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jff-johnson
Reviews
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Has everything the original has except...
Some of the philosophy is missing.
It would not surprise me if viewers under thirty five years old dislike this movie, mostly because of the pace and tempo. Blade Runner 2049 is definitely a throwback to the pre-ADHD era of move making, often barely any movement and driven by the performance of the actors rather than special effects.
I saw the original Blade Runner when I was eight years old (I was not an abused child) the finer points of the plot and dialog were obviously lost on me but the imagery of a movie like that stays with you for a lifetime. I remember revisiting the film when I was old enough to appreciate it and being awestruck all over again by the complex subtlety of the story. The replicants had a desperate desire for life and was the motivation for their every action, the underlying question of what makes us human and who decides what that is?, the playing god meeting your maker thing, at the end the replicants who are perceived as being not human show a display of humanity that blows my mind every time I see it. The closest BR-2049 comes to asking such questions is the JOi character who is absolutely mesmerizing.
I can't imagine watching BR-2049 again after seeing it through inexperienced eyes would have the same effect. The film is breathtakingly beautiful, the acting flawless, the story is okay but it just doesn't get inside your head like the original. I have heard people complain when a movie leaves them with more questions than answers, that makes movies special when done properly. This movie was made to be seen on a big screen but it's missing the deeper philosophical nature of the original.
On a side note the director has expressed interest in making Dune I think that would be awesome, I wish he would consider a live action Cowboy Bebop.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Missing half the equation
The negative reviews of this movie contain complaints that range from bad acting, bad chemistry, and bad plot but most agree it is visually rewarding. What this movie is really missing hasn't been seen in film for years, a proper villain. Years ago a good villain was more memorable and liked than the hero.
Valerian has no villain to speak of whatsoever, and ultimately lacks a tangible conflict. The closest it comes to an antagonist is a commander who accidentally destroys a planet and its inhabitants (in a flashback) then makes little effort to cover his actions. he's not so much bad as he is incompetent, he's not ruthless, he has no master plan, no ambition to dominate the galaxy, and most importantly he has no charisma. In the end they simply arrest him.
A good villain is equally if not more important than the hero. Ultimately the non conflict is resolved with a brief conversation where the hero simply agrees to hand over the maguffins to the aliens, roll credits.
The Mechanic (2011)
Could you possibly make less sense?
I understand the suspension of disbelief. I understand watching only for "entertainment" but even within these realms this movie makes absolutely no sense. The lead character is the heartless solitary killer for hire working for the nondescript assassins r us. Then out of nowhere a guy shows up and tells him his best and only friend, his freaking mentor betrayed the company causing the death of some fellow assassins. Almost without question he promptly kills him... why? he betrayed the company, so... some other assassins got killed that he either didn't know or did not like, and what does he do? He shoots his friend. He doesn't help him or warn him or even ask him if it's true, (yes he falls or the oldest hit man ploy in the book) he shoots him because if he doesn't do it someone else will, stupid.
Then the heartless cold blooded assassin feels some sort of guilt and takes his dead friend's son under his wing and in less than two weeks trains him to be a super assassin taking out other trained killers with no sweat, right.
Eventually our hero figures out what every single person watching knew from the beginning, he was set up. He then proceeds to hunt down and kill everyone involved even his best friends son. Yep that's right he drags this innocent kid into the situation, he doesn't need the kids help for any of it nor does he makes any attempt to explain anything to him he just goes to very elaborate lengths to plan the kid's death.
The end.
Inception (2010)
I was hoping to wake up and find out it was all a bad dream
If they were going in to subvert a subconscious mind that most likely would defend itself, Why didn't they dream up some bullet proof vests for themselves? Or some werewolves.
It's a dream right? If I was going into someone's mind I would be Wolverine or Optimus Prime, I would carry a light saber. The movie claimed that the more a dream is tampered with the more a subconscious will reject it, but they constructed some pretty elaborate realities before that would start to happen. Heck in one the world was turned completely upside down and the subconscious was only mildly upset, I think I could sneak some Iron Man armor in there.
I'm still not convinced that the whole movie was a dream. Ellen Page's character literally comes out of nowhere acquires some impressive dream manipulation skills in one day and then happily falls in with criminals that want to invade someone's mind in an attempt at corporate espionage... okay. And maybe I missed it but, what exactly was the movie science explanation behind this? Take these drugs plug this in your arm and we can share dreams YAAAYYY! And another thing if I was facing charges because I planted an idea in someone's head that led to their death I wouldn't flee the country I wouldn't even ask for a lawyer, the first words out of my mouth would be "get me the CIA." You wouldn't even see the inside of a courtroom you would be super spy extraordinaire.
If you don't believe me check this out http://www.IMDb.com/find?s=all&q=dreamscape
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
please pass me the adamantium bullets
After I watched this movie I wished someone would have shot me in the head with an adamantium bullet.
In this movie marvel comic's most savage berserker bad ass kills roughly three people. He is truly a maniac.
Agent Zero: killed by fire in helicopter crash.
Helicopter pilot: (no mutant powers) killed by fire in helicopter crash.
Thomas Logan: Killed by claws of eight year old wolverine, and as far as I can tell the only character in the entire movie killed by wolverine's claws. Sure he may have lashed out at some people in the adamantium chamber but I didn't see any flying limbs or arterial spray that would indicate anything more then a few scratches.
My favorite part was when wolverine delivered his famous line "I'm the best there is at what I do" in the comic books this was cryptically spoken to foes right before they were diced into little pieces. In the movie he says it to his girlfriend right before he wimps out of a fight with some lumberjacks without any mutant powers. Apparently "what he does" is run around like a big baby.