Twilight becomes both much more funny and much more bearable when you are familiar with the genre and take it as the film equivalent of a shōjo manga or otome game, including all the same tropes. Under these criteria, it's actually a pretty fun movie.
Hot Take: If you can tolerate James Bond movies but this one somehow makes you feel weird, perhaps it's because you're more used to or more comfortable with male fantasies of sexual desirability. Either way, I used to hate Twilight because I felt superior to all the stupid girls who liked it. Now I just accept it for what it is: wish-fulfilment. Sure, Edward would be a creepy stalker and borderline abusive if not for story mechanics that tell us he can be trusted because he's a good guy, but that's the beauty of fiction: in real life there's no such thing as "good guys" and "bad guys," but in stories, there is. Similarly, James Bond would be a serial sexual harasser if not for the fact that all the women he encounters are super into him, but again, that's the beauty of fiction: they always are, and we know it's okay for him to be a dick sometimes because he is, you guessed it, a good guy. And yes, there's some weird puritan ideology here about the dangers of male sexuality, but that's still a hundred times better than for instance the subtext of Bram Stoker's Dracula (which, funnily enough, is about the dangers of female sexuality).
So, once more for the people in the back: Twilight is silly, implausible, and often ridiculous. And that's absolutely okay.
That being said, things I like about this film: the great way in which it captures teenage awkwardness (which I find hilarious and at this point have to believe is intentional); the fact that Bella just accepts he's a vampire because it's the most logical conclusion, and there's no drawn out "I can't believe this guy stopped a car with his bare hands, I'm going to tell everyone about it - oh no, no one believes me!"; the quotability of so much of the dialogue (coming close to the SW prequel trilogy in that department); the absolute dead-pan way in which everyone delivers their lines ("It's like diamonds. You're beautiful." - "Beautiful. This is the skin of a killer, Bella."); The way literally no one looks like they want to be there; the fact that Bella does not seem to be able to fully close her mouth; the implication that vegetarians are "never fully satisfied"; Seemingly endless scenes of piggyback rides (now I finally know why they never actually show how The Flash carries people - it just looks so fucking weird); the shot of Bella's father rolling his friend in the wheelchair right in front of the stairs leading up to his house, followed by a cut so that it's never explained how he actually got inside; the fact that Bella just seems absolutely chill with everything ("I don't sleep." - "Never?" - "No, never." - "Okay.").
Things I don't like about this film: how everyone takes it so goddamned seriously. Oh, and that there is absolutely no instance of "What are you?" - "A waitress."
[8.8/10] There’s a funny thing about these updated, transmogrified Shakespeare adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You. If you didn’t know better, you could call the plots convoluted. There is a complicated web of relationships and deceptions, to the point that you practically need a diagram to explain it properly.
In short, Michael helps his friend Cameron woo Bianca by convincing Joey to pay Patrick to date Kat, because Bianca, per her father Mr. Stratford, cannot date until Kat does. With me? Well then, it turns out that Kat dated Joey, and after Bianca picks Cameron over Joey, Joey picks Bianca’s friend Chastity, while Michael pursues Kat’s friend Mandella, as Kat and Patrick’s tempestuous relationship takes root.
It’s a little dizzying, and yet the complex string of friends and enemies and relationships that tow the line between put-ons and genuine affection track nigh-perfectly into the high school setting. Despite the dense qualities of that big ball of string’s worth of plot threads, the complicated social structures and intersecting circles of high school make for the perfect way to realizes The Bard’s comedies in the modern day.
But 10 things is more than just a transmogrified version of The Taming of the Shrew. It also a charming tale that captures the heart and hazards of adolescence at the same time it exaggerates them for comic effect. What’s most impressive about the film is how it has its cake and eats it too on that front. There are goofy beats and subplots that only happen in teen movies, like unexpected party scenes and famous bands showing up to play contemporary (hopefully) chart-topping hits for the soundtrack.
But amid that broader material, there is a real examination of what it is to play up or down to expectation, a theme present in the work that inspired 10 Things, but which is given new life in the guise of the teenagers who are at that point in the fraught process of growing up where they’re deciding who and what they want to be, in love and in life. The gross wager that turns into real love is a hoary trope (see also: fellow 1990s borrower She’s All That) but by rooting the romance at the core of the film in two people who embrace a thorny image and find the hidden depths behind the prickers in one another, the film does justice to its source material and resonates with a target audience trying to figure out which parts of who they are malleable, which parts are non-negotiable, and which parts are fit to be broadcast to the rest of the world (or at least, the relevant social circles)>
It is also just damn charming. The film is full of quotable lines and crackerjack exchanges between characters. The cutting aside is wielded well and often, and side characters like teachers (including the great Allison Janney) and parents (Larry Miller, who nails both comedy and emotion as Mr. Stratford) provide a backdrop of colorful characters for the main story to flourish in. The writing stands out in 10 Things not just for the amusing lines which liven some otherwise familiar teen material, but for the way it allows the film to, in true Shakespeare form, shift tones into more serious material when it needs to.
The same goes for the characters. Kat shoots off the best zingers in the movie, and with her rebellious attitude and literary bent, it would be easy to turn her into a one-dimensional avatar rather than a character. Instead, the film roots her perspective and demeanor in an experience with Joey that gives form to her concerns of Bianca following in her footsteps, and gives just enough context to her mom leaving to make the crisis of conscience and turning point understandable.
By the same token, Bianca could easily be a generic popular girl, and in fairness, at certain points of the film, she is. But she too has a simple but meaningful arc of playing to expectations only to realize that she doesn’t necessarily like what that gets her, and it allows the two sisters to grow in their understanding of one another in strong scenes that deepen their relationship.
The objects of their affection receive a bit of shading as well. The reveal that Patrick, who puts on a gruff exterior and bears the reputation derived from many humorous urban legends about him, is not as wild as he seems is, perhaps, a predictable one. But he gains strength from the way that he and Kat see bits of themselves in one another, Cameron is a bit flatter, learning a trite if endearingly-put lesson about not accepting the notion that he doesn’t deserve what he wants, but there’s enough there to give ballast to the enjoyable-if-disposable teen romp elements.
Even Mr. Stratford, who is arguably the most outsized major character in the film, gets a bit of shading. While he spits out awkward-sounding nineties slang and is comically overprotective and paranoid of his daughters getting pregnant, the film balances that with a subtext to his insecurities about Kat leaving for Sarah Lawrence. There is a Daria-like quality to the film’s ability to poke fun at the parent-child relationship, but also find the sweetness and sincerity in it.
That’s what makes 10 Things more than the sum of its byzantine bets and love triangles. Some twists are convenient, some gestures a little too big to work anywhere but on the silver screen, and some bits of forgiveness come a little too easy. Still, the film keeps its plot, humor, and drama working in sync, where one scene can make you chuckle, the next will let you get to know a character a little better, and the one after will tug at your heartstrings, just a little bit.
The oh-so-nineties soundtrack immediately places in the film at a specific moment in time, but it speaks to the relatable qualities of that quest to figure out both who you are, and who’ll accept you for who you are, that feel like life and death for all seventeen-year-olds. 10 Things is a touchstone for those who grew up with it, both for the quips and clever asides that let the film crackle, and for the notion of young men and women, cutting through pretension and presentation, and finding something true beneath it, in themselves and in the people they love.
Poor Things is very pretty, I’ll give it that much. Colors pop, and the watercolor, blurry sky and the scaling but condensed environments of Lisbon and Alexandria both convey the miasma of Bella’s mind quite well. How the background blurs in our young memories and how we remember all the buildings and places that looked large over us but so rarely the walks to them. Those work for me. So much of the rest of the film doesn’t.
I see what it’s going for- it’s hard not to. A journey of womanhood through the conceit of a child’s brain in a woman’s body, when women are treated as children and property to begin with. But it’s so fucking weird, with that conceit, to devote so much time to sex. Sex is an important part of being human for many people, I’m not denying that. But the attention it gets here throughout compared to brief, paltry scenes of Bella reading, seeking knowledge, having an interest in medical science and surgery is disproportional. Especially when the film wants to play her coming home and following in Godwin’s footstep as a culmination of her journey when it’s a facet of the film that barely gets any play in comparison. Angelica Jade Bastien, whose Variety review you should all read, brings up how in a film ostensibly about a cis woman and her relationship with her body menstruation does not come up once. It’s so telling where the film’s true focus lies.
And yes, sex can be beautiful, and conversely so can sex scenes. But the ones here are done dispassionately yet voyueristically. There’s no interiority, no sensuality, no sense of emotion and character felt through them. Compared to films like The Handmaiden they are sterile in heart if not content. It’s a big swing to go from black and white to color, and I can see sex being the impetus for it, sure, but when it’s done like this I don’t buy it. It’s interesting to me that her first time having sex is portrayed like this, with penetration until the man comes, thrice over, and yet her first time with cunnilingus is off screen. I feel like all the sex in this film is similarly narrow and lifeless.
None of what this film is trying to say is new, but much of it is muddled. It wants to rail against the entitlement of men, how they see women as property, how they want them to be exciting and adventurous but only in service of them. And yet it gives Max no grief at all for falling in love with. A child. Literal child, this is not a metaphor, it’s a child’s brain. And marrying her but refusing to have sex with her until marriage because that would be taking advantage, as if marriage would not be taking advantage and has not been used as the ultimate control. On some level the film condemns this, but only in the opposite direction, as part of Emily leaving Max is her frustration over not having sex. It’s baffling that the film seems to take the viewpoint that we ought to let children consent to sex with adults, that it is part of their development and journey to personhood. The film is similarly forgiving to Godwin, who used a woman’s body in a way she would very likely not have consented to all while the film extols a woman’s choice and ownership of her body.
Everything the film has to say about the nature of man and people, about women’s place in society, about sex work, etc, is rote. Nothing here is new, and nothing is heightened by the core conceit. It’s so surface level. And the cast is game enough. Dafoe is Dafoe and that’s always a good time, but I wouldn’t call this one of his greatest roles. Carmichael, much as I love his standup, just is not working here. Stone and Ruffalo are acting for the back seats, and while that has its moments of charm, it’s too much for most of the runtime. And Stone is just. She’s playing into ableist stereotypes for so much of this performance. The film drops the r slur and we’re just gonna pretend that Stone isn’t doing an insulting caricature at the same time? I don’t even want to delve into all the questions raised by the mental disability angle, others could do that better than me, but it’s another level of thoughtlessness and surface level depth.
The score is similarly cloying and overbearing. It insists on a scene rather than being a part of it. It doesn’t enhance it or complement it, it beats you over the head with how the scene is meant to make you feel. I could enjoy the sound of it in isolation, but as a score it’s distracting more than anything else. It’s a bit surprising to me how much this film has been praised as outside of the production design, I don’t see it. I just don’t. For me, this is as much a misfire as Barbie, if not more. Poor things.
The human darkness and the inhuman ability to resist even in deep struggling: this is Handmaid's Tale. And it's definitely not for the faint-hearted. It pushes our minds into an universe of evil and cruelty: if the women's condition is one of the (few) things that western society concords about, here we see this fall apart completely in front of us. All directors (especially Morano) plays with our perspective: the power of details is incredible. Facial expressions, sounds, scenery, all lead to reveal the world as it is: a place not fit for humans like this. The Janine' suicide attempt scene in the ninth episode is the most powerful example of this: one can really hope that the suicide take place, because, for a fragile mind like her, death can be the only pain-relief possible, a vision that Offred refuses during the entire season. Offred is just a baby-making slave, but the character evolves to became a powerful leader that can literally save the world, because the pain she suffered has created a monster in her, maybe even more powerful than her masters. By the end, the story turns into a carousel of resistance images.
The level of oppression really stands up near the one in Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003), which is one of the most terrifying in cinema history.
This movie shows in a very good way how the next virus outbreak that will be just as big or maybe even bigger as the Spanish Flu is gonna happen in the 21th century. And believe me, sooner or later IT WILL HAPPEN.
I liked the electronic music that was playing at the beginning of the movie. It had sort of an panicked tone to it that together with the people who where getting sick and dying set a thrilling tone to the first part of the movie.
I found the movie to be very realistic. Jude Law character was spot-on. When there is gonna be an outbreak we will see people on the internet (who have no medical training whatsoever) who think they have found the cure and millions of people will listen to them. There will be millions of people who stop going to work, who stay at home and avoid contact with anyone. Others will do whatever they can to get their hands on a vaccination, even if that means killing someone else.
I liked the fact that we got to see the story from so many different angles. It really gave an overview of the entire situation and what the virus had for an impact on all the people involved.
The end of the movie was a bit disappointing. In my opinion that could have been a lot better. But overall i find this movie to be really good.
I can say straight up this will not be a movie for everyone, but it really clicked for me. I would also say a blind watch is preferable in movies like this, I went in knowing almost nothing and if possible I think that's the way to watch the movie if possible.
For me it was incredibly immersive once established, with incredible sound design and score. The slow build of tension, unease and dread as things unfold. I'll admit, I've always been a fan of mediums that give the viewer the same amount of knowledge of whats going on as the characters have, and this nails that.
The premise has a whole has been done many times before, including this years Knock at the Cabin, but I've not seen that or read the book it was based on. But in relation to the other similar films, this takes the top spot for me.
While the ending itself is probably the weakest part of the movie for me personally because it answers just slightly too many questions a little bit too easily, the journey to get there was still worth the time and I think the ending might still work for others.
Blade Runner is one of the more gaping holes in the list of films I haven’t seen (or at least, don’t remember well enough to talk about). Yesterday’s viewing of The Martian got me thinking about Ridley Scott’s past work so here I am.
I really should have done this sooner.
L.A. 2019, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a ‘Blade Runner’ - a policeman whose sole purpose is to hunt and kill replicants; machines almost indistinguishable from humans, yet banned from Earth. Four have been detected on the planet so he is called up to hunt and kill them.
Scott’s dystopian LA draws you in and holds you captive for 2 hours. This is a masterfully shot, timeless, beautiful piece of work. Every single frame is a work of art. The visual effects are not only highly effective, but incredibly creative and unique; never has anything like this been made before or since.
The plot is simple, one man chases another. However it’s driven almost entirely by its central themes; what is it to be human? Who deserves to live or die? Are we responsible for the things we create? What happens when our creations surpass us? All of these questions go unanswered, yet Scott somehow revels in the ambiguity.
Decker is a blank canvas of a character. The replicants he is chasing are complex, unique individuals. It’s no accident that Rutger Hauer plays the most human character in the film. His is the stand-out performance here, if only for the closing monologue.
Still fresh & still relevant, Blade Runner is indeed a modern masterpiece.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/10/31/bladerunner/
This show is fantastic. Severance is a narrative of how we live our lives constantly battling between work and life and what that balance should look like. It uses a unique science fiction storyline to dive deeper into that imaginative idea while using what some may perceive as mundane, but who are very realistic characters. This show does a great job at marrying reality with impossibility, which is what the best sci-fi books, films, and shows do. The actors are all great (Especially Adam Scott) and anyone who truly appreciates the art of acting and directing, or film in general, will truly appreciate this show.
Listen, Not every show or movie is for every person. But the people who are giving it one star are stuck in TikTok reality where their attention span is limited to less than 10 seconds. That’s not real life. This show is closer to real-life in an office than it is to TikTok (unless of course, you’re an “influencer”). Not every show or movie needs to have someone blow up or die in the first 5 minutes. And the ones giving this show a low rating because of characters have no understanding of the development of plots through the evolution and growth of characters throughout a storyline. And those who don’t like the actors don’t know good acting.
This is a psychological thriller because it makes you think, as long as you have that capability. Take a break from your phones, relax, and enjoy this unique show that tells a story, that has build-up, anticipation, and allows you to be excited about the small details that occur because you know eventually it will lead to crazier stuff. And allow yourself to actually use your imagination to contemplate this crazy alternate reality and your mind wander. You’ll likely enjoy it.
[6.8/10] So many of these finales are so overstuffed. There’s just too much going on, and not enough down-to-earth moments amid the bombast to make it all hang together. This is a problem which has afflicted most of the MCU shows to date (with the noteworthy exception of Loki), and I’m already a little tired of it.
At first, I enjoyed the chaos of this one. When Eleanor Bishop’s big ball is going down, you have a tone of, well, balls in the air. Clint and Kate are on the scene. They’ve brought their LARPer friends to back them up. Jack is out of jail. Maya/Echo has turned on her mob affiliates. Kazi is playing sniper. Kingpin is pulling the strings. The Tracksuits are on the scene. Eleanor herself is poking around the place. Yelena is still hunting down Clint. With so many intersecting circles, there’s fun that can be had.
But it turns into one giant clusterfuck. Streamlining these events down to a few key points might have helped make them work. But such as it is, the season finale for Hawkeye is just too much. The constant cuts between various interconnected storylines doesn’t make it hard to follow exactly. “So This Is Christmas?” isn’t exactly Twin Peaks in terms of making it puzzling to know what’s going on. But it does leave the episode feeling disjointed.
It breaks down to a few key one-on-ones. Maya squares off with her boyfriend/betrayer, Kazi, and god help me, I just don’t care. Maya was an interesting character in her introduction, but Kazi’s a big nothing. We’ve barely seen the two of them together, so him choosing the mob over her, or feeling like he can’t escape from it, while she implores him to bail on it with her, doesn’t aeey the weight the show wants it to.
By contrast, past events give the interactions between Clint and Yelen greater meaning. I like what the show’s trying to do here. These are the two people most connected to Natasha, the ones who are both still processing her death in many ways. Having them fight but ultimately commiserate with one another is a good tack. Unfortunately, the dialogue is stock and the back-and-forth between them is rote. The moment isn’t as powerful as it ought to be, and it’s not some failure in conception or in performance from two talented actors. The show just can’t write or stage their heart-to-heart in a way that maximizes the potential of the two people still grieving Black Widow coming together.
LAst and maybe least, I got nothing out of Kate confronting her mother and fighting Kingpin. There's potential in the mom stuff, particularly in Kate’s sense that her mom went too far with all the deceit and urder, and Eleanor’s standard “I made hard choices for us” defense. But it’s too brief and underexplored. Maybe there’s room for more later, but it felt awfully abrupt for arguably the central relationship for Kate.
Likewise, all the Kingpin stuff is underbaked. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Kingpin in the Netflix Daredevil show and it’s a thrill to see D’Onorio in the MCU proper. But Fisk is too underdeveloped in this show to matter beyond the cachet of the character from other stories. The show does its best to tie him into events the audience has already seen, but it feels perfunctory and underfed. Bringing him back just to (presumably) fake kill him off seems dumb. And while it’s compelling to see him shrug off arrows and seem superhuman, his fight with Kate leaves much to be desired.
This is all before a ton of unbelievable crap happens in the finale. Look, this is a superhero story. A certain amount of heightened reality is the cost of doing business. Maybe it’s just the reverse-halo effect of the less-compelling parts of this one’s story casting a shadow over other elements of the production. But Kate falling several stories and not having so much as a scratch, Clint tumbling from the Rockefeller Center tree and being no worse for wear, and a strange friendly owl in the middle of all this, the show exhausted my willing suspension of disbelief.
So what works in this one What’s already worked on the show. Kate and Yelena remain great together, and the combination of their friendly banter and the best-in-the-episode fight ements them as the true highlight of this one. Likewise, the friendship between Kate and Clint has really blossomed over these six episodes. There’s some “yada yada yada”-ing as to how they get there, but watching them construct trick arrows is fun, hearing Clint warn Kate about this life but call her his partner is heartening and seeing the original Hawkeye bring the new one home to meet his family is sweet. I’m not 100% sold on the two of them as a team, but I’m most of the way there.
Hell, there’s even a few surprises. Once it’s revealed that Tony Dalton’s Jack Duquense is essentially a good guy, he’s a hoot. I’m definitely interested in seeing more of him in the MCU, and by god, somebody ought to cast Dalton as Gomez Addams.
Overall, Hawkeye and its finale fall squarely into the “fine but unspectacular” category. There’s enough here, chiefly in Kate’s relationships with Yelena and Clint, to make it worth watching. And there’s enough, in Kate’s complicated relationship with her parents and Clint’s complicated relationship to his superhero past, especially Natasha, to give it some gravitas. But there’s nothing so unique or compelling here to make it a must-watch or indelible part of the MCU. The series isn’t a complete miss, but it’s definitely a bit off the mark.
(All that said, I’m intrigued at the hint that Clint’s wife, Laura, is a current/former Shield agent, and I love love loved the glimpse we got of Rogers: The Musical, particularly the silly commitment to the bit.)
So this episode kinda dropped the ball? It's not as bad as "WandaVision" or "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", but it's still weird.
Like, Yelena decides to believe Clint because he spent so much time with Natasha and knew her so well? Didn't Yelena already know that? Even if you think it's this empathetic moment, there are no tangible ideologies in conflict here.
So Clint and Kate's arc? Like, he tells her to stay away because he doesn't want to see her get hurt, but then she joins him again, no questions asked.
Kate and her mum's arc felt weird. It's like, Eleanor did all those things because she had to take responsibility for her husband's debt, but Kate just paints her as a villain, with no sympathy. Like, c'mon. Really? She did all this for you, Kate. It's just too complicated for Kate to shrug her off as a villain and call it a day.
Anyway, it's one of the weaker episodes in the series. I wish I liked this more than I did, but it's not as strong as the earlier episodes. I still love Hailee's Kate and Jeremy's Clint, though.
6/10
Spider-Man : No Way Home
The movie is objectively wonderful for those who love superhero movies and Marvel movies. Fantastic special effects (it was to be expected from a company like the MCU), the crossover between the 3 spiderman, Octopus and Goblin (played by the fantastic William Dafoe) are spectacular, the ending with a logical sense, the death of the aunt etc.
But personally, I didn't find it that good for two reasons mainly :
1) I am not a lover of superhero movies.
2) Too much hype was created by the rumors about Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's appearances, and this ruined the surprise of seeing them in the movie. Can you imagine if these rumors would have never appeared in the various newspapers, how it would have been much nicer to see the 2 Spider-Man of the other universes appearing like that, from that portal? It would have been fantastic, it would surely be among the greatest twists of the Marvel Universe.... But unfortunately it was not so.
Summing up, the movie is wonderful for lovers of marvel movies, probably one of the best ever created by the MCU, but subjectively, the whole thing was ruined by the newspapers and the various rumors. .I still found it to be a cute and enjoyable movie.
6/10
Over the last two weeks I re-watched all 8 previous Spider-Man films in preparation for this one. That's Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire's trilogy, Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2 with Andrew Garfield, Homecoming/Far From Home with Tom Holland, and finally Into the Spider-Verse. It was quite the marathon and having just gotten out of the theater from seeing No Way Home I can now confidently say that it was totally worth it. However, I will note that Into the Spider-Verse was not directly referenced, with only a very minor line of dialogue that could be considered an indirect shoutout, so if you're also considering going back to do some re-watching you can probably skip that one (although it's still fantastic and well worth a watch). As one final side note, for the last five or so years I have gone out of my way to avoid trailers. I think this always results in a better film going experience, but in this case I think it was a particularly beneficial decision, as I was genuinely surprised by characters/scenes that were undoubtedly spoiled in the trailers.
So... No Way Home. This is kind of a tough movie to rate because it is very much a mixed bag. It hits some home runs in certain areas, but there are some elements that fail to live up to the strength of Homecoming and Far From Home.
THE BAD: The instigating event with Dr. Strange (memory erase/obliviate spell) is a tonally weird scene. What ultimately turns into a crucial/deadly mistake is played as an extended joke, which was a bit off putting. In general, the humor has more misses than the previous films. Still plenty of hits, but just not quite as high of a percentage. Some of the emotional beats and dialogue feel more ham-fisted than I'd like. The pacing felt a bit off, with numerous scenes that seemed to drag unnecessarily. Some of that probably has to do with the need to establish a lot of new (or rather old) characters, which leads to lots of extended dialogue sequences. I feel like an extra action sequence or at least some trimming here and there could have been beneficial. Finally, I was very disappointed/frustrated with the post-credits scene. In fact, to even call it a post-credits scene is disingenuous. It was literally a trailer for the next MCU movie, which is not how post-credits scenes have typically been used and I definitely prefer them to be self-contained scenes rather than montages/clips from a future film (especially considering the fact that I avoid trailers).
THE GOOD: I recently wrote a review praising Into the Spider-Verse for successfully bringing the interdimensional antics of comic book storytelling to the big screen, so when this film attempts that same premise in live action, without the benefits and limitless possibilities of animated storytelling, it is frankly even more ambitious/impressive. And, despite all of my critiques, this film succeeds in that attempt. This is peak fan service. The callbacks. The cameos. The costumes. It's all there, and as an audience member all I could do is smile. The plot isn't anything to write home about, but it gets the job done in terms of setting up all of the types of big payoff moments that we were all hoping for. The highlights for me (all of which were big surprises) were definitely Charlie Cox's return as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, the reveal of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield's dive to save MJ, giving him a chance to prevent a fellow Peter Parker from experiencing the same loss he did.
All things considered, this is a must watch for any Marvel/Spider-Man fan, and a solid enough film on its own merits, although perhaps not quite as well rounded as Tom Holland's previous two outings as the webslinger.
I think that finally all the inconsistency that this movie had does not matter. It doesn't matter that some villains are there and others are not, that the spell does not make sense, nothing deserves to be explained. And it is not necessary. Perhaps the only thing that matters is that the power that Marvel has to hoard every movie theather, and that in Peru, for example, they have violated their seat separation protocols, that they are charging more to see this movie, even in its third week, without being possible to have discounts on tickets (when even movies in their first week of release have). You might say that all this is external to the film, of course. But if Spiderman: No Way Home references things external to this movie all the time (not just the past Spiderman movies, but even the meta commentary on those movies, which comes from how silly they are to every line from Jaime Foxx about how he is more comfortable in this one). When the film takes us out of its narrative with all this, I think it is allowed that I too can get out of it to think about all this external that I have commented.
This is just one side, of course, and I'm sure I'm being mean or a smartass, sure. Even without all this, the movie should at least be entertaining. Of course, for some, that are so tired and I understand it, entertainment equals quality, "I had fun, ergo it's good." OK. But understand that there are thousands of ways to entertain yourself with a movie, to have fun. It happens with bad movies, The Room, for example, but it happens with the experience of going to the cinema as well (I think of the scene in which Jerry Seinfeld wants to go to see Planet 9 From Outer Space, but not alone, because otherwise it would not be entertaining ). I'm not asking Seinfeld to rate the film, but we are on Rate Your Music, we have to rate. I understand that some have fun with mediocre films, I think that to a greater or lesser extent we have all found ways to do it, but there are some that we can separate that: I surely entertained myself, maybe hate-watching Spiderman: No Way Home, and although I know what to expect with hese films, I think one of the highest grossing films of all time should have at least a clean script (I really wouldn't ask for more than that). I can't lower my standards, and that's okay, I'm not making my life miserable, I'm having fun in my own way (don't pity me poor me). But this fun, at least for me (and that is what many fail to understand) is beyond the fact that the film seems coherent to me.
Even so I found my way of making my experience watching Spiderman: No Way Home interesting, maybe egocentrical, and entertaining. This movie is by no means fun. The first two were okay, fine. Now they say this is stupid or that it embraces stupidity. Okay, but at the same time they are trying to sell us a conflicting Spiderman, who instead of going to chase the Green Goblin, prefers to tell the public that he wants to kill him. A Spiderman that almost acknowledges that he is in a film and knowing what's gonna happen next (he ask is Dr. Octopus knows him, because he called him by name, but everybody knows he is Peter Parker; he doesn't think there are new villains, he thinks something weird is going on). The downside this time around is that the show feels overly plastic, and that wouldn't be a problem if the movie wasn't trying to sell us the Spiderman drama.
And this is my way of having fun, you can't accuse me of being no fun. Okay, you can accuse me of being a cynical fuck, yes. But this is fun. And it's also depressing, of course. Is laughing to avoid crying.
If I want to say something good... well, maybe at least we have Daredevil on the MCU (but they are definitely not gonna reach the series highs, hell, not even the lows... How the fuck can you introduce him and get rid of him right away, there is a trial that we needed a lot more of, that should've been its own half an hour. And even when introduced you just skip all the good parts, how can Daredevil catching that ball be in screen for just a instant, don't you know how to zoom in, make momentum, fuck).
Okay, maybe it is good that Spiderman is kind of restarted now. I'll keep on wanting a better film out of this Spiderman. And I'll have fun while doing it.
Final thought: I liked the bromance, seeing old friends and foes, there was a nice emotional coating and bond after the final battle and in the aftermath - still I believe the premises were forced, there's no real redemption for the 5Foes nor actual spaced growth for Peter1 after the central Uncle-Ben-ish traumatic event.
It was too much counting on our love for the Tom Holland's Spidey family and the old ones, tapping into nostalgia serving us audience. Which I like in the balance they've kept till now in the MCU, but this feels excessive at the expenses of the plot.
p.s. Dani Rojas has a weirdly different career in this universe
If this film is a cake, then it’s got the best possible frosting you could wish for. The cake itself, however, isn’t great.
I’ve always had a strange relationship with these films. I don’t really care for the Raimi films (I think they’re overly cheesy, poorly acted and dated, though don’t expect anyone from around my age to admit that), the Webb films are fine (really like the first one, second one’s a mess) and I’ve really liked the 2 recent ones (not as much as Into the Spiderverse, but still good in their own right).
Compared to the previous 2, this one pretty much ditches the John Hughes aesthetic as it goes along, and it goes into full on, operatic superhero mode.
Unfortunately, it is another one of those project that puts nostalgia and fan pandering over story and character, the kind of blockbuster we’re seeing over and over again in a post Force Awakens world.
This story is completely hacked together, consisting of so many contrivances, conveniences and established characters acting out of character that it becomes a bit of a shitshow ( Doctor Strange, a genius, is being tricked by teenagers; Peter not knowing about the consequences of the spell is a very forced way to set the plot in motion; Ned being able to open portals is quite ridiculous when the Doctor Strange movie made a point about how hard that is to learn; why is Venom in the universe given how they set up the rules of the multiverse, and the list goes on ). The problem is that they needed to take that bullet in order to make the film they wanted to make here (or rather, the film fans wanted to see), but that doesn’t make it the right choice by any means, because it leads to a nonsensical film with a rushed pace.
Look, you can nitpick this film to death ( why would a university publicly admit that MJ and Ned are rejected because of their connection to Peter? ), but that’s not even my point. It’s heightened and not meant to be taken that seriously, I get that, but you at least need some form of internal logic, you cannot just do these unearned things because the plot demands it.
It’s not all bad though, Holland’s Spider-man still has a very good arc with some great emotional beats in it, and they make some very bold choices towards the end that I hope they stick with. It’s very similar to the first Fantastic Beasts, so I hope they don’t pull a Crimes of Grindelwald by retconning everything .
The acting is great, Holland and Zendaya give their best and most mature performances yet, and the villains are all good. I really like that they toned Dafoe down a little bit.
It looks fine. It has some of the best cinematography out of the trilogy, but some of the action looks very animated (again, stop touching up the suit, just let it wrinkle ffs) and unfinished, which is probably because this thing was rushed out, as we know.
For instance, there are some really wonky shots in the scene where Spider-Man fights Doctor Strange, the close-ups with Benedict Cumberbatch look like a weather forecast on television.
The references to the previous incarnations are a bit of a mixed bag. I like that they progressed some stuff and did interesting things with the things they referenced ( for example, you really feel like time has passed with Tobey and Andrew, they’re not giving a copy of their original performances, which is also a great excuse to tone down the awkwardness and lack of personality in Tobey’s version. Also, the banter between them is very nice, of course ), but most of it plays like a pandering greatest hits compilation. I don't need Dafoe to say you know, I'm something of a scientist myself again, it is nothing but a cheap attempt to trigger my nostalgia button.
Finally, it also has some of the worst tonal balance and comedy out of the trilogy, especially with some of the lines that are given to Benedict Cumberbatch.
5/10
In summary/TLDR: great idea for Sony’s bank account, but the seeds for this needed to be planted much earlier in order to make it a good film.
This is an honest, spoiler-free review coming from your average fan (not a critic):
I just saw this new marvel film, and I have to say... it's no where near as bad as the critics make it out to be.
Yes there is a lot of dialogue. But it gives the characters a chance to shine and for scenes to breathe.
People call this film dense. I would disagree. Yes there is a fair bit of plot and history told, however I would say that other mcu films have simply much simpler plotlines most of the time.
There are moments when things are just about to become exciting, and then it is interrupted with more dialogue which instantly kills the suspension.
There are a number of plot twists in this film, and some unexpected things happen that I wouldn't have seen coming.
This film has a slow burn, but sometimes that's a good thing. Would I have liked more action? Yes. Was I unhappy with the action we do get? No.
I will admit, going into this film I was expecting a masterpiece, and while I wouldn't quite call it that, its definitely a well-made film, marvel or not.
Oh. And expect to have to do some reading at the very beginning. Kinda reminds me of a classic Star Wars opening crawl.
"Such a poser."</b
Every time I will be watching another Marvel film with Natasha Romanoff I can not think of her other than a poser. Thanks Yelena!
Anyway, Florence Pugh rocked this one. Hopefully she will be heard of again soon in the MCU! I enjoyed what they were going for and loved all of the banter. Scarlett Johansson again did a great job as Natasha and I'm said this will be our last showing of her but her story-line is complete and Florence Pugh showed us she's more than capable to take over the Black Widow mantel. The action was solid and I liked the car/motor-chase. Cate Shortland really did a solid job because for the entire runtime I was never bored for a second.
But! I do not like what they did with Taskmaster. There was so much for to get out of this. Which for me, took the movie down a notch. It's not that I hated it but it didn't feel right. And before I forgot damn, what did they try to do with that Nirvana cover? DAAAAMN.
Anyway, if you are into the Marvel Cinematic Universe you will not be bored. Really interested how they'll build up Phase 4.
Normally, I'd have a whole much of stuff to say... but this time, I just can't. The whole tone of the movie, especially after seeing the recent string of miniseries, felt kind of underwhelming. The plot had potential though. The plot wasn't the issue. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh's chemistry fit pretty well together. I feel like other people didn't care for David Harbour, but I get what they were going for and I think they did reasonably well but definitely could have been better. I can't even blame him. The whole movie felt more like a Bourne film than a Marvel film.
The VFX were pretty bad.. like CW DC show bad. If you have even an amateur level of 3D rendering experience, you'll be able to spot every little thing that is CG. Every car, vehicle, or backdrop that isn't actually there stands out like a sore thumb. Incorrect lighting, overly reflective, just.. amateur AF..
On to the spoilery stuff...
First and foremost... I don't know who did it.. I don't know who approved it.. but this movie has committed an atrocity almost as egregious as Fox screwing up Deadpool in X-men Origins or Sony with Venom in the third Spiderman movie. They completely ruined what I assume was supposed to be Taskmaster. I don't even mind that they made Taskmaster a woman. If that was all they did, it'd have been perfectly fine, but they turned the character into a gimmick that got thrown aside and left to the unknown by the end instead of the badass higher level villain they could/should have been. Sure, they said they were taking her with them but.. that didn't get explained either.
I feel like they fell short on establishing a timeline. The movie starts out in the past, in.. 1995 I believe? and things jump forward and it took me a hot minute to figure out why the hell she was running.. Maybe I missed some text saying that it was post Civil War/pre Endgame. If I did, then that's my own fault but it honestly would have only been because I had such a difficult time focusing on the movie.
The entire movie feels more like an afterthought than an origin story. Loose ends galore. This movie was delay but still somehow felt rushed.
MAJOR SPOILERS!!!
So this is tough. There were some absolutely INCREDIBLE episodes! Two Storms and Bent-Neck Lady stand out... This had the potential to be a 9 or 10. In fact, I initially rated the show a 9 just after finishing it. Then I thought about it for a few days. Thought about how it all ended and what it all implied for the series as a whole. And I got angry... It felt like a betrayal. Such a huge tonal shift...
So the house "digests" these kids and their parents through their fears. It makes them see or do horribly crazy shit till they either kill themselves or others in the house. Dark as hell, yeah? But apparently this isn't actually a bad thing as "those who walk there, walk together". They turned the house with all it's vile evilness... into a somewhat "misunderstood" place where if you die there you can live forever with your loved ones who have also died there (yay!). What the hell...
A couple other weird things that bugged... Not necessarily in a bad way, but things I still think about...
So for Nell to be haunted by her future-self, the house must exist outside of time somehow (confetti monologue?). We don't just have ghosts from the past haunting the present, but ghosts of the future haunting the "present" as well. There seems to be a bit of a time paradox at play here... Chicken born before the egg type of thing.
And why did the Tall Man (who'd always been looked down upon) haunt Luke? Because Luke's future self would always be looked down upon because of his addiction? Maybe the house could take the form of those that died within, use whatever form best suited its purpose at the time. That would make sense with the whole "that wasn't mom" thing. Poppy was just plain evil so the mom's mania at least made a little sense...
And with this foresight the house seemed to have, why'd it target Luke when it should have seen that it wouldn't get him? Was he just a "bigger snack" of sorts (bigger than his older siblings, who were never really targeted the way Luke and Nell were)? Was it because Luke was Nell's twin (the Twin Thing)?
Regardless, it was just the house feeding off fears I guess... Using these ghosts from the past and future to breed more and more fear until folks died. Beautifully dark up till a relatively bright and cheery end. I still enjoyed the hell out of the series, but really wish that ending was different.
Wow, this show has been quite a journey. After 7 seasons, when I look back, it's hard to believe how everything started. What started just as another post apocalyptic TV show featuring delinquent teenagers, became one of the most well written and developed shows I ever seen!
Season one is just good. Nothing extraordinary. It's a very simple plot. Season two started with a very fair plot twist and by the end of 2nd season I was already in complete awe to this show. When season 3 came, the mythology of the show started to pave its path. And what a mythology! Everything started to get so deep and extraordinary that you didn't even remember that in season one they were just reckless young ones. From season 3 on, it just keep getting better and better, to the point that you actually realize how everything, since the Pilot, was already predetermined to happen. It comes a moment that you just applaud how much this show is extraordinary in what comes to connect all the plots. (For instance, something that you really didn't understand in season one and thought it was unnecessary, drops your chin when it reveals to be something really deep in season 5. And that happens a lot. And that's makes this show really worth watch it). Even when "nonsense" stuff start to happen on the show somewhere along season 6, you are so deeply involved in everything that you already realize that those "nonsenses" are not that crazy after all. Because if you are really paying attention to the show since the very beginning, you'll already see it coming and it will not seem that all of that just came out of nowhere Characters development is another achievement of this show. They do it in such a perfect way that you really get involved with those characters along the show.
At time I am writing this comment, there's only four episodes left until the series finale, and this final season already shown itself to be the culmination of a story that clearly has been planned for a long time. If you're reading this comment ten years since the show ended and is asking yourself if it's worth it. The answer is YES. Go watch The 100. It's one of my favorite shows of all times and eras. And I didn't even saw the finale. But I know that will wrap up this amazing journey in the best possible way.
May We Meet Again.
Altough I'm german I rarely check out german TV shows. The last one was Deutschland 83 and that was like two years ago. Germany just hasn't figured TV out yet but that's another discussion.
When I heard Netflix was producing a german show I just had to check it out because Netflix has a great track record so far and Germany does have talent infront and behind the camera. But overall I think this show just fell flat. Good, but nothing great.
Fantastic visuals that are shot very beatifull, the actors IMO are mostly great and the music/score can be beautiful but often gets obnoxious. But unfortunetly there are too many characters that are hard to keep track off which distracts from the story.
The story is already confusing enough even without trying to keep up with the many characters over different decades and it heavily sets up future seasons without answering a lot of questions about this one and just left me unsatisfied at the end.
Still worth watching tough IMO and very bingeable similarly to Stranger Things.
But if you do watch it then choose the subbed version. I checked out the dub really quick and it sounded horrible. And also don't browse your phone as you might do on other shows. You're going to miss so much important shit.
EDIT after Season 2:
I'm not actually sure what just happened and what I think about it. But the one thing I'm sure of is that the casting in this show is absolutely phenomenal. The actors look so much like their younger counterparts that I'm not fully convinced they aren't actually related.
Plus the cinematography is still fantastic and the music monatages are really beautiful (and they got rid of those obnoxious sound effects).
And altough the story is still very confusing I found it more easier to follow and more engaging than Season 1 because I now know all the charcters and their background. And it seems that the writers had this all planned out and aren't just making shit up as they go.
Changed my rating from 8 to 9.
EDIT after my first rewatch just before S3 is released.
Changing my rating again. This time to a 10. After S1 I thought it was good but confusing show (8), after S2 I thought it was great and really well thought out one (9). Now after rewatching both seasons for the first time I think the show is fucking masterpiece. (10). Once you can watch it without being confused and actually knowing what is happening your just in awe throughout all of it.
If they stick the landing with season 3 it could be up there with the best ever.
EDIT after Season 3
Masterpiece. Simple as that.
Writing. Directing. Cinematography. Casting. Acting. Soundtrack. Everything is perfect.
I'm going to miss the beautiful music montages at the end.
Damn! Dark, the trilogy as a whole is a very well written show with a captivating story. This only becomes more apparent when you realize how consistent the series has been throughout the three seasons and how everything was so well thought out beforehand. Granted, calling it immensely complicated would be an understatement as it may require careful attention or multiple viewings to grasp and remember everything but once you clear this hurdle and understand this show, its brilliance will readily become apparent.
This show may very well go down in history as one of the greatest Sci-Fi content both in terms of films/tv ever made. We will be darn lucky if anything ever comes close to the greatness of this show in future. Or maybe considering how it is a sleeper hit, it inspires studios to order more thought provoking contents, but who knows.
I think , once they prevent the deaths and time-travel from being invented, Jonas'(Split Reality 1) and Martha's(Split Reality 2) universes(realities) are annihilated, the Scientist's "Original reality" splits/branches again, to form another "3rd" Split Reality which is the one shown in the end.
Since "Endings are beginnings and beginnings are endings or everything is predetermined and past/future can't be changed", this would make the most sense without breaking the show's rule because if the Scientist didn't try to invent time Travel, there wouldn't be 2 split realities and with that no Jonas or Martha coming to change the past, and if they didn't come, he would invent time Travel, a Paradox.
So the original reality still exists alongside the new 3rd reality. However Jonas and Martha are erased from existence since their universes no longer exist.
Hannah deciding to name the unborn child 'Jonas' was also a nice way to spare us a completely sad ending.
But hey who knows! The series is open for multiple interpretations.
Here's something you might find helpful:
How To Understand Dark
1. Determinism:
I. Watch Predestination (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535 ) to acquaint yourself with the general idea of a closed time loop. Also maybe give Triangle (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187064 ) a shot.
II. Arrival is also great.
III. Watch Devs (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8134186 ) [Ignore the last episode, unfortunately Alex Garland still can't stick a landing] to really get the essence of a deterministic universe on the quantum level.
2. Split/Parallel Realities:
I. Rick&Morty has several episodes dealing with the concept. However, S02E01 A Rickle In Time(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4462494 ) and the recent S04E08 The Vat Of Acid ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10655692 ) both do the best job of explaining IMO.
II. Steins Gate is a masterpiece if you are into anime (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1910272 )
Finally something actually happened after they dragged the season for absolutely nothing.
After four mediocre episodes in a row with three of them being filler, this episode is decent enough. Those previous episodes serve no actual purpose other than waiting for the plot to trigger itself by that call.
The dialogues in this episode could be better and so could the way the scenes are cut, especially for the first half. People seem too eager to join The Mando in his quest for the sake of moving the story. However the last 5-10 the minutes is quite watchable with enough tense. The brute killing in the last scene seems to suggest they're going with the "evil Empire" cliche, but I wish they could do better than that next episode.
It seems like the story just started to be set in motion and we will be left with more questions as Season 1 ends, which unfortunately seems to be Disney+ business model: just make cute Baby Yoda stuff for moms and Star Wars reference for dads, figure things out later in Season 2.
On positive notes, it's nice that they attempt to do more world-building like shocktroopers having signature tattoo, each Imperial province having their own insignia, and the Imperial warlord trying to convince people that the world is better with colonialism.
It’s hard to write a review for this film without any major spoilers, so this might seem a little vague here and there. There will be very minor spoilers, primarily what’s revealed in the opening text crawl or the trailers, so not much, but if you want to go into this film completely virgin, stop here.
The film starts off with things already underway. A transmission has been sent out that contains the voice of Emperor Palpatine. Kylo Ren, now Supreme Leader of the First Order, goes to seek out Palpatine as a potential threat to his power. In the meantime, the Resistance is still in shambles after the events of “The Last Jedi,” and they are busy doing scouting missions and regrouping.
All of this is revealed in the opening crawl of the movie, which is where the problems begin. It violates a cardinal rule of storytelling: Show, don’t tell. It wouldn’t have taken much to have this done on screen in more dramatic and effective fashion. Instead, this has the effect of making it feel like we either missed something important or that we’re watching an entirely different movie with a different story. This makes things confusing. It doesn’t help that I was already thinking that J.J. Abrams probably needs to go back to Screenwriting 101 during the opening crawl. Not a good way to start.
Other things happen during the course of the movie that make no sense. Why does Kylo Ren reforge his helmet? We never really find that out. He just does. The Knights of Ren do appear in this film finally. Who are they? If you’re expecting an answer of any kind, you’ll be disappointed. Why is there this strange connection between Rey and Kylo Ren? One of the mysteries of the Force, I suppose. Characters who we don’t know appear from nowhere having been significant to the goings on even though we’ve never seen them before. Other characters take bizarre and up to now not even hints at character arcs. It becomes a horrendously confusing mess.
I liked some of the more controversial aspects of “The Last Jedi.” Rey being a nobody with no significant parentage? Great idea! The galaxy is a big place. Why does everyone have to be related? Well, this is adjusted slightly. I won’t go into details, but it was disappointing what they did, in my opinion. Leia’s story arc in this film is...weird. I’m going to allow that it’s due to the loss of Carrie Fisher and having to use archival footage (one scene that shows a young Luke and Leia using computer effects is freaky at best). But it’s off-putting and feels tacked on for convenience. It was nice to see Lando return, although even that felt more like throwing a bone to the fans. He could have potentially been replaced by any character with flying skills. Speaking of such, Wedge does make finally make an appearance, but it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.
Here’s how I would sum it up spoiler-free: As I said, I liked “The Last Jedi” a lot, including parts that many didn’t like or found weird as I stated above, but at the same time it was not a problem-free movie for me. “The Rise of Skywalker” is the exact opposite. It definitely has some really cool moments, but feels so sloppy and makes so many storytelling mistakes that, on the whole, I have to say that it’s a bad movie. I’ve said this about just about everything I’ve seen come from J.J. Abrams, that he’s great at coming up with interesting imagery. He gets these pictures in his head of something that would be really interesting to see on film, like flashes one might remember from a dream. For example, there’s a great scene near the end that finally corrects what many consider a great injustice done in an earlier movie. But couching these images in a cohesive story is not his strong suit. In fact, he’s downright terrible at it. This problem seemed to be going in full force in “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Were some of my complaints addressed in some expanded material? I don’t know, but even if they were it would still make it bad storytelling. Star Wars has always been fairly good about keeping things self-contained. Expanded material adds extra background to enhance the enjoyment of the main material, like adding seasoning, but shouldn’t be necessary to appreciate the meal.
Overall, you need to see this movie to close out the Skywalker Saga, but that’s really the only reason. Don’t go into this expecting a good or even decent film, or for every question to be answered. Ultimately, it’s a disappointing end to Star Wars, and I say this as a Star Wars fan.
This is a huge course correction that practically negates TLJ. It has its moments, and given what the director-writer had to work with, it's understandable how it ends with such a feeble whimper. This isn't a good film and shouldn't be mistaken for one. TROS is a very disjointed, clearly rushed, derivative experience, that shows its editorial seams, packed with callbacks to all the good things the original trilogy had to offer in order to make you up for it. The visual effects are quite good in most places (nothing stunning or eye opening), but some in the third act are not really at par with the rest of the movie. The plot could be written up with a crayon in a napkin, and I wouldn't be amazed if that was the case, as this isn't Citizen Kane. The amount of loose ends and plot holes this film has, are way too many to me. This is a $300 million plus film (without accounting for marketing, re-shoots and extra CGI) and yet, it doesn't feel as good on the screen as Infinity War or End Game, (very good films made by the same Disney company). After leaving the theater, I was not full of hope, sad or willing to buy another ticket or even willing to watch this movie ever again. I felt nothing but sorry for George Lucas and couldn't care any less about what happens to Ben, Finn, Poe and Rey. The problem with this film when compared with any of the original trilogy is that those felt timeless (grounded on mythical archetypes, Japanese samurai films, Westerns, Flash Gordon serials and the hero's journey) and this plot will look very dated by next year, I'm sure of it. Luke Skywalker took 5 years to master the arts of the Jedi, having two Jedi masters to introduce him to its philosophy. Rey has some old books and voices in his head to kinda learn in months a lot of fantastic new Jedi powers that made no sense. No matter how much it makes back at the box office, it will lose in long-term repeated viewings (one time is enough for me), Blu-ray and DVD sales, and of course, merchandise. It is a good thing we have The Mandalorian to keep the franchise in life support until the inevitable reboot comes along in 5 years. Edit: Forgot to mention that there were only 9 people on the first IMAX showing of TROS on this movie theater (this is a 3.5 million people city). Back in 2015, all the showings were packed for TFA the first 4 days.
I was ok with the poor character development when the TV series departed from the books. I used to like thinking it was a kind of alternate universe from the "real" one.
They struggled on TV to show daenerys as a spoiled and selfish girl instead of the woman who was learning to have patience and wielding power in a so goodhearted way it asked a high price from her in the books.
But nothing could justify her acts on this episode. After their utter and final SURRENDER she says "guess what I'm gonna burn them all". Not even aiming to Central tower. Just make an open air barbecue of the city. The breaker of chains, mother of the slaves, making all peasants BURN. There is no plot excuse. 7 years of character building thrown out the window.
This is not the only problem in this episode. Arya is useless but survives inferno and has a magical horse appearing. Cersei dies in the most disappointing way. Euron just happens to swim to the EXACT LOCATION Jamie is.
Frankly I would not be surprised if D&D choose to end it next week explaining that all of it was a westworld simulation experienced by androids. Because the Deus Ex Machina limit has been breached a long time ago, and they keep forcing it.
What in the actual f*ck.
I'm a reasonable man, I realize I've been crapping on D&D even more than usual this season but I really do have to give them props for doing exactly what they set out to do. They hoped to subvert our expectations and they did just wonderfully in that regards.
We expected all of that buildup over the years to actually amount to something that at the very least passes for a presentable series finale but instead, we got an incoherent, steaming pile of shit. Expectations subverted!
We expected all of that character development to actually result in a beautiful pay-off that respects the journey of self-discovery each and every one of our beloved characters went through to get to where they are now but instead, we got a painful, disrespectful cycle of character regression. Expectations subverted!
We expected the final season of this show to keep us at the edge of our seats with thrilling writing that didn't subvert our expectations for the sake of subverting our expectations via low-quality shock value-seeking writing, but to introduce plot twists that make sense within the overall narrative of the story but instead, we got CW-level predictable, cringe material. Expectations subverted!
I get it. I really do. GRRM let them down by not getting the books ready in time and so they had to improvise away from his influence, but this? This? For a long while, Game of Thrones lived up to the slogan of its parent network, it wasn't just TV, it was something different, something unique and now to have to see it come to this... it's nothing short of disappointing.
On the bright side though, at least this episode didn't suck completely. The acting, score and cinematography were all on point, so I guess it's nice that I didn't walk out of it having appreciated absolutely nothing about it.
So why do I even bother anymore? I honestly could not tell you, though it's probably a mixture of masochism and a faint sliver of hope that they won't flush our collective investment into this series down the drain by the end of it, just one more episode dammit.
I thought the movie really underdeveloped the world, and didn't take advantage of all of the cool possibilities. Other than The Shining none of the references had any impact. Mark Rylance was the only actor to make an impression. I didn't even like the narrative of the book that much but I thought Stephen Spielberg would improve it not make it worse. The plot holes were huge especially in the third act ( How did Art3mis just walk into his office, walk out without anyone seeing or hearing her, and just walk out of the IOI headquarters ). It felt like a lot was cut for time, or they spent so much time on CGI sequences they forgot to make anything real, but what they cut were the parts that made the book interesting. You could ignore Ernest Cline's narrative and plot struggles because he made the characters slightly interesting, the challenge seemed difficult and all encompassing, and a lot of the references were actually relevant to the story. Every time they got a key it was a huge deal in the book, here I totally forgot it even mattered because it was so glossed over even from the beginning ( Really a race? ) and the real world consequences also didn't matter, so the whole thing felt like it was hitting the classic sentimental Spielberg movie moments with nothing to back it up.
This is easily the worst season of this show. This is my favourite show, and this season betrays everything that came before it. Seasons 1-3 were absolutely fantastic pieces of television, season 4 was excellent in a different way, and season 5 was still quite good in its own way, even though it was most certainly a different show. Season 6 is a different show yet again, and it is not just because Frank is no longer a character on the show.
The writing is bad and the pacing is bad. There is no more believability like there was in seasons 1-4. At least the acting is still top-notch (that's the one saving grace the show has). At the start of the season, I felt like I was watching some sort of mystery show rather than a political drama.
Doug was the best thing about this season. I thought that Claire would have been, as she has always been arguably the best part of the show, however, this season just has her going completely out of character. There are some good flashback scenes to her childhood, and those had me intrigued, but unfortunately they were never really followed up on.
Everything that worked this season was never really picked up on.
I must say, although my review of this season is mostly negative, I do say all of this in relation to House of Cards as a whole. I believe that if I am looking at this season as a stand-alone season of television, it most certainly isn't terrible, but rather it's actually quite entertaining and enjoyable. The issue comes when you step back and realise that this okay season of television is following on from 5 of the best seasons of television ever made.
Man, they did a great job this season, I enjoyed it so much! I almost wish we had 13 episodes as usual with these shows because it feels like it went by so quick, but well, maybe that's one of the reasons it was so good.
This finale had what I thought were the best fight scenes this show ever had... or at least my personal favourites. Not just the fight sequences but the fact that everyone was involved - Colleen with Davos, then Danny with Mary, then Misty shows up... it felt very well put together. And I love the different coloured fists depending on the person, really gives it a comic-book vibe.
Colleen gaining the fist was something I never expected in a million years. Being a superhero show I'd say you sort of instantly expect Danny to recover the power and use two fists... but they went on a completely different direction focusing on Colleen for a while there and that elevated the story. And then it all came together with her ancestors' story/her destiny, it was impressive and exciting. We need more!
It sucks that there is still no suit for Danny but at this point it almost feels out of place. At least this season we got to see the cowls. What we did get, though, were the two glowing hands in that crazy Japan scene. If season 3 is at least partially about Danny and Ward's travels, I'm all for it.
Other than that, Ward was one of the highlights for me (just like season 1), I like where they ended with Joy, I adore how they're pairing Misty and Colleen... and there is Mary, who made everything even better - even with all that was going on, they managed to introduce and give a whole backstory to this character, hopefully we get to see more of her soon. (Military story kinda fits Punisher...?)
Super excited about the after-credits scene, which I would have totally missed if not made aware of before watching (Netflix, at least on PS4, would have bypassed it). Daredevil coming in November/December?
