Posts tonen met het label Sam Heughan. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Sam Heughan. Alle posts tonen

dinsdag 15 december 2020

TV Show Review - Outlander (Season 3)

Season:
3
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 13
Year: 2017
Starring: Catriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Laura Donnelly, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, John Bell, Lauren Lyle, César Domboy

Description: An English combat nurse (Catriona Balfe) from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.  

Review: Voyager: the title of the third book the series written by Diana Gabaldon and the basis for the third season of “Outlander”.
Let’s take a look back. The last episode of season two showed that Claire is now a lot older, and her daughter Brianna is already twenty years old. They met Roger and it can be seen that Jamie sends Claire back to her own time through the stones, and after an emotional farewell. And so the first and last episodes come together and the circle is complete. Jamie wants to die on the battlefield of Culloden, because he knows that Claire, together with his child, will continue to live.
Season three continues where season two ended, with both main characters, each in their own world. Jamie stands alone with the stones and Claire, who arrives in Boston pregnant and together with Frank. Jamie fights his way to his death, where fortunately he is saved in time and more dead than alive. Only Jamie doesn’t want to live without Claire. He is a man who is hunted, because on the head of ‘red Jamie’ is still a price. As luck would have it an accident, he meets someone from his past who helps him survive.
In Boston in the 1940s, Claire gave birth the her and Jamie’s child: Brianna. As good as she can, she tries to build a life with Frank and Brianna. She makes her way through life and decides to study medicine in the fifties. But, in the fifties, it wasn’t easy for a woman to study and build a career.
Yet she manages to make a name for herself in the hospital in which she works. When fate strikes her and Brianna, she decides to go back to Scotland where, as we saw in season two, she tells Brianna all about Jamie Fraser. Brianna makes a big decision. Once her mother gave up Jamie for Brianna, now its time to give her mother back to him. A search for Jamie begins.
The first part of season three consists mainly of the lives of Jamie and Claire, each in their own time and in their own lives. How do they survive losing the love of your life, and how do you build a life without each other, without ever being able to forget each other. “Outlander” wouldn’t be “Outlander” is it didn’t work out. How, when and where, you really have to see for yourself.
A part of “Outlander” was recorded in South Africa, where the cast and crew were allowed to use the set and ships of the series “Black Sails”. This can be seen in the second part of the season. The season starts calmly and quietly, with some ripples here and there. But the second half of the season is really a rollercoaster ride, with an end that demands a lot more. Fortunately, there will be a lot more.
Season three was again a beautiful season with a good story. The emotions fly around, especially the moments of loss and the famous scene in the print shop bring tears and goosebumps. Still, I found a flaw in the series. In my opinion, there is too much emphasis on the fact that Claire is a doctor. I’m not someone who has to see everything so often. The focus could be more on Jamie and Claire.
Season three adds a number of new faces to the series. For example, César Domboy played the role of the adult Fergus, Young Ian will eb played by Joh  Bell and we meet Marsali, who will pay a big role in season three and four. All in all, season three of “Outlander” was beautiful, exciting, loving and has guts.

vrijdag 4 december 2020

TV Show Review - Outlander (Season 2)

Season:
2
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 13
Year: 2016
Starring: Catriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Duncan LaCroix, Tobias Menzies, Graham MacTavish, Laura Donnelly, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, Romann Berrux

Description: An English combat nurse (Catriona Balfe) from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.  

Review: To sum up season 1: Claire, on her second honeymoon, disappears without a trace and ends up in 1743 Scotland. There she falls in love with the gorgeous, red-haired highlander Jamie Fraser. She marries him and adapts to the life in 1743. Meanwhile her husband Frank, in a completely different time, looks for his wife. The first season of “Outlander” had a lot to offer and left us all wanting more. That first season ended with the departure of Claire and Jamie to France. There Claire tells a wounded and abused Jamie that he is going to be a father. With that image the first season ended.
Then the start of season 2. Claire is back in 1948, lying in front of the stones. With just one question burning on her lips: who won Culloden? The English or the Scots? Were they able to change history as discussed? The answer came as a shock to her. And Frank is also in shock. His beloved Claire is finally back after three years. And she is pregnant.
What happened in those three years can be seen in the second season of “Outlander”.  Can Jamie and Claire change history? Can they make the Scots win Culloden and can they secure their own future in Scotland?
Was the second season as good as the first? No, unfortunately not. The first season was good, perfect, romantic, exciting, emotional and I felt the bond between Jamie and Claire. In the second season, I missed that connection from time to time. And the parts set in France aren’t as exciting as the parts set in Scotland. So the second half of the season is better then the first. The season focuses more on Claire, not so much on Claire and Jamie together.
But that feeling I missed for most of the season, was all brought back in the final episode. The 90 minute finale is beautiful. The episodes sometimes switch between 1746 and 1968, where we see an older Claire, her daughter Brianna and Roger Wakefield. In 1746 we see the desperate Claire, who wants to stay with Jamie. And the determined Jamie, who is prepared to die on the battlefield. He demands that Claire goes back to her own time, and raise their child.
At the very end, the opening scenes of season 2 finally make sense and the circle is connected. And again we are left wanting more.

maandag 23 november 2020

Movie Review - Bloodshot

Director:
Dave Wilson
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Vin Diesel, Guy Pearce, Sam Heughan, iza González, Toby Kebbell, Talulah Rileu, Lamorne Morris, Siddharth Dhananjay

Description: Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel), a slain soldier, is re-animated with superpowers.

Review: One of the most frustrating viewing experiences is when a film cleverly starts to work out its premise, but then throws all the intelligence overboard to offer only cheap entertainment. Not that there’s anything wrong with no-brainer movies, but if you don’t intent to live up to your pretensions, leave them out completely. That way, no one needs to be disappointed. “Bloodshot” shows that there is a superlative to this experience: a film that starts out as a stupid blockbuster, then reveals a lot smarter than you initially thought, only to end up as a stupid action film.
Based on the first half of “Bloodshot”, it seems perfectly clear what kind of mediocre film we are dealing with. Vin Diesel is once again portrayed as a tough mourner, who, as a super soldier, manages to complete every impossible mission. But is also a good husband for the woman he always comes home to safely afterwards. The war mission from this opening phase uses the now widely palette of “Black Hawk Down”, but after Ray’s homecoming we get an idyllic gathering with his wife.
After a bloody confrontation, Ray wakes up in laboratory, where he is told that he has died and has not only been brought back to life by state-of-the-art technology, but has also improved a lot. No only has his physical strength increased enormously and is he practically invulnerable, but the technology in his body also makes him omniscient.
It kind of feels like “RoboCop”. Because apart from a revived protagonist who can connect the necessary dots in his computer brain, there are war veterans who get robotized replacements for missing limbs.
Since Ray can’t remember anything about what happened to him, the question arises as to why the film sill filled that time at all. Why not just start at this point. It would have made it more interesting for the viewer.
There is a moment in the film that seems interesting, but it quickly heads back towards being a clumsy blockbuster. “Bloodshot” is an action film that will be easily forgotten.

Rating: 2/ 5

TV Show Review - Outlander (Season 1)

Season:
1
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 16
Year: 2014
Starring: Catriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Duncan LaCroix, Tobias Menzies, Graham MacTavish, Laura Donnelly

Description: An English combat nurse (Catriona Balfe) from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.  

Review: Drama and adventure in the Scottish Highlands. I was immediately sold after episode 1. It’s beyond me why it took me so long to see this series, because its really, really good!
Claire lives in 1945 and is married to Frank Randall. She goes on her honeymoon to Scotland and there she suddenly ends up in 1743 where she experiences a great adventure.
Claire sees many differences. There is no electricity, no city and the medicines are different too. She has to adapt to the situation.
She meets Jamie, who she forms a bond with and eventually marries. Not because she wants to, but the two start loving each other along the way. Especially Jamie has to endure a lot this first season. He is much more than the handsome Scotsman. And Claire is also much more than the damsel in distress.
The combination of adventure, romance and beautiful images of Scotland are what I love most about “Outlander”. The series also has a great atmosphere, that really transports you to 1743 Scotland. It’s a beautiful series that I already love very much. I can’t wait to continue the journey.