Possibly not quite on the level of SAC, but I'm still enjoying this version of GitS. The soundtrack by Cornelius is a massive plus too!
You know an anime is good when they casually make a Deleuze reference
I thought for sure that the short season and short episodes would lead to an unsatisfying ending...
I could not have been more wrong. I'll miss this show, I'll miss these characters, I'll miss this ship. Till we meet again Rocinante.
God i'm gonna miss the Rocinante crew so fucking much. They definitely stuck the landing on this finale.
It’s often daunting to come to a classic film and try to explain why it works so well. Obvious elements spring to mind - the peerless design work, both of the central creature and the sets themselves; the beautifully haunting score; the creation of one of the greatest female action heroes; the perfect pace of the film (slightly spoilt by the Director’s Cut, but the original edit still shines); the “birth” of the creature that may have lost its ability to surprise over time, but still horrifies largely down to the performances that sell this moment so well; the masterful build-up of tension as each character confronts their fate. But, more importantly, this is simply a story that is well told and a reminder of how powerful an experience film can be when all the elements come together so perfectly. Is it any wonder that Alien has been oft-imitated, parodied and copied, but rarely bettered, if at all?
Let me start this off by saying that this sequel did not feel outside of what we remember.
Blade Runner 2049 maintains the mood and feel of its predecessor. The visuals, the sound... the dystopian future, it's all there.
| FIRST THOUGHT |
I love writing reviews, it comes somewhat naturally to me after watching something that I learn to feel passionate about.
This movie taught me to be passionate.
But... it's really hard for me to express judgment. And I'm going to explain why:
Actually, it's very simple. This was a 3 hours movie. Of these 3 hours, 2 were simply... air. Now, don't get me wrong, that isn't always negative, like in this case. It was refreshing air, but still... it doesn't (at first glance) hold anything on the plot.
Because of this, the viewer (me at least), is left with a lot of questions, the picture doesn't explain itself. Also; as a side note - you most definitely need to watch the first one. The great majority of the runtime is inexplicably useless.
The longer it goes, the longer it begins to add new stuff, and then some, then it seems somehow related to what's actually going on, but right after it deviates the actual story on an ideal from the characters involved, that at a certain point, evaporates. I'm really conflicted about this because it looks to me like the screenwriters and director wanted to leave all of this to theory and the fans.
Why is this confusing? Because it's a very strange mixture of linear narrative and non-linear narrative. One is focussed on one objective, the other starts a bunch of other objectives and then it simply dies. No explanation was given, no closure was given.
And this is aggravated by the fact that it's a 3 hours movie, of which 1 hour of the actual story is spread and mixed amongst 2 hours of absolutely nothing. VISUALLY IMPRESSIVE NOTHING. A VERY INTERESTING BUNCH OF LITERAL VOID.
This is actually the only thing I did not like about the movie. Which, again, if you are like me and enjoy movies that aren't patently explaining themselves, it's not a bad thing. I just feel like it could've been much more interesting if they explained somehow what happened to all the side characters, or just cut them out.
|STORY & ACTORS |
Aside from what I've mentioned before, the more "linear" part of the story is actually not that bad. It's nothing impressive. A part of what I said earlier connects to the fact that this movie constantly keeps juggling between what is real and what is not. Be it by robots, or actual reality that the characters are living. So it came out pretty obvious that the movie would have a twist at some point, somewhere. I will admit that I did not get it until the very end, so, don't be discouraged.
Ryan Gosling was great, also because he as an actor was perfect for his role. Being so that he has this way of being and looking conflicted, and so it portrayed really well on the protagonist.
Harrison Ford had less value to this movie than he did in the last Star Wars.
Jared Leto's character is a mystery to me, but he did a phenomenal job talking random shit.
All of the other actors, Jared Leto included, were there to push the story forward (or to add random bullshit) and that's it. They did a fantastic job, but unfortunately, as mentioned above, at first glance it looks like they don't mean shit.
| CINEMATOGRAPHY |
The movie is visually pleasing, it's bliss for people with OCD. It's perfectly round and at the same time perfectly square. It keeps smooth lines combining great color combinations in the palette, and utilizing great solid colors at the same time.
As I said before it holds perfectly a spot near its predecessor, the mood and feel are almost identical. (Having watched the first one only an hour before going to the theater to watch this one)
I have to say, this one looks A LOT, like A FUCKING GIGAZILLION LOT more gruesome and splatter than the first one. The fighting scenes are brutal, they do not go into dramatic effects, they just are what they should be. A punch in the face, exploding heads and blood.
There is no doubt that this movie looks fucking amazing.
It sounds amazing as well. It has a collection of deep, pure sounds. There is not a lot of music, but when there is it's powerful and present and it makes you wake up and amaze. Same goes for the special audio effects: I have watched it in ATMOS and I have to admit, they did not utilize it at all, except for one scene later in the movie, but the way it goes from absolute silence to seat trembling sensations it's really amazing. The sounds were so powerful I could literally see the movie screen shake and the subwoofer hit made the whole room shake.
I would also like to add that in the Italian version, you can clearly see that they used "incorrect" words grammatically, they used a lot of anglicisms, I guess they've done that to express how language is evolving? It's actually current of our generation, I see a lot of people adapting English words in Italian, so I was very impressed by that.
| FINAL THOUGHT |
I feel like everyone needs to understand, before watching this movie, that you need a time, a mood and a place perfectly fit to sit for a 3 hours movie that it's going to feel like a 6-hour long journey into colors, shapes, and absolute "living" silence.
This is NOT a Marvel movie, there is action, well-done action, but it's not about action. You need to sit, relax and don't think about time, because, trust me, it's going to fuck you.
Please like my comment if you enjoyed my review, it makes me really happy.
Note that all of this is driven by my personal opinion. If you think I wasn't objective in some of the parts of what I've written, you're welcome to make me notice where.
On Twitter, I review the entire world -> @WiseMMO
I liked this one a lot. Very cool
It was super considerate of Bobbie's nephew to give his aunt the opportunity to vent some perfectly understandable frustrations.
- How'd she look? (...) No, I mean, like, what was she wearing?
Holden, do not put your dick in it. It's fucked enough already.
Chrisjen really is the star of the show isn't she? :sweat_smile:
Amazing series, one of my all time favorites ! Every season extremely interesting and never boring ! A must see for everyone I guess.
Gaal and Raych's relationship is soo rushed and doesn't fit right in this early.
I'm not going to lie - I had a few tears in my eyes. Two grandmas who fall in love with each other just before they die - It was impossible for me to not get a bit emotional (´；ω；`)
Was that a happy ending??! I can't believe it! THAT WAS A HAPPY ENDING!!! Very nostalgic and entertaining...
Mental note: Always answer your mom's calls
Mind blowing! This should be a movie!
In some way, this might be the best episode of the first season, and the most convincing expression so far of the show's thesis in how technology can amplify our worst impulses as a human being, or at least make us arrive at the inevitable faster. The tech is believable and only just slightly exaggerated from the present to give chills, the integration into everyday life is seamless, and the way it is used to advance a familiarly grueling story like distrust and paranoia in a relationship is just great. But again, one stumbling block, and the clearest example of why people often compare this show unfavorably to The Twilight Zone: the humans in that relationship. I feel the disturbing horror and discomfort of their disintegration, but never the keen sense of loss. I don't know whether it's the nuance in writing or the performances (but highly suspecting the former), but the way the couple is presented, I never get a handle of them as complex people, which is crucial for a story like this. The husband especially just becomes this rage, jealous, overbearing from the get-go; I don't expect characters to be sympathetic, but some empathy beyond what the situations are doing to them would be nice. So, still prefer "The National Anthem" out of the first season.
Dolores.
First we root for her in the first season.
Then we hate her in the second season.
Now we’re kinda starting to like her again.
Or better said: the way we feel about her flips during scenes.
Westworld truly has its own Carrie Mathison.
"They won't invest in someone who's gonna kill himself. But by not investing, they ensure the outcome."
--
damn i love this show so much!
nolite te bastardes carborundorum
"Don't let the bastards grind you down"
Thie Kievan Rus never made any attempt to invade Scandinavia. Why do they pull this totally bogus plot line out of thin air?
For a show that's running on the HISTORY channel Vikings surely cares very little about actual history.
Lagertha deserved a better more epic death :(
I cannot remember Frodo being so tall.
It seems to me that it's getting worse with each episode. :(
They try to mimic the atmosphere of Blade runner and Total recall, so you get action and effects. But i really didn't get the story and the motives of the character, and some things don't really make sense to me.
Watch it once if you have nothing else to watch, but don't get your hopes high.
7/10 for me.
Bad series with very unclear story, was a waste of time!
Very disappointed so far. Seems like they just threw a bunch of ideas at the wall hoping something stuck. Four episodes in and didn't care to finish
Why does everyone talk to each other as if it's the first time they meet, commenting on life choices and habits? Feels like forced exposition because the producers think viewers are too dumb to pick up on subtle queues.
Why is there even more nudity than in Game Of Thrones and Blade Runner? If you can't do it right, just adding more and more won't make it look good. I don't mind it as such, but to me it feels like trying to copy GoT and BR but not... quite... getting it. I realize this is probably a very subjective matter, but then again I'm not a reviewer.
Why can't they agree on how to pronounce Kovacs' name? This isn't realistic - it's annoying.
Visually, it's might impressive. I like the art direction and design choices. The various languages are well done with minimal accents from what I can tell and Takeshi's skill of anticipating people's actions reminds me of the Social Enhancer augmentation from Deus Ex.
