Denis Villenueve. A solid lineup. A different take on first contact. I loved Sicario but went in expecting a cerebral epic sci-fi.
That was a mistake.
Good things:
- Some really nice visual scenes
- Interesting aliens Calligraphy aliens!
- Clear theme of communication is omnipresent
- A neat score that might be awesome in a different movie
Bad things:
- The acting
- The lack of emotional reaction to ALIENS! The students asking to turn on the TV, all of the main characters
- Lack of useful characters Only the aliens and Louise actually did anything the entire movie.
- Supporting characters are very stupid in an attempt to foil the main character slightly
- Very clumsy exposition. Genre-typical news reports, voice-overs, dumb characters asking stupid questions.
- Very slow pacing. This worked in parts of Sicario, but didn't work in this movie because there was no tension. The main characters never seemed remotely threatened.
- Lousie showing up at school thinking everyone will be there after aliens arrive and there's a state of emergency
- Why can't you translate alien language like you can translate Farsi. This is a paraphrase but in the spirit of what Colonel Weber was saying.
- Useless love interest when the costars have no chemistry.
- Ultrasecure military base lets someone steal a ton of explosives and put it in an ALIEN SPACECRAFT without anyone noticing.
- Many unbelievable plot points
- Poor dialogue Let's make a baby - real quote
- Poor handling of the major plot points Looking through time seems to undermine the fact that the aliens need help. Why did one have to die if they could see the future? Why did only one die when they were right next to each other?
- Very heavy handed moral messaging that didn't align with the rest of the movie.
- Why couldn't Ian also see into the future as he studied the language, or any of the others?
Overall extremely disappointing. I'm honestly surprised critics or general moviegoers like this. The premise was very good. It's a real shame the execution failed so miserably.
Was that a happy ending??! I can't believe it! THAT WAS A HAPPY ENDING!!! Very nostalgic and entertaining...
Oh hi trakt
Not funny.
Not remarkable.
This is a sexist movie where all man are evils.
The movie might be showing its age, or maybe I'm showing mine. The structure just felt off. The pacing was much too slow until the last quarter. There's something grating about Maverick's character—there's supposed to be, but I couldn't really find anything to like about him. And of course the romance is entirely unnecessary, but that's been a Hollywood problem since long before this movie (and still is).
I'm not sure if I've just simply outgrown this show or if this last couple of episodes are actually this weak... I really can't get into them
WHY DOES THIS SHOW MAKE US HATE CHILDREN SO MUCH
Tom Hardy, all by himself, almost makes this a good movie.
And, it's hilarious at times (which I believe was intentional, I think this movie is self-aware), way funnier than say Ant-Man and the Wasp.
There was just something about the banter between Eddie and Venom that worked extremely well.
But: the script is awful, the dialogue sucks, the production values are terrible, and anyone that isn't Tom Hardy comes from a much blander film.
So I cannot really recommend it, even though I kinda want to.
This is the lamest comic book movie in a while. The first act is terrible but once the symbiote finally get to Eddie Brock it picks up. The best part by far is Tom Hardy talking to himself. Everyone else is just bland. The effects are fine but the final fight is just a total CGI fest and kinda dull. This isn't worth paying for but it's worth watching to see Tom Hardy act crazy.
Edit: I did like it a little bit more on rewatch just because Tom Hardy is going all out.
This one has a far better plot than the original and everything else is also improved slightly. I don't get why everyone was bitching about it when it came out.
Yeah come on Amazon, this show is too good to die now
Edit: aaaand just two days later the show is officially saved by Amazon. Life is good
Very accurate in its portrayal of the USSR and believable in its depiction of desperation, the series looks really promising. I enjoyed the episode more than most of the series I've been watching lately.
The first movie since Max Payne (coincidentally, also a Mark Wahlberg movie) where I wanted to run out every single minute of the 149 overblown minutes it played. It was incongruent, had forced comedy, and the stereotypes for the transformers are grating to say the least. As a Fab of the cartoons, I can't believe this soulless slosh found the light of day.
McG's directing turns what could've been just another teen horror / action / comedy into a kick ass Netflix original. Not the best you'll see this year, but better than much of what you'll pay to see in the cinema. Shout out to Samara Weaving (niece of Hugo Weaving--Smith in The Matrix, among others) who doesn't let the fact that she's eye candy prevent her from turning in a solid performance. You won't ask for your money back.
This show is a highly polished turd. The acting is horrible and the storyline makes no sense. And they're doing a lot of unneeded retconning and ruining Star Trek.
A movie that never justifies its existence.
I have a lot of respect for what John Favreau did with The Jungle Book.
He managed to do something that every remake should aim for, but usually fails to do: improve upon its original.
This, however, is the exact same movie.
There was zero effort put into improving things, or even do anything different, for that matter.
And to some degree, I get it: the original is almost sacred to some people, and they’ll act autistically if you change too much.
There’s also an upside to that, which some critics don’t pick up on: if a story works in 1994, it still works in 2019.
But you could at the very least try some different shot compositions, or different music cues, or anything to not make this movie completely creatively hollow.
Yes, it looks just like a Discovery documentary.
At the same time, the realism strips the expressiveness of the animals away, so those things cancel each other out.
There’s just no reason to watch this over the original.
5.5/10
Additional Comments: I personally would watch it again. I chose to give it an 8, but that's because I'm certain that the Bluray/UHD will have some of the backstory or extended scenes, and the 3D is worth the extra point over the 6 it earns as a movie.
The visuals and style give it a definite popcorn, forgettable extravagance, that make it worth the watch, maybe not the rewatch. I like the movie a lot at times, but there are problems that can't be erased by liking the movie. I could understand someone giving it a 4 or a 5, or a 9/10 and not feel it was undue.
Music choice was poor from Clint Mansell & co, the choice to synth their way through the birth/build scene was tepid, and the choice to use the recognisable Kenji Kawai marriage song in the end credits, ruins the song's impact when it is so strikingly different to the music in the movie. I think they went with an Aoki dubstep remix version in the end though.
With the same visual setting, characters and large sprawling universe, a different director would be able to make a very clean break and a very modern movie with action, combat, noir procedural elements and strong essential conflicts, with the same crew and same material, given a handful of reshoots to re-establish characters, trim out plot and add needed tone, conflicts, plot elements. It would also be a 2hr 10 movie.
but ... this is not that movie. It may not deserve an 7 or an 8 if you find the acting stilted or the directing and plot unworkable, those are definitely glaring issues. A sequel would be infinitely better than what was produced, but, it might not get that chance either. what's left, is a mess of good ideas, great production, great actors and a hollow experience.
The casting is not a problem IMO, The actors all do a good job, despite the dubious direction notes and action oriented scripting.
I mentioned that the beginning is broken, here's why.
There's a whole year or more from ScarJo's "Character building" birth scene, to working in Section 9 that's jumped over.
We don't see the whole Section 9 team in action against a formidable threat, so we don't see how far above the plebs she is, only that she can get the job done by herself, which is not a team. We also don't get a sense of cohesion or malice from the antagonists; Kuze and Cutter are both shallow villains. Against a stronger, evolving or defining threat, Team building might have been more capable, but they never really get to go all out, which points to a flawed understanding of the material as well.
The plot, tends towards action, instead of emotion or menace, and can seem boring at times where it's trying to put you into the setting, but feels bolted on; Go here, Shoot now. Look around.
There's just a sense of disconnection between rooms and jumps where the theme or mood changes during exposition. Some of this disconnect is also because the camera always tracks the Major's location or POV when present. It also becomes the ScarJo Show as she is relearning how to act human at times, which is an unusual tone given how much time has passed since the Anime; that Androids having existential crises is not that unfamiliar for scifi or regular TV content, nor is she played as being a full cyborg and having trouble with the adaptation.
Again, it's skipped over neatly, which is a concern, especially during the 'glitches', moments where she flashes or hallucinates images, which is not treated as a significant problem or has concern shown by humans in the setting. This is perhaps a uniquely expensive cyborg system; that any significant integration or memory, visual problems are played off, is dubious.
This would be mildly disastrous in another setting. We do learn later why this is, but in the context of her being "the first" or at least, "the best" or cynically, "cybernetic weapons system that is fulfilling a lucrative government contract", it's off-putting that they don't focus or delve into the problem for the Major's benefit, or treat it as a serious problem.
Dr Ouelet (Binoche) drops the ball frequently, playing a surrogate mother and doctor for Major Mira. It's perhaps the oddest mix of distant affection and concern. Direction is quirky when it comes to these scenes as if the camera wants to pan in, but moves aside. As with Warcraft, the Editing and Direction led to character and world building mis-steps early on, where there's just a sense of confusion and odd acting choices, notably from Binoche, who is supposed to present a maternal instinct, or should have, but does not follow through.
It's also one of the plot and character mis-steps that Kuze, an italian actor, and Major... Mira Killian (i.e. like Aldrich Killian from Iron Man 3), an irish name and a scandinavian actress (sic) could have been explained as a design choice by Ouelet. Given that they can craft any imaginable face, it should have been a plot point for continuity that these bodies are her creations. But they skimmed over it, as with the choice of Major, a military rank, which begs questions the movie glosses over as well. They aren't shy when it comes to exposition later on or spending time on 'individuality' or 'consent', concepts that date the movie and feel as if they came from an earlier script that played on these ideas more.
Unfortunately, where the movie tries to invoke thought or concern, it does not work. The best ideas are cribbed from the Anime, and presented as visual motifs and eye candy. Yes, it works well, but it does not gel into the story, especially in the final act where dubious choices are made on behalf of the Major, that don't feel earned at that time, although they are satisfying within the setting. The ending, works. The middle, works, and you do get used to the world setting.
Given modern Sci-Fi ideas, any straight adaptation would fail to have a resounding feeling of accomplishment, given that The Matrix stole all of the uniqueness, and dressed up those elements to make them cliche. What's left that stands out, is the Noir and the procedural elements, both of which they drop the ball on. Noting in the movie feels original unfortunately, because it is playing it safe.
Admittedly the visuals are knockouts, the CG is top notch, you wouldn't know it was filmed in New Zealand with Hong Kong features, buildings and ambient settings, Several times i've had to remember what was supposed to be Japan in the movie, since it strays so far from Japanese cultural settings.
I've also since seen and read about 20 reviews of varying quality and content, and while each have their fair share of complaints and advice, none really define the problems or give it fair criticism.
I'd like to see a sequel with the same cast, and same production teams, with the freedom to move around more, to explore the japanese setting, more than the H.K. skyline, and have some quintessentially more unique protagonists. Laughing Man 2.0 with a touch of Wikileaks flavored revelations, would probably work exceptionally well, as it allows for the buildup and the team to work together, more politics, and more antagonists, more action, and more tech noir.
Original review:
Saw an Advanced screening.
It looks okay, not sure what I'd give it as a rating though.
Some CG is a bit wonky with driving scenes sic., they also pulled a ton of homage scenes from the original anime movie, the new movie, arise, and the SAC series. More than it should have at times, because they murdered the intent of the original scenes to pay respect. The beginning of the film feels Very, Very broken, but it gets better after about 20 minutes once you get settled in the world. Almost as if they reassembled or cut it a few dozen times and forgot what it was supposed to be.
Overall it is a bright and sunny blade runner in HK.
Odd mix of visual and audio and tech/world building styles and direction as well. Good, but a little bit of a compromise with the source material(s) to get 3 or 4 anime movies worth in 1 movie.
It doesn't feel as wonky as the Warcraft movie although the similarities are there in the frequency of CG to actors. Design looks practical and shadows, skin and effective suspension of belief that the Warcraft movie did not pull off.
Plot is amalgam of kuze and puppet master stories, and it's good. They pulled the punches on the metaphysical aspect of 'the dive' into cyberspace or the digital brain, but it was inevitable. It was the weakest part of the movie in some ways.
Will edit if I think of anything else. Probably give it a watch with someone who hasn't seen ghost in the shell to compare their experience with the material.
no one's gone.... Until we see a walker bite on-screen. Can't help but think the writers are trying to pull a Glenn under the dumpster again.
Things keep happening because they are in the script. Not because they make any sense.
A TV pilot with a script that's outright ridiculous when it's not too busy being predictable.
Please someone arrest Charlize Theron's blackmailers so they can stop forcing her to make garbage runs and trash dives.
Really amazing work from Franco. Much more sincere and moving than I expected it to be, but also hilarious!
I never laughed so hard and so long !!! It's nearly impossible to rate because no other movie has ever try so hard to shock, disgust, outrage or just make bad jokes and somehow nails to makes you laugh. It doesn't count for nothing to cast as many stars in this independent comedy as in an Hollywood blockbuster. It's a wonderful idea to push the boundaries of what is considered as acceptable and I can't wait to see another movie that has the guts to do the same.
Holy shit that was a waste of time. And i even skipped a bit
I believe that there is unconditional love that Lenny has for David and he has for Lenny, but Syd's love is not like that, and it makes me really sad.
Syd was very easily manipulated,I disliked that. Other than that, episode was great as always, looking forward to next weeks finale.
Loved the first three seasons but this season just didn't work for me. Every time the show started to play out as horror, it fizzled just as quickly as it began ultimately turning into a drama (and a depressing one at that). This season was pretty boring and definitely not horror (I've seen more horrific episodes on Criminal Minds). Characters were good, and I like the returning actors but again...not a horror story in the least.
For some reason, when Rick showed up on that horse, I laughed my ass off. His massive soft spot for the saviors will screw the entire community. The old Rick would have killed them and figured out a plan to build the bridge on their own.
I like Gabriel, but he does some stupid shit. Like, confronting Jadis in the middle of the night without any backup. Almost everyone knows to never tell a psycho bitch, no. you are suppose to nod your head, hug them, and agree with everything that's being said, even throw in an "everything's going to be alright." Then, when you are around the people you trust, you tell them. This is survival 101.
My working theory is that Negan will kill Rick. I don't know how, but that's my feeling.
The show has failed to move forward for several years now and is mostly recycling crappy relationship jokes from previous seasons. Time to quit.
