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Ad Astra (2019)
6/10
Great visuals, but nothing else really stands out.
21 June 2020
Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones can act, but when the script goes out of its way to portray them as stoic characters searching for real emotions.

Pitt's character is depicted as being a superman of sorts, handling various situations with ease and outclassing almost everyone around him in technical proves and knowledge.

His qualities serve him well in space, but perhaps the focus on his skills is a way for his character to flee from his past, with a distant father figure who he cannot live up to even if he tried.

The movie tries to convey some chemistry between father and son, but just doesn't make it work properly.

Tommy Le Jones' character had a very interesting backstory, but he doesn't get enough screentime to give us more insight into his character conviction and how perhaps his ultimate fault in the end is being an optimist and dreamer in a nigh robotic age.

Almost every main character in the movie seems somewhat detached from emotion, and perhaps the movie is trying to depict a future where human emotion is best left behind in the pursuit of space exploration.

This movie had the potential, but couldn't quite figure out how to implement all these ideas in a way that would grip the viewer more and flesh out its main characters enough for us to care more for them.
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FirstBorn (2016)
6/10
Solid on all fronts!
21 May 2020
This "small" movie really surprised me for its premise and really solid special creature effects.

The acting is believable and the movie doesn't play it safe and breaks many of the tired Hollywood formulas seen in many suspense/horror movies. The ending leaves you think about what will happen to the poor girl who is being followed by supernatural entities.
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5/10
What a wasted oppurtunity
3 May 2020
As a massive Godzilla/monster movie fan I thoroughly enjoyed Gareth Edwards' Godzilla (2014). This new addition to the Hollywood franchise is devoid of what made Edwards' movie so gripping and atmospheric.

King of the monsters feels like a rushed sequel more than anything, as it somehow manages to botch a terrific formula set by Edwards' and comes off as a B-movie attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle as was the case in 2014.

What made the first movie so enjoyable was the pacing, and constant atmosphere of dread surrounding the protagonists, the situation felt like it was untenable. The way that the angles played into the illusion of these massive monsters gave the movie its plausibility and helped to solidify the monsters presence even more.

In this sequal, the cinematography devolves into cartoon territory with close ups and flying panning shots of the various monsters fighting it out. The realistic, slow and methodical movements of the monsters in the first movie (2014) are completely absent here with monsters moving about like they weigh nothing and as if gravity doesn't apply to them. It takes away the illusion that these creatures are real and massive, in some shots they look more miniature than hulking.

The human characters are also overstaying their welcome here, because they are solely put in the movie to dump exposition but do not have the conviction of a masterclass actor like Cranston (2014) to carry the movie's plot.

Once the monsters are shown (very early on in the movie), we get bored by their presence. The monster fights as fast and frantic as they may be look cheap and badly cut, so that we rarely get a good wide shot of the action as was the case Edwards' movie.

Not even Hawkins and Watanabe who return to reprise their roles can bring enough emotional weight to the table and they are in the end completely wasted here, because the movie doesn't have time for them to mature enough for us ultimately care. Funnily the screen-time they had in the original (2014) was better spent to flesh out their characters more than it is here, even though they seem to have more screen-time this time around.

The CGI also seems to have been degraded, looks like the budget could not accommodate the bold vision of this movie. Ultimately there are too many set-pieces and too many badly shot fights which become numbing to the point that they lose any impact.

Godzilla (2014) knew how to string events together and build up the tension and then release it with great action set pieces that never overstayed their welcome, this is simply not the case in the case here, and the movie somehow manages to bore more than it entertains which I never would have thought I would say about a big budget Godzilla movie.
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The Intruder (I) (2019)
5/10
A mostly forgeatable thriller, partially saved by Mr. Quaid
2 May 2020
The intruder is your typical thriller centred around characters that are exposed to a mentally unstable individual who slowly but surely is out to get them. What really saves this movie is Dennis Quaid's performance, his character seems to have conviction and even though he plays the antagonist, he carries the movie from start to finish.

The protagonists are a mixed bag of stereotypical characters, Meagan Good's character seems to be completely oblivious to Quaid's character's ulterior motives even though they are clear as daylight, and her husband played by Michael Ealy is indecisive and even shady in some aspects, only to go against his own character development at the end of the movie.

Thus it becomes increasingly difficult to root for the supposed protagonists and you kind of begin to side with Quaid's character because he looks like he actually has fun with his on-screen performance.

It is a very predictable and formulaic genre-piece which doesn't have the needed twist in it to separate itself from the flock. The only "twist" if one could call it that, is seeing veteran actor Dennis Quaid take on a role that we rarely ever see him in, and he does a very competent job carrying this movie the whole way through.
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9/10
An absolute classic that would have never been made in this day and age
28 April 2020
The last boy scout is perhaps the epitome of the slapstick, frantic and highly entertaining breed of 90's action movies. It ticks off all of the boxes that were associated with this kind of movie back in the day, and it does it so well that in my humble opinion stands the test of time.

Shane Black's script and story is simply awesome and late great director Tony Scott holds nothing back in this hybrid of "Die Hard" meets "Lethal weapon". Willis is here in his best action years, displaying a cool demeanour whilst cracking jokes left and right and just not giving a damn. Likewise, his unexpected alley superbly well played by Damon Wayans is the perfect counterweight to Willis' character, and the movie soon teaches us that if only the two can find a way to stand each other then they become nigh unbeatable.

Much can be said about the movie's plot and how it intertwines action, humour and tragedy into one big monster, but one thing is certain it would not have been made today. This is a pure man-oriented guilty pleasure with jokes and themes which would make a modern women's blood boil. The movie depicts women as being unreliable and careless individuals, and even Willis' character's daughter is scrutinised to an unhealthy degree by her dad just be he confronts his wife in a pivotal moment early in the movie.

It is perhaps this lack of balance and a focus on macho energy that ultimately gives the movie its strengths - The movie makers here are not afraid to offend and will happily do so if it can get another joke in for the audience to laugh about. Another hallmark is how the script is literally filled with gags and jokes, where almost every scene has some underlying humour tucked within it whether it be light or dark.

Re-watching this classic just reaffirms its qualities to me time and time again, the script, actors, direction, music, and set pieces all just fit together to form at off-beat buddy cop action flick that just might make you enjoy every second of its unadulterated madness.
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8/10
An Intriguing modern mystery-thriller that is full of surprises
26 April 2020
This movie is a masterclass in suspenseful development, bringing to the table a rock-solid cast of veteran actors and newer faces. Blending interesting story telling and engaging characterization the movie's plot unfolds in an unexpected way, enticing the viewer to keep watching for it all to unfold.

Appearances can be deceptive and this movie employs this tactic to set up an arena of sorts where the characters at the hotel are forced to come to terms with their reality and forge interesting alliances.

Bridges and Hamm are excellent in almost everything they have ever done, so and this in no exception. What really surprised me was Hemsworth's performance! Hemsworth's character comes out of left field and enriches the tension of the plot, and the Australian actor nails it this time around, delivering a very believable performance, proving that he isn't just a one trick pony who usually gets type cast as an action hero. Lewis Pullman is also very effective as the nervous hotel clerk who is hiding more than meets the eye.

The female cast is nothing short of amazing, Cynthia Erivo is especially effective as the struggling Afro-American singer with a golden voice. Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny play well off each other as two sisters with a dark past. Mixed together this becomes a total package of intrigue, suspense, interesting characterizations and ultimate pay off. What more could you ask for?
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Mandy (I) (2018)
7/10
Completely off the rails, but in a good way!
25 April 2020
Mandy is just too weird at times to be taken seriously, but it knows how to delve into the depths of human depravity and misery. And this is where is succeeds to trigger the right emotional response in the viewer, lending its characters a sense of believability amidst a cast of outcasts and downright psychopathic characters. Cage is cast just right as the quite yet potent avenger of his beloved Mandy, willing to go the extra mile to see the ones responsible for his tragic predicament get what is coming to them.

The cinematography is truly absurd at times, it feels like the filmmakers had experimented with various type of mushrooms and other recreational drugs to come up with the coloration and lightning effects in the movie. But this in turn ends up being completely viable as the plot and its characters are just as extreme as the cinematography itself, one could call it a perfect marriage of form and function blending abstract art-form with just as abstract characterisations.

If you can stomach some of the more gruesome scenes in the movie, then give this one a go!
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Extraction (2020)
5/10
Over the top action seldomly carries an entire movie by itself.
25 April 2020
Extraction is technically well made, and features action that is shot at exciting angles and is paced just right to keep it grounded enough to pass off as realistic, it manages to pull that off over movies like "John Wick 3" where the absurdity and frequency of the action becomes numbing.

Where Extraction gets tiring for me was the entire premise of the story being delivered in such small and IMHO insignificant chunks that any opportunity to flesh out the main protagonist played by Hemsworth is ultimately squandered. The movie feels like a video game where the viewer is taken through one action-packed scene to the next all while the human element of the characters is left woefully unexplored.

The art of action movie making seems to have shifted more to elaborate stunt and special effect extravaganza, while ignoring the more intimate and quite moments needed for the characters to become likeable enough for you to care for them. Comparing modern action movies to the offerings from the 70-90's era, it becomes all too evident to me that this genre has seen a noticeable decline in quality over the years and extraction is a painful reminder of this.
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The Possession (I) (2012)
6/10
An all-round competent supernatural horror!
21 March 2020
The possession (2012) follows a father, very well-played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan who's life is taking a turn for the worse, with family issues which would be enough to haunt anyone. If that wasn't enough his daughter comes in possession of a Dybbuk box which hides much more within than meets the eye.

Things take a turn for the worse when the daughter, played well by Natasha Calis becomes possessed and leaving her in severe danger. The father must now race against time to find someone who can help him to identify and exorcise the entity which torments his daughter.

The movie employs good effects which are aren't overboard but are enough to give you a good scare. Anything that has to do with religion be it "The Omen" or "exorcist" has deep roots in our cultures and can therefor be extremely effective, and this movie uses this element to great effect.
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5/10
Flawed contribution to the Alien franchise, still better than Prometheus...
21 March 2020
Mr. Ridley Scott had a vision which in the end flies directly in the face of everything we have come to understand about the Alien species and it cinematic universe.

Without going into spoiler territory, Alien Covenant is the continuation of 2012 "Prometheus", and tries to connect the dots between the "architects" and the xenomorphs, by completely demolishing the franchises prior world and story building.

The results feel rushed and carelessly constructed to move the plot from A to B. The creature effects and gore are masterfully done, but the whole setup feels somewhat recycled and ultimately meaningless when we find out how the xenomorphs came to be. We are no longer dealing with an intelligent parasitic alien lifeforms, but more of a tool for revenge by an interesting yet unbelievable character, well played by Michael Fassbender.

The conclusion may just leave you with a bad taste in your mouth as the complexity and intriguing nature of the xenomorph becomes to dulled down in favour of more philosophical exposition of the concept of creation and meaning of life, I kid you not...
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Orphan (2009)
7/10
A disturbing and all-around well made psychological thriller/horror flick
21 March 2020
Orphan (2009) is by all accounts somewhat of a sleeper hit. I only watched the film in its entirety more than 10 after it was released, but being a big fan of the "evil child" horror subgenre with one of my all time favorites being the likes of "The Omen" (1976) - I rarely found a good contender which had the quality of startling me and leaving a strong impression on me upon first viewing.

Orphan is that kind of movie, where the antagonist, meticulously and disturbingly well-played by then only 10-year old Isabelle Fuhrman elevates the entire premise and suspense of the film by a country mile. Consider the creepy and well played antichrist by Harvey Spencer Stephens in the original Omen and apply that same level of craftmanship and turn it up a notch and you get Fuhrman's level of intimidating and manipulative presence on screen.

The premise of the story is very simple, as the Coleman family who still is marked by their loss of a stillborn daughter try to move on with their lives by adopting an orphan - thus channeling the love they reserved for their own unborn child to another that deserves it as equally. They get invested in a 9-year old girl with an eastern accent who talks beautifully and complex (way above of what is expected of her age), and adopt her.

The movie has strong characterizations by the protagonist mother played solidly by Vera Farmiga who senses that there is something wrong with their newly adopted daughter Esther.

Sadly the movie keeps falling back on classic horror clichés of having extremely violent and suspicious events happen to or near the family, conveniently after Esther enters their lives, where seemingly ignorant characters are unwilling to see the clear signs. The situation is of course not helped by the frivolous and flawed husband, competently played by Peter Sarsgaard, who seems somehow bewitched by Esther's very mature way of thinking and conducting herself when she is around him. She is able to charm him into believing her every word and by giving him a new level of interactivity which he seemingly cannot get from his real daughter, Max, who is deaf and is very well-played by Aryana Engineer. The Coleman's son, Daniel, solidly played by Jimmy Bennet isn't exactly "wonderchild" material and feels that something is off with Esther. He too now has to take a backseat to his dad's seemingly new favourite little girl in the household.

The absurdity of this plot is somewhat mitigated by convenient prior events which invoke instability in the family with the mother having lost her credibility due to her neglect in an accident which could have gone very wrong, prompting her husband and the people around her to question her sanity, and the rift between the couple is widened due to subsequent reveals of betrayal by the husband.

All of this contributes to an extremely vulnerable family dynamic and it becomes the perfect playground for Esther who through masterful manipulation begins to tear the family apart to fuel her own disturbing ulterior motives.

As the poster says: "There is something wrong with Esther", the big reveal and some very morally questionable scenes leading up to it will most likely leave you speechless.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra does a great job at presenting this almost surreal story to us with great angles and overall pacing. Due to the solid performances the films 2+ hour running time flies by fast!

Fuhrman however, completely steals the show here, as she establishes a new standard for child performances in horror movies. Her portrayal of the character is deep, manipulating, charming, dark and most of all disturbing - to think that she was just 10 years old during the production is mind-blowing, but was just what the movie needed to pull off some of its more unbelievable and perfunctory parts.

If you can stomach it, then Orphan (2009) comes highly recommended!
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6/10
Could have been much worse.
26 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
JW:Fallen Kingdom is not a perfect sequel by any means, but it does deliver on good action and plenty of dinosaur scenes.

Some of the trailers were really misleading as I had hoped that Jeff Goldblum's iconic character Dr. Ian Malcolm would return as a staple in the series again, but sadly his presence here is more of a cameo than anything else.

Chris Pratt is as always a good lead and balances out the often absurd plot which sees rich capitalist scrambling to make a buck by selling their dinosaurs for what amounts to pocket change when compared to what was said about the running costs of the parks in previous movies in the franchise! Isla Sorna is also completely left out - so much for continuity!

Almost the entire premise of The Lost World Jurassic Park is recreated here, a was the case in Jurassic World which was almost a Jurassic Park (1993) remake, and it seems that the studio has run out of ideas - still it isn't as bad what Disney is doing to the STAR WARS franchise, not even close!

All in all this movie cannot compete with the original Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, but it still manages to entertain.
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4/10
If only Lucas could return
28 October 2018
I don't feel like writing an essay on all of this movie's shortcomings, but the only thing I can say wholeheartedly is that whoever was at the helm of this project didn't understand Star Wars at the fundamental level. Disney simply can't make a decent STAR WARS movie to save their lives (Gareth Edward's spin off Rogue One aside), the main characters are almost all devoid of conviction.

Ray the protagonist is amazing at anything she does, she has zero dimension, and the entire plotline is absurd, where did the mean First Order come from? What is Snoke's goal? And why is Kylo a complete and utter bore without a hint of intimidating qualities? We may never know, but Disney added the ultimate insult to injury when they tampered with the franchise's perhaps most iconic character and that was where I drew the line. This is not Luke Skywalker and even Yoda's portrayal is nigh absurd which goes against everything we were taught in the other STAR WARS movies.

All in all, the paid-for-critics were giving this pile of vomit perfect scores, yet the fans have clearly spoken. Whatever happens next in the franchise is of no relevance any longer, this movie ruined any momentum "The Force Awakens" had amassed, and now we are left with a giant mess.

Lucas may have been complacent in how he later handled the STAR WARS franchise with infinite re-releases and touch ups of the old movies, but nothing as bad as this, mind you! This movie single handedly ruins almost everything that came before it. If I was the CEO of Disney I would be ashamed of myself and perhaps try to denounce this utter garbage and delete it from the canon as soon as possible.
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3/10
Jurassic Comedy
17 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Where to begin in describing this train wreck of a Jurassic Park movie? Let's start with the obvious, lackluster characterizations. Jurassic World reintroduces the character of Dr. Henry Wu, played by veteran actor BD Wong, and his appearance brought a smile to my face, only to be wiped off by his complete lack of conviction, the character is used for about 3 minutes and left out in favor of the rest of the cast.

What we are given here are flat characters with minimal material to work with, Howard is almost completely void of conviction and looks like a robot with high heels, her supposed connection to her nephews (the two boys) is shoe horned for dramatic effect, but the performance given by Robinson and Simpkins are so mundane and heartless you are left wishing they get killed and eaten by the antagonist Indominus-Rex, so their miserable existence has a meaningful ending. At a chase the two boys are forced to jump down a waterfall to escape the I-Rex, their expression and complete lack of tension reveals the green screen they were facing at that day of filming, absolutely no emotion whatsoever is conveyed by these two. For all I care they could have been chased by a chicken, because that is the reaction they were conveying in the movie. But I must digress, as we move forward the film presents us with D'Onofrio's character, an idiot planning to use raptors as bio weapons, the absurdity in the notion alone is cringe worthy, but is topped off when this moron starts to argument for why it would work, I found myself laughing out loud in the theater as this was pure comedic gold, although not intentional, I am sure. This movie has more stupidity than all the previous 3 movies combined, to progress the incredibly shallow storyline some characters must behave as complete idiots, enter Simon Masrani (head of the park) played by Irrfan Khan who changes character when the script demands of him.

Masrani is introduced as a sensible leader, who looks after the guest and dinosaurs alike, yet when faced to destroy the I-Rex he refuses to give the order due to the high costs associated with making this hybrid dinosaur, this of course at the expense of human lives who are sent in for a slaughter. But it doesn't end there, Masrani has just learned how to fly helicopters and is seen partaking in an attempt to kill the I-Rex. Let me repeat, a newly certified amateur helicopter pilot with zero experience as a combat pilot flies a helicopter full of armed guards and a mini-gun mounted, he then jokingly says to his employees "This is like having a general fly his soldiers into battle", the sheer nonsense at display was painful to endure. Of course, this buffoon loses control of the helicopter and crashes it into a dome releasing hundreds of flying prehistoric animals who conveniently all fly directly to the human populated area of the island.

To a point the CGI is handled respectively on the main antagonist the I-Rex, the raptors on the other hand look cheap and so does the iconic T-Rex at the end of the movie, its as if they ran out of time or money to polish the rest of the prehistoric cast.

And let me tell you is the final fight a bore, not because the entire movie was trash, but because Trevorrow and his team managed to destroy the iconic T-Rex once and for all. The T-Rex is portrayed horribly, the way it moves and the way it looks differs so strongly, from what we have come to expect in the Jurassic Park series that is downright insulting. This T-Rex does not even have the same appearance as the ones seen in the last three films; it looks flat, broken and its animation clunky. The final fight looked like two rubber dinosaurs where hammering each other, their necks lose as if they were dolls, the short Jurassic Park 3 battle between the T-Rex and Spinosaurus was a masterpiece compared to this. In Jurassic Comedy the T-Rex's head swung around like it was in a spasm, the flips these dinosaurs do are reserved for fighting video games, not an ounce of authenticity was portrayed during the final battle sequence.

Trevorrow tries so hard to please with the T-Rex smashing through a Spinosaurus skeleton, as if it were some idiotic form of poetic justice looking back to Jurassic Park 3. There is really nothing positive I can say that could lift this movie the abyss it has fallen into. The only thing that works in the movie are the scenes with the I-Rex hunting down and killing guards, those scenes have a sense of tension and originality due to the I-Rex being a completely different beast than the rest, but when the movie tries to be a Jurassic Park movie if falls flat in almost every occasion.

Not even Pratt with his playful grin and uplifting action scenes can save this pile of Dino dung from being completely inferior to the other three films in the series. The Lost World may have had very questionable morale that prioritizes dinosaurs over humans and some plot holes but it was 10x the fun and thrill of Jurassic Comedy, and Jurassic Park 3 for all its goofy moments and simple concept was still true to its roots and presented a believable adventure with characters you grew to like. This is just a Jurrasic Cash Grab with no soul it exists purely to capitalize on the name of the franchise, and it has succeeded, but its box office does not reflect the movies qualities. As I left the theater, I saw many who were gazing at the floor they knew they had just seen the rape of a once great movie franchise.
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Godzilla (2014)
8/10
A very thorough and modern take on GODZILLA
17 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Godzilla (2014) is a very competent monster movie, with easy to follow plot and likable characters, containing some of the best CGI ever done in a movie.

The monster action is very well made, and many scenes are foreboding, dark and atmospheric. It does take a while for Godzilla to show up, but the antagonist monster(s) are interesting creatures of their own, and help the movie not to drag.

The best human character is undoubtedly the one played by Bryan Cranston. He shows true depth, conviction and makes us care. It is then a big shame when he leaves the movie, early on.

The other characters, one of them played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson come off very wooden, and lack the display of human emotions in the light of such incredible and dangerous circumstances the movie presents.

Don't walk into this movie expecting action on the level of last year's Man of Steel or Pacific Rim, as much of the action is saved for last.

For monster movie fans, and Godzilla fans this is a must see. They left the ending open for a potential sequel, let's hope we see more of Godzilla on the big screen.
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6/10
A wasted opportunity
9 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Thor's character, motivation and relationship to his brother Loki and with a mortal young woman has been the focus of the first Thor movie and extended into the Avengers. Yet not much was ever revealed. I went into this movie, thinking that we would learn much more about Thor, his home world, his relationship with the young woman he loves, and the consequences Loki's actions have had for Thor's family. Only a very small portion of that is ever fulfilled in this movie.

Sadly, we don't see much character development, and not much consequence is given to the conflict that involves forgettable villains and schemes. The main characters are not given any time to reflect or show emotional attachment, even when one seemingly important character is killed. Furthermore the action scenes tend to be overdone, and lose interest as they go through the motions.

The movie is filled with humor, and in my opinion it goes too far. There is no investment to be made for the characters. I can understand when a movie does not want to take itself too serious, but this was bordering on comedy, where I thought that lines that were delivered didn't fit the intended mood of the scenes in any way.

The performances were very bland, and Loki's character seemed to be the only one believing he was in a science-fiction/fantasy world, whereas the rest of the cast were pretty much dialing it in.

So a missed opportunity, not even a big budget can save it from feeling perfunctory, with too many shallow underdeveloped characters and a boring conflict that doesn't seem to carry any real depth for us to care about.
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Man of Steel (2013)
8/10
A new Superman movie for new times.
16 June 2013
Man of Steel (2013) is a modern day take on the Superman lore, it introduces the viewers to Superman's past and his birth on Planet Krypton. The movie wastes no time and plunges the viewer into great action set pieces, while building the foundation for the movies lore.

The characters are believable and their performances are very solid for this type of movie. The critiques who slam the movie for not having enough humor or for over the top action are completely unfounded in their arguments and just prove how arrogant they are, this is not 1970's, hero movies must retain a serious tone to be relevant nowadays.

For the type of movie this is a 8/10 any day of the week! It is by far the most ambitious take on a Superman movie, and it whole heartily succeeds.

Go see this movie if you are a action/science fiction/superhero fan. You won't be disappointed.
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Anaconda (1997)
9/10
It will take your breath away!
29 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Some movies seem to be destined to be viewed as bad, even though they contain no bad elements at all, and are only loathed because of their premise; Anaconda (1997) falls into that category of movies.

What we have here is the best snake horror movie/creature feature ever created with an actual budget, good actors (great actors, Jon Voight!) and an interesting plot and setting which is used very skilfully by director Luis Llosa.

No doubt one of the most impressive and deadly reptiles on this planet, the giant green anaconda is the heavies and some might even argue the longest of all constrictors, and the snake has a mythical status as a ultimate predator in the Amazon, you simply can't argue that a 33 foot snake weighing more than 400 pounds isn't one of THE ultimate aquatic and terrestrial predators.

The plot is very straight forward, a team of film makers and scientists travel the Amazon River to document a illusive tribe and their ways of life, on their journey they stumble across a hunter (Jon Voight) who's boat is malfunctioning, they take him in, but soon find out that he has other plans, and is on the hunt for the giant anaconda.

The special effects are truly astounding for this type of movie, considering it was made in 1996. The animatronics snake is terrific, and is modelled very accurately to its real life counterpart, something that is imperative in a movie such as this; you want as much authenticity as possible. The CGI effects are very solid, and the score is catchy, yet suspenseful at the same time.

People seem to forget that many revered critics at the time of release praised the movie for being well constructed and acted, so the hate for it is completely unfound.

Of course we can't review this movie without mentioning the awful sequels that did made all the mistakes the first movie avoided, such as skipping out on authenticity making the snakes look like rubber bands more than actual anacondas.

Overall Anaconda, is a great snake horror movie worth watching, it has all the right ingredients of suspense, horror and humour with likable and believable characters and fantastic performance from Voight who steals the show.

I strongly recommend this movie.
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Dead Birds (2004)
5/10
A lot of potential gone to waste
20 February 2013
Dead birds has a couple of good things going for it, the scenery and time period and the depiction of anti hero characters that do not gather much sympathy during the first half of the picture due to events I won't spoil.

Where the movie falls short is in the presentation of the actual horror, very early on we get to see a frighting and hideous beast in daylight and the movie treats it with utmost indifference.

As the movie progresses, signs of imminent danger are displayed for the viewer yet nothing happens for a good while and the characters seem unresponsive or even interested in the deciphering the signs that something is horribly wrong, of course no horror movie would be without these conventions yet the movie wants to create a serious tone to which the actions of the characters does not lend itself to. One character even finds clear cut evidence that something monstrous is on the prowl, yet keeps it for himself as if he/she doesn't really bother.

The movie ends up reusing demonic/ghost themed thrills that have all been done better in other pictures and fails to capitalize on its strong parts (creature design) and shock the viewer, in the end the only thing that has some horror to it was what came before the climax early in the picture in bright daylight. Had the creatures been used properly we would have an effective horror as the creature design is very good, but ultimately underused.
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