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TheOvereducated
I hope we have similar taste in movies,
'cause otherwise it sure can be annoying reading opposite movie reviews!
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Reviews
Halo (2022)
I blame the Gamers. 1st Season 10/10, 2nd Season 5/10.
So, what the hardcore gamers watching this show wanted was a TV series that was all the cut-scenes of the Halo games just filmed with real humans. Just like the "fantastic" HBO series The last of us. What would be the point and the originality in that?? Just go watch another gamer on YouTube playing those games while filming themselves for crying out loud!
Instead, the bold, visionary people behind this series decided to create something original and very intriguing BASED on the awesome heroic Master Chief and the great Halo games. Hence, the first season was truly FANTASTIC! Story, characters, acting, visuals... quality TV. I was promoting the series to all my friends. I even got myself a very cool Master Chief figurine to put next to my TV, ha!
Yet, the hardcore gamers' voices got so loud apparently, that the people behind the show decided to switch gears in Season 2 and basically move backwards, aiming to undo Season 1's doings and create a copy of the games for a TV show. In doing so, I was left very disappointed, desperately hoping that at some point they will follow Season 1's original idea again and everything will make sense. At least those hardcore gamers got satisfied, right? You'd think they'd still enjoy a taste of originality.
Maybe I was not the original target audience or maybe those conservative voices were so loud online, that non-gamers got convinced they shouldn't even give the show a chance, dooming it to change its target audience, thus losing its original idea and its motivation, eventually getting canceled. It is definitely a bummer.
PS. Heey I still have the awesome figurine!
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Nice pictures, big actor names, no content. A pity since Dune 1 was 10/10.
As unique and intriguing sci-fi Dune 1 was (10/10), Dune 2 was unfortunately a disappointment. It felt like a cheap copy of Dune 1. Dune 2 has shiny pictures, big actor names, yet no actual content.
There was almost nothing new, just a repetition of what we saw in Dune 1. The world, the story and the characters felt smaller. Seeing the same things (characters' actions, interactions, sceneries) again and again just made it boring. In the middle of the film I thought, I could leave right now and wouldn't care how the film ends. Did it have to be so long? There were a lot of insignificant scenes unrelated to each other that were too long (oh man and slow motion didn't help with that), while others related to character development were too short. It ended and not much of a story or character progress was made and nothing had stood out in my mind. Such a pity.
So many characters were badly developed. At one moment you see two characters still being in the same state they were in Dune 1 and at the next one they're deeply in love.
Why did they turn Bardem's character, a mysterious, strong and interesting character from Dune 1, into comic relief? Did we really need that?
(Too) late in the film we get introduced to Elvis, um sorry a bad guy - a totally generic character - and then we spend an oddly large amount of time just in the bad guy's world, where it feels as if a different film started in the middle of the actual one. Did they just randomly want to pay homage to "Gladiator"? Only Russell Crowe was missing from that scene sequence!
Lastly, they chose popular actors for small roles and cameos for no good reason. Was it for the hype? Christopher Walken's acting abilities were wasted. What did e.g. Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit), Pugh (Oppenheimer) or Seydoux (No time to Die) bring to the table? Poor Seydoux, an actor I like, all her character's scenes were ridiculous, with the culmination being ******SPOILER****** her touching her belly after an implied sex scene and saying "The bloodline is secured."... I felt that the whole cinema wanted to laugh out loud with the ridiculousness of the scene!
Haunted Mansion (2023)
Classic Disney film!
I liked the trailer, so I wanted to watch the film. The film exceeded my expectations, I loved it! It has that awesome vibe of classic Disney live-action films and it's for the whole family. It reminded me a little of Casper and Goonies, that I last saw when I was a teenager. I am also impressed with how they managed to make a *supernatural horror* comedy, without it being actually frightening for (older) kids nor childish for adults. It's not at all easy. Classic Disney!
Intriguing story with great character development / Solid acting from everyone / Funny / Great sets / A lot of practical action and good CGI
And all of that just based on a Disney's theme park attraction? How cool is that! (It is about time for me to visit that attraction...) I had a great time at the cinema and I'll definitely watch it again in my home with my family.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Unfortunately everything's wrong
I couldn't be more excited to go see it. My family and I are big fans of Tom Cruise's action films and mainly MI 4, 5 (and 6). I was so certain I'm going to watch this, that I had avoided any trailers and spoilers. The movie was a complete disappointment, I can't believe I'm writing this, and I'm saddened, because I'm afraid the franchise has run its course.
Throughout the whole duration, beginning with that cheap opening scene (btw why were they speaking in English?!), I was unconsciously trying to convince myself, that the "good part" is coming up, but it never did. The end credits started rolling almost 3 hours in and not a single scene had stood out in my mind. Everything was bland, forced and unoriginal. There was no story, rather a compilation of scenes [******Spoiler Alert: Key lost, key found, saved Grace, Grace stole key and escaped, repeat******]. It also felt like there were never any stakes, no one was ever in peril, and no one including me was having any fun. Additionally:
-Where was the great team element & dynamic we've seen in previous installments? Past characters were present here, yet never really utilized. Am I wrong, Ilsa? Was that a decent story arc for Ilsa, an awesome female character equivalent to Hunt we met in MI 5?
-What did Ethan Hunt bring to this mission? Anything? He could have been replaced by a generic agent.
-Why was Hunt so obsessed with Grace the whole time? 'cause she can pick-pocket greatly?! Her involvement felt out of place.
-Where was the actual "impossible" mission, where the stakes feel real and intelligence, teamwork and innovation is required?
-Was there anything you haven't seen before? Sure, it's pretty hard to create original content in a 7th MI, yet again, honor the previous installments and put in the work.
-Shockingly, all action scenes were lifeless and of low quality. Topping previous MI stunts must be almost "impossible" and sadly, they definitely made that clear here. Also, such a pity, that bad CGI and filming made it look as if Cruise didn't do his biggest stunts.
-MI films are also known for their wittiness and funny interactions during high stakes. Were there any jokes here that didn't feel forced?
Tragically, the awesome Top Gun 2 feels more like the sequel to MI 6 than this. MI 7 was lifeless, ultimately joyless and forced. It's such a bummer. I could also feel that the movie was filmed during the pandemic, many scenes where characters were discussing with each other didn't look good, because we were only seeing close-ups of each character. Did it really had to be filmed during the pandemic? Can Part 2 capture the previous awesome MI spirit? Too late for diferent director and screenwriters.
The Wedding Veil Journey (2023)
I loved it!
I loved it! I watched the movie on the Hallmark channel the other day and I really enjoyed it! It is a lovely story with a sweet message and solid acting from the cast. The characters were fun to watch. I really liked the actress playing Pen (Penelope), who helps them find a new hotel/inn. She was very funny in her scene at the beginning, I wanted to see more of her in the story! I also really liked the child actor playing Leo! Lastly, Greece's scenery on the island of Rhodes is gorgeous. The location added to the effectiveness of the romance and it also made me want to visit the island again!
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Incredible, just like The Matrix Trilogy
As a huge fan of The Matrix Trilogy, hearing of The Matrix 4 being in production was very disappointing to me. How could they have chosen to create a 4th movie when 3 concluded perfectly? Why change several cast members? They must have done it for the money, I thought. I couldn't resist watching the first trailer though... there was a new, interesting vibe, a different approach within the same universe...
I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised by The Matrix Resurrections!
Just like The Matrix Trilogy, Resurrections was incredible. 18 years later they managed to create an intriguing story, a fresh look into the Matrix world while staying true to the characters and maintaining the same unique core. Original, Emotional, Epic while offering a clever and subtle Criticism of our time... The Wachowskis have always been pioneers of our time. If you've also been a fan of The Matrix Trilogy, you shouldn't miss this.
Red Notice (2021)
B-movie with A-listers
Being a Netflix film I didn't have high expectations yet I had high-ish hopes. Unfortunately, it was a formulaic and low-quality movie:
1) It was unoriginal. It copies from Mission Impossible, National Treasure, Indiana Jones and the Ocean's Trilogy among others.
2) There are plenty of plot holes/oversimplifications just so the story can move forward.
3) The characters are badly written/feel unrealistic. Most of the time Johnson and Reynolds play themselves teasing each other and at some moments they play their characters and become sincere with each other. And Gadot's acting was too poor to convince me.
4) They try too hard to make the plot unexpected when it actually isn't.
5) There are too many (bad) green-screen scenes - I can let some of them go, since they had to film it during the pandemic, but then why put so many? Green-screened prison, jungle, Paris...
PS. It's such a bummer when you realize they've (chronologically) spoiled so much of the film on the trailer.
Rendez-vous chez les Malawas (2019)
I really like the recent years' French comedies!
The film is unique. Hats off to them for taking the risk of making an original and difficult film and pulling through. It's not the constantly "laugh out loud" comedy I was expecting, rather alternatively comedic and enjoyable. It also recaptures a bit of the classic french humour from the 60's (s. Actors like Louis de Funès and Bourvil). Similar to various French comedies of recent years, it strikes a balance between comedy and sweet life meanings. Lastly, all the actors - and as always Christian Clavier and Michaël Youn - are great.
Mystère à Saint-Tropez (2021)
Entertaining, fun & summery!
Another great french comedy from the latest years! We laughed out loud multiple times and enjoyed this film in an open air cinema. It recaptures classic french humour from the 60's (s. Actors like Louis de Funès and Bourvil). Christian Clavier is great as always and it's nice to see an unofficial reunion of Asterix & Obelix with Gérard Depardieu (Astérix & Obélix contre César (1999)).
The Dry (2020)
That's a great film.
I'm very glad I watched it. It's really a great film, from every aspect. Eric Bana's performance is great as well as the performances of all supporting actresses and actors. I'm looking forward to watching it in the cinema too.
Mes trésors (2017)
A very joyful film!
French cinema (especially comedy-action films) is still indeed very good and I'm very glad for it. Jean Reno is charming as always! He can play any role greatly. We also liked the two actresses playing his daughters. We enjoyed the film a lot!
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Important to have low expectations. That said, I enjoyed it.
I had to go see this, I've always been a fan of Terminator. I went with low expectations though, because of the movie's director. He has directed Deadpool (2016), one of the worst movies I've ever seen (thankfully without paying for it). There, the humor is as shallow as it gets and the story non-existent. Now let me sum up my thoughts for "Dark fate":
1) The backstory is clearly repetitive of past Terminator movies. There were also quite a few over-simplifications throughout the progress of the story.
2) It's duration was too long. Some scenes were dragging and when Arnold's character showed up, it felt as if a second movie is starting up.
3) Some "Deadpool-comedic" dialogue is present, but thankfully it works well here most of the time.
4) There are quite a lot of decent action scenes, very cool!
5) I didn't like the young Mexican actress's acting. I did like Hamilton's and Davis' though, and Arnold's obviously. Gabriel as a bad Terminator is also good, yet I find the Terminator from Genisys (Lee Byung-hun) more menacing.
Overall, "Dark fate" definitely had flaws and a not very creative story, thus it doesn't live up to the very good Terminator: Genisys, but it's still an enjoyable action movie.
Tenet (2020)
High quality B movie
The film clearly copies from other science fiction movies. There are similar scenes and ideas with iconic films such as the Back to the future trilogy and the Matrix trilogy, as well as recent ones like Looper and Nolan's own Inception and Interstellar. With that aside, the film had some good characteristics, but also many bad ones. The more you thought of it afterwards or in my case after seeing it twice in the cinema, the bad ones dominated, making the film a high quality B movie.
Having also seen Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy and Interstellar, Nolan's directing and writing style are found here too. He often has ambitious ideas, can build impressive action scenes and create entertaining cinematic experiences with high production value. However, as a screenwriter, his dialogue and representation of human relationships often lack depth. The dialogue often feels inauthentic, unnecessarily complex, superfluous or shallow and compromises an otherwise impressive scene (e.g. ********* SPOILER: Extremely important scene towards the end, where the character portrayed by Debicki kills the bad guy sooner than planned, knowing that this could destroy the entire planet! And then she says on the phone to her colleague, "I killed him earlier. I couldn't wait. It won't matter, unless you didn't do it (the thing he was suppose to do). Tell me you did do it, huh?" **********).
The lead actor's performance (Washington) was okay I guess?... whether intentionally or not, he highlighted the story instead of the character. Pattinson's interpretation was weak and Debicki's annoying. Branagh's performance was bad - he didn't feel like the character but rather like putting on a performance for the role. That's why his performance was the same from beginning to end (same voice, same look) and he weakened a very important character that should have been riveting since he was basically the core of the story.
On the contrary, what was impressive was the "time reversal" scenes mixed with real time. The editing, sound effects and music enhanced the action scenes and they were impressive, without any noticeable CGI.
Overall, the film was ambitious. The acting was BAD, yet the film somehow managed to be complex and entertaining during my 1st screening at the cinema. The fact that important information about the plot was revealed slowly during the film and that there were things we were contemplating even after it ended, are what kept us engaged throughout. We did leave the open-air theater entertained and I decided to watch it again in the cinema. Now, knowing the story, the bad acting and the shallow dialogue dominated my experience and worsen my review of the movie.
Maybe Nolan should give up screenwriting. And also fire the current casting director! Oh, and the sound editor was definitely into sound effects than dialogue! Wouldn't have understood anything withouts subs.
Cobra Kai (2018)
Went from attractive (S.1-2) to bananas (3)!
Reading about the plot synopsis of the series coming out 30+ years after the classic, great movie and watching its trailer made me look forward to it, it seemed promising. Of course the show is based on nostalgia; on the fact that you already know the characters from The Karate Kid movie(s). But they utilized nostalgia to create something interesting.
The series started (Season 1 and 2) and I was impressed and entertained by it. An intriguing story, kind of realistic (it involves a karate-rivalry between two grown-ups and plenty of school students often fighting each other), with some complex characters and with no plain Good vs. Bad. The character development was most of time interesting, with Zabka's character being the focus. I really liked Zabka's acting and the character he was portraying.
The series (Season 1 and 2) sure had its flaws. 1) Macchio's character's wife was an unrealistic character because she was the voice of 100% reason, as if she knew what is happening to all the characters of the series the whole time. 2) That actress's acting as well as some others' wasn't good. 3) Macchio's son was a cartoonish, unrealistic character for comic relief(?), because he's a spoiled kid addicted to technology and his otherwise good parents don't give a damn about his issues as if they only have a daughter.
Yet, I was enjoying the series a besides all that. Then the last episode of Season 2 comes up. It was exciting but shocking and after that CRAZY end of the fight I was asking myself 'HOW can they continue from there?'. Why did they have to go to that extreme? The series took a sharp turn in storytelling that was very risky.
...and then Season 3 comes and it goes bananas!
The dude went from *****SPOILER***** falling from the 1st floor on a handrail with his back and not dying (!), to waking up from the coma, then overcoming being a paraplegic and then fighting like Bruce Lee again like there's no tomorrow! And so many other things. Realism was deleted from the dictionary. Did the writers change? Did they decide to turn it into a Marvel non-sense "entertainment"? What a disappointment. It could have been a great 2 season show with a different ending in season 2. It takes guts to know when to stop and stop.
PS. Didn't even watch the whole season 3. Stopped after the 2nd episode, fast-forwarded scenes on all rest episodes and read the rest of the plot on wikipedia. All hail wikipedia!
Incredibles 2 (2018)
The trailer is doing the film injustice!
I am a fan of the first film. So when I saw that a sequel is coming to cinemas, I got excited! Then I watched the trailer... and I was disappointed. The story seemed pretty bland, almost non-existent. I actually got so unexcited, that I decided not to go to the cinema.
Then one day, recently, I said Ok, let's try to watch it on Disney+ and see... I really liked it! The story is intriguing - the trailer is definitely doing the film injustice - and the film's overall indeed entertaining. It even made me re-watch the 1st one afterwards, 'cause I wanted more and didn't remember that in detail anyways. Oh, and it's action packed! There are some action scenes where I got very excited, I was like "I've never seen THAT in an animated movie!"
Loving Vincent (2017)
An exceptional film
If you're also a fan of the famous, great Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, you shouldn't miss this film.
The whole film is filmed with real actors like a normal feature film. Yet, each of the 65000 frames of the video is printed on canvas and oil painted in post-production (by a team of 125 artists) using the same techniques as van Gogh was using. The result... a truly unique film with stunning visuals, that brings van Gogh's iconic paintings to life, while it examines his last days/the circumstances of his death through a story told greatly.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Unique film!
This is the first Wes Anderson film (director) I've watched. I had it in my watchlist, because it looked unique & humorous from the trailer.
The 1:1 aspect ratio, its artistic direction and its colorful images make the film look like a mixture between miniatures and paintings... very enjoyable to watch. Even only for its unique visuals I suggest movie-lovers to watch it. I really enjoyed the funny elements here and there too. Ralph Fiennes plays a major role in that. He's great! Often I was wondering: Is his character making fun of the person he talks with? Or is he plain serious? Is he just trying to lighten up the situation? An interesting and likeable character.
Furthermore, the music accompanied the film perfectly, as a great music composition should do.
Overall... what a story! It is indeed unique and I'm glad I watched it!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
While almost all other superhero movies are generic, this is a 10/10 !
I found the first one pretty bad, thus I was reluctant to go see this one too. Thankfully, having watched a promising trailer, I went to the cinema to watch this... oh yeah!
This turned out to be one of my favorite films of all time and it made me a great fan of Captain America's character due to his ethos. It's remarkable, that initially, from the first movie, I found that same character completely dull. I should also mention the amazing bad guy (the Winter Soldier), who is almost as appealing - if not more - than Captain America!
In a current world filled with superhero movies with generic/shallow plots & characters and with kids as the only target group (too many over-simplifications so that the story can move forward), Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a gem! It doesn't just differentiate from that superhero mass, it's also one of the greatest action spy (superhero) films.
P.S. I've gone to the cinema for very few MARVEL and even less DC films, intentionally. I wasn't convinced from the trailers. I have watched almost all of the MARVEL ones though, because of curiosity. Hats off for their very successful blockbuster machine based on inter-connection between the plots of all their films (though often in an ultimately insignificant way!) and, hence, addiction. I do want to mention my 5 most noticeable films from them. Thor 2 and Avengers 2 were kind of enjoyable. Captain America: Civil War was good I guess, although ultimately, I think I was satisfied more because of the hype to the release and less because of the actual film - I didn't like the bitter taste it left me with. Then, Avengers: Infinity War was bitterly addictive. And lastly, Avengers: Endgame was a complete let-down. A complete let-down. Thankfully, that last one - the so-called culmination - made me come to the healthy conclusion... that I'm done with superhero movies! I choose to remember only Captain America: The Winter Soldier!
Mamma Mia! (2008)
What a lovely film!
Thanks to my awesome parents I grew up listening to ABBA among other legendary musicians (Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, ...). I believe such music can create flourishing paths in your mental and emotional growth.
They honored the great ABBA by creating great, modern covers of their top hits. Those songs are seamlessly incorporated into a very intriguing story and all actors are great! (The plot might be the musical's plot - don't know, haven't seen the musical - Even so, would that matter?!)
The joyful, optimistic atmosphere of the whole movie - what I love the most in this film - is there to a great extend thanks to the Greek landscape. Filmed in the Greek islands Skiathos & Skopelos, with the sunshine, the beautiful beaches and the blue sky... you leave the movie theater full!
P.S. A sequel was needless. Most probably a result of this one's big financial success. Watching that trailer you get that. Nevertheless, I watched the first 10 minutes of that (thankfully not in a cinema)... and turned it off. It's filmed in Croatia with lots of green screen and has NOTHING to do with the joyful, great Mamma Mia! (2008). Just pretend it doesn't exist!
Skyfall (2012)
The only good thing here is the theme song.
I decided to rent this one out at a later time back in 2012 instead of going to the cinema. The previous two films in the series with Daniel Craig had made me reluctant, since they were depicting the character of James Bond pretty different from what I know & love based on older 007 films. Unfortunately, I found this one bad and even worse that the last two. I couldn't even finish watching it. There were too many over-simplifications, so that the story can move forward, the pacing was too slow, and the film wasn't entertaining. Surprisingly, boring is not at all what I'd expected, having watched the trailer.
Unfortunately, you realize what's coming up just from the opening sequence... ****SMALL SPOILER****James Bond leaves a compromised safehouse at a random time and the intruder happens to be 30m in front of him. Then a could-be-good motorbike chase scene ensues and the CGI on every Daniel Craig's close-up is bad. Then on the train the intruder chills in place, while Bond is attacking him with an excavator (transported by the train), as if he couldn't move and shoot at Bond from any other position. The passengers are chilling on their sits too, although Bond just cut off the back of their wagon with the excavator. And lastly, Moneypenny takes a pretty irrational shot - did Bond actually look in desperate need of help? Do we doubt his combat skills? Oh man, I could go on and on, but I'll only ask you this... did you catch the Home Alone: 007 edition at the end?!
P.S. Spectre (2015) was mediocre, but at least waaaay better than this one!
Central Intelligence (2016)
Very cool film!
I had a great time at the cinema (back in 2016). It's a very fun, action-comedy movie with a heartwarming core thanks to the very sweet character Johnson is playing :)
There are 2 small details I didn't like. 1) With Johnson's character being actually innocent, the guilty smile & look he gave to Hart's character behind his back close to the end of the movie was out of character. And so the sole purpose of that smile was to trick the audience into still doubting about his innocence. I understand they wanted to keep the audience guessing until the big revelation at the end, but that was not the correct way. And 2) the real flashback scene between Johnson's and Aaron Paul's character during the revelation at the end felt cheap/weak, because Paul's actions were over-comical and thus unrealistic towards Johnson's character. They could have fixed that easily.
Overall though, I can easily see beyond these details and as I said, I like the movie a lot and I like a lot that Johnson's character is all about stoping bullies!
Spectre (2015)
Mediocre, but at least much better than all previous 3
The bar wasn't high at all... but, still, Spectre, the 4th film in the series with Daniel Craig, did manage to be a much better film than all past 3 and overall a mediocre-decent James Bond one.
It had a decent, somewhat intriguing story, it had some good action scenes and Daniel Craig's James Bond was the most likeable and accurate to the James Bond character we know & love compared to all his previous 3 portrayals. Before watching this, I was really doubting of going to see "No Time To Die". Thankfully, now I'm hopeful, that that is going to be decent.
That said, I do want to point out 5 negative aspects of the movie:
1) Who closed the door at the opening sequence after Bond and the woman entered her room? The cameraman?!
2) Dr. Swann's private psychiatric clinic is a glass building in the middle of nowhere on the snowy mountains of the Alps...?! I mean, it looks cool and all...
3) Why that kind of a sick torture (similar to Casino Royal's)? Why?!
4) *****SPOILER***** So the backstory is, that Bond was raised at one period with the villain by the villain's father. The villain was supposed to be the author of all Bond's (as Daniel Craig) pain, because of jealousy and stuff. He was supposed to have sent those past villains to him and to have killed his ex-girlfriends during the previous 3 films. Right? It feels though as if Bond encountered those past villains, because HE went looking for trouble/went to those past missions. And, were all his ex-girlfriends actually killed? I do find the motive very promising for the villain against Bond, but unfortunately either the connection to the previous films was not that convincing or the way they used that in this film was ultimately weak.
5) *****SPOILER***** Dr. Swann says she loves Bond. He reciprocates implicitly. They both escape custody and death from the bad guys. Having escaped and being in a critical situation back in London, she suddenly simply says "I can't do this. I can't go back to my old (spy and stuff) life. Can't ask you to change." He says, "You're saying goodbye?". She, "Yes, goodbye." and boom! They split ways pretty easily, as if they've read the script and know they'll meet again in 15 minutes, after the villain, is conveniently able to abduct her, because they split ways! All I'm saying is, they could have backed up that shallow scene in an otherwise good storyline much better and easily fix it.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Again, not the James Bond we know & love
Like with its predecessor, this is not the James Bond we know & love. This time, they did tone down the ridiculous vulnerability and inexperience regarding love, yet brought a seemingly complicated, but actually bland and boring plot on the table.
Continuing directly where the last film ended and bringing back characters and storylines from that film is an interesting premise, that could have made the new story intriguing and unique. Yet, they totally fail, because there's not any smart connection between the old characters and the new story. Furthermore, again like with its predecessor, if Daniel Craig's character was not called James Bond you wouldn't notice that this is a James Bond movie. You would have thought you saw a watchable, but boring and forgettable action movie. By the way, all that shaky cam in the action scenes got me dizzy!
Lastly, the 007 theme song at the opening credits, performed by Jack White & Alicia Keys, unfortunately prepares you perfectly for what you're going to see... The song is plain "meh". It's too simple & empty regarding the arrangement and hence, sounds like a song written & performed by a mediocre high school band. The songwriting concept of simple ideas has worked very well for Jack White (The White Stripes) a couple of times in the past (e.g. Seven Nation Army), but, it is definitely not suitable in any James Bond movie/big budget spy action movie.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Indeed a good film!
I was reluctant to watch this. I could see from the trailer that it has good production value, yet I was worried it would be too weird, being a Korean/an Asian language thriller. Eventually I did watch it and I am glad! I'm also glad it won all those Oscars.
The blend of dark comedy in this social thriller definitely attributed to an enjoyable and entertaining experience and made me more engaged with the story. It is very well made and it deals with various interesting subjects/issues of our society, all in the premise of a collision of social classes (extreme poverty with extreme wealth).
Casino Royale (2006)
Not the James Bond we know & love
With "No Time To Die" just around the corner I wanted to rewatch this one to get in the mood, since I didn't remember it much.
Well, as a spy film it's mediocre. As a James Bond film it's bad. There are a few major over-simplifications so that the story can move forward. And then, there's James Bond... there's almost nothing there resembling the awesome character we know & love and whom we've seen played greatly by Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. It's really sad.
I can see that the movie takes place at the beginning of Bond's career as Agent 007, as he just earned his license to kill. That is a good premise. I can also see, that they chose to show a less experienced and more vulnerable James Bond (related to espionage AND LOVE)... but, why do that to that extend?! Personally, I would love to keep seeing the awesome, strong character of James Bond I've been used to. It never gets old! Even by sticking with the less experience, I'm sure they could have shown it better, way better, honoring the character by showing him strong, focused and determined nevertheless. All that naivety and vulnerability regarding love... c'mon! Who wants to see that in the James Bond character? Even so, I really doubt, that an agent chosen to become Agent 007 would have that.
P.S. and that torture scene... seriously? Why?!