They made a sequel to Black Panther ??
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@mr-sackamano well, personally, I'm glad they did! :)
8.5/10 - Things are really taking off now! :)
The first movie was basically an introduction and shows that status quo while this movie starts the story of the revolution (which makes it much more interesting - I especially like the breakout from the Hunger Games dome/"prison").I like how this movie directly builds upon the last movie but focuses on the emotions, PTSD, and helplessness / power of the Capitol.
We get to see the Victor's Village, more of the Sci-Fi technology of the Capitol (which I really like), the Mockingjay is slowly introduced as the symbol of the resistance, the military forces of the Capitol are shown, and the bigger picture becomes more clear (the last movie focused on the small part that the Tributes got to see and didn't show much of what's going on behind the scenes).The idea of the third quarter quell and selecting the tributes from the pool of victors is interesting. It really shows the hopelessness/emotions, makes it possible to show another Hunger Game, and yet makes it something completely new with a big twist at the end.
Just a bit unbelievable that they managed to protect Katniss that well without her knowing but I guess it would be doable with some luck.What a massive cliffhanger at the end though! "This is the revolution and you're the Mockingjay" and "District 12 is gone".
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@dahj also quite a few emotional/powerful, entertaining, etc. scenes, e.g.:
6.5/10 - It wasn't bad but I didn't really like it either. It had it's moments but overall it failed to get me invested enough into the story. I also didn't really like the ending... It was an unexpected twist but kinda annoying and very questionable (but it also explained a few things). But I was already wondering how this would end and none of the options I could come up with are really satisfying. It was a cool idea, had some funny moments (but overall I found it a bit to silly), some good action moments, and some surprises but the overall story just didn't feel good enough (I'm not quite sure why but it just wasn't enough for me).
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@dahj some notes:
Shout by Narate
VIP5"Love is a distraction. Sorcery requires complete focus."
I wish this came out when I was a kid, because I know I would've loved it. Magic, cool vfx, humor... right up my alley. Watching it as an adult was not near as fun, but I appreciate what they were trying to do and this was right before Nicolas Cage started doing insane roles (this might've been the beginning of all of that).
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@narate I last watched this as a kid/teenager and quite liked it (IIRC) but now, probably a bit more than 10 years later, I'm in my mid 20s and was pretty disappointed when I decided to rewatch it - so your assessment seems about right ;) :D
For a number of reasons, Letitia Wright was an incredibly poor choice to step into the role of the Black Panther. Both Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira were much more deserving. In fact, I don't think that they even needed to name a successor in this film, but they did, and they chose poorly.
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@jmg999 for me the choice was more about which character than which actress. I was actually hoping that they'd choose Shuri as she was or rather is my favorite character. I also think that it makes the most sense as she's royalty / his sister, has the knowledge, and could become a good leader (although that part didn't work out as well as I hoped... :o).
I didn't really like it at first (it was fine but just not that good) but the ending really got me :) It's a nice mix between drama and comedy. I found it too dark at the beginning but the last part (since Otto opened up to Marisol) and ending was really heartwarming and beautiful <3 It managed to make me care about the characters.
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@dahj the suicide warning a the beginning had me a bit scared as I don't like dark/depressing movies but it was fine (it's ok as long as it ends well). It's quite sad though how Otto only ever really lived for Sonya. Both of their lives were actually quite dramatic (Otto's parents died and Sonya got paralyzed and lost their child).
Otto's suicide attempt via train bothered me and didn't seem to fit his character. He wouldn't put that on the conscience of the train driver (then again, at first, he didn't think of Marisol, her family, and the cat as well).
I also like that Otto likes cars. I only disagree with his taste though :o :D Toyota is really cool and Volkswagen is fine. I also don't mind hybrids. But I do like manuals, like Otto.
Honestly don't think I want to watch the film knowing they used real footage from Beirut...
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@sebbejohansson I wasn't aware of this. Apparently that footage was only in the trailer though and allegedly it wasn't even meant to be in the trailer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creator_(2023_film)#Controversy (but I'd say nothing in a trailer is usually there by accident)
A not-so original sci-fi feature that punches above its weight class in terms of spectacle and world building, but is lacking in the writing department more often than not. Way too many examples of ham-fisted, on-the-nose dialogue, as characters bluntly tell the protagonist how high the stakes are, how important the child is, or any number of other expositional dumps. The high-level story is also rife with clichés, with the central arc feeling familiar to the point of predictability. Now, there are moments that land effectively. I would specifically call out the early interactions between Joshua and Alphie as being among the strongest of the film. But those moments are few and far between, as a lot of the more ambitious emotional beats feel rushed and/or forced. On top of that, it seems like delivering spectacle was perhaps overly prioritized, as many sequences don't hold up to even the most surface level logical scrutiny, resulting in a lot of eye-rolling, head scratching, and ultimately the death of suspension of disbelief (e.g., suicide bomb robots seem silly when you've got a massive tank shooting precise missiles that are shown to be more effective, or standby mode somehow fooling an army of scientists, or Nomad seemingly being in multiple places at once in the final sequence). Admittedly, those types of complaints are nitpicky, and if the dialogue and big picture story had landed better, I think they would be easily forgiven. Not to mention, as I said initially, the visuals are fantastic. The Nomad's eerie beam of blue light is unique and memorable. The contrast of futuristic robots in a rural Asian setting offers plenty of striking visuals. I have no doubt that Gareth Edwards got incredible bang for his buck, stretching his $80 million budget to look on par with films that cost twice that. But in the end, the whole is less than the sum of its parts, with all of the fantastic visuals and handful of strong ideas combining into a package that was just okay.
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@skinnyfilmbuff IMO the complaints aren't too nitpicky. I found it too full of plot/logic holes and, at least to me, it made almost no sense when starting to think about it - which is a shame as this likely could've been so much better.
Gal Gadot can't act !
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I disagree. I'd ask why but (somewhat unsurprisingly) I can't as this account apparently got deleted. The comment received a surprising amount of upvotes though (IMO it's a hateful/disrespectful comment that provides no explanation to understand why and doesn't even make the five word limit...).
Anyway, I wouldn't say that Gal Gadot is a particularly good actress but that could also be due bad scripts, etc. She's quite good at action scenes though. And I don't find her acting bad (at least it never bothered me) - it might be a bit (below?) average if I think about it but, again, that could be due to the scripts, teams, etc.
IMO she's cool and funny but I don't find her that hot tbh (just not my type).
It's kinda funny but unfortunately that's about it... It's not as funny as, e.g. Deadpool, and it's way too stupid/unrealistic to be remotely believable or rather relatable (it's just too over the top). And the biggest issue is that it seems to lack any meaning - no deeper/important messages, I don't care about any of the characters, the story is boring, the action isn't really interesting, etc. Not sure if I should even rate it 5.5/10.
It has potential but I don't really like it, unfortunately... :o
At least it was somewhat entertaining though so it wasn't really a huge waste of time :)loading replies
@dahj some notes:
"Pussy"
"Do you see that?"
"This is much worse than I thought. This is a red one."
So the Cop is still alive and has powers as well?
WTF was that end credits scene???
PS: Woody's accent is funny/nice, as usual.
7.5/10 - The Jaegers are freaking awesome! :D
Seriously, the Jaegers are super cool :) I like their designs/engineering and size/mass. And the quote about them being able to fight a hurricane.
Scientifically they don't make a lot of sense (e.g., it would seem smarter to pilot them remotely and they don't seem like cost effective weapons at all) but they're simply cool to watch.
My favorite scene was the one where they dropped down inside the Jaeger's head to connect to the body. I just like such mechanical rail/elevator constructions and find it fascinating to watch (cool CGI combined with cool sound effects and animations).
When the intro talked about the aliens coming from below I immediately had to think of the Crysis game franchise. Until that portal/breach got mentioned right after that which makes it a bit different.
And of course there's the soundtrack! The main theme is just epic <3
And the main characters are pretty fun. Becket and Mori are lovely together, Geiszer and Gottlieb are entertaining, Pentecost is the boss, and Chau is just badass (I'm glad that he isn't dead :D).
The beginning was really good but I got quite a bit bored during all of the fighting in the second half (I'm not interested in the Kaiju and it doesn't show that much of the cool abilities of the Jaegers - or maybe I'm just bored because it lacks depth/meaning).
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@dahj I just watched this for a third time. Maybe I should rate it 8/10. I don't find the story that good but I like Raleigh Becket's character/backstory (and Mako Mori as well but I somehow seem to have forgotten her a bit), the Sci-Fi/Jaeger designs are cool, and the soundtrack (especially the main theme) is so nice that I simply had to give in and watch it again.
I find the Kaiju boring but together with the Jaegers it's fine. The Jaegers probably don't make much sense (steel is strong but also super heavy and not good at absorbing the energy of impacts so the Jaegers would probably damage themselves from their massive weight) but I somehow find robots much cooler and more fascinating than biological creatures (even if they're bioengineered and even though bioengineering itself is very interesting and cool).
IMO a movie before this one (when the Kaiju first appear and they start building the first Jaegers) could be even better. It feels like this movie starts in the middle of the story and I always like origin stories and seeing how things begin.
The idea of the great wall seems super stupid... :o It's fine to try that as well but a sole focus on defense seems super unlikely against an evolving enemy that constantly gets stronger (they could become strong enough to break through the wall (as it happened with the other unbreakable costal wall), they could climb over it, tunnel under it, fly over it, etc.). I don't think humanity would be that stupid to believe that wall is all they need...
That "Would you like to try again?" from the computer voice after the failed drift between Raleigh and Mako felt like from/in a video game :D
Raleigh seems to have learned from Zombieland: Always double tap ("check for pulse" :D).
The ending got a bit long and boring again but it wasn't as bad as I feared.
Amazing! What a beautiful masterpiece <3. DreamWorks never fails to impress.
I absolutely loved the beautiful CGI. Clouds, warm colors, beautiful particle effects and lights. IMO DreamWorks is simply by far the best studio in this regard.
And the story was also so touching. It was fun, heartbreaking, touching, and lovely.
Superb CGI, great animation, good story and good music.
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@dahj I think the only thing that I didn't quite like where the bad guys. That part of the story felt a bit weak.
It was also nice that Chloe Bennet voiced Yi but tbh I'm not sure if I'd really recognized her voice if I didn't see her name before watching it. I know her voice from Agents of Shield (<3) but IMO it sounded a bit different in this movie (maybe they used some effects to make her sound a bit younger or the recordings from studio microphones sound that different?). But there where certainly some parts where it was easy to recognize.
Ugh,the twist at the ending kind of made the rest of the movie pointless for me, I mean I want to feel sorry for J1 and J2 but now that I know they never really existed, I can't. The ending made the entire movie feel like it never even mattered whether or not George succeeded nor did the way he treated J2 have any consequence
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@mokins @emilysmiles I fully agree with both of you. I never like such endings (dreams, time travel, simulations, etc.) for the same reasons.
Terrible animation, lazy character modules, weak story line, awful jokes, paper thin character development, and out of nowhere music choices.
I'm honestly surprised Illumination didn't make this movie.
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@bradym03 hey, Illumination makes great movies! :P (SCNR :D)
I pretty much agree with the rest though (I'd upgrade the animation and jokes to bad).
Shout by Bonebag
Really? You just gonna say "Your partner gave that tape to me" to a maniac? Anyone in their right mind would know, that maniac would immediately try to kill his partner after hearing that.
For giving you solid evidence, i can't believe Tom snitched on Anthony like that!
That's the one thing that bothered me. Other than that, it's a fairly good one. Intense movie.
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@bonebag yeah, that also bothered me, thanks for the comment! At least Tom wasn't aware of John's second gun but nonetheless he shouldn't have snitched on Anthony. And I also minded that not even Anthony had a bulletproof vest. He knew what his partner was capable of...
Anyway, I guess it doesn't make sense to analyze this movie in the first place but that part was too annoying without even really thinking about it.
The worst movie I've seen since Paranormal Activity, although Paranormal Activity was bad because nothing happened at all, and this movie is bad because it's a movie that wants to be realistic and everything that happens is just surrealistic and over exaggerated.
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@woif haha, no I don't think this movie aims to be realistic :D It's definitely surrealistic and over exaggerated (at least everything else would be quite scary).
I really like this movie, it's quite cool. I love the concept of the factions (Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite), the factionless, and the divergent. My favorite scene (actually two) is when "Run Boy Run" plays. That song is so fitting.
There's also a lot of action in this movie, probably even too much tbh :D It also feels a bit too dark and brutal (it's quite heartbreaking when their parents die at the end and Eric isn't nice at all). At least Four provides some light in the darkness.
There are a few good lines in it though and some nice concepts.
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@dahj extra note: In this movie I'd also like to join Dauntless but I probably wouldn't make it so I'd likely go for Erudite (which should also match the recommendation based on the aptitude test).
