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Reviews
The Fall Guy (2024)
Behold as the graceful Gosling takes flight, or will we witness the dramatic descent as it comes crashing down with Blunt force?
Turns out it was the latter...
Yep, it was quite a stinker. It's basically just a romcom... without the com. Not through lack of trying mind you. It tries so hard to be fun and funny, but outside of a couple of sporadic smiles and the occasional light-hearted 'hmph', it just fell completely flat for me.
The characters are so sickly sweet and the romance aspect just isn't engaging at all... and that's all you get for the first half of the film. It's well over an hour before the first taste of intrigue enters the picture, and even that sub-story feels predictable and undercooked.
This is likely due to the clichéd and contrived screenplay. Writer Drew Pierce (from whom I've enjoyed Mission Impossible Rogue Nation and Hotel Artemis) clearly loves movies and really wants you to know it, trying to take a meta approach and I do like the fact he shines a light on the stunt profession and BTS crew... but it all just feels superficial and shallow. He also loves to name-drop other (better) movies which came across a bit pretentious, and there's even an ongoing gag where one character tests Ryan Gosling's character by working in famous lines from other movies. This could have been fun if they weren't so obvious and overall seemed like a wasted gimmick. This is indicative of how the film plays out as a whole. There also a gimmick using the movie they're making as allegory for their relationship that is excruciating to endure, and the movie itself looks so incredibly trashy that it makes you want to root for its demise. I think it was trying to be satirical, but if so it wasn't carried through to the rest of the picture and just felt out of place.
I think it's wildly misdirected by David Leitch, who I typically enjoy, but here he just doesn't succeed in balancing the romance, comedy and action, and the resultant movie has a very weird tone throughout. There are some brief flashes of ok action, but usually felt sluggish and oftentimes a bit cartoony.
Overall, there I have very little praise for this movie and consider it a huge misfire, blurring the line between bad and just downright awful.
Note: the above review is my personal opinion and is not intended to be reflective or better than your own. For what its worth, I certainly seem to be in the minority on this one.
Tenet (2020)
Tenet 100% Spoiler Free Review
So just got back from seeing Tenet and thought I'd lay down some thoughts. Fear not, as I promise you this will soil nothing of the plot. Quite frankly, I wouldn't even know where to begin, since this is one film that is a bona fide assault on the mind.
For those planning (or able) to see it soon, all I can say is bring your A-game, as this film is hard work. The plot is extremely convoluted, focused around a Nolanised concept called 'time inversion' (which is briefly and, dare I say, ineffectively explained at the beginning), told via an onslaught of rapid-fire dialogue and exposition for nearly all of it's 150-minute runtime. It makes Inception seem like Sesame Street by comparison, and it strongly reminded me of Primer, which I always considered one of the most difficult films to follow... until now.
The pacing is relentless, rarely slowing down enough for the audience to digest the cavalcade of information thrown at them. Adding to the confusion is the sound mix, which often makes dialogue very difficult to hear and ultimately obscures vital information for the audience.
By the end of the film, I was left with an idea of the overall plot, but feel it's going to take many revisits to fully understand the details, which are kinda crucial in really understanding what's going on. I trust Nolan has a firm grasp on the logistics of his story, but without an all access pass to the depths of his imagination, it's a hard task to firm grasp on the concept.
I can't even really rate this movie (the review rating is more if a rating-in-progress)... I know somewhere in the future I adore this film, but for now I'm as lost as the protagonist was for at least the first hour.
Rabbia furiosa (2018)
Interesting little revenge flick with some old school gore.
It's an interesting little revenge flick that gets pretty brutal, and features a mesmerising performance by Riccardo De Filippis, who nails the transition from meek and mild to all out psycho.
The film could be better. There's some questionable shots and dialogue, and it feels low budget overall. And the gore is a bit shlocky which kills the reality somewhat, but at the same time it took me back to the early Savini days which I did appreciate.
But the best part, for me, was the score by Maurizio Abeni, which was outstanding... featuring a memorable melodic primary theme that's twisted in wonderful ways, and some great underscore that stands out like it should.
It (2017)
Great coming-of-age film, terrible horror movie.
I went into this totally fresh, having never read the book nor seen the original (despite watching horror films for over 30 years).
As a horror movie, I thought it was poor. I didn't find a single scene or shot the least bit scary. I thought the intro scene was interesting, and I was definitely intrigued by the appearance of Pennywise who had a welcoming creepiness about him... but this was totally lost in all of his subsequent scenes for me. I found most scenes where Pennywise was shaking and screaming to be borderline laughable. Every jump scare was clichéd to the point of predictability (not a single one landed for me), and I never once felt any sense of dread (and sadly, I never got a single spine shiver, which is what I seek when watching a scary movie). Although it featured gore, as a horror/scary movie... it completely failed. (The only scene I found suitably creepy was the old woman out of focus in the background in the library!)
But... aside from the horror elements, I actually found the human characters to be quite interesting and very entertaining. I think the boys (and Bev) were perfectly cast, and they were each interesting in their own arcs. The witty banter was immensely entertaining, and felt very natural... this was largely what kept me interested throughout an otherwise dull horror film. I also thought the 80's setting was handled quite well... certainly giving a feel of the era without ramming it down our throats, and the character sensibilities felt true to that period also. So... as a horror film, for me it totally fails... but as an 80's coming-of-age drama, I actually quite enjoyed it!
Sanctum (2011)
Bad film, awesome 3D!
Like many, I found this film to be rather dull in terms of character and plot. There was some reasonable tension during some sequences, but these were typically ruined by cheap clichéd dialogue.
What really saved it for me was the 3D. I have not been impressed by 3D at all, prior to Sanctum, as it always just seemed to be flat images on different planes of depth, like the cinematic equivalent of parallax scrolling. Even Avatar failed to impress on this note, as that film had very little depth perception in regards to the backgrounds.
But Sanctum really showed how 3D can be used effectively. Being shot in 3D is a no brainer, but Sanctum really makes it shine with its setting, and isn't filled with digital backgrounds that just don't give that natural depth to the image. Also, I didn't really notice any cheap 'in-your-face' gimmicks, like nearly every other 3D film to have been released so far.
The 3D actually enhances the film, instead of distracting from it. The scenes had real depth and a fantastic impression of detail when it came to rockfaces and the like. I won't say that it was 'realistic', as (in my opinion) I don't think a projected 3D image could ever be confused for reality, but for the most part it was fully immersive.
Some sequences rely on the sense of claustrophobia for tension, and the 3D sells that sensation like no other movie, even Buried!!
Ignore the film itself... Go for the 3D, as it has truly convinced me that 3D is more than just a gimmick when used properly, and I doubt we will see another film that showcases the technology quite as well for some time.
District 9 (2009)
Worst RomCom ever!
I attended a preview screening of District 9 last night, and I am in absolute awe of this film and its director Neill Blomkamp.
Thanksfully, I knew relatively little about the story going into the film. I had a rough idea of the concept and had seen a few TV spots, but thankfully the film delivered so much more than I was led to expect.
What I like most about the film is that it increasingly gains momentum throughout its runtime, starting out as a mockumentary (and thinly veiled social commentary), but then delves into more mainstream thriller territory, before culminating in some thoroughly entertaining action set pieces. If action is your thing, be sure to stick it out through to the latter half of the film. As I was leaving the cinema, I overheard many other patrons saying exactly that... "I wasn't too sure for the first hour, but I'm glad I stayed" (personally, I have never walked out of a film at the cinema).
That is not to say that the first half is any less impressive. I am a big fan of realism in films such as this, and as such, I really enjoyed the documentary feel. I think the intention was for the entire film to be in the mockumentary style, but for me the style changes and takes on a more mainstream look (albeit hand-held)... which I think is important to know going in. There are also a few areas where it couldn't be believed that a documentary crew could still be filming (or even alive). But I think the film is much better for this, and definitely more memorable.
If there is one thing that irks me about this film, its that the story moves at an incredible pace... particularly in the earlier scenes in the film, which feel rather rushed, and seemingly at odds with the realistic documentary feel it was going for. Things just seem to happen so quickly, leaving little time to digest the premise and characters. I would love to see a version of the movie that extends the first half to allow a greater look into the reality presented to us.
SFX-wise, there are no complaints. There is the odd bit of artificial blurring on some alien movement, but overall we are presented with a very low-key, realistic CGI presentation that could teach Hollywood a thing or two.
One other aspect that I must mention is the performance of the lead character. Seeing a film of this caliber that has no recognisable actors, with foreign (to an Aussie!) accents just adds to the authenticity... but Sharlto Copley (in his debut performance) is a revelation and one of the most memorable aspects of the movie.
I cannot recommend this movie enough, and the wait until the weekend so I can see this film again is just too long!