Change Your Image
thekilon
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Krypton (2018)
Superman is not my my favorite hero
My beef with Superman has always been , his lack of intellect, misguided idealism and very simplistic character.
Fortunately all these gaps are filled just fine with Supergirl and the icing on the cake is that is more powerful than him too.
Of course Supergirl is far darker character, marked by her loss of the planet and not able to afford the idealistic and rather naive ideology of Superman. Which is why in the comics they may be family but as many confilcts as Superman has with Batman.
Now why I mention Supergirl.
Even though the show may have high praise for Superman, to the extend of overstating his importance to the DC universe ( a common theme among films and tv) non the less its clear the creators have been influenced a lot more from Supergirl's character's than Superman's.
The story afterall is taken place in Argo city, the birthplace of Supergirl and contains as the main villain , Brainiac who plays a pivot role in the origin story of Supergirl as well as after her origin.
The show also shared the darkness of Supergirl, her anger, but also her intellect , her intrigue and inner war of right and wrong. Which is also the character of the city.
Overall I expected a silly Superman like, teenage friendly, marvel studio style depiction of planet Krytpon. Fortunately its not, the show is focused more on ideologies and politics, than it is on heroism and romanticism. It shows a planet in the verge of destruction way before its destruction and way before its touched by the hand of Brainiac.
Unfortunately the house of El is the usual good guys , idealists and very Superman like even though Superman idealism is coming from his earth familiry than Krypton and this is the only part of the show that I have not find easy to digest.
Its a pleasant suprise that the house of Zod is not represented as the pure bad guys and even the house of Vex that may seem quick to fill that role operate on a grey area.
The strength of the show is its story and characters, it does an excellent job justifying two peculiarities about Krytponians. Why they did not leave their planet and why they destroyed it. It shows a self centered society , deeply religious and self destructive.
Another surprise is Brainianc himself. Braniac is not a very Hollywood friendly villain because he is no villain. He has no interest in destruction , but preservation and that makes his role too complicated in era of stupid marvel like storylines. Even comparing him with Ultron does him injustice because he has no intention of exterminating a specie or killing its heroes. So the surprise is how well the show stays faithful to the original character and not mere making him a mono dimensional monster.
What I did not like is how dark it is. I am more a Batman fan than I am a Superman fan, hence my clear preference for Supergirl but even I need a bit of light tones and naivety at times and I think the show tends to take itself at time a bit too seriously. But so much to annoy me. Also I feel the Kryptonian technology is not up to par to what one would expect, someone could claim that is the low budget but that is not the case.
Special effects are actually very well done and I have been impressed by the depiction of Brainiac and his ship.
Overall this is a show that looks like nothing out there, I could compared it to "Gotham" but to my surprise , it ends up being even darker than that. Also unlikely Gotham it based on completely unknown characters , with one exception which I wont explain as I promised no spoilers.
Overall I think the show is very well made, it could be better, but I still think this is by far the most original superhero orientated show I have watched. I went to it with the lowest expectation, the trailer seems that this would be nothing more than a mess and even the first couple episodes are kinda weak it really builts to an epic and completely unexpected finale which gave me some extra respect to its storyline.
If you expect to see a Superman like show be prepared to be severly disspointed as I said this is 100% Supergirl show and its follows very similar themes as in the comics But if you like the dark undertones that make DC ... well .... DC. The blur between good the evil. The fall of idealism and heroism. Then this show is for you and it wont disappoint even if you have no clue about Supergirl origin story or Brainiac.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Thor Ragnarok recycled
Summary:
Infinity war has all the elements of the old trusted Disney recipe. Mediocre to bad comedy, stupid story, flat characters, political correct and kids friendly style.
If you loved Thor Ragnarok , you will love this one. It's only major difference is that there is much less Hulk in this one.
In Detail:
The good thing about the film is that it brings all our favorite marvel superheroes together without feeling overcrowd and giving each one of them its own role in the film without using him or her as mere decorations. The ending although partly expected, it has a good deal of surprise.
Overall however the film suffers from a ton of issues:
1) The elephant in the room is Thanos himself, he suffers from the same issues as Steppenwolf in JL. As a villain he is everything you expect to see, a bad guy wanting to do bad things. Their only difference is that dialogue wise Steppenwolf takes the edge with some really unique lines, Thanos takes the edge of having a bit more complex plan. But overall this is a "what you see is what you get" situation for both of and sadly they also both suffer from the plastic face CGI issue. Overall much of the motivation of Thanos makes little sense and the film does not seem able to decide the most basic whether Thanos is mad or plain stupid.
2) Hulk has been a big issue in all Disney films but never as much as in this one. He is pretty much non existent in this film , gone are his old days of "we have a hulk" , maybe there is a reason a surprise element left for the sequel but after Disney turning Hulk to this big cute meatball wrecking havoc depriving him of his Marvel identify of the stuff of nightmares and horrors , my hopes are very low on this one.
3) Disney of course does not stop there at destroying any link with the comics, an art they have perfect since the first movie they made. Thor for some weird reason is completely overpowered. The guy that barely made it alive from a fight with the Hulk in Thor Ragnarok , the first fight he discovers the peak of his powers , seems unlike Hulk to have no issues whatsover taking Thanos by himself. Why ? Again none knows.
4) Spiderman once more is reduced to Iron Man's sidekick. His role in the flim is completely unnecessary , even though he does indeed participate and contributes his own powers this film, these powers are like Homecoming extremely town down. His insane agility is long gone, his spider sense just a shadow of the one in the comics and of course what remains is his high reliance on his armor of course made by tony. Essentially if Iron Man is Dr Evil, Spiderman is Mini Me. It's pretty obvious that Disney is pitching Spiderman as the new Iron Man , although Holland acting skills are nowhere near those of RDJ.
5) Comedy was always the weakest part of Marvel films. Usually its a hit and miss situation, throw random jokes on the wall , see which one sticks. This film manages to be even worse than Thor Ragnarok. Some very good jokes, most of them you see them coming miles away.
6) For me Hulk was not the big surprise on how underpowered he was but Dr Strange. Marvel has already establishes that he can run circles around Thor and Loki combined , yet in this one he seems to display a tiny fraction of his abilities
7) Which brings us to another problem stemming from this inconsistency, action scenes. None of the fight scenes are really exciting, the most exciting is nothing more than a recycle from a similar scene in Thor Ragnarok.
8) Last but not least, character development is non existent. Infinity War seems to follow Civil War but again there is no discussion on the big gap that it left to the team, the film starts with an indication that it may address the issue but then as soon as Thanos visits our planet, its no longer an issue. Disney logic at its best.
All my fears since watching the trailer have been confirmed and I would be surprised if the sequel is the first superhero movie not bothering to watch.
Lucifer (2016)
Definitely not a cop show
I rarely write reviews but I wanted to add some clarification because fans of the comic are too harsh for this TV series.
First this is like 1000 times better than the comic. Yes the comic evolves around a deep , complex , rich story. There is two problems with its story a) its far from original (see Spawn) b) the characters are plain boring. Its very difficult in the comic to differentiate one character from the other , they are miserable and they are also miserable... oh did I say they are also miserable.
On the other side we have this TV series. In comparison with the comic is pretty much the polar opposite. The story is extremely simple yet very original , the very few characters that is has very well written , interesting and multi dimensional that do not go down the misery stereotypical writing that anything relate to the devil goes usually.
Let's get one thing straight the comic is a drama this is a comedy.
No its not a cop show.
Yeah sure the theme is cop related but in the end, if you take out Lucifer and Chloe this becomes the most boring cop show you ever watched. The murders investigated are far, far ,far from interesting and they don't play any more than a decoration role for the series.
The series has more in common with Californication than it has with CSI , Law and Order etc.
It should not surprise its made by the same writer.
Essentially this polarises on the relation of Lucifer and Chloe, with every character just being there to push the story further.
It also does not glorify Satan by any means. The comic does far better job at that actually.
Lucifer is NOT himself. This is something that is made clear from episode 1. First because he decides he is fed up with the role of Satan and wants to explore something else. Second and this is the most important is that he finds, again from very early on, that he is physically vulnerable when he is around Chloe. What is implied is also that he emotionally vulnerable when he is around her as well and the more exposed he becomes to her the more vulnerable he becomes.
The final blow on the whole "glorifies Satan" comes when we find in Season 2 why Chloe is so special and why the whole story is far from accidental and has little to do with "the power of love" as you would expect in a typical romantic series.
In the end this is too binary to be compared to the comic or a typical cop show and too out of character to be blamed for Satan glorification. For the same reasons it cannot even remotely compare to Supernatural which by the way has a lot more common with the comic than this has.
Instead this is a remake of the Californication story and its great remake even though much more simple. Mainly because of the extreme amount of layers that the characters have. But mostly because of the chemistry between Chloe and Lucifer.
The show like Californication has much more to do with the human condition that is has to do with religion and mythology. Its semi serious look into the human condition from the perspective of very interesting characters with their own flaws and weakness.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The usual super boring Marvel recipe
I have an issue with Marvel movies, which is also why I love DC movies with the exception of WW.
They follow this recipe of super simple stories, incredibly politically correct characters and sub standard humour. The kind of things you don't need to worry about spoiler as you see them coming miles away.
The peak of this for me was Civil War which I found absolutely terrible with a story that made absolutely no sense whatsoever with Tony Stark having an 180 degrees turn on his character , going from what he was to a polar opposite and all it took was 1 photo.
This movie follows this recipe, the story is no BVS , its super simple even a 3 year old kid could easily follow. The humour fails as usually with some notable exceptions. The characters are super flat , the dialogue lame.
Spiderman also suffers from Tom Holland's acting. Tom like Tobey is just not the right person to play Spiderman, but there is a huge difference, Tobey was and still is a very good actor. The reason I say this is because you cannot have an average intelligence kid , which is afraid and confused and at the same time you give him incredible superpowers and try to convince me he is also super smart. It just does not compute. Tom acting is hindered by the nonsense structure of his character but his acting is not good enough (unlike Tobey) to take this further.
Tom's character is ignorant, naive , not that bright which is what puts other people's lives in risk etc etc (again no spoiler, this is clearly stated in the trailer). Yet we see the same corny comeback of him becoming brave and smart in the end.
Essentially what I am saying is that if you are a comic book fan, or like me a huge fan of Spiderman and you were raised in the 80s go watch the movie but be prepared. Its exactly the polar opposite what Spiderman was back then.
Back then Spiderman was very dark (helped by the fact that the comic also was black and white) , it had minimal humour, Spiderman was a super smart super cool teenager, that was no cry baby and definitely not politically correct. The stories were incredible deep and complex and he was very strong because he has too to take down some very powerful enemies.
Also another issue I had in this movie is that they have really toned down Spiderman's powers. Generally speaking in the movies we see a toned down Spiderman anyway , in comics his strength is so large that he battles with ease against Hulk in many occasions. In this movie he is a lot weaker even when compared with the other Spiderman movies which make some sense (very little) in part because they had to fit in Iron Man in the movie.
The only reason I gave this a 4 is Michael Keaton performance as a villain though at times I pity the guy because his character is so flat and boring yet, Michael because he is such amazing actor he manages to make everything look cool and I have never been a fan of Vulture (comics), yet I really loved him.
Maybe there is reason behind this that Marvel studios see Spiderman as a future replacement for Iron Man, there is no such indication in the film but we all know that RDJ cannot be Iron Man forever. Probably with a more mature version of Spiderman.
Again the end is incredible stupid, I will give no spoilers because I don't want to ruin anyone's experience but the way Spiderman defeats (?) Vulture left me with a WTF moment not as large as Civil War but was close. You have a villain that kick Spiderman ass, again and again and in the end you have that reversal of Spiderman going from stupid to smart and Vulture from average intelligence to brain dead.
I am not marvel hater, I put Age of Ultron (huge fanl) up there in the top of my list together with Spiderman 2 , Iron Man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 +2, Dr Strange, Amazing Spiderman 1 + 2 (especially the second one) and Ang Lee Hulk.
I have no doubt this will be a massive success for Marvel , if you loved Civil War you will love both this and WW because both follow the same recipe but if you did not , I doubt you will like this either.
I really liked also the new suit, as long as they don't make it any more Iron Man , I am fine with it. Vulture again was awesome. If Spiderman 3 was a 2/10 , this for me is 3/10 but it is boosted by Michael's and RDJ acting that so desperately needed to keep me slightly interested. I do not regret watching it, I found it enjoyable but obviously I did not love it either.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Boring story , too polishes and overall a ready made product
I will have to agree with the most popular review here, this is by no mean anywhere near Prometheus.
Even with its plot holes Prometheus had a really original story. What was original about Prometheus is that it was not really an Alien movie but dared to venture outside the usual formula and emphasise a lot more on the story surrounding the Alien than the Alien itself. It has also some really nice character development with some character not being likable at all, some stupid (even that angered some people screaming "plot hole")
In this one the movie trolls have won.... a boring movie. There are no "plot holes" , as a matter of fact this the most anti-Prometheus you can get. It put Alien back in the centre of the story, it recycles the same recipe and adds very little to it.
As a result we get a story that is not only boring but makes little reason. Prometheus gave us already a more than good enough origin story , this movie tries to build it further and destroys it with an explanation that makes no sense at all.
The only good thing about the story is the end which was not really unexpected but not my 1st choice.
I would not call it a bad movie. For me the only bad Alien movie is the 3rd one. In order of preference 1) Alien 2)Aliens 3) Prometheus 4) Alien: Resurrection 5) Covenant 6) Alien 3
On the matter of the origin story and generally alien story hands down is Predator VS Alien. Even though the movies were more than underwhelming the comics have been awesome and I recommend to read them forgetting about the movie to anyone who wants a great origin story for Alien.
In the comics the Alien is not a byproduct of genetic manipulation but rather evolution. The elephant aliens visit a planet that is extremely hostile, in that planet Alien is not the top predator but rather the second in the food chain with another alien race destroying and feasting on our famous alien.
Another great story element of the comic is that aliens cannot see as we see but rather detect fear and feed on it which makes sense why they keep hunting humans and not eating them . Comics also have been more scary than the movies which I have to say it pleasantly surprised me.
Problem with the comic origin story is that there are no humans involved in it which is why I never expected it to make it into films.
In any case this is not a bad movie and definitely worths the ticket price , no regrets watching it. But yeah I have to agree this too much manufacture boring Hollywood formula.
Spider-Man: The Lost Avenger (2015)
Funy and well made
This is one is well made. My beef with fan made films is not mediocre acting, directing, usually bad CGI .
its the non existent story telling.
This one is the exception.
This one is true to Spiderman and funny interesting and overall very well made. It does not drag on scenes more it has do, the editing and directing is quite solid, the acting is decent.
It does not contain any CGI , but as a 3d artist myself I have zero issues with it. The story even though is obvious from the start it develops quite fluidly with its funny twists. I also liked the Spiderman costume.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Not bad movie but nowhere close as good as the previous one
I did not expect this movie to be great. Being the previous great with the unforgettable acting of late Heth Ledger I know there was a little chance for another miracle.
But the trailer gave me this idea that Bane was that General who could really outsmart Batman and in some cases blur the lines about who is the good and who is the bad guy. Far Far Far from it !!!!
This movie movie is the old recipe "I am the bad guy and I will beat the hell out of you good guy" which I found rather disappointing. This movie could easily summarised in 5 minute video, Bane comes , beat the hell out of Batmana, drops him inside a hole with other prisoners, forgets to keep track of batman, terrorises his city with .... surprise ... surprise , A NUCLEAR BOMB, batman escapes and defeats him to find out that is the League of Shadows all over the again. Again ? Come on !!! you guys running out of idea, I can find you some 5 year old with better ideas .
I see no reason why Bane is so boring , Tom Hardy is not any less as an actor than Heath Ledger, though I did not expect a same level of performance I at least expected that the director learning from his previous amazing success that in this film Bane would be a lot unconventional. Yet there is nothing there for Tom Hardy to further develop other than the intriguing voice and making the character as interesting he could. And even though he may laugh at the previous depiction of Bane as a slave of Poison Ivy as a brainless piece of meat, he is basically the same thing better depicted in this one. Very sad!
And then of course there is catwoman. Or is there a catwoman ? Because from her costume and her own appearance in the film its difficult to understand whether she is catwoman or not . I had a big problem with Anne Hathaway in this role before watching the film . I still have the same problem after watching the film. I try very hard to find the reason behind here casting, yes she is a good actor , but catwoman ? seriously ? she is probably the most anti-catwoman actor in the world yet she was casted for this role. Actually you could remove her completely from this film and none would feel that she is gone. The previous 2 catwomen were tons better.
Alfred is Alfred, Gordon is Gordon , both are the same with a bit more drama.
Robin looks interesting in the way he is portrayed though he never appears as robin , I guess he is left for a sequel.
Overall there is very little in the movie to have you on the edge of your seat, yet its a good action, it has its drama moments, some new gadgets and overall its not boring. Those 3 hour passed quite fast. But I will have to put this one in the worst place of the trilogy , its nowhere close to a bad one, but also nowhere close as the previous one and yes I do find the first one even better with much more interesting villains.
Overall I am extremely happy with Trillogy , the second one was enough reason to recommend this trilogy, and at least they are serious movies about a serious hero which deserves this kind of quality films. I would definitely recommend this film but only if you go to watch it without expecting to see something good as the previous one or anything original.
Prometheus (2012)
A Blade Runner in Alien's skin
This movie left me with a sever feeling of Diassapointment when I exited the theater. Not about the movie but about the negative reviews it has been getting.
This movie is exactly like Blender Runner. Doomed to fail at the theater and to remain a classic when it is released in DVD and blue ray.
Why ? Well for the same exact reason why Blade Runner failed so much at the theater. It is not there to thrill you .... at all. Like Blade Runner, there is no climax, there is no big easy to digest meaning... its 100% atmosphere. Like Blade Runner its a movie dedicated to hardcore sci fi lovers. Those people who don't fall so easily for the old trusted Hollywood recipe, of blood , screams and to the edge of your seat horror / action / drama.
Because as much I always enjoyed and loved Alien movies, in the end what made them so successful at the box office was that ugly thing bursting out of your chest. No coincidence that the only not so action orientated alien movie was the first.
And to make things even worse this one does not even feature Aliens at all, except in the end where you get to see how they were created. Actually there is no monster, there is no horror, there is not even some serious action. You are not even sure in the end if the bad guys in the film are really bad guys. Exactly like Blade Runner.
This movie hit me in the face like a tsunami. Its not just that is Perfect visually, amazing graphics, great atmosphere. A true piece of art. But contrary to the reviews the acting is also great from everyone even the actors that get minimum amount of screen time. Sure its a sever disappointment that Ridley does not fall in the trap of naked scenes with Charlise , though the movie features a single sex scenes with other actors. The problem is there is nothing special in those characters, they are mere , ordinary , everyday human beings with the robot stealing all the special treatment. But then is this an accident ? Is it just a fail of the story ? Knowing the genius of Ridley Scot I will have to say a huge "NO!" ... its no coincidence that the robot is the one stealing the show , but then thats the point of the film. The point most reviewers don't get and do not want to get.
Sure the story has no big meaning behind to make you go "Aaaaaahhhh" ... but then is this really true ? I have to say it got me thinking in some of the philosophical questions, not the obvious ones but then ones that tend to fall through the cracks like "what if one day we discover we are nothing special as a race ? how much that would matter for us ?" which is pretty much the central theme of the movie.
The worst part of this movie is the trailer, I had to say it misled me into believing this was an action movie of some sort, and even though I knew beforehand there was no Alien in the movie, I expected to see some monster or some really nasty dude crashing spines and drinking blood. But alas, even though the movie features a lot of death , like Blade Runner, it uses those deaths for mere decorative purposes.
This movie , completely changed my mind. Yes Ridley is THE MAN to make the Blade Runner sequel , a real sequel, something as special as this movie , something going against the Hollywood trends and I can only express my admiration for this so pleasant surprise and his courage do make something so personal and so true to his roots.
Music wise nope the music was probably the most boring part of the film, it could have been much much better. But still that does not make me give Prometheus any less than 9/10. Its up there with Blade Runner, of course not of the same quality, but none the less its really, really, really close.
Saying all that, I have to warn anyone going to waste money on this believing this is an Alien movie .... it may explain the why and how ... it may be a prequel.... but for the all the above reasons THIS IS NOT an alien movie. And if you search for easy thrills, don't go to watch this movie , its not for you.
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Clash of the Titan vs Clash of the Titans
I wont bore you rewriting things that have been told by other 100 times. Here is what I add to the previous reviews.
Yes I am a Greek, in love with our mythology.
In short this movie is the total opposite of the original. The original movie , had mediocre actors, very good scenario, very good plot, not so good directing, very good fighting scenes and rather so and so special effects .
This movies has excellent and very good actors, a rather dull scenario, very predictable plot, excellent directing , not so good fighting scenes and some of the most amazing effects.
Yes I do believe that Hollywood tends to rape Greek myths. But then on the other hand a raped myth is better than no myth at all.
Why Hollywood believe that today Christian people love and deeply care about God , but in ancient times when thing were a lot tougher than they are now , ancient Greeks hated their gods ? I don't think Hollywood understand ancient Greek religion and mythology at all.
However the defense of the movie is that it had some big parts of the original myth.
I saw it on 3d, I agree, it could have been a lot better.
But overall I cannot say this movie was crap. The reason is simple, good acting by almost all actors involved that put in the shadow the original movie and AMAZING special effects. I also love the photography of the movie, it has a rather unique vibe, but overall because I also do 3d graphics as a hobby and paint digital, I loved it.
People are quick it dismiss a movie that is largely based on graphics to succeed , but then they may think that good graphics are easy and anyone can do it. But that is they are dead wrong. Good graphics require , talent, huge commitment and loads of money.
I wont remember this movie as a movie with a great scenario, but it really nailed the graphical content of myth to the bone and I hugely respect it for that and on that grounds I gave it a 8/10.
Lastly the one thing that hugely annoys me is the title. "CLASH OF THE TITANS" or probably "WAR OF THE TITAN" named in Greek "TITANOMACHIA" is huge Greek myth that put to shame Lord of the Rings, its the fight of the Greek Gods against the old order of Titans, which are far more powerful than a Cracken or a Medusa, which of course none of the two are Titans in any way.
I really hope one day a daring director and produces makes "TITANOMACHIA" a movie because it is going to be huge and expose people to the real beauty of ancient Greek mythology.
Overall, I can say I really enjoyed the movie, very good acting, excellent special effects and a very good soundtrack as well. I went to the movie hearing before that the movie was crap and I exit the theater asking myself "What people expected to see from it more than it delivered ?" , "Have they not seen the trailer ?". Sure it could have been better in several areas but overall THIS NOT CRAPISH AT ALL.
Its an action movie to the bone and it succeeds.