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russlawrence
Reviews
Searching (2018)
Not Horrible... Not Great...
So I saw this and read all the reviews after.
People shouldn't complain about the movie being done in the internet /digital world style that it was done in, as that was the moviemaker's intent and it was advertised as such.
All in all I think that was done well as many reviewers have suggested.
So I looked at it as a movie... How well did I like the movie...?
Well... It's a mystery movie, which I like. The plot does have some twists that are unlikely, but not impossible, especially if you paid attention (the cop tells the story that her son did bad things and she covered for him... She said that the two search zones had already been explored, etc). Many mysteries have solutions that are on the outer edge of the plot and characters, so this didn't annoy me fully.
I suppose it's possible... Barely possible... that the girl could have survived injured at the bottom of the ravibe for basically 7 days... There have been many true stories of survival like this.
There are some minor things that tech savvy people will catch (they don't try to use a find my phone locator, etc), but they don't destroy the movie.
The main reason I give this a 5 is the horrible acting of Debra Messing. If they had positioned her character as a friend of the family who also happened to be a police detective, then it would have at least been more believeable.
But as they did not, her acting is really attrocious. Seriously.
She doesn't speak, act, sound, or feel like a detective AT ALL.
She says things like "gun wound" (instead of gunshot wound).
I don't even want to go on about it because it was so bad.
If they had had a different actress in her role, I honestly believe his movie could have been a 7 or 8 for me.
So for me it's a decent mystery movie, told in a unique style, with a strechably possible plot twist and happy ending which could have easily gone the other way, but with a very poor choice for one of the lead roles.
It's worth a watch, even if it's just to see how they used the digital style and social media aspect.
Again, don't be one of those who bash a movie for it's style when that's exactly how it was intended to be.
Shi yue wei cheng (2009)
What a hunk of moldy cheese!
Well now I've heard (and seen) it all. I saw the great reviews of this movie, and after watching the amazing "The Man From Nowhere" last night, thought I'd go 2 for 2.
Not so!
Other reviewers are saying this made you care for the characters. I can't believe that! I was laughing more than anything. How many times can you be reminded over and over and over of the same things... the man trying to protect his son, the man trying to overcome the death of the woman he loved, the man trying to fight for the daughter he almost had... blah blah blah.
If it were done with great acting, then maybe, but this is far from it. This is by far the cheesiest movie I've seen in many years. Overacted, over-dramatized, over-directed, over-edited, and even the score was overdone.
"Over The Top." If Stallone hadn't made a movie with that title, this one should be called that for sure.
At least I was hoping for some great action and fighting... but alas no... If it wasn't for the fight scenes starting at about 38 minutes left in the film, I would have given this movie one star.
I can't believe I sat through the whole movie until that last part. But at least them I got to see some cool action, even if every time someone "important" to the plot died, they would flash their obituary on the screen... like I was going to cry or something?
Honestly, don't believe the hype you're reading about this movie. I'm a HUGE fan of action, drama, and martial arts films. Finding one that has great action, drama, plot, fights, and acting is about impossible (unless it's "The Man From Nowhere"). This movie succeeds in having NONE of those great elements.
It's boring. It's supremely cheesy. It's unsatisfying. And now I can't get my Saturday night back. Oh, well... I'll call it an experiment in movie watching and try something else tomorrow. The least I could do is to warn others to NOT waste their valuable time on this cheese-fest.
Don't make me say I told you so... Watch something else.
Ajeossi (2010)
Holy Sh** This Is Incredible!!
Those who have put this down in their reviews obviously don't know an amazing film when they see one! I am a huge fan of the action and martial arts genres. I usually don't watch subtitled films, but this had high marks so I checked it out. I certainly wasn't expecting incredible acting, outstanding direction and editing, a flawless score, all with the action and martial arts I love. And the fighting wasn't gratuitous... just for fighting's sake. It was only used if part of the story line. OK... So the plot overall wasn't anything new or fresh. So what??!! It still was an excellent execution of the story, and kept me riveted from start to finish. This main actor is a star! I'm sure he can speak English, and could easily be as popular as Jet Li or Chow Yun Fat here in the states. Now I'm off to look up some of his other films! If you're thinking of watching this, and you're a fan of dramatic action films, then this is an absolute must see. Just click play already!!