I read the book as this release came nearer, and I thought that while good, it was clearly a ‘first big passion project that grew in scope and theme in the telling’. And that resulted in a charming work, but also one that could be refined and sharpened if given a second go around and seen by experienced eyes. Well, this movie did that and then some. It’s an affecting allegorical fairy tale for our time, one I honestly sorely needed after all that happened today.
If there’s one word to sum it up, it’s unapologetic. There’s a very big reason Disney didn’t take this on, yes, but there’s a whole lot smaller ones too. This is daring in a way their work hasn’t been allowed to be in years, if not a decade or two. A gay romance is one of its centerpieces, but it also tackles the fear of the other hurting so many today, the classism holding so many down, how it’s rooted institutionally, how you can’t just play nice and appease them. Balister did everything right, he played by the rules, he excelled, he gives them chance after chance, but that’s never going to be enough. The system and those behind it will toss you aside because you don’t belong.
Riz Ahmed plays him perfectly, making what could’ve been a stick in the mud such fun to listen to, and displaying his journey from lost and tossed aside golden boy to a man who’s found strength in the truth and most of all, his friend. In conjunction with the most effective set of puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen, you can’t help but feel and root for him. Beck Bennett is always a gem in any ensemble and gets some big laughs. Eugene Lee Yang was a sleeper hit- I didn’t expect a Try Guy to remind me so heavily of Crispin Freeman, and that is high praise. It’s not that he sounds like a discount version of him, but that he has a similar lived in earnestness and genuine personality amidst a theatrical and dramatic performance, somehow grounded and knightly all at once. And Conroy is a risible antagonist, one who has convinced herself her paranoia and prejudices are noble and for the greater good and all the worse for it. She does not consider herself a monster by any means, but an aggrieved martyr doing what must be done, and Conroy makes her real while not sympathetic to anyone but herself.
But the most striking performance of all, of course, is Chloe Grace Mortez as Nimona. She put her heart into this role and you can feel it. She straddles the line of what could’ve been either ‘softened and smoothed so as to lose all edges’ and ‘so obnoxious and bloodthirsty so as to lose empathy’, and makes it look easy, instead conveying a character who’s found her way to survive in a world that turned its back on her first. An inner pain at the heart of her rage, one that’s always hoping that she’ll be proven wrong. Or rather, proven right with what she first saw all those years ago- that people can accept and love something different. But the film also never frames her as in the wrong for pointing that anger where it belongs- at the system that props up what was done to her. Many films would’ve agreed the director was the only problem, but this one asserts that the institute and the wall that enables and created her must also be torn down. Mortez goes hand in hand with immaculate writing and gorgeous animation to craft a character who’s hilarious, heartfelt, and devastating. Nimona in motion is such a striking vibrancy against everything else, bringing a life and beauty and color they don’t see until the end. And it makes it such a gut punch when Nimona has lost hope and that pink is replaced with black and white.
There’s a lot of ways Nimona resonates with today. The Director exclaiming Balister has a weapon is a subtle, brief one that only lasts a minute but hits like a punch to the gut. There’s Nimona defending herself being taken as self evident proof she is a monster. There’s her suicide attempt, where the rampage in the book is a path of vengeance here it’s just a last resort after once again losing everything and being rejected on a fundamental level. All that is one reason Disney wouldn’t take this on. But another is it’s sense of humor, or in acknowledging that yes kids know what blood is and many like it and they can handle it. The movie’s not a bloodbath by any means, but blood is just. There! Gay people are there! This movie, despite Disney, despite the conservative backlash against queer children’s media, is here. Saying you are seen. You are not alone. It’s something I think a lot of people, of any age, needed to hear today, and will need to hear in the future. I know I’m one of them.
It’s like watching the most beautifully rendered PS6 game, some of these models feel so boundary pushing that it shouldn’t even be possible yet. I’m sure the 3D and HFR also contributed to it feeling like a videogame, and I’m unsure if all of that technology helps with the immersion, but it’s an interesting experience regardless. It really reminded me of Jedi Fallen Order in places, and I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or complaint.
Like the first one, it doesn’t have that much to offer besides that. Your enjoyment really depends on how much you value technology and good filmmaking over anything else. That shouldn’t be undersold, because you don’t get many films like this. There aren’t any directors I can think of that could pull this off, besides maybe Peter Jackson or a young Spielberg. It makes most other blockbusters look like crap, which is understandable because a lot more time and effort went into these effects. However, the acting and dialogue are again really weak, with Zoe Saldana easily giving the best performance, but she’s not in it a lot. Sam Worthington still isn’t able to hide his Australian accent after 13 years. The plot is basic, cliché and unsophisticated, it starts with a bunch of soft retcons that annoyed me right off the bat, and after that it’s mostly the same progression as the first film. Great worldbuilding, good set pieces (though it felt a little bit like a James Cameron greatest hits compilation in that regard) and underdeveloped characters that won’t make you feel a lot once it gets emotional. There’s also this human child character whose motivations aren’t made very clear, he’s in it a lot and it doesn’t work. I’d probably give it a mild recommendation if it were shorter, but as it stands, this doesn’t have enough for me to hold my interest for 3 hours. In fact, as something that’s supposed to be a launching pad for three more sequels, it’s shockingly thin.
5/10
We've kinda come full circle with these superhero films when you think about it.
After the camp of the 90s, directors like Nolan and Singer reset the tone of superhero movies in the 2000's to something that was more grounded and serious, which in turn laid a lot of the groundwork for the MCU.
Here we have Taika Waititi providing a throwback to the Joel Schumacher days.
If that's your thing you'll probably dig it, but it's definitely not my brand of camp.
I’m not exactly a Thor: Ragnarok fan (nor the other two Thor films). I don’t have a problem with its silly tone, because I’m not a manchild who needs to see his childhood validated, but a lot of its comedy didn’t click with me (even after a rewatch). Everything that didn’t work for me in that film is amped up to an eleven here.
There are some serious points in it where the acting choices, slapstick/childish/hokey comedy, overly bright colors, gay undertones, overdesigned costumes (no nipples yet, but give Taika another film and we'll see what happens) and godawful music choices started to give me genuine flashbacks to stuff like Batman Forever, not quite the thing you want to remind me of.
It's not a complete disaster; the performances by Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson and especially Christian Bale are generally quite good. I'm also glad Marvel seems to have definitively found the saturation button back after Guardians 2, even if the framing/lighting with the visuals remains uninspired and maintains a general level of artifice that makes it look like shit. I believe they used the volume stages for most of the production, and like Obi Wan or The Book of Boba Fett, it’s very noticeable for most of the runtime.
The story's not all that interesting and makes no sense when you put any thought into it, but that's fine given that there is some progression with most of the main characters, even if Thor’s character arc throughout the MCU is all over the place at this point. As with most Marvel films lately, there is a lot of unnecessary exposition (e.g. the Korg narrated flashbacks are really clunky), but where it really drops the ball for me is with the balancing of tone and plot elements. I already thought that the darker stuff in Thor: Ragnarok didn't blend that well with the goofy scenes on the trash planet, but there's even more tonal whiplash here. Christian Bale is giving this excellent, terrifying performance, but he's not in the same movie as Chris Hemsworth, who's playing even more of a Thor parody than he was in Avengers: Endgame. One moment we're invested in this heavy, emotional story with Natalie Portman, and then we cut back to a goofy love triangle between Thor, his hammer and his axe. It's an unbalanced mess without a sense of stakes.
I also don't know what it is with Taika's comedy in these films, because I think What we do in the shadows, Jojo Rabbit and Hunt for the wilderpeople are all very comedic and smart, but for some reason he really likes his Thor movies excessive and dumb. Screaming goats aren't funny to me, they're a dated meme at best. Maybe it's because Taika can't go edgy and niche with the jokes here, but fuck I really hate his sensibilities for this character.
In short, another major misfire from Marvel if you ask me. I pretty much disliked everything except for a few of the performances. Please go back to making indies Taika, and for the love of god: let James Gunn pick the soundtrack for your next film. Even a film this dumb doesn’t need a Guns ‘N Roses needle drop, let alone four of them.
3/10
A potentially great film being held hostage by its PG-13 rating and its messy, all over the places screenwriting.
By PG-13 I don't simply mean its visuals/goriness, but most importantly its dialogues, themes, and storytelling it tries to raise. Let me explain.
First, the dialogues.
The film opens with murder and Batman narrating the city's anxious mood. We get a glimpse of noir in this scene, but it soon falls flat due to a very uninteresting, plain, forgettable choice of words Batman used in his narration. Mind you, this is not a jab at Pattinson - Pattinson delivered it nicely. But there is no emotion in his line of words - there is no adjectives, there is no strong feelings about how he regards the city full of its criminals.
Here's a line from the opening scene. "Two years of night has turned me to a nocturnal animal. I must choose my targets carefully. It's a big city. I can't be everywhere. But they don't know where I am. When that light hits the sky, it's not just a call. It's a warning to them. Fear... is a tool. They think I am hiding in the shadows. Watching. Waiting to strike. I am the shadows." Okay? Cool. But sounds like something from a cartoon. What does that tell us about you, Batman?
Compare this to a similar scene uttered by Rorschach in Watchmen. "The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. All those liberals and intellectuals, smooth talkers... Beneath me, this awful city, it screams like an abattoir full of retarded children, and the night reeks of fornication and bad consciences." You can say that Rorschach is extremely edgy (he is), but from that line alone we can tell his hatred towards the city, and even more so: his perspective, his philosophy that guides him to conduct his life and do what he does.
Rorschach's choice of words is sometimes verbose, but he is always expletive and at times graphic, making it clear to the audience what kind of person he is. Batman in this film does not. His words are always very safe, very carefully chosen, which strikes as an odd contrast to Pattinson's tortured portrayal of Batman as someone with a seemingly pent up anger. His choice of words is very PG-13 so that the kids can understand what Batman is trying to convey.
And this is not only in the opening scene. Throughout the film, the dialogues are written very plainly forgettable. It almost feels like the characters are having those conversations just to move the plot forward. Like that one encounter between Batman and Catwoman/Selina when she broke into the house to steal the passport or when Selina asked to finish off the "rat". They flow very oddly unnatural, as if those conversations are written to make them "trailer-able" (and the scenes indeed do appear on the trailer).
Almost in all crucial plot points the writers feel the need to have the characters to describe what has happened, or to explictly say what they are feeling - like almost every Gordon's scene in crime scene, or Selina's scene when she's speaking to Batman. It feels like the writers feel that the actors' expression just can't cut it and the audience has to be spoonfed with dialogues; almost like they're writing for kids.
Second, the storytelling.
Despite being a film about vengeance-fueled Batman (I actually like that cool "I'm vengeance" line) we don't get to see him actually being in full "vengeance" mode. Still in the opening we see Batman punching some thugs around. That looks a little bit painful but then the thugs seem to be fit enough to run away and Batman let them be. Then in the middle of the film we see Batman does something similar to mafias. Same, he just knocked them down but there's nothing really overboard with that. Then eventually in the car chase scene with the Penguin, Batman seem to be on "full rage mode", but over... what? He was just talking to Penguin a moment ago. The car chase scene itself is a bit pointless if not only to show off the Batmobile. And Batman did nothing to the Penguin after, just a normal questioning, not even harsher than Bale's Batman did to Heath's Joker in The Dark Knight - not in "'batshit insane' cop" mode as Penguin put it.
Batman's actions look very much apprehensive and controlled. Nothing too outrageous. Again, at odds with Pattinson's portrayal that seem to be full of anger; he's supposed to be really angry but somehow he still does not let his anger take the best of him. The only one time he went a bit overboard that shocked other characters is when he kept punching a villain near the end of the film. But even then it's not because his anger; it's because he injected some kind of drug (I guess some adrenaline shot). A very safe way to drop a parent-friendly message that "drug is bad, it can change you" in a PG-13 film.
And all that supposed anger... we don't get to see why he is angry and where his anger is directed at. Compare this to Arthur Fleck in Joker where it is clear as sky why Arthur would behave the way the does in the film. I mean we know his parents' death troubled him, but it's barely even discussed, not even in brief moments with Alfred (except in one that supposedly "shocking" moment). So... where's your vengeance, Mr. Vengeance? And what the hell are you vengeancing on?
Speaking of "shocking" moment... this is about the supposed Wayne family's involvement in the city's criminal affairs that has been teased early in the film. Its revelation was very anticlimactic: the supposed motive and the way it ended up the way it is, all very childish. If the film wanted the Wayne to be a "bad person", there's a lot of bads that a billionaire can do: tax evasion, blood diamond, funding illegal arms trade, fending off unions, hell, they can even do it the way the Waynes in Joker did it: hints of sexual abuses. But no, it has to be some bloody murder again, and all for a very trivial reason of "publicity". As if the film has to make it clear to the kids: "hey this guy's bad because he killed someone!" Which COULD work if the film puts makes taking someone's life has a very serious consequence. But it just pales to the serial killing The Riddler has done.
Even more anticlimactic considering how Bruce Wayne attempted to find a resolve in this matter only takes less than a 5 minute scene! It all involves only a bit of dialogues which boils down to how Thomas Wayne has a good reason to do so. Bruce somehow is convinced with that and has a change of heart instantly, making him looks very gullible.
And of course the ending is very weak and disappointing. First, Riddler's final show directly contradicts his initial goal to expose and destroy the corrupt elites. What he did instead is making the lives of the poor more difficult, very oxymoron for someone supposed to be as smart as him.
Second, the way Batman just ended up being "vengeance brings nothing and I should save people more than hurting people" does not get enough development to have him to say that in the end. Again - where's your vengeance? And how did you come to such character development if nothing is being developed on? And let's not get to how it's a very safe take against crime and corruption that closely resembles Disney's moralistic pandering in Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
Last, the visuals.
I'm not strictly speaking about gore, though that also factors in the discussion. The film sets this up as a film about hunting down a serial killer. But the film barely shows how cruel The Riddler can be to his victims. Again, back to the opening scene: we get it, Riddler killed the guy, but it does not look painful at all as it looks Riddler just knocked him twice. The sound design is very lacking that it does not seem what The Riddler done was conducted very painfully. Riddler then threw away his murder weapon, but we barely see blood. Yet when Gordon arrived to the crime scene, he described the victim as being struck multiple times with blood all over. What?
Similarly, when Riddler forced another victim to wear a bomb in his neck. The situation got pretty tense, but when the bomb eventually blow off, we just got some very small explosion like a small barrel just exploded, not a human being! I mean I'm not saying we need a gory explosion with head chopped off like in The Boys, but it does not look like what would happen if someone's head got blown off. Similarly when another character got almost blown off by a bomb - there's no burnt scar at all.
Why the hell are they setting up those possibly gory deaths and scars if they're not going to show how severe and painful these are? At least not the result - we don't need to see blood splattered everywhere - just how painful the process is. Sound design and acting of the actors (incl. twitching, for example) would've helped a lot even we don't see the gore, like what James Franco did in The 127 Hours or Hugh Jackman in Logan. In this film there's almost no tense at all resulting from those.
I'm not saying this film is terrible.
The acting, given the limited script they had, is excellent. Pattinson did his best, so did Paul Dano (always likes him as a villain), Zoe Kravitz, and the rest. Cinematography is fantastic; the lighting, angle, everything here is very great that makes a couple of very good trailers - perhaps one could even say that the whole film trades off coherency for making the scenes "trailer-able". The music is iconic, although with an almost decent music directing. And I guess this detective Batman is a fresh breath of air.
But all that does not make the movie good as in the end it's still all over the places and very PG-13.
Especially not with the 3 hours runtime where many scenes feel like a The Walking Dead filler episode.
If you're expecting a Batman film with similar gritty, tone to The Dark Knight trilogy or Joker, this film is not for you. But if you only want a live-action cartoon like pre-Nolan Batmans or The Long Halloween detective-style film, well, I guess you can be satisfied with this one.
You know, I'm not really into animated shows or movies.
I play many games but League of Legends isn't something I'm interested in.
When I saw this on Netflix, I thought "well not for me".
Boy, was I wrong.
After reading many articles, I decided I should give it a try and launched the first episode.
And the second, and the third and so on and on.
I was blown away. I am still blown away.
The story is great, and far reaching. I know nothing of league of legends, didn't need to.
The setting, this steampunk/victorian/magical world is so unique.
The characters are full of life, full of emotions, doubts. They are not empty shells but full on humans/humanoids. More so than many live-action characters.
The graphics and animation are the most amazing I've had the pleasure to witness. I mean, every scene is grandiose. Like moving paintings. What a feast for the eyes.
And last (but not least), the music is perfect. The main title by imagine dragons is on point, and the score complements the story so well. Case in point, many scenes don't have any dialogue, the animation and the score being sufficient.
Emotions are high at the end, I can't wait for what's in store next year.
Please, please, please, do watch it. Even if games are not your things, even if League of Legends isn't. Even if animated video aren't.
Watch it.
Never played league of legends, know nothing about the characters. In fact, to be honest, I was a bit prejudiced against this show. I thought "It's based on a game, It must suck". A few months after it ended I saw it has a rating of 90+% on Trakt. And however subjective ratings are, you don't get scores north of 90% if you're shit, so I decided to check it out.
Was not disappointed. This is the best work of art I've seen in the last several years. The animation is stellar. You could pause it on almost every frame and set it as your desktop wallpaper. This is not an exaggeration. Almost every frame looks like it could have been painted by an artist. The voice acting is phenomenal, the expressiveness of the characters is spot on.
In terms of story, I only saw 5 episodes so far, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think there are many storytelling tropes here that people would find familiar. However, this is by no means a bad thing. Story-telling tropes exist for a reason - they make good stories. You only need to do them right. And this show does. There were too many modern shows and movies that tried to "SuBvErT eXpEcAtIoNs" just to fall on their face.
To summarize, I'm not one to give 10/10 ratings lightly, but I think it's completely deserved.
I did not expect much, and that's what I got. Neo and Trinity were mostly great, everything else was just horrible
The story was mostly ok, nothing special. Too many flashbacks.
The effects are worse than in the first Matrix from 22 years ago
The fight choreography is just bad, no feeling of impact anywhere
The crew feels like a bunch of drama students in matrix cosplay
Morpheus was changed into a joke, the character was completely destroyed
Smith is very creepy, the whole essence of the character is gone
The Analyst is totally miscast.
You would fear the agents in other movies, here they mean nothing.
The movie could have been easily cut down to 90 minutes without losing anything. Just bloated
The movie lacks style. When you see a scene from the Matrix or even the sequels, you can see and feel the overflowing of style.
There is nothing like that here. They lost it completely.
I feel like behind the first Matrix, there was a vision. Vision to make something new, unique. And they were successful. Here they also had a vision. A vision of quick easy money earned through nostalgia. Nothing else.
After a while, I actually started to wonder. Did the Watchkowskis really make the first Matrix? The difference in quality is just so huge here.
Absolutely unoriginal and boring. Incredible special effects.
None of the new characters have enough time or backstory for us to care about them, but they're also not throw away characters - the writers seemed to think we would be too triggered if a single good guy died. In fact, nobody died the entire movie - 100% of the enemies are bots. There aren't even meaningful interactions with agents outside of the ones Neo simulates.
The entire thing was just a big callback to what they did in the original trilogy. Lots of allusion and direct rips. All with killer special effects, but no substance. They think they're being meta and hip by acknowledging it, but that doesn't make it better; their horrible post credits scene about "just needing to elicit an emotional response" and "uploading the catrix" makes it a lot worse.
Nothing in the movie has any deeper meaning. There are zero stakes. The new human city isn't at risk. The Matrix isn't at risk. Literally the entire movie is about Neo and Trinity needing to wake up and get out of the Matrix - if they don't, they will continue living, just inside the Matrix.
None of Smith's motives were clear. He went from being a very strong and interesting character in the original trilogy to a very weak and aimless character here.
Cheapening the power of the One is really detrimental to the film. The Analyst's idea that "Neo was nothing special by himself, he needed Trinity" is ridiculous. It's rather as the Architect said "Neo's attachment to humanity was very intimate." He was still the One with or without Trinity, and his powers were unique to that position. So the idea that the machines can somehow use Neo and Trinity to enhance power generation of the Matrix by keeping them close is both fundamentally flawed on top of being ridiculous. And then letting Trinity be the one to fly them out of danger at the end just steals everything from Neo.
Despite everyone assuring Neo that his fight mattered, it seems that the world is almost identical to where it was at the start of the original Matrix movie. The Matrix is a prison. The humans are hiding in a city to keep back the hostile machines. It doesn't seem like they're freeing many minds. The only difference is that now some machines are on their side - something that's never really explained. This new alliance has yielded the incredible result of.. fruit. Neo's entire fight gave humanity fruit. That's it.
The Analyst and the machines seemed incompetent and weak. The machine on machine violence was very interesting and could have been instrumental in explaining the resurgence in war and restoration of the Matrix as a prison - so naturally it was only mentioned once offhand.
The world wasn't setup clearly or interestingly in a way to support a story existing within it. There is no substance, no stakes, and no point.
Overall it's a huge disappointment. The fact that the Reloaded and Revolutions were better movies that were more coherent and added more substance to the universe is testament to the extreme failure of this move.
Nothing comforts anxiety like a little nostalgia.
If anything, Hollywood has boiled that concept down to a science over the past few years, as this film is basically a summary of everything that’s wrong with the industry in a neat, 148 minute package.
It thinks it’s meta and self-aware by pointing out how cynical and cheap franchise filmmaking is.
That might sound similar set-up as 22 Jump Street, but this film proceeds to be cheap and cynical itself without saying anything substantial beyond its own set up, so it embraces what it’s trying to criticize.
Everything in this movie is structured as an excuse to show stuff you’ve seen before, there are little to no original concepts or ideas that push the franchise in an interesting direction.
It’s mostly a rehash of the first film (mixed with some stuff from Reloaded and Revolutions in the second half), except the action isn’t nearly as good, it’s more predictable and convenient, the performances are nowhere near as memorable (that’s what you get from replacing your 2 best actors), it looks uglier and more synthetic, the pacing isn’t as tight, and it’s a lot more dull because of how much it overexplains itself.
It also ditches the cyberpunk aesthetic, and replaces it with something a lot more bland and boring, stripping the franchise from a lot of its personality.
It’s honestly quite an accomplishment when you think about it: the original is one of the best, most successful, big budget films ever made that still maintained a strong artistic and alternative impulse.
This, on the other hand, couldn’t be any more lowest common denominator if it tried to.
It’s a parody of itself and modern blockbuster filmmaking.
I suppose that was Lana Wachowski’s goal to some extent, but it isn’t very compelling to watch.
3/10
Well, I would have had more fun, I think, if I was aged between 6 and 25 years. Waaaay too many corny jokes & stupid, added plot lines just to progress the story along - yawn. The "tell it to me like I'm 5 years old" type of story telling - this happens for the first 20 minutes or so. Then you have to add in the scenes that make your eyes roll and the bad jokes that make you want to cringe at times, hard! All forced comedy.
Light at the end of the tunnel...maybe, but nope. When it gets a little bit better going, it's enjoyable, I settled in for some fun Marvel action but soon after, here comes the kid gloves, the really annoying Asian sidekick/girlfriend Aquafina something and oh, wait, not a single sign of blood or broken body parts nor any convincing deaths shown given the type of power being dealt out. At times it felt like a Disney action movie for pre-schoolers I'd say.
It has its pluses with the Excellent karate and stunts, CGI too.
But man, this was not made for anyone to really enjoy a fine, 'take me away into fantasy', not if you are over 30+ years imo. Or only if you are perhaps a huge comic nerd and man-baby.
Fair rating from me, but I'd Not watch again unless I'm about 75 years old and infantile again.
Pros:
- Whoever worked on the second unit of this film, give them a medal. Lots of beautiful choreography, wide shots and sweeping camera movement. Great stuff, it has the best action choreography of any Marvel film. Massive props to the editing team as well.
- The casting is great. Simu Liu ticks all the boxes for a Marvel hero, Tony Leung is an amazing actor and he shows it here, Awkwafina does the best with what she’s given, Michelle Yeoh is great.
- The characters are of course very well drawn, as expected from Marvel. That includes the villain, even if his motivation is a little generic. I’ll say that they could’ve given some more development to Xialing, though.
In between:
- The music. I liked the score quite a bit, it felt very authentic to something you’d hear in a traditional Chinese kung fu film. But then they also got some of the worst contemporary artists to add actual music numbers, like Rick Ross and Swae Lee. Was Kendrick too busy this time around? It’s kind of a nitpick, but it ruined some of the credit that I was willing to give the score in this. I’ll give them props for putting the very underrated Anderson .Paak over the credits, though.
Cons:
- For such a basic story, it is really overstuffed with exposition. The worldbuilding is done though a lot of talking, and no showing.
- One of their ugliest films in terms of colour grading. It’ll pop occasionally, but it’s overall really drab and grey. It does no justice to Bill Pope’s cinematography.
- The comedy. Not everything misses, but these films used to have a lot more clever and subversive comedy in them. That’s slowly starting to phase out in favour of basic comedy writing. It’s also placed in awkward moments where it messes with the tone. Ben Kingsley is very annoying in this in particular.
- For as good as the choreography is, some of the action is still very overblown and fake looking. There’s a scene in the trailers that involves a bus, which you’ve probably seen and thought: that looks wonky and fake. Well, the final set in this piece is even worse, and I can almost guarantee that it’ll give you flashbacks to Black Panther’s final act. It kinda throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks.
- In terms of pacing, it makes the exact same mistake as Captain Marvel and Black Widow. The first act is fast paced and filled with 2-3 set pieces. Then, during the second act, it hits a lull. We get to one location, and the film is filled with nothing but dialogue. This problem could easily be fixed if the action was just more spread out.
Yeah, another disappointment if you’d ask me, in a string of disappointments coming from Marvel Studios.
It’s a shame, this could’ve been great. Keep the actors, characters, central conflict and the grounded action scenes, but remove all of Marvel’s shitty production choices in regards to music, colour grading, overblown action, incel comedy, pacing and meaningless references, and this would’ve easily been an 8.
There’s more than enough good and fun stuff in here, but it gets bogged down by the machine.
5/10
Denis Villeneuve is the man!
There’s only one word that came into my mind after watching it: finally.
Finally, a blockbuster that isn’t afraid to be primarily driven by drama and tension, and doesn’t undercut its own tone by throwing in a joke every 30 seconds.
Finally, a blockbuster that puts actual effort in its cinematography, and doesn’t have a bland or calculated colour palette.
Finally, a blockbuster with a story that has actual substance and themes, and doesn’t rely on intertextual references or nostalgia to create a fake sheen of depth.
Finally, a blockbuster that doesn’t pander to China by having big, loud and overblown action sequences, but relies on practical and grounded spectacle instead (it has big sand worms, you really don’t need to throw anything at the screen besides that).
Finally, a blockbuster that actually feels big, because it isn’t primarily shot in close ups, or on a sound stage.
And of course: finally, a blockbuster that isn’t a fucking prequel, sequel, or connected to an already established IP somehow.
(Yeah, I know Tenet did those things as well, but I couldn’t get into that because the characters were so flat and uninteresting).
This just checks all the boxes. An engaging story with subtext, very well set up characters, great acting (like James Gunn, Villeneuve's great at accentuating the strengths of limited actors like Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa), spectecular visuals and art design (desaturated but not in an ugly washed out way), pacing (slow but it never drags), directing, one of Hans Zimmer’s best scores: it’s all here.
I only have one real criticism: there’s too much exposition, especially in the first half.
It can occasionally hold your hand by referencing things that have already been established previously, and some scenes of characters explaining stuff to each other could’ve been conveyed more visually.
Other than that, it’s easily one of the best films of the year.
I’ve seen some people critiquing it for being incomplete, which is true, but this isn’t just a set up for a future film.
It feels like a whole meal, there are pay offs in this, and the characters progress (even if, yes, their arcs are still incomplete).
8.5/10
Amazing,Unpredictable! Watching it was a roller coaster of emotions,sometimes the movie is a dark comedy , after that a romantic comedy, the next minute a revenge thriller, It's tonal shifts made me laught,cry,angry,fearful,happy and eventually made me think a lot about the ending , i think it's going to be devisive between people.But for me it worked and when i play the movie in my head and what this character has been dealing with in her life i think it fits perfectly.I felt satisfied
The subject matter we're dealing with here is very challenging to adress in a movie and Emerald Fennell(writer and first time director) is not afraid of exposing all the parties involved when something like that happen and how everyone involved could deal with it , she knocked it out of the park.
Carey Mulligan gives what i think migt be the best performance of her career , i really hope she could snag an Oscar nomination
She killed it as Cassandra this young woman with a tragic past who's on a journey of her own trying avenge what happened to her , perfectly casted here and i wouldn't imagine someone else taking that role.
You don't really know how to feel about her like sometimes she's likable and funny , the next minute she goes dark and very serious and frightening , those shift personnalities were well executed! The cast was great too , everyone nailed their part really !
The movie does not answer eveything that happened , there a times you wonder what happened to that guy and what happened to that woman because they don't show you so you make your own image of the events or you trust Cassandra's word's which i very much liked, it leaves you making you own assumption for some parts.
Overall, the movie is well directed , the writing is so strong here and a screenplay oscar nomination is very plausible and it's just very a beautiful movie to watch , the colours the cinematography, the sets, it's like you're in a candy world , the soundtarck is great and the use of music was on point .
This movie is ambitious and important and i don't think it will be forgotten by people , it just needs time to grow .
This was actually awful. It's the drama and stress of a romantic comedy set during Christmas with the most irrational characters. It's like any other movie with a central couple but the twist is they're gay.
Pros:
- John
- Abby's hair
- The inclusion of LGBT characters.
- Not everyone is hot.
- The bonding scene between Riley and Abby at the drag bar and Riley's story about Harper.
- John's coming out story.
- Some of the jokes are actually funny.
Cons:
- Every interaction with Harper and Abby once they're in the car.
- Not a single problem is addressed until it blows up in one big fight and everyone is happy now that they've aired their dirty laundry. Jane doesn't need therapy from her parents shitting on her. Abby is okay with being called an orphan every time. Harper has self-awareness. Sloan realises that she's just a fucking bitch.
- No one apologises for the things they said in the movie. No one apologises to Abby for accusing her of theft. No one apologises to Jane for how they treated her. Harper can't be clear with Abby even when they're alone.
- Jane's one big scene where she gets upset at her painting being destroyed is ruined by it instantly turning into a joke.
- Every romantic comedy has issues stemming from a breakdown in communication. Harper and her parents. Harper and Abby. Sloan and Eric.
- Not a single person in this movie is realistic so I can't root for any of them.
Comments:
- We only see 1 happy bonding scene with the couple during the opening, then days and days go by of Harper shafting Abby and then the single moment where Abby expresses how unhappy she is, Harper calls her clingy.
- Harper's parents are horrible caricatures of rich people constantly shitting on Jane and making it obvious how Harper is the golden child.
- No one has any boundaries and it isn't funny.
Had such a great opportunity to be a unique Christmas film but then just fucked it up by being cliche and basic.
[6.8/10] Ford v Ferrari could be about anything, and it would be pretty much the same. It’s about car racing, but it could just as easily be about hockey, or architecture, or the world’s most noteworthy spaghetti-eating contest. Its off-the-shelf themes of corporate interference in the artists’ work and transcendent beauty when those masters play the game the ways it meant to be could, and have, apply to just about any movie using the same, well-worn mold.
Which is to say that this film doesn't have many, if any, new tricks to show its audience. If you’ve seen any of the plethora of Oscar movies that occupy the same space, or even enjoyable Disney flotsam like D2: The Mighty Ducks, you already know the basic beats of this movie. It is thoroughly fine -- well made, well performed, well built -- but lacking any spark to elevate it above a dutifully-constructed bit of awards-season adequacy.
Ford v. Ferrari is not, sadly, as its title suggests, a movie where futuristic cars do battle with one another in a post-apocalyptic hellscape. It is, instead, the story of car designer Carroll Shelby, race car driver Ken Miles, and their Ford-funded quest to beat the Ferrari team at the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans race, to cement their automotive supremacy. It is, in essence, a standard-issue sports movie, about overcoming the villainous, anti-American bad guys on and off the track, and rising above the, internal opposition to the purity of your mission.
But it can boast a better cast than most other movies in the same tradition. Matt Damon plays Shelby as a southern-stewed true believer, who gets to stand his ground and tear up in the various, prestige-honking moments when it’s all-but mandated. Christian Bale plays Miles as the eccentric, stubborn, “not a people person” driver who nonetheless possesses an all but metaphysical bond with the machines he controls. And it’s populated with performers who’ve stood out on prestige T.V. (and, sure, elsewhere too) like Tracy Letts (Homeland), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), and Ray McKinnon (Deadwood).
Unfortunately, Ford v. Ferrari doesn't give them much to work with, or perhaps, gives them too much to work with. Nobody just talks in this movie. Every single stream of dialogue is some kind of Oscar-reel speech about the majesty of the road or what this means to each of them, or the unadulterated beauty of their art to the point of exhaustion. The sentiments expressed are pleasant, if familiar, but there’s no thought or idea that this movie can’t turn into some sort of grand speech or monologue for its characters.
The raft of capable actors in this movie keep that onslaught tolerable, but it keeps the film’s main personalities feeling more like sporadic speech-giving machines than real people. Bale’s take on Miles as the Dr. House of racecar drivers occasionally breaks through that muddle and finds the humanity in what is still a deliberately affected performance. By the same token, Tracy Letts nearly steals the show in a scene where Henry Ford’s grandson genuinely weeps at the transcendence of what his boys have created. But on the whole, you could half-pay attention to every predictable, writerly monologue and not miss much.
You would, however, miss the stellar racing scenes with that approach. Whatever Ford v. Ferrari’s other faults in a paint-by-numbers story or thudding dialogue, it sure is nice to look at it in stretches. Director James Mangold, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, and editors Andrew Buckland, Michael McCuskerm, and Dirk Westervelt construct a host of stellar on-the-track sequences. They are the absolute highlight of this film.
Mangold and company capture the intensity, the virtuosity, and the beauty of these machines in motion. The few moments when Ford v Ferrari can really grab you take place with someone behind the wheel. The film’s visual team knows when to show these cars balletically bounding around some corner, when to cut to the faces inside of them to show focus or determination or joy, and when to hold the tension of two vehicles in dangerous proximity or even contact with one another. As a surfeit of well-crafted racing scenes stitched together by a perfunctory effort at storytelling, the film can more than succeed.
But that plot drags this one down considerably. There’s nothing wrong with the tale that Ford v. Ferrari wants to tell; its story beats are just shopworn to the point of tedium. Both Shelby and Miles have their legally-mandated “Nah, man, I’m out of the game” moments before jumping back into the thick of things. Both face the internal obstacles du jour before each proves themselves to their superiors. And there’s even a smirking, foreign bad guy driver to function as the avatar for all that’s wrong with the world.
That’s the funny thing about this movie. It roots its story in the perspective of Ford and its employees doing battle against the stuck-up Italian carmakers. But it’s easy to picture an equal and opposite film, where the devotees who care more about perfecting their cars than making money do battle against the hubris-ridden Americans who think they can buy a victory on the track and even bend the rules or outright cheat to cause trouble. As oddly apt as this movie is to draw a firm line between its heroes and its villains, it doesn't take much of a leap to imagine the roles reversed.
But the sneering dastards of Ferrari are only the external villains of the piece. The film also spends an inordinate amount of time, and arguably its overriding theme, on the trouble caused by corporate suits who don’t know cars but think they can tell artists what to do. Leo Beebe is Ford’s executive director of something or other, and plays the shallowest clueless corporate stooge this side of a music biopic. The film uses him to present the thinnest art vs. commerce notions imaginable, presenting Beebe as the latest, barely-sketched strawman antagonist, in an archetype that cuts across genres but which nobody can seem to find a new or interesting spin on.
The irony of this film is that it is nominally devoted to the merits of artistic purity. The broader arc of the film involves Ford’s transition from a company that only churns out undifferentiated cars in massive factories, to one that learns to trust its artists and achieve greatness by appreciating the individual beauty and soul of what it makes.
And yet, this movie feels like something that Ford might have produced before this grand awakening. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch. It’s a competent film that checks every necessary box for a replacement level, awards season release. But for a film so devoted to individual splendor and artistry, the movie itself feels oddly soulless. Despite its devotion to the merits of individual artistic purity, Ford v Ferrari plays like it just rolled off the assembly line.
This was a great take on a dark past, bringing comedy and satire to the forefront, and I absolutely loved it! While being comedic, there are many emotional parts to the film, which I was rather surprised to see. One moment you're laughing hard, the next you're on the edge of balling your eyes out. I never would have expected to see a film quite like this done on Nazi Germany, it was very well made.
With this being Roman's first-ever professional acting job, I was incredibly impressed - he is awesome, and I certainly look forward to his next project(s). He was able to capture the rollercoaster of emotions, thoughts and feelings that may be going through a child growing up in Nazi Germany—who is being told who is okay and who is not—with ease. Taika never fails to please me with his work, and Stephen is a very funny actor. The way that Hitler was mocked through Taika really adds into the thought that not everyone is as strong as they are said to be. Thomasin brings in lots of emotion, and Roman just blows the film out of the park.
Seeing it for my 7th time, I think I'd probably upgrade this from one of the best films of 2019 to one of the best films of the decade.
I shall certainly be seeing this several more times, and I definitely recommend it.
Easily my favorite animated film in the last 5 years.
Where most animation suffers from plot dragging, too much comedy, or unrealistic character's, this one had none of these issues. The beginning captured me, meeting Miles, his uncle, and Spider Man - everything felt like how life happens, as opposed to 'random chance'.
There is so much about this art piece I loved, I can't even recount it all. The music was very fitting, and all voice talent well placed. A scene that gave me chills and tears at the same time, was the entire monologue of Miles' father while he was tied up, all the way through Miles discovering himself, painting the suit, and swinging through the city. That entire scene was perfect in every way - the music, the visuals, the emotion from the buildup, everything. The last time I was filled with that much emotion from animation was when Hiccup and Toothless met and were drawing in the sand, in How To Train Your Dragon.
I also loved the art style. It somehow clearly set itself apart from other animation, while simultaneously being beautiful, and at times realistic. I would love to see more of this style.
Glass, is pretty ass.
Look, M. Night knows what to do with the camera, and the music's not half bad.
And to his credit, the dialogue isn't nowhere near as painful as it was in Split.
But that's about it.
We have one actor who's overdoing it to the extent where it becomes laughable, one actor who's phoning it in, and one actor who's actually pretty good, but stays silent for about 75% of the film.
We have a short first act that's okay, but nothing special.
We have a second act in which Sarah Paulson tries to convince everyone that superpowers aren't real.
Now why should that be interesting? We've seen Unbreakable and Split, so that's not a relevant discussion whatsoever.
Therefore, I was thinking: maybe it's more about her persuading the characters then?
Nope, the movie doesn't really do anything with it, and pretty much drops this plot point by the time that the third act starts.
And then there's the goddamn third act, where this movie just completely drops the ball.
First, we have Samuel L. Jackson pointing out how everything unfolds like a comic book.
Storytelling like this has been done to death, and especially in this movie, it doesn't feel authentic, or even fresh, anymore.
It feels like a means for Shyamalan to cover up for his own, as Deadpool would say, lazy writing.
Second, there's the big finale with the James McAvoy and Bruce Willis characters.
Think about the most unsatisfying ending you can imagine for these two characters, and you're probably pretty close to what actually happens.
Finally, as for the twists, there are a few. Most of them are not earned and feel lazy. However, there's one that worked for the story of the trilogy and brought it all together in a sense (SPOILER: talking about the twist that James McAvoy's dad was on the same train as Bruce Willis ).
3/10
Did you ever have this one song that you listen to because of a single attribute?
That one main riff in the chorus, the incredible intro, or the first verse with it's amazing lyrics.
But otherwise it's just meh or even bad, yet because of that one attribute you get back to it every now and then.
This movie is just like that. There are these single, "tiny" attributes that are done well, the fine camera work, or this "destructuring" of comic book heroes. Even though if very lightly in this instance. But besides that there's no point in this movie from the perspective of someone without a film related degree. The whole plot is absurd af, boring even.
"I have [insert abitrary timeframe] to prove some crap the audience know is crap". Yaddayadda. It all happened just to have our three (anti)heroes all in one place, it seems.
The resolve kinda raises more questions than it answers. The final scene in the train station feels pretty out of place and somewhat cringy. The whole movie focused too much on shenanigans you weren't interested in.
Our "heroes" were nothing more than weird plot devices for...for what exactly? The secret society? Being filmed while killed so the world sees some terrible nothing saying footage? I may have missed a few points here and there out of boredom watching this movie but even with some sense behind it all, very disappointing end to a trilogy that should never have been a trilogy.
This movie stole content from Lindsay Ellis so it feels appropriate to use a Lindsay Ellisism to open this review:
Thanks, I hate it.
This feels like the kind of film that would be written by the sort of people that didn’t get the satire of 500 Days of Summer and complain about it’s use of the manic pixie dream girl trope.
This film feels the need to have Rebel Wilson explain all of the jokes directly to the camera, which only emphasises how unfunny the jokes are. The concept of being trapped in a romantic comedy world is not inherently a bad one, in the right hands you can get great satire out of that idea. This does not feel like satire but more like it’s just a bad rom-com.
The problem really is with the fact that it plays the idea for comedy but doesn’t offer enough laughs to justify itself. Where as something like 500 Days of Summer would introduce harsh realities into the rom-com formula in order to criticise the genre here you just get the exact same thing, with the same conclusion and the same watered-down, primary school message about love and self worth but Rebel Wilson makes bad one-liners about montages and slow motion.
I’m writing this review just hours after watching the film and honestly have nothing more to say, for a satire this had shockingly little impact on me.
Just skip this one.
Without much surprise (but with much disappointment), the one word to describe Black Panther is: overhyped.
Black Panther in itself is not a really interesting superhero, but Marvel has proved in the past that it did not mean that the movie had to be dull. Captain America is even less interesting than Black Panther, but they managed to work around that by making the movies not about him but rather integrate them as a major plot arc in the MCU. No such thing here.
Actually the opposite, they tried to make it NOT a superhero movie. So you get your James Bond scene, your Fast and Furious scene, your Independance day scene, but not that many Marvel scenes. I think it lost its way by trying to look more blockbustery.
There are several good points, the movie isn't bad, it's just uninteresting. The whole middle half of the movie was actually boring.
The cast in general is good. The fight scenes are generally ok. The Wakanda city looks really impressive from afar. Too bad you never actually see it. Visually, everything is pretty neat (if you don't mind CGI everywhere, I don't).
Of the main characters, Shuri is definitively the more interesting. She's Bond's Q, but alot livelier and funnier. You also see her much more as you would another Q type character as she's also the main character's sister. Her role in Wakanda is huge. She seems to be the main engineer, urban designer, lead inventor, the vibranium reference expert, and all by herself as we never see anyone working in this huge lab. She seems also to be the person to go to when you need a doctor, instead of say, an hospital. That's maybe a little too much, but it's not like there are no equivalent in Marvel universe. Definitely would love to see her working with Stark and Banner.
The best character by far, although in a way too minor role, is Klaue. It seems he could have been one of the best villain of the whole MCU. Extremely original, fun, half crazy with a Joker-like vibe, every one of his scene was perfect. On a similar vibe, M'baku turned out to be a pretty cool vegetarian :) character.
So it sucked when he was quickly dispatched to be used as an entrance ticket to Wakanda. But Killmonger is actually a pretty cool antagonist too, obviously a lot less fun and original, but still. That is, if you totally ignore the ending where he turns out to be a little child crying on the inside that was just mean because he wanted his daddy and see a sunset in his homeland. COME ON ! Seriously ?? Way to fuck up an otherwise ok character.
The others are less interesting. Okoye is the cliche super loyal royal guard. Her husband sucks (what a waste of a good actor). Nakia is sold as an interesting character, but apart from picking up the plant, I don't think she does anything. Forest Whitaker plays Forest Whitaker as usual, a little less crazy, a little more mystical, but that's it. Martin Freeman's character looks like he could be interesting but firstly it's a little biased (because what character wouldn't be interesting with Martin Freeman ?) and secondly here he's mostly used to make the point that the token white guy should know to stay in his place when the black leads know best. I loved whrn it was mentioned that he was a foreign agent, with a duty to report what he saw, that's something that's usually blatantly ignored for plot reasons in this kind of situations. He wouldn't be a very good agent, or even person, if he didn't do his job. However, after that, nobody ever think of it again, least of all himself.
The plot, it can even be called that, was pretty weak. The intro scene looked cool. The whole Wakandian ceremonial stuff (which makes a huge part of the movie) is ridiculous. The casino scene was a rip-off of a rip-off of a Bond movie. The car chase was ok looking but boring. I kept waiting for the real story to start. The only time where a little story happens is when Killmonger takes power and Nakia and co go to find M'Baku. The final fight was ok, but a long way to be on level with other Marvels. The ID4 scene is totally out of place. The final duel is disappointing as it's in a full CGI place that's totally unadapted to make use of their powers.
There's a minor point about the place of Wakanda in the world, but it's just extremist protectionism, staying hidden not matter what, on one side, that goes directly to "let's conquer the whole world" on the other. Nobody seems to have though anything else about it until then.
A little plus: the kinetic energy absorption/emission added into the suit allows some really cool effects and fight actions, the only thing making it a little interesting. However he doesn't even use it against Killmonger when it's the one advantage his suit has over the other's. And what's the point of activating the train and the suit disabling thingie, they don't even fight once when it's on.
And a huge issue for me. I really don't buy Wakanda. Asgard actually makes more sense than Wakanda.
1) First the obvious: nobody knows about it. So no neighbouring country ever tried to go there. And nobody saw any sign of it growing. Because it should have been already pretty huge by the time they invented a technology that allowed to cloak the entire country!
2) They have vibranium, sure. But they don't sell it or exchange with other countries. Which means they are also self sufficient on absolutely everything else.
3) They're total non interventionist. So war and famine in other african countries ? Nope. World wars with tens of millions of deaths ? Nope. An alien race attacks the planet and they're the only ones with an equivalent level technology ? Nope. What a bunch of assholes.
4) We have a nice view of arriving in Wakanda, and then that's it. We never see the city. Well there's a scene where they walk in small streets full of dust, but that hardly fit with the skyscraper's skyline. Why would they keep streets this way with their technology.
5) Even if technology evolved, it does not seem the society did. Lots of antiquated tribal rituals and decorum. The kind of stuff that a society that advanced should leave behind. I mean sure it's fun for children and costumes and the once in a while ceremony, but advanced society usually get rid pretty quickly of superstition and religious ceremonial bullshit. The most important point of that being:
6) They still haven't been able to figure out that maybe, just maybe, having two half naked guys fight to the death with spears on a waterfall is not the best way to choose a leader ? Also the king~god thing. Isn't that weird when everybody knows that it's just due to a technology that only the royals have access to ?
7) They still need to collect the heart shaped herb and crush it with a mortar ? They haven't found a way to extract the active element, industrialize it, even synthesize it as it's vibranium based ? Though they probably miraculously will now, as it's supposedly completely gone.
Storywise it's definitely the weakest of the MCU. Because it looks good and I really enjoyed Shuri and Klaue, I'd rank it slightly above Iron Man 2 and Thor 2, but the only other time I felt bored watching a MCU movie was the Captain America part of Civil War, and the first half more than made up for it. Not here.
Sorry folks but this one didn't go well for Marvel. I don't even know where to start. Acting was average, more like below average. Screenplay was as much ordinary as it could be. No surprise here. CGI was OK but it's somehow expected from Marvel. But I totally didn't like the idea of Wakanda. Hidden city in the center of Africa with tons of technology and advanced weapons and systems and so on. But how the hell did they build all of that? No explanation. It just happened. Yes, they have Vibranium, but they don't sell it. In fact they never did and for whole world they are just a bunch of shepherds and farmers. So where did they take all that money to build empire like this? I don't like movies without explanations and this is one of them. Almost nothing has been told about Vibranium whatsoever. Oh yeah, it's some super thing from the universe capable of anything. That's all the explanation you get. There are too many clichés we have already seen too many times. And we have to see them again. One example: I challenge someone for a fight because I want to kill him. And when I have the chance to kill him, what would I do? Kill him or throw him down from the cliff to the water where he can survive? But enough. If you hesitate if to watch this, I can recommend not to waste your time. Wait for the Avangers where you can also see the Black Panther. You won't miss anything if you miss out this movie.
Contains major spoilers !!!!!
Huge and utterly dissapointing. After TFA I said this movie would make or break the story. For me it broke.
Where to begin? Let´s start with my biggest problem.
After that rebel cruisers bridge was hit and Leia was thrown into space we saw her drifting in the cold empty vacuum of space. This was a powerful scene and I had tears welling up in my eyes thinking that would be a great ending for the character dying how she always lived. Fighting. I did not realise, or care, that it would have been a huge coincidence had they written this scene at that point not knowing Carrie would pass away. But as I said powerful scene. And then she opens her eyes and floated back into the ship still beeing alive. At that point I was seriously considering leaving the cinema. It´s scifi but, please, without as much as a hint of an explanation that is just awful writing. It is Disney all over it. Anyway I stayed and watched the rest but in general I was done with the movie.
There are tons of other things I didn´t like.
way to much unnessesary and stupid humor. Most of the time it does not fit and just destroys scenes. Holding for General Hux - that might have been OK once but two or three times it just becomes goofy. And there is more of this througout the movie.
the writing was all over the place. So much things going on that do little to nothing for the general plot and just add playtime. Like that whole thing with the codebreaker, going to the casino. Just sugarcoating CGI.
and speaking of playtime - way too long. About five times towards the end I thought it was over. It could have ended when the reached the rebel base- no let´s add another battle. When they realised they where trapped. With Luke going out to face Kylo. At some point I would have been OK with the movie ending with the First Order defeating the rebels, everyone dying, and the franchise done with. But of course that is not happening and the movie ends.....no, just show us a kid with a broom looking at the stars and indicate he could be the hero of a future movie.
in many ways the continuation of storylines is not satisfiying. They introduce Snoke in the first movie without an explanation who he is, where he comes from and how he got there. Would have been OK, could have done later. So now he´s dead without so much as a fight and there are questions left to be answered.
what about Rey ? Are we really to believe her parents were some drunk and drifting scavengers that sold her for money like Ren said ? That would be very stupid because how in the universe could she master the Force in ways even the best Jedis or Sith couldn´t without as much as years of training. Another void in the storytelling.
too many, shall I call them, homage scenes ? A lot of times I felt I had already seen this movie. The scene in the throne room f.e. Snoke = Emperor, Rey = Luke, Ben = Vader, the destruction of the rebel fleet playing in the background and the Ben killing Snoke is like Vader killing the Emperor. I know that was said about TFA as well but I feel it´s much worse here. The Battle of Hoth reviseted would be another thing where they re-did some scenes to a T. All that was left was tow cables.
Those are just some examples of the things I disliked and maybe there could be satisfactory explanation later. There is a lot more but it would take too much time to write it down. But I doubt I will go to the cinema for the next one.
To be fair there where some positives in this movie.
I liked the scenes with Rey and Luke althought they did not really lead anywhere. But some nice insights into Lukes story after ROTJ.
The conversations between Kylo and Rey where very interesting and I thought there was really potential to steer the story to something new and exciting. Not happening.
So overall I was not satisfied. I really like TFA, it built some expectations that where all crushed with this. As far as I am concerned I am done with this new story. I am not not very eager to find out what else the canibalise and how they try to write themselves out of this. There is nothing left.
This is my view of the movie. If you liked it I´m happy for you.
May the Force be with us. Always.
This is a fantastic movie -- as long as Batman vs. Superman or Suicide Squad are used as a reference bar.
I'm so disappointed in this movie it almost makes angry.
WW was supposed to be a "strong independent woman" and yet she falls in love with literally the first man she sees.
I just found her incredibly naive.
Which movie trope did the film not deliver?
We have the super-hot main character every man has to drool over in his first scene and the anglo-saxon love interest that honourably sacrifices himself for no reason (well, only so we don't have to deal with the question how growing old with a non-ageing goddess would be).
We have the forgettable side-character #1 that is only here for comic relief, #2 that's only there to make the protagonist question her loyalty and #3 with a troubled past that the protagonist can help overcome.
And of course the german bad guys played by non-germans speaking in english with a ridiculous -- what they think ought to pass as a -- german accent. Here is the thing: germans don't speak with other germans in english with a distinct german fake accent. Let them speak german and add subtitles (ugh, reading...) or let them speak normal english.
But arriving in the war zone we can finally see her compassionately putting actions to her words: You've been in these trenches for a year without winning? Let me show you how an immortal demi-god handles this.
But, yes, the Captain Americaesque fight scenes against unnamed goons looked nice...
The main problem I have with this movie is not that it's a bad movie - although it is certainly not good. No, the huge problem I have is that it was a stupid movie to make. Nobody asked for this. Nobody ever said, you know what I wish they'd remake Ghostbusters but with women. Now I know sometimes you don't know what kind of movies you want or don't want until you see them, but in this case people KNEW right away. You do not remake movies with a cult following like Ghostbusters, Goonies, ET or Jaws. You just don't. You are setting up yourself for failure, wasting people's time and money. It's a free country and people can watch the movies they wanna watch, but this should not have been made. It's an abomination and a slap in the face for every self respecting fan of movies. It deserves every bit of ridicule and shaming it got. They were warned that this would happen when they announced it and it happened. I hope this will be a warning to Hollywood execs who think they can just hijack an idea and make some money out of past success without coming up with anything new. There are too many remakes and sequels being made, but usually they stay away from classics. Not this time and it blew up in their faces. LEAVE THE CLASSICS ALONE!
Such a mess of a movie.
I didn' t expect much and haven't watched the trailer before but apparently this movie is focusing on the younger audience only and not on the people who watched the first movie back in the day. It's one of these moments when you realize you get old.
Way too young cast, a dumb plot, so no-one needs to think about anything, degrading this movie to a shut-your-brain-off popcorn flick/time waster you forget instantly after leaving the cinema, clichès as far as the eyes can see, cringe dialogues, incredibly studid decisions by humans and aliens.
Liam Hemsworth is the actor to draw in the young audience and a total miscast for this kind of movie but he fits in with all the other young actors who are out of place as well. But that also means he will be the more or less tragic or cool hero and "win" a gorgeous woman at the end of the movie. How could it be different?
Hemsworth's literally horny sidekick is annoying the moment he appears, throughout the whole movie and is the deliberate comic relief and simply hateable as his character is written so blatantly obvious and without any care. You instantly know what trope his character is and what role he will have the rest of the movie.
You are in the alien ship and he carelessly jumpscares you: haha, how funny!
He's talking loudly, called out on it to be quiet and keeps going being loud, endangering all of them: haha, how funny!
He is fawning over the beautiful, "unreachable" daughter of the chief in command on the moonbase we all know he will get later anyway for no reason other than "we went through this sh*t together": soo original.
Liam Hemsworth is peeing in front of the aliens to distract them: haha, how funny and mature.
...and the aliens even fall for that crap.
The whole movie could only happen in its entirety because of the first major decision that was made for no other reason than plot.
Levinson is some kind of an authority when it comes to aliens but he is ignored to enable the movie when he says not to fire at that spherical spaceship, that looks so difficult to the others and behaves totally different as well. That appearance wasn't even foreshadowing, it was an obvious spoiler to how they would be able to win this time against the aliens and took out any kind of suspense there could have been from the get go.
The movie is predictable all the time and doesn't even try to avoid (or hide) it, ultimately leading to me not being entertained at all.
Recurring actors were all a total waste, except perhaps for Goldblum.
Brent Spiner, who plays Dr. Okun, was additionally unbelievable and simply unnecessary.
Using a poweroff button as sign for the resistance against the aliens was preeeetty lazy as well in the design department.
Easy cash grab movie. I have no doubt the next ID movie will be even worse. Here goes my hope for a good Stargate reboot down the drain. I hoped it would give the franchise a possibility to relaunch a series or so but I heavily doubt that now.
But to not only say negative things about this movie: the CGI effects weren't bad.
When you have Emily Blunt wasted pretty much playing a dark version of Elsa there wasn't much promise for this in the first place. It's not hard to tell that Winters War is from the director of Maleficent either. Since you have Freya (Emily Blunt) turning bad due to a great loss and a broken heart; like Maleficent.
A Huntsman prequel to a just decent Snow White movie was never necessary. With such a great cast I expected something attracted them to the movie other than money but I was wrong. There's nothing for any true Fantasy fan other than sadly the ones who liked Frozen and Twilight.
Since you have to appreciate the lackluster young adult stuff like Twilight to enjoy this. While some Frozen fans might want to see it for a Elsa like snow queen. This one doesn't sing Let it Go though and is against anyone who believes in love.
Blunt is one dimensional as a woman scorned who has to act broken and preach about how love sucks every time she is shown. Anyone could have played the part and she should have let someone else play the part...
Despite some good swordplay there's not much that kept my attention. Jessica Chestain isn't bad at least; as well as Nick Frost as a dwarf. Most of the acting otherwise was so eh that I even missed Kristen Stewart.
Winters War made me sad that a great fantasy like Willow was so under-appreciated in 1988. Since that movie offered plenty of fun. I can't say this movie ever was fun or magical for that matter.
When it also doesn't even lead into Snow White and the Huntsman well. The movie had no true good reason for being made.
This really is one of the most stupid films I have seen in a while. If you're not snooze busting after an hour you will at the least be questioning all the mistakes and attention to detail that takes place this rather dull and not very interesting movie.
1) Explosion at the petrol station, the windows are blown out in the van. Next scene, the windows are fine 2) A man is on the run, its now gone national. Yet man manages to drive through a police convoy, and not only that, he has blood all over his face and top! 3) Very same man has been shot, but oh no, that very same man is fine now 4) Man in car break through barrier, bearing in mind, this is an FBI operation, barrier has 2 only two cars. These cops are so dumb that don't they think to shoot the tires, oh no, in a typical scooby fashion, they get back in the cars and chase the car. 5) So these very same dumb cops are following car with damaged steering it must be said, all the while an unknown world appears, growing bigger in front of our very eyes, but these dumb cops are so committed to solving the crime they fail to notice this happening, instead, when the car finally crashes they point guns at the car, not even looking at the miracle scenes that have just happened. 6) Almost missed this one, 1st 30 mins are focused on a cult, then you don't hear or see them again.
This really is a dumb movie! I went in not knowing anything about it. I shouldn't have bothered. Its total garbage. 4 is a bit too generous of a score. But I did like some of the cinematography.
Many things can be said about this movie. Yeah, you can underestimate it by it's ratings, but take a look who directed it, The Watchowski Brothers!!
There are many failovers around actually. The environment was too fast paced. Part of plot reminds too much of fairy tails, which I'm not sure if this was necessary. There was too much action. But that's basically all minuses I can list.
Now if you think for a moment, this movie is a assumption of how reality may be. And those assumptions made not randomly. If you're into cosmology, there's plenty of facts that's actually made me to love this movie even more. For example, let me list some: 1) The Tether Shuttle Mission STS-75 footage which been filmed with infrared cameras 2) Boomerang Nebula 3) Fermi Paradox (TYPE3 civilization) 4) The multiple proofs from thousands of years ago about aliens, like hieroglyphs of Egyptians and Inx which reminds aliens ships too much.. this is scientifically fact actually (this is for the movies argument about dinosaurs extinction). Combining all of these, movie plot seems to be a really astonishing assumption of how things can be in our universe :) And having conspiracy theory involved this looks and feels even better!
So for cosmology fan this would be actually quite interesting. And I've forgot to mention astonishing costumes, and all environment which has some accents from steampunk to elves.. Personally I'd give this movie 8/10, I'd watch this again, because of some philosophy and science involved. Not a matrix but at least there's 1/6th of it in here.
We have here an atempt to make: a horror/action/drama/historical thriller, with a well know piece of literature that at the same time is one of the most iconic characters of all cinema history. Luke Evans don't even touch the surface of Dracula, managing to be worst than Gerard Butler in the also unlucky Dracula 2000.
All the motivations in the movie seems to misplaced (the villain is too evil, the hero is too good...) with a mish-mash of at least three recent big ass movies of the genre. We see Nolan's Dark Knight, Zack Snyder's 300 and Marc Webb's Spider Man, all compressed in the same plot.
The sets are good, but not good enough to work as a make up to the weak script we are served with. The transitions in the story are weird, making the entire movie an almost 2 hour trailer of something that appears to be good. This problem with the montage makes the movie empty and rely on the (maybe the great quality of the movie) visual effects, wich is a great mistake, once it does not translate the action with the proper dynamic.
We'll have to see about this expander universe of monsters, and wish that this mistake do not repeat with others beloved monsters.
