nicoleahmed

Unexpectedly theatrical and with substance - like gothic thrilling vice laden modern Shakespeare. This is a film about consumption, the weakness and naivety of arrogance, and a complex first love emotion rolling obsession/jealousy/narcissism into one driving force.

There are three acts for me: Oxford, Saltburn, & madness.

The first act didn't work for me till the second act kicked in. I was worried about a overly-parody-fied and caricatured script. Whilst I recognised the feelings and experiences of Oliver at Oxford, the people were too larger than life and the early laughs didn't land properly for me. Laughing at silly posh young people or uber geeks just wasn't my thing. Some of the cruelty and snobbery played out well though.

The second act puts the first into perspective. The first act which shows an alienated and floundering Oliver gain acceptance from a dislikeable group through the actually sane, kind-ish and likeable Felix sets up for the second act. More unlikeable rich people consuming each other and tossing people away like toys. But Oliver has Felix now and has picked up skills in getting things his way, seduction and sweet talking. But the acting from everyone at Saltburn estate is spot on - I properly laughed at Rosamund pikes and Richard e grants moments. Even though they are all spoilt, sheltered, unwittingly arrogant and judgemental - these characters you like, you see their vulnerabilities and insecurities - you have fun when they have fun.

Things start looking beautiful in the second act. Sometimes distractingly so. The light play, framing, and camera work are stunning. You feel you are in the throws of first love in the best summer of your life. Sometimes this was at odds with the drama or tension in the story.

Final act madness. The sympathy built up for the family now leads into the thrilling dramatic unwinding. The consumers become the consumed. Arrogance and haughty ideas of invincibility led to weakness and fractures.

This isn't an overly cohesive film for me, but I think that's intentional as mis direction. Clues for the real story are laid throughout and I had guessed the ending about two thirds of the way in. I really enjoyed the moments of summer headiness, where everyone is enjoying each other's company. Sometimes the inter-character drama and tensions were too much for me - almost descending into reality tv pettiness. I think thats intentional to show the unsympathetic side of the upper class and olivers push back - I just don't think it needed so much.

The pacing and focus was a little off for me at times. The film was full of symbolism and clever lines but it almost felt too full sometimes. Like vacillating rapidly between moods. There was a moment where I was full of tears at portrayal of grief when others were laughing - very interesting but it left me feeling a bit all Over the place. But excited!

The score and the setting and sterling acting efforts lift the film up into a grand feeling vision. I was a little disappointed that the tone of the trailers wasn't present in the film at all (bloc party song teaser trailer was amazing) . But the score takes this to a different place - British, establishment, old money, young love, hubris and longing - great score.

The film is exciting and there are unexpected moments and some brave choices too. I enjoyed watching this a lot and am excited for more films. There's a lot to enjoy here. Barry keoghans metamorphosis through the film is really really thrilling. Reliving 2006 is fun too - wish just a bit more was done with the music and feeling of that time. Some duff moments for me too so a 7.

Recommend

You have to be in the right frame of mind for this. It isn't a heroic epic where everything turns out all right.

It is a graphic and real depiction of the horrors of war from the eyes of those fighting on the front lines in ww1. It is meant to make you question the motives of leaders. It is meant to make you think about how much the normal people putting their lives on the lines to kill each other, actually differ from the ones they are killing. And it's meant to show you/make you viscerally feel the shift that happens when you move from only hearing the media/govt rhetoric - to seeing first hand the conflicts of interest / cruelty in your own / illogical decisions - to finally becoming a numb, automaton following orders blindly to stay alive.

It is a very well made film. You care about the characters. You feel the emotions. You really understand the implications of the fruitless efforts at the western front. You end feeling how tragic it was. I ended feeling anger for how people were treated like throwaway chess pieces. You've got to be in the right frame of mind!

A perfect film for me. Hilarious and heartwarming and all the emotions in between. Quirky high quality performances but the film keeps it's independent local kiwi vibe (which i adored).

I love the overarching themes of irregular people finding companionship and love through adventure, rebellion, nature and shared experiences.

Some might feel this isn't as polished or as consistently laugh out loud as some of Waititi's other offerings but the wildness and uber quirkiness of this film - along with the hard hitting warm emotions / 100% positive feelings you're left with about humanity are what makes this one of my faves.

The humour in this is unreal - like just completely unexpected jokes come flying out of nowhere. I watched this with my mum and dad - the three of us are very different in humour and film tastes but we were all laughing out loud here. One of the early lines about Sam Neil's character carrying a hunted wild boar made me choke on my drink. Laughs don't stop from there.

The soundtrack reminded of 80s and 90s children's fantasy films at times, creating a magical and fun feeling. Paired with the writing / directing of scenes sometimes this film felt like a child's fever dream - a what if story of escaping modernity with your dogs and a loved grown up.

The only bad thing for me is that the film ended at all.

A twisty winding unpredictable film with suspense. Best to not read much before watching. Enjoyable and some scares / gore for horror fans.

The film successfully takes you down several blind alleyways using misdirection to build suspense and drama into the story.

Acting is great particularly the lead female who has to act some really complex shifting emotions.

The most successful "horror" bit of the movie for me is the first act - Airbnb - where trust / gender / vulnerability issues are played with well, but in a more traditional way. The female lead keeps this feeling fresh by being smart and relatable.

The middle act "back stories" is not paced well I think. More could be made of the houses backstory, its over very quickly so the significance of the events doesn't settle in. The back story of the third character to enter the house is fine, not too much for me, but it made me wonder about whether a different more subtle monster is being showcased - one driven by privilege and entitlement.

Final act "chase" is a different type of horror feel - the grotesque, panicked, survival type. It's engaging and stays unpredictable. There are some satisfying moments too..

I found the pacing off and the tone shifts a tad unsettling too. There are elements of comedy horror which sometimes work very well but at other moments cut the tension that was being built - (rubber arms is all I'm going to say).

Enjoyed watching this but for me won't hold up to a second viewing, and some flaws

Also. I would definitely share an Airbnb with Bill Skarsgard under the same circumstances!

I didn't enjoy watching but there were some interesting moments.

This movie felt like a bad mash up of the matrix, inception, memento and several other brill films. A problem was how the film never seemed to settle into any particular style. A bit of cool thriller, a bit of film noir, a bit of super hero, Sci fi etc - but nothing landed convincingly for me.

The script wasn't great, but what was worse was the timing of lines - either the timing of delivery of lines or awful editing. Conversations were never believable and so I never really cared about what happened to the characters.

The super powers were awfully boring. It reminded me of those moments between super saiyaans in their battle of wills, levelling up - but done with far less pizazz. They look at each other intensely and someone wins or doesn't or whatever - who cared, it was so dull.

There were a lot of moments that unfortunately just felt cringe worthy - big reveals and twists which were predictable or let down by terrible camera work, script, directing etc.

Despite this there were a couple of moments that worked for me. There is a scene that a cityscape morphs into something else as the camera moves down. I think that was done well.

Ben Affleck on the whole either over acted or defaulted to old patterns - clenching his jaw to show tension, turning away dramatically etc. But some moments were believable - like some between him and the lead female part.

If you have other options - watch them. But if you've nothing else to do, you can watch this and find it interesting from a "why doesn't this work" point of view.

I'd forgotten how much I'd fallen in love with Pandora the first time round. This film expands the world spectacularly panning out across the Navi species into other races, other tribes and the seascape. Where the first film had an intimate feel as if we were peering into the lives of a forgotten lost tribe, this film feels more like following the epic journey of a family across the world. Acting, special effects, the story and the score all build to give some spectacular and emotive scenes. The scenes of struggle in the water were very visceral for me I was gasping for air alongside the characters - the feeling of fear in the water is captured very well. The colouring and clarity of the world is magnificent and the addition of the bioluminesce effects in the water were magical for me.

Unfortunately the pacing felt off to me. The first part was fairly rushed diving straight from birth of first child to rebellious teenagers needing firm guidance. I didn't engage with the story till quite far into the film for this reason. When connections start forming in the new tribe is when I started to care about the family. Then action scenes towards the end of the film feel much too long and drawn out, especially with the addition of irrational moments just to prolong action. It sometimes felt like spectacle for spectacles sake and I started thinking about how much money the studio would like to squeeze out of the series.

I think the editing was a bit off too. The transitions and cuts were jarring at times bordering on feeling amateur. These moments disengaged me from the experience and the flow of the story felt interrupted too. There were random black cuts where I actually thought wtf!

The script and moments between the adolescents of the movie were off putting at times too. I understand the decision to make them very human in behaviour and speech, so that we as the audience would quickly understand their various characters (rebellious, good child, innocent, hippy etc) but occasionally I found it all a bit annoying or over the top. I found myself thinking they were intentionally using some of the MCU tricks to tap into that market.

The stereotyped caricatures and over played dynamics also got tiring quickly - they felt like lazy storytelling rather than connecting to essential things in the human experience. The bad guy losing all sanity in the name of revenge actually made him lose his edge for me. Hero - family that are amazing at everything also got tiring quickly. And the scenes depicting the resource abuse and hunting were a tad too gratuitous for me - over painting the bad guys as evil.

There are real moments of emotion however which redeem the film. The parents discussing how to bring up their children, people connecting over shared experiences, loss and the struggle of families against the world. The acting was always top notch imo even if the script or story wasn't quite there. The stunning landscapes and beautiful score heightened these moments wonderfully.

Where Romantic love, colonial-evils and connection with nature where the main themes of the first film - these themes are carried on but wrapped in new themes - strength of family and strengths of community (both navi and natural). By the end I felt I'd been on an epic emotional journey. And seen lots and lots of water.

Funny, thought proving and strangely uplifting. There has been a lot of love put into making this series from the story, script, acting and down to the wonderful original score.

The series deals with serious and dark themes but through the lens of a caricatured village - such that these things can be explored through humour and not hit too hard. But when the moments do hit they fully land.

Themes of community, in/out crowds, living up to expectations, being true to oneself, love of/duty to others, the weight of secrets, the need to belong, the power of being heard/seen properly, and friendship. (and ice cream)

Time flew by watching this. And it's only on reflection after that some of the themes and metaphors come out. I think that's quite smart.

Acting is great and the humour is done very well.

I would say some of the caricatures were a bit too much for me which meant that I didn't always fully engage - like the chip shop man (who's complexity I initially liked but then he was sidelined fairly quickly and dully) or the ex chief police officer (too much blaming others and not enough introspection - or atleast some exploration of why he was so angry at the young girls despite knowing his role in it).

My favourite moments (and I suspect the writer's too) were the quiet but full moments. When family members bolster each other ("hold your nerve") or when friends come through and share ice creams. These had beautiful sound tracks and atmospheric scenes. Backdrops of coastal landscapes and moody skies. The beauty in the everyday.

I disagree with those that are summarising this film as a love story. This engaging and fairly original film has lots of interesting themes and is split into 2 clear halves (for me).

The acting is sterling and Tilda Swinton's character in particular is exceptionally believable. the excellent Yorkshire accent and the other nuances she brings really make the role full of life. Idris' djinn is great portrayal of an exceedingly powerful and experienced being that is fallible, cynical but in love with humanity and optimism.

the first half of the film is full of exotic moments and fantastic stories. it's set in the middle east and Africa - and focuses on the meeting of the two main characters and the history of Idris Elba's character. the story brings to life parts of history, exploring themes of power, oppression, love, personal weaknesses, self sabotage and human pursuits (intellectual, dominion of others, love, climbing society). in short an exploration of the things that make us human from the perspective of a djinn over centuries of experience.

Swinton's character develops throughout this in a nuanced but clever way - her responses to his stories and how she develops the conversation eventually reveal some of her desires and how she is also cynical about humanity.

the second half of the movie takes a very different tone. the focus is on our normality and the impacts of modern life - the overwhelming aspects of technology and the impacts of the constant stimuli on our psyche. it explores themes of belonging, the gift of companionship and how we shield each other from the barrage of suffering of daily living.

it was great to get the djinns perspective here to remind us that the accomplishments of humanity as a species on earth and through the ages are incredible.that whilst our lives are tough the collective achievements and future opportunities are fantastical - a different sort of magic.

I thought the script, characters and directing were fantastic. the special effects never had me think about computer graphics -they felt like real magic and were dizzying in effect at times. the vignettes of different ages/ geographies were excellently portrayed.

I felt like I'd travelled the world and universe through the ages accompanied by an exceptionally intellectual,compassionate and optimistic person - despite the horrors he'd observed and the pain he'd felt. I liked the portrayals of love in different forms and settings - but especially the one borne out of a fairly normal and comparatively dull setting but focusing on mutual respect and the strength within that.

a highly recommended film.

Fans of first person shooter games will love this film. Some excellent action scenes with a variety of cinematography techniques used - nothing feels overused or in my opinion tiresome. The humid tropical jungle is a lush exciting backdrop for the action. Some of the battle scenes are a tad over stylised risking glorifying war and violence. Be warned there are some extremely graphic scenes of death and violence.

Some great acting here from the whole cast but it can't rescue the thin plot, and the sometimes impenetrable military jargoned or clichéd cloying script. The caricatured bad guys (Russians and Muslims obvs) make the film feel even more hollow and maybe the biggest downfall of the film - a very AMUHRICA MACHO film which is fun given that three of the leads are Australian. There are moments when the script tries to go deeper, explore themes of imperialism/no innocence in war, and poke fun at itself making war look good - and where the American heroes get dirty and messy.

It looks good, is thrilling in points and has some good humour / human moments. Overall though, this feels like an hollow shell showcasing some beautiful men, in a beautiful place, with some excellent directing /editing, doing some ugly things against caricatured/borderline racist depictions of baddies. I enjoyed watching it but felt guilty to be partaking in a simplistic reassertion of the American hero /America dominance over Russians and Muslims old and tired narrative.