Change Your Image
wickedragon
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Captain Marvel (2019)
All in all a positive movie, but with a lacking start
Great CGI, some really cool action sequences and fun characters - overall an enjoyable film to watch if you can get through the first hour.
The beginning feels like its mostly there to set up the second half, and is a chore that they have to go through. The story is told, not as a fluid narrative, but almost in a childlike naive manner - "this happened then this happened then this happened". We're introduced to whole worlds that get so little time to be developed that I know nothing about them really; I have no place nor time to put the action mentally. The action and narrative is set in unnamed future CGI-world in future time - it has a name but I don't remember it. The characters suffer from a similar problem - I know nothing about most of them. And I don't know anything about the culture they come from either so I don't even have a baseline.
In story this could make sense. The lack of information about the location and the culture could really have benefitted from some fish out of water moments for our heroine as she also doesn't necessarily feel totally at home in the culture she finds herself. But no such moments are gained.
The story really benefits from getting to earth where we can both place it in a time and location, and we have a cultural understanding of who the characters are, and Vers friends get to be more ... alien.
The movie has the normal superhero movie motif of "bad ppl need punchings!", and a secondary story about sexism in the military specifically and to some extent society at large. The secondary motif is baked reasonably well into the story as a whole, but a few of the moments are extremely in your face about it, to the point that I'm feeling like its too much. It's less showing and more pointing at it and saying "See. Sexism! Get it!?". Which is kinda grating tbh, but I guess is a conscious choice.
All in all an enjoyable movie that I think would've benefitted from spending 10-20 more minutes in the first part of the movie.
The 100 (2014)
The dumbdumbs
Everything about this plot has the dumbdumbs.
If you are allergic to nothing making a lick of sense, and not a single person acting with an IQ larger than their shoe size avoid like the plague.
Iron Fist (2017)
Thank god for Jessica Henwick
When I got this described to me as a less soap-opera-y Arrow with Kung Fu I was sold. That is pretty much how I would describe the show I wanted to see instead of Arrow.
Unfortunately this show, like Jessica Jones, suffers from the "moron protagonist"-flaw which I'm allergic to. In addition I'd say that about half the Martial Arts scenes are disappointing.
Whenever Henwick is in the scene it's great. She has crisp yet fluid moves; she moves like she has a purpose and that purpose is to win.
Whenever Finn Jones is in a fight scene he moves like he's trying to get through the choreography without hurting himself, and he has the strength and direction of a drunk toddler. I'm being slightly mean here; he shows in a few scenes that he CAN move with snap, but he mostly doesn't.
As in most Martial Arts entertainment there is no faulting the extras. They move like they're martial artists, except for most of the ones in Wing's dojo. They move like they're in a dojo trying to learn how to be martial artists. I don't know if that is bad or not. But it was distracting.
The fighting really should be the main part of this story. This is, after all, the Iron Fist. It could've just been 13 episodes depicting a martial arts tournament where half the contestants secretly belong to the Hand and I for one would've been happy.
But no. The fighting is unfortunately treated mostly like a secondary thing that sometimes happens; a distraction from the show about a stupid man child trying to find his place in the world as a rich stupid man child. Much like Jessica Jones, if Danny Rand has the option of acting like an idiot he does so. I think the point where the bucket of stupidity floweth over for me was in episode 6. Without spoiling to much, I think: Danny faces a deadly female opponent who asks "are you scared?", obviously referring to her being a woman. Instead of being a warrior and saying "no. I'm relieved because you have shorter reach than me and lower body mass so I'm most likely going to kick your ass." he stutters and almost kiss her, like an idiot man child. ugh.
Watch it for Jessica Henwick.
Intelligence (2014)
Well produced garbage
The show starts well, and then gradually falls apart.
There is nothing wrong with the technical aspects of this show. It might be because of this that i tolerated the first ten episodes. Now, fifteen minutes into the eleventh I can feel that I've had enough.
As I said, technically it's competently made. The shooting, the sound, the lighting, the costumes, the cg; everything is top notch. If this is all you need from a show, this is the show for you. Also, you're weird.
I'm not going to gripe about the acting much. There is quite a bit of melodrama which I'm absolutely fine with.
No, my gripes is with the writing. The characters are devolving as the show goes on, and the plot is just getting dumber and dumber.
The characters start full of praise, somewhat complex giving them the possibility of evolving, but with enough unknowns that they can be explored as well. By the tenth episode it's clear that there will be no character growth. In fact I'd say that the opposite has happened. It's like the writers considered small oddities and personal traits outside the clear cut character archetypes as flaws and polished them away. Celebrations, now the hero is finally competent in all fields and a complete sociopaths treating unnamed characters as so much scaffolding.
But the characters are also a minor gripe. Archetypes are archetypes for a reason, and I can tolerate quite a bit of use of these. But the plots. Oh, the horrible plots.
The military and intelligence personnel routinely make decisions so tactically unsound my five year old would ask me why they were so stupid. This is especially evident in the actions of the protagonist since we see so much of him in the show.
Also, for a science fiction show, the writers obviously don't know anything about any form of science. There is so much bad science in the show, and so much of it is completely unnecessary. It's just lazy hack writing made by ignorant authors who don't care about what they're doing.
So, at 10,3 episodes I call it quits. Adios Intelligence. The first few episodes was worth the view.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
A film pretty much perfectly in line with the turtles from my youth
This movie was just what I was hoping it would be: A silly actionfest that at no point took itself seriously.
It uses April O'Neil as an anchor for "normality", and does a spin on the cartoons' story of her father without going into too much detail of it. She is featured prominently in the movie, just like in the old kids comics.
The main feature is however the turtles' back story, them as a team. The heart of the story is them reconciling their differences, the exact theme as the story has had before; but of course with a modern twist.
Enough of the old was in with a splattering of new.
But still, the most important elements are the following: The action and the jokes. The action was very good, and fun. The silly was strong and fitting.
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Where is my feel good action movie?
As my summary says; where is my feel good action movie.
Truth be told I only saw the first thirty minutes of the movie and was totally sickened by it.
First, the good. The music, the shooting, the lighting, the setting, the casting; it's all competently done. Nothing wrong with any of those things.
I'm not sure what the movie tries to be. It's obvious that John McClane is supposed to be his own silly sidekick here. Spoiler: John McClane idiots his way through from beginning to .. well, about the half hour mark. And not just in a "I'm to stupid to fully grasp the situation" kind of way, but rather he seems oblivious and uncaring in regards to the world around him. Like he's a character in a movie and nothing of this is real.
The action is very actiony. Shooting and explosions. But unlike in the previous Die Hard movies where most of the deaths were for either cops, swat or criminals this movie sees fit to start really killing civilians en masse. Just like, kill them all.
The movie does not go into lots of details about their deaths, but barring protocols for the instant teleportation to safety being installed in Russia in the Die Hard universe kids, toddlers, men, women dogs etc are left dead everywhere.
That's not a feel good action flick. That's as much "feel good" as watching a documentary about massacres in South Sudan.
So 2 for me, and I'm not watching any more of this.
Frailty (2001)
A film worthy of more praise
A fantastic movie, a must see for anyone who like their films toned dark, but with a happy ending. Sort of. Maybe.
First, let me just say that I think the cinematography of the movie is perfection. It starts slow, and builds towards the crescendo throughout the movie. It's baby steps, baby steps. Each scene preparing you for the next to be slightly wilder until, in the end, the peak is reached and you are ready for it. The score is very well chosen. For the most of the movie it is kept in the background, building on the emotion of the scene; strengthening it. But it is brought to the foreground on a few occasions, making the music in those select few scenes noticeable and strong.
The actors all do a stellar job. There is some melodrama, which I find very fitting for the story. Much cudos goes to Jeremy Sumpter and Matt O'Leary for the roles as the kids. Most kid actors manage to hit my nerves in record time, but in this movie the kids as well did a stellar job.
Tokarev (2014)
Pleasantly surprised
This wasn't the perfect picture. Far from it. Plenty of scenes could have used more work.
But the overall story, was a pleasant surprise. The ending was great. I loved it. Up until the last ten minutes it was a pretty average action story with some good morals to it. Some of the action scenes are good. The score is very fitting. The lighting is also fitting to the scenes. The casting is mostly fitting, although Rachel Nichols' presence as the wife should be mentioned as a possible problem. She is very much younger than her husband, which isn't played up or down in the movie.
Cudos for portraying believable teens.
There are some flashbacks to when the main characters were younger. These scenes are mostly good, but the first time there was a flashback I didn't realize what I was watching.
The movie is well worth seeing. And it's absolutely worth your while to pay attention through the entire thing.
After Earth (2013)
Stupid teen athletics through fantasy horror world
First things first: This is not a Science-fiction film. It's not space opera. It's a science-fantasy world where the laws of nature need not apply. Much like in space-opera technology has improved in some fields and devolved in others. Psychology seems a lost science, as does biology and chemistry. Geography, meteorology, biology, physics, chemistry etc. Follows other rules in this universe than in ours. And the humans portrayed in the movie only look like us; they do not work like us neither in physical function nor in psychological or social terms.
The acting is okay, but there isn't much of it. The story is asinine, the plot as well.
The CG is OK. The score is OK. I don't know why M.N. Shyamalan would allow this on his resume.
Black Eagle (1988)
an uneven movie.
I'll try to keep this mostly spoiler free. Mostly.
If you like tough-as-nails 80's spy dramas or martial arts films with a plot this might be the film for you.
First of all lets talk about the action. Obviously, with names like Jean-Claude van Damme and Shô Kosugi on the cast list this movie has some action. There's fisticuffs a plenty, diving, daggers, guns, a car chase, stealth and even some 80's-style parkour. For the first 80 minutes I'm pleased with the action. Then, for the last ten minutes it just falls apart. Even the 'final battle' between van Damme and Kosugi is badly choreographed, short and very unsatisfying. Most of the fisticuffs has a taste of the east in it, which depending on what you like is good or bad. Some of it is fluid enough to be 'western styled', but its very obvious that Kosugi is used to thinking in one-move sequences. Kane Kosugi has a small action part as well, which he executes well.
Speaking of the acting, most of the actors do a good enough job. Vladimir Skomarovsky, Bruce French, Doran Clark and William Bassett do good roles. Jean-Claude van Damme does well enough with what little space his role is given. Most of the other main actors have lapses, especially in the beginning, where they seem stiff or uninterested. The background actors do good jobs, all the small parts are executed well. WARNING: There are child actors in this movie. Also worth noting: almost no acting happens after the 80-minute mark, acting ability ending roughly about the same time as the plot falls apart.
At first I liked the plot. The main plot is a good setup for an action movie with heavy spy-elements. It could easily been the setup for a James Bond movie. In an unusual twist for 80's action the main characters family is at risk. Unfortunately this element which could have given rise to much dramatic tension is resolved too soon. It gives the unfortunate effect of giving the main character smaller stakes at the end rather than the middle of the movie. Also there are background details and small side-plots that I think is fun that they made room for. I would like the side plots better if the main plot didn't get so diffuse. I don't think that the small side plots were what made the main story diffuse though. I just think the weakest parts of the exposition were those concerning the main plot.
A nice detail when it comes to the plot is that the Russians aren't baby-eating monsters. In fact, if I was going to root for the 'good guys' I think I'd be rooting for the Russians. Not that they're all nice people, but the Americans in the movie are down right bloodthirsty.
The music score is mostly fitting, although there are lapses with no background where this was missed. It's also not great, falling within the generic "dramatic violin" genre of action music. It's not an OST you'd sit down and listen to afterwords.
All in all it's an OK movie that you could very well see on a Friday evening with your family. (as long as that family is all more than eleven years old) Goes well with a beer and some taco. Just don't let the ending bring you too much down with its suck.