I expected to get some questions answered and I got almost none of them answered. To say a few:
-Why did Thomas do what he did and more importantly what did he do? This was not elaborated on at all other than the few vague lines and scenes we got on the 1st movie
-Why/How did Thomas and Theresa end up in the maze?
-Was WCKD good or bad? (Maybe this was let up to the viewer)
-What was the whole point of attacking the city other than cool explosions and action shots? This didn’t seem to be a major plot point especially with Thomas being there, Also, who was Lawrence? and why purpose did he serve other than none?
-How did no one at WCKD know about Thomas’s “special immunity”? You’d think they’d test their employees before hiring them given the circumstances.
-Why did it seem like not everyone was on the same page about the cure? That was the purpose of WCKD right?
-Why did Theresa even “betray” them in the first place? I get she just wanted to find a cure but what?
I feel like it had potential but it just devolved into mostly mindless action scenes and facepalm moments ( Like Theresa’s death I mean COME ON ) that just watered down the conclusion of a story that had so much potential and had me so interested in the beginning although I will admit Gally's return did surprise me. Nevertheless we never got the Thomas/Ava moment I was hoping for which, in turn, could have also lead to some of explanations to the above questions. Some of the side characters are just there to tug hearts ( RIP Newt ) or to just be there so you have some known faces to look at. All in all not a terrible conclusion to the saga but also not a great one… Just a cliché fest which comes expected with this sort of source material so no mayor points docked there for my taste. Kudos for the VFX, Some of the score and the Direction.
1>3>2
P.S The bus crane scene has been added to my not-even-a-tiny-bit-belivable scenes list cause I don’t care how much movies play around with stuff like physics but they gotta at least try for me. I’m sorry, all of those kids would have died.
Really surprised me if I'm gonna be honest. I wasn't really expecting much with the DCEU in shambles and the disaster that was JL. It makes me upset that this didn't come before JL like it should have because it would have helped with the world building that movie desperately needed but hey that's for another discussion.
I'm just gonna say it, Momoa is Aquaman and it seems like that off-screen too. The dude seemed like he had fun the whole way. The supporting cast was great as well Amber was as cute as a button and a fantastic support to Aquaman and Dafoe was surprisingly good as a mentor figure.
This movie seems to be a little bit of everything at once but in a good way: a bit of an Indiana Jones movie, a bit of a romcom, a bit of a Michael Bay movie (seriously what was with the random explosions), a bit of a Fast and Furious movie, a bit of an apocalypse movie, a bit of a Pacific Rim movie and weirdly enough bit of a star wars movie too. Even with all that mixed in the movie, it's easy to follow keeping you interested the whole time. I'm not really a fan of multi-villain movies since one always ends up taking the backseat (see Ant-Man and the Wasp) but this movie managed to balance Orm's 'take over the world' story with Manta's revenge story. Let's talk about Orm, I found him not particularly threatening or convincing? I don't know if that was the point.
I'm not gonna sit here and pretend this is some Oscar tier writing or anything but as borrowed as this movie's plot is, it does it in a very nice way which is good enough for me (hey there's only so many original stories). The underwater scenes made me groan at the beginning cause they looked kinda stupid but by the end I didn't really mind but it seems like they were saving the effects budget for the end cause holy shit what an epic climax. Seeing Aquaman finally become the Ocean Master was great and seeing him command the sea creatures was was fantastic. I would had preferred if he killed Orm but hey, whatever.
All in all a really fun romp that shows what the DCEU is really capable of: great cast, good VFX, great score by Rupert Gregson-Williams and a good plot that keeps you interested throughout. As someone not really familiar with the comics lore? A solid 8/10
I'm quite conflicted with this movie I thought parts of it were great and really moved me and there's other parts that straight made no sense.
Let's start with the good:
-Great performances by everyone although a mostly silent Will Smith in kind of a wasted Will Smith.
-The parallel they were building with each of the actors's "alter egos" with Whit, Claire and Simon's personal issues were brilliant in my opinion. (see the bad part for the continuation)
-Very well shot, the editing style sold me the mood.
The Bad:
-Really fucking predictable.
-The whole "she turned out to be his wife" subplot makes no sense. Did he forget her after the divorce to the point they were strangers again (or at least her to him)? Was he aware the whole time? Maybe I missed something there.
-As brilliant as the parallel was, in my opinion is ruined by eventually revealing the "actors" were actually the entities they were "playing" which for me makes the whole movie lose its weigh by creating unnecessary questions in return like: did the entities set themselves up to be approached to play the fake entities to help Howard? If they were actually invisible entities why was no one else looking at the other 3 weird? The PI was in on the whole thing... could she see them too? Honestly it would have been way more powerful to not make them the actual entities since that would have shown that normal humans can help each other out of holes and the parallel would have hit harder.
-The fact that the PI was recording vertical then when they're playing the videos back to Howard they're somehow 16:9 is almost criminal (that's nitpicking though).
It's not a bad film but the lack of attention to detail and its predictability bothered me... 7/10
So, 3/3 of the 60th anniversary specials. How did it fare against the others? Well for starters, the good. Ironically enough Neil Patrick Harris (and the celestial toymaker by extension) was the most worrying part for me going into this episode. How would a character from the very beginning of the show that has barely appeared even in extended media translate into the modern show. Sure the toymaker this time was the epitome of camp, but NPH was clearly having a great time portraying this character and it came through on screen. The accents were kind of cringe but if anything, it added to the uncanny nature of the character. Everything surrounding him was the better part of the episode, his over-the-top antics were very amusing if not a bit dragged out. The hallway sequence was fantastic, the creepy factor was very present and well executed (those dolls are going to haunt some people for sure). We’ll have to see what the Toymaker’s warnings translate to in the future. It was good to see Unit doing Unit stuff again. Finally, Ncuti. He radiates potential as The Doctor and his brief appearance bodes well for the future of the show but that comes with some weird baggage that I will address in the next part.
The bad now: The whole premise of the giggle. It’s explained that the giggle is something that has been present since the very dawn of television, but it’s something that just doesn't make any sense. We’re supposed to believe that there exists a direct recording of the first ever TV test (in color mind you) from the 1920s with audio, has been playing in the background of every digital device since then? I don't have an issue suspending disbelief but for me at least it has to be in a way that kinda makes sense. That part is nitpicky whatever.
So, let’s address the elephant in the room, the bi-generation. The biggest issue with this is the way it was presented completely blindsides the audience, we have zero context or reason for this event. It happens and then you are railroaded into just going along with it. The only semblance of context was the classic “it’s supposed to be a myth” leaving in its wake a gigantic host of implications something like this brings, are both copies identical? Are they both capable of regeneration separately? Why did one seemingly (or conveniently) keep some or all of the baggage? What other things are not the same if that one thing wasn't? etc,etc,etc. The whole thing has to be one of the most bizarre addenda to the mythos of regeneration since Chibnall’s “contribution” in S12. Now, unlike that, this doesn't exactly break “The Doctor” in the same way because every Doctor/Companion/Tardis combo technically exists at any and every point in the show so this in a sense is a physical manifestation of this phenomena. Now, till this point, this had been an implication very rarely explored in multi-doctor stories and certainly never been shown as this cartoonish way of quite literally dividing the Doctor (and the Tardis with a magic hammer) into separate(?) entities. The other big issue that I mentioned before is that this seems to have been introduced as an extremely convenient way to not have to deal with any emotional fallout from the Chibnall era (or anything before it really), at least from the way it was presented. I understand Russell could be trying to do a slightly harder reboot in contrast to the soft reboots expected of every era but there were better ways to achieve this in my opinion. Another issue this does introduce is that there is a physical duplicate of The Doctor now, so what was previously an implication of the same person existing in multiple forms across time, now could be one of two different people which kind of defeats the whole shtick of the Doctor as a character. Honestly, the last 15 minutes reeks of Moffat era inability giving character bookends and undoing your own good work in the process (ironic since this very episode shows this very issue puppet form). Now, you can argue that RTD was the architect of this behavior. After all, he did literally give Rose Tyler a copy of the 10th Doctor to appease the rabid shippers but even that wasn't as self-gratifying as this… Meta-10 wasn't the doctor per-se and Rose was still trapped in a different dimension. Completely undoing one of your most tragically compelling companion endings in nu-who by hand waving the crux of that away consequence-free and then subsequently giving her a full Doctor, a Tardis and a six-figure job as a treat has to be the most over the top Disney-esque (hmm) happily ever after fairytale endings to date. Maybe I’m just bitter but this whole thing felt (at the very least) very lazy and completely unnecessary in my opinion. Also, Martha somehow again takes Ls 15 years removed.
Overall, this series of specials was truly a mixed bag which leaves me kind of back where I was in the beginning where I’m unsure what the episode quality is gonna be like now that the nostalgia component is (presumably and hopefully completely) removed. I think Ncuti can be good, but like with Jodie, can go sideways quickly with shoddy writing. I do hope he finds his pants before Christmas. Finally, to not come off as unfair, I do think RTD still has the capability to at least write compelling Doctor Who when he’s not trying to outdo himself and soiling his own legacy (as WBY showed) so I think for the time being I’ll be watching the show. Definitely looking forward to at least the returning Christmas Special.
This episode made me sigh the biggest sigh of relief. Last week was kinda wonky but I chalked it off to re-acclimating. It seemed to pay off because this was miles ahead of anything on this show in years. It may be simply that the bar is in hell at this point but this for me, this episode has all the elements of a classic good episode of Doctor Who. A random spaceship at the edge of the universe. The Tardis doing fucky shit. An unknown antagonist that The Doctor doesn't know how to counter while having no tools and a mystery that unravels at a great pace but ends leaving questions in a satisfying way that leaves you pondering on the story (like ‘Midnight’). The thriller-esque, creepy, uneasy atmosphere of uncertainty that the episode had throughout was fantastic, kinda like ‘Blink’ where you nor the characters really know what’s going on until almost the end of the story and no one was really ever in control. The character work however was reminiscent of dare I say 'Heaven Sent', few characters in a simple setting except it’s not one, but two actors acting their asses off. The scenes with the copies of them, you really felt there were four characters on the scene, David and Catherine really are the gift that gives on giving. You had the subtle clues as to who was who but it was still very difficult to pin down 100%. If this is a sign of things to come, I am gonna be seated.
The episode is not without some minor flaws and nitpicks. The Doctor says he’s never been that far out although in the “The Doctor’s Wife”, The 11th Doctor alongside Amy and Rory literally leave the universe. He made a point about the universe not having an edge but then kept talking about the edge. The Newton bit was kinda weird. The mavity gag was kinda funny but I don't know if that’s gonna come back somehow or if they just recklessly changed a vital part of the history of the earth for no reason and with no concern. Don’t know what to make of it. My last peeve is a personal one and it’s about the way they keep playing with the movement of the Tardis. The Tardis is supposed to materialize and dematerialize. It has been shown to have some flight capabilities but the way it kept crashing into things instead of materializing and especially the way it materialized as it floated down while spinning near the end kinda felt weird to me. I understand that is a stylistic choice, but I really don't like it. It’s not like it took off during the end of the last episode, it violently dematerialized… just do the same in reverse or allude to it. Whatever.
Great episode overall, it reminds us that sometimes less is more. I still don’t understand how Chibnall couldn’t write something compelling ever, I could easily see Jodie in this episode.
So, we're back to Doctor Who. After the tumultuous time of the Chibnall era, this is the make or break. Russell is back, David is back, Catherine is back, Murray Gold is back, Rachel Talalay is back. So, Doctor Who is fixed again! Right? Maybe.
First the good: Campy Doctor Who is back! I think most can agree that the previous era was missing some levity and I know Doctor Who is not a comedy show but it has always carried some humorous moments. So, it was nice to see the cast seemingly having some fun for once in a long time. David, Catherine and Jacqueline all slip back into their roles effortlessly and that Tennant/Tate chemistry is still there as good as ever even the new additions like Karl and Yasmin seemed like they were there the whole time. Murray Gold was clearly present, and it was great to hear music in the show again including old themes like Donna’s and the 10th Doctor’s theme (even a snippet of the Song of Freedom). The Meep was a funny antagonist perfect for this new jumping in point for the series and I have to say that I could not tell what parts of The Meep were CGI other than the eyes so many props to the production team in that regard (the VFX were very good overall). The voice actor for The Meep was clearly having a good time which came across on the final product. The new Tardis console... I was not expecting a new console until the 15th Doctor came in but my goodness it’s glorious, they clearly put that Disney money to good use. It’s gigantic, it has levels again, it has railings, stairs, and other doors. It’s like a mix of the multiple levels of 11’s first console mixed with the roundel style of the coral Tardis from David’s first run, along with the white-ish theme to call back to the original console. I really don't have enough praise for it. If anything, it made me angrier that they gave Jodie that god awful fortress of solitude looking dungeon. She truly got screwed on every angle.
Now for the not so good stuff. I don’t know how I feel about the new sonic. I know the sonic’s functions have expanded along the years without much explanation, but it seems this is a new leap that’s far past the original intention. Opening doors and reading vital signs from people seems to make sense but conjuring touch screens and shields seems a bit much. I know the community likes to meme about the sonic being a magic wand but after I saw what happened this episode this seems closer to the truth than ever. Not to mention this introduces potential issues when someone gets shot in a future episode and The Doctor has a bulletproof shield generating device and doesn't use it. These issues are all theoretical so time will tell how ok I’m with that. Another big issue is the resolution to the doctor-donna situation. I understand Russell wrote himself into a corner by erasing Donna’s memories while also essentially putting a bomb in her head. And to an extent the metacrisis being passed on to Rose kind of makes sense on a level but the resolution of them both being able to just “let it go” and ending the issue cause "they’re women" and the can do that seemed like a pretty contrived resolution for something that seemed very permanent at the time it originally happened (and even through most of this very episode) because it seemingly implies Donna could just have “let it go” back in 2009 and this whole issue could have been avoided.
Which brings me to my last qualm. The stuff people love to complain about the most nowadays, sloppy political/social commentary. I’m not a chud so please understand I’m commenting on this in good faith. For whatever reason the episode seemed to fluctuate between very nuanced scenes about some sensitive topics (like Rose being dead named by the kids on the bikes and Donna feeling powerless to help her, Rose talking about her struggles and loneliness with The Meep and Sylvia’s struggle to adapt to the new reality) to flipping it back to almost stereotypical portrayals of pronoun obsessed NB and trans people with Rose awkwardly interjecting the Doctor about assuming The Meep’s (an alien) pronouns and the whole thing about The Doctor-Donna being non binary but also binary but also neither?. I’m not an enby or trans so I’m not the most qualified to opine on this, but to me the latter came off as a bit infantilizing and clunky if anything, not only to the audience being commented on, but also to the general audience. This also comes in hand with the previously mentioned faux attempt at women’s empowerment that comes at the detriment of The Doctor’s character by insinuating that the Doctor cannot possibly understand an aspect of the metacrisis (something spawned from gallifreyan/time lord biology) because The Doctor is not currently female presenting, something that makes zero sense because it’s been hammered home that this is the same dang person no matter what face they happen to have on (and if the possibly non-canon storyline about The Doctor’s origin is to be taken at face value, The Doctor started off as female presenting). I do find this to be a bit ironic since the female presenting 13th Doctor often came off as one of the most callous and aloof incarnations to date (whether intentional or not) so I don't think she could have understood the situation any better than any previous or future incarnation. So, this clunky almost fourth wall breaking style writing coming from the same guy who wrote the most pansexual character ever in the most nonchalant way possible is a bit disappointing. Maybe I misunderstood the later scene but I’m just saying what seemed like to me. I’ll chalk it off to Russell being rusty for now.
All in all, I was pleased with the episode and will definitely be tuning in next week.
I want some of whatever the people giving this mess 10s and 8s are smoking. As someone that stopped watching Jodie's run after Demons of the Punjab, I wanted to watch this episode to close out a tumultuous era and welcome the next doctor. I though this episode may change my mind about having stopped watching and make me go back and watch. But no, not only was this one of the messiest episodes of Doctor Who I've ever watched but maybe TV in general. Complete utter chaos with no reasons behind anything that was happening, all to have The Doctor get lasered in the end. Why was the Master in Russia in 1916? Why did the Master want to take over The Doctor's body? What was the reason behind the Dalek/Cyberman/Master alliance? Why did the Daleks want to destroy the world? Why even have Dan in this episode at all? and I can keep going but I'm not in the mood to write 2000 words. I guess this was just Chris Chibnall being Chris Chibnall. Was it cool to see old companions and Doctors? Sure. Was the AI doctor a cool trick to have the old companions interact with their Doctors? Sure. But sprinkling some (at times) clever nostalgia in your shit sandwich isn't good writing.
The thing that pains me the most is that this whole era cemented the idea of a female doctor being bad in the minds of all of the idiots that were chirping about how that was a bad idea back in 2017. Something that should have been innocuous is now a sign of doom for many people. I will never forgive Chris Chibnall for how dirty he did Jodie and Co. because I really wanted this era to succeed, the options were limitless with a first like a female doctor but somehow he managed to make all of the worst decisions torpedoing the show and triggering the BBC into desperately bringing back David Tennant and RTD to de-fibrillate this franchise. Good riddance to that hack that couldn't even give Jodie a decent farewell monologue or a sendoff worth the time she wasted acting out all of these shit scripts.
Also the clothes changing with the regeneration? Gimme a break.
It's an interesting concept for a movie but unfortunately the execution is quite bland. Unfortunately both divergences play out pretty much the same but with slightly different variables so consequently, by the end, it feels like a movie that was retroactively made about a "what if" because they couldn't decide on a plot and just shot both. Another thing is that timelines are bit confusing to follow in the beginning, then they introduce the haircut as a way to better guide the viewer but this is flipped near the end and kinda goes back to a bit confusing. Likewise, many topics that were explored (like postpartum depression, the hardships of co-parenting, long distance relationships, plans not always working out especially with non-mom Nat) weren't really explored in a way that was compelling and the film ends mostly brushing them off. So this paired with the extremely similar outcomes for both Natalies, come off flat because stuff just kinda works out for both of them so her getting pregnant or not wasn't really that big of a deal. Just her getting a kid and a different boyfriend.
So what was the point of the movie? Is destiny real and no matter what you do you're gonna end up the same? Don't plan cause shit is gonna go haywire anyway? I get it, it a Netflix rom-com but that doesn't exempt it from trying a bit at least. The one saving grace is the cast.
Strong potential, couldn't get there. If you got 2 hours to burn, it's harmless.
So here we are again, at the last dying breaths of the current iteration of the DCEU. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t completely hate it up to now so when I heard Zach was getting the opportunity to show his true vision for this film I was cautiously exited. First, what was wrong with the Theatrical version? I re-watched it just before watching this to get the full context and notice the changes more easily. The original is hasty to unite the heroes, not giving much thought about how they even get together. It has some clear gaps and side plots that do not make much sense. The random Russian family comes to mind. The Steppenwolf’s motivation was weak on its foundation and him as a presence was not very menacing. The whole deal with the Mother Boxes is extremely confusing for anyone that does not know DC lore already. Flash and Cyborg get pushed to the sidelines since we are not given much about them. Finally, as a personal note, the musical score straight blew. So how does the Snyder Cut deal with these issues?
First the good, we get a much more fleshed out story with each character getting a proper intro. Cyborg seems to get the most benefit out of this since his unexplained broody attitude in the original is given a founding motivation: an absent father trying to right his wrongs by resurrecting his dying son, turning him into more machine than man. Flash also benefits but not as much, he gets a power showcase in Central City giving people more of an idea of the range of his abilities. Aquaman also gets some stuff but unfortunately, I will have to dive (ha) more into that in the bad part. Batman and Wonder Woman are pretty much untouched from the original.
Steppenwolf is given a complete makeover from motivation, to armor, to his voice. He feels like proper antagonist now. He is a Servant of Darkseid, a cataclysmic force that tried to destroy the earth but was forced to retreat, sending Steppenwolf many centuries later to finish the job. The Mother Boxes are explained better and given proper context that while still being plot devices you understood why their merging was dangerous. The Russian village and by extension the final fight sequence was done a solid by pre-evacuating the location making the scene a true fight between our heroes and the evil forces without having to worry about civilians.
The score again is much improved having been re-written completely. It pulls from all the previous DCEU movies up to that point bringing in motifs like Superman’s theme, WW theme, Lex Luthor’s theme, among others. Definite improvement over the generic score of the original. Dare I say it's good.
Now for the bad, I will start with Aquaman. This was supposed to come out before that, but it did not. So in hindsight the scenes included in this version seem out of place than the ones in the original. Obviously the first observation is Mera’s accent. Bizarrely the original version has her using an American accent like in the later film but here it is painfully obvious here that she has a completely different (British?) accent. Adding to that is her not being engaged to Orm being a Commander instead, “kind of” knowing Arthur even though she basically introduces herself to him in the later film, her hair color and her “dead parents” even though her Father is a prominent character of the later film (line in the original is “fought in the wars” not “died in the wars”). Another egregious detail is the fact that in the later film it is revealed that Arthur has never been to Atlantis, yet he is in there in both versions of JL defending the mother box. Vulko also seems more confrontational with Arthur. Oh, look any Atlantean can breathe normally out of the water except oh wait no they cannot later. I can keep going on the inconsistencies further worsened by Zach’s version, but I will digress. This whole point further illustrates my main issue with the DCEU, that being its lack of cohesion between films that lets important continuity errors like this slip by. Another example can be the complete lack of mention of the Amazon’s Mother Box (even in passing) in the WW 2017 film that YES was before this timeline wise. Little things like this help the world building and keep the viewer interested because it makes them feel connected to the universe, something Marvel managed to polish to almost a science. As a footnote I will mention I prefer the Atlantean armor here than in the later film.
Another bad point is that as much as I appreciate the longer run time to accommodate the fleshed-out story it’s painfully obvious that it has plenty of fat to trim (we didn’t need a 9 minute intro) which in turn could make the run time a bit less menacing to the average viewer. Black Superman, what can I say? It was a cheap red herring for trailer shots since it changed absolutely nothing about how Superman was brought in and joined the team compared to the original other than some more (appreciated) context. The Knighmare Part 2… look I would love to see this happen, right? But let’s be honest, it’s not going to happen, if the DCEU had half of the cohesion that the MCU does I would be optimistic, but it doesn’t. So, it seems almost like a disservice to the audience to tack this basically useless setup scene to an already bloated run time. Same goes for the Martian Manhunter Stuff.
So to TL;DR this: is it better than the theatrical? Yes. Was it worth the wait? Sure. Is it the magic pill that fixes the DCEU? Absolutely not.
The DCEU is still a disheveled mess. Even if this version had come out in 2017 it still would not have fixed anything. This movie desperately tries to make up for missing world building by having to take out time to introduce characters (time that could have been better spent in proper solo character movies) instead of simply being the natural team up movie like The Avengers. It still works but you know it is missing something. It’s a definite testament of how to polish a turd, but if the foundation is broken from the get-go, this kind of dress up while nice is a waste. 7.5/10
A very charming portrayal of the ups and downs of the foster/adoption process. As someone that knows people that have gone through this process I can say this movie helps show the hardships of the process (although the movie is still a tad idealistic). It lets people know that while rewarding, its not all good times and it's not something you should embark on just to feel good about yourself and especially not on a whim like Pete and Ellie. Nevertheless it's a great message to bring perspective about this issue to a big audience.
As for the movie itself the leads are all fantastic. Mark and Rose have great chemistry and actually feel like a couple. Isabela does a great job at playing what is a essentially a cliche teenager but with the added jadedness of someone that's been through some shit and is not just being an asshole for no reason. The younger actors are fantastic (holy shit that little girl can shrill). Tig and Octavia do a fantastic job providing needed comic relief at times while also doing the harder drama parts well too.
Once niche point I'll give this movie is those sweeeet wipe transitions. They felt very satisfying for some reason. Just another example that VFX are not just used on big action blockbusters.
Major kudos to Sean Anders for directing a great mix of comedy and drama while delivering a heartwarming family film with great wit and pacing. 8/10
(Bear with me cause these are my fresh thoughts)
I mean what can I say about Mulan? It's unfortunately another victim of Disney's recent trend of good looking movies that lack in the writing department. As someone that hasn't watched the original in a while (10+ years by this point I believe) I kinda went fresh eyed into this, thankfully I have seen at all it cause it felt like if you haven't you may not fully understand what's actually happening. Now say what you want about musicals but one thing they do right is clearly convey what's happening. When you decide to omit such an integral part of the original, it fine IF you beef up the writing to convey through speech what was omitted. Unfortunately this movie failed in this regard.
Characters... where are they? None of them really stood out except maybe the father. I feel that no time was taken to actually flesh them out and even our brave protagonist suffers from this as well. And so with barely any interaction between them by the point she saves them from the mountainside attack it feels more because of plot armor and not because they were her friends. The witch was an especially confusing one cause she seemed very determined to being loyal to Böri Khan's plan and then seemingly out of nowhere Mulan convinces her to help her and she subsequently sacrifices herself with barely any interactions between them including one where she tried to kill Mulan. Böri Khan himself isn't seen or elaborated enough to be seen as the villain so at the end you end up scratching your head wondering who was actually the bad guy (misogyny?).
The biggest offender here though was the editing. Very bizarre cuts where it seems like the scene will keep going and then it just cuts away to a completely different thing (ex. When The Fifth Battalion makes it to the fortification and are introduced immediately cuts to night to people arriving again or when the Emperor starts talking about family being a virtue and then awkwardly cuts to the bridge scene). Also for a movie that seemed to purposely be grounded in reality (that's why we couldn't have Mushu right?) there seemed to be a lot of "floaty" parkour, unexplained wall-running and lance/arrow physics that honestly kinda took me out of the movie. Don't even get me started about the on-the-nose Phoenix that kept popping up and the weird blurs when Mulan is fighting.
It's not all bad though, I think the music was ok (I am partial for Harry Gregson-Williams tho), the set pieces and wardrobes are gorgeous and the actors did their best with the material given. I just wish they would have been given better material. My overall take would be watch it if you really wanna but it's definitely not worth the $30 tax to your existing D+ subscription especially if you live alone. If you're looking for the 1998 movie in live action I suggest you go watch that instead. 6.5/10
Let me preface by saying I am not really a theater/musicals guy, but due to family influence I had listened to the musical a few times before this was released and I liked it. So finally seeing what the production around these songs is like I will say it does enhance the experience by adding visual elements that are lost or just not present on the cast recording like the scene where Hamilton receives the letter informing of Laurens’ death or even Eliza’s soul piercing scream when Phillip dies. Being able to see the actor’s faces after hearing them for so long really helps understand some of the nuance in emotions you do not get from audio alone (ex. Burr's downwards spiral). It is impressive what these actors can do especially in one go especially while moving (looking at you Daveed Diggs).
The stage setup is impressive, the way the rotating platforms are used help bring a fluidity in movement that you just do not get from simulating movement (ex. any of the duel scenes, Satisfied and Hurricane). Also, the upper deck section also provides an extra dimension especially since some sections move as well (ex. Non-Stop) helping bring that verticality when needed.
I read that this was captured along 3 different functions as well as some audience-less scenes and all I can say is that the filming crew as well as the editors did a great job capturing and splicing the different performances to look as one fluid function. I do appreciate that they did not commit the mistakes that many live performance recordings do where they cut too much, and it makes it distracting and you cannot focus on what is happening.
All in all, a fantastic production that hopefully creates a precedent where some of these snobby Broadway people realize that this serves as a great example that the full experience (or better depending on who you ask) can indeed be faithfully captured on film for others without the privilege to enjoy at home or even the movie theater. Guess we gotta thank the mouse for the 85 mil.
8.5/10
If I had to sum it up in one word? Forgetable.
How can something that looks so nice be so utterly devoid of substance? I think Disney really dropped the ball here. They had a real chance to make an original story that was fun for everyone but instead they tried so hard to try to catch the original's magic that they ultimately fall flat on their face.
This movie had it all going for it: Disney money, A good cast including decent child actors and the benefit of modern effects. And all get used to an extent but not in the correct ways. Emily makes a good enough job as Poppins but for some reason in this film she upped the mean as well as the gaslighting factors that almost make her kinda unlikable (I mean, she didn't even say goodbye). Jack is Bert again, Michael is George again and Jane is Winifred lite. You see what I'm getting at right? Even the musical numbers are basically equivalents to the original movie: The Poppins first showcase to the kids song, the Poppins showoff in an animated scenario song, the song after she gaslights the kids song, the kooky house with a kooky owner song, the huge 'why is this song and dance with street strangers so long?' song, the deus ex machina song and the 'we're all ok now' song. The big problem this time is that most (to not say all) of the songs are not memorable at all.
I think what bothered me the most is that the story is supossed to be about saving Michael and trying to remind him what it's like to be a kid again but guess what? That doesn't even happen, most of the time you get Poppins interacting with the kids and Michael is nowhere close, then he snipes at the kids a bit. Rinse and repeat a couple of times, then he cries a bit and then "oh my god, you guys are not liars after all I'm all fine now!" queue resolution. So the Michael arc doesn't really happen in a satisfactory manner in my opinion. Also, I can't forget to mention the complete unessesary addition of some random mustache twirling villain type that's just jarring for the type of movie that this is supossed to be and even weirder when they dragged him into the porcelain sequence for no actual reason. No motive no real threat, he was just kinda 'there' then got deus ex'd out.
All in all, an ok but fairly forgettable sequel that tries to capture lightning in a bottle a second time but instead just catches a bit of the thunder. Looks really nice but not really much going under the hood. 6.5/10
Another clunky boring episode, it's like timeless but bad. Generic villain of the week that had to be a quasi white suprematist because of course he did. Didn't feel menacing at any point other than when he attempted to choke the Doctor. He had no clear goal or meaning and apparently, when he got out of jail, the first thing he thought of was "hmm let me go to the 1950s and disrupt the civil rights movement". They keep cranking the edge up this time with a companion getting slapped too followed by a very intense stare down™. I think the most jarring part of this episode it that we're supposed to pretend no one cares about The Doctor running around with a colorful t-shirt and an overcoat.
A lot of people were worried the female doctor was gonna kill the show but what I'm here to say is that you should had been worried about the writing this whole time. This season has had some severe pacing issues up to this point. This episode took like a half hour to even get running and by that time I had lost interest. That generic music at the end? gimme a break. I really don't know if people are being coaxed into rating it highly but this didn't feel like an exemplary episode by any means. Chib can definitely write drama but not Doctor Who, every episode feels less and less like it.
The show has great potential but it need a real good buff in the writing division. You good a good cast, don't waste it:
1) We need more C&D action maybe tone it down a notch on the drama and focus more on the superhero aspect (although I do believe the drama is an important part of the character building).
2) Honestly? get rid of Evita's Aunt... It's been a while since I've had a character grind my gears so much I just personally found her really annoying, the 2/3 eps she had a great chunk of really bored me (yes including the finale).
3) Try to flesh out the stories, the finale in particular was really hasty and it felt like stuff kept happening for no reason or too easily (How Ty defeated Connors, how Tandy easily got all the relevant Roxxon info from the corporate dude, How they kept hammering the "one will die" point but no one even came close to dying and how the whole situation in general was resolved). Maybe hurry the slow burn a bit so you don't have to resolve a gigantic chunk of the story in the final episode.
I believe S02 can be great with a bit of care.
Lemme start by saying I didn't have high hopes for this movie from the get go: iffy casting, production woes and the teaser being released on February of this year with the movie releasing in May. Thanks to these low expectations I didn't really felt spat on like other people.
I'll be honest, the movie isn't complete garbage considering all of the stuff above. The iffy casting worry I mentioned was mostly around Alden Ehrenreich that played our titular hero Han Solo, a staple of the Star Wars universe. But all things considered he wasn't as horrible as I was bracing for. No he wasn't anywhere near as engaging and charismatic as Harrison Ford but alas he gave it his best I believe. Most of the other actors are well known so their performances were as good as the scripts they were given.
Speaking of let's get to characters, I didn't personally connect with anyone other than the ones we knew already. So we were left to meet the new ones: Beckett the flip flopper, Qi'ra the walking cliché, L3-37 the SJW bot that the movie could have been the same without and Dryden Vos the generic wealthy evil dude in a cantina-like setting. By the end of the movie I was questioning myself what the hell had happened because I didn't really understand why these characters were doing what they were doing.
It's a pretty generic adventure with no real stakes since we know at least Han, Chewie and Lando will survive ahead of time. It would have been nice to see more of Han being an imperial soldier since that would have actually given his character some depth in my opinion. Of course the first encounter with Chewie is a pure coincidence cause why not... out of all the planets and prisons he could have been thrown in, the guard dog was a wookie then didn't kill him.
Here's the gist: Han is a rebel in the planet of Corellia he has his girl Qi'ra, they want out of there so they almost make it and get separated. We then move to an initial purposeless heist after some stuff just to kill some of the crew and force our heroes to meet Dryden and by AGAIN COINCIDENCE Qi'ra in order to get the plot moving. After that, we get to the main mission with goes by absolutely hitch-free, then later we get to the completely bonkers scene with the space squid and the black hole (arguably the most fun part of the movie) and then we get to the tail end of the movie where it all goes apeshit.
The way some of these characters were forced to part ways (which I understand has to be done to keep the canon relatively intact) just felt lazy, sure lets make Beckett a traitor for no reason and Qi'ra also a traitor that apparently has contact with Darth Maul (aka fan service)? I mean what?
tl;dr
Pros:
-Good Action sequences
-Good performances (especially Glover)
-Good VFX (Great work by ILM as always)
-Sexy brand new Millennium Falcon
-Good Direction
Cons:
-Boring characters
-The music was pretty underwhelming for a SW movie
-Purposeless story
All in all, could have been better I don't know how much changed with the reshoots and if it was for the better. No high hopes so not as disappointed, watchable. However, if you're not much of a fan of SW maybe consider waiting for the home release.
6.5/10
Well… this movie was certainly something big. I will commend the writers for managing to juggle such a great amount of characters and not ending up with a confusing soup of a plot. Not even kidding at one point we have around 5 different storylines running at the same time but somehow, they made them all followable and had them all merge back as it separated initially, leaving you with a satisfactory feeling along with some great action and character development.
Speaking of that let’s talk about Gamora’s story because I had no clue that was the story I wanted to see in the MCU, such a heartbreaking story of a little girl that’s forcibly removed from her home world by it’s attacker only to be trained to be his successor. You assume that Thanos was just being selfish and took her as a trophy from that planet and even Gamora herself believes that but my god that scene on Vormir when she realizes that Thanos did indeed love her as a daughter ( even if he ended up sacrificing her to forward his plan ) was gut-wrenching.
Which brings me to my next point, I’ve been somewhat critical of Marvel’s use (and sometimes overuse) of comedy which really takes away from certain scenes that actually benefit from some seriousness but to this movie’s credit it managed to hit some nice humorous bits without being overwhelming like Thor: Ragnarok and actually allowed itself to have some goddamn emotion. As I said before the action scenes were pretty impressive it was nice to see all of the heroes with such different powers all battling it out at once. The CGI was actually pretty good and nothing was noticeably bad (I watched the film on IMAX). There’s also some nice references and reappearances of characters recognizable to those who have watched most if not all of the MCU.
But what is a good movie without some drawbacks, for one, Banner. Why did they even bother having him in the movie if he was just gonna be ‘not Hulk’ most of the movie? So in various parts he just seemed out of place. Also I don’t particularly care too much about the Wanda x Vision love story but if you’re a fan of that I guess it had some nice development as well but I guess since it wasn’t too overbearing it doesn’t dock too much score in my opinion.
All in all, a very solid movie that pays off the MCU in a way that feels pleasing to long time followers and fans of the MCU. Fantastic Visuals, Character development and Action. The score is good but not amazing. Leaves you wanting more in a way that’s not too cheesy even though it was a nearly 3 hour movie. 8.5/10
Enjoyable movie, solid acting, great direction and impressive visuals. All that you can expect from Mr. Spielberg at this point. But as great as all the things before are, I think this movie suffers a similar syndrome to Avatar in which great directing and visuals cover up a fairly generic story. If you analyze the story it’s actually fairly simplistic and not much is done to expand it from that point:
You have an orphan main character that’s living in a toxic environment and therefore uses a device (in this movie’s case the OASIS) as a distraction from the shitty situation he’s in. Meets a curious girl through weird circumstances who he hastily falls in love with and declares it instantly. An evil company with a villain type character with a few henchmen (at least one being comic relief) that do most of the dirty work. Then you get to the different steps of the always three step quest and our hero, despite all odds and a final battle beats the quest only to get to another surprise test™ which he aces without any issue only to discover the true intentions of the creator. The villain gives up like a chump despite being pretty determined 30 seconds ago and not being really convinced to give up on what he was doing. Characters get what they want, end of movie.
I understand that there’s only so much you can do to vary some storylines but I appreciate when people at least try which I felt wasn’t really the case here. I don’t hate the movie, I think the OASIS is a very good concept of a possibility of the future but I feel the some of the characters, especially the opposition could have been polished more. As a gamer I can appreciate nods to the community as well as topics like online friendships that I can identify with myself. Of course you had some other nice nods to pop culture I can also appreciate.
All in all a good movie if you can ignore the more generic aspects of the story, 7.5/10
The whole movie just feels like a big joke, of course we’ve come to know that Marvel likes a bit more comedy in their superhero films but boy oh boy did they go overboard with this one. I don’t know if it’s because I prefer more serious takes on superheroes but before you leave the hater reply hear me out.
I feel like you have to have a mix to cater to audiences both like me and the people that like the joking around. Other MCU movies at this point had a fairly ok mix for my taste but when you go 250% like on this film (or like Guardians of the Galaxy) you end up with things like scenes that are supposed to have emotional weight like the ending scene on the escape vessel or even The Hulk's identity crisis come off as cherry and funny which they may not need to be. I feel like films like Wonder Woman (as a DC example, it’s flaws aside) and The Winter Soldier (as an MCU example, also it’s flaws aside) to be a good mix of both seriousness and “jokiness” and the ratings reflect it.
Understand that I don’t think it’s a bad movie, It’s very well produced, has a great cast and it's very well directed as we’ve come to expect from Marvel’s high budget. It’s just that this kind of constant (dare I say) forced comedy isn’t really my cup of tea. If you like this kind of dynamic you’re gonna love it.
