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john-shellshear
Reviews
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
Good movie but suspend your rational mind
I do not review many movies because many good people have said all the things I want to say either better or more succinctly than I can, but this is one of those exceptions where I feel a brief review is necessary.
The movie has a stellar cast who all do a fantastic job with a good movie score and a big movie feel to the effects and the sets which they interact with. The plot is thin and if you don't pay a lot of attention you;ll soon be missing important plot points.
That is where this movie begins to fall apart. Good beginning which leads to an odd mid section where everyone is scrambling to understand what is happening and where plots points are redefined and twist around like a demented snake looking for an easy snack. (Yeah I know its a terrible metaphor but it works) then the movie accelerates to a swift and unexpected but fun ending.
Brief synopsis. Earth has rolling energy blackouts, nations are saber rattling and threatening to go to war, Earths only hope is a space reactor that if made to work could solve all the energy issues overnight... But hark! There is a risk that few are aware of or want to acknowledge that could spell the Armageddon that everyone fears...
Well acted, great sets, good music and a thin plot that has some interesting moments. Well worth your time. I rate it an 8 for a good idea and enjoyable experience.
Watch it you will be surprised.
The Traveler (2010)
The Traveler, a review with SPOILERS
I watched this movie with trepidation as I really like Val Kilmer, and not all of his movies have been great so... Taking a big leap into the unknown I decided to watch this BEFORE looking at any film reviews, and I am glad I did. This is a GOOD movie. (I am capitalising points here because so many people give this movie a bad review which is terribly unfair.
The GOOD about this movie. This movie has great suspense and the premise is supernatural and murky because as much as this is a revenge movie it's a revenge movie with a dark twist. Hint, the twist is not revealed until the last few minutes and is somewhat satisfying given the whole reason for what is occurring and why.
The movie reveals its plot in slow meandering ways and the acting is good by all members of the cast and the characters as much as they are parodies fill their roles fairly well, except for perhaps the female lead 'Janie'. Her role was oddly unsatisfying including her very over the top ending. Still this was forgivable as the cast was acting with Val Kilmer who steals the movie with his down trodden acting and occasional reveals of hidden knowledge which he lets slip in slow and in subtle ways.
The bad about this movie. To much gore! Are you kidding me? Slow motion scenes of flesh haphazardly thrown about to showcase multiple murders? Really? What is this a slasher movie meant to resemble some crazed snuff film? This film apparently has higher pretensions than such low ugly fare so why did it need to be included? Answer, it did not. Director take note. You almost entirely derailed your own movie several times with that idiocy.
Spoilers in entirety. Why did everyone who reviewed this in such a negative way clearly miss the point? The story was this. A drifter who is clearly crazy and a psychopath finds and kills a little girl. Later this police department (Who has the murdered little girls father within its ranks) finds this drifter and then tortures and almost kills him, all the while the drifter protests at his treatment and continually speaks of his innocence... But no one listens or is interested in finding out the truth. So the police beat the drifter into a coma, but do not kill him. Plot twist! The drifter they have tortured and almost killed is not innocent at all. He actually killed the little girl but no one but him knows that.
Drifter goes to a hospital in a coma and never recovers, the little girl is found dead and the police at this station cover up the beating and torture of the drifter who one year later dies in a hospital. That same moment the drifter in the coma dies an unknown man shows up at a police station to confess to multiple murders. (This is where the movie begins)
Each confession to a murder the unknown man makes means the death of someone at the police station in macabre and vicious ways. You soon understand that this unknown man is behind it all and that he is endowed with supernatural powers. He kills everyone in the police station who was present when he was tortured and put into a coma as he is now that deceased spirit who has come looking for revenge for what he thinks is his unjust death.
The movie then rushes to it's inevitable ending when the slain little girl who was killed by this drifter comes back from the dead to reveal to the last man standing (Her Detective father) that she is there to help her father kill the bad man and end all this lunacy which is what she does, end of movie.
Why did the little girl not come earlier? She said she was scared. Umm. Ok.
So the little girl comes back from the dead too. It's a cute twist. The movie is somewhat unique as it lays out a plot of so called 'Justifiable revenge' by someone harmed and wronged by others who returns for their pound of flesh only to reveal that that someone is in fact an evil spirit who has just returned from the dead to do yet more killing.
Were the police wrong for what they did? Yep. Did the 'wronged' spirit get his revenge? Yep. Did the little girl killed by this lunatic get her revenge? Yep. And she got to say goodbye to her father at the same time. Cue credits. It's trite but cute, sappy but happily wrapped up in a neat, bloody bow. I liked the movie and plot, I disliked the ugly gore, I was amused by the sardonic Val Kilmer and I wrote this review because to many people were much much to harsh on this movie. It's not all bad. It's unique, it's just not all good.
Thank you for reading.
The Hit List (2011)
The hit man is for real
This is an unusual film because it shows Cole Hauser in initially a very weak role, out of his depth with the people around him and quickly drowning in a pond of his own making. Enter Jonas a government hit man who is also on the skids but for reasons that are not entirely obvious. Throw in a chance meeting between the two and you have a recipe for what is a very engaging and thoughtful performance for Cuba Gooding Jr and a great role for Cole Hauser as a man who needs to find a way to redeem himself in spite of all his own very real failings.
It's a good film with some flaws, but utterly made watchable by Cuba and Cole. Cuba steals the scenes he's in as someone who is adept at killing others and knows his job is to be performed without mercy or compassion. Cole shines in a role almost anyone can appreciate, a man who is just trying to get through life and because of his own personality flaws is not doing well at it.
Very enjoyable and well recommended.
Zhan lang II (2017)
A Chinese blockbuster and a good film.
I just watched Wolf Warrior II and I was impressed. This is NOT a Hollywood epic as it was not made in Hollywood, USA it was made in China and as such it's a Chinese film first and foremost and it places China and it's military in the best possible light.
Please understand, any nation who makes a film will always emphasise itself in whatever spotlight it wishes to use and this is no different. It's very well directed and the action is frenetic and constant and that is one of my only complaints about this movie.
Ever see Jason Bourne or James Bond take out two boatloads of pirates in hand to hand underwater? No? Well this is one of the movies opening scenes and it's done with such panache and great camera work that it is an impressive scene that has to be seen to be believed. But is this movie only about action>? No. It's more than that but this is where it begins to fail. Character development is shallow and what development there is is instantly lost in the frenetic pace of constant action and peril that our characters are placed in.
This movie works as an action movie and it also manages to give the middle finger to the USA and it's military at the same time. Can't say I liked that, but I have seen Hollywood do the same thing time and time again, so its not something you should really take personally.
This movie is jingoistic and it's heavy on placing China and it's military in increasingly favourable situations including the ending scene of the Chinese passport and its message to Chinese citizens. Weird, but again I've seen Hollywood use the same hamfisted tactics to place themselves in a good light, so why not China?
Why not indeed. It's a Chinese movie and its FICTIONAL and its fun even if you don't like the geopolitical overtones, those can be forgiven because EVERY Nation indulges in the same tactics when it suits them. And if it helps the narrative, then so much the better.
There will apparently be a Wolf Warrior 4 and I for one as a humble movie watcher cannot wait. The lead in this film has firmly established himself as an action star and someone worthy of standing next to any American, English, Australian, Germany or other action star. So good for him and good for entertainment the world over. Good movie. Well recommended. Heavy on symbolism and patriotic overtones, but good movie regardless.
Shi fu (2015)
Under rated and vastly misunderstood film
I watched this film quite by accident as I was wandering through channels on Roku and came across this on a live stream as it was in it's last 15 minutes. The knife fighting was superb as was the direction and choreography and I watched the end without understanding the film at all. Curious and with more than sufficient interest I found the film once more and watched it from the beginning to try to understand just what I had watched.
The story-line starts off slowly and it's pace is meandering but interesting and I admit I began to be a little lost with all of the differing twisting plot points, but if you give it time to develop it all makes sense in the end and the last part of the film shows how all of the plot points culminate in a big finale.
The many differing layers of betrayal here was really interesting and I was more than a little impressed with such a complicated arrangement of layers.
I am English, so this film was subtitled for me and I am not sure if the translations were correct or not as there were some nuances I missed and had to keep rewinding the movie to better understand. For that reason I am not sure if my inability to correctly understand everything was due to my being just a complete foreign muppet or if the translations were not the best they could of been. Please bear with this film if you don't understand everything, it does come together quite well you just need to maintain some patience and suspend any frustration you develop until the grand finale.
This is an excellent film, the colours and costumes were stunning and I enjoyed the action. The films star was very stoic and perhaps it might of been better if he was more relaxed to show greater emotional depth, but that's just an opinion.
I did not reveal any plot points here, but the storyline begins in a simplistic way with the main character wanting to open an school in this city and having to learn and submit to the rules he must obey. From there it devolves into a game of intrigue and politics. Many people are being played on many levels and there will be tears before it's all over.
Well recommended film for those who enjoy a good storyline, martial arts and films that show case other countries and their cultures.
The Djinn (2021)
Bwetter than I thought it would be. Very enjoyable.
My wife and I watched this on demand last night and I really enjoyed this while she thought it was somewhat predictable. Listen, I watch movies to be entertained not try to guess what happens before it does so I can sit there and feel smug, and that is what this film does in spades, it entertains and its so entertaining I enjoyed the movie from the odd beginning to the ending (Which I will not spoil but its well worth it) and I enjoyed every moment including cheering the evil spirit when it got inventive and the kid when he got even more inventive and went head to head with a world class evil spirit.
The child actor they chose to act in silence is great at emoting and doing his best to play a trapped mute child in a very small apartment with an evil spirit who can bring pictures/photographs to life.
This film held my attention from beginning to end as it did my wife who has an interesting penchant for going to sleep 20 minutes into a movie only to be revived at the end.
Very enjoyable and well worth your time. I enjoyed this so much I think I will add this to my library of movies so I can watch it again. Go watch it. You won't be disappointed.