From start to finish this episode is a masterpiece. The animation, the music, the humour, the message and the heart. One of the best tv episodes ever made.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Wonder Woman 1984
(2020)
Not awful, but not that good either.
27 December 2020
Wonder Woman 1984 is a major letdown from the first movie story wise. There's a lot going on and a lot of it doesn't work. Kristen Wiig as Cheetah feels very out of place in the story and her final form looks like it belongs in Cats. Pedro Pascal does a good job as a very hammy businessman Gillian who I can actually kind of understand his motivation, even if how he acquires knowledge of certain items is never really explained. World changing events are brushed over and some of the I'm not even sure what the consequences are because the dialogue is drowned out by the music. The visual effects are not up to standard, particularly with its use of CGI body doubles. They look very shonky and out of place. The final fight is somehow even less engaging and ugly than the first movie. The movie attempts to have a cheesy, 1980's Richard Donner feel to it, but the tone doesn't really supports that idea. It isn't fully embraced like the Donner Superman movies or gleefully self aware like Aquaman.
Despise this, the movie is not a complete failure. For one, Hans Zimmer makes a typical excellent score, one that I actually think is an improvement on the original movie. Patty Jenkins direction and the cinematography is competent, but not as good as the first movie. There is no truely stand out moments that'll be remembered for years like the No Mans Land sequence. And although they haven't much to work with, Gal Gator and Chris Pine have good chemistry and they and the rest of the cast turn in fine performances.
Wonder Woman 1984 is not an awful movie, but it's also a pretty big step down from the mostly great first movie. There's a lot going on in the movie and quite a bit of it doesn't work for me. Despite this, I'm still excited to see what Patty Jenkins does in the future.
Despise this, the movie is not a complete failure. For one, Hans Zimmer makes a typical excellent score, one that I actually think is an improvement on the original movie. Patty Jenkins direction and the cinematography is competent, but not as good as the first movie. There is no truely stand out moments that'll be remembered for years like the No Mans Land sequence. And although they haven't much to work with, Gal Gator and Chris Pine have good chemistry and they and the rest of the cast turn in fine performances.
Wonder Woman 1984 is not an awful movie, but it's also a pretty big step down from the mostly great first movie. There's a lot going on in the movie and quite a bit of it doesn't work for me. Despite this, I'm still excited to see what Patty Jenkins does in the future.
The Hitman's Bodyguard
(2017)
Exactly what you expect
21 November 2020
This movie delivers exactly what is advertised on the tin. Nothing more, nothing less. It has a typically cliché and ludicrous plot and plot holes so large you could fly a jumbo jet through them. But with the right tone, decent action scenes and the hilarious chemistry of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson, The Hitman's Bodyguard deliveries unabashed and undemanding fun.
Birds of Prey
(2020)
Entertaining but a bit messy.
8 February 2020
Birds of prey shows that DC has finally righted the ship after several early stumbles in this franchise. By focusing on smaller, more personal stories with more personal stakes. Birds of prey is a very entertaining movie, albeit one with some irritating flaws.
Firstly, Cathy Yan directed the hell out of this movie. She really knows how to frame an exciting action scene with nice wide, full body shots to show off the great stunt work. The movies style and colour pallet are very eye catching and visually interesting. Margot Robbie continues to be excellent as this franchises version of Harley Quinn, and Ewen McGregor looks like he's having the time of his life as a sleazy but intimidating villain.
Most of the movies problems for me come from the script. The first half is very messy as the movie bounces around and moves back and forth in a Rashomon attempt that really didn't work and kind of annoyed me. Once an action scene in a police evidence locker takes place though, the movie calmed down considerably and is a lot more watchable. Also, while the other members of the cast and the villain are entertaining to watch, they only have only surface level characterisation, seemingly interesting on the surface, but not really much underneath. Some ardent birds of prey fans may be disappointed in the lack of actual birds of prey, given about 85% of this is a Harley Quinn movie, which leads me to wonder if they side the birds of prey name for brand recognition only.
In conclusion, birds of prey is a fun, colourful time at the movies, But some serious screenplay flaws prevent it soaring to the heights of the DCEU, but it comfortably pitches high above the trainwreck that was suicide squad.
Firstly, Cathy Yan directed the hell out of this movie. She really knows how to frame an exciting action scene with nice wide, full body shots to show off the great stunt work. The movies style and colour pallet are very eye catching and visually interesting. Margot Robbie continues to be excellent as this franchises version of Harley Quinn, and Ewen McGregor looks like he's having the time of his life as a sleazy but intimidating villain.
Most of the movies problems for me come from the script. The first half is very messy as the movie bounces around and moves back and forth in a Rashomon attempt that really didn't work and kind of annoyed me. Once an action scene in a police evidence locker takes place though, the movie calmed down considerably and is a lot more watchable. Also, while the other members of the cast and the villain are entertaining to watch, they only have only surface level characterisation, seemingly interesting on the surface, but not really much underneath. Some ardent birds of prey fans may be disappointed in the lack of actual birds of prey, given about 85% of this is a Harley Quinn movie, which leads me to wonder if they side the birds of prey name for brand recognition only.
In conclusion, birds of prey is a fun, colourful time at the movies, But some serious screenplay flaws prevent it soaring to the heights of the DCEU, but it comfortably pitches high above the trainwreck that was suicide squad.
Venom
(2018)
Not bad, but a wasted opportunity.
4 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Venom is not necessarily a bad movie, but I felt it was a bit of a wasted opportunity.
The movie has some interesting body horror aspects in the the way the symbiot interacts with Eddie, and Tom Hardy's performance is great, especially the scenes where he interacts with himself as the voice of the symbiot. There are also some legitimately funny jokes and some great fan service I didn't see coming.
But the script never gives the characters anything interesting to do and the villain is about as stock standard as you can get. There's a lot of technical science talk that the movie in no way tries to make interesting. Eddies reaction to the symbiot seems weirdly backwards. He doesn't seem to notice or care that he's doing some superhuman moves when he escapes the facility after being infected, but freaks out when he hears the voice in his head for the first time. The movies tone is all over the place. The director, Ruben Fleisher has blended comedy and horror well in the past with the zombieland movies, but none of that seems to come across in venom. Finally, Woody Harrelson's wig in the mid credit scene is so hilariously obvious it made me laugh.
Venom really needed a better script and a hard R rating and it might have stood a chance. We'll just have to see what Andy Serkis does with the sequel.
The movie has some interesting body horror aspects in the the way the symbiot interacts with Eddie, and Tom Hardy's performance is great, especially the scenes where he interacts with himself as the voice of the symbiot. There are also some legitimately funny jokes and some great fan service I didn't see coming.
But the script never gives the characters anything interesting to do and the villain is about as stock standard as you can get. There's a lot of technical science talk that the movie in no way tries to make interesting. Eddies reaction to the symbiot seems weirdly backwards. He doesn't seem to notice or care that he's doing some superhuman moves when he escapes the facility after being infected, but freaks out when he hears the voice in his head for the first time. The movies tone is all over the place. The director, Ruben Fleisher has blended comedy and horror well in the past with the zombieland movies, but none of that seems to come across in venom. Finally, Woody Harrelson's wig in the mid credit scene is so hilariously obvious it made me laugh.
Venom really needed a better script and a hard R rating and it might have stood a chance. We'll just have to see what Andy Serkis does with the sequel.
Alita: Battle Angel
(2019)
Far more entertaining than it had any right to be.
4 January 2020
This movie should have been one of the biggest flops of 2019. It had really unimpressive trailers, a weirdly designed main character and was an American adaptation of a Japanese anime,, and we all know how successful they are. It shouldn't have worked, but somehow, it really does.
Alita Battle Angel is not a perfect movie. It's screenplay could have used a few more revisions, Alita and Hugo's relationship I really didn't buy and the movie itself is relentlessly sequel baity.
But James Cameron's knack for impressive world building is not lost. This world feels so alive and lived in. The action sequences uncertain the command of Robert Rodriguez are incredible. The motorball sequences in particular are fast paced and brutally intense. Rosa Salazar is really good as the title character. She plays the wide eyed optimism and the toughened bad sides of the character very well. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein and Jackie Earle Haley round out a great supporting cast. Junkie XL's score has a great mix of gentle emotional and heart pounding action music. The pounding electronic base in the track Motorball still gets me pumped.
Alita Battle Angel is a movie that came out of absolutely nowhere and blew my mind. I sincerely hope that they make a sequel.
Alita Battle Angel is not a perfect movie. It's screenplay could have used a few more revisions, Alita and Hugo's relationship I really didn't buy and the movie itself is relentlessly sequel baity.
But James Cameron's knack for impressive world building is not lost. This world feels so alive and lived in. The action sequences uncertain the command of Robert Rodriguez are incredible. The motorball sequences in particular are fast paced and brutally intense. Rosa Salazar is really good as the title character. She plays the wide eyed optimism and the toughened bad sides of the character very well. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein and Jackie Earle Haley round out a great supporting cast. Junkie XL's score has a great mix of gentle emotional and heart pounding action music. The pounding electronic base in the track Motorball still gets me pumped.
Alita Battle Angel is a movie that came out of absolutely nowhere and blew my mind. I sincerely hope that they make a sequel.
How is this movie boring!!!
3 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I just want to say that I really wanted to like this movie. I'm not a huge Godzilla fan, but I really liked Gareth Edwards's 2014 movie and Kong Skull Island, so I'm really onboard with this franchise. And while Godzilla 2014 movie has some very annoying flaws, like the criminal underuse of Bryan Cranston's character and an overall lack of Godzilla, I've appreciated it a lot more after watching KOTM.
First off, let's talk positives. The visual effects are top notch, as one would expect with a movie with a $200 million budget. There is a huge roster of monsters, all of whom look and sound great. There are some unique action scenes involving the kaiju that are a blast to watch. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher composed some beautiful shots of the monsters and the sheer destruction that they bring, particularly the poster shot of Godzilla atomic breathing into the sky. Finally, Bear McCreary's musical score complements the movie nicely.
But there's a lot of bad to talk about. The direction of the first movie did a really great job of showing the sheer size and scale of these creatures. The scenes at Honolulu airport and San Francisco Bay have slow, methodical camera movements and tight close ups showing off the animals size. Here, from the very opening scene, the direction seems to show every creature fully in a wide shot, losing a lot of the grand scale. The pacing is atrocious. It's the typical pacing of a movie that really doesn't have a story, so stuff just has to happen all the time until the credits. They never take a second for the audience to breath or for the characters to have any development. For example, a returning character is killed unceremoniously and in the next scene, everyone has already moved on and shows absolutely no emotion at all. The human characters are simply blank slates moving around the frame. The first movie didn't really have compelling characters either, but it at least had Bryan Cranston for a while who had an understandable motivation. But here, the characters are even more boring and lifeless. Returning characters are wasted in tiny cameos or disposed of entirely. And the new characters are all quirk and no personality. I also really despise what they did with Vera Farmiga's character. She gives a catastrophically dumb Bond villain-esq monologue explaining her plan. Then when it goes wrong and her daughter is in danger, we're suddenly supposed to care for her, despise everything that has happened previously, all the destruction and death is entirely her fault. The action scenes are barely improved over the first movie. Although they're set in several unique locations, they're still mostly obscured by rain, snow, water clouds and smoke. And the constant lightning in these scenes is liable to give people a massive headache. The story is a mess. It's burdened by massive exposition dumps, villains with laughable motivations and plot elements that are introduced and immediately disregarded.
In conclusion, Godzilla King of the Monsters is what happens when a movie studio overcompensates to fan criticism. There's more Godzilla action but the movie rushes to get to the monster fights without taking the time to develop its threadbare characters or approach any semblance of coherent storytelling.
First off, let's talk positives. The visual effects are top notch, as one would expect with a movie with a $200 million budget. There is a huge roster of monsters, all of whom look and sound great. There are some unique action scenes involving the kaiju that are a blast to watch. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher composed some beautiful shots of the monsters and the sheer destruction that they bring, particularly the poster shot of Godzilla atomic breathing into the sky. Finally, Bear McCreary's musical score complements the movie nicely.
But there's a lot of bad to talk about. The direction of the first movie did a really great job of showing the sheer size and scale of these creatures. The scenes at Honolulu airport and San Francisco Bay have slow, methodical camera movements and tight close ups showing off the animals size. Here, from the very opening scene, the direction seems to show every creature fully in a wide shot, losing a lot of the grand scale. The pacing is atrocious. It's the typical pacing of a movie that really doesn't have a story, so stuff just has to happen all the time until the credits. They never take a second for the audience to breath or for the characters to have any development. For example, a returning character is killed unceremoniously and in the next scene, everyone has already moved on and shows absolutely no emotion at all. The human characters are simply blank slates moving around the frame. The first movie didn't really have compelling characters either, but it at least had Bryan Cranston for a while who had an understandable motivation. But here, the characters are even more boring and lifeless. Returning characters are wasted in tiny cameos or disposed of entirely. And the new characters are all quirk and no personality. I also really despise what they did with Vera Farmiga's character. She gives a catastrophically dumb Bond villain-esq monologue explaining her plan. Then when it goes wrong and her daughter is in danger, we're suddenly supposed to care for her, despise everything that has happened previously, all the destruction and death is entirely her fault. The action scenes are barely improved over the first movie. Although they're set in several unique locations, they're still mostly obscured by rain, snow, water clouds and smoke. And the constant lightning in these scenes is liable to give people a massive headache. The story is a mess. It's burdened by massive exposition dumps, villains with laughable motivations and plot elements that are introduced and immediately disregarded.
In conclusion, Godzilla King of the Monsters is what happens when a movie studio overcompensates to fan criticism. There's more Godzilla action but the movie rushes to get to the monster fights without taking the time to develop its threadbare characters or approach any semblance of coherent storytelling.
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