Movie review thread...
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@kirwan said in Re: Movie review thread...:
@mokey said in Re: Movie review thread...:
@kirwan oh yeah, the visuals were good. But I'm looking at it from a writing and story perspective, so goal, motivation, conflict angle. Batman's reason to have a beef with Superman was pathetic, and then got resolved super quickly (with safe word Martha, lol) I'm guessing a lot of Lois Lane's stuff got edited out because badass reporter got reduced to stupid damsel getting rescued, rinse repeat. It was such a long movie and yet in terms of story it felt wickedly shortchanged. We didn't need the bat origin story for the billionth time, yet that soaked up a good 10 mins at the start. Also needed far better set up of Wonder Woman than a few random shots of her in a plane, at an atm, taking the tech gadget at the party.
Yep, Lane had more investigation on the Africa incident and ties that part of the story together. In the theatrical cut that subplot makes no sense at all.
The bat origin redo was serving two purposes, the obvious establishment of Wayne's mother's name, but also setting the casting of Wayne parents for the upcoming Flash movie he was planning. That was going to be based on the Flashpoint comic series where in one reality Bruce Wayne is killed in Crime Alley and Thomas becomes the (very violent) Batman and Martha becomes his Joker. It's why they had two name actors.
Also less clear in the shorter version is Lex has been pushing/manipulating Batman for years to make him more paranoid and more violent. The basic plan is for Batman to be killed by Superman and for humanity to see Superman has Lex sees him, which is a outsider/alien that will reduce humanity to his sheep (basically).
The much criticised scene ("Why did you say that name!) was poorly executed but the thought process behind it was sound. Hearing his mother's name was supposed to jolt Batman back his core beliefs, he was fighting crime to prevent what happened to his parents happening to anyone else. Not branding criminals, killing people, etc.
And it was also supposed to make Bruce see Superman as a person, not as an alien entity that might rule over the human race. Could that have been done better? Sure. But it is character development, no matter how clumsy he is at it.
And to be honest, I cut him some slack for how well the fight sequences were done. The most comic accurate Batman every seen, and coming up with a lot of gotchas about people recognising Batman (the voice alteration) and how Batman could compete with Superman.
All framed in a Frank Miller view of the comics.
The Wonder Woman stuff was just a teaser for her origin film. He's said when asked about that is he didn't want to handcuff the director of that film, so deliberately kept her character mysterious.
Probably his biggest problem with these films is he has packed them with homages and nods to the comic book fans (right down to famous panels), he was also rushing to set up a DC universe to compete with Marvel (which he should have taken more time with). The side effect of that is there is assumed knowledge, and important aspects glossed over.
Add in the studio demanding 30mins to an hour be cut so they can show more screenings in a day, then you get a bit of a mess.
The Directors cut is a much better film, but probably not enough to make you like it.
The new four hour Justice League is due next month. Using only 30mins of the theatrical cut, and not a single shot from the sex pest Joss Wheddon. I can't wait
Well, after @Mokey 's post on watching Batman versing Superman, and the trailer of the re-hashed Justice League, and the nerd-shitstorm on here...
I watched BM-vs-SM, and then JL- BM-v-SM - on it opening, I had no fucking idea what was happening. Why is there a spaceship in the middle of New York... is this following on from Avengers? WTF? I finally realised that I probably should have gone back and watched a previous one also... whatever that was. But - it also made me realise - how forgettable ALL of these movies are. I've seen them all before, but I genuinely had very little memory of any of them.
And in general - yeah, it was pretty shit. Just... not fun. A plot which really doesn't make much sense... or rather, just seems to be missing some basic scenes explaining sudden changes of mind. And I watched a version which was 3-hours long... I assume this was the "extended/directors-cut version"?
And Justice League - more of the same. Except this time, I understood the context on opening the film.
Overall... I kept thinking "this is fucking stupid - 3 'Mother'Boxes' which when joined form some super-powerful 'Unity'" - and then thinking, "hmmm, kind alike 5 'Infinity Stones' which when joined form some super-powerful 'Gauntlet-of-fuckshituppery'"?
And all sorts of other comparisons - everything I thought was ridiculous, I then found a Marvel equivalent. The occasional poor attempts at humour, the "hero-vs-hero(es) fight just like every 10-year-old boy debated at one time", the cop-out of bringing people back to life, etc.... it just seemed that in the DC movies, I would ridicule it, while in Marvel - considered it fairly well-done in general, if a bit obvious.And yeah - I get that it's based on comic books, and a lot of it was probably staying "true to the source"... particularly shit like using a magic box to bring a Super-Man back to life. But still - it just seemed less... "fun" than the Marvel juggernaut (pun intended).
And I could maybe forgive, or understand, that if the comic-tragics rated these movies... and viewed the Marvel stuff as popcorn-for-the-masses watered-down-pap, but... it seems even they feel the same? - BM-v-SM - on it opening, I had no fucking idea what was happening. Why is there a spaceship in the middle of New York... is this following on from Avengers? WTF? I finally realised that I probably should have gone back and watched a previous one also... whatever that was. But - it also made me realise - how forgettable ALL of these movies are. I've seen them all before, but I genuinely had very little memory of any of them.
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Monster Hunter - based on a video game, watched with TR Jnr.
was ok, nothing special.
2.75 it aint dead of 5 she survived a zombie apocolypse, she'll be sweet
Milla jovovich still looks good though.
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@taniwharugby Mila. Hawt. Those kind of movies are her bag aren't they?
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@taniwharugby said in Re: Movie review thread...:
Monster Hunter - based on a video game, watched with TR Jnr.
was ok, nothing special.
2.75 it aint dead of 5 she survived a zombie apocolypse, she'll be sweet
Milla jovovich still looks good though.
So sheβs in ANOTHER movie based on a video game in which she kills zombies ?
What a talent
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Fury (2014) - tanks in WWII.
Solid film, great action sequences. Brad Pitt chewing scenery. Captures some of the insanity of war, but with an overlay of hollywood cheese.
That said, good fun. A solid 4 Shermans out of 5 Tiger tanks
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@nepia said in Re: Movie review thread...:
Jamie Dorman is in it. I only had two choices of movies to see that day and he was in both ...
Sounds like a good problem to have, will check it out!
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Just exactly how far up his on ass is QT? He made a nearly 3 hour movie that is about nothing.
As far as i can tell, the whole thing is a vehicle to prove just how much of a cool motherfucker Brad Pitt really is.
Oh, and that Margot Robbie is a decent looking sheila
i was pretty bored past halfway.
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@mariner4life yeah, my dislike of not finishing a movie once started only just outweighed my boredom, acting was great....it was just a story that didn't need to be told...would rather have seen what he could have done with Star Trek
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@kiwiwomble said in Re: Movie review thread...:
@mariner4life yeah, my dislike of not finishing a movie once started only just outweighed my boredom, acting was great....it was just a story that didn't need to be told...would rather have seen what he could have done with Star Trek
looked good, great acting, sounded good. but that's it. Not even that QT snappy dialogue. it just meanders along.
apparently you have to love a certain period of Hollywood to really appreciate it.
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@mariner4life always the sign of a great film...only a real niche audience will appreciate it
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@mariner4life said in Re: Movie review thread...:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Just exactly how far up his on ass is QT? He made a nearly 3 hour movie that is about nothing.
As far as i can tell, the whole thing is a vehicle to prove just how much of a cool motherfucker Brad Pitt really is.
Oh, and that Margot Robbie is a decent looking sheila
i was pretty bored past halfway.
A few genuinely outstanding scenes ( all involving Brad ) I do remember that much, but yeah also some seriously meandering bullshit too. I've only seen it once, will have to see it again to assess where it sits.
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@nepia said in Re: Movie review thread...:
I love that film and don't love that certain period of Hollywood.
I'm a fan of up his arse QT though.
Shoehorning Zoe Bell into every movie is beyond cringeworthy though, what the fuck is up with his fascination with her ?
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@mn5 said in Re: Movie review thread...:
@nepia said in Re: Movie review thread...:
I love that film and don't love that certain period of Hollywood.
I'm a fan of up his arse QT though.
Shoehorning Zoe Bell into every movie is beyond cringeworthy though, what the fuck is up with his fascination with her ?
TBH, she's never a problem for me and clearly QT just likes her.
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@nepia yeah ditto, I don't see what the problem is? Some people just like to get offended eh...
Watched Villains. Couple on a car journey crime spree end up trying to burgle the wrong house. Prolly could have been much better than it was, but was a decent enough watch for most of it. Feel like they phoned the ending in though as ran out of ideas.
2.5 Kyra Sedgwick out of 5 is budget Julia Roberts.
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@mariner4life It's the first Tarantino movie I've enjoyed since Jackie Brown. I've watched it three times already, and I generally hate everything new.
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@tim said in Re: Movie review thread...:
@mariner4life It's the first Tarantino movie I've enjoyed since Jackie Brown. I've watched it three times already, and I generally hate everything new.
Did you start the Grumpy Old Man thread ?