Very well executed

Purely Joyful Movie!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Historical drama is unbelievably entertaining. You can really feel like you are there, back in time. Well done.

I regard Frontier as a lower-tier example of the narrative-heavy shows most famously represented by Game of Thrones, Black Sales, and Vikings. The show has its flaws--the writing and accents often misrepresent the show makers' desired setting, and it is an objectively poor representation of Canadian history via the Hudson Bay Company fur trade. And while I do believe that better historical consultation would realize Frontier's potential and produce a show as solid as the three listed earlier, these flaws did not prevent me from becoming invested and happily entertained by Frontier's patiently-paced chess-like narrative via the interlacing dynamics between its ensemble of characters, all of whom are wholesome and human. The story begins slowly but grows steadily more intense with each episode, and greatly benefits from all-or-nothing performances by Jason Momoa and Alun Armstrong and beautiful period costuming and production design (to my lay eyes, anyway). Either I'm just an easily-entertained fool, or my patience was rewarded as its plot points violently converged on each other in the later half of season 1. I was thrilled when Netflix released Season 2.

There's plenty to like about the series and the first season had plenty of punch to it, which sadly can't be said about the second season.Good things first: - Jason Momoa can act, though his heart isn't in this character. The other are a hit and miss, plenty of supporting cast to like but most other main characters are brought to life by actors with little to no charisma. - the story has huge potential, plenty of it coming to fruition - as a period piece, there's beautiful scenes, great costumes and a lot of raw feeling to it that lends it believability and authenticityBad things: - huge nonsensical plot holes, smart characters turning stupid over night - the story is marred by cheap cheese much too often - dialogue is filled with clichés - incredibly uneven performances leading to a lot of effort going to waste

The setting (and cast) for this show has so much potential yet time and again I found myself jarred out of the story by lazy writing and research. I wanted to feel engrossed in the story, instead I winced at the 20th century slang, poorly researched accents, basic historical errors, and stereotyped characters. I'm not looking for a documentary, but it's difficult to emotionally invest in a series when you're constantly evicted from any state of immersion. What's left is just another predictable and clichéd fantasy drama which feels cheap and tacky.