Reviews

Fincher is one of my favorite directors and Fassbender one of my favorite actors. So naturally i was so hyped for this movie because i also like the crime, atmospheric, neo/noir genre. But i got disappointed. Not because the movie is bad but because it had way more potential. It's not a bad movie but neither a great one. I think the revenge story simple plot of the movie brings this movie down as we have seen the same trope in countless films, with nothing unique in this movie to elevate it to a higher level.

The concept of the movie by Fincher's ambition is to bring us to the mind of a professional hit-man, how he views his daily life, his people around him and what it takes to finish the task in hand. He achieves this with many internal monologues, expressions and feelings of his facial expressions, his struggles both physical and mental. As a concept is cool yes, but it isn't enough to elevate the movie to something special.

One thing i really hoped the movie had was not a revenge story. A good plot thread would be how he slowly loses it mentally by the constant pressure of all these killings to both innocent people and not. How a big toll and burden is for him mentally with each new assassination. Because that can happen to the most cold blooded serial killers. How he slowly losses it and isn't well to operate to a professional level anymore. And as a result he decides to quit his job. But the people who he worked with need his skills. So he has to hide and face them all one by one coming for him. That is an example of a better concept at least for me.

Another concept the movie that could have explored in combination with my first example or separately from it is the assassinations. After his last hit, he is already burdened mentally from all these years working, he realizes that his contract that's assigned to him is to kill a whole family including little kids. And he refuses because he has at least a red line. And his decline to the contract spirals a manhunt through the entire movie. I already gave two examples of how the movie could have worked far better than a simple revenge story plot.

The cinematography of the movie was just a ok, nothing that blew my mind, have seen better honestly even from Fincher himself, and the musical score could have been better. It is a movie that i recommend watching one time in your couch and that's it. Nothing less nothing more. My dream neo-noir crime movie would be a Max Payne adaptation by David Fincher as the plot is already complete from the games and Fincher would do the perfect adaptation with his unique style but i know it will never happen sadly.

I have played hundreds of single player games but never touched the Onimusha games. So i can't compare this adaptation on how faithful it is to the Capcom games. So coming unfamiliar to the lore and story i am generally pleasantly surprised about how good the anime turned out with just a few minor flaws.

Overall i liked this show way more than Castlevania Nocturne which i watched recently too. And the reasons are many. This show had extremely well written dialogues, the pacing was right and the protagonist was very intriguing and grounded. The art style was also fine to me. Nothing spectacular but i didn't have a problem with it at all. It felt unique on its own. It was like watching different sets of paintings. Like it was hand drawn art style and animation. Different doesn't mean bad. The rest of the characters besides Musashi were also quite good, with each one having different personality, motive and skills. The fantasy elements in the show was also done in a way that it didn't feel bloated and it balanced the realistic action fights very well. The action felt 90% on point with only in a few occasions becoming over the top. But i also have to point out some flaws too.

First flaw for me was that the villains were not interesting. The reason is that half of them either didn't have clear motives and backstories for them to care about, or their characters were simply very straightforward and one dimensional. Second flaw for me was that the show didn't took the time to explain some of the lore and mythical elements such as the gauntlet's origins, who made it and when, how Musashi knows about it to begin with and wanted it so badly that he fought countless men risking his life to obtain it and how the monks gave it so easily based on how valuable it was. I would also have liked to see the history and the conflict from flashbacks of the gods of this universe (Oni Vs Genma) and what each one represents with their different powers. A backstory through flashbacks of Musashi when he was young fighting through duels and wars, his training and upbringing and how he became the best swordsman would have been cool to see too, even if it was for a couple of minutes. This would be such a cool idea for a prequel series without having to rely on fantasy elements and the show would work just as good or better in my opinion because Musashi was a very well written character with a great voice actor.

Overall i am satisfied with the show, because it had most of the things i asked for. Great action, art style, voice acting, writing and pacing all amazing with only flaws being the villains and the very little explanation of the fantasy elements, powers and gods of this world. Feudal Japan is such a cool concept to adapt into live action, anime or games that i really hope the trend continues. I look forward to the Shogun live action Remake TV show, Ghost of Tsusima movie but most above all i look forward for the Sekiro anime adaptation that was announced just a couple of months ago. It is very similar in concept to Onimusha . If it has that kind of passion like these creators showed in this show with just higher production values it can easily be one of the greatest animes of all time. The Fromsoftware game that won Game of the year 2019 is still considered one of the greatest action games of all time and one of my favorite games.

The movie was sadly my least favorite out of the trilogy. First half of the movie was great because the pacing, humor, writing and action was on point. I was seriously impressed by how good things were developing. But the movie falls off dramatically after the 1.5 hour mark. The humor, writing and overall plot becomes tedious, repetitive and boring compared to the first half of the movie. The editing is also terrible with scenes cutting off constantly to show another scene with more pointless dialogue and action. The action scenes are terrible to the point you can't see clearly what is happening on screen with very fast camera cuts and weird angles. The main villain of the movie is quite interesting with his overall ideas and motive, but his big drawback is that he isn't intimidating at all because he doesn't seem powerful enough to cause a threat to the Guardians squad, he or his soldiers.

The movie's runtime was extremely long based on it's plot and premise and should have been at least 30 min shorter. That would have helped the movie tremendously on being more tight and cohesive. Also the fight scenes and choreography needed to be a lot better. But that is a constant trend on recent MCU movies compared to the action scenes of Phases 1-3. If i had to rank the trilogy i would say Guardians 2> Guardians 1> Guardians 3.

Sadly that's exactly how i feel about this show. The original Castlevania show was one of the most pleasant surprises because it was the first successful video game adaptation. It had great writing, art direction, animation, action scenes, pacing, music and character development and chemistry. While this show has amazing production values too it falls flat to the most important things.

First is the writing which took a big hit. Every dialogue seems forced, not fitting at all, no chemistry between the main protagonists, no interest villains that have no clear motives. The show also doesn't expand on why the revolution started, how it expanded, how it operates. Also the reason why the aristocrats are bad are because of the slaves? That's only one of the reasons not all. In that time period the problems that pushed the common people to their limit were way more than slavery and religion as this show portrays. Also it's borderline criminal that the show's main protagonist (Richter) gets so little screen time and instead focuses so much on Annette. Her character was the most boring thing out of the entire season. All of her scenes dragged down the pacing of the show. Why there are no flashbacks on the backstory of Maria, her mother and Ritchter when they were young, how they grew up together and their training in magic, combat and lore from Belmont family and history ? Annette of course has almost half of the season dedicated to her and her flashbacks. Not building a backstory or explaining who and what here motives of the Devourer of Light are was big mistake making her one dimensional villain.

Overall i have to say i am very disappointed after how good the original Casltevania was. I really hope they fix some of these many glaring problems next season.

I have to say that i know very few things about this universe because i have not read any of the manga and from the anime i watched only a couple of episodes as a little kid in the early 2000s but never bothered to watch it as i grown up. Many of my friends are big fans of the anime but they all started it years ago when it was very easy with very few episodes to pick it up. I have to say that after watching the live-action adaptation of Netflix i enjoyed it so much that i started the anime too. I felt a little kid again in a very nostalgic and positive way that i can't explain. (I am 29 years old) The first positive i have to say for this show is that all the actors that worked on it and most of them are not well known did such a wonderful job. Especially Buggy the Clown character, Luffy, Shanks, Mihawk, Sanji, Zef and Garp were outstanding. They seem so invested and passionate about this show and their characters while giving such good performances. The second positive is the lore and world building. They did a great job introducing all these things to newcomers like me. The third positive is the music. Each different song matches very well the theme of the Pirates and the Marines. And the icing on the cake is the action scenes and the blend of practical effects and cgi.

I have nothing major negative to say about this show except that in some dramatic scenes they overdid it a bit with the cheesy lines that kinda ruined the momentum. But overall the comedy was very spot on in almost all scenes. The show has also good messages to teach to all ages of people to always chase your dreams, never give up, be good and kind to others and protect your closest friends and families. And never afraid to defend yourself when you know you are right.

Highly recommend it, one of the best pleasant surprises i had for this year. I really hope Netflix renew it for not only a second season but many more because the source material is big and deserve such a good live action adaptation.

The latest edition of John Wick follows the same disappointing footsteps of Chapter 3. The first two John Wick movies were the best because they were more grounded and realistic. Their plot even though it was simple and straightforward it made way more sense than the latest two movies. Having also better writing, being more focused and having better villains helped them quite a lot. Also the fight scenes were far better than this movie

As we see in Chapter 4 the John Wick franchise follows the same path the Fast and Furious movies took. The first movies were the best for obvious reasons as i mentioned above and the more deep they expanded their universe and characters the more dumb the movies became. In this movie we have Daredevil fighting enemies without breaking a sweat and John seems to have complete invulnerability like he is Superman. There isn't any tension, or a sense of thrill or dread and fear in any of the fight scenes they show. The fight scenes in the first two chapters were way better because John/Keanu reacted faster so age does play an important role and most importantly they were directed better being more grounded and realistic. Being smaller scale helped them shine more, and in this one being having big scale set pieces wasn't the best choice. Moreover the villains in this movie they are straight from a fan-fiction cartoon acting incredible dumb, having the worst lines possible that it becomes not fun to watch at all. And don't make me laugh, i cringed so much with the dog and the guy who chases John especially in his last couple of scenes.

I generally don't recommend this movie at all and if you are a truly fan of the action genre that respects both the writing and the choreography and fight scenes of these movies i don't recommend this one at all. At least this movie had great cinematography so that's a positive. But in all other aspects from writing, directing and pacing, it did such a bad job.

This episode is the worst directed episode of the entire season. What's up with all the shaky camera especially in the first half? Did some amateur guy hired to direct it? Seriously it caused me nausea. The kids acting was fine nothing spectacular i guess, the cinematography decent but the pacing and editing horrible. I have played both the game and the DLC and i have to say not all segments and story plots can be translated good to a live action episode. What they did wrong here on top of the direction and pacing problems was to delicate an entire 60 min episode when they should have done this scenes as 15 min Ellie flashbacks. They could have saved just a little bit the episode (not much) if they decided to show Marlene picking up Ellie and having a conversation with her before their meeting with Joel. Their mistake was that the show-runners thought this plot deserved to be a 60 min segment. No its not, it was boring, terrible directed with pacing problems.

This is the best episode so far surpassing the series premier. The cinematography is astonishing (best so far), the direction and the general atmosphere of the episode is amazing. The highlight of the episode though for me is the top notch writing and the acting from the characters. The episode plays very well with themes of what is right and wrong, what it means to fight for survival and for your life and why you should always have hope as Ellie said. Also this episode shows that death is very close to everyone in this apocalyptic world and that the clickers are not the only threat. People can also be very dangerous and also depending on who is their leader. And of course we have the chemistry and the relationship between Joel and Ellie growing even more and for the first time some smiles and humanity into Joel's soul.

I was thrown into the world of the last of us ten years ago when the game was released on the PS3 console. The game was one of the best experiences i ever had. As a gamer myself this game is easily in my top 10 video games of all time. It was so well written, with great characters and production values that exceeded any game at that time. I have beaten the game multiple times by now, including my favorite gaming difficulty ever Grounded Mode. So naturally i have high expectations from the live action adaptation that will be handled by HBO (Thank god it isn't Netflix or Amazon).

It's understandable some slight changes had to be made, specifically in some combat/stealth/gameplay segments that can't be translated well into live action. As well as the spore change for the show and the method of the infection spreading into people. I have to give it to HBO for the investing into high budget for the show and it shows 90% of the time (The only time i didn't like the CGI was the final shot of the episode of the buildings into the horizon). The cinematography is great, the music is great as it was in the game, the production values are overall amazing. All of us that we played the game we know how good it can, and will be. The pacing, the writing, the twists are gonna be great. And thanks to the involvement of Neil and the creator of Chernobyl we know they are gonna respect the source material.

The first season will tell the events of the first game and i am so excited for the things that we will see. I don't see a single negative point from the first episode of this adaptation. (And by the way i didn't have a problem at all with the Sarah change. Some people hate with no reason. That kid did a very good job for her role well done to her!) Highly recommend this series!

I watched the movie for the first time after playing Max Payne 3 which i found great and is a game heavily inspired by this movie. So first let me say the things i liked about the movie. The artistic approach of the movie and color palette is unique, interesting and great, as well as the cinematography and the acting from Denzel and the little kid. The kid delivered one of the best performances of a kid in that age i have ever seen. And the positives end there.

The acting from the rest of the characters is pretty wooden, the pacing of the movie even though i found it extremely well done in the first half as i have no problem with slow burn movies that build with time but this movie well... it never build any tension or action. It would have worked a lot better with at least 20 minutes less runtime and a more focused approach on the story and action.

Also my second big complain about the movie was the action and tensity. The only action we see in the whole movie is a 3 minute shooting scene in the middle of a street with a gang and thats about it. 3 minutes of action in an almost 2.5 hours movie. And not only that but it was terrible directed too. And there is no excuse for that as there are tons of movies of similar style that delivered in action, pacing and writing close to that movie release too. Collateral for example with Vincent. Overall i was extremely disappointed and i don't recommend this movie.

Why this movie has such a low rating? I went into the movie with very low expectations cause of the latest Netflix releases have been very poor for my taste (Glass Onion was a big disappointment for me) and because it has such a low IMDb score. But i was pleasantly surprised by how solid and good this film was. The cinematography, atmosphere, direction and writing of the movie was amazing. The acting was ok at best, nothing spectacular Poe's acting was a bit over the top for me but Christian Bale delivers again an amazing performance.

Director Cooper has delivered two movies in a row with great quality (Hostiles and now this) and i hope he keeps going because he is underrated as a director. I loved the twists of the movie and towards the end i have to say i was disappointed cause it reminded me a regular episode of Buffy or Supernatural but in the last 10 minutes everything clicked with that twist and the movie was saved.

I really hope we get an H. P Lovecraft cosmic horror movie someday from this director cause i love the setting and i am a big fan (Bloodborne is my favorite game of all time) and this movie had similar atmosphere to me although it is completely different script wise. I understand that some people may be disappointed because they expected a pure horror crime mystery movie but i liked it. Every movie that has quality especially nowadays i appreciate them.

First minutes of the movie were kinda interesting with tension, mystery, creeping music, good cinematography and psychological horror. And then from the moment the alien thing was revealed all downhill. The writing was garbage, the actors didn't hit the mark for me, they were all unlikable and boring. Also the pacing of the movie is one of the worst i have ever seen in a movie. The middle part's pacing is terrible. The monkey scene was filler crap, and the most outrageous thing for me was the ending. It was so bad i have no words for it really. To the time the authorities come into play to the general resolution of the movie it self. Don't do the same mistake as i did and waste 2 hours of your day. I don't recommend the movie in the slightest.

Such a massive improvement for a direct sequel i can think of are Terminator 2, Winter Soldier and now Top Gun Maverick. The movie is my favorite of 2022 for sure and one of the best in the last years.

The CGI and particular the practical effects, the stunts, the direction, the pacing, the acting, the action, the tension, the drama, the cinematography, the production values, the writing and most of all the sound mixing and music are all outstanding. To be fair i can't think of a anything bad about the film. The film is a legacy film and it shows. Sometimes if the people responsible for the end product care about it and there isn't any studio intervention, then nostalgia can work with good results both commercially and with the critics and viewers. I liked a lot the bond the team developed through out the movie as well as all the other things i mentioned.

This movie and the Northman are the only quality movies released this year for me. If you want to watch movies that were crafted with love and care watch these movies. Highly recommend!

This movie with a bit more runtime (i wish we get the Directors Cut) would have been a lot better. The characters would have been more developed and especially the relationship between Robert and his wife. Also the war feels rushed and the Scottish army feels like they turn the tide in 2 days with an army of 40 men. Again this is an example of limited screen runtime. Also i wish we got some flashbacks or backstory on the early life of Robert or his father's legacy. This movie would have worked better as a television series like The last kingdom, or at least if it had more runtime, about 3 hours at least. Still i enjoyed the movie a lot, it has great scenery and good cinematography although nothing groundbreaking or outstanding, the fight scenes are realistic and brutal, the drama is there, the actors do a great job and the script is good too. I recommend it 7/10.

I think the show starts really strong with a promising season. However it's not flawless. My main complaints that take 2 stars for me is first the scope of the show. All of the runtime of the first episode is focused only in Kings Landing. And even though i love Kings Landing i liked the world building and the different locations Game of Thrones provided to us from the first episode. It makes the show "bigger" in a sense. My second complain is that in this series i didn't find a single person male or female likeable. Not one. And a show should try to make us care emotionally and root for at least a couple of characters. Game of thrones had dozens from the first episode. House Stark and even Robert were likeable. Now another topic, even though the budget is bigger than Game of thrones at least for the first seasons the show for me at least has weird lightning and cinematography and trust me cinematography is one my favorite things in movies and tv shows. The interiors of Kings Landings like the rooms and chambers have good lighting effects but the outer locations have a bloom, grey filter to them i didn't like at all. Now to the positives. Great writing, acting, pacing, music and intrigue. Looking forward for the next episode.

Terrible live adaptation of the animated classic. Lifeless movie with terrible voice acting (especially young Simba is one of the worst voice acting performances i have ever heard). It has great CGI but who cares when the movie doesn't do its job of showing you the roller coaster of emotions that the original did. And on top of that we have these terrible actors voicing our beloved characters. 3 stars for the CGI only.