chris-h-3
Joined Jul 2007
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Ratings1.5K
chris-h-3's rating
Reviews117
chris-h-3's rating
The opening Jason Statham scene is pretty promising and well done, not all the quips land but some do and its full of action, unexpected moments and moves along.
After that scene everything is a bit of a mess and its like the writers just gave up.
The original film was so long ago I can't recall a thing about it and the introduction of so many characters just muddles things. As does parts of the film being dual language which is odd though apparently due to the financing of the film being largely Chinese.
But worse, most of the effect sequences are choppily edited, to the point where its difficult to work out what is supposed to be happening or what you are seeing. All the underwater scenes aren't really convincing at all. The film is better when it stays above ground, just. Awkward for a film about underwater creatures though.
None of the cast have any chemistry at all, sometimes it feels like they are using a rehearsal of a scene rather than a scene when the actors know they are being filmed or in shot - often the cast are looking off in other directions or looking plain disinterested. Again, this is especially in the underwater effects scenes.
Its a longish film too and I struggled to watch the whole thing. I don't remember the first Meg film being particularly great but as a silly entertainment movie it was at least watchable and seemed professionally made.
Biggest mystery to me of this film was that this was directed by this director who usually makes good films.
After that scene everything is a bit of a mess and its like the writers just gave up.
The original film was so long ago I can't recall a thing about it and the introduction of so many characters just muddles things. As does parts of the film being dual language which is odd though apparently due to the financing of the film being largely Chinese.
But worse, most of the effect sequences are choppily edited, to the point where its difficult to work out what is supposed to be happening or what you are seeing. All the underwater scenes aren't really convincing at all. The film is better when it stays above ground, just. Awkward for a film about underwater creatures though.
None of the cast have any chemistry at all, sometimes it feels like they are using a rehearsal of a scene rather than a scene when the actors know they are being filmed or in shot - often the cast are looking off in other directions or looking plain disinterested. Again, this is especially in the underwater effects scenes.
Its a longish film too and I struggled to watch the whole thing. I don't remember the first Meg film being particularly great but as a silly entertainment movie it was at least watchable and seemed professionally made.
Biggest mystery to me of this film was that this was directed by this director who usually makes good films.
Interesting documentary though it is three films in one and they don't really come across as being that relevant to one another, leading to a slightly frustratingly stop-start film.
First is the main story of the Italy concert with a lot of remembrances of one individual and some interesting archive footage shot at the time mixed in with some Frank Zappa music videos. A second film thread is of the Zappa family visiting the town 'today' and receiving civic honours and a third thread where-in the film maker recounts some memory's of his father and a journey to try to see this show.
The three tales aren't woven together very well and the film-makers part just apparently stops, seemingly mid way through that particular story, making you wonder what was the point of including it at all. I'm sure the film maker had some intent with this but it just didn't seem at all relevant or even interesting unfortunately. The footage of the Family visiting Italy is nice to see and they are clearly very touched by what had been put on for them and, as I was unaware of what took place at this concert, seeing the footage of the event interspersed with some current interviews and memories of people who were there was eye opening.
It is worth watching but it is a very meandering documentary, it really feels that someone took two existing films and tried to cut them together with little thought to how someone watching would follow. I should add I watched it on Netflix and the subtitles were full of miss quotes and mistakes.
First is the main story of the Italy concert with a lot of remembrances of one individual and some interesting archive footage shot at the time mixed in with some Frank Zappa music videos. A second film thread is of the Zappa family visiting the town 'today' and receiving civic honours and a third thread where-in the film maker recounts some memory's of his father and a journey to try to see this show.
The three tales aren't woven together very well and the film-makers part just apparently stops, seemingly mid way through that particular story, making you wonder what was the point of including it at all. I'm sure the film maker had some intent with this but it just didn't seem at all relevant or even interesting unfortunately. The footage of the Family visiting Italy is nice to see and they are clearly very touched by what had been put on for them and, as I was unaware of what took place at this concert, seeing the footage of the event interspersed with some current interviews and memories of people who were there was eye opening.
It is worth watching but it is a very meandering documentary, it really feels that someone took two existing films and tried to cut them together with little thought to how someone watching would follow. I should add I watched it on Netflix and the subtitles were full of miss quotes and mistakes.
Its a plot and story device thats been used numerous times before so you really need to put a twist on it to make it interesting.
The faux 50's setting is nicely detailed while, perhaps purposely, inaccurate it has a good, bold look. The music chosen is very loud and also pretty unoriginal, I'd heard every song here before and it seems like they just picked the most obvious choice for each song.
The acting was fine, none of the character's parts were interesting or well written so you don't really care about any of them. Can't really blame the actors for that.
After about and hour and forty minutes we get to the plot and then in about five random scenes the film is over. It feels like it needed another 30 minutes to offer an actual ending but that the writers didn't know how to end the film or to explain the many plot holes and so just ended the film with some random scenes and low shock value.
Its like those TV series who build and build toward some shock revelation all season and then its just a cliff hanger at the end of the season. If your script or film isn't interesting on its own then there is no value in this.
In short, nice enough production values but a little dull to sit through with a non ending.
The faux 50's setting is nicely detailed while, perhaps purposely, inaccurate it has a good, bold look. The music chosen is very loud and also pretty unoriginal, I'd heard every song here before and it seems like they just picked the most obvious choice for each song.
The acting was fine, none of the character's parts were interesting or well written so you don't really care about any of them. Can't really blame the actors for that.
After about and hour and forty minutes we get to the plot and then in about five random scenes the film is over. It feels like it needed another 30 minutes to offer an actual ending but that the writers didn't know how to end the film or to explain the many plot holes and so just ended the film with some random scenes and low shock value.
Its like those TV series who build and build toward some shock revelation all season and then its just a cliff hanger at the end of the season. If your script or film isn't interesting on its own then there is no value in this.
In short, nice enough production values but a little dull to sit through with a non ending.