This is not a review. This is a reflection of my feelings. I saw Signs back then in the cinema and I found it scary. Not any more. Today it looks so much different. My God, did I feel for this family. It's not necessarily about the aliens. The film uses them as a means to an end, to teach us about faith. To show us that not everything can be explained logically. Be it aliens or processes during the life of every human being. And even if you are a doubter about religion, Signs manages to make you think about it at least a little bit. The actors are first class, especially the 4 main actors: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. In addition, the film is naturally scary and for me one of the best alien films I have ever seen. Only someone like M. Night Shyamalan manages to convey the obvious horror to the viewer through his mere presence, less his visibility. Throughout a masterpiece, which is more than just supported by the excellent soundtrack.
I believe that years ago I would have awarded even fewer stars than now. But now it's just 5 stars, because I was feverish and cried. And that's what makes films. When these emotions are pushed to the limit.
The long awaited farewell of Daniel Craig as James Bond has finally found its way into the still open movie theaters.
The big screen shows breathtaking scenery, skillfully captured action and great emotions.
No Time to Die attempts to tie together the strands of the previous Craig flicks, and it certainly succeeds. And although it doesn't seem like it was ever planned to end this way, the development of this character and the story is enjoyable.
For my part, I should have re-watched the previous films beforehand, as I didn't really understand many an allusion and perhaps didn't appreciate one or two scenes adequately. On the other hand, the film worked quite well on its own. One rhymes then just something together.
What I personally didn't like: Craig seemed a bit too old for the role in this film. The action with him was much more leisurely than in the previous films, for example. I also couldn't stand the new 007. She had absolutely zero charisma. Quite in contrast to Ana de Armas, who was the highlight of the film in the 10 minutes of screentime, and not only because of her dress. Her role was incredible. Her interplay with Craig was fantastic. I loved how they drank together, how they acted and then how Ana took out a couple of antagonists at the end of her short stint. Like many before me, I wish I could see more of her.
The story told here is a game of intrigue, love and drama. It all basically works together wonderfully. First and foremost, the dramatic part once again took a much larger place, which I appreciated due to the impending end of the Craig era.
I had fun with the film, I was entertained, I didn't like some scenes and I hated the ending. Anyway. All in all, what came was kind of inevitable. And in that respect, somehow everything was done right.
The subject of manhunts is obviously making a comeback in the field of films. The advertisement for the 2020 edition was interesting and so I watched a few clips on YouTube in the afternoon. Later I bought the film and watched it in its entirety. And what can I say? The movie is stupid. And good. The Hunt is brutal and senseless. It is funny and socio-critical at the same time. It's kind of everything and nothing. And then there is the leading actress Betty Gilpin, whom I didn't know until now. I had to laugh several times during the film. In the run-up to the film, some comments about the film said that her performance was worthy of an Oscar. Afterwards I now understand the irony in these words. Betty can make a face... I have never seen anything like that before. From one scene to the next she looks more stupid, although she can be a beautiful woman. But maybe this very change is Oscar-worthy. The rest of the crew, with the exception of Hilary Swank, is just cannon meat. But that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anyway, because after watching it I'm just as smart as before. The Hunt is just a fun movie with some really cool scenes. You can watch it, you can like it, but you don't have to. In my case, it slipped just past the rating "I like very much".
The first 15 minutes: A pretty great beginning. Sub-Zero and Scorpion fight each other even before they get their world-famous suits and names. Here ingeniously captured fight scenes meet feelings.
Then more fighters join in. Well-known names like Jax or Sonya Blade, but also the newcomer Cole Young, who may not quite fit into the overall picture, even if the succinct storyline urges exactly that.
This kind of prequel to supposedly upcoming sequels is a visually brilliant start. One is strongly oriented towards the video games of the current generation. Be it the brutality, the familiar fighting moves or a final "Fatality".
Still: It doesn't work that completely without an aftertaste. Again and again I felt reminded of the less good, but damn cult Mortal Kombat from 1995. Somehow, a touch more seriousness was missing for me. Various jokes in the film, for which above all Kano deserves a medal of shame, seem somehow inappropriate. I would have liked that one would have stayed on the very hard path without much fun. This way, however, one drives on two tracks, which doesn't always work.
Despite the small but appropriate criticism, I really liked the film. There are numerous scenes worth remembering. I think they did a lot right here. A successor will certainly go one better.
I sat in the cinema, was highly motivated to understand the film and it worked out quite well. Then came the first small block about inversion. I was still on the ball. It was strange and you weren't allowed to think about it too much, but it was possible to stick with it. Thereupon a monologue by Sir Michael Caine. At this point I was already quite out of it. I admired more the sets, the action. The subject of inversion was then taken more and more to the extreme. At some point, people moved back and forth in time in parallel. On the one hand it was incredibly cool and chicly staged, but basically absolutely incomprehensible. The problem is this: While it would take a lot of (damned much) time to really understand what is happening in front of you, Christopher Nolan's creation does not slow down. You have to put the thinking behind you in order to somehow follow the new confusion on the screen.
At some point the film ends. And it is just as I had read it before: No idea what just happened there, but it was cool. And that's what makes the film worse than Nolan's other works, which often and gladly played with time.
From an actor's point of view, they did everything right. John David Washington is just a tough, inscrutable guy and therefore fits perfectly into the film. Robert Pattinson is a great sidekick with loose sayings. Elizabeth Debicki is just beautiful and Kenneth Branagh is a great villain.
Finally, just a few words that were said at the beginning of the film: "Don't even try to understand it."
Ezra Miller, non-binary person who most recently held up the release of the movie "The Flash" through various "unsightly" actions, is brilliant. I really don't care what others say, but "The Flash" is pure comic that it's just awesome. All the cross-referencing, the whole way it's done, and the story itself.... DC has done an incredible job with "The Flash". Yes, here and there it may seem a bit childish, but that's the way it is with comics, or comic adaptations.
In keeping with the comic theme: the CGI. It's cruel in parts, but sometimes it's totally cool. In fact, I felt like this: I don't care! I compared exactly that with video games. Often the graphics are really crappy, but the story is really good.
In summary, I had a lot of fun with the movie. Sometimes, due to my age, I clapped my forehead, but mostly my hands. A great spectacle thanks to numerous characters. The Batman par excellence, Michael Keaton, is a highlight of the film, without a doubt, although in this film and at this age he fights more dynamically than ever. A bit strange, but accepted.
THE highlight for me is clearly Supergirl. Oh please, give us more of her! There is potential without end in it!
Again, in conclusion, this is not a 10/10, not an 8/10. It's less and yet fanservice deluxe. Well done, it was fun!
What (the hell) happened to the series?
What started so promisingly with First Class and peaked with Days of Future Past crashed with Apocalypse, only to never recover with Dark Phoenix.
The latest installment of the X-Men is a work in itself. Basically detached from its predecessors, we are experiencing a story here that is usually fobbed off as a side-story in other movies. This film offers zero added value for the series. Nevertheless: Various scenes are fun and the whole work could entertain me.
What a pity: The always valuable and very worth seeing Quicksilver scenes suffer a total failure here. At least Hans Zimmer rocks with his soundtrack to the film and another highlight of his career. The music enlivens the whole work and gives it the necessary drama.
Hooray for the final fight in the train: It looks really good and pushes the whole movie.
Finally, I would like to mention that the movie is just so full of logic holes and nonsense. That's how Jean Grey gets an incredible power from space and is therefore the most powerful of all mutants. Strange, because that's what she was before.
My favourite scene: Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe when Quicksilver puts the head of Nightcrawler into a glass ball and quickly wraps tape around it to seal it. Maybe not.
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Emilio Estevez and Samuel L. Jackson rock so hard that my laugh muscles were about to explode. Just like Top Secret! I watched the film for the first time in years. The film has lost just as little of its charm. And once again it is the humor, which preferably runs in the background, that is convincing.
Lethal Weapon is perfectly parodied here. The actors are terrific, the story is brilliant despite its peculiarities and the humor, as already said, is fantastic. I laughed so much that my diaphragm hurt.
It's one of the few movies that still knew exactly where humor has to score points, resp. where it works. Modern comedies, on the other hand, rely far too much on disgusting humor, which I partour don't understand.
What remains: An absolutely brilliant comedy that's still more than worth seeing.
My favorite scene: To be honest, the movie has too many funny and memorable scenes, which were quickly brought back to my mind after watching it today. But maybe it is the one where Emilio Estevez enters his caravan for the first time and it turns out to be a palace.
I'm still waiting for part two...
