"Those are... flamingos."
What in the nonplussed, haunting soliloquy was that?! Went in completely blind and that was the right choice. It felt like watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie. It's essentially a psychological drama comedy with a "mysterious event" happening in the background—a great mix! The characters are interesting, the drama works because of this and some well-placed sharp comedy. It's weird, creepy and the mystery is intriguing.
This was actually my first time seeing Julia Roberts in a movie and she was hilarious. Really good acting from everyone. Myha'la is a newfound favorite. Simple yet effective suspenceful score, artistic visuals, nice camerawork and editing. The back and forth between two suspenceful scenes technique is done really well here. Incredible how many themes this movie tackles, there's always something to disect on-screen.
Some weird nonsensical character decisions that are a bit frustrating at times. Too long of a runtime which would make a rewatch difficult, it was totally possible to trim down. Favorite moments are the boat scene and the Tesla scene—on the edge of my seat! I thought the ending was perfect. There are sooo many clues and hints dropped throughout the movie that there's no way it could feel unresolved at the end.
I've never watched Friends
–"I got the garlic."
–"Sammy, those are fucking onions."
Go in blind without seeing the trailer for this one. The trailer ruined the first and part of the second act for me, it's basically a whodunit mystery in a mansion with the characters being clueless and blaming each other. We've all seen the trailer! That first act is worthless. Why show us the twist it's so frustrating.
Abigail is Ready or Not but with a vampire twist, nothing original and not as good as Ready or Not but it's still a decent fun time. Perfect set, lots of blood, lots of action, and some laugh out loud moments. The tone is completely off though, it's campy most of the time but also tries to be a heartfelt drama at other times—those are polar opposites, it doesn't work! The vampire powers were so interesting, probably my favorite aspect of the movie.
Don't let the title fool you, this movie should be called "Dan Stevens" cause he steals the spotlight as he usually does. The moment when he says "I feel great" and everything after that was peak. As much as I enjoyed him, it's a shame that he steals the spotlight from Abigail (Alisha Weir) because this was supposed to be her movie. She's excellent in the role, always believable, so confident and actually scary. Kathryn Newton was absolutely killer in a certain scene. Melissa Barrera's best performance yet, I wasn't a fan of her acting in Scream VI but she was actually believable here.
As good as the cast is, it tries too hard with the characters. They're not that interesting and the execution for the character buildup could have been better handled. Constantly having to build up those characters in between action scenes slowed down the movie considerably when they should really be dying instead sinse this is a horror movie. It also had no right being this long, a good 20-30 minutes could be cut out. The last twist was laughable and overstayed it's welcome.
Snape: "Turn to page 394."
Without a doubt the best in the franchise. The Dementors have affected the tone of this one because it's more serious, mature, dark and even scary at times. I love the storyline with Sirius Black and the Dementor/Werewolf looming threat throughout the movie. Best story yet, best score yet, great cinematography, great acting (kids are better now) and the third act is bonkers. David Thewlis is such a great addition as Professor Lupin. Alan Rickman (Snape) was the standout once again, favorite character. The white neon lighting at night is something I hate in movies and this one has a lot of it, although it makes sense because of the moonlight so fair enough. The time travel is the icing on the cake, amazing use of it. I wish they had kept Cuarón as director for the next few movies.
Magical Creatures Ranked (by favorite):
"A sound man, by not advancing himself, stays the further ahead of himself."
Not many horror movies scare me nowadays but Insidious still scares the shit out of me! It does use jumpscares a lot but they're really well-thought out and a lot of the stuff happening to these characters is actually scary. That is if you find ghosts scary, which I sure do. Well this is as good as it gets. I find it even more effective than The Conjuring (on a ghost scare level).
Bone chilling over-the-top score and intro title card. The sound is pristine, every movement and object has it's own sound. Camerawork and editing is creative. The lighting especially the scenes in the dark are always on point. I get totally absorbed by the movie, it's so captivating and the runtime goes by so fast. So much suspence. The pacing is perfect exactly when it's starting to get a bit redundant, we're introduced Specs, Tucker and the true star of this movie (and franchise): Elise. They breed new life into the story and it doesn't get any better than Lin Shaye explaining the horror in a horror movie, that woman is so damn dramatic. It doesn't go without saying that Patrick Wilson is equally awesome.
The shadow standing right next to the bed always gets me, most scary part to me. The Darth Maul entity is nightmare fuel and The Further is such a great concept it clearly inspired Stranger Things with the Upside Down. It's crazy the amount of Easter eggs planted in here that serve the later entries of the franchise, I applaude James Wan for that. The third act is so epic and unforgettable, elevates the movie to amazing. One of my favorite modern horror movies for sure. So effective and fun.
12 Angry Women
Women Talking is a highlight on the power of speech, a conversation about abuse (in all types) and women who are tired of the men who take from them. We are presented with the idea that not all men take (obviously) but all it takes is one bad one and they're not willing to take the risk anymore, something must be done. A group of women with absolutely no education and have never had any contact with the outside world sit and debate on themes of existentialism, patriarchy, faith and question the structure of their isolated world. The conversation is layered and thought provoking and I love that you never find out what year this is set in, as this is a topic that transcends time, unfortunately. The performances are excellent and each character had their moment to shine. The dialogue is sometimes excessive but well-written nonetheless. The color grading is ugly and it's overly dark. It started to feel a little repetitive towards the middle, just felt like they were going around in circles with the conversation. What took me out of it the most was the lack of logic when it comes to the events surrounding the conversation. For directionnal reasons I don't quite comprehend we don't see any of the men in the movie but it creates plot holes everywhere in the story and without any spoilers the ending is absolutely ridiculous because of it. That aside thought, Women Talking was an interesting and relevant conversation, it just demands people to actually listen.
So unoriginal, watching this just feels like watching a recycled version of every movie it's based on. Snyder saying that this is his version of Star Wars doesn't excuse any of it, that's just lazy.
It's a good looking movie overall but the set and action pieces lack originality, there's nothing visually memorable here. The same can be said about the characters, they're so incredibly run-of-the-mill and cliché. I like the storyline of recruiting members throughout the movie but it's done in such a repetitive way and we barely get to know any of them. Not enough interactions between them either. It's as if scenes are missing from the movie to connect everyone.
There's at least a lot of action throughout the movie, especially in the second half. While they're nothing we haven't seen before, they feel pretty engaging and the slow motion is used well—I'd even say not enough slow motion for a Snyder movie. If I had to pick, my two favorites would be the "riding the Harry Potter Hippogriff, Game of Thrones style" and the "Sith woman vs. Spider woman" sequences.
There's a few exceptions but the acting is bad, unnatural cringe dialogue, underwhelming story and too much exposition dumping. Very disappointing overall. Not excited for part 2. Apparently there's an R-rated version of this, why not release the two versions at once?!
Guess what... more mysteries! I'm fine with new mysteries i'm just worried this show will lose a lot of people if it gets too convoluted. Some answers please, just something!
"Are you ready to get rushed? ... Yeah, maybe you aren't rush material, you ugly bitch! U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi!"
You know what you're getting into with that crazy opening scene! Slotherhouse demands you leave your logic and common sense at the door to be appreciated. When making these movies you have to fully embrace the absurdity and squeeze in as much comedy and be as entertaining as you possibly can. It has a bit of a hard time sustaining itself for the entire 90 minute runtime but overall it achieves that fun campy B-movie factor!
Alpha the sloth has charisma, she's funny and love the use of a puppet over CGI, keeps it real even though it reduces the movements that are possible. Made me think of Chucky a lot (before he was mentioned in the movie) because of the puppet, the fact that it's small, looks harmless at first sight and it's clearly influenced by it.
Takes a laugh at social media and teens/YA with their slangs. The characters are entertaining but empty shells. The ideas for the kills are good but they're cut short a lot of the time which is a shame and there isn't much practical effects or gore to be shown. I'd take a sequel of this for sure but put more love into the kills next time!
Some payoff, lots of well-shot edge-of-your-seat action and we finally have our first monster kill!
The premise of having the story focusing on Dracula's familiar instead of Dracula himself sounded like a great original idea. The thing is Nicolas Cage as Dracula is far more interesting than whatever they tried to do with Renfield. Whenever Dracula was on-screen I was entertained but it just becomes boring whenever Renfield is around. A great deal of the movie doesn't even focus on him either, it's mostly about the local crime family and the corrupt police department subplot. They certainly tried with the comedy and I got some What We Do in The Shadows vibes for most of the runtime but it's not nearly as funny, nor is it an interesting satire on vampires. I'm totally ok with cringe but none of the comedy really worked for me, I laughed maybe twice. It would have been forgivable if the action sequences were good at least but that's not the case. The blood is entirely ugly-looking CGI, the action has no stakes and characters with no powers (ex: Awkwafina's character) fight as if they have powers. Awkwafina plays herself, Renfield is uninteresting and the third act was so incredibly predictable and underwhelming. Nick Cage was awesome as Dracula though, I wish he was in another movie!
The good:
The bad:
I thought they would make Sam the official Ghostface at the end, just felt like the perfect origin story. They unfortunately opted to make her a Disney princess for the moment. Seeing her against Sydney in a future installment would be awesome.
"Is that a mini Kong?"
Same recipe as Godzilla vs. Kong, it's dumb, it silly, it's full of problems but it's exactly what I want from a Kaiju movie: over-the-top non-stop titan action fun!
It has the same problems as Godzilla vs. Kong, the humans storyline brings the movie down and the story feels like it was made up along the way. Some continuity errors, it demands a suspension of disbelief and A LOT of plot conveniences. The dialogue is so cheap and the constant exposition by the humans is frustrating.
Godzilla is once again a secondary character in his own movie and Kong gets all the spotlight and story arcs. BUT at the same time Kong is better equipped to be the central character as he has more humanity. The dynamics between him and Suko "mini Kong" were the heart of this movie.
The best thing about this is the action, there's so much of it and it's epic. So much CGI it's basically an animated movie. The adventure to Hollow Earth (part 2) was better than the last i'd say, discovering the unexplored parts, seeing new creatures and going in deeper into the lore of the titans was interesting. Dan Stevens was my favorite character, he's funny and entertaining even though his character could be erased from the movie and it wouldn't change much.
I wish that little girl wasn't in the movie, not a fan. Scarking was introduced too late in the movie and he didn't feel like a big enough threat on his own. Epic final battle but the action was a bit hard to follow at times. What was the point of Godzilla being pink?
I will ignore the historical inaccuracies, false character portrayals and the english speaking sinse this is Hollywood after all and they can do whatever the hell they want with it.
I was never sold on any of the characters or performances. Joaquin Phoenix does some overacting and I still don't know who his character is by the end. Poor character study. Phoenix and Kirby have no chemistry. Their relationship is so boring and they focus on it to no avail because I have no idea what makes this relationship tick.
There's undeniably some comedy incorporated into the movie at times but I was laughing in some serious scenes—it's camp! You can tell this was intended as a 4h movie because the editing and pacing are flagrantly bad. It's as if important scenes are missing. The 4h version could solve a lot of these problems, sure, but I doubt most people are going to rewatch this. So why release this version in theaters?? I don't like the look of the movie either, it's all so... blue.
The score is nothing out of the ordinary but it's good. The costumes look great. The action sequences are hit and miss. They look great (except for the blue filter), the set pieces are memorable and epic but I find the sequences short-lived. Edited maybe? In addition, the action loses a lot of weight because of the camp, rushed story and poor characters. Overall, Napoleon is one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
PTSD gone wild
Illogical that they would send a whole army and even helicopters to catch a criminal who's crime was simply of being a wanderer and resisting arrest but here we are. First Blood is PTSD gone wrong and I guess a cautionary tale on out of control pride—that has to be what drives these policemen in catching Rambo, right? I get that they needed him to be redeemable as a character but maybe a better reason to catch this guy would have been more realistic.
It's a very simple turn-your-brain-off action pop-corn flick, but a good one at that. I can't help but compare this to Predator (which came out after) but did it better on every level. The car/motorcycle chase was epic and comedic in a way. The explosions/fire looks amazing. The stunts are crazy, the score is thrilling, good acting, fun one-liners and such an iconic character.
Wasn't too crazy about the second act but the third act was epic, that machine gun looks like a lot of fun to use. Stallone doesn't open his mouth often in the movie but when he finally does at the end it was something. I wish I had subtitles though cause it was incomprehensible.
Also, this is a Christmas movie?!
The score sounds good (minus the weird corny Radiohead needle drop), it has a unique stylish look I love and the special effects are awesome. Once you get to the story though it's the usual sci-fi schlock; the robot hating human ends up helping the robot, humans vs. A.I., big war, who's good, who's bad... Seen this countless times. I don't mind the usual recipe but this film acts like you've never seen it, it's the only playing card and it's so predictable from beginning to end.
The first half I found pretty compelling it was a 7 but it completely lost me in the second half. Got tired of the story, it just constantly circles back to the mother which is uninteresting and such a stretched out storyline. Didn't like the pacing. The emotions felt artificial and silly, didn't make me feel much. So much stuff that's unexplained and illogical. The characters were fine at the beginning but it's like I got fed up of them in the second half and the relationship between the two main characters felt forced.
More of a personal taste but I hate the design for the Simulants, why bother covering the face with fake skin but not cover the back of the head and that ugly hole makes no sense. Overall a very average and forgettable sci-fi.
I'll start off by saying biopics aren't my go to, history wasn't my favorite subject in school. Oppenheimer isn't an exception. It without a doubt tells the story of an important piece of our history but as a movie it didn't keep me interested for very long. It goes for emotional but I didn't really feel much (except for the historical impact obviously). I wanted more ethical questions and less of the complex politics and law maneuvering.
It's way too long, a lot of it could have been cut out like Oppenheimer's character setup, the love interests and even (that's an unpopular opinion) the whole court room third act which was way too politically convoluted for me and straight out boring! If the movie had ended with the explosion this would have been a way better watch but unfortunately it overstayed it's welcome and lost it's steam. It's basically: buildup, payoff, buildup—.
A fabulous score with impressive sound in the theater but there's too much of it. The score was way too intense for what was showed on-screen a lot of the time and that's just distracting. There's also a few moments where I couldn't hear what was said because it's too loud. The dialogue is super fast-paced too so you can't miss a word or you're doomed not to understand what's going on.
Such a beautiful movie visually I like the WWII period aesthetics and clothes, the black & white scenes and the transition between different aspect ratios was used cleverly. The explosion scenes could have been longer but it looked amazing. The cast is stacked with stellar performances but Cillian Murphy really blew me away. A strong contender for the Oscars. Robert Downey Jr. for supporting role also.
Great drama and perfect last setup episode before everything explodes in the next I believe.
The Awesome:
What I didn't like:
Just thoughts:
One man's journey into madness as he battles paranoia, anxiety, major mommy issues, guilt, childhood trauma, fear, mania... Beau Is Afraid is basically 100 symbolisms and metaphors per minute, to the point where I don't believe anyone can really decipher it fully (except for Ari Aster himself). The narrative is dense and goes into the convoluted and abstract territory but it's incredibly ambicious. Too ambicious? I support Aster for not being afraid and doing something unique and different but this was a bit too much for me. It throws A LOT of ridiculous and weird stuff at you but I feel like most of it is there just to be weird, it doesn't have purpose, it just bloats the runtime and confuses the viewer for no apparent reason. It's an endless loop of crazyness and it gets repetitive and frustrating after three hours (felt like five hours). I couldn't wait for it to be over and I came out of the theater exhausted. The final part is also the least interesting. An extremely long movie for such a small statement and it didn't make me feel much at the end. It probably needs a few rewatches for me to get everything but i'm not sure this deserves another three hours of my life.
Beau-tiful cinematography and visuals, pitch black humor, great attention to detail in every frame, some deeply uncomfortable and disturbing moments, loved every set piece and Joaquin Phoenix is the best thing about this. His performance is what makes the weird and ridiculous pass in a lot of the scenes and keeps the viewer interested. Patti LuPone stole the spotlight when she shows up she was amazing.
A hard one to give a rating to, i'm not sure I can do it. I'll think about it but right now, i'm afraid! (Edit: it's a 6/10)
A 7 episode whodunit drama comedy mystery thriller. It'll make you question the motives of every character similar to a game of Clue. The mystery is quite engaging and makes the series very bingeable.
The characters are intriguing and they all get their time to shine. My personal favorite is Theodora (Noma Dumezweni) great actress and I love her voice and way of speaking. I would of wanted way more of her i'm a sucker for amateur sleuth characters and she was a great one. I love Naomi Watts but I don't think they gave her enough of a challenge with this character. The performance was just really safe for such a great actress. Although I admit she has great chemistry with Bobby Cannavale and they portray a great couple. Also it's funny that Naomi's always drinking something in every scene.
I had some problems with the plot such as why install cameras all over the property if you're never checking them. They never once checked them, what the hell? There's lots of plot holes but I think it's worth checking out overall.
The mystery remaining unsolved by the end kinda elevates it in a way because everyone will have a different answer as to who it was and it's open to discussion. They don't spoon feed it to you but the clues along the way give a pretty good indication.
Fury Road but with less action and more narrative. Same bombastic action but in smaller doses. Why bother adding a story at this point in the franchise when it's never really been a thing? And if you bother adding one, why wasn't it better thought out? I went to the theater expecting just as much action and now i'm disappointed. I wish I saw Furiosa before Fury Road and not the other way around, how can you watch this after Fury Road and not be disappointed?
As an origin story for Furiosa it's hit and miss, we get the turn of events that leads her to Fury Road all the way from a young age but I still have no idea who the character is at the core. Anya Taylor-Joy absolutely knows how to act badass though, she was 100% believable as a young Charlize Theron. Dementus is the real star though, anytime he's on-screen he steals the spotlight. I have a better idea of who that character is compared to Furiosa. Probably my favorite Chris Hemsworth performance to date, he has excellent timing with the comedy and I love the way he talks.
The first act is important to set up the story and the characters but I was so bored, thankfully the movie came to life as soon as the War Rig shows up. A very impressive sequence that rivals the action in Fury Road, I love the attention to detail on the modified cars, gadgets and the War Rig gets a significant upgrade. The second act was my favorite part of the movie for sure but still a good third act despite a few flaws. Could've definitely cut out 30 minutes with all the excessiveness in some scenes, like a few with Dementus that last too long (especially the last).
There's more CGI than Fury Road which is a shame but I think they still did a great job with the visuals. Some very rough and weird editing especially in the first half. There's scenes where we get 5 camera angles for one stare which is ridiculous. Excellent sound. Great score. Good expansion on the world-building with this one, I like seeing the other fortress'. Overall Furiosa is a good prequel to Fury Road and a good action movie but I just wish Miller took more time to polish it (9 years wasn't quite enough it seems).
Wicked. I went in totally blind and what a surprise. Solid concept and so incredibly layered, Children of Men is a terrifying look at humanity without children (hope) and now living on fear, this leads to even more war and xenophobia.
Most of the characters here are living on instinct, human nature, and it's so fascinating. Some live on self preservation while others are willing to sacrifice themselves to protect hope. The secondary characters don't really get much depth but they absolutely work here because of the human nature aspect, I got immediately attached to anyone who was there to protect. Theo is very easy to root for once Kee is introduced. He feels pretty fleshed out as a character but I wanted more character development with Kee.
I was a little bored at the beginning but it got my undivided attention during a certain car ride, it surprised the hell out of me. Great car chase and unexpected violent deaths. Then it kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. I didn't expect it to turn into a straight out action movie but damn, those war sequences were so intense and well-made. Great cinematography. Good performances. So realistic it's scary. Perfect ending and choice of sound once the credits roll.
"Pull my finger!"
–"Why are you doing this?"
–"Why not?"
Call me crazy but I like this almost as much as the original. It's so similar yet so different. It's the same concept really, doesn't offer anything new, could even be seen as a remake but it also feels totally different because of the tone. It's still scary in some parts but it's not afraid of going on the silly side and have some fun and that's what I like about it. There's more characters, more thrills, more kills, and it's not afraid of killing anyone, good or evil.
I would never call the characters interesting or anything but I think they used the family aspect well, it's kinda heartbreaking and raises the stakes if anyone of them bites the dust. The setting changes from a single house to a small village but it's the same isolation, I like it. The killers are just as much scary as they are campy, not a turn-off in my book. Nice needle drops.
The cinematography and acting dip in quality and I wish the kills were better. We did get a few good ones though, like the last one with all the fire that kinda boosted my rating by a half star. The pool sequence was nice too. Some inconsintencies with the killers popping up anywhere and at several places at the same time seemingly. There's also a few frustrating moments like the daughter and mother vs. one female killer... take your chances, you have the 2v1 advantage!
"Yeah, that's right... I'm bad!"
Still holds up well and still the best spider movie we have. What sets it apart is it uses real spiders and not CGI and the amount of nightmare fuel sequences we get of spiders creeping up on people. It's all very plausible sequences too (until the third act at least) so because of it i've been looking in toilets, popcorn bowls and shower ceilings ever sinse I saw it a couple years ago. The house set is perfect for this and that barn with spider webs everywhere and spider eggs is my worst nightmare. The worst thing is that nobody notices the infestation slowly creeping in and the spiders keep reproducing and when you finally realize it, they're everywhere and it's too late.
The third act is wild, so comedic and totally unrealistic but I have a theory: because our main character is terrified of spiders I think his mind is playing tricks on him, when we're afraid of something we tend to exaggerate the events happening before us. Maybe the spider wasn't that big. It's also a perfect demonstration of how we'll litterally burn the house down to find a tiny intruder. I lived that third act when I had a centipede in my home a few years ago.
"Come quietly or there will be... trouble."
Corporate control punches itself in the face with this one, RoboCop takes care of business! The corruption is deep and the satire is sharp. Such a great concept and a classic for a reason. I couldn't help but compare it to Terminator and it's similar but I think RoboCop manages to distinguish itself.
They nailed the origin story, I did not expect that at all but it's quite violent and memorable. I wish we delved deeper into the character though, I feel like I barely knew Murphy. The villains are so steriotypical which is perfect for the satire angle but they're also funny.
The one-liners hit and there's a lot of silly moments I adore, like the staircase scene with ED-209 that was hilarious. ED-209 stole the show whenever it showed up, my favorite sequence is when it fights RoboCop the first time. Awesome stop-motion work from Phil Tippett. I didn't expect that much action but it deserves the action tag because the action sequences really stand out. Ultra violent kills.
Great camerawork... I believe I saw one of the weirdest camera angles in history. Who's idea was it to put a camera behind the legs of someone sitting on a toilet while focusing on two men in the urinal?? So weird and hilarious!
"Stay out of trouble."
"What a wonderful day!"
Weaker than everything we've seen in the past trilogy, and for that it's underwhelming but Kingdom is still a decent movie overall. I almost went with a lower rating because a lot of this movie is so generic, predictable and it feels like we're focusing on the wrong stuff a lot of the time. With a timeskip like that you have the opportunity to reinvent the whole franchise and make new rules but it's all so... familiar.
The characters are it's biggest strength, what they did with Noa and Mae has me invested for the next entry. The direction seems predictable to me but I might be surprised. Raka was my favorite, an improvement over Maurice. Proximus was a good villain, his viewpoint and motivations are clear and I get where he's coming from. I love the focus on the legacy of Caesar in this movie and nothing can be more evil than a villain who messes with that.
This one was definitely overlong and not nearly enough action for all that runtime. The action we got was good for the most part but nothing that blew my mind. The bunker fits in the franchise perfectly, I even thought they were remaking Beneath the Planet of the Apes for a second there but it took another route. Perfect CGI and good-looking movie in general. No idea who to root for by the end and I like that but i'm not sure if it's fresh enough to reignite a new franchise.
"When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet."
A bit less impressive now than it was back in the day but it still stands out as one of the most original alien sci-fi concept I know. Nothing beats Arrival though. It aged a little especially with the CGI, it's not that bad but it takes me out of it sometimes with how obvious the effects are. The shift between documentary and stuff that couldn't have been filmed was a bit rough at first but I was glad we were done with found footage and I like the overall direction the story took.
I had a hard time being emotional about the aliens at first because they're portrayed as barbaric and violent but everything changed once Christopher and his boy were introduced, grew attached to them. Wikus (Sharlto Copley) stayed unlikable the whole runtime and I was never sold on his acting. Great body horror and makeup, cool alien design, the alien tech is sooo interesting, nice set pieces and good drama with the aliens. I was on the edge of my seat during the whole third act, so much action. Great ending.
"Apes together strong!"
A great conclusion to the trilogy! Lots of action, a good story, interesting characters and so emotional.
Caesar's story arc is excellent, we see him going to places we've never seen before after a certain event and it drives the movie to the finish line. His fight to protect his people and maintain peace is admirable. Maurice finally gets more development, Bad Ape is just so funny and Nova doesn't talk at all but she's the perfect human interaction with our ape characters. Another great addition is Red Donkey, really liked his character arc even though it's sooo predictable. Koba was a solid villain in Dawn but this one was even better for me, the embodiment of human evil and an interesting character with a solid backstory, good performance from Woody Harrelson.
The CGI's never looked better and the cinematography is on point, the snowy landscapes create a unique look for this entry. Love the score. The apes working together to get out of their cages is a perfect callout to Rise while still feeling fresh. The opening battle sequence was intense but the one in the third act was so grand and epic, on par with the one in Rise on the red bridge. Perfect emotional ending.
A well-intentioned project by a stuntman himself spreading his passion for stunts and giving us a look into this undervalued job. The meta and behind the scenes aspect of the movie is interesting and it has a few impressive stunts that looked pretty hard to accomplish but not nearly enough and nothing that beats any records or anything. I expected an action movie based on the trailers and it's not really an action movie until the third act. It's more about "getting back with her" and if you're not on board with that being the only narrative, it's one hell of a boring watch. Not much of a story really, although it felt good when we finally introduce a villain in the second half.
My biggest criticism is the comedy, it's straight out flat! Ryan Gosling's charm drives every second of this movie (without him this movie is nothing), he's great with the slapstick humor and his timing is excellent but any dialogue that's meant as a joke is so flat. Emily Blunt was ordinary, any actress could have done the role. Great chemistry with Gosling though. The needle drops are all songs everybody loves so it deserves an applaude I guess, a real crowd pleaser. Also, never interrupt Emily Blunt singing again, the woman can sing! The third act redeems it a little with the action but I found it underwhelming overall. Definitely too long.
Yuck. Consider me traumatized! I bet Australians and others aren't very impressed with those "small" spiders but for me those are monsters right out of hell. It'll take a while before I can put on a shoes again without looking in it first. I was going to say this is not a movie for arachnophobes but it's the opposite, it's horror so it's meant to scare the shit out of you... I will most likely have nightmares.
Killer intro sequence. Lots of sequences with spiders, they take a big chunk of the runtime thankfully. The first half looks like it was done with real spider specimens and the second half is CGI for obvious reasons but it looks realistic enough. The scenes with the real spiders are so much more tense and effective though. Some nice practical effects and set pieces. Good pacing and lots of action in the second half. The characters have a bit of development (the two siblings at least) but most of them are generic. The drama is hit and mostly miss, some of it is wayyy overdone and laughable.
It was all going so well until the police showed up, they weren't necessary at all. Stick with the spiders and let our main characters deal with them. It transformed the movie into something campy after that until the end and I can't say it worked very well compared to the actual scares before that. Still a pretty good creature feature overall.
