, and it’s an original story. They aren’t hijacking some older, nostalgic intellectual property.

Yes there are woke elements, but everyone will be able to find something to hate and like through the 4 Season run. What I’m saying is, it’s worth watching. Don’t let the woke scare you off if psychological thriller type stories are your jam.

DEI black and gay characters. Another horror/comedy with scares and no actual funny humor. Most of the kills are offscreen so there isn't even
any fun to had there. The acting is ok but the entire story and dialog is pretty lame. It's another movie that wants to be an 80's throwback and
kind of seems to lean that way in the beginning but then there are modern cars and smartphones so it makes no sense. The characters are not funny just annoying, pathetic and unlikable.

Excellent!

Absolutely magnificent spy thriller with great suspense and intrigue! The female lead is a programming genius, but she doesn't know how to fight or handle weapons, which is quite refreshing! There's great action scenes that don't defy physics and gravity. There's very little woke comments, not even enough to make it unpleasant. I HIGHLY recommend this TV show!

DEI casting of a good Sci-Fi story

I just finished Season One. The core of this story is true science fiction. The story from the book is conveyed as well as can be expected. The previous reviews are accurate in the matters of DEI. There was an obligatory homosexual added. One of the main characters was changed from a male director of a research facility to a strong female corporate director. The strongest, moral-based leaders are minorities while the foolish and morally deprived characters are white male. The author is a bit of an enigma. It's true that he's a Chinese communist. In an interview, he said that democracy won't work in modern day China. He also criticized the Communist Party in some of his works. He also seems to be an advocate for one-world government. That theme runs through a few if his books, including this one. He also expressed that he avoids talking politics. Meanwhile, his works shout politics. Not necessarily in advocacy one way or another. That said, the story does come through. This is about contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The initial, light-speed, communications and development of real-time communication are on-par with physics theory. That is, the parity of particle spin not being subject to distance. Therefore, real-time communication across unlimited distance is theoretically possible. The book delves heavily into high level dimensional theory. That part didn't come through in the movie all that well. The acting and special effects are good. The brutal attack at the Panama Canal was very graphic in the movie. This is good science fiction if you can wade through the obligatory woke casting.

The later seasons were an effort to watch.

The first few seasons were excellent, well elaborated high powered lawyer drama. But when they added Katherine Heigl that's when it started to go downhill. She was the girl boss with horrible attitude, who was supposed to have been in the army and box every day, yet didn't have the physic appearance to reflect. Don't get me wrong, she's a gorgeous actress, but her background story didn't match her appearance. There were woke comments about the patriarchy and race that didn't need to be there. It made the last few seasons not as appealing at its beginning.

Started very well...

The show started on the right foot, action packed, masculin, captivating. Not excessively realistic for what SWAT actually does, but quite entertaining. Then you could tell they hired some blue-haired writers as things turned for the worse. I couldn't continue watching after the episode where they try to sell you Polyamory with that bi character. That was it for me!

No woke. Great revenge story. This is a meant to be a bridge between season 2 and 3 of Kingdom. Introducing the character and motives of Ashin while showing some backstory to the beginning of season 1. Very well done with good acting and mostly good writing. Much less zombies and more story but if you enjoyed the show you will probably like this as well. The fx on the CG animals was not so good and probably the weakest part. Ashin is an excellent example of a strong female character done right without the over the top unrealistic woke nonsense. She spends years training to shoot and hunt and plot revenge. She uses stealth, speed and her bow and arrow at a distance. She isn't some unrealistic overpowered delusional female who can physically overpower groups of much larger males. It's a shame we may never end up getting a 3rd season of the show.

Not woke. This is very much a product of its time and doesn't hold up as well today with the science and medical and CDC aspects of it. The acting is decent and overall story is good. There are some problems with writing and the way certain characters act that don't make sense. In 1996 people where much less likely to notice these things than now. This is not anti-military. It's one bad general (well 2 really but one does
the right thing in the end) and the rest are following orders. There is
several scenes where the internal conflict is shown with soldiers about wether they should follow orders or not. If you watched it and liked
it when it first came out you probably still will today, if watching it for the first time probably take a point off.

One of Ritchie's best.

The two "woke" elements would be the strong female wife of the protagonist and the homosexual character. I don't consider either of those to be woke in this movie. The wife is a strong character. She's married to the alpha male. He considers her opinion in important matters. He called the shots. When it came down to it, she was courageous. She defended herself against three men with a two-shot derringer. The husband came to the rescue in the nick of time. She showed no surprise. It's as if she knew that her strong man would protect her. I like this woman character. Self confidence and courage in a woman isn't woke. As for the homo... Hugh Grant played this part perfectly. Homosexuals, by nature, have no moral anchor outside of reinforcement of their lifestyles by like-minded. That's why Pride Events are so important to them. They're basically anchored on each other for a false-morality en-masse. This character was disgusting. He was blackmailing criminals and dropped innuendo at every opportunity. This movie portrayed him for what he was. That is, a filthy, disgusting, greedy pervert with no redeeming values. That's not woke at all. The story was as good as anything Guy Ritchie produced. I rank it just a notch below Snatch but a little above Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Judge it for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ballard: A Hollow, Preachy Imitation of Bosch

Ballard tries to ride on the coattails of Bosch, but it falls flat almost immediately. The show is bogged down by excessive, empty dialogue that adds nothing to the plot or character development. The pacing is painfully slow, lacking the tension and rhythm that made Bosch compelling.

Instead of building an engaging crime drama, it leans heavily into predictable, surface-level “woke” stereotypes: the overly independent female lead, the “body positive” comic relief, a token character in a wheelchair, and a parade of incompetent or villainous white male characters. These tropes are inserted so blatantly that they overshadow any potential for authentic storytelling.

The writing feels more like a checklist of political talking points than an organic narrative, and the result is a shallow, preachy mess. Fans of Bosch expecting the same grit and nuance will be sorely disappointed. Ballard isn’t just a weak spin-off — it’s a poor imitation that never earns its place.

Nothing woke. This is a wonderfully done Korean zombie show. The acting, dialoge and story are well done with excellent FX. At only
6 episodes per season there isn't really any wasted filler. I think the only real complaint would be some inconsistencies and moments of questionable writing in season 2. Once the zombie infection cause is revealed there are things from season 1 and even in season 2 that don't
make much sense. Then there is a few frustrating instances of characters who should of died or been killed surviving for no real reason other than to further the plot. Still despite these things it is well worth a watch.