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Reviews
A Quiet Place (2018)
had potential and ... it's gone
I will make this as quick as possible. The acting is great. The story could have been great. It is a somehow slow burner. Whoever wrote the part of the daughter knows a lot about daughters and teenagers, but absolutely nothing about postapocalyptic scenarios and survival; daf is all I can say, most of the times you want to plainly slap her in the face, but that would attract the alien predators. Btw who designed the creatures? Another bad decision. The film and the plot though are nicely dramatic at times. But who lets a 4-year-old walk with absolutely no surveillance whatsoever in a lethally compromised planet for f's sake?! Who gets pregnant on aforementioned planet? Why on earth would you leave a helpless pregnant woman alone to go reminisce your grief and guilt over the death of your little brother though you know exactly what can happen? Why go fishing on that day with your other son? Why does the dread of a pregnancy and imminent childbirth on aforementioned planet need to be taken further dramatically by stepping on a pointy nail on a wooden step while water and blood flow between your thighs? Is it not already catastrophic enough that the frigging baby is coming in a postapocalyptic world? Why this cheap exaggeration with a nail in her foot? Why is this a horror movie? It is a disaster movie. All sorts of catastrophes happen on the same day. Birth of the baby, death of a caring --or careless, since it depends how you see it- father, both kids gone missing lighting a camp fire on top of a silo, then falling into the silo, aliens hunting them every step of the way and all on the same day, though their last encounter was year ago as their little boy was killed by an alien, aliens in the house, the soundproof cellar they built for the baby flooded and ruined, another alien in their other cellar... The film could have gone with the title "As bad as it gets", because it gets awfully bad, all lost on one day. And the only good thing is the baby and that the hearing aid can overpower an alien depending on the frequency. Anyhow, it is a decent film, but it is nothing you haven't seen before and only the acting and the premises deserve a good rating.
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
extinction promised and delivered
I am a huge fan of the Transformers, been that since I was a kid back in the 80s, I loved the movies too, but this movie ruined just about everything I hoped and liked about them. Too much on all and any level. Too many explosions, too much of a mess, too much talking, too much dialogue gone wrong, too much product placement, too many unlikeable heros. Mark Wahlberg is mediocre, to say the least, you couldn´t care less about his daughter, Tessa,and Shane. Repulsively conservative world view, too martial, Bumblebee either behaving like a teenager or an oversized bodyguard of humans he has never met before, being handled by random humans like a slave, no bonding, no character evolving, no connection, no chemistry, utter ruin. Plot holes everywhere. Shane fastening his seat belt in the middle of devastation, which takes place in China for no reason whatsoever, just to please the crowds. The legend called Optimus Prime, looking like a robot on steroids delivering the one cheesy line after another, ending the kill of Lockdown with the words "honor to the end" and then "defend this family, defend...what they can be" without providing a single reason and any answer on the reasonable question: Why?! Ratchet has practically been slaughtered, he himself, Optimus, was more than once almost taken out by these same humans and "what they can be", he has stated that he is done with humans and Earth but now all of a sudden, having killed Lockdown, the sky is blue again and his creators would be well advised to "leave Earth alone, for he is coming for them". Optimus, the leader of leaders, is bipolar or something? Why should anyone care about the Yeagers or any human whatsoever? Then the Dinobots degraded to pets chewing on highly advanced robots, which by the way can disassemble and reassemble themselves anytime on a molecular / particles-whirling-in-the-air level, but are exactly that easily stabbed, beheaded, shot at, dismembered and chewed upon by just about anything. Then the product placement which has here gone to extremes. Then random new Autobots out of nowhere, no justification, no plot involvement, just guns and random explosions all over the place. Then Galvatron or Megatron reincarnated complaining around with a high pitched voice calling to "his brothers" that they find him "that Seed" and having no share in the story whatsoever other than a few explosions and a lot of ruin "his brothers looking for the Seeeeeeed" cause. Then Galvatron disappearing just as easily with the words "we will meet again, Prime". Seriously? That is the all-powerful Megatron reincarnated? What are you? 12 years old? It is supposed to be Megatron for crying outloud. I could go on forever and it would not change a thing. This review is the exact same mess the film was. What a disappointment! 3 stars for the very nice rendition of a very virile independent Lockdown and the Dinobots randomly ruining anything in their pass (but unable to coordinate their own movements...anyhow, I am done here too).
The Gifted (2017)
a bit too much
I do not know how I should feel about this. I guess, I´ve seen worse und worst und this is not so bad. I decided to watch it on a hunch and I do not regret having done so, but there are some things going wrong here. The teenie storylines of Andy and Lauren, yeah, I get those, they are just teens, some things I just overlook, when it comes to them, but not the parents.
I´ve watched, what now, three episodes and I am not satisfied with what I am watching. The father is just not credible, 20 years a prosecutor and he changes to a totally-ok-with-this gullible fugitive over night, just because he loves his family, so a change like that should just be- -what? obvious? It is not, not after 20 years of ruthless prosecution! And the mother? I don´t know who wrote her, but her actions and reactions are often horrifically moronic and annoying. Whoever wrote her part, did not do the show a favor.
Other than that, the acting is mostly decent and the mutant abilities and cgi do not overwhelm. It is interesting to see the mutants generally interact, not just in action scenes, I do like that, even though some lines are cheesy. Someone who has been hunted and discriminated all his life, will not just say "yeah, I´ve done some stupid things out of love too" after yet another incredibly moronic move Caitlin pulled in the third episode jeopardizing the whole underground hq. A grown up woman sleeps with a kitchen knife on a sofa but is still in doubt when she has to haul @ss and get the f... away from her brother´s house? Instead she decides to stay over the night and still has not made up her mind to just get her kids and run when two leaders of the underground operation show up telling her "if we can find you, so can others"?
Who wrote this episode? Can someone tell me who wrote this plainly horrifically moronic character? He should be sued because he is ruining every shred of credibility the show has. Dramatic build-up and inner conflicts and loyalties and taking risks because of them, yes that I get, but not when it goes overboard on blatant stupidity. I would have given the show more than six stars, but moron Caitlin just ruins it sometimes and that is poison for an action / sci fi / fantasy series.