The Diplomat is an absolute triumph of storytelling. Debora Cahn's brilliant political thriller incorporates the best elements of her most high-profile TV work to date, mixing the relentless pacing of Homeland, the complex relationship portrayals of Grey's Anatomy, and the resolutely smart dialogue & sky-high audience expectations of the Sorkin years of The West Wing. Throw that into a brew along with a flawless cast and you get a show that is nigh impossible to stop watching mid-binge.
Keri Russell's return to TV after her iconic run on The Americans does not disappoint. Here she portrays yet another strong, brilliant woman in a position of power but this time she's out of the shadows and on the most public of stages. She deftly shifts between a rigidly formal diplomatic persona and her foul-mouthed, cutthroat private life, sometimes in the space of a couple of sentences, yet her humanity shines through. She grapples with imposter syndrome as she's thrust into an unexpectedly high profile position, but never loses sight of her strengths. She knows that she can stand toe-to-toe with her legendary-in-diplomatic-circles husband. (In fact, she warns her new colleagues that she's the only one who can help them decode or resist his charms.)
Watching their sometimes partnership / sometimes rivalry unfold across the 8 episodes is mesmerizing as both she & Rufus Sewell mercilessly chew up every scene. They're both preternatural acting talents who are used to stealing the camera from other actors, and their slow circling of each other is like a dance with words. Sewell shines as the other Ambassador in their marriage who's grappling with a crumbling relationship that he wants to save, but doesn't seem to know whether it's because he loves his wife or if she offers him a new pathway to power.
The overarching mystery of the series blends seamlessly with the evolution of their relationship, with neither feeling forced or unrealistic. And the area where so many shows can falter - the supporting roles - is yet another where this one rises above expectations. All of the secondary players shine, with the only ding against the series being the underutilization of Jess Chanliau's Ronnie. But, then again, the hallmark of the series seems to be making sure that you always want to see more. Here's hoping that we get to see more of Ronnie in (a hoped-for) season 2.
Warning Lot of Spoilers ahead for THIS MOVIE & Avengers Endgame( if you havent seen endgame and are seeing dark phoenix, u belong in a museum).
Wont use spoilers tag. will be too many.
Remember when captain america picked up the hammer.
Remember "avengers assemble".
Remember all the cool moments from so many awesome movies. hell even the previous xmen movies.
Good luck trying to find them here. Not a single cinematic moment created in a comic book movie full of wonderful and loved characters played by talented actors. How do you F*** this up.....
The movie starts of with so much promise. And then we see Jennifer Lawrence, (who btw is not in the mystique makeup coz she is a huge star now. whatever happened to "mutant and proud"), scolding Charles that X-men should be called X-women now...
And then 2-4 people clapped and laughed in the theatre. #CringeAlert
wow...
soo.... i guess Hank, nightcrawler, quicksilver and scott are not men......
enough already with this sjw nonsense.
It is all downhill from there. The writing and direction is just bad. It is tragic that this is the last xmen film of this "continuity/saga" under Fox.
I cant believe im saying this but Xmen Apocalypse was so much better. I cant believe im gonna say that EVEN Xmen 3 the last stand at least had some coherence and a plot driving forward compared to this lost cause.
The villain is played by jessica chastain who is playing............. YEAH I DONT KNOW. i have to go to wikipedia or google to probably find out . otherwise she is just there.... manipulating jean gray to become evil...
The performances by actors are great and there is just one tiny action set piece outside Jean Gray's house. it lasted a few seconds but it was so promising. but the movie failed so much after that.
Mystique is killed off there and Quicksilver is "conveniently" injured. you know...... coz he can literally solve all problems the movie might ever have. also his special effects probably cost a lot, as much as the whole production.
It was interesting to see Hank and Magneto to team up to kill Jean Gray but that lasted again like 10 seconds where everyone reunites to protect Jean Gray from Jessica Chastain who is playing the role of .......... YEAH I DONT KNOW .... a bad woman/alien....
So many moments could be created based on these characters to move the audience. based on their powers.
When hank comes to tell magneto that mystique is dead there was a crashed helicopter behind him. I thought he would probably destroy it or something with his powers in rage. Justifiable power usage in moments But no, he sheds a tear....
But you get the cheeky moments like Scott asking Storm to put ice in her drinks... Really.... There is no ice at that party. If storm is not around they will have drinks without ice??? nonsense screenwriting
Everything is dark. Every scene is dark . Most of the set pieces are set in dark (except that jean gray house scene which was decent for few seconds)
Even the damn climax is in a train in dark. Couldnt really tell what was going on . All hodgepodge action. full of confusing moments.
Its just sad. I dont want it to be avengers end game. but this movie never tries.
Only thing commendable are the actors' performances. Nightcrawler after being weird in the last movie gets to shine a bit when he finally enrages and start fighting in climax. but that again lasts only few seconds.
Sophie Turner does a good job. But the writing does not do enough justice.
I mean the final fight in Jean vs Jessica Chastain, she taunts to Jean that "your emotions make you weak" , mid - fight.
ok awesome. i wonder what would be a cool comeback to that. which make you pump up in excitement as Jean finishes her off.
Lets ask some 10 year old shall we.
10 year old: "ummm just use the opposite sentence. YOURE WRONG. MY EMOTIONS MAKE ME STRONG !!"
Good job 10 year old. you should join our crew.
im not kidding. this is how Jean replies to whats-her-name before finishing her off.
It all boils down to how good the villain/antagonist in the end for every movie/story (at least in a CBM).
X men Apocalypse whatever kind of movie it was, it was at least having a powerful villain performance by Oscar Isaac who had a decent screen presence and powerful delivery of dialogues at some places ( the missile scene ).
and here we have jessica chastain who plays......... WHO THE F*** IS SHE PLAYING???? AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? DID I MISS A MOVIE OR SOME POST CREDIT SCENE FROM BEFORE. F***!!!.
average movie . see it if you are bored. but it will definitely tarnish your xmen memories. I actually re-watched xmen apocalypse immediately afterwards to see how much better it was then this mess.
As soon as I saw the reports that multiple people had complained to Netflix that this film had made them physically sick due to its graphic content I knew I would be doing myself a disservice as a horror fan by not checking it out. As normal these reports seem to have been largely exaggerated, this happens all the time as a new horror film is said to have gone ‘over the line’ and disturbed audiences for the actual film to be pretty standard in its themes and content. The Perfection is destined to be seen alongside the original Saw and Hostel in that general audiences seem to have gotten the image of something truly horrific and disgusting when in reality the gore is used sparingly as a way to enhance the dark subject matter.
This film has so many twists in it that the final act feels as if you are watching a completely different movie. After a while I personally think that it bites of more than it can chew by trying to tackle a very serious subject matter despite still being a fairly goofy horror film. The first half is absolutely brilliant and I was honestly ready to call it a best of the year contender until the twists started to drag the film down a little. At first when the plot begins to unravel and things are shown to not be how they first seemed it feels fresh and interesting but after a while it gets in the way of the storytelling and I felt less and less invested in the plot despite the fact that the themes were getting darker and more serious.
Allison Williams is absolutely remarkable in this film. There is a sequence towards the middle of the film where she really gets to shine proving that between this and Get Out she has the potential to be the best thing to happen to horror since Anya Taylor-Joy. Logan Browning is also great in this movie and I hope that she is able to use this as a stepping stone to better things.
This film was clearly a big risk. The experimental presentation pays of greatly in some areas and can get in the way in others. I will always support new and interesting steps forward in the horror genre and even if I don’t think this is as good as it maybe could have been I still recommend checking it out if you are looking for a good new horror. It is absolutely not as graphic or disturbing as the internet will have you believe but it is worth watching.
