duncanbourne-44800 Reviews

The Creator (2023)

Superb visuals shame abou the plot

[6/10 · 3 October 2023]

Okay to be fair the plot isn't terrible, just not super original in it you will find shades of Terminator, Platoon, AI (Spielbergs), Bladerunner and any movie with a special child that is the key to everything. It does raise some interesting points mostly about having a huge doomsday weapon (NOMAD) continually circling a foriegn county with the excuse "We're not at war with the people who live there only the AI's they shelter" (read the anti-communist retoric of vietnam). However it only surface gleans these issues. Most of the time it's a none stop series of chases and shoot outs leaving little time to develop character.

The visuals though I loved (especially NOMAD) and the way it was done certainly points the way for future movies of this kind. One thing though, and this really bugged me, was how the sneaky, undercover of darkness raids had soldiers with bright white lights on their combat suits and helmets. A lot of torches flashing everywhere is not the way to conduct a surprise attack folks.

Black Panther (2018)

Intelligent superhero film

[9/10 · 23 February 2018]

Apart from the fact that this is a major step forward for black representation in movies of this genre, Black Panther actually comes across as that rare beast, an intelligent superhero movie. It certainly resonates with the isolationist politics currently in vogue and offers a critcism against them (with subtle refrences to Trumps "wall") but for me it was that the characters themselves (with a notable exception) were well rounded and motivated. The weak link was the character of Klaw. A one dimensional nutter who's only purpose was to be the stock racist South African and to kill people needlessly. In truth a lot of the usual tropes are here love interest, good guy gets defeated good guy comes back, bad guy kills nice people etc. but on the whole it is well done and the visuals especially of Wakanda city are beautiful. I espcially liked the references to African culture which added a nice flavour to the look of the film. On the basis of this I would watch another one.

Colossal (2016)

intriguing plot with character fail

[4/10 · 22 September 2017]

I wanted to like this film. I loved the originality of the premise, big monster controlled at a distance by alcoholic girl. I liked it because it was an off the wall wacky idea that defied all logic. In a world of super fast, wham! Bam! seamless CGI creations that trash whole city blocks, just to show you that the film maker can create really good monster trashing city block scenes, the idea of an ordinary woman controlling a city block trashing monster and making it do goofy things like dancing really appealed. What if you could control a monster? What would you do with it? You could take such a premise anywhere! Sadly, like the small minded characters in it, the film just runs in circles and goes no where. The trouble with the characters is that none of them are likable. Anne Hathaway pulls it off best with Gloria and at times is genuinely funny but alas she is working with poor material here and drunk Gloria is ultimately irritating. As for the rest. (ex)boyfriend Tim is dull, Joel is a one dimensional character who's only purpose is to get seduced by Gloria. Garth is good as the wacky character but given precious little to do. Oscar starts out nice but makes a sudden and bizarre transformation into evil Oscar half way through. The lines (and actions) they get to deliver are not only hackneyed but often lacking in any discernible reason. Likewise the whole explanation for the existence of the monster(s) in the first place is slight and poorly thought out. In the end an interesting idea, with a few good moments (dancing monster), sadly spoiled by poor writing and lazy plotting.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

A feast for the eyes let down by dialogue

[7/10 · 7 August 2017]

OK why eight stars? I dithered over 6 or 7 which I will get onto soon but in the end I decided that it was visually stunning, in that rich way that many French comics are, but in a way that enhanced the film rather than just for the sake of eye-candy and that the concept and plot was original enough from the point of view of other films of its ilk (Star wars etc.). It had the mad intensity of 5th Element that I loved and made me want to know more of that world(s) and delve into its sumptuous complexity. However……. The dialogue and acting of DeHaan let it down terribly. Cara Delevigne did a good job on her part and in my opinion rescued some pretty corny scripting. But for a lot of the time I felt that it had been written by some aspiring 13 year old for his end of term essay. The Pearls were a bit too happy hippy dippy and valerian came over as some wannabe teenage James Bond and an insincere one at that, even when he was supposedly being sincere. His constant offers of marriage never really convinced. How the hell had this guy made Major? Laureline should have been the one in charge, she often seemed to have a better grip on things. There are also a few major plot holes that detracted from the film (like how do you survive an exploding planet by hiding in a crashed space craft that would surely be atomised in the process?) but mainly it is the school boy dialogue that lets it down. The character of Bubble (Rihanna) was much under used. They could have cut some of the lengthy erotic dancing and given the character more constructive screen time. I would watch the film again, if only to spot other sci-fi and film references (Jessica Rabbit amongst others), and for the feast for the eyes that it is. But just don't pay too much attention to what they are saying in it.

The Death of Louis XIV (2016)

Death as it is

[8/10 · 4 August 2017]

This is certainly a film that does what it says on the tin. The sole focus of the film is the death of Louis XIV the Sun King and it is interesting that the sun is notably absent from the film which for the most part resembles a series of Rembrandt paintings in its lush tones surrounded by darkness. This is not an exciting film, in fact it is quite boring in parts. But then that is death, as anyone who has sat watching over an aged relative will know. It is quiet, it is slow, drawn out over hours and days in hushed tones. This is the king of France, one of the most noted kings of France, and here he is fading from life like any ordinary person. Attended and fussed over but unable to stop the enevitable decline or gain much comfort. If I have a quibble it is that the dialoge is often painfully slow and dull in a manner that is, I feel, a bit of a cliché in this type of film. It fits the mood but was, I felt, somewhat overstated.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Good CGI and good script!

[9/10 · 3 August 2017]

This trilogy of prequels has been an excellent build up to the Planet of the Apes main event. True it does kind of spoil the surprise ending of the original film where Charlton Heston finds out he is back on Earth. But then that could only really work the once. This take on the PotA has shown some well thought out scripting and demonstrates that you don't have to sacrifice good writing for good CGI. Andy Serkis demonstrates great range of emotion through his CGI "mask" building on Gollem from LotR with a greater subtly. For me though the best performance goes to Woody Harrlson who imbues his character with a greater degree of sympathy than your usual villain. And that really is the point of the film. That things are not always black and white. If I have any quibbles it is that Caesar is a bit too vengeance driven in parts and I am not sure about the comedy character. But really it is a difficult film to fault.