A skiffy story with great visuals, some moral and philosophical questions, and some romance for good measure. And a few nits that stood out -- nits of the sort that always bother me. First, there would have been no call for the automated announcement about the slingshot maneuver around that sun since there would have been no reason for the original programmers to think that anyone would be awake to see it. If the writers and director were committed to showing those visuals to the audience, then they should have just let Aurora and Jim discover the event for themselves as it occurred. Second, pretty much everything about that tree was wrong, from the water questions to the potential issues if and when its roots broke through the deck and all kinds of things in-between. Third, probably not a good idea to put your reactor plant at the front end of your ship, where it will take the brunt of any ramming damage. Fourth, a complete lack of logic behind the turning-around question. All things being equal, if it takes X amount of time to get from A to B, then it should only take X amount of time to return from B to A. Even a slow turn that takes a week to execute is nothing in relative terms in a scenario like this one. And lastly, given how much must have been spent on building the ship as a whole, would it have killed the money people to splurge and include more than one autodoc for a crew of 258, as we're told at the outset? While I'm willing to accept the fact that there was no reason to expect problems with the 5,000 hibernation pods, any engineer worth his or her degree would insist on better redundancies and a backup plan or two in case something did go wrong as it did here. In any case, nits aside, the primary four actors here and the visuals and the underlying story itself were all strong enough to survive those nits, with plenty of room to spare.
I'm listening to the soundtrack right now to put me in the mood, which the OST is actually pretty darn good.
I think this movie frustrated me more than anything. There was so much fucking potential with the concept, and some of this movie does work, but most of the time, it comes off as generic Hollywood bullshit. When this movie does work, it works really well.
There's this one scene early on where, let me explain:
Chris Pratt's character has been awake by himself for almost a year now, and he's had enough of living alone, knowing he's just going to wait around to die. There's actually a very effective emotional scene where he gets into the airlock without a spacesuit on, and is about to open the airlock to kill himself. The music and the emotion on Pratt's face actually got to me, I don't know why.
The whole idea of being alone on a ship, doomed to live the rest of your life on it alone, is a fantastic idea. It's a great concept that could have so much to explore, the meaning of life, the importance of a partner, the possibilities of heartbreaking stories and lessons that could tapped into with this movie... and it doesn't amount to much. They take this great concept that could really talk about the meaning of life and could've been one of the best movies of 2016, ends up being butchered by studio executives, given a 150 million dollar budget to add action scenes, and a standard Hollywood romance story that's dumbed down for American audiences.
It really makes me sad, because there very brilliant glimpses of intrigue and worth-while storytelling, but that's all they were, glimpses. I wish this was more of an independent production, so a small group could actually flesh out some meaningful ideas with this idea.
They even have an 88 years later recap and a pop song for the end credits... fucking fantastic. When it does work, it works. The music is great and there are some well-done scenes, but it makes me more unhappy than happy. I want to love this movie, but I can't.
Well...
Instead of reading reviews, the best thing to do is just go and watch it
I didn't find it REALLY good, but I enjoyed it nonetheless !
the main problem (sorry) are the actors... especially Jennifer Lawrence ! Don't go watch it if you want a serious SF movie !
I didn't count the number of times there were "sexy" shots on her body, but at the end I was like "come on ! Not again !"
Also for physics friends, the director made quite a good job ! Of course, there are some flaws but there is a lot of actual physical content, so the ship, the technology and everything is not pure imagination (or wandering).
also I'm still wondering some things, like why is there only a single medical pod or bartender for 5200+ people ? Why there is still a need for propulsion when you keep at 50% of light speed ? What a glass preventing humans from being roasted by a fusion reactor is made of ? How strong Chris Pratt really is to make an amount of force equivalent to the force with which he got ejected by the energy of that reactor, simply by throwing a door ?
Finally, the music is fair and the design is good, the only big problem here is too much romance but hey, that's what people want now ¯_(ツ)_/¯
In the original animated film, Mulan wants to be normal but she's not very good at it so she feels like an outsider until she finds her place by using her unique talents as a soldier, even though that's socially unacceptable (and illegal) as a woman.
In this remake, Mulan is good at literally everything and born with superpowers, but no one is willing to accept a woman who's competent at anything so she has to struggle with the lie of pretending she's a mere mortal until she decides to stop being ashamed of being the physical embodiment of perfection.
The movie is very boring. I was looking forward for great quality China themed movie.
What you get is shallow, superficial, unengaging cinematography.
Minuses
The acting - It was weak, especially when they try to "pose" after what is supposed to be a key moment. It just does not work is rather makes you laugh how superficial it is.
The story - The execution is so weak. The story has almost no struggle and character arch.
The setting / macro-cinematography - Again week. Manytimes it is clear use of set, or s green/blue background set. Takes you out of the story again by breaking 3rd wall.
Pluses:
Some nice visuals.
Mulan entering the army segment - probably the only segment that has struggle and emotion, rather than flourish.
In this film the female empowerment was completely disregarded and replaced with a super-power.
Mulan no longer was this woman who worked hard to keep up with the men who were naturally stronger than her in the army but was given the gift of super-powers at birth. Seems like an easy way to disregard plot holes.
Instead of the opposing army being, well like an army, they ran up walls with their super-powers.
The enemy's companion was a woman who also had super-powers but she decided to help Mulan out in the end because women stick together. Nice try at feminism Disney.
They also replaced Mulan's companion with a flying phoenix that'd pop up in the sky every now and then to give Mulan some hope.
This movie felt very plastic and it was more like a super hero movie that took place in a tacky, overly-polished, Chinese, desert village.
Wow, what happened here?
A Mulan remake had so much potential but it seems like they really phoned this one in. I'm totally cool with them going in a new direction compared to the first one as do the other live action remakes (except for the butchering of Mulan's backstory and turning her into a generic chosen-one), but there are many aspects that make this not a great film on its own.
Not only does the film have no personality or engaging qualities, but the directing and editing are just kind of bad. It's clear this is a high budget film based on the set pieces and costumes, but the cuts are choppy, with weird camera angle decisions and times of poor framing. The pacing is also weird- it's a two hour movie that has a long ramp up with quick climax and ending. This leaves the audience little chance to get attached to the characters. The writing and acting also leave much to be desired- often times empty, awkward, emotionless, and full of plot holes.
If this didn't have the Mulan and Disney brand behind it, it'd instantly be forgotten. This could have been so much better.
This movie, right off the bat, makes some smart creative decisions: it doesn’t try to imitate the original too much, and it’s not a musical.
They even steer away from the usual Disney formula by taking away the funny sidekick.
And while the film is technically quite impressive (cinematography and score are top notch), I found it to be ultimately unengaging.
Also, there seems to be a correlation between big, feminist action movies and poor lead performances.
I mean, just do the math: Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and now Mulan.
Yes, I also find it important that more of these movies get made (not corporate, tame Disney films, but female driven action movies in general), but they deserve to be a lot better than this.
Problem is, if nobody sees it, chances are execs will take the wrong lesson from it, and think people don’t want to see female/Asian representation, or feminist themes.
So, we’re kinda fucked regardless, but I still don’t find that an excuse to give a heavy push to this mediocre movie, as I see some journalists doing.
5/10
Warfare and gender politics (plus musical numbers and pet dragons) around imperial China in this Disney-fied adaptation of an old eastern fable. It's flashy and well-produced, with a strong female lead and up-front morals, but the plot seems too convenient and there's very little life outside the spotlight's bright glare. Funny, that last point, as Disney's always been so thorough about granting attention to the little details in their better preceding efforts.
Mulan is just fine. The animation is fluid and smooth, a crisp blend of classic western style and traditional Chinese décor that brims with character while paying service to a stiffer, more respect-driven society. The plot, up-tempo but shallow, hits its important points and changes the scenery before younger minds have a chance to wander. Singing and dancing cartoons aren't really my thing, but the tunes in Mulan are aurally inoffensive, at least, and kept rather short and utilitarian. I didn't hate anything, but I also didn't love anything... it was all just there. Yep, that looks like a Disney movie. Yep, that's the bad guy. Yep, there's the cursory romance. I appreciate the envelope-pushing hinted by the premise, encouragement to challenge the status quo if you find it unjust, but the film's conviction to see that message through adversity seems shaky at best. Even Eddie Murphy's comic relief side character, the aforementioned cat-sized dragon, doesn't get much to do.
The ideas are good, the animation is top-notch, the music is tolerable, but the big picture stuff is half-baked and the window-dressings are shockingly bland.
This is based on the 7 minute short film with the same name. The idea behind this movie isn't bad at all but the whole story is not enough for 104 minutes. It's incredibly long-winded, the longer this movie gets, the more it takes away from the simple yet clever and rather empotional resolution. Taking away the impact of it in the process.
Just meh all around due to the length.
not much of a marvel movie fan. they're generally shallow on story, dialogue and action creativity, which all but kills a movie for me. but they can have decent visuals and humor. black panther is pretty much the same result, but with a unique world that gives it a new feel. overall, not impressed.
Meh. Trashy but well-intended movie. Lots of loose threads and hella weak characterization. Problems get resolved within 1-2 minutes. Shows how well made other war movies are in comparison. Yet: Worth a watch for the adrenaline-infused opening and the sound design for some parts.
Pretty boring movie. The first hour is just a bad war movie with poor dialogue. The second half is much more interesting, but very under-developed. Disappointing that the concept was never fully realized.
probably the most original movie about aliens, well directed with incredible special effects, neill blomkamp first movie and it kick ass
I love the thought behind this. Valuable history lesson in a futuristic setting
People seem to either love or hate this film. Personally I love it. It's a great story of aliens on earth and their situation is a commentary on real life refugees. Overall the film has a gritty documentary feel that gives it an added edge.
The premise was promising but 30 min in I still didn't know anything about any of the characters or have a reason to care for them and had to shut it off
It was such a drag. It was hard trying to sympathize with Maggie, and some of the camera shots/scenes felt unnecessary and only added to the movie's length.
Similar feeling you get from watching Red Notice or Uncharted: very international, fast-paced, 3/4 of the time they're shooting at each other or blowing things up, not much more than that.
The cast is on point (Regé-Jean Page a little over the top) but exactly because of that, giving them some more time and having some more build up for the characters would have made a better flick.
I don't know, I still get entertained and enjoy these kind of movies every now and then but - as another user mentioned - I'd rather have a "The Nice Guys" well-scripted, more story oriented, playing on the characters' chemistry. And here there were the possibilities: some buddy cop between De Armas and Gosling, some familiar tone with the niece and Fitzroy, some more Cahill's involvement... good interactions wasted at the altar of explosions.
Not a pleasant movie.
"Silence" is like religion: well-intentioned, fine for some, and a bit long winded. The grand ideals this film takes on are lost in a lack of editing that would both shorten the movie and help to focus it. Sadly, this Oscar vehicle for Andrew Garfield doesn't really go anywhere after it runs out of gas halfway through.
so long and so boring, waste of time
A visual spectacle no doubt, but the source material, even cut down to be fit into multiple movies, is still over-stuffing this movie.
And by far the most egregious annoyance were the times where, for no reason at all, the music was massively overloud. Completely drowning out the vital dialogue required to understand what is going on properly and at other times just being obnoxiously loud during establishing shots or action set pieces.
But beyond those flaws, it was still a very enjoyable experience and I do look forward to more entries in the series.
Honestly, I have a feeling I didn't watch a movie but a 2.5h long prologue.
I had high expectations so it's normal I only gave a 7 to this movie. It just felt really diluted and not engaging enough.
Despite being 2.5 hours I kind of felt that there wasn’t enough going on
Basically, it's a 150-minute trailer for the sequel(s).
The production design is stunning and Scott knows how to mount action sequences. This however is a film whose plot strains credibility throughout - there have been plenty of films that take dramatic license with history before but trying to meld a personal revenge story with a wider attempt to make Rome a republic again doesn’t work and the contrivances the film goes through to bring about the final confrontation the film is building to are not convincing at all. That it works pretty well as an entertaining action revenge film is down to the sheer presence and performance of Crowe, who deserves the Oscar for the sheer conviction he brings to the role. Joaquin Phoenix plays the villain as a petulant man-child which is an interesting choice, but leaves the final battle devoid of any real tension. The extended version of the film does add some extra detail to the supporting cast at the expense of pacing and perhaps the filmmakers realised that keeping the focus on Crowe and his personal crusade would keep the audience invested and more willing to suspend disbelief in the plot. It worked!
