Okfreedom Reviews

No Hard Feelings (2023)

Pretty good watch but nothing special

[8/10 · 10 March 2024]

For those who are concerned with the storyline, I would like to add a disclaimer that this is an intentional part added by the filmmakers. The guy is 19, so he isn't underage. Jennifer Lawrence's character is meant to be a terrible person for doing this and part of the movie's charm and arc is her learning how not to be a terrible person while realising that the person that she is waiting for in her own life (her father) isn't coming. And by the end of the film, the two don't end up together and just decide to remain as friends. Also, for those concerned about nudity, it only happens in one scene (the beach scene); the rest of the movie is tame by comparison.

And honestly, I'm glad that it is. The movie chose to focus on it's characters rather than the raunchy humour that it could have exploited. All of the characters feel fleshed out, even Percy's parents are shown to have good intentions, despite having really questionable methods, but by the end they both change for the better. Percy himself is incredibly likeable, sympathetic and you really feel for him throughout the movie.

Overall, I'd say that the movie is pretty good, it's definitely just as good as people are saying but it's nothing special.

Heart of Stone (I) (2023)

It's got a heart of stone alright.

[2/10 · 13 August 2023]

Once again, Netflix tries it's hand at an action film, just like The Gray Man last year. And once again they've dropped the ball with a terrible script, a boring main character and a nonsensical storyline, this time with worse acting.

In this world of espionage, there is The Charter, a group of spies with no allegiance to any nation or political wing, basically Netflix's answer to the IMF. At the centre of their operations though, is The Heart, an AI that is very Minority Report-esque in it's operations in that it can predict with percentages and dead-point accuracy how likely a person will be a victim, if a risky manoeuvre will succeed, etc. Yep, the heart of their operations is literally called The Heart. And their operatives are named after playing cards. Talk about lazy.

Gal Gadot stars as Rachel Stone (that's not an alias, that's her actual name), a rebellious, James Bond-esque spy who's a member of the Charter. For the beginning of the story however, she is undercover with MI6 with operatives Bailey (Paul Ready), a chummy guy who has a daughter and an orange cat. And Yang (Jing Lusi) a field operative who's both competent and surprisingly charismatic. And rounding out the crew is Parker (Jamie Dornan), another field operative who is also very James Bond-esque. Don't get too attached to them however, as they're promptly killed by Parker, who is revealed to be the antagonist (no surprise there) before the first half is even over.

Straight away, I want to talk about the acting. First off Gal Gadot is trying here but she's just uncharismatic and a bit emotionless as Rachel Stone. To be fair though it isn't called Heart of Stone for nothing. She's been hit or miss with me and when she isn't Wonder Woman, her acting takes a bit of a nosedive in quality. While does have some displays of emotion, especially during a scene with her and a cat, it's not enough. And once again, she doesn't even bother to hide her accent despite being a different nationality or put emotion into her voice. Look, I know she's trying to be like James Bond but there can only be one James Bond; she would have fared better if she had tried be more original with her character (she is the producer) rather than try to emulate and mix both James Bond and Ethan Hunt and fail miserably.

I actually got attached to the MI6 crew particularly Paul Ready and Jing Lusi as Yang. Jing Lusi deserves special mention as she is putting more effort into her performance than Gadot, actually has a personality and is surprisingly charismatic, so much in fact that I wish that she was cast as the main lead instead of Gadot. Both of them actually have personalities, despite me not knowing much about them. They managed to make a scene dancing to a Lizzo song feel fun in such a boring movie, whereas in other films, it would be distracting. I was utterly pissed to see them killed off as they were the only interesting characters in the movie.

Sadly, this brings us to our other characters. Jamie Dornan as Parker is such a bland and uninteresting antagonist, despite his ruthless performance in the second half. We do get a sympathetic backstory with him and it is shown to us but, it's also told to us which lessens the impact. And Keya, who gets an equally sympathetic backstory but has more morals than Parker. Unlike Parker though, her backstory is completely told to us and it's shoehorned in, making her even blander than Parker. There's also this blonde henchman that doesn't say much and we don't get to know about him as he comically crashes his bike in the climax and gets crushed by it. While we get some scenes with Sophie Okonedo, who plays Stone's handler, she's a bland character and the movie also wastes BD Wong and Glenn Close as they're shown as members of The Charter in just a couple of scenes before they're unceremoniously killed off.

I have nothing to say about the story. It's basic, barebones, by the numbers and completely wastes any potential it might have with it's boring main character. Don't expect much. Considering that Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder wrote the script, I was expecting more from them.

The cinematography is all over the place in terms of quality. One minute we will get beautiful shots of the locales and set pieces with actual good CGI, and then the next we'll get some GoPro footage with awful framerates that makes the film look cheaply shot and even make the greenscreens stick out like a sore thumb. The editing is also mixed as well as it goes from standard to choppily edited. That being said though, the framing and color grading is lovely. The CGI is actually good at times and even though it slips up occasionally, it's solid for the most part.

The tone and pacing suck. The movie is all over the place but it's boring for the most part, to the point where the action scenes felt boring after a while.

The music isn't that bad; the score is good but I wouldn't see myself listening to it again. The song choices aren't good but aren't bad either; compared to Ghosted, which had some of the worse needle drops I've seen in an action film, it was a step up in comparison.

I'd advise to steer clear of the movie. It's not as bad or as mean-spirited as Ghosted but it's still a bland and emotionless watch with a story that feels like it was created by The Heart itself. It's called Heart of Stone for a reason.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

Too much Gatorade was used in the making of the film.

[1/10 · 22 June 2023]

I absolutely loved the first Shazam. It had a ton of heart, humor, and earnestness and it managed to balance all of those elements perfectly. So when I heard about the sequel, I was excited to see it but apprehensive considering the DCEU's direction and how it's getting worse. After seeing it, I can honestly say that I'm actually glad that James Gunn is rebooting.

Because.......wow. Wow, this was a disappointing sequel. This was a massive step backwards in every single way. Even though we have a bigger budget and more elaborate VFX, it surprisingly looked cheaper than the first film. The color grading felt faker, the humor did not land at all, the storyline was completely boring, the and music felt more generic.

Zachery Levi returns as SHAZAM and honestly, he feels dumber and more insufferable than the first film, even though he gives the same amount of energy as before. The problem is that he's supposed to be older and yet he acts less mature than his true self, played by Asher Angel, who actually acts his age and feels more convincing than Levi at times. It's not for Levi's lack of trying but he gives the wrong kind of performance in the film.

Jack Dylan Grazer is just as good as the previous film as they continue to play Freddy Freeman (who was my favourite character in the film) who actually manages to strike a balance between funny and earnest. In fact, they provided the only funny scenes in the movie, mostly alongside the wizard, who is once again played by Djimon Hounsou. Speaking of Djimon, he gets a lot more to do in this film and has more screentime than the previous film. We not only see him perform his performance with gusto and gravitas but we also see a more sarcastic side of him which manages to actually to be funny in a movie where the comedy is cringeworthy.

David F. Sandberg returns as director for this film and honestly, even though the movie is competently shot, it feels more generic and less inventive than the previous film. Screenwriter Henry Gayden returns, this time alongside Chris Morgan (writer of the Fast and Furious movies) and I can definitely see that Chris is the weak link. His contributions to the script were just as generic and corny as the Fast and Furious films (they even reference the films).

It also felt like the script upped the comedy a lot more and it just doesn't work (it's not as bad as Thor Love and Thunder but it comes pretty close). This unfortunately results in a lot of tonal whiplash moments during dramatic bits. One of the running gags is Billy's crush on Wonder Woman; I felt like they could have used it as part of his character development as maybe Billy would be attracted to her at first but by the end he sees her respectfully as a fellow goddess and wishes her well rather than try to hook up with her. That would have been better.

We get composer Christophe Beck (Frozen, Ant Man), who is a massive step down from Benjamin Wallfisch (IT, A Cure for Wellness). His score feels massively generic in comparison and yeah, the score is more heroic and golden-agey, but it had less variation than Benjamin's score which actually knew when to tone it down and make the dramatic moments more dramatic; essentially, he knew what worked for each scene.

We also get Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as our two antagonists, the daughters of Atlas. They felt less imposing and weaker than Mark Strong's Sivana as he was not only shown why he was a threat, but also we got to see his backstory so we actually know him as a character and even sympathise with him at times. Here though, Helen and Lucy's backstories are told to us and not even in a convincing way and thus, we don't feel anything towards them. Maybe if we actually saw Atlas's powers being taken, then maybe we would have connected with them a bit more. Only character I connected with was Rachel Ziegler's character, who was actually fleshed out in comparison to her sisters.

Also, like I mentioned before, Gal Gadot shows up in the end to resurrect the God realm and Billy and honestly, the scene felt like a tonal whiplash. We get a family mourning his death and then Wonder Woman arrives and her theme plays, which clashes heavily with the tone of the scene. It just did not work that well in my opinion as I thought.

Overall, I enjoyed this one less than the previous film as this was less inventive and massively generic and shows why the DCEU should be rebooted.

Ghosted (I) (2023)

A Rom-Com Action failure.

[1/10 · 22 April 2023]

Ghosted was a terrible movie in every single way. As someone who usually enjoys espionage flicks, I thought this was an irritatingly annoying dumpster fire that tries to pull off it's Rom-Com, Action filled premise with the grace and technique of a bull in a china shop.

Chris Evans stars as Cole, a farmer who's content with his life, except for the fact that he just got dumped. Ana De Armas stars as Sadie, an "art curator" who is emotionally closed off and recovering from the death of her colleague. Both meet at a farmers market, both open up to each other, sparks fly, the whole deal. However things get complicated for Cole when Sadie disappears and ghosts him, leaving Cole to text her endlessly. After creepily tracking Sadie to London via a tracker that he slipped her, his family convinces him to go after her and he flies out of the country for the first time in his life, on a "grand romantic gesture", and promptly gets kidnapped shortly after and is about to be tortured. Cue Sadie, shooting everyone and freeing Cole, revealing that she's a CIA agent. And thus the plot of the movie begins.

And wow, this was bad. I mean, they had one job: make it entertaining. And they couldn't even do that right. The first feature that we've gotten from Dexter Fletcher since the vastly underrated Rocketman, and here none of his talent seems to be on screen, making it feel like he did this for the paycheck. We also got the screenwriters from Deadpool who recently gave us the other dumpster fire, Spiderhead, which was also helmed by an amazing director (Joseph Kosinski of Top Gum Maverick and Tron Legacy fame). And here, it feels exactly like that, making it three for three for them since they also wrote the wildly unfocused and uneven Six Underground. Chris McKenna of No Way Home fame also co-writes but he adds none of the comedic charm that he had before with Jumanji or any of his MCU efforts. None of the characters are likeable or even interesting and the storyline feels like a worse, creepier gender swapped version of True Lies.

Speaking of which, the comedy in the movie sucks. Like it's actually really bad. It mostly consists of Cole and Sadie bickering and it gets annoying real fast. None of the one liners or running gags work either. In fact, the only time I ever laughed was the cab scene with an underutilised Burn Gorman as a cab driver sarcastically pointing out how desperate Cole is and how them "grand romantic gesture" won't work.

There are also a lot of names attached to this film that don't last beyond two minutes. Burn Gorman, Tim Blake Nelson, Sebastian Stan, John Cho, Anthony Mackie, and even Ryan Reynolds (yeah, they roped him in too. No surprise since the Deadpool writers wrote this) appear in the film as cameos and out of all of them, four out of six get killed off easily (with Gorman and Reynolds being luckily enough to survive the events but like mentioned before, they barely get 2 minutes of screentime). Adrien Brody also appears as our villain with a cartoonish moustache and French accent that brings to mind his character from Grand Budapest Hotel, but played completely straight. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are clearly trying (both are producers of the film) but any chemistry they might have or could potentially have is evaporated by the bad screenwriting.

I don't know if what happened with the script was the writer's fault or the studio's demands but the fact still remains, that if you're looking for an enjoyable night in, it's best to skip this one.

Lupin the 3rd vs. Cat's Eye (2023 Video)

A surprisingly enjoyable time.

[9/10 · 27 February 2023]

I surprisingly enjoyed this one, despite the bad reviews saying otherwise. I haven't seen either franchise but after watching this, I might delve into both. The character interactions worked perfectly well, considering that this was a crossover, the CG animation surprisingly worked pretty well (and this is coming from someone who disliked Batman Ninja), and the performances were perfect. Not to mention the relationship between Lupin and AI was very touching and sibling-like. Only downside would be the villains but it was minor nitpick and the rest of the characters more than made up for it and the ending was a nice touch to the whole story, wrapping it up in a satisfying way that felt in character.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

The true Pinocchio film of 2022 and one of the best adaptations ever

[10/10 · 17 December 2022]

Guillermo Del Toro has struck again and has proven once again that he is an amazing writer and director that cares about whatever he writes and what he adapts to the big screen. This time however, he tackles the old story of Pinocchio, taking inspiration from the original novel and Disney film and adding his own twisted spin.

David Bradley (Filch from Harry Potter) voices Gepetto, a woodworker who loses his son in a bombing during World War I. This devastates him so much that he chops down the tree next to his grave (grown from a pinecone that his son got and which got him killed) and carves the wooden boy out of a drunken rage and grief. The Wood Spirit (voiced by an always amazing Tilda Swinton) decides to bring the puppet to life in order to make sure that he'll never be alone again. And so begins Pinocchio's adventure. Oh and the story takes place in Fascist Italy/WW2.

Tonally, this is a much heavier film than you would expect from an animated film (in fact, Del Toro himself has said that it's not for kids). There are some surprisingly dark scenes throughout the film, most of which revolve around Fascism and the dangers of over-obedience (there's a Fascist Youth Camp that starts off fun but takes a surprisingly violent and realistic turn. And these kinds of camps actually existed during WW2), and we even see Count Volpe (voiced by Christoph Waltz), our stand in for Honest John, Gideon, and Stromboni, beating his monkey (voiced in screeches by a completely unrecognisable Cate Blanchett) with his cane. So yeah, this might be one of the best animated films I've seen, but it's not for the faint of heart. And considering that Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall) is co-writing, this is to be expected. Thankfully, there are some funny moments sprinkled throughout to balance out the tone (one highlight is a scene involving Mussolini, who's voiced by Spongebob himself, Tom Kenny).

Another thing I should mention is that all of our antagonists actually get their comeuppance in comparison to the book and the Disney film, where they get off scot-free. The Podesta (voiced by Ron Perlman) get blinded with a paint gun by Candlewick (who is his son this time rather than just a random kid) and is promptly killed by a falling bomb, Count Volpe's monkey turns on him after being abused by him for too long and he ends up falling to his death and even the Dogfish is blown up by a sea mine.

The voice cast actually does a good job with their voices and are all perfectly cast. David Bradley depicts the sorrow and the grief as Gepetto masterfully well, while making him more three dimensional than the Disney version. Newcomer Gregory Mann does an amazing job as the cheerful and hyperactive Pinocchio. Ewan McGregor provides a funny and unique turn as novelist cricket Sebastian J. Cricket. And the rest of the cast does an amazing job with what they're given, especially Cate Blanchett as the monkey.

The music is also amazing, as I'm a massive fan of Alexandre Desplat since Rise of the Guardians. This film not only has an amazing score that has me convinced that he should compose a Pixar/Disney Animated film, but there are also some original songs to go with it, the highlights being "My Son", "Ciao Papa", and "Better Tomorrows".

Courtesy of Mark Gustafson, animation director of Fantastic Mr Fox, the film's animation is his best effort to date as the animation for all the characters and environments are smooth and full of life.

In short, this is an amazing animated film that's not only Netflix's best animated film to date, but it's also one of the best films of the year and it deserves to win Best Animated Feature.

Bullet Train (2022)

Worth staying on beyond the next stop.

[10/10 · 16 September 2022]

Bullet Train is not only one of my favourite movies of 2022, it's also one of the funniest. Another home run from Deadpool 2/Atomic Blonde director David Leitch, who continues to amaze us with exciting action, interesting characters and casting, and amazing pacing and writing for an action film.

Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, an assassin with an incredible bad luck streak who has come out of hiatus for a simple job back. For him, his job is to grab a briefcase off a Bullet Train in Tokyo; he manages to grab it without a hitch but the second the train pulls up to the next station, let's just say things get nasty and a bunch of other characters are thrown into the chaos.

The performances from the rest of the cast are amazing. Brad Pitt does a wonderful job of playing against type as a cordial and dorky assassin that tries to comes to terms with the chaos going around with him and trying to deal with his bad luck at the same time. Joey King does good as well, playing a sociopathic kid assassin with daddy issues. The standouts however are both Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry, the former as the serious and professional Tangerine and the latter managing a really good English accent as Lemon, Tangerine's partner who bases his readings of people on Thomas the Tank Engine.

The film also has an incredibly well paced and tight script that anyone writing an action film should look at. There are a ton of set ups and pay offs that would make Edgar Wright jealous (not that jealous, but still), well written action scenes and there's even a surprising amount of drama that's well timed and placed.

Dominic Lewis, a protege of Remote Control Productions and Henry Jackman, does a really good job with the score, giving each character (apart from Ladybug) a motif while mixing it up every time and making every scene more exciting. The music choices for the movie are also well chosen, including a Japanese dance cover of Holding out for a Hero that's one of the best renditions of the song in a movie since Shrek 2.

The visuals are amazing, the CGI is solid and well implemented for an $80 million budgeted movie and overall, it's a wonderful blast.

10/10.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

I'd rather take the Blue Pill....

[1/10 · 23 December 2021]

I've got nothing. This really is a terrible film, worse than the sequels (which I enjoyed), and worse than Jupiter Ascending in every single way. It's so bad, so meta (which is ironic, considering that they pulled a Force Awakens), that it'll make you want to cringe.

I'd rather take the blue pill, wake up in my bed, and believe that what I saw on screen was a bad dream and that the series ended with Revolutions.

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Pretty good but tanks hard in the last act.

[6/10 · 4 December 2021]

Edgar Wright is one of my favorite directors of modern day due to his stylishness and the way he mixes and mashes elements into his films to make them wholly original. Not to mention the large amounts of foreshadowing that you sometimes miss on the first viewing if you're not observant.

As such, I was really excited for the film as this not only looks different from his other films but also a lot darker and more serious. By itself, it's not a bad film but compared to Edgar Wright's other films, it's definitely his worst film as a director.

The premise involved Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer who has a love for the 60s and this gift of going to the past and seeing ghosts. She gets accepted into the London College of Fashion, only to find out that London isn't as glamorous as she thought. This increases further when she does go into the past to the 60s and comes across Sandie, an aspiring singer who meets Jack (Matt Smith), only for the relationship and her career to take a dark turn.

Right off the bat, one of the things I loved about this film was how it deconstructed the past and nostalgia. Even though the aesthetics were one of the primary things that we remembered back then, in reality life was much worse back then than it is nowadays. What made the film disturbing for me was seeing the misogyny and all the perverted stuff that took place back then as well as Jack, who is easily the most disturbing character in the film. It even extends to modern day, where just after arriving in London, Eloise gets creeper out by a cab driver who even lampshades that he could be her first stalker. She gets out and hides in a shop and luckily he leaves and we never see him again but still, it's such a realistic element and it's disturbing because it could happen to anyone.

Chung Chung-hoon's cinematography is also a highlight as we get some very beautiful neon shots of London, especially during the 60s. The framing is also perfect, as is the case with every Edgar Wright film.

Music choices are perfect as well and we even get Anya Taylor Joy's version of Downtown.

Every perfomance feels perfect: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor Joy, Matt Smith, the late Diane Riggs, Terrence Stamp, etc. We even get Sam Claflin (who plays Terrence Stamp's younger self) and Jessica Mei Lei (of Shadow and Bone fame) as one of Eloise's classmates.

For the first half of the film, I was loving it and was intrigued. I was waiting to see where it was going to go and how it would tie into modern day. But sadly, when we get to the Halloween party, it goes downhill hard. This is where Eloise starts seeing ghosts of all the people Sandie has killed, Jack included, and compared to her mother, here they start haunting her. It then culminates when Mrs Collins (Eloise's landlady) is revealed to be Sandie which leads Collins to poison Eloise and stab John (who was one of the only classmates that was nice to her). From there we gets this absolutely trippy chase sequence that not only feels out of place but feels like it's from a different story, narrative-wise.

This is pretty bizzare, considering that both Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson Cairns (who wrote 1917 and Penny Dreadful) are actual good writers. Many people have said this film felt like it was trying to be two things and honestly, I agree fully.

In conclusion, even though it's a good film, it's definitely Edgar Wright's worst film and desperately needed a better second half.

Dune (2021)

Beyond a mediocre state, a masterpiece awaits

[10/10 · 29 November 2021]

This, for me, is simply the best movie of 2021. We have been waiting for this film since the first trailer dropped last year and boy, was it worth it. Perfect Visuals, Pacing, Writing, Casting, Music, Directing, etc. When Denis said that this was Star Wars for Adults, he wasn't kidding.

Once again, Denis Villeneuve has delivered a masterpiece. See it in any way you can and prepare for an experience and the first part of what's shaping up to be an epic saga.

Cowboy Bebop (2021)

The Worst Netflix Original of all time.

[1/10 · 19 November 2021]

I never thought it would be possible. We all heard the stories, we watched the announcement trailer, praying that they didn't mess it up.

And yet, they did. I mean, I knew it was going to be bad.....but, wow! I didn't expect them to mess up this bad. Everything feels wrong, to the point where I actually think this is the worst Netflix adaptation ever.

The directing feel lazy and stiff at the same time. The fight scenes are just badly done while the fight scenes in the much older anime series felt more realistic. The dramatic scene don't really work either as tonally and editing-wise, it just clashes even more with the campy feel of the show.

The writing feels way too quippy when the anime had it's fair share of quiet moments. While the anime is Tarantino, the Live-Action is Shane Black gone horribly wrong. Too much comedy, not enough drama. And even the drama feels forced and cheap. The characters also have completely different personalities compared to the original which makes it much worse in my opinion.

The casting feels completely off. John Cho is too old for Spike and even then, he doesn't bring anywhere close to the level of charisma that the original Spike had. Daniella Pineda was also horribly miscast as she not only brings the wrong type of charisma to the table but also brings way too much snark to the point where she actually felt annoying everytime she was on screen. The only casting they got right was Mustafa Shakir who actually acted like Jet and felt like he was trying with his performance.

The cinematography feels as lifeless and stiff as the the sets they've built for the show. There's not much camera movement, the frame rate feels off and most of the shots consist of dutch angles (if you thought the dutch angles in Thor were bad, then wait till you see this). This is from the same cinematographer of The Witcher so that kind of explains the awkward angles a bit.

Production Design is really bad for a Netflix series or for a series in 2021. Rather than something beautiful, this looks like a bad cosplay/fan-film with a shoe-string budget.

They brought back Julie from the dead. And made her into one of the antagonists. No, I'm serious. I swear, I'm not making this up. While she was in flashbacks and was killed off in the original, here they disrespect her character in the worst way possible and thus, miss the point of why she died and what it meant for Spike. Long story short, she turns against Spike, shoots him out of the window (yes, the window scene from the anime makes it way here in the worst way possible), and we get the window scene complete with even the same music.

Ed also come into the series...........right at the very end. So Spike stumbles into an alley and falls unconscious. Here, we are treated to a painfully uncomfortable POV shot of an excited Ed as he tries to wake him up. The acting in the scene feels over the top and sadly, Ed is completely out of place. I'm sorry to say but they should have left her out of this one.

Only positive is that they brought back Yoko Kanno and her soundtrack still rules. That's about it.

I've got nothing. This is even worse than Death Note.

Nomadland (2020)

Nearly fell asleep.

[1/10 · 11 November 2021]

The film tells the tale of Fern, a van-dwelling nomad who travels the US in her van after her husband dies and the sole industry in her town closes down. We see her interacting with other fellow nomads mixed with some beautiful shots........and that's about it.

Honestly, this film is one of the most overrated Best Picture winners ever (still think Promising Young Woman should have won). Nothing happens onscreen, Fern ends up in the same place she was in at the beginning of the film, nothing interesting happens to her, we just get a series of random encounters that don't really add up to much and the pacing is absolutely terrible to the point where I nearly fell asleep.

At least with Birds of Prey, Cathy Yan actually wrote and directed Dead Pigs, another indie flick which, compared to Nomadland, actually felt like it was going somewhere and had a good story. With this film, I can definitely see why Eternals was so boring.

Eternals (2021)

The bad reviews were right.

[1/10 · 9 November 2021]

Before I start, I want to make it clear that besides watching the trailers, I went into the film completely blind. I haven't read the source material (just got the Neil Gaiman miniseries of Eternals, will get to reading that soon), and haven't seen the director's previous Oscar-Winning film (Nomadland) or any of her previous films.

And yet, despite having no expectations for Phase 4, I still think this is the most disappointing film of 2021, even more so than Black Widow.

I should mention that this film tries to be different from the other films in the way that it's shot (more practical sets, shooting on location, less green screen) and honestly, it looks beautiful. I honestly want Marvel to keep going down this route.

Ramin Djawadi's score is pretty good and unique and it's so nice to see Iron Man's composer reunite with the MCU. I would have preferred Alexandre Desplat but Djawadi score makes for an epic listen.

The writing sucks. It's one of the most boring films I've seen; compared to Valerian and Jupiter Ascending, it's not bad but it comes really close. The characters feel one-note, they don't have that much depth to them, and they're not well developed; to the point where I can't remember a single character from this film compared to other perfect MCU Ensemble Films like Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 or Avengers 1. This might be due to the film having too many protagonists in it. You could have cut some of them out of the film and left them for later films and nothing much would have been lost.

The acting is the dullest in the entire MCU. All of the actors felt like they brought no personality or chemistry to the table whatsoever and none of their performances felt memorable; it's even worse than Brie Larson in Captain Marvel. I don't know if they were miscast, were give bad direction, were given a terrible script or all of the above but fact still remains that they were completely unnmemmorable and wasted in this film. The only ones that felt like they were at least trying were Barry Keoghan, Bryan Tyree Henry, Kit Harrington (who isn't even in the film that much), Richard Madden, Lauren Ridloff and even Bill Skarsgard (who voices Kro); these actors felt like they had emotions apart from dull surprise.

The pacing is also different from the other MCU films as it's much slower and more contemplative. Unfortunately, that also harms the film unintentionally as nothing much happens in both action scenes and quieter moments. Scenes also feel like they're just stitched together with no connection to the next scene tying them together, making for some pretty bad editing.

1/10 with one extra star for the visuals. Oh well, next.

Batman Ninja (2018)

Manages to be both boring and annoying at the same time.

[1/10 · 18 October 2021]

This legitimately was one of the worst movies I've ever watched. Not just anime films, but movies in general.

The premise was pretty promising. We could have had a Mandalorian + Samurai Jack ish storyline here, there was some potential in that storyline. Sadly, any potential in that storyline is squeezed out after 10 minutes and it becomes this annoying slog that gets worse and worse as it goes along till eventually, it becomes this discount anime parody of a Transformers film. Not to mention giant gaps in logic that result in some pretty wacky scenes. One example involves monkeys, bats and a flute. The less said here, the better but if you've seen the film, you'll know which scene I'm talking about.

One thing I should mention is that in comparison to the original Japanese dub, the English dub writers (the guys who wrote the English script for Afro Samurai) re-wrote around 90% of the dialogue in order to make it fit better for a Batman film. Which doesn't work at all and only adds to the cringe. In fact, if you do decide to brave this film, do yourself a favor and watch it in the original Japanese dub.

Another thing I should mention is that Batman is out of character in this one. He's reliant on technology here and has to relearn the way of the ninja, which is the exact opposite of how Batman operates. That alone tells you how badly they messed up.

Even though I do like the hand drawn animation and some of the action sequences, the CG animation does not work at all and feels very janky and lazy, especially when it comes to the non-action scenes. The slow framerate only makes this much worse. When characters emote, it just looks really weird and uncanny.

The character designs aren't bad but they aren't good either.

Voice acting is competent but that's about it.

Skip at all costs. This is how not to do an anime movie.

Kate (I) (2021)

Still the same Boom Boom Lemon but just as tasty as before

[9/10 · 4 October 2021]

Despite the critical reviews, this actually is a good film and is one of Netflix's better offerings in recent months. Mary Elizabeth Winstead continues her hot streak from Birds of Prey by playing Kate, an assassin who is poisoned during her final job and has the night to find who did it. And it's incurable.

Writing-wise, I thought it was gonna suck since I had read the original screenplay from 2017 and thought it sucked. To my surprise, I found the final product to be much better than I expected. The characters felt improved, the drama felt a lot better, it felt more streamlined and it flowed better, and even the dialogue is an improvement. Overall, the writing on it's own is serviceable and provides a sturdy enough structure for the film.

Cedric Nicholas-Troyan is our director here, and compared to his previous film (The Huntsman Winter's War), this is a massive step-up. Tokyo looks visually beautiful, courtesy of Lyle Vincent's (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) cinematography. The action scenes are also slickly shot and seamlessly edited.

Nathan Barr's score is something that I should mention as well. He combines Japanese instruments with modern electronic elements to create this unique score that deserves a lot more attention that it's getting right now. He has already proven himself as a unique composer with his scores to Carnival Row and The Americans and here, he's done it again.

To conclude, this might be predictable, but in truth, is a competently made action film that's a cut above what usually on Netflix nowadays.

Titans (I) (2018–2023)

Why do people like this again?

[1/10 · 4 October 2021]

From Greg Berlanti (Arrowverse), Geoff Johns, and Akiva Goldsman (Batman and Robin), comes Titans, a show that doesn't know what it wants to be yet people love it for some reason.

I'm gonna get right to it. Titans is a terrible series in almost every single way, except for cinematography.

There, I said it. The main problem comes from the writing and pacing, both of which are just terrible. Even when watching season 1, I was really struggling to find anything that I liked about the series at all. Characters are rushed and done poorly, melodrama is strewn about, it's too dark tonally for no reason, pacing is too slow and too fast at the same time, and there are even some out-of-character moments that make them even more unlikable.

People think that the series went downhill from Season 1. In my opinion and for the reasons stated above, it was bad from minute one and only got worse as it went along.

Black Widow (2021)

The MCU does a generic action flick.

[3/10 · 30 August 2021]

This film was years in the making from what I've heard. It suffered many delays (not to mention that they elected to release Captain Marvel before this movie. And before she got killed off in Endgame no less!), some of them even COVID-related. But the important thing is that now, it's finally here. We finally get a Black Widow movie.

Was it worth the wait? No. Sadly, it isn't.

That being said though, the opening was really compelling. It had an amazing opening, great introductions to our characters, and even a unqiue title sequence. It really was shaping up to be an amazing film.

After that though, it goes downhill faster than a maniac driving off a cliff. After that, it just switches back to full, formulaic MCU material. The kind of material that made Thor The Dark World, Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron bland and forgettable. Tons of Jokes, characters being used as punching bags, bland characterizations, a forgettable villain, and even a generic soundtrack.

Red Guardian is so much of a punching bag that he just comes across as a joke rather than a compelling character. There are so many jokes that it just outweighs the dramatic stuff, it's badly paced, Dreykov is interesting but forgettable, They butchered Taskmaster, the CGI is way more noticeable and rushed, and Lorne Balfe's soundtrack is kind of bland and generic compared to his other work.

The worst part though? Natasha herself is sidelined in her own movie. To be fair though, Florence Pugh does play the best character in the movie and does an amazing job with what she's given. But sadly, it's not enough to make up for the rest.

We waited. We even waited after she died in Endgame. But nope, it wasn't worth it in the end. Another opportunity wasted. 1 Star (With 2 stars added for Florence Pugh's performance and the Opening).

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

More like Gone-off Milkshake.....

[1/10 · 22 July 2021]

Just when you thought Birds of Prey was disappointing, then comes Gunpowder Milkshake, a Sergio Leone wannabe that try to mix both the world of John Wick with the Neo-Noir Aspect of Drive. And fails at both. The only positive is the visuals. That's it. Not even the action is good as it feels like it was choreographed by a coked up Buster Keaton (there's a scene in a bowling alley that's not engaging at all). The score even feels distracting as it has this spaghetti western feel to it that just doesn't fit with the John Wick-esque world and story on display.

At least Birds of Prey, despite having bad writing, editing, pacing and characterizations, had great direction and action sequences and even acting. This film didn't even have that advantage. I mean they had a good cast, possibly even better than Birds of Prey and they just.....wasted it. Enough said.

Without Remorse (II) (2021)

With Remorse and Regret

[1/10 · 9 May 2021]

This honestly was a complete disappointment and borefest, especially considering who was involved behind the camera. Think about it, we have the screenwriter of Sicario, the Director of Sicario 2, Jonsi composing, the editor of Drive; all of this should make for a good action flick that'll set up Rainbow Six.

Aaaaand once again, we get another book adaptation that completely disregards the acclaimed book that it's adapting. Those issues aside, the film was badly paced; the dialogue scenes felt too slow while the action scenes felt boring and there was a lack of build-up to both. The film's casting was ok with Michael B Jordan giving a good performance as John Kelly. Jodie Turner-Smith though wasn't that good and felt out of place. Jamie Bell is also incredibly interesting as Ritter. Guy Pierce does fit the role well but he fits it a bit too well as we can identify him as the villain a mile away.

The only positive is probably the cinematography. That's it.

Tales from the Loop: Transpose (2020) Season 1, Episode 2

I liked the Pilot better.

[5/10 · 2 April 2021]

The Pilot was an amazing episode with slow pacing and great characters. Maybe a bit too slow, but it made up for the shortcomings with the second act. Overall, it was a great episode to get invested with our characters.

Episode 2 started off on an ok note but goes downhill when the Body Swapping element shows up. The pacing is even slower than the Pilot, nothing much happens, the characters are even less likeable, and I nearly fell asleep a couple of times.

Giri/Haji (2019)

Starts off with a satisfying bang, falls apart near the end.

[8/10 · 9 March 2021]

This was a show that honestly had a lot of potential from the storyline. From the way it was building up to Episode 4 (which is one of my favourite episodes of modern TV), it looked incredibly promising and I loved everyone who was involved. Even when the pacing slowed down after episode 4, I still enjoyed it nevertheless and thought it was one of my favourite shows on Netflix.

Until Episode 7 hit. That episode had so much unnecessary melodrama and stupid decisions that could have easily been avoided if the characters had used their heads like they had done before. I didn't really feel a rising tension like I did with the buildup to episode 3; in fact, the build-up felt non-existent so I wasn't really interested in continuing as before. Luckily, it managed to salvage itself in the season finale and ended on a better note than I expected.

This legitimately is an underrated series and barring one episode, all of them are perfectly directed and written.

The Witcher (2019– )

Confusing and too slow

[1/10 · 19 February 2021]

I ignored the mixed reviews and decided to watch anyways. I regretted it afterwards as this is one of the most disappointing TV Shows I have ever seen.

I couldn't even finish the Pilot, it was that bad. Too much happens way too quickly, the pacing is all over the place, we are immediately dropped into this world with no introduction and no setup whatsoever. I read the books that the show was based on and played Witcher 3 and even then, I was still confused on what was going on in the series.

I should also point out that the books feel different than the show. In a way, it's the fantasy version of The Mandalorian. The first short story (which is episode 3 in the show) introduces our character, introduces what he does, introduces the moral dilemmas he faces and how he approaches each job, and even showcases how magic works and how experienced he is. The first episode of the show (which is short story #3 in the book) not only is off from a pacing standpoint but also chooses to intersect its own storyline with another storyline which doesn't even take place around the same time which make it even more confusing than it has to be.

Avoid and just watch The Mandalorian if you want something that matches the books from a tonal perspective.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Ummm, What was that?

[1/10 · 18 February 2021]

I enjoyed the first film a lot (even the final battle wasn't as bad as I thought) and thought it was another great addition to the DCEU (Suicide Squad and Justice League don't count). But sadly this film, combined with Birds of Prey showed that the cinematic universe is now tripping on both feet and falling face first into the ground. It's a tonal mess of a film that needed a lot more rewrites; even though the director had full creative control over the film and even got rid of Zack Snyder's team, in this case both of these decisions were both big mistakes as not only does her vision need a lot more work and external input, but also the stunts look even worse than the first film, almost like a cartoon.

The pacing is also way off, the writing is obviously bad as it pulls a Crimes of Grindelwald/Amazing Spider-Man 2 and tries to pack in a lot for a sequel. They also managed to bring back Chris Pine in the worst way possible. The less said here, the better.

The film also has one of the worst McGuffins of all time (even worse than the diamond from Birds of Prey) in the form of the Dreamstone. Even worse is that it becomes part of Maxwell Lord (played by a very hammy and expressive Pedro Pascal) who basically becomes a genie. No, I'm serious. He becomes this being who can grant anyone's wishes and soon the whole world falls into chaos all because all of them made bad wishes. What's worse is that there's no mention of any good wishes like World Peace (which defeats the purpose of the other bad wishes), wishing for your dead parents to come back to life (come on, you all though of Bruce Wayne at that point), etc. There's just a floodgate of potential with that one McGuffin but nope, not only do they miss every opportunity but they waste it in a way that makes it cartoonishly laughable.

There's also a number of plot holes, inconsistencies, and even suspension of common sense at some points but they are so numerous that I can't even being to describe them.

I thought the DCEU was back on track after Aquaman and Shazam. But nope, we're in another DCEU mis-step. 1/10.

Widows (2018)

One of the most overlooked movies of recent memory.

[10/10 · 10 February 2021]

Widows is a film that is honestly overlooked a lot when it comes to gritty heist films. From what I've heard, the film received little to no attention from awards ceremonies despite critical acclaim. After hearing a lot of flak against it, I finally decided to watch it. And I do not regret it at all.

From both a technical and storytelling perspective, this excels and balances out all of its elements to create a gripping narrative. After 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen proves once again that he is an amazing director by not only providing depth and layers to a well paced action film, but manages to tread the line between a mainstream crime flick and a deep story that follows these amazing characters as they all fight to get out of this desperate situation. That way, he manages to make it accessible enough to a bigger audience and still manages to insert powerful themes in an incredibly subtle way.

The performances that are on display here also deserves praise. All of them were amazing as they had layers and depth that not only made them real but also sympathetic. The standouts were: Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debecki, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya and even Michelle Rodriguez.

The cinematography is also pretty amazing as we get some long takes that grip us into the scene and even drags out the tension in an amazing way.

Hans Zimmer also deserves praise for an overlooked and minimalist score that matches and enhances the mood of each scene.

In the end, I finished the movie incredibly satisfied with the end product. If you go in and expect a slow burn with amazing characters and great themes, then you'll downright love this film. 10/10.

Birds of Prey (2020)

Boredom beware....

[3/10 · 14 December 2020]

This is honestly one of my least favourite DC films of recent memory. Which is a shame because this did have a lot of potential to be good but from what I've heard, it bombed hard to the Sonic movie and right before COVID caused theatres to close down.

To be honest, I think it was for a very good reason.

The directing felt very shallow and uninteresting and as a result, some scenes dragged on rather than become memorable. The pacing was the worst thing about this movie as it not only felt inconsistent but that combined with the direction only added to the boredom. Unfortunately for this ham-fisted adaptation of Birds of Prey, the real boredom came from the lacklustre and incoherent writing, and as a result, I couldn't find a reason to care or to be invested in the story. To add insult to injury, the characters are completely different from the comic book counterparts and to make matters even worse, the changes that they made to the characters make them even less interesting (not even Barbara Gordon is in this film and she was the one who founded the group in the first place. And don't even get me started on Cassandra Cain, who is so different from her original character that if you changed the name or even took her out, it would honestly make the movie so much better. Just search up on her in this movie and you'll see what I'm talking about.).

On the plus side, there's good action, decent acting (especially from Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor, both of whom looked like they were having fun with their roles.), and pretty great cinematography. But that's about it.

Long story short, if the film suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, I honestly think it would make absolutely no difference at all to the current DCEU. That's how forgettable it is.