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Reviews
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Bros on Titanic
Decades-in-the-making franchises have one big mistake in common. They abandon their original audiences in fear of not being relevant enough. They think they have to pander to bros so they rewrite themselves to include the bro lingo and introduce and advance the new generation of characters. In just that way, the Jedi were discarded in The Force Awakens, for example. We know how that new trilogy played out.
Avatar: The Way of Water is no exception. It abandons you, the viewer of Avatar 2009, as it abandons the forest and relocates to the sea. It does try to enchant you though, with new creatures and bodies, new ways of life, new reincarnations. And so the patchwork begins. You see the story of the Croods, prodigal sons, whale hunting, fallen heroes, sinking ships. The problem is that you have seen it all before and with a more profound effect.
Will Avatar 3 find its grandeur? Remains to be seen, hopefully sooner than in another decade.
Tár (2022)
Not a movie, a FILM
The rarity of the encounter with a masterpiece that would define a generation makes a modern cinemagoer lower their expectations and prepare for at best half an hour of originality, which is why Tár rushes into the mellowed psyche of today's superhero-obsessed viewer with a demonstrably courageous force. Every scene has meaning, every detail is in its place, every bold choice the writer makes hits its target. The cinematography delights the eye and seamlessly needles all the flashes of excitement togehter. This work of art proves that the cinema in its primordial sense is still possible. Bravo! Brava!
And Just Like That... (2021)
Jazz Is Unbecoming to This Revival
If you are a fan of 'Sex and the City' and considering watching 'And Just Like That...', know that the revival is a completely different series. It has little to offer in terms of the originality, boldness or flair of its predecessor. It is rather a collection of slogans, grievances and modern-day buzz words that do a great job in justifying the ambiguity and emptiness of the title but unfortunately establish a poor connection with the message it tries to convey, unless it is 'we've changed, deal with it'. And sure, they have a perfect right to do so. I mean, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis are still channelling Carrie's and Charlotte's energies pretty well but Cynthia Nixon's Miranda is now too much infused and just like that blunted with her political real-life personality. If Kim Cattrall read the script and decided not to be a part of this, she should be applauded for preserving the legacy of the classic.
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (2018)
This Game Is Everything and More
I am not a pro gamer, nor do I play video games on a regular basis but I could not help but appreciate all the hard work and care the developers and actors of AC: Odyssey put into this creation. For someone who had been enjoying reading about Ancient Greece and all the myths and legends surrounding that period, this game delivers an unforgettable immersive experience. I am grateful to everyone at Ubisoft who helped bring (in my case) Alexios's story to life. I loved every minute of 200+ hours I spent playing the game and its DLCs to the point that I did not want it to end. The ease of movements, engaging weapon and gear system, cool abilities, gorgeous locations, truly all-climbable obstacles and the seamless interconnectivity of it all throughout the progression of the game deserve the utmost recognition. I am grateful for all the choices I was given a chance to make, for the moments of awe, laughter and tears I have experienced. Keep up the great work, Ubisoft Quebec!
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The Final Nail in the Coffin
The biggest mistake was to allow the disneyfication of Star Wars, which has culminated in the Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars without George Lucas is like Harry Potter without J.K. Rowling. You cannot just take the whole world created in the mind of a certain author with a long-time fandom and let it be eaten up by the whole new crew and production team who simply mean well. This is not enough. Explanations and hugs.
Watching the Rise of Skywalker is just painful. It is so obviously trying to patch up the non-existent (as it turns out) flaws of Episode VIII that you are sitting looking at the screen and at times thinking that right this second Nicolas Cage will appear and it will all finally turn into National Treasure 3. Explanations and hugs.
How could they so unceremoniously mess with the lore of the Star Wars universe? I mean, you can change things, sure, you can introduce new ideas and let it all evolve, but only incrementally, with careful consideration of what such decisions could entail. There can't be that many tweaks and turns in one movie! No, instead they've given up on the Jedi being restored to the framework of the story and focused on sentiments, run-down clichés and needed-not-so-needed tributes. Explanations and hugs.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
'F-1, F-2, F-U'
Fair warning: this is a review for only half of the movie since I didn't have the strength to watch it till the end. The spin-off turned out to be a tasteless and unnecessary attempt at comedy in the age of technological wonders. This premise and the plot seemed as unmatched as 'Fast and Furious' and 'Hobbs and Shaw'. I laughed at Ryan Reynolds's part though, which is the only thing that stood out in the endless unrealistic trickle of narrative predictability. By the way, there was enough time to fall asleep, wake up and fall back to sleep during that out-of-place dialogue scene on the airplane. Why?
Shingeki no Kyojin: Hero (2019)
It was worth the wait
What I find so appealing with 'Attack on Titan' is that the people running this show know how to make use of a good cliffhanger and let the viewer salivate over what comes next right until the moment when you think, 'Okay, it's taking way too long', only to reveal something so speacial that you can easily say that it was worth the wait. Bravo. One of the best episodes to date.
Game of Thrones (2011)
Greatness that didn't hold
This series is, without a doubt, one of the greatest in the television history. I'm once again grateful that I could watch and be a part (as a viewer) of something like 'Game of Thrones'. It showed so much wit, grandeur and skill that one can't possibly deny its merits.
Just for the record, there are two episodes that deserve 10 out of 10, in my opinion. They are 'The Children' and 'Battle of the Bastards'.
Holding the bar consistently high, however, is a great feat, and as much as I rooted for the show to do this and not get drowned in its own success and glory, I couldn't help but realize that this is exactly what happened.
After pulling off exceptional six seasons, I wouldn't mind them taking a couple of years off and waiting for Mr. Martin to finish his books. We had a horrendous 17-month long hiatus before the final season anyway. But nstead, we have what we have...
I won't list all the deficiencies the series was embellished with throughout its final seasons, except for the ending. Just imagine that at the end of 'The Lord of the Rings', after all the storylines, character developments, battles and pathways it was Gandalf, not Aragorn, who was crowned in Minas Tirith.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
'It doesn't feel right'
This kind of a finale renders many plotlines, if not the whole series, meaningless. It feels like after 6 outstanding seasons the show went sideways and, in spite of having a number of marvellous twists and cinematographic delights, never found its true self again. After all that build-up with the enemy beyond the Wall and Jon's unveiling his real potential, the viewers end up with a parody of the humanity's history, when 'Game of Thrones' had always been brilliant in its bringing an original reality to the screen. The audience is ultimately left with a reminder that life takes its normal course, no matter what, when what was really needed was a story free of contemporary context and allusions, thus, worthy of admiration and remembrance up to its very ending. I somehow wish they hadn't even brought it back after the long 2018 hiatus.
Shazam! (2019)
A New Low for DC
This film was so ridiculously disneyfied that I cannot even bring myself to writing a serious review. You can easily skip this one unless you want to see an adaptation that lacks substance, tries too hard to be funny and becomes a parody in itself. Its target audience is 6-year-olds who have never watched a modern superhero movie and might therefore take this costume show for granted. At some point I thought I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of Jingle All the Way. Forgettable.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
It has its moments
First off, 'Endgame' is definitely worth watching. It is hard to overestimate the cinematic achievements demonstrated in the movie. It pays tribute to all the plotlines that had been leading up to this culmination through the years. There are some exceptional and iconic scenes which will surely command admiration of many Marvel fans to come.
There are moments to rejoice, there are moments to cry, there are moments to laugh, there are moments to appreciate the fact that you are a contemporary of the people involved in bringing this whole universe to life and that you can experience all this first-hand.
Judging the film by its own merits, however, is a different story. It felt like the directors wanted to seize this 'last' chance and do homage to so many characters and so many things that in the end we are left with this motley crew of multiple episodes and actions stuffed in one wannabe epic finale.
With all its charge and glory, 'Avengers: Endgame' does not surpass 'Infinity War'. After that masterful fight on Titan, turning a black hole into butterflies bears no comparison to taming... a river.
Death Note: Desu nôto (2006)
Not Living Up To Its Reputation Eventually
If you are new to the whole genre of anime (as I am) you should probably watch 'Death Note' just due to the relative popularity of this title.
It turns out to be a curious examination of the concept of justice through a teenager / young adult's eyes. The setting laid out in the beginning of the series with a bored-to-death shinigami, a god of death, deciding to amuse himself by venturing to the human world is rather non-trivial, although his own story is quickly sidelined and, unfortunately, not explored in any detail.
The plot develops with the introduction of some well-written characters, like the protagonist Light Yagami and his antipode L, as well as the skillfully devised twists to keep the viewers engaged and eager to watch the next episode. With the Misa storyline, however, it all goes a different direction and when the Higuchi narrative comes into play, the whole show simply starts to drag.
I would also hope that the original dialogue is more sophisticated than the English-dubbed version, which at times seemed painfully simplified, childish and, by and large, too westernised.
So, since it was just about 11 episodes that I could watch without feeling like the series was losing its potential, after the fact I would give 'Death Note' a pass... But who knows, maybe it is just because I didn't like the over-the-top predictable ending and let this cloud my judgement.