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meltdownmonk
Reviews
The Marvels (2023)
Felt like a marvel phase 1 film
It appealed to a young audience. My boys were glued to the screen and were excited about the prospect of a sequel.
This movie was way better than I was expecting with lots of surprises (singing! And dancing!) Some very fun fight scenes. Flerkins. And two awesome post credit scenes.
I loved these characters even more after seeing this. I am pretty pumped for the next phase. Young Avengers or new Avengers, Thunderbolts, fantastic four, x-men. I loved the Binary appearance at the end.
World's it be too much to ask for Star jammers and the shi'ar?
Something about watching this movie with 3 kids under 10 made it so much better. Although I watched it again on my own. And then again with a friend. It's quite enjoyable.
The Recruit (2022)
Like Bourne Identity had a baby with Suits
I've seen 6 episodes so far and it's been quite entertaining. It felt a bit like the Bourne Series (without any super assassin's going rogue) and a bit like Suits (without any photographic memory characters and slightly less politics about making partner - and not quite as funny as Suits)
With a couple cringy moments (a murder depiction - while not extremely graphic, was still very intense and disturbing), and the suggestion of violence from AI robot designed for interrogation - nothing is shown except the robot in a room with blood splatters on the robot, the glass wall and floor.
The characters are a bit over the top sometimes, strong personalities, but it's still fun trying to figure out/discovering their motivations/agendas. The web of connections weaved between all the characters is quite enjoyable to see unfold, untangle and tangle again.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Fun Ride
As a big star wars fan that was a kid when Episode 1, 2 and 3 came out. I remember cringing at some of the acting and directing in those movies. although I enjoyed them because I wanted to enjoy them. This movie was easy to enjoy - the action was fine, the special effects were fine, everything I would expect from a Star Wars film was in here, there were twists and turns, lots of science type things that aren't explained, but of source it's Star Wars, it's not sci-fi, so it tends not to make sense. I really enjoyed it overall. It felt emotionally satisfying to me, I like the characters - Poe Dameron was less annoying on this one than the previous two. Finn seemed more mature, although less involved. Rey was great, and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was great. They don't waste time - bringing in the first twist of the story during the opening crawl. This continues right through - with lots of additional info that adds a bit to the Star Wars canon. I think it complemented The Last Jedi and the Force Awakens quite well.
I will definitely watch this one again. It had a pretty nice conclusion - leaving lots open for further exploration/speculation/interpretation.
The Flash (2014)
Cheesy, and seems to go downhill
I started the show, and immediately was bothered by bad acting, cheesy script, but for some reason, I just love The Flash, the idea of it, and some of the characters interactions are charming and fun - Cisco was annoying, but also funny to watch, Barry was actually kind of fun to watch too - I really enjoyed watching Season 1, despite the shows flaws. Season 2 was also still pretty watchable.
Season 3 started, and it just felt a lot worse, stopped watching, and then came back to it. There are some really great moments - but I find most episodes pretty painful to watch - the dialogue dealing in so many absolutes (we have to do this, or we have to do that...) No! You don't have to do that at all!, why would you think that? The silly TV show logic astounds me, and it happens in almost every episode.. something I was mostly able to overlook in the early seasons. I'm sure I'll make it to season 4, and we'll see if I make it to season 5.
The musical episode in Season 3... The ending was a highlight for me, I love musicals, and I love the poppy songs of Benj Pasak and Justin Paul, so that was a big surprise for my family and I when Barry sings that song to Iris.
My biggest problem with that episode, is that there is too much dialogue, and the plot makes no sense. I really just wanted more singing and dancing, they should have gone full musical, and just got Pasak and Paul to write everything.
I thought the acting in Fringe and Bones was bad at times, but this is much worse, it's bad acting mixed with bad dialogue and plot.. but I'm giving this 5 stars for keeping me to season 3.. and an extra star because I do like Flash, and time travel...
Chappie (2015)
Way better than I expected
I've been watching sci-fi movies since i was very young, and when i first saw the trailer for this, I expected it to be great. I waited to see reviews before checking it out, and the reviews were so harsh and bad, I skipped it completely.
So, it's 2016 when I'm writing this review. Actually it's the year that Robots were deployed in the film. Anderson Cooper cameo. Awesome, still relevant!
I looked at the metacritic and IMDb reviews, and knew something was off when the user rating and critic rating had such a huge discrepancy. It didn't totally miss it's audience.
I really enjoyed District 9, though I did feel Elysium was not as strong. I was expecting Chappie to be much worse, but surprisingly, it was not.
It felt like a South African spin on RoboCop, with some Transcendence (with better acting and special effects and and, pretty much everything about this movie is better than Transcendence). Complete with the dystopian/dark but still familiar contemporary society. Over the top gangs and villains, robot designs, some gore and plenty of violence. Lots of outdoor action scenes around cars, which seems to be something Neil Blomkamp likes to do. I felt like I was watching a tribute to RoboCop. I also felt like there was some Short Circuit in there.
The Special effects were pretty incredible, and real enough to seamless fit in, and also cool enough to amaze and stand out when it needed to.
The concept of a very fast learning child played out fairly well. As a parent, I've watched my son learn and pick up on language, facial expressions and phrases very quickly, and this aspect of Chappie's education really hit home for me. The connection between how his body feels and how human like he is though did require some suspension of disbelief.
The little details: interfaces, computer tech, weapons, costumes, all great. 20 million heist gone wrong (at the beginning), language and accent mimicking, body language..
Still some product placement (see, Windows, Vodafone, Sony VIAO, Playstation 4 (in a cluster!!), 2 of the lead actors are in a musical group... and plenty of cars..
The storytelling: never really an exposition, but all natural go with the flow story, although fairly fast paced, so the plot moved fast, and skipped over some of the plot-lines that would probably take longer to develop in the real world, and unfortunately this was noticeable. Hugh Jackman played a very angry and frustrated character, who descends into a bit of a mad rage, but I can imagine it being all pent up.
Deon, very motivated, with vision, and challenges any naysayer (this trait he passes on to Chappie). Ninja, Amerika and Yo-landi - ridiculously poor influences on Chappie, who is a very fast learner, incredible intelligent, but very impressionable, and naive.
This movie had Maker and Existence themes, Death, Human interaction and influence. The weakness of corporations (insider threats). A fantastic ending (which was just a new beginning)
9/10 because this is incredible underrated.
The Equalizer (2014)
Fun Action Thriller; What the Punisher should have been
I never thought of Denzel Washington as an action hero actor until watching this film. The more I watched, the more it felt like a super-hero film, and then by the end of it, it felt like a slasher film, with Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) as the monster/serial killer. The plot is the typical one-sided hero wins every fight is essentially immortal type deal. Robert McCall is a good citizen day and night, helping his co-worker get a security job, and befriending an escort and encouraging her to change her life into what she wants. There was so much focus on the character and his habits, and his relationships, i couldn't help but fall in love with the movie (I prefer sentimental movies with a lot of heart) It may have been cheesy, but I was sucked right in, and yet also anticipating some serious destruction and violence.. I was almost scared to see it happen.
The fight scenes are brutal and quick, but take moments to dwell on the method of death. McCall has what I would call OCD or extreme attention to detail superpowers, and precise timing of everything he does. He's a complete nightmare for everyone he comes up against, and yet also seems completely harmless, so when he makes his offers to each and every criminal (except the last one) to stop what they are doing, and change, almost nobody listens to him, and an action scene ensues.
Despite the fact you know he's going to win every fight, the movie still keeps you on edge. The director likes to dwell on certain shots for extended periods of time. The violence made me cringe and even look away more than once. The exaggerated scenes result in a dark, stylized, moody and intense artsy and overindulgent kind of feel.
This is the movie that the Punisher should have been. In the Punisher, it was very difficult to care about the character. In the Equalizer, it was hard not to. And they do little to describe his past, which adds to the mystique, and mystery of McCall.
A Monster, a Super Hero, a Action star. Denzel was turned into something like a Jack Reacher/Jason Bourne/Riddick/Bryan Mills in this movie. Dangerous, Thoughtful, Smart, maybe lacking in depth, but plenty or pure action roller coaster ride. Thank you Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua for the entertainment!
Krrish (2006)
Painful to watch, and yet it Blew My Mind!
OK, filled with the usually bollywood song and dance, and these didn't really stand out for me, totally skippable, though the Circus dance was somewhat bearable. Hrithik has a few fun moves in a couple of the other songs as well.
I found while some points in the movie contained some very nice cinematography, and some flair in style with the occasional humorous bit (two brightly dressed Indian women (beautiful actresses as well) arguing in an elevator with the random average looking dude in-between them trying to follow what's going on... just priceless, couldn't help but laugh at that.
The costume change was innovative, and a improvement, and the whole hair thing seemed to work out, since, it totally could have been Krishna's buddy.
I just found the beginning to be horribly weak, overacted (but that's normal) and over dramatized (also normal) Krishna still seemed a bit to childish, and i'm not sure if it's just Hritihiks acting, or a bad interpretation of the character.. why set him up smart, only to have him act like a little kid throughout the movie... (though there were points I could feel some brilliance coming through, sortuv...) It wasn't until perhaps the last half hour... suddenly everything started to blow my mind... like it got so crazy with effects and everything.... maybe the whole last half... but just the action bits, and the flashbacks... it just kinda worked, all the special effects were cheesy yet awesome, and it seemed to steal from just about every major super hero/action movie. X-men, Batman (pick one) Superman (again pick one) Matrix, also, Anime in general .... The jungle scene where he fights the island security was right out of Naturo, or ... any anime... the older the more sense it makes... with the blurry background, and random moves, and then the stop.... PERFECT! i nearly peed my pants it was so awesome... at that point you just can't take the rest of the movie seriously, because everything that happens, it just *awesome* all kinds of random special effects, and power display and illogical hostage situation... (seems like the bad guy's taunt him with things only Krishna would want... except... why would they do that unless they knew it was him? ) UGH The Lay's chips in multiple scenes was a nice touch.. or some kind of advertising deal... not sure which... also, the Black Eyed Peas poster in the office at work...
I kept seeing plot holes, and perhaps this is all better for a thread... basically: The movie is too long, and boring up to the intermission, and even then, it's kinda bad, but it becomes a action/special effects fest at the end, and it's just too fun to miss... it's what i was waiting for, the entire movie... made me happier than when I saw the Main Hoon Na final fight scene (which is worth a see, it's just so ridiculously bad, it's awesomely good!) Thank you Rakesh Roshan for bringing something different into Bollywood, it may be a crappy movie, but it looks professional, and flashy, and it has just enough plot a nd action to make me happy.
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)
A bit disappointing, but the movie has it's moments
I was a bit disappointed as I was looking for a documentary, and this movie makes more of a mockery of that idea. I only began to understand the whole movie after i'd watched it, then realized Albert is making more fun of himself than anything. The movie is funny as a movie, but the character in the movie, trying to be a comedian is not funny at all..... had it been a documentary, we'd be looking at a serious movie, but the funny bits all coming from the comedian albert brooks... which is what i had expected.
Anyways, the movie has it moments of laughter, not a lot of lauhg out loud, and a few parts that are just dead awkward, which kinda works, since those moments are followed up on... but when it ended I found myself wanting more, wanting the project to be a success, and not have the silly ending that it had.... oh well
Some of the highlights of the movie include the interviews with potential assistants, most of the interactions with the two government agents, and Maya