The humor comes off as too broad, characters stereotypical and plot almost completely unconnected from episode to episode.
Make no mistake about it, this is the Martin Lawrence show. How can it not be? He wears so many different hats in the production, every plot is bound to revolve around him. Even in scenes he´s not present in, the actor takes on the guise of another character, all designed to be funny, though all come off as offensive in some way due to their stereotypical nature. Neighbor Sheneneh is, I guess, supposed to represent a ghetto cosmetologist; I felt the character was just a man portraying a woman, with the mannerisms she is expected to have. Big finger nails, larger than life attitude, slutty clothing…you know the type. These appearances, while scattered throughout the season, do come off as nothing more than plot filler, something for Lawrence to do while others actors took over the scene. Almost as if he couldn´t bear to watch someone else get the laughs. Whatever the truth is, ego had to come into play somewhere.
The schtick runs out of juice rather quickly. How many times can we really see Martin and Gina roll their eyes when someone knocks on the door? Why don´t they just lock it if they don´t want Cole, Pam and Tommy to barge in whenever it pleases them? If Brother Man (downstairs neighbor) raiding the fridge everyday is such a big problem, close and lock your window when you´re not around. And guys, as much as you might want to represent Detroit, there isn´t an apartment building within the city limits approaching where Martin and Gina live. Not a one. Maybe just outside the city limits, definitely in the suburbs…but not in Detroit. Not in 2008 and certainly not in 1995.
VIDEO:
We get what is expected here, an unglamorous full screen presentation without any of the bells or whistles we´re used to seeing in the video encode. Truth be told, this isn´t a bad looking product, considering how much work most likely went into the remastering. The color palette is rendered well, with points only coming off for softness and outdoor blacks which seem to run into other colors to form one giant blob on the screen. This isn´t a detailed or sharp picture; that would be far too much to expect, I think. It is, though, pretty much on par with reasonable expectations.
AUDIO:
If I could copy the same comments I made regarding the video presentation here, I would. An English 2.0 track (along with English, French and Spanish subtitles) is what we are provided and, well, it´s fine. Not earth shattering or reference quality, it does get the dialogue across without too much trouble. There isn´t any sense of depth to the sound; dialogue in the Payne´s living room is just as loud as a shout coming from their bedroom. Again, it´s in line with expectations.
EXTRAS:
Maybe I´m being generous, but the episode titles and writer/director credits are listed underneath the plastic disc holders inside the digipack. Otherwise, nothing. (A couple other "bonus" notes: each episode includes the original network bumper separating the first and second acts; and the episodes appear to be uncut, clocking in on the north side of 22 minutes each.)
PARTING SHOTS:
Quite obviously, I am not the target audience for "Martin," either in its original network run, syndication or on DVD. The humor comes off as too broad, characters stereotypical and plot almost completely unconnected from episode to episode. However, there is a market for this show. For them, I recommend the set. Everyone else? Buyer beware.
The schtick runs out of juice rather quickly. How many times can we really see Martin and Gina roll their eyes when someone knocks on the door? Why don´t they just lock it if they don´t want Cole, Pam and Tommy to barge in whenever it pleases them? If Brother Man (downstairs neighbor) raiding the fridge everyday is such a big problem, close and lock your window when you´re not around. And guys, as much as you might want to represent Detroit, there isn´t an apartment building within the city limits approaching where Martin and Gina live. Not a one. Maybe just outside the city limits, definitely in the suburbs…but not in Detroit. Not in 2008 and certainly not in 1995.
VIDEO:
We get what is expected here, an unglamorous full screen presentation without any of the bells or whistles we´re used to seeing in the video encode. Truth be told, this isn´t a bad looking product, considering how much work most likely went into the remastering. The color palette is rendered well, with points only coming off for softness and outdoor blacks which seem to run into other colors to form one giant blob on the screen. This isn´t a detailed or sharp picture; that would be far too much to expect, I think. It is, though, pretty much on par with reasonable expectations.
AUDIO:
If I could copy the same comments I made regarding the video presentation here, I would. An English 2.0 track (along with English, French and Spanish subtitles) is what we are provided and, well, it´s fine. Not earth shattering or reference quality, it does get the dialogue across without too much trouble. There isn´t any sense of depth to the sound; dialogue in the Payne´s living room is just as loud as a shout coming from their bedroom. Again, it´s in line with expectations.
EXTRAS:
Maybe I´m being generous, but the episode titles and writer/director credits are listed underneath the plastic disc holders inside the digipack. Otherwise, nothing. (A couple other "bonus" notes: each episode includes the original network bumper separating the first and second acts; and the episodes appear to be uncut, clocking in on the north side of 22 minutes each.)
PARTING SHOTS:
Quite obviously, I am not the target audience for "Martin," either in its original network run, syndication or on DVD. The humor comes off as too broad, characters stereotypical and plot almost completely unconnected from episode to episode. However, there is a market for this show. For them, I recommend the set. Everyone else? Buyer beware.
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[release]23374[/release]