Kaka

And there was be no meaningful finale, unfortunately.

A total dud and a road to hell. Unless the last episode comes out with some completely transcendent and disarming finale, explaining this whole mess full of weird monsters, time jumping, alternate realities and an unconventional love story, or at least a hint of it, it can't be considered anything but a sophisticated comic parody, unfortunately probably unintended.

It's an interesting psychological game. The viewer has no idea how and why, but this episode is entertaining.

A real-time documentary odyssey about aging and dying in an uncompromising performance by a controversial filmmaker who isn't afraid to push the envelope and doesn't flinch at moments when others would be cutting and turning their cameras away so that the viewer has to "guess" the rest. Gaspar Noe conveys a complex experience in a different style that suits some, while others will walk out during the screening. Vortex is not about seeing it more than once, it's about experiencing it in the cinema just once, even though it's very difficult, even unbearable at times.

Woody Allen French style. A little less chatty and funny, but more fragile, romantic and thoughtful. In both cases, though, it's a terrific mix of cinematic entertainment and life wisdom about relationships since the world as we know it.

A retro intimate alternative to Michael Bay's The Island, but Without the monstrous budget, cool set pieces and train axles flying down the highway. Never Let Me Go is a slow, seemingly ordinary romantic film with an uncompromising dose of the raw reality of an alternate version of the present world where the basic rules of medicine and human life are, in some fundamental ways, constructed very differently. The sad violins work, the pensive glances into the sunsets also work and so do the inner monologues. A smart and aware film that drags a bit in the middle, but the final 20 minutes are a reliable wrap-up and a confirmation that this is something you won't soon forget.

Unfortunately, it falls back into the style of the completely useless episodes 2, 3 and 4 from the last decade, with bland characters and a ton of unnecessary action with incredibly bad effects. 15 years ago, I could still understand it, they were light action B-movies that lacked a budget, but you went to see cars, not monstrous high-budget set pieces. But here it is hard to understand, because over time the FF franchise has become a billion dollar colossus, so money is not an issue. Yet the result is astonishingly bad and it is questionable whether to continue at all and, if so, in what direction to take it further. Basically, everything is bad and nothing works. If the few highlight scenes were glued together, i.e. the ones where the classic practical effects work and there's no crazy CGI going on, plus 2 or 3 lines from a proven black duo, it would be 20 minutes long and mission accomplished. Unfortunately, even John Cena is more charismatic and fun than Vin Diesel. Big disappointment.

It looks and feels like a Super Mario style action platform game that you play on a small Nintendo on the train where there is no signal to do anything more meaningful.

The second episode takes the baton firmly and opens the scissors of the story wider. So far, it's not very action-packed, nor is it typically over-the-top; rather, it's interesting to watch the bizarreness of the script and the weird retro-futuristic style present at every turn.

An alternative indie Marvel? Atmospheric yes, solidly acted too, but conceptually at least a bold and unconventional foray into temporal paradoxes and other screenwriting flourishes. It will be interesting to see if the creators manage to get it right, or if it swells into utter nonsense.