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will-howlett
Reviews
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Managed to be both overlong and incomplete
I loved loads about this film, mainly the amazing action sequences and the sweet sweet fan service (one bit of fan service got a big loud oooooh from myself and most of the cinema).
The problem I had with it is that despite it being a 2 parter so much of the emotional exposition was stretched out far longer than necessary through overlong dialogue. About an hour of the film is dedicated to ensuring we understand that Miles is a young man finding his path through life (I have no idea how some of the younger kids in the audience sat through it, they must have just been mesmerised by the flashy colours). It could have been handled in a much more condensed manner by better writers and still had the required impact. Given the film ends at a point that feels like a natural final third act it left me feeling shortchanged.
If the overlong dialogue scenes had been condensed then I believe there would have been no need for the 2 parter. But then people wouldn't pay to see 2 films instead of 1.
I expect when the initial mega fan reaction dies down and more ordinary filmgoers leave shocked at the "to be continued" message the IMDb score will dip dramatically.
Around the World in 80 Days (2021)
Really enjoyable
Really enjoying this. I haven't read the book and I don't read the Daily Mail (so am not getting myself in a froth about "wokeness" like all the negative reviews). The characters are great, especially the valet, and it's exactly what I'm after for a festive Sunday afternoon romp. Shame to see it's getting review bombed by people who think having all the characters be male and white would improve the show.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Better than the first one
It seems I'm in the minority here but I thought the first WW was very poor, and in my opinion the sequel is far superior. It's fun and the core moral message felt unique. The final showdown was a bit of a letdown (I think Cheetah should have been harder to beat given she has Wonder Woman's powers) but overall it was just what I was in the mood for after Christmas lunch.
Not sure if it was intentional but I liked how Cheetah could be viewed as really meaning cheater, given that her animalistic powers were a last minute accident and really the message of the film was about not cutting corners to get what you want
Loving Vincent (2017)
Pity the animators
This felt very much like a missed opportunity, and was disappointing on both a narrative and visual level. Most of the film consists of back and forth conversational head-shots as the main character goes on a bizarre whodunnit trail regarding Vincent's death which ultimately goes nowhere (spoiler: Vincent dunnit). The dialogue is poor, and it comes across like a mix of an ITV Sunday afternoon detective programme and a montage of video game cutscenes.
The animation itself in these segments is off-putting, as the level of detail given to the actors' rotoscoped faces is too high for you to feel like you are watching anything but filmed footage. The effect comes across as something that could have been more simply achieved by using a snapchat filter, and you can't help feel sorry for the animators who had to paint variations of the same face hundreds of times in order to deliver these dreary scenes. The point of animation and of art is to capture an essence of life, yet the much lauded approach taken in this film is devoid of soul and as such seems a massive waste of effort.
When the film allows for a more imaginative use of the animated painting effect in it's few less presentational and more cerebral moments the whole thing manages to engage much more. These sections typically focus more on Vincent's actual life (which is surely what audiences are interested in, not in conspiracy theories surrounding his death) and are free of the monotonous talking segments. I can't help but feel this would have been a better focus for the film, and that the medium of animation could have been used to explore his psyche in an unusual and interesting manner rather than to deliver a rote story that tells us very little.
Sicario (2015)
Total garbage
Halfway through I wondered whether this might be a piece of experimental filmmaking to see whether its possible to maintain a lead character who has absolutely no agency whatsoever. It was afterwards, when I found out the script was by one of the bros behind Sons of Anarchy, where my having just sat through two hours of the only female character being ferried around by all the manly men whilst crying and asking what she should do next made perfect sense.
In terms of character development it's paper thin, and standard sexist tripe. Blunt's character's only moment of development is when we find out she hasn't had a boyfriend for years and hasn't been bothering to pluck her eyebrows. Del Toro's back-story turns out to be his need to avenge his wife and daughter's over the top murders. Yawn. Del Toro, to his credit, gives the best performance in the film, and reminded me of a manky Brad Pitt.
It's yet another male power fantasy, and a real waste of Emily Blunt's talents. After her great performance in Edge of Tomorrow I had been hoping for more butt kicking, but she literally does nothing in the whole film. The film could have almost made up for this, and had some kind of point to it, if it had allowed her a final moment of agency at the end by forcing Del Toro to kill her, but instead she just has another cry.
There are a couple of nicely made tense action sequences (involving the male characters of course), however they are lost in the dreary pacing of the rest of the film (I think the creators were aiming for prolonged artful suspense, but they failed).
Instead of watching this film I could have stayed home and done the dishes. As it is they are still piled up waiting for me. In an alternate universe they are done by now and I never wasted my time on this piece of garbage.