- Joined
- Feb 3, 2007
- Messages
- 492
In no particular order, here's some reviews I have done recently members may find useful. I have a bunch. I will not post them all here, but this gives a flavor. If anyone wants a review od a specific movie, ask and I will see if i covered it and post it in this thread. My tastes and watching habits are diverse;
KIN
Watching the review, one would conclude this movie was made for younger viewers, and say family entertainment. It's not. As one reviewer said "Kin is darker and far less enjoyable than its publicity materials might have you think." Who is it made for? I have no idea, it's way too dark and weird for kids, too simplistic for adults. The director attempts to give it some depth, Zoe Kravitz can do anything and be enjoyable to look at, and there's some good visuals. It's like Predator meets some Disney movie. Other than that, why this movie was made, and who the intended audience is, I have no idea. Not even the excellent casting could save this dog...C-/D+
[video=youtube;Ac5wrM2uYbk]
Ant Man
This super hero movie sort dropped off my radar, so I'm late to the party with this review. It was not on my radar mostly due the fact I can't think of too many super hero concepts less interesting than a suit that shrinks a person down to the size of an ant as their only real power. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by Ant-man in that they played it right (cheeky fun), good actors, fun dialogue, character development, and decent action scenes, or as good as two guys in suits that make them the size of ants can be... Plot itself was utterly generic. While the premise did not get my super hero mojo up, this one was worth watching and a fun time. B+
[video=youtube;pWdKf3MneyI]
Ip Man 3
I'm generally of the opinion you seen one Kung Fu movie, you have seen them all, but not so it seems. Ip Man is loosely based on a real person, the Grand Master who Bruce Lee was a student of. This movie has both emotional depth and a plot, and the relationship with his wife is both a key element of the movie (and quite touching in fact), and balances the action well. Donnie Yen shows some subtle but convincing emotional depth, and the love story between he and his wife got me in the feels several times.
The martial arts choreography is well done and fun to watch. The characters have depth, and none other than Mike Tyson plays the Boss Man bad guy, and does a fun job of it too. Best way I can describe this movie as Kung Fu with class. B+
[video=youtube;yo7z8c87Egg]
Gringo
Gringo has all the right ingredients for a good sauce, but something just not right. wants to be a dark comedy, but it's not all that dark nor all that funny. The parts are all there, it just never quite comes together to make it work. The lead character (played by David Oyelowo) is a very likable fellow who has one crappy thing after another happen to him, and there's a few fun scenes, but it feels forced and tries to hard to be dark and funny and just misses the mark. If you like dark comedies and have time to kill, it's not the worst movie in the genre by any means, but the trailer pretty much has the best parts. C+/B-
[video=youtube;7-bZLM3I-C0]
Den Of Thieves
This movie is basically an homage to Heat, right down to the running gun fight in traffic, vs just being a remake per se. Tough cop and tough bank robber with a tough crew go head to head. They attempt to give us some reason to care about characters with the usual fare (tough cop getting divorced and misses his kids, drinks too much, yada, yada) and is generally well done with a solid cast, with a few eye rolling moments that knock down what could have been a really good movie. I expected 50 cent to be terrible, but he actually does a decent job of it. Dialogue is ok, some scenes are tense and taught, and it's an overall fun action movie, but Heat or Sicario it aint... But it's not a bad action flick, just not one you'll be talking about the next day or thinking about past seeing it. B-/C+
[video=youtube;FKd_ks0rdAM]
Bad Times at the El Royal in a separate thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review.1635869/
KIN
Watching the review, one would conclude this movie was made for younger viewers, and say family entertainment. It's not. As one reviewer said "Kin is darker and far less enjoyable than its publicity materials might have you think." Who is it made for? I have no idea, it's way too dark and weird for kids, too simplistic for adults. The director attempts to give it some depth, Zoe Kravitz can do anything and be enjoyable to look at, and there's some good visuals. It's like Predator meets some Disney movie. Other than that, why this movie was made, and who the intended audience is, I have no idea. Not even the excellent casting could save this dog...C-/D+
[video=youtube;Ac5wrM2uYbk]
Ant Man
This super hero movie sort dropped off my radar, so I'm late to the party with this review. It was not on my radar mostly due the fact I can't think of too many super hero concepts less interesting than a suit that shrinks a person down to the size of an ant as their only real power. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by Ant-man in that they played it right (cheeky fun), good actors, fun dialogue, character development, and decent action scenes, or as good as two guys in suits that make them the size of ants can be... Plot itself was utterly generic. While the premise did not get my super hero mojo up, this one was worth watching and a fun time. B+
[video=youtube;pWdKf3MneyI]
Ip Man 3
I'm generally of the opinion you seen one Kung Fu movie, you have seen them all, but not so it seems. Ip Man is loosely based on a real person, the Grand Master who Bruce Lee was a student of. This movie has both emotional depth and a plot, and the relationship with his wife is both a key element of the movie (and quite touching in fact), and balances the action well. Donnie Yen shows some subtle but convincing emotional depth, and the love story between he and his wife got me in the feels several times.
The martial arts choreography is well done and fun to watch. The characters have depth, and none other than Mike Tyson plays the Boss Man bad guy, and does a fun job of it too. Best way I can describe this movie as Kung Fu with class. B+
[video=youtube;yo7z8c87Egg]
Gringo
Gringo has all the right ingredients for a good sauce, but something just not right. wants to be a dark comedy, but it's not all that dark nor all that funny. The parts are all there, it just never quite comes together to make it work. The lead character (played by David Oyelowo) is a very likable fellow who has one crappy thing after another happen to him, and there's a few fun scenes, but it feels forced and tries to hard to be dark and funny and just misses the mark. If you like dark comedies and have time to kill, it's not the worst movie in the genre by any means, but the trailer pretty much has the best parts. C+/B-
[video=youtube;7-bZLM3I-C0]
Den Of Thieves
This movie is basically an homage to Heat, right down to the running gun fight in traffic, vs just being a remake per se. Tough cop and tough bank robber with a tough crew go head to head. They attempt to give us some reason to care about characters with the usual fare (tough cop getting divorced and misses his kids, drinks too much, yada, yada) and is generally well done with a solid cast, with a few eye rolling moments that knock down what could have been a really good movie. I expected 50 cent to be terrible, but he actually does a decent job of it. Dialogue is ok, some scenes are tense and taught, and it's an overall fun action movie, but Heat or Sicario it aint... But it's not a bad action flick, just not one you'll be talking about the next day or thinking about past seeing it. B-/C+
[video=youtube;FKd_ks0rdAM]
Bad Times at the El Royal in a separate thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review.1635869/
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