2.75/5

if i would have watched this in my 20's, boy this would have been a thing. challenging conventions, posing philosophical quandries; what a thing to behold.

now, in my 40's and having spent some real time actually thinking about my religion/spirituality/philosophy; this ain't so impressive. but to be fair, for many folks, this undoubtedly passes as a serious thelogical analysis; 2004's crash for theology.

it's pop, and again.... that's fine. but, the reams of exposition get old. because of…

is it shallow; oh yes.

does it have one thematic and narrative note in it's arsenal; double yes.

is it fun; absolutely.

does it have stylistic and visual flair and does it actually focus on the audio/visual elements of moviemaking, yes, yes, yes.

but, it also overstays it's welcome and has nowhere thematically to go but up, up, up, and

the problem with this crescendo is that what starts out as a fairly realistic universe ends up in the most…

3.25-3.5
i'm no fanboy of this franchise; well.... i'm no fanboy of any franchise for that matter.

that being said, this was solid. for a flick like this to work and work well, it needs to have some things we expect from the genre and to avoid stupid things.

it achieves some of that pretty well.

good energy
good pacing
good set pieces
good set design
good tone
avoids, unnecessary exposition, stupid dialogue, and too much emphasis on character building…

Really a 3.25

A movie that aspires to be taken seriously, and for long stretches achieves this admirably. Unfortunately though, too many cheap moments dilutes the seriousness of the film.

An interesting and topical premise, this film follows the logical consequence of all the hyperbolic talk surrounding America's politics into the arena of a civil war. The framing device is that of a war time journalist.

Along the way, we're introduced to the young female character who serves as a…