speculatrix Reviews

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)

Somewhat formulaic and relies too much on vfx and audio to carry it.

[7/10 · 28 April 2024]

I enjoyed the spectacle of both movies, but felt the storyline relied too much on common tropes, relying too much on VFX and sound to carry it.

Think the magnificent seven in space and you're halfway there.

If you don't have a fairly big TV and at least a basic surround sound system, it'd feel flat. I have a fairly decent set up with a moderately high end TV and 5.1 surround, which I only use early evening as the sound carries and I don't think want to annoy the neighbours. I started watching too late one evening with just the TV speakers and it didn't hold my attention, so I waited until I could watch with the full home cinema, and then i was rapt.

Death to 2021 (2021 TV Special)

Actually funnier a year on

[7/10 · 28 December 2021]

2022 is just days away as I write this. Netflix promoted this in their popular stream.

I think this will split opinion, much like the satirical "don't look up", people will love or hate it.

I found it funnier than "death to 2020", and didn't expect to find this as funny as I did, but the last four years of the state of the world have become quite surreal, and U. S. politics especially so. Laughing at it is a good "pressure relief valve". There's something to offend everyone!

Uncorked (I) (2020)

Good premise, well executed but felt unfinished

[6/10 · 25 April 2020]

The story seemed like a standard trope: father has successful business, works hard and wants his son to take over the business, but the son has other ideas.

The characters are well acted but the plot develops relatively slowly. The girlfriend plays a fairly important role till near the end but then fades from view. The key character fails to achieve his quest, then reconciles with the father, the father then realises the importance of the quest, and as the son tries again the movie ends, leaving the audience hanging.

This movie could have been capable of a solid 7 to 7.5 but because it disappoints only scrapes a six.

Isn't It Romantic (2019)

started out ok, but ultimately proved bland and disappointing

[3/10 · 8 April 2019]

It started out with a few amusing ideas, but then failed to make the most of it, by a third of the way in, it was quite predictable, the acting often wooden, and the plot predictable. I didn't find the characters too engaging, and by the end didn't care too much about what happened.

This is one of those movies where you really feel you wasted your time and could have done something more interesting or productive instead.

The Invention of Lying (2009)

Some great ideas but week in their completion

[6/10 · 3 August 2013]

This movie came on TV a few days ago, and my wife and I enjoyed watching it, but were a little disappointed, so I give it a 6 as "worth watching but don't expect any 'wow'". It's a romantic comedy with a clever basic plot.

The premise is quite simple, and there's initial voice-over which explains it, but labours the point far too much; it was probably added for the benefit of people who watched the movie and simply didn't get it. Well, if they didn't get it after the first 15 minutes, they never would!

We didn't find it laugh-out-loud funny, more wryly amusing, and there were many comedic touches that made the film very entertaining. We liked the somewhat unpredictable twists, and could feel sympathy for the main character which was played with charm and emotion.

I enjoyed the gentle religious parody more than my wife, it's somewhat akin to Life Of Brian, but felt it was taken a bit too far and began to take over the plot for a while.

It's hard to know exactly why I felt a bit disappointed, perhaps the story could have explored the moral quandaries a bit better, or the main character could have been caught out, or it could have been funnier.

But, still worth watching, hence a 6.

Carriers (2009)

An enjoyable movie which is more about people than horror

[7/10 · 3 August 2013]

I enjoyed the movie which has a very simple underlying plot, was probably made on a fairly low budget but didn't suffer from that, and although some of the acting was merely average the story was carried along well.

The story had the characters fulfil their roles well, without being particularly predictable or boring, and a fair number of times I would wonder whether they would act purely logically to reduce risks or give in to their emotions and take a risk.

I found myself being very sympathetic with the characters, and wondered what I would do in such circumstances. Would I be strong and ruthless, a leader? Could I protect myself and my family/friends by watching out for us all, if we lived through such a disaster?

So I scored it 7 because it was an enjoyable movie which made me think "what if" a fair number of times.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)

Disappointing, fine for 8 to 11 year-olds

[2/10 · 15 August 2012]

Executive summary: Only my eight year old son enjoyed it of the four of us, my six year old daughter found it only funny in places but with too much dialogue and not enough action, and my wife and I found it only mildly amusing.

This was a disappointing movie, once you've seen the trailer you don't need to see the movie.

The scenarios were built so slowly and the humour so obvious by the time it peaked the joke would be too late, or the moral over played, and a lot of the time I found I was only paying attention to see if I could second guess what would happen next.

The characters were pretty flat and shallow, even for a movie of this type, and the dialogue quite predictable.

The movie could have been packed into half the length without losing too much, and really could have been a straight-to-DVD release or even straight-to-TV movie.

Overall if I'd paid more than a few pounds or dollars in the bargain DVD bucket I'd feel I wasted my money, as it is paying GB£20 (about US$30) at the cinema for a family ticket left me feeling robbed.

Up (2009)

first third very good, overall quite a good movie but plot elements jarring

[6/10 · 25 July 2010]

*Executive summary* I'd recommend the movie to entertain children and younger teens only, really. As an adult, the movie is worth watching but I'd not buy it from other than the bargain bin or pay good money on PPV.

*Analysis* The first third of the movie is really excellent, a heartwarming story of childhood sweethearts who grow old together, the man becoming old and grumpy when wife dies and deciding to run away to follow their original dream.

It then coasts for a while until they arrive and discover the mad old explorer and his bizarre talking dogs. The plot then turns into an old fashioned chase, fight, run sequence, all too predictable.

I puzzled over the point of the dogs and thought back to very old adventure movies where the heroes go off to Africa or S. America and encounter some aggressive/hostile barbaric tribe. Political correctness means such movies aren't made any more, so I guess the screen-writer simply substituted "native" for "dog" and carried on.

The characterisation of the animals is mostly a bit weak, they're neither just animals nor fully-formed anthropomorphic creatures, the major villain is over the top, and the boy scout grows throughout the movie fulfilling the requirement of all these kinds of movies.

Furry Vengeance (2010)

a made-for-TV movie if ever there was one

[3/10 · 16 May 2010]

I won't give away any plot, but to be honest if you've seen the trails you've probably seen the only good bits of the movie and the rest is watchable if nothing's better on.

I initially gave this movie 4/10, but as I wrote this downgraded to 3. I'd say this movie would be ideal for anyone between the ages of 5 and 9. I'd not buy it on DVD except from the bargain bucket, or watch for free on regular TV. I regret having spent good money to see it at the cinema.

We saw this at the cinema as a family; we are middle-aged parents with a son, 6, and a daughter, 4.

We adults thought it was slow to get started but managed to pick up a little bit of pace. It was quite predictable with the same jokes repeated, and there were no plot twists at all to give it any interest. The bored teenager role was acted with little imagination, the girlfriend just about imagining a soupçon of character. Brendan Fraser managed to make a reasonable deal of a weak plot, and his wife Brooke Shields had a few moments of believable acting as a wife.

The script writer lacked imagination, the budget was probably quite low too, there were times the poor CGI punctured the suspension of disbelief (I imagine this would not be one to enjoy on blu-ray unless they fix things up in the transfer). One novelty was that the animals didn't speak, instead thought bubbles appeared with pictures. If I was being cynical I'd say this was as much a way to avoid the costs of voice character actors and dubbing into foreign languages as to give the movie a twist.

This could easily have been an episode of a any standard sitcom about a family relocating to the country, and could have been edited down to 45 minutes... and then perhaps the reuse of jokes might not be so bad, but they quickly became stale.

So, the movie failed from an adult perspective. Did it succeed to keep the kids entertained? Our 6 year old enjoyed it, he's at that age where adults being stupid, animals being smart, and lots of mess and stink are funny. He's able to follow quite complex dialogue so was able to grasp the point of the movie.

Our 4 year old found it hard going, as it was slow to start, there was too much dialogue with too little action, she enjoyed the slapstick humour, but was frequently restless - she'll re-watch Finding Nemo with more attention and she's seen that 10+ times!.

The Wild (2006)

disappointing; too much dialogue, unoriginal story

[5/10 · 16 June 2007]

whilst the animation was quite good, the script was pretty average and had too many themes stolen from other movies (it's basically finding Nemo + one of the Lion King series).

The plot was clearly messed around with to try and hide its unoriginality, and was too complex in parts for small children, perhaps to try and work in some jokes or ideas to make it appeal to adults.

It was fairly tightly edited so wasn't boring as such, but rather than let the action speak for itself, there was too much dialogue.

Most kids movies have some captivating music, but I didn't really notice any in the movie.

My 3yr-old son had a hard time paying much attention, and didn't want to watch it after the second time. Contrast this with say, Chicken Little, which he watched three times when we first had it, or Cars which he watched every day for three weeks!

Since the production quality was good, it scrapes in with five. I'm glad we'd borrowed it and not bought it even from the bargain bucket.

Holy Man (1998)

Pleasant, amusing, with a streak of satyrical comment

[12 December 2000]

Jeff Goldblum is a shopping TV advertising producer whose sales have been falling. Kate Newell is a new hire who poses a threat. Together by chance they meet a Eddie Murphy, a drifter, who shakes up their lives and becomes a hero to the TV audience.

Some very funny moments, taking a good few sideways hits at the TV shopping phenomena and audiences, the film also has a romantic interest and a happy ending.

I enjoyed it, but it's only worth watching once, maybe twice for fans of Murphy or Goldblum.