Finally got around to watching this. I’ve put it off for a while since I figured it wasn’t for me and I didn’t want to be the guy crapping on the thing everybody likes.
I definitely liked it better than I thought I would. The load-bearing performances were mostly quite good. Jennifer Lawrence was great, as I expected. Woody Harrelson sold his fairly rote character with panache. However, I was really blown away by (and it really pains me…
Still so much better than a sequel to a Shrek spinoff had any business being. Makes a guy believe in the magic of feature animation.
Finally got around to watching this one. It’s easy to see how profoundly low budget it was especially with the ending. It works though. The loneliness and helplessness of getting way out of your depth is very real and very viscerally conveyed with the amateur cinematography and the improv acting.
The famous snot face shot is iconic because it works. The bulging eyes, the despairing sincerity, the snot. It all works.
I didn’t have a bad time, and I loved how it really leaned into the decadence and depravity of Rome this time.
That being said, there a lot of things that don’t work in this movie and the main character is one of them.
Denzel’s face in his last scene is (unironically) worth the price of admission though. His overall performance was a major highlight even if his character was a bit thinly drawn too.
