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jeroenalandt
Reviews
Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)
Entirely missing the point
The original Squid Game shows us the desperation and depravity of people as they
try to survive in an unreal competition where fairness is 'out the window'. Contestants
set aside their humanity and compassion for a cash price and commit the most heinous
acts.
Gi-hun, the main protagonist (who represents playfulness, but most of all childlike
innocence and pureness) is one of the few characters to recognize this and
realizes at the end of the story that the cash price was not worth it, for he
almost lost his humanity for it.
This is the point of Squid Game. It shows us how nasty people can be when a life changing
amount of money is involved and that people will destroy each other to get
ahead in the game. Want corrupts people.
This new adaptation of Squid Game glorifies this game as if it is a fun thing. People work together
at first, to then stab each other in the back next. The weak get crushed by the
strong and there is no room for sympathy. You can see many contestants crying
after selling out others. It is like they sold of their integrity to get ahead
and now they are in remorse.
I think this program sends an entirely wrong message where corruptness is promoted. "Squid
Game, how to become the biggest rat in the sewer".
Wij (2018)
Watching this was a drag, unfortunately
The film tries to portray a story of young adolescent people discovering life while engaging in all kinds of debauchery. The vile acts that are shown are partly based on events that have happend in real life at some point. Dissapointingly this is merly used to create shock value for the audience and as the story progresses none of the disturbing acts have a carthartic element to them. When you take all these disturbing acts and assign them to one group of people that act like its all a big joke, they just become shallow and not interesting at all. Their motives just seem dumb and futile. I couldn't wait for it to be over.
I find the film's only redeming quality to be how a kind of psychadelic form of cinematography was used, where you as the viewer feel confused as if you delve into the psychotic minds of these kids and how incoherent their story's about the events that took place are from each other. At least that is how I interpreted it.