Creepy. Thrilling. Suspenseful. Conjuring.
My friends and I have been planning on seeing The Conjuring for a while now. There was quite a hype going around about how freaked this left a bunch of our friends, so I guess there was some level of expectation. I wasn't expecting much, though. This is the first "horror" movie I've watched in months (I never really saw the appeal in them, except when watching with friends), and it definitely did not disappoint for me.
At the end of the film though, my friends kept saying how it wasn't scary (which contradicted their screams from a few minutes before that lol) and how it does not compare to Insidious, a film which we all watched together two years before.
What my friends did not appreciate was what I liked about it: there actually was a story. It was developed and did not just focus on trying to scare the crap out of you with shocking music and sudden appearances by creepy-faced hags. I have to admit, I still found some scenes definitely cliched and corny.. It's not perfect, but it wasn't bad either, which is saying something because I've hated horror movies growing up.
After watching the first movie, I genuinely thought I'd rewatched this trilogy to truly understand it too late (I watched it as a child but always felt like it was a movie for adults with its serious tone, so I was never quite attached to it). The first movie showed me the reason why LotR was so often the point of comparison whenever a new high fantasy series came out. But 2 decades later, having seen so many films and shows somewhat inspired by LotR's ambitiousness, I was honestly... a bit whelmed.
But this movie... damn.
Given more time to get to know them somewhat, the characters have become a bit more likeable (though I understand that it would have been hard to form an attachment to them with just the first movie, which had a lot of introduction to do). I also really liked the way this film handled the split narratives without taking away anything.
Probably what I loved most about this was the introduction to more of this world's lore. Now I'm tempted to rewatch the first movie with this newfound appreciation for it (I most likely will after the third movie). It makes me wish I still had the time and patience to read books because I'd love to read the series just to delve deeper into this rich universe. Might be time to finally dust off that old copy of The Hobbit lying around here somewhere…
Also, for a long time, (I avoided spoilers and they weren't really abundant) I genuinely thought this was about Frodo gaining control over the ring. I now realize that it's really just about this high fantasy world, an impending war against 1 dude (who's really just empowered by evil Dumbledore at this point), and a host of races selfishly trying to gain control of The Ring. Well. It's mostly just been Men at this point, go figure.
And what an edge-of-the-seat battle! I went from being so sure that the Ents would show up to turn the tide, but then they didn't and I thought the battle really was unwinnable massacre, then the elves arrived and provided some hope (even for viewers like me who hadn't read the books, I assume), but then they were still massacred, and at that point, I figured it truly was done, with such heavy losses made more tragic by the scenes leading up to it. And then... sunrise! Damn, a rollercoaster.
Also… poor Gollum?
This had some really, really beautiful moments. I think the way they dealt with Chad/T'Challa's death, and the eventual transition and focus shift to the rest of Wakanda was well done, but... I don't know what it is exactly that made this film drag so much halfway through.
My problem with this is my problem with Phase 4 as a whole: the MCU is becoming a fanservice machine, focusing a tad bit too much on world and lore introductions... a bit too fast. (I am part of the fans being serviced, of course, and I am way too invested to completely turn away at this point, so consider me an MCU apologist. Doesn't mean I have to like it 100% of the time.)
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both Riri and Namor, but this was just a tad bit too long and I would much rather that the focus stayed on the core of Wakanda (the first half of the movie was so good, with the focus on the queen and Shuri and Okoye / the Dora Milaje). Now, I don't have much complaints about Riri whose involvement in this was pretty minimal since we all know she's already getting her own show (and her scenes gave some of the funniest moments of the film)...
... but maybe Namor needed his own movie? IDK, they could have taken out some of his lore scenes (I feel like this was to explain away the massive difference from the comics); I would not have minded Namor being introduced as this total villain for now to possibly be somewhat redeemed in a future movie... And jesus, I liked seeing Val again to show just how dangerous she's really getting, but there were too many CIA scenes.
It was good. It was just so long (halfway through I was thinking, this already feels like a full ass length movie but I just know there's still a long way to go since there's still so much that needs to be resolved holy sh--). But eh, what do I know?
Favorite stand-out scenes I still think about:
*Riri's intro. I had little excitement for the Ironheart series, and this movie just changed that.
*That scene where Angela Bassett/Queen Ramonda confronted Okoye after Shuri was taken? Holy shit
*The scenes highlighting everyone that Shuri has lost. I felt that deep in my bones.
*The final and the mid-credits scene of course. Goddamn.
This was so good! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely great that this was our first cinema experience after 2 years of this pandemic!
I actively avoided reading reviews about this before we got the chance to see it, especially the massively negative ones, but everything to avoid my own opinions from being influenced. Being a Marvel fan, I wasn't quite ready to witness the supposed, potential downfall of the MCU, not in my lifetime, so I wanted to be the judge for myself. Turns out, there really was no cause for concern.
I WAS expecting it to drag given the runtime, number of characters, and the damn review tidbits I did see, but it absolutely did not (for me). I barely even noticed time pass. (Although sure, there was that one, very long info-dump scene, but I didn't really think there was any good way to provide that crucial information.)
I loved all the characters. They were all humanized somewhat despite their Eternals status. I looked forward to seeing where they all ended up on Earth and was not disappointed (though I'm guessing there was more to Makkari's story, maybe..?). I SO enjoyed all the myth counterpart story jokes too (the one who flew too close to the sun was freakin' bittersweet).
And I actually, truly liked the moral struggle they had. If there had been none, if they'd gone the typical superhero movie route of everyone being onboard and saviors of humanity mindset, then I would have been disappointed. But this is realistic (as much as possible in a superhero flick). Because even I questioned their decision (though knowing Marvel, I'm almost sure this won't be the last we've of the giant ice baby, or there's maybe a secret within the secret, so I don't feel too bad about it just yet). It's also pretty effed up to think that maybe Thanos really was trying to save the world in (more ways than the one he shared) when he Blipped them population. Had he known all along!?
I loved how Dane was pretty much just a cameo here lol. But that's a good thing — they planted the seed for his character without taking away focus from The Eternals themselves.
That plot twist with Ajak and Ikaris, I totally did not see that coming. I was expecting what occured to be with the former, so yeah. WHOA.
And Angelina Jolie? Totally fangirled over her. It's been a while since I'd seen her onscreen, and I totally wasn't expecting much, but despite the fact that they nerfed her for a huge chunk of the main action to give the bad guys a shot (lol), the action we did get and the emotions she brought.. She is just:ok_hand:
This movie's humor felt probably very natural to me in a way it hasn't for recent MCU movies.
Karun's inclusion was hilarious! I loved Makkari's speed vfx, and I momentarily forgot Kingo's power before their first fight after the reunion, but damn that was cool. Sprite's storytelling scene was nice, too, and shows just how the stories of the gods and goddesses would have been passed down because of that. And Thena and Gilgamesh........ * tears *
Note: this is probably like an 8/10 for me, but I'm giving it a 9 because I just need to balance out all these hate ratings. -__-
