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
I don't know where all the negative comments are coming from. I loved this sequel.
The Matrix Resurrections keeps to the theme of the original movie, while leveraging plot points from the previous sequels to resurrect the Neo :heart: Trinity love story after 20 years (according to the movie timeline it's 60 years) .
The Matrix movie critics love to over-intellectualize the philosophy of the story arcs and characters. Over the last 20 years, I've heard critics trying to justify religion (ex: Buddhism) using the Matrix movies. Today, reading the comments here, this seems to have evolved into people trying to explain transgenderism using The Matrix (maybe because the creators of Matrix are transgender?).
I always believed that these movies oppose group think and are about breaking free from hive-minds and intellectual-echo-chambers (aka The Matrix). For example, Twitter today, with its Leftist cancel mobs, is a great example of a Matrix. Every time I read about a famous person getting "cancelled" or "de-platformed" by a social media platform, I picture an image of Neo being dragged out of the embryonic sac and getting violently unplugged by machines and thrown away (from the original Matrix movie).
For me, as a career software engineer, The Matrix movies are also about algorithms and logic. The unpredictability of a code base as it gets larger and complex. Eventually, leading to anomalies and vulnerabilities. I loved Neil Patrick Harris' performance as the new Architect of the Matrix. What a legend!
Is the franchise getting stale? Absolutely. It's a formula movie franchise. I watched all Fast and the Furious movies and the spin-offs too. I'm not the one to judge. :rofl:
Simple , Elegant GoodNight Watch
Kim Go Eun and Jung Hae In have such beautiful chemistry. Their love story spans from 1994 to 2005, and we get to see the retro technology like radio, telephone booth, Windows 95, flip phone, and so on. It's a memory delight for viewers growing up in the 90's and amazement to the generation afterwards.
Fate and hardship of life meets and tears them apart each time in 1997 and 2000 until the last meeting in 2005. Each time, the lack of communication between the couple is the real antagonist in separating them. And it seems like also the lack of communication from the production team separate the movie from the viewers with choppy scenes and bumpy relationship growth. The ambiguous open ending as doesn't help harness any more fans
That being said, the time gaps were poorly done. Conflict arises over situations that could easily be fixed. The breakups and reunions are very clumsily done. Definitely not a movie to watch for the story but more so for the feeling it leaves you with.
The movie is saved by great acting skills of main and supporting actors and actresses, and the chemistry between Jung Hae In and Kim Go Eun is sweet. And off course some nice music. As mellow as it is, I will not re-watch this movie again.
Watch it if you are hung over either Goblin(Kim Go-eun) or One Spring Night (Jung Hae-in)
A beautiful, minimalist love story. One Spring Night (OSN) tells a tale of two people who fell in love despite the whole world telling them not to. They tugged at my heartstrings with their beautiful relationship that not only had to bear the weight of internal struggles but also had to face the societal pressures that came along with being Korean.
First and foremost, let me just get this out off the way; I have been in the mood for slow-romance and I appreciate the one without the usual K-Drama Troupes ; like Memory Loss , Unreasonable Breakups , Misunderstanding and Jealous-Evil Second Leads ; and OSN fits perfectly in this category
One Spring Night is a take on modern Korea where the youth have to face the older generation, but not with guns or lawsuits, it's all about dialogue.
It's as much a social drama as it is a romance story, so please go into it keeping that in mind. The cultural differences will make some decisions hard to understand but all of them make perfect sense, regardless. Jeong In and Ji Ho's slow burn romance coupled with extremely lovable side characters, realistic and fleshed out "antagonists" (though I'm not sure if I want to call them that because they weren't inherently evil, just handicapped by their circumstances, upbringing and morals).
All in all, OSN offers what most dramas tend to lack these days: authenticity. It makes you feel like you're there with the characters and you grow fond of them.
One Spring Night is (once again) about growth, and I believe that the best score you can give to a drama is "I want to watch whatever this writer and director are doing next". Well, this drama is not perfect. It has its problems but that's what growth is. It's not a straight line to success and that you won't get annoying sometimes. But the acting, damn, the acting.....
I don't like to compare performances because I like to believe that actors can't only do so much if the script isn't good. But what an amazing performance by everyone.
Jung Hae-In and Han Ji Min were both superb in their roles as the couple deeply in love despite their 'flaws'. Their chemistry was electrifying, similar to Jung Hae-In's performance with Chase Soo-bin in "A Piece of Your Mind"
That's not to say that the side characters weren't also quintessential to the story. Unlike many of the other dramas, the side characters in OSN are seamlessly natural in their performance and appropriately impactful on the main characters. They aren't caricatures or plot devices used to fuel the story, but rather, they have their own lives and accompanying struggles.
The FL’s sisters were also great and their acting really conveyed how their characters were shaped by their shared upbringing. The mother is not a saint ; although she is from the old generation she understood and stood by her children.
If there are two people I would hate it would be the Father (Tae-hak) ; greedy old guard with self-interest and the wife-beater Nam Shi-Hoon ; these kind of men are a disgrace to Manhood . Ki-Seok is an acceptable character who just destroyed himself due to pride and not love.
The music in OSN was also flawless and appropriate to the story. It boasts the ensemble of Rachael Yamagata as well as a song from Oscar Dunbar and Carla Bruni. These songs aren't just great for their addictive repetitions on your phone, but they seamlessly blend into the settings of OSN. One song in particular, Spring Waltz by Carla Bruni. My lord, that song was perfect for OSN and an absolute delight to listen to. Even if you don't watch this drama, which I highly doubt by now given how much you must've read of this review by now, you should google that song and play it on repeat.
Overall, OSN has ranked definitively in my favorite Korean dramas of all time. It's needless to say at this point in the review, but the casting choices, music and directing styles were all impeccable. OSN showcases a captivating love from one to another with endearing characters from varying social backgrounds. It's truly a romance that will keep you engaged in the show from all their ups and down. There is this faith between the main characters that persists throughout the show, and it's a faith I have for the romantic dramas to come from director Ahn Pan-seok and writer Kim Eun
When I started it i thought it had 32 Episodes and I wasn't rushing through to continues which helped me to enjoy it more. Binge watch it, watch two episodes a week, whatever works for you. If possible, watch it on a Spring Night with your partner.
