maliapac Reviews

The Dark Tower (2017)

Worst movie of the year.

[3/10 · 4 October 2017]

Worst film of the year in my personal opinion. You have MM and Elba, you have 8 - EIGHT - books of material, and you do a movie that is hour and a half long, you butcher the material, and after all, you don't make the Gunslinger the central character in the movie.

This project should've been straightforward: Chronologically you start with the genesis of the conflict between Ronald and the Man in Black, you build your characters toward the conflict aka Last Stand, and you end the movie in the dark, just before the start of the first book. Movie of 2, 2.5 hours, dark, with R-rating. You exploit the potential of the brilliant actors at your disposal.

You just don't do this. Rubbish. I gave it three stars just because of McConaughey and his obviously good performance as the Man in Black.

Sense8 (2015–2018)

Great series, but it requires patience and understanding.

[10/10 · 5 June 2015]

It isn't 9 but I will give it one just in spite of all the haters. I just watched four episodes of the show and it isn't bad at all. Just the contrary. It is one of the best SF shows in the last few years. I will try to explain why.

Straczynski is an old-school storyteller. His stories are methodical and often revealed in the later stages of the show (remember B5 where the whole S1 was an expose only). "Sense8" isn't any different. It's a show where the story begins after the first few episodes so if you don't have patience to wait and see into what will the story develop just don't watch it. However, if you acknowledge that and give the show a chance you'll see that it's a testament of tolerance. In the beginning of the show 8 people are interconnected. They can literally "feel" each other. That's freaky. But they are all as different as they could be. They also come from different continents and different surroundings. "Sense8" asks us to have faith in each other and perhaps even to coexist because and not in spite of our differences. However, story is slow, and in the beginning there is just to many characters to feel any real connection to any of them. It doesn't matter really. We can see the sketches of the things to come.

"Sense8" tackles some serious subjects. Homosexuality, transgender relations, racial differences, feminism and deficiency of capitalism.

Of course, all that criticism probably won't appeal to everyone and it will probably offend the feelings of the conservative viewers but neither Wachovskis nor Straczynski are worried about that.

"Sense8" does what it describes. It introduces us to the bigger picture. The story will fully develop in the later stages, the universe of the S8 is just fleshed out here. This passed with B5 in the nineties but today when people are watching their cellphones while watching the movie and when everything must happen now or it doesn't matter anymore - S8 is a bit anachronistic. It's not made for everyone and it won't be liked by everyone. But it isn't bad. On the contrary, it's one of the best SF series in a while.

Strange Days: Cold War Britain (2013– )

"Strange Days" has very interesting perspective

[8/10 · 23 October 2014]

"Strange Days: Cold War Britain" in only three episodes changes cold war perspective. In modern days that perspective is mainly from the US corner, but here we have unique opportunity to see the British viewpoint on some major events of that conflict. In the light of the modern events with Russia question arises, is Cold War really over and who (if anybody) has won? "Strange Days" won't answer those questions and it has some shortcomings, primarily on lacking objectivity and demonizing communism and Russia, but it's most comprehensive take on British Cold War to date and because of that - recommended to everyone interested in the subject.

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014 Video)

Marvel should rethink their strategy of the animated film.

[3/10 · 17 March 2014]

"Marvel" should stop butchering our favorite heroes by badly reworking them as Japanese anime. I like anime (the good anime) but in this movie the plot, the dialogs, the direction were just as bad as the worst anime titles.

Illogical cuts, characterization of protagonists (especially Punisher), shallow Fury, shallow BW; unnecessary love twist and motivation of the evildoers is so bad that this film could easily be one of the worst comic adaptations ever.

All falls apart in trying to explain the moral code of the main characters and, as we know from the comics, the question of morality for Punisher and Black Widow is the shadow line if there ever was one.

Marvel should employ some good comic screenwriters for their animated movie section and make them see DC's "Dark Knight Returns 1/2" to be sure that the characters and the storyline will be treated properly. That is, if "Marvel" really care about animated section at all. With the last year "Iron Man: Rise of Tehnovore" , "Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United" and now this; Marvel is making themselves a bad reputation as far as the animated movies go.

Terrible movie. Not recommended to anyone. It doesn't matter if you're comic book fan or not. The people who did it just don't have the slightest idea about the characters on which they were working, and I should say even about good Japanese anime either.

Transfer (I) (2010)

One of the best SF movies in recent years!

[9/10 · 18 February 2014]

Thank you Netflix. Damir Lukacevic is for me surprisingly unknown director and writer of the film (and I'm coming from Croatia).

"Transfer" is a great movie with a wonderful story with wonderful social criticism, black and white racism, corporation exploitation, cultural differences and exploitation of the poor people. Storyline is the main quality of this movie, direction is surprisingly good; only acting performances could be better. Nevertheless, comparison with "Gattaca", "Blade Runner" or SF canon "Dune" is inevitable. Is it morally OK to transfer one's consciousness, and can we talk then about preservation of humanity or its final perversion? Do we have the right to play with nature in such way?

"Transfer" is one of the best SF movies I watched in recent years. Hopefully, Hollywood filmmakers will learn from this masterful piece of storytelling.

Eternal Beloved (2009)

Great and deep movie

[8/10 · 17 July 2010]

I was thinking that this is one of the movies that are predictable and with no deepness. I was so wrong, even as I thought that I can predict the story, parallel stories of the film caught me in the tiny web of perfect graphic, and crossroads. Then I realized that the message of the film is very important, and must be seen all the way. Some reviews here brought my expectations very low, but this film shows once again that you can't trust them until you watch the movie. Acting is great, graphic compelling, but the story... it's a real surprise, because yes, it is predictable up to a point. But even a predictable stories if they're done well can catch an imagination. Feeling that i had after i watched this movie was pleasant. And that's something that i haven't felt for a long while.