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Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Hope this is not a solo episode! Among the best Star Wars
Thank you Ron Howard, what a satisfaction this was.
As a long-time fan going back to the 80's, I thought "Solo" is very close to how Star Wars movies should be made.
This time, and quite unlike the prequel trilogy by Lucas, they really nailed the image and picture. Very reminescent of the old Star Wars movies, old-school look, while being of its time altogether. Great job.
Script made for an interesting plot and story, although one could wish it would have allowed for some more character origin development as unfortunately, action is really non-stop. This is the main negative to this movie. Non-stop action provides pace but this is usually done at the expense of character development and climax buildup. Must admit that this is how all movies are made nowadays it seems, and this is too bad.
And finally, no abuse of lightsabers. No abuse of CGI. No abuse of feminism lecturing (unlike Episode VIII). Links to the first movies are also well done.
Oh and yes, Han Solo shot first! A wrong made right. Thank you again Ron Howard. This short movie scene at the end was great in many regards (see Marvel, when the villain has victory at hand but talks endlessly about how good he is, the good guy has other options than just listen).
I thought that Solo was on par with Rogue One, another good Star Wars movie but for different reasons. Definitely better than Episodes 1, 2, 7 and 8, although I mostly enjoyed 7, somehow.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Yes, critics are sold to Disney/Marvel
Epic insult to Thor as a character and his whole universe. Absolute trash of a movie. Enough has been said about the endless teenager jokes preventing any sense of seriousness at any moment. The script is as hollow as space.
If you ever wanted to see a superhero movie without a vilain, this is one. Hela has like 5 minutes on screen over this 130 minutes comedy show. Her minutes are not that interesting as her character's mimics are almost grotesque.
Loki has been turned into the funny idiot for (more) comic relief. He's just a God after all but gets beaten up by some 5'2'' Valkyrie. He takes the hits and almost apologizes for being there. This is the God of Mischief here and you would expect to feel some cause for concern when he's around, but Disney/Marvel and their paid critics have decided that this was not an issue at all.
And that Valkyrie... this has to be the most annoying character created by Hollywood since Jar Jar Binks. She's about 5'2'' but can punch guys like Arnold did in the 80's. Oh and they had to make her drink like a guy too. So yes, another superhero female character introduced in a movie with no other point than being a female superhero. Each movie has hers now, it seems like a rule. Yes we know, politics want movies to balance out against all that maleness of the past and push the idea that females can save humankind. Btw, did you ever thought about the fact that the strongest man in the world can probably toss around and punch away average guys? While the strongest female in the world can't because of PHYSICS? By bowing to politics, these idiots in the studios have removed physics from action movies. STOP IT. YOU ARE KILLING MOVIES.
I'll stop there. Avoid this crap. If you are unlucky enough to see it and you are not sure you liked it or not because after all, all the critics said it was good and maybe you missed something, remember at that point that no, you did not miss anything, it was BAD and designed for very immature audiences. People over 18 who think this movie was good should be removed their right to vote at elections.
Wild Card (2015)
This one's a real dud
I like JS, I really do. And I was in the mood for an action flick and I did not expect a Christopher Nolan script there. But this movie turned out to be far, far below from any average expectation I may have had.
So, Nick Wild (JS)'s ex-girlfriend gets beaten up and raped by a mafia guy. She wants revenge so bad that she calls JS and asks him to risk his life for that, which he will accept. Sounds typical? You ain't there yet. Of course he beats up the guy and his bodyguards and then wants to get out of Las Vegas. Has no money but wait, not only is he the best fighter around, he's also a magician at Black Jack. Wins 100 hands in a row by asking cards on anything, from 14 to 17. At this point I was shaking my head. So, earns a fortune, leaves the table and could get out. But wait! He's addicted to black jack so he returns to the table. Bets everything on a single hand, gets a 17 and... asks for a card!! I'm laughing my belly out while writing this ahahahah! So if you did not get the name of the movie yet, Nick's last name is Wild and he plays cards. Wild Card. Genius isn't it! So, 80 minutes of my life lost so far, hoping that the inevitable final fight will at least save a part of this mess. NOT. Nick is still stuck in Las Vegas, sipping a coffee with his young millionaire friend who just wants adventure. When he is found by the mafia guy with his four thugs, the kid gets his adventure thrill by starting to sing, which allows Nick to run away for his life and hide, but why? Once in the backyard and trapped, he dispatches the 5 of them without being hit once, not even close to panting when it ends.
Oh, and it should be said that most of the characters are excessively caricatural, which could have been OK if it had been intended.
One of the worst duds I could think of and I hope for JS he does not make too many of them in the near future.
Blade II (2002)
Equals the first Blade, if not better
It seems that everything Del Toro touches turns into gold, and the sequel to the surprising and excellent Blade made no exception.
The actual filming quality has improved when compared to the first movie, and so have special effects and visuals. Visual style is just a bit more comic-ish than the original movie, and both worked in their own way. The plot is again a great fit for a Blade movie and delivers enough decent twists and turns to make the movie more than just hack and slash.
Fightins scenes and choreographies are once again a success. Speed is fast enough to make you realize that the protagonists are supernatural, but not too fast to make you lose sense of what is going on. Wesley Snipes proves that he is perfect for the role and you can sense that he enjoys it.
The main villain, Nomak, does not manage to raise to the level of entertainment provided by Deacon Frost but still poses a real threat and generates thrill whenever he is on screen. And the final fight counts as one of the best fight scenes ever filmed that I can remember of.
On the negative side, I disliked the scene where the blood pack enters Blade's base. As Blade did not know who they where, it made no sense that he did not dispatch them, unless they could match his fighting skills, which would make no sense either. Long, useless and dumb fight.
Also, as this is a Del Toro movie, you can expect a bit more horror than in a standard comic movie. And being no big fan of horror movies, I can say that the horror touches added here and there are very well measured and I thought that they fitted perfectly in. The few jokes here and there were also a nice addition as there were not too many and those present were good. Great directing job.
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Disappointing movie to end a nice series
I used to hate Blade Trinity and whereas it grew a bit on me with time and I am no longer a hater, it still remains a mega disappointment.
The movie is nicely filmed and its premise is interesting, as the near-extinct vampires go find their patriarch, Dracula, to help them fight Blade. Also liked the idea of Blade getting hunted by humans after he mistakenly killed one, having been set-up.
The worst of the worst as to be the two new heroes. Hannibal King spends the whole movie cracking one-liners and it gets old very quickly, especially in a Blade movie where what you do not want to get is HUMOR. Blade is not a funny comic and shame on David Goyer for not getting that.
Then you get Abigail Whistler. The fact that she would listen to her iPod while fighting vampires tells you how low-grade this movie has been turned into by David Goyer. It's already a FAIL to have a human beat up a vampire but to make it worst, it had to be a hot girl and she can take on many at the same time while listening to music. Absurd as hell, makes you want to throw something at your TV.
These nightcrawlers' biggest achievement is to make vampires look extra-weak and to make Blade useless since they can dispatch vampires with such ease themselves. All in all, the movie itself becomes irrelevant after both vampires and Blade become obsolete.
The bad guy himself looks more like a pimp or drug dealer than anything else and does not have the strong screen presence that Frost or Nomak had in the previous two movies. We actually barely see him until the end, except for a strange scene where he supposedly wants to see what Blade can do and for that purpose, runs away...?!? This all results in Wesley Snipes becoming a support cast in a Blade movie, which made many angry for good reason. Snipes gave life to an otherwise little known comic and he did not deserve such a bad movie and bad role to end the trilogy. Shame on Goyer and the studio for that.
This being said, the final fight does work despite all the flaws leading to it, and this is what mostly saves the movie from total failure and absurdity. I also enjoy the new Danica Talos character, played successfully by Parker Posey. Most visuals are nice as is the camera work.
This is somewhere between 3 and 4 out of 10 but at the moment of writing this review, I feel for the upside after seeing again the final fight. I do hope, though, that Blade gets another shot at the big screen at some point, this time with a director who has a clue and who will take the character seriously.
Blade (1998)
How comics should be brought to the big screen
Blade. Saw this gem of a movie at the theatre and will never forget how it worked on me. Almost everything was done right with this comic adaptation.
The movie generates a sense of reality the whole way, and this is one of the best things a superhero movie can deliver in my honest opinion. Sure, some elements here and there like vampires going to ashes remind you that this is a fantasy, but the story itself remains real most of the time except at the climax which evolves into surreal. Filming was also very well done, avoiding flashy colours, accentuating the feeling of seriousness and reality throughout the city scenes.
Fight choreographies were perfect, delivered fantastically by Snipes. Speed was fast enough to show that unnatural characters are at work here, but still slow and natural enough for our human eye to know what's going on. Wesley Snipes also did not just get fighting right, he also got acting right, delivering a nicely balanced performance. Managed to show that Blade is a tormented guy without going overboard and keeping the movie's focus elsewhere, where we want it to be. And Stephen Dorff did even better with a timeless performance in the role of Deacon Frost. His character instills fear and doubt in every scene where he shows up despite his smaller stature and business clothing. It all fit together perfectly. Finally, one also needs to mention the successfully designed settings in many scenes, from the Temple of Eternal Light to the skyscraper rooftops to the vampire archives, it's all eye-popping and does not get old even today.
Now, to what was not done right. First, some special effects. The blood ones, especially by the end where Blade explodes a few vampires with blood boiling, look absolutely horrible. The ashes from vampire dying by silver didn't work with me either, although they were not as bad as the blood effects. I also thought N'Bushe Wright wasn't a great cast for Karen, although maybe the role itself wasn't the best part of the movie. All in all, very minor sins compared to the whole achievement.
Before closing, let it be said that Blade showcases some unrestrained violence but where there is no violence or danger, superheroes aren't needed much. This movie understood that most hero stories must be set against a credible evil in order to work, and Blade was a movie made for a mature audience rather than for kids.
Blackhat (2015)
Way better than what you may think (if you like to think)
This is a slow-paced movie which has a few lenghty moments but overall, once you get into it, it turns out to be quite an achievement on several fronts.
Most of the Michael Mann stuff that we liked in his previous films are present, although more sparse, including two intense, ultra-real shooting scenes. Which you need to wait a bit before you get to watch them. Superp photography and camera work which make CGI effects irrelevant. Great technical work there. Urban night scenes are simply splendid.
Blackhat also features a quite original villain. Its only once you discover and understand his plan (requires some understanding of finance) that you get to realize what kind of power he possesses. By the end, the movie gets you on the edge despite the very slow pace and the no-threat-at-all looks of the bad guy. I enjoyed that.
As for the actors, Chris Hemsworth demonstrated that he has a larger skill set that previously thought, and Wei Tang turned out to be a revelation in my opinion. Very powerful performance.
So all in all, a few lenghty moments but overall, a great movie for people who like to think a bit and who do not need an overdose of senseless action in every movie they watch. Underrated for sure, mostly for being a movie not of its time (lack of CGI, slow pace, little action, etc.).
Superman Returns (2006)
In retrospect, was not so bad
This long-awaited return of Superman to the big screen had a lot going for it but in my opinion, it's a few flaws that turned out to be important enough to significantly harm the movie.
First, Brandon Routh was perfect for the main role. He totally nailed it and he had the looks too. Kevin Spacey was also a good cast as Lex Luthor and he did good in the role.
On the other hand, Kate Bosworth was a disaster as Lois Lane. The character does have a strong personality but she remains a likable person nevertheless, while Bosworth gave her an absolutely dislikable presence on screen except at the very end. And for looks, she looked much too young and immature for an experienced, Pulitzer journalist. Hollywood should know when to hire young actresses and when not, and this was a "when not" case.
The script had a lot of potential. Asking whether the world really needs Superman was a smart theme to work around and it created a particular atmosphere around the idea of his return. I liked it. Also, Lex Luthor does manage to represent a serious threat to Superman and his plan ends up as pretty scary.
The movie also starts slowly enough, and we need to wait something like half an hour before we get some action and to see Superman. And boy, this plane crash scene was memorable! This kind of slow build-up makes for much better movies than over-packed and bombastic movies such as what they made with the subsequent reboot, Man of Steel, which really had little to show for except unremitting CGI action, when compared to Superman Returns.
Really, the scenario would have worked very good if it had not been of a few other bad ideas, such as Superman having a son resulting from his previous relationship with Lois Lane.
In retrospect, I believe that when you get over the few flaws that affected the movie, Superman Returns was a success and is a movie which I enjoy seeing again from time to time. I could not say as much as of Man of Steel, which was also an injustice to Brandon Routh, in my opinion, who deserved another shot at the role.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Good adventure movie for kids
It's hard to fairly judge a book adaptation without having read the book so I am being as straightforward as I can by saying that I haven't read the book. My evaluation is thus entirely about the movie for the movie that it is, rather than for the movie as the adaptation that it was.
Clearly, this is no Lord of the Rings. I found that Narnia was a good effort overall to produce a family movie that would 'wow' kids and that parents could still enjoy despite its naive and purposely immature story, thanks in large part to the ice queen who has a strong enough presence to make the story interesting most of the way.
Special effects are very well done and colourful, and are adequate for the purpose.
The young actors did not impress me very much but I guess they fit the purpose of a family movie.
Back to the story, one thing that bothered me is how quick the early elements go by with no explanation whatever. You never get to know who that professor is or where the wardrobe comes from; you just need to accept that walking in that wardrobe leads to Narnia. Before you give up trying to figure those things out, half the movie has gone by and it's hard to get carried away.
Overall, we are obviously not dealing with a memorable movie here but still, if you have kids or a girlfriend who likes very light stuff, this could be a very good option as a way to spend family time.
Daredevil (2003)
One of those superhero movies which deserved better
First, I can only talk about the director's cut version as I don't even remember about the theatrical release.
The movie has its flaws, perhaps the biggest of which is that infamous love scene on the rooftops under the rain where Matt and Elektra fall in love after a 45 seconds, 20 words chat, with Elektra saying "I have to go", then Matt says "stay, it's gonna rain, blah blah" and then he hears fighting and says "I have to go". Ouch.. bad scene, OK. But one bad scene does not make a movie bad.
The overall story of DD is nicely written. The origin works, with young Matt losing his father to crime after he became a better man and helped him after his accident. This leads Matt to want to fight injustice, which he does at day by being a criminal lawyer and then at night by being a vigilante. Liked the idea.
Most of the movie develops slowly, the way I like it, and builds until a final climax where all the pieces suddenly fall together. And they do fall here.
The whole way you think DD is a pretty light movie until Elektra's father gets killed in a violently enough way during a very entertaining scene (first encounter between DD and Bullseye) but then you are not left to rest. The movie reaches another level when comes the fight between Elektra and Bullseye just before the climax. Disturbingly violent but not misplaced, it totally works with the movie despite the shock and the surprise it generates. Also really sets Bullseye as a serious threat and very successful villain character from there.
The fight between DD and Bullseye is OK but not memorable but leads to the final scene, with DD going after the Kingpin. I just love how they designed the scene. Simple, old-style fight, 1 on 1 with fists only. No tricks allowed. Perfect finale.
Most actors are decent in their role but Jennifer Garner stars as Elektra whereas Colin Farell totally nails it as Bullseye. He's all you see whenever he's on screen, one of the best and most underrated villain performances I can remember. His introduction in a bar shooting darts is a blast and Farell manages to totally captivate without saying a single work. Genius performance.
Definitely a superhero movie worth seeing, and makes me miss the time when they made good ones instead of debilitating stuff like Avengers 2 or Iron Man 2/3 with scenarios being only a pretext to an overdose of too many characters and special effects and explosions a la Michael Bay.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Age of utter dumbness
I hoped for a better instance than the brainless, tavern brawl movie that was the first Avengers but it ended up being worst. Much worst. Result is some kind of Michael Bay movie mixed up with Iron Man 3 and all the clichés that Team America was laughing at but that Hollywood (and audiences) didn't seem to get.
Disaster of a scenario designed to show up ultra fast and over-packed scenes of senseless action, with a villain that never really gets to look like some sort of threat after all.
Oh and Marvel, in case you didn't realize, having 150 iron man suits in the same scene makes Iron Man look... well... trivial. Boring. You know? And when Tony Stark's spare armor can defeat Hulk and then Hulk defeats the movie's main villain with a single punch, it kinda makes your villain ridiculous. Especially, also, after he hit Captain America in the chest with his "laser" and all it does is bump him out of a truck. We thought he was transforming himself into the next evolution... something verrryyyyy dangerous... well that was evolution into uselessness obviously.
Also, don't you get all tired of those magic cubes or gems each containing the "Universe's absolute power"? It's what, 5 movies now about those? It's frustrating because when you look at the first Spiderman movies, the Batman franchise by Nolan, and some others, these have been huge successes and yet were movies with character development and a story you could buy. What is this urge of making an absolute mess with a scenario so thin it makes Michael Bay stories decent? Guess I'm back at waiting for the next X-Men, the last decent superhero franchise it seems.
The Iron Lady (2011)
Shameful and empty
I knew there would never be an honest movie made about the life of Margaret Thatcher, but I never thought movie makers could fall into such depravity in order to make money on the name of the Iron Lady by being so disgraceful against her.
As the first female to become leader of a Western country (and not the least of them) and as one of the most principled and philosophically educated politicians of the modern era, one would think that there would be enough material available from Thatcher's political life to make a movie about it.
But no, those movie makers chose to make a movie about her old days when she's presumably suffering from light dementia, then amplified her sickness to the point of showing her as almost crazy, and inserted a few moments of her past here and there so as to justify the 100 minutes-long insult.
So obviously, after watching this, one is still left wondering how this lady became England's PM for so long. The movie quickly presents her as a simple girl who got her ideas by listening to her father preaching about small businesses, and that would be about it. Nothing is said about how she became convinced that liberty needed to be defended without compromise, about what formed the body of her philosophy. Little is said about England becoming a socialist country before Thatcher rescued it, perhaps because the movie makers don't even realized it or don't even realize that socialism is actually a threat. And by the end, the movie suggests that social chaos during Thatcher's time was an evil consequence of her decisions, rather than a consequence of the socialist management and indoctrination of previous decades which happened to be difficult to turn around.
Throughout those 100 minutes, I would say there are about 5-10 of them which are really worth it - strong moments from Thatcher's life which were given justice by the movie. The rest is at best a way of minimizing the importance of her life.
On the good side, it cannot be denied that Merry Streep is fantastic in her role. I'm only sorry she agreed to play a role which happened to be so wrong.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Making a movie for the sake of making another movie?
And another Marvel fail. Captain America had a lot of potential with all the WW2 material available but they managed to make it an anonymous movie which left me indifferent.
Whenever you make a movie for the sole purpose of leading to another movie which is your bigger target, it usually calls for a poor story with little to show for, and that's what we got here.
Allow me some sarcasm first. All in all, the story revolves around Peter Parker part 2 in the 40's. He's weak and girls don't really like him. An experiment makes him stronger. Then goes against a Nazi captain who made magical weaponry with some blue cube from Thor's world (got to build the Avengers don't you). Oh and he gets his shield from Stark's father, so there you got the Iron Man link. That's about it for the story.
This being said, I did not expect much from Captain America after the Iron Man 2 disaster, and it did not beat my low expectations.
On the good side, Chris Evans does a decent job with the little depth he was given in his role, visuals are OK and immerse us into the mid 20th century (if you can ignore the lasers and magic which are really out of place) and Hayley Atwell is quite pretty in her role as Peggy Carter. And actually, Captain America himself as a character is likable; it's rather what he has to deal with which happened to be an attack on my brain.
I wish they would have gone for a more mature movie, with a more serious story revolving around the fight for freedom during WW2. But it seems Marvel is poised on targeting immature audiences, a la Michael Bay. Too bad.
Batman Begins (2005)
The best of the best in superhero movies
Even though much acclaimed compared to most adaptations, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is still much underestimated with regard to its actual worth, depth and greatness.
Like most, I despised the Schumacher Batman movies but was a big fan of Tim Burton's earlier work with the character. I thus had huge reservations about a franchise reset. And after seeing Batman Begins the first time, I was left unconvinced.
But this is one of those rare movies which grew on me after each time I saw it rather than the usual decline. And now that I grasped its philosophical implications and the depth of Bruce Wayne's development, which obviously escaped me the first time, I realize that Batman Begins is much more than a movie, let alone a mere comic book adaptation.
Even though it is loaded with some heavy reflexions about life and justice, there is no lecturing here. Nolan masterfully manages to take us into the deep confines of the nature of law and justice, and uses real, important issues as a springboard to send Bruce Wayne into the Batman character. Where justice is absent because it is in the hands of those who seek to avoid it, Wayne finds that he cannot save Gotham by himself. He has to become more, a symbol around which people will rally and will regain hope. And indeed, don't we all have the feeling that this is what the world needs when the corrupt go free and nothing can seem to help it?
At the same time, Nolan illustrates that justice is a relativistic idea, that one's justice is different than another's. The League of Shadwos is convinced that its actions are driven by a concern for justice, and thus Wayne cannot reason with Raz Al Gul for both of them are reaching for opposite ends of the same principle.
Another important theme carried by the movie is that actions are more important than intentions. Few people on the political, academic or public stage really grasp this, let alone put it into action so powerfully.
Nolan's Gotham and characters are real to the point that Batman Begins is a superhero movie which isn't a superhero movie. It rather is the very believable story of a tormented young adult who, confronted with the ugliness of the real world, finds that he has the tools to help make the good fight, but that in order to fight for justice, he must not follow its accepted rules and will have to hide his identity in order to fulfill his purpose.
With a solid cast, splendid photography and top notch direction, Batman Begins is one of the all time neglected greats. Without question a milestone for mature comic book adaptations, character development, and for political reflexion without any lecturing.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Huge misstep by Marvel, pales in comparison to part 1
Iron Man was a great superhero movie. Iron Man 2 is a bad one.
The level of maturity took a serious hit here, as if Marvel intended to address the 2nd instalment to a younger audience who would not care about the absurdity of the scenario. The final battle is notoriously epic in its failure to generate any climax whatsoever, and the villain dies in the most disappointing way, reminiscent of Darth Maul in Phantom Menace.
Worst yet, Don Cheadle is a disaster as a replacement to Terrence Howard as James Rhodes. One of the worst acting performances I have ever endured.
The introduction of black widow was poorly executed as well, and I could hardly get through the endless party scene where everybody has fun with the iron man suit, which scene could have been more relevant in an American Pie movie.
I could go on and on but it would not help this sorry movie. Bottom line, horrible scenario, some bad acting performances, intended for kid audience.
The Avengers (2012)
Herd behavior and bandwagon effects
First of all, I am a fan of superhero movies. But Marvel, with Iron Man 2 and now this monstrosity, is losing me.
I had mixed expectations before seeing this movie, and I went out of it depressed about the state of the movie-making industry and more specifically, the fate of superhero stories.
If that is the kind of scenario which deserves to be acclaimed from every corner, why should directors like Christopher Nolan keep working on adding depth and substance to their movies if immature and empty scenarios such as The Avengers can earn as much praise? I am clueless. OK there needs to be movies for teenagers and I am fine with that, but that does not mean it should be praised as much as The Godfather.
The Avengers, really, can be summarized as two hours of four superheroes fighting each other over the location of some blue cube because Loki wanted it so, just like drunken guys in any tavern, and who finally come together to fight (again) in a huge alien battle on Manhattan against aliens who can't shoot straight, have fragile weaponry, and who are led by a demi-god, Loki, who ends up being simply beaten up by Hulk with his bare-hands, no questions asked, just as if Batman would destroy Superman because it makes for a funny ending.
If anyone can add anything of substance to what I have just described, only with sarcasm I admit, I am willing to hear about it.
This was a poor movie, and how well it was received by critics shows how big corporations like Disney now control the industry with propaganda in order to create mass hysteria. Independent thought is dead.