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rocky_76
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Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Very very dissapointing
I went into this movie after reading glowing reviews from critics, calling this the 'best Star Wars movie since Empire'. The Force Awakens was a decent outing, but just teased us with the Luke Skywalker appearing in the very last scene of the movie. The credits rolled before he even spoke a word. This film picks up from this point exactly.
We wait nearly 35 years for this moment only to be let down monumentally. We see his character throw his fathers lightsabre off a cliff, as if to say he does not care of its significance. A metaphor for how this movie does not care for the characters and lore of the previous films in this saga.
The characters in the movie actually clumsily state repeatedly how the past must be 'killed'
The treatment of Luke's character is bemusing. Mark Hamill himself stated on more than one occasion how he fundamentally disagreed with how the character was written.
The writer/director Rian Johnson chose subverting expectations over consistency and good storytelling.
The tone of the film is totally messed up - every serious moment is undermined with a bad joke. No-one laughed at this poor jokes at my screening.
This movie looks gorgeous, the effects are fantastic, some of the action is great to watch. BUT it disregards how the universe works, the characters do not seem consistent with the previous films, it has very clunky overtly political tones.
The plot of this movie is riddled with plot-holes and leaps of logic. Yes, I know this is a Star Wars movie; however we have an understanding from the previous films (and countless video games, comics, and books) how Space battles work, and how the force works. This movie does not seem to care. It's almost as if Rian Johnson did not bother watching any of the films. After all this is a direct sequel to Star Wars episodes IV, V, and VI - it should not contradict how things work.
I left the cinema very disappointed, and did not return. This is the only Star Wars movie I did not see multiple times in the cinema, the only one I did not buy on Blu Ray. After seeing this I could bring myself to watch Solo; I just did not want to be let down again.
I give it 3 stars due to how the film looks, and the acting performances of some. Otherwise I would have given it 2
Green Street (2005)
Good Movie - Ruined by Charlie Hunnam's attempt at a cockney accent.
Yes Charlie Hunnam's accent really does distract so much that it ruins the film and the credibility of the character he plays.
//May be spoilers below// Instead of being engaged by his performance as 'Pete', leader of the GSE, I found myself laughing at how bad his accent was. This is supposed to be one of the central characters of the plot, why could they not cast a British actor who would be able to actually portray the character properly?
I don't have a problem with Charlie Hunnam's performance otherwise, apart from when he speaks, his attempt to speak like an east-Londoner is so bad it's jarring.
The film was an enjoyable one, it did'nt glamorise Hooliganism too much, but showed why it appealed to the members of these 'firms'.
All in all it gets 7/10 from me, it turned out much better than I thought it would be (was predicting another Football Factory).
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Great Movie with even better Performances
This is in my opinion one of the most under-rated movies of all time. It's certainly up there with the best 'ganster/mafia' films.
Some may say that it strays too much away from the 'real life' story it was based on, but I look at it as a stand alone movie and judge it as a movie in it's own right - and it is one of my favourites as a result.
***********Minor spoilers below*********************** Johnny Depp is great as 'Donnie', and Pacino is also great as the pathetic 'Lefty'. The real beauty of this movie is the relationship between these 2 characters, some great chemistry between Pacino and Depp produces some very believable and poignant moments in the movie.
I felt a great deal of sympathy for 'Lefty' as he sees his protégé overtake him and his ambitions within the mafia ranks, and also for 'Donnie' who sees his under-cover alter-ego strangle his 'real world' family self....you can feel the stress him and his family are under.
This movie does not glamorise the underworld (ala Goodfellas), it concentrates more on the mafia 'low-lifes' - as a result feels so much more Real to me.
*************spoilers end******************************** Worth watching if you want to see a slightly different take on the mafia, and for the performances of Depp and Pacino.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Wraps everything up Nicely! (No Spoilers)
I saw this movie today, and I felt sad leaving the cinema, sad because the journey was over. For the 3rd Christmas in a row I have spent over 3 hours of my life in a Cinema hall to see if the Movies could live up to the books, the films have certainly bought the spirit of JRR Tolkiens story to the screen successfully. I won't go into how good an adaptation this movie was, instead I would like to talk about it as a Movie in it's own right - and it was great.
I don't think I have thought 'Wow' or 'F***ing hell' to myself so many times during a movie as i did today during ROTK. There were some jaw-dropping scenes; shot beautifully, but importantly complimented by some very good acting and some really touching ones too.
I really need to watch it again to take everything in, so much is said and done in this movie (at times it felt quite rushed despite it's length).
9/10 - I expect the extended edition to improve this!
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Good Film - Not a worthy sequel - Minor spoiler
Firstly let me say that this was an enjoyable movie, but there was something lacking, it felt...empty.
This was an action-packed film, lots of explosions, some good acting, but for me this did not seem like a Terminator movie.
There was no sense of desperation that was evident in the first movie, nor was there the wow factor that T2 had.
The movie was quite satisfying in terms of performances, and the general plot was OK. But the movie seemed too much of an attempt to cash in on the franchise rather than stay loyal to its roots.
As a movie on its own - Good action flick, even if some of it was a bit silly (TX remote controlling cars) - 7/10
As a Terminator movie - not as good as the previous 2, either in style or substance - 6/10