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Robert the Bruce (2019)
A fine story
A slow-burning story that shows true character progression on the part of all the characters, although some of them have really short characer arcs, like the first three villains. Is the story historically accurate? I doubt it, but it is a nice story showing how small the gab between adulthood and childhood actually is, and that just because you are a grown-up you might still not be truly adult and make mature choices in your life, that you may still hang on to selfish childish reasons and that those childish reasons may spell disaster for yourself and other people, particularly people you love. And just because you are not fully grown-up, you can still sometimes reach into the world of adults.
One thing that bordered me: Robert asked the boy to help his mother by peeling potatoes.
Seriously? Potatoes that arrived in Europe 300 years later?
Busanhaeng (2016)
By far the best zombie movie ever
You get really invested in this rare zombie movie, learn to care for the group of people that runs from a zombie apocalypse and fight, not only for their own lives, but that of their integrety as humans as well, and of course for their loved ones. It is a movie of love, and hope and ultimately faith.
I give 9 out of 10. Had wondered to give it more to counter the strangely bad reviews, but that would ultimately defeat the purpose of this site.
Why don't I give it a 10? Because it is ultimately a zombie movie.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Actually better than I thought
This movie is a solid 6 for me. It is entertaining and my mind can easily span the various plotholes and the Mary Sueish female hero.
It had far more potential, no doubt, but it is not as bad as it was made out to be. Had considered giving it a lower score to counter the super high rating score, but that would just unbalance the system even more.
Warcraft (2016)
Either too long or too short, and still almost perfect
I have given this 10 out of 10, mostly to balance the extremely negative reviews, maybe it only deserved 8/10. In my opinion, this movie is either too short, as we don't get into the characters of the movie in depth - or it is too long as we could have skipped a few sub-stories along the way, such as the romantic tension between Lothar and Gerona. The CGI was almost perfect and remained so during the entire movie. I have seen great CGI in movie and series at the beginning until the funds run out and the lower the quality of the CGI (the dragon of Game of Thrones comes to mind). The quality is consistent, and that alone earns a rating of 10/10. The CGI doesn't skip on expressions either. It remains strong and coherent. The story-line runs it course. It is neither strong or weak. It mostly carried by the weight of necessity, which is how out world works most of the time - mixed with the intricacies of deception and self deception, and the constant lure of power shortcuts and delusions of grandeur. We also get a sense of entrapment in traditions and customs, such as the orc way of tribal warfare and trials of battle and leadership, but also a human king caught in his own sense of honor and obligations to his people and his world ... with his eyes wide open although he seemed a bit dense in the beginning. The love stories were a bit forced and it is this film's greatest weakness, and it either spent too much time on it or to little. We don't get to feel anything ourselves, neither for Durotan and his mate, or Lothar and the half- orc Gerona. We don't feel the tension or the outrage or the scandal. The peaks become anti-climactic. The character gallery is huge, but that is alright. It is actually partly realistic and partly upheld by their actions, even if they do die during the course of the movie. I have been a soldier, and while I remember quite a few faces, I remember no name - but I remember all their deeds. Same goes for school, high school, university and in my line of job. A lot of faces, a lot of forgotten names, but also a huge memory for their deeds and misdeeds. It is a great movie. Go see it. It is even good in 3D. No forced objects fly out into face, but the movie give a sense of depth and shadow and light better than I have seen in other movies, maybe even including Star Wars, The Force Awakens.
David and Goliath (2015)
What ...? What was that?
Where to begin? At first I thought the beginning of the film was an internal reenactment of the theme of the film, showing a caricature of ancient theater acting, but no, it was for real. Never have I seen worse acting and this movie is almost as bad as "The Room". Horrible acting, terrible filming and cutting, hilarious and repetitive acting, taped monologue on Goliath's part, anachronistic use of modern terms like "you are stressed, sir". The soldiers wander aimlessly around as background and never rise above being background, not even if given lines in the "movie". The director has done an awful work in integrating the Psalms in the story line and the psalms seems forced. The dialogue is inconsistent and incongruent with the progression of the "story line". The movie is also around 1 hour and 29 minutes too long. "Send x and z to kill Goliath" says Saul in one line. "No one can defeat Goliath" he says in the next line. Tom Bonington cant decide whether he should act seriously or if he should act as if the movie was a parody on a real movie. I hope for the latter. The rest were simply horrible. David sounded like a simpleminded evangelical moron with the same cliché. The interpretation of the Bible is worse than even an ignorant child's but far more presumptuous. I cant see how anyone can even bring themselves to give this more than 3 stars, and that's being kind beyond measure. The story line is horrible, the dialogue is horrible, the acting is worse even, the logic is missing, not even the internal logic is in place, the sky rumbles the entire time, the clouds move past as if moved by powerful storms, the costumes are laughable, the soldiers have no weapons, the fighting scenes are hilarious and pitiful, and in the final scene the Israelites attack with sticks of various sizes in their soft leather armour and their thin cotton clothes! I have checked off the spoiler warning, but I wonder if there is even a spoiler in my review, so horrible is the story line.
EDIT 9-15-2020: I have just recently watched this movie again. It hasn't improved. I have seen Youtube movie about roleplaying where the wizard just shouts "lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt" that was better ... and it wasn't good either.
Outcast (2014)
Fine movie
This was actually a fine solid movie. I would normally have given it 6, maybe 7 of 10, but since I saw some give it only 1, I had to counter that. 1 out of 10 is simply rude. It movie wasn't that bad, had a fine story, well enough acting, and that even though I don't particularly like Hayden Christensen (mostly for ruining the Anakin Skywalker character) or Nicholas Cage for that matter. The movie isn't historical, isn't particularly accurate, hence the relatively low score on my part, but 1 is simply rude and I must call them liars. There has to be some other motive that simply not liking the movie. 1 of 10 would have to be a movie like The Room. This movie IMHO could never ever score lower than 3 not matter how many faults in it you could fine.
Hua Mulan (2009)
Not a typical Chinese war film
No, there are no epic war scenes or battle scenes in this film, but nonetheless it is an epic film. I read in one of the review that the story wasn't going anyway and was dragging along. Well, yes, that is the purpose of this film, the absurdity of war and heroism, of true sacrifice and no happy ending in the Hollywood way.
Mulan becomes a tactically sound commander of some Chinese army, learns the realities of politics the hard way, learns the Chinese way of sacrificing your own happiness for the greater good of the nation.
It is not merely a sacrifice of your life, but a sacrifice of everything you might think will or would define yourself. There is no true glory in war, and Mulans father says so in the very beginning of the movie. Who wins? The nation, the people, not the individual.
So the story doesn't really go anyway - and still it goes everywhere, touches upon the absurdities of our quaint notions of self and of glory and of victory.
When Mulan finally puts the welfare of the nation above herself and even above her family and her brothers-in-arms for the sake of the greater good, she ends up where she finally understands what her father meant, despite her fears or even because of her fears.
It is a brilliant movie. I will Watch it Again, and not because of the battle scenes - they are mostly not there - but for the story that doesn't lead you anywhere, drags you along against your will and you end up the same way of Mulan, with only a fling of hope: there is a greater good, and it is not you!
Glory (1989)
Overall impressive
One of the other reviews I read about this title stated that the movie would have been better off with another actor playing the main character Col. Shaw. I humbly disagree. Matthew Broderick is an understated actor and he plays a young - and probably too young - commanding officer excellently.
The movie shows very well what discipline and motivation and not least training can do to people, and it also shows what lack of purpose, lack of training and lack of discipline can do to otherwise normal, but uneducated, people. The lack takes away principles and higher standards.
You can make animals - or as Col. Montgomery says it: "They are just like monkeys." Indeed, they were like monkeys, but that just shows that you can make any human behave like a monkey, not that they are born like them.