Unbelievable.
Comes right up to the edge of a cliff above sugary, saccharine waters but never falls in. I almost wish there was no original score as it was the only thing that felt a tad syrup-y. Not bad mind you, just more conventional, as opposed to the naturalistic, unemphatic tone of everything else. This is a remarkable premise that’s 99% wise enough to let it speak for itself (without any superfluous “hat on a hat” flourishes).
And the only…
The action is clear and Paul W.S. Anderson makes some interesting shot choices! Let him direct the inevitable REIGN OF FIRE reboot I say.
There’s a scene where Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa basically re-enact the “Princess Leia offers Wicket some food” scene from JEDI so MONSTER HUNTER gets a like.
“They seek delay, we seek justice.”
I was a huge Michael Jackson fan for most of my life until I watched LEAVING NEVERLAND (2019) and used the most rudimentary critical thinking and empathic tools at my mental disposal to rule that the deceased pop star was a serial abuser.
I’m ready to hurl Jackson’s lawyers and their souless foot soldiers* into the sun. While Part II is much, much shorter and even pads some of that runtime with the same…
I was bawling during the final minutes.
The film on its own is enough but spooky shit happened during my solitary midnight viewing in the objectively haunted city I live in (Savannah) that I will never forget (wow my vacuum cleaner just decided to turn on for no reason at all during the climax for the first time ever!!!)
WTF.
“Embrace the mystery” to quote A SERIOUS MAN.
anyway, 5/5
