grygong Reviews

The Outfit (2022)

An excellent, underrated film!

[9/10 · 2 April 2024]

It's a very charming, beautifully shot and tension packed film! The actors are doing an amazing job and all the plot lines come to a satisfying completion. Filmmakers could learn a lot from this movie.

The music sets the tone immediately, as does the Englishness of the main actor. There are great little subtle symbols all throughout the film and hints to the surprising, a little absurd but in the end welcome plot twist.

Time flies while watching it. It's a great example of its genre (which I don't even want to name here because it would be somewhat spoiling it).

The costumes and direction are also excellent. Well done!

The Terror (2018–2025)

It's BORING. Wasted potential

[5/10 · 1 April 2024]

There was a lot of potential here, and I mean a lot. Amazing costumes, good sets, a cast of great actors.

But I got extremely boooored after just 4 episodes. Nothing really happens here; there is little conflict, almost no music. I don't understand why this is labeled as horror, when there is nothing scary about it.

The show refuses to focus on characters enough, their motivations and fears. It's all one-note and flat for the first four episodes at least.

This show drags and drags and I simply don't understand all these 9s and 10s here from other reviewers.

Plus it would help to understand where exactly we are, what this land is and so on.

CGI gets a lot of praise but I think it's subpar, I can always tell it's a set with fake ice and snow, the sound is not good enough and they're not really acting cold.

Boring and just meh, gets 5 stars for costumes.

Living (2022)

A beautiful, beautiful film!

[8/10 · 20 February 2024]

Living is a beautiful, simple film. Not to spoil anything, it's wonderfully shot and composed, the costumes and scenography are great, but by far the best part is Bill Nighy. That man should receive an Oscar for this role, he made it work.

I'm giving it >>only<< an eight because at times it's conveying its message a little too obviously to my liking. I'd prefer just a little more subtlety, especially in the very end.

But overall, it's a charming film which both moves and motivates you. Be sure to have some tissues around, because it will make you cry for sure. In a good way.

The rest of the cast is quite good as well, but Bill Nighy was top notch.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Utterly idiotic, but what's worse - BORING

[4/10 · 13 February 2024]

Oh boy, where to begin...

I don't even want to waste too much time writing a long review here because it simply doesn't deserve one.

I always expect MI movies to be somewhat dumb and simple, but this one is certainly one of the worst. The direction is awful, the jokes almost never land, the characters are stupid and with weird motivations.

The action is unfortunately overshadowed by very poor CGI. What's the point of doing these stunts for real (with the main one spoiled in every trailer, poster and promotional material beforehand and even in the opening credits) when they're all done with a looot of CGI slapped over it?

Tom Cruise's face, bloated from botox, certainly doesn't help as he often looks like his head is about to explode. Sometimes getting old is a better option, he's gonna turn into Stallone soon.

But the worst sin of all - IT'S BORING. A real snorefest, even the action is boring. Even the sound of gunfire is somehow bleak and quiet.

Below average. Don't waste your time.

Upgrade (2018)

EXTREMELY overrated. Very generic.

[1/10 · 23 January 2024]

Again I am shocked by the 8, 9 and even 10 star reviews here. The film is terribly written and acted. The casting was godawful, the story extremely predictable and the main gimmick got boring real fast.

I guess you can praise it for trying because it's apparently low budget, but this film is a perfect example of why you need good actors.

I felt no tension in this. It's very gory in a good way, but doesn't have much else going for it. I would recommend skipping this one as it's another sad example of imdb's ratings not reflecting actual cinematic value.

Nothing much to say here, I would normally rate this at 4, but I want to counter the absurd ratings here. It's nowhere near a masterpiece.

Elysium (I) (2013)

Plot-hole galore, but the worst part is: IT'S BORING

[2/10 · 11 January 2024]

I'm disappointed in the high score on this site. The entire film is thoroughly disappointing as well. It had a lot of potential, but the interesting premise is never explored deeply enough.

There is plot hole after plot hole. Why doesn't Elysium have any protection? Why is it so easy to fly in there? Where are all the police robots which we see in the beginning?

Furthermore, the film is shot terribly. Shakycam can't hide your poor fighting choreography, it only makes the entire film unbearable to watch.

The acting is laughable most of the time, apart from Damon who is quite good. The main bad guy is extremely funny, and not in a good way. You can't treat him seriously with that accent (I've read here that they decided to go with his original South African accent from Iohhansburg, but it comes off as very weird and funny).

To summarise: plot hole after plot hole, terrible script, bad action scenes, no tension at all, mostly poor acting. It gets 2/10 for decent cgi and Matt Damon.

A Murder at the End of the World (2023)

Quite captivating, but fails short at the end

[7/10 · 20 December 2023]

The show is very interesting and different from the classic whodunnit series. It touches on modern subjects of climate change, hacking, AI, the tech industry clashing with art. It also contains a moving love story.

Most of the show keeps you in suspense, there are some great tension packed scenes.

The acting is also wonderful, both from the main actress and Clive Owen.

Unfortunately, as typical for the whodunnit genre - the ending leaves much to be desired. There are missed opportunities there which I won't go into to avoid spoilers.

Suffice to say that the last episode lacks tension and the characters make some, hm, peculiar choices.

I'd recommend for a watch in winter, under a blanket and with hot chocolate. But don't expect a masterpiece. It's interesting and mostly engaging, with some meaningful messages, but it's not perfect by any means.

The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018)

How is this so liked? It's terrible!

[2/10 · 27 November 2023]

I've never written a review on here before, but I must say I am extremely surprised with the good reviews for this show.

It's extremely boring, it becomes super repetetive very quickly. There's nothing original here and the main characters are completely unlikable (especially the main guy and Carol). The humour is very childish and cringe, and definitely not in the good way like in The Office. You may think it's actually going to touch on some interesting themes after the first episode, but it gets progressively worse.

There is no subtlety here and the main guy takes HOURS to exhibit any change and self-reflection. You can predict where everything is going after a single line in a scene.

There comes a point somewhere in the middle of the show where you think things can take off in a different, maybe darker tone, but after 5 minutes of some painfully cliche and boring comedy, it just goes back to the very same.

How is this rated 7.4??? Hooow?? I'm losing my trust for this site after this, I feel cheated.