It’s basically a really simple genre film, but it’s stuffed with so many memorable action scenes, great characters, terrific music, dialogue, visuals and gore that it gets elevated to incredible heights.
It doesn’t suffer from the pacing issues that his film usually do, but Tarantino’s voice as a director can still be overly present and indulgent here and there.
To this day, I still find the bleeping of the bride’s name pretentious and unnecessary.
Other than that, it’s an absolute must watch.
8.5/10
It clearly owes a lot to Booksmart, and while Booksmart makes bolder creative and visual choices, this is still very entertaining in its own right.
The comedy has a lot of bite to it, which is becoming increasingly rare nowadays.
7.5/10
I’m very much against judging something in comparison to the source material.
It often leads to very shallow criticisms, and giving an artist some leeway to put their own creative twist on the material isn’t a bad thing.
However, this movie strips away everything that makes the anime interesting, so even when judged as just a movie, it’s still a fail.
All it really has going for it are some gory death scenes.
3/10
It’s a really generic script, you’ve seen this type of conflict time and time again. But it moves along, and the visuals and action will keep you engaged. I don’t quite get why the action is receiving so much criticism. Sure, there’s some handheld camera, but I didn’t notice any incomprehensible shaky cam. It’s a perfectly fine film.
It’s stylish and fun, easily recommended if you want to have a good time with friends.
It does have that sense of emotion and heart you expect from Gunn, though some of his comedy is a bit hit or miss for me.
6.5/10
This movie is everything that Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t
Lame.
It wants to be Lethal Weapon, and it just isn’t.
The story sucks (that’s almost a given with these movies), the action is below average, and the jokes, which are mostly terrible, can’t save it either.
And for a movie with a budget like this, it’s surprisingly ugly looking (way too fucking bright).
This feels like someone trying to do a impression of a ‘90s action movie, and it’s a really uninspired and overlong attempt.
Pretentious nonsense that becomes a complete tonal mess by bouncing between a surrealist and realistic tone in a very jarring way. Also, it can get unintentionally funny and the character choices that are made after the scene where she visits the producer do not add up with how this character has been established. I’ll give it some credit for the acting and cinematography, but this is overall a terrible art film that feels like a lesser version of Enemy.
3/10
The story is solid, the characters we know from the first one have new arcs, and the action kicks it up a notch.
I especially like how cinematic it feels, it feels big and like an actual event film.
The choices that are made in regards to editing and camerawork really stand out compared to most blockbusters nowadays.
It kinda falters a bit with its pacing, and the plot relies too much on convenience, but it’s still a solid film.
7/10
A funny satire of contemporary mainstream music and the shallowness of it.
Still, for as good as it is, I think they could’ve pushed it a little further.
The main character of this film and his music almost appear to be highly intellectual, especially for an industry that gave us Lil Pump and the song Gucci Gang.
7/10
It’s entertaining, but also a big mess.
And not just in terms of writing & the poorly structured plot, but also in the ugly way it was filmed.
4/10
Messes up the basics of filmmaking (story, characters & acting).
The direction is actually not that bad, considering the budget.
3.5/10
A cool mix of an entertaining 90’s script and modern style & direction.
Logan Marshall Green shines, but there are no interesting characters besides him.
Also, the overarching plot is kinda predictable and something we’ve seen many times before.
Normally, I’d give it a 7.5, but because the action is so inventive and creative, it deserves a little higher that.
8/10
The themes are unfortunately becoming increasingly more relevant in 2020.
As for the film itself, it’s pretty good, though there are Disney films with better characters and more interesting stories.
7/10
You really have to stick with it, because most of the weird stuff only starts to make sense in the final few episodes.
I love how this show took its time to fully delve into all the characters in the first half of the season, with some episodes highlighting one or two of the main characters.
The plot is rich and thematically interesting, and asks questions about meaning making and purpose in a world where no one seems to have answers for the things that happen.
Who do we believe? Scientists? Religious figures? Cult leaders?
Most of the characters have interesting arcs, but some of the B-storylines feel haphazard and unnecessary for the main plot (Tom/Wayne/Christine & Dean the dog killer), making the show less focussed than it should be.
Also, for as great as most of the acting is (Justin Theroux & Carrie Coon in particular), some of the younger actors aren’t all that great.
7.5/10
Feels more like a student film in terms of acting, directing, and writing.
It could’ve been really fun, if the writing wasn’t so extremely on the nose.
But then again, subtlety isn’t exactly America’s strongest suit, especially in terms of politics.
This effectively shows how the culture of stigmatized neighbourhoods in the UK promotes small, banal things blowing up and turning into hostile, unpredictable situations.
The core of it is solid, but the rest of the film leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s overacted, unfocussed and a tad too melodramatic.
The rapping would have been a nice addition, if it didn’t get on my nerves so quickly.
Most of it recaps what happened during the previous 15 minutes, which wouldn’t be necessary if you’d pay attention.
4/10
Once, the Lannisters and a Starks were more like brothers to each other.
This film is just great, it’s an amazing technical achievement. Let’s also not forget that the script elevates the experience by genuinly making you care about the main characters, something which Dunkirk completely failed at, for example. On the other hand, there are a few too many moments in the beginning where not much of interest is happening, and you’re just wandering along with these soldiers. You can’t complain about that for too long when it’s still a feast to look at, but I genuinly felt the movie picked up a lot more steam in the second half.
8/10
Hands down, one of the ugliest and headache inducing films I’ve ever seen.
This is the film George Lucas desperately needed to watch when he was making the prequels.
I guess the people behind this movie really liked the final act of the third Harry Potter film.
This film is really stylistic, twisted and fun in a dark way.
You have to puzzle together how everything happened.
I could’ve used a lot more character development though, because you don’t care about any of the people in it, and the lead is kind of an asshole.
Also, they do kinda cheat by suggesting that you shouldn’t try to alter the past, which is supposed to raise the stakes, but nothing in this film even suggests that that’s possible.
The whole film takes the ‘everything is pre-determined, you have no free will’ approach to time travel, so you can’t change the past, even if you wanted to.
6.5/10
It’s very solid, undeniably one of the most well shot war films ever made.
However, it lacks a bit of emotional resonance.
Most of these characters (especially the ones in the air and at the pier) aren’t that interesting, so it’s not a movie that fully engages you as a viewer. I don’t necessarily need a schmaltzy backstory, but they could’ve given Fionn Whitehead more of a personality at the very least.
Also, I thought the scenes in the air, while they sound incredible, got a bit stale after while.
It’s just Jack Lowden and Tom Hardy shooting at a bunch of planes, and there’s not much more to it.
Still, this movie deserves a lot of respect for its presentation, story structure, directing, acting, editing, sound design, score, etc.
7.5/10
Intouchables meets Driving Ms. Daisy.
Not bad, but not original or creative enough to be truly great.
Dumb and nonsensical, which would be fine if it wouldn’t take itself seriously, but it totally does.
Also, you won’t care about any of the characters, despite the fact that Jennifer Garner is clearly trying.
Really well done, a nice reinvention of this genre.
8/10
The final few episodes are terrific, but they also show that the writers just didn’t know what to do with Brody’s family after season 1. Morena Baccarin doesn’t get anything to do, there’s no emotional pay off to the storyline with the daughter, it’s just very poorly handled. Also, there’s one nonsensical storyline in the first half of the season (you’ll know it when you’ll see it), and in general, this season is far less focussed than the second season, and particularly the first season. Nevertheless, it still delivers the thrills, and its still well made, so I do recommend it.
The filmmaking on display here is some of the best you'll ever see. Also, all the performances are very well realized. However, I've always find this movie to be quite predictable, despite Hitchcock's attempts to mislead the viewer. Furthermore, the final exposition scene really should've been shorter (just the final moments give new, vital information), because most of the information should already be pieced together by the viewer at that point. Still, it is an essential watch for any film fan that deserves a high recommendation.
8/10
