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Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Movie Review #6: Sicario: Day of the Soldado dir. Stefano Sollima
A preface: I know nothing of the development of this film, directorial or otherwise, so I won't be commenting on it. I'll just be reviewing the film.
Anyway, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a good film. Does it live up to the original film? Well, no. Sicario: Day of the Soldado generates it's decent quality almost entirely from drawing from its predecessor. It fails to add anything new or refreshing to the mix.
The first half of the film showcases its worst assets. Poor use of aging contemporary politics and used up tropes made themselves prominent, as well as predictable plot points and acting. I took the most issues with some of the visual choices. Overall, the film tries to emulate the original's cinematic charm but instead falls into typical pitfalls that you'd expect from a generic action film.
The plot starts out unnecessarily complex and only begins to straighten itself out towards the second half when I actually think it picked up quite well. It became less predictable as time went on, but overall the story's greatest flaw was its absolute lack of subtlety throughout.
This is going to be a short review since I've been so busy with life but I'll get to the important stuff. Del Toro and Brolin both put on a good performance and have great chemistry onscreen, the rest of the cast mostly falls flat. Good thing those two are on screen for a majority of the film.
You'll like this movie if you enjoyed Sicario more for the action, suspense, visuals (somewhat) and sound. It's an entertaining experience to watch and hear and has it's fair share of tight moments. However if you enjoyed Sicario more for it's characters, subtlety and creativity, then you might be sorely disappointed. Sicario: Day of the Soldado leans more to the overdone side of military/police drama and lacks a lot of the charm of the original film.
Overall, it was worth the watch. Wasn't worth watching in Gold Class though, what a rip off. An additional $25 just to lay down, big deal. 7/10.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Solo: A Star Wars Story Review
So this Tuesday I managed to cut some time out of my schedule and check out the latest Star Wars movie. While the latest string of spin offs and sequels has largely left me wanting, I actually quite enjoyed this new film. It held less of the things I haven't liked about the other recent Star Wars films, but many of the things I don't like in action films in general. Despite this, I found that there was still a lot to enjoy. In essence, the film performs well as an addition to the Star Wars canon. It connects well to the universe and has all it needs to make a good 'Star Wars' movie. Where it fails is in the typical action movie areas, visually unimpressive, safe dialogue and poor pacing/stakes. Starting with the visuals, the film had good prospects early on. Corellia I found to be quite nice on the eyes, but the rest of the film didn't strike out very well. Cinematography rarely came anywhere close to creative, but didn't detract from the experience either. This isn't exactly a break from Star Wars tradition, but a change would have been nice to see. The dialogue in the film was pretty dry. Now I understand the there is a fine line between dry dialogue and the dialogue I enjoyed in the prequels and original trilogy. I think the dialogue by and large lacks that operatic quality that George Lucas and his writers often inserted. Instead it stays in that all-to-safe area of dry and boring. The biggest issue I had with the film is specific. Towards the middle of the film, around two thirds of the way in, the main cast find themselves in a life or death situation while in the millennium falcon (hope I'm not spoiling anything). This scene was fine visually and in it's presentation but it's placement was ridiculous. The rest of the film keeps to such a roguish pace, so having such a bombastically out of place scene in the film really ruined my enjoyment for a while. It's clear they were trying to emulate the Asteroid scene from Episode V, even with the music. But one thing the Asteroid scene in Episode V did not do was raise the stakes of the film far beyond that set by the rest of the story. Overall, that was my biggest issue with the film. Now onto what I did like. The films score I found to be great. This may be personal to me as I really enjoyed the score to Episode V and there was a reference to it in Solo. However in the rest of the film, noticeably good scoring makes itself apparent often. It really helped add to that 'Space Opera' sort of thing Star Wars is known for. Canonically, the film is the best addition to the new Star Wars universe since Disney bought the franchise. Rogue One failed in connecting itself to the larger Star Wars world beyond the obvious but I spotted far more numerous references in this film than any other. Anyone who has already seen the film knows it makes one huge connection to the larger SW expanded universe that I really appreciated. The last thing I liked was it's rather unpredictable plot. Though I was sort of expecting it since it's a film about rogues and smugglers, I was pleasantly surprised with what they came up with. Certainly worth a watch. Oh and in my opinion, Alden Ehrenreich did a good job as Han. In summary, Solo is just another regular action/heist film but as a 'Star Wars' film it performs quite well and that is something that means a lot to me. I'll give it an 8/10.
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Movie Review #4: Isle of Dogs by Wes Anderson
On Saturday I went to go see my first Wes Anderson film, and I really enjoyed it. Isle of Dogs is a lighthearted animated comedy film that doesn't require too much brain power and keeps you entertained the whole way through. While the comedy may have been well timed, at best it was a hit or miss. This was made up for with a great score and overall good design.
The first thing I'd love to talk about is the music. This, I enjoyed most about Isle of Dogs. The Japanese-inspired score of deep drums opens and closes the film, while also complementing it throughout. It's expertly timed with both the comedy and general story of the movie so one can, at certain points, simply sit back and melt into the grove of the film.
There wasn't much I didn't like about the design in Isle of Dogs, and a lot I did. My main complaint is there is an excessive use of crying in the film. While I have no problem with emotions or anything of the like being put anywhere, the animated effect they used for the tears was first fascinating but quickly irksome. Otherwise, the characters, sets and editing in the film all added up perfectly. Greta Gerwig as Tracy Walker was certainly my favorite character but all the dog characters certainly deserve great praise for their design and voice work.
Thematically and comedically, the film has a mixed performance. The comedy was at times funny and at others simply fell flat. I did however appreciate the tone of the film. Never does this film ask to be taken seriously, nor does it ever ask the viewer to take its very seriously flawed logic into account. The film simply just is how it is. This, combined with a great soundtrack, good acting and set design made for great viewing. The story itself has decent themes but overall I found it to be necessarily hollow.
Overall, I'd day the film is a perfect one for an easy night where you just want to sit back and enjoy. The film has depth, but to a large degree is simply consumable at a surface level. Go and check it out, 8/10.
The Endless (2017)
The Endless by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
What to say about this film? It wasn't what I intended to see when I traveled to the cinemas last month, but it's what I got. I don't have much to say about the actors, or directors, nor their previous films. I simply walked into this movie blind. It's from this perspective that I'll put together my short review. The Endless is a film about time, life and consequences, coupled with supernatural themes and elements.
The Endless starts out poorly and awkwardly with obvious low production value, stale acting and a weirdly present shaky cam. The poor impression this put on me harmed the film in the short term, but actually left a lot of room for it to move upwards, and that it did. The film itself decently improves once the plot moves from the characters normal lives and into the isolated country area where the rest of the movie takes place.
The plot itself is the movies strongest suit, but that isn't saying much. It delivers decently on tense moments, interesting characters and creative concepts. Throughout the film I had to remain on my toes to stay on top of some of its more convoluted elements, which I'm going to put into the negative category. I honestly believe a film's plot should at least on a surface level be completely graspable in a first watch, with still plenty of underlying points and themes waiting to be discovered later.
By and large the film didn't capture my attention for very long and its even taken me a while to get around to writing this review. In summary, the film keeps itself moving on its good pacing and plot, but is constantly brought down by over-complicated elements and stale acting. I had originally considered a 7 out of 10 for the film, but on revision I think I will leave it with a 6.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Ritchie
I was finally introduced to this film in March of this year by a friend, alongside it's successor film, Snatch. Since then I've viewed the film a total of three times, and I've finally come to point of being able to a compile a critical review. I've taken time to handle it properly, as this is understandably a cult classic and has warranted a lot of good reviews.
I believe that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a charming movie that achieves a lot despite it's low budget. It contains standout performances and creative cinematography at times, but holds it's failings in both of those departments as well. The movies' strongest attributes are it's tone, plot and pacing, and doesn't actually contain too many issues aside from sound design and one or two plot holes. Overall, I think Lock, Stock is one of the best British comedies I've seen in a while.
There are numerous other little issues I also took up with the film, but a great deal of them owed largely to the films low budget. On that note, a lot of the effects and visuals that would disappoint on a higher budget actually work impressively considering the films constraints on money. Considering the debatable aspects surrounding criticizing budgeted effects, I'll opt to leave those criticisms out of my review.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was produced in 1998 but largely defies time period in it's cinematography and design. It's rustic color palette and noticeable film grain place it more often in the era of the 1970s. But Cinematography in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in general is a hit and miss. The film contains some amazing sequences, especially during action scenes and the infamous card game which sets off the entire plot. This is excellent, as the parts of the movie that seriously matter are almost all given a good level of film quality, but the same cannot be said for the scenes in between. Conversations between characters, especially those with shots that go back and forth are at best unoriginal and at worst so awkward that they can detract from the largely superb writing. And with dialogue being a supreme feature in this film (might I mention since it is especially lacking in visual storytelling), not having the cinematographic quality to go hand it hand with the quips often leaves me wanting.
Speaking of dialogue, the films plot and script are the greatest aspect it has to offer. At no point in the film does the consistent back and forth between the ensemble cast end or lose it's magic. It's no surprise that the film is ranked as one of the most quotable films to come out of Britain's comedy market. The plot, for the most part, is an easy to understand but still complex web of connecting lines bringing the entire set of characters together through a special and sometimes dubious set of circumstances. It's a rather fun joy ride to sit through and track even through multiple viewings, and even by my third viewing, there were small details in both dialogue and occasionally visual cues that I missed out on. The film also doesn't hold the viewers hand too much, despite an admittedly helpful narration, and plot points that can confound first time viewers are always smoothly resolved by the end of the film. The characters themselves are unique and often relatable, despite being brought down by amateur acting skills at times. They're written with a decent degree of complexity and some little details I only noticed, once again, in re-watches.
But on the note of characters and their actors, the acting in this film is much like cinematography as it quite often hits and misses, but on a much more prevalent scale than the former. While the film no doubt contains some all star performances, it is quite often brought down by stale delivery by unemotional actors as well. Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Steve Mackintosh all add to the film with great performances, and give the movie a good backbone despite the lacking work from actors with more screen time like Nick Moran and Lenny McLean. Overall the bad performances in the film are largely put in the shade by the aforementioned writing skills of Guy Ritchie. I'm not an expert of music so I haven't take the time to check out the movies soundtrack but nonetheless it is certainly well put together. I found that they were very suitable for the movies subject matter and blended well with the overall finished product. This, however, was brought down by the small issue of sound design in weapons and environments.
Some of the other things I enjoyed before concluding: The pace is great, lighting is great and visual effects are notably decent for what they were. One more thing I didn't enjoy is the occasional plot points scattered about, but none are serious enough to hurt my rating.
In summary, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is an entertaining crime comedy that accomplishes quite a lot despite it's budget. While it is damaged by acting, cinematography, sound design and plot holes, none of these things are significant enough to damage the overall experience too much. Through multiple watches I found that there was things that I only noticed later on, along with the fact that the comedy still holds strong no matter how many times you ingest the quips. Watch out for my review of Snatch, coming soon. I'm happy leaving the movie with an 8/10.
The Shape of Water (2017)
The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro
I've never seen a movie directed or written by Guillermo del Toro, and my first experience with his work was a mixed one. The Shape of Water is an undoubtedly creative work, and features many unique aspects rarely seen or fleshed out in others of this caliber. While this is true, it only manages to shine a strong torch in some categories and not others. Where The Shape of Water succeeds in design, acting and soundtrack, it falls short in plot, pacing and ham-fisted themes. Without a doubt, it holds itself as a spectacle, but internally the movie struggles to keep itself together on all fronts.
The first and most important concept I want to touch on is how a film is designed to be ingested, on a scale of seriousness. There are films that are very clearly designed to be taken in a serious tone, like Blade Runner 2049. These films immediately establish themselves with serious themes and concepts and consistently expect themselves to be treated as such throughout. Then there are films like Death of Stalin. These films establish a comedic and lighthearted tone within the first 15 minutes at the most, and generally maintain it throughout and apply the tone to even the darker elements of the story. A consistent level of seriousness is, in my opinion, key for a great movie.
This is where The Shape of Water really led me astray. The film quite often jumps between comedic and grave undertones and rarely seeks to create a harmony between them. It was only by the end of the film that I finally concluded that the film was best experienced when it wasn't taken seriously. While this didn't seriously improve or detract from certain scenes in the film, it certainly made a difference on my overall enjoyment. The movie has a short and creative musical number, roughly two thirds into the film. This was the first time I realized that this film is far more lighthearted than dramatic, yet throughout the film it still presses rather grave themes.
On a more positive note, the overall design in The Shape of Water was amazing. With a purported budget of 20 million, it really seems to stretch every dollar. Environments and (very obviously) characters are given great care and attention throughout the whole film, and the cinematography never falls short. The actual creature itself, which I don't think is named, is superbly created. A great combination of majority practical effects and some CGI blend perfectly into a seamless and believable supernatural being. The locations were well picked and the color palette of the film remains consistent without. I have not a bad word for the visual makeup of this film.
What I feel very mixed on is the overall pacing of The Shape of Water. Firstly, I would like to praise the films use of its run-time. The film perfectly understands it's own genre, and doesn't waste time building suspense for the reveal of the amphibian beyond the first 20 minutes of the film. Throughout the film, there is little deviation from the topic, but yet the pacing still troubled me. Without spoiling story content, I felt that at times it moved too fast and at others took it's time far longer than necessary. I also felt that there were scenes, especially one sex scene (not the infamous one) that were seemingly unnecessary. Overall I believe the film would have benefited from a less expansive story, one that left international politics and irrelevant intrigue alone in favor of something more procedural and slower paced. Which leads me to the story.
The story of The Shape of Water is largely baseless. I found it entertaining, and the plot never stalled, but there were just too many significant plot points and strange character choices that betrayed the overall narrative. Themes were largely left half done/explored beyond the one central one, and what could have been seriously fascinating minor and major characters were left at the mercy of lazy plot advancement. Some elements simply would have benefited the film if they were removed entirely. There is little more I can touch on without story spoilers.The Shape of Water's acting is one of it's stronger suits, however. Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones both deliver a great performance but it was Michael Shannon, one of my favorite actors, who manages to put on the best of all despite being held back by poor characterization. None of the supporting cast pulls down the movie, and there were yet still many stand outs. I personally really enjoyed all the scenes Octavia Spencer was in as well.
In summary, my enjoyment of this film very much traveled up and down throughout it's duration, but raised itself significantly once I properly figured out the tone it was awkwardly trying to set. The good and bad of this film actually remarkably balances itself out and still keeps it as a very enjoyable experience overall, but nothing I would write home about. Outstanding design and acting kept me going, but couldn't recover the damage made by critical plot and pacing flaws. I'd be content giving it a 7/10.
The Godfather (1972)
I liked it
Pretty good movie, its enjoyable, it works.
I love crime movies, if you like crime movies, you'll like this movie too.