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Reviews
Heart of Stone (2023)
Ridiculous action flick
Outlined a plot, and then commenced into a frenzy of action sequences. After half an hour I forgot what it was about, the plot now lost in the mists of time. If the director had ever watched a good action film, the plot and the characters unravel during the film, revealing information, slowly building to a climax.
It also always surprises me that the characters can be experts in a wide range of extreme sports, that each require years of practice and repetition to master. I guess that viewers are now considered to have the attention span of a newt, and must be bombarded with a relentless sequence of action scenes, to a point that the viewer has lost the plot and no longer cares.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
A lot of plot holes that make little sense
There's a whole military in the U. S. with bunkers and guns, yet survival of the human race relies on a family with a shotgun, portable radio and hearing aid? The aliens are clever enough to cross space, but wander around aimlessly? The aliens are attracted by noise, yet at the same time repelled by it?
Presumably other creatures also make noise, yet whether the aliens also attack those isn't made clear.
If the aliens like noise, then presumably a bazooka blowing in their direction would make them ecstatic. We never find out. Apparently survival depends on loitering within a rusty industrial complex, being as quiet as possible.
Enys Men (2022)
No progress
I applaud efforts to make films in Cornwall, about fictional characters living in the County. This film though is more about the process of film making as a creative art form, rather than an engaging story. I had hoped that it would build on the success of the previous offering, but unfortunately it had the opposite effect, and caused the Director to nose dive into a barrel of artistic mediocrity.
If you want an idea of what this film was trying to achieve, or should have achieved, then watch the film 'Land' starring Robin Wright (out on Netflix), that tells a similar story far better. I actually fell asleep part way through, it was that dull.
Vikings: Valhalla (2022)
Second series went astray
Really liked the first series. In the second series there are really great characters, but the story line went so adrift that it erred into a farce.
One scene where the boat goes over the waterfall, and literally drops vertically, from what the scene showed, at least 100ft, yet the boat survived. Subsequently you see the boat fully intact, and the cast literally walk across a stream that's ankle deep, saying that they need to re-float the boat, that was resting on a river bank. Float in what? You need water. No sign of any waterfall or any fast flowing water.
The casting was dubious, bit like casting Dolly Parton as the leader of the Mongol army.
Father Christmas Is Back (2021)
Promises more than it delivers
A great cast wasted on a low budget pantomime. It's like watching the death of British comedy. Recycled comedy cliches delivered with the finesse of a face slap with a spade. Apparently overreacting, dumbfounded expressions and implausible situations are hilarious.
John Cleese is either desperate for an acting role, or so wealthy that turning up to a car crash of a movie, gives him perverse pleasure.
With CGI even fake characters can be believable, as Avatar has shown. This film demonstrates that plastic personalities acted out by actors that should know better, is OK as long as there is cash in their banks at the end.
The Gray Man (2022)
A watchable film
A enjoyable action film with some great scenes. A great film suspends disbelief. Sadly towards the end, it followed the current trend to over-action an action film, with each subsequent scene gaining less credibility than the previous one, until disbelief set in.
He accumulated enough injury to put anyone out of action, but carried on regardless in the next scene.
Well worth a watch as entertainment, with a great cast.
Keep Breathing (2022)
Beautifully shot
Melissa Barrera is a beautiful and talented actress to watch. Thought the whole idea was clever. The use of flashbacks to help tell her story was pure theatre.
Easy to say how you would react in that situation, but the fact that she couldn't walk downhill without going 'around in circles', which would require her to walk back uphill again, seemed odd. Well worth a watch though.
No Time to Die (2021)
A good Bond movie
Daniel Craig dragged the Bond movies out of the wilderness years of Dalton and Brosnan. The franchise was probably prompted to reboot by the Bourne movies. This was a great movie, that paid homage to the Bond movies of old, whilst tempering the ridiculous slapstick that Brosnan brought to the franchise. Beautifully shot scenes and locations, and great cars.
1917 (2019)
Visually great storytelling
Restores my faith in great films. Gritty, epic and bleak bombed landscapes set the scene. The characters contrast this hopeless scene, on a mission to save lives. The viewer is engrossed in their adventures and tragedies they encounter on their journey, willing them to succeed.
The Young Offenders (2016)
Ridiculously funny
The accents were difficult to follow at first, but what followed was one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Dark humour if that's your kind of thing.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Over long, action heavy ending
There's a current trend to cram as much action as possible at the end of a movie. This results in a frenzy of scenes, that lose impact the longer they go on. After a while I started to wonder when it was going to end. It seems that CGI is King and more important than involving the viewer in the story.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Quentin Tarantino fan
I like the majority of Tarantino movies. That doesn't mean I'm biased, just that I like his style. This is up there with his best movies.
Comedy, action and almost slapstick violence, which has context and doesn't dominate the storyline.
Men in Black: International (2019)
Lost the plot
Good cast, but the plot went adrift. In the first MIB the characters were introduced and became familiar, with the plot developing from there. In this film the main characters played almost a bit part, it was a paint by numbers film, drawing inspiration from previous films without the flair.
It tried to explain the characters towards the end, by which time I didn't care.
I also fell asleep and couldn't tell you how it finished. I loved the previous three films.