badoli Reviews

The Killer (2023)

Yes, it's a very slow movie, but a good one!

[8/10 · 2 December 2023]

If you're expecting a John Wick kind of movie, you will be horribly disappointed. This is a slow cooking portrayal of a hitman and just like that very hitman, the film is extremely considerate and meticulous in the way it presents a more authentic image of how a successful world class hitman might operate: Almost like a bureaucrat. There's even humor to be found, but it's so subtle, most people will not even recognize it's there.

Michael Fassbender does a great job as a philosophising killer for hire, who is decidedly precise in his thoughts aswell his actions. David Fincher understands very well on how to shoot this without becoming overly narcissistic. His focus on details is almost obsessive, because that's what the character is. And while the movie is slow, the tension is always palpable.

As such it's not a movie for everybody. If movies like "Once upon a time in the west" is too challenging for your attention span, this will just bore you to death. But if you can appreciate silence and a keen eye for subtlety and detail, then you're in for a treat. This is a great thriller.

Old Dads (2023)

It's fine.

[8/10 · 14 November 2023]

Nothing fancy, nothing amazing, just a good, old comedy in classic style - once plentiful, a rare sight nowadays. Which is a great archivement as a directing debut! Old Billy directing stool pulled it off and delivers a pointed portrait of the relations between the ages.

The screenplay isn't exploding of creativity, but it serves the plot well. Not all the actors are always precise in the delivery. Pretty much all the jokes have been seen in one of Bill's specials at some point, so fans won't experience huge surprises. But that doesn't matterh, his style of comedy isn't going out of fashion any time soon.

To be fair my actual rating should be a 7/10, but because these kinds of good natured comedies are so rare nowadays, maybe my bump-up to an 8/10 hints the Hollywood execs that we'd watch more of those.

The Great Escapists (2021)

Stop the act.

[4/10 · 4 September 2023]

The concept was very promising. Two average, likeable dudes try their best at solving challenges fitting a survival theme - Sounds great! Some science to add authenticity, some bro-humor to add spice, it could have been a winning formula!

Yet the whole thing is overscripted and under-developed at the same time. An overarching mystery story with interrogation scenes serves no real purpose beside artificially lengthen the runtime. Why this had to be a 45 minute program is beyond me, a 25 minute format would have made so much more sense here.

No clear rules or limitations on what and how to build stops any kind of possible tension in its tracks. The contraptions are obviously build by an advanced team of engineers and builders in the background with only superficial presentation work done by the hosts, which robs any joy to be had in the process of construction.

As the sole entertainment value remain the futile attempts by the hosts at heavily scripted jokes and sketches. Which pales starkly in comparison to their actual roots, where their unscripted personalities made them shine. It lacks the love of raw construction and the science curiousity from "Mythbusters" aswell as the passion for cars from "The Grand Tour". Why both of the hosts drop their trademark for this is unexplainable to me, as they obviously have the right chemistry to make this amazing.

Sadly this is just a missed opportunity.

Burn After Reading (2008)

Another great Coen.

[8/10 · 14 July 2023]

Those guys are just artists. This grim, dark humored satire is a portrait of various stupid and sometimes vain characters and their tragic failures in the eyes of a Coen-esqe spy thriller. The plot itself once again is not important at all, it's the characters and their actions, that make this such a marvel to behold.

There is the low-level CIA agent played by John Malkovich, whose intellect doesn't want him to accept he might have lost his job to the bottle. We see the brilliant Frances McDormand as a gym teacher, who won't stop at major surgery, treason and extortion to ignore she's past her prime. George Clooney portrays a playboy informer for the intelligence offices, who loses track of his sleep-arounds. Brad Pitt as a spunky gym dummy easily overwhelmed, but eager to try anyways. And Tilda Swinton does her amazing ice queen performance once again.

All of them already A-listers and here they happily satire their public persona to portray a bunch of idiots in over their head. Watching these characters drive themselves into chaos is cynical, but so funny at the same time. You're not supposed to cheer anybody on, you're here to watch disaster unfold. And oh my god, do the Coens know how to put that on the big screen!

In the end you'll feel as smart as the CIA. And no, that's not a good thing in this movie!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

This is only for fans.

[5/10 · 14 May 2023]

I like the games because they are examples of the finest gaming experiences you can get. From the first Mario Bros up to the newest all amazingly well designed games. But am i a fan? Not necessarily.

And you need to be one to really enjoy this movie. While a flimsy excuse for a plot is enough for a game, for a full movie that's a though sell. Here the enjoyment consist almost entirely out of watching familiar characters, scenes, actions, jokes and environments. Bowser threatens the mushroom kingdom and our heroes need to save it - That's all the story you get.

The How isn't really that important. You need not to care, nothing happens for a reason. The sceenplay appears to be written by a 4-year old: "And then bowser attacks. And then Mario jumps on a block. And then Princess Peach rides a motorcycle..." Which is fine for a movie for kids some might say, but there are great screenplays for kids movies, so this is a lame excuse.

The actors all do a fine job. Chris Pratt does a surprisingly good Mario voice, Keegan-Michael Key is probably my favorite as Toad and Jack Black is a solid Bowser, only singing Bowser obviously sounds like Jack Black again. Just Seth Rogen took me out of the experience making Donkey Kong sound like himself.

All in all this movie does what's expected by a Mario movie, but not a cent more. Unless you're a huge fan, this isn't a cinema experience. Wait for the stream release.

The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023) Season 1, Episode 3

Wow, just wow.

[10/10 · 5 February 2023]

We have seen how political motivations can mess up even a well intentioned project, because the message is pushed in front of the story. The Last of Us shows us how to deal with this with breath-taking ease.

After the pretty great start of the first two episodes, i had some good expectations of what would await me in future viewings. I couldn't have been more surprised. And had you told me, that the series would dedicate a whole episode so early purely to side characters and it would be fantastic, i wouldn't have believed a word.

And yet this episode left me speechless and tearing up. It's not the story itself, it's how amazingly well it is told! No kitschy stereotypes, no MacGuffin plot items, just an almost whimsical story happening within a world of chaos and horror - Simply fantastic. And i learned, that Nick Offerman, who made me laugh so much in Parks and Recreation, could make me cry just as easily. His performance is simply stellar. Seriously, what can this man not do?

Oh boy, this series has set the bar immensly high now for itself and whatever has to follow it.

Mythic Quest: A Dark Quiet Death (2020) Season 1, Episode 5

Best episode so far.

[6/10 · 10 May 2022]

But that doesn't mean a whole lot, as the episodes so far were a fullblown cringe festival. And they only had to make an episode with a total different tone, totally different actors and totally different style of screenplay. That episode is basically its own new series.

It boggles my mind how bad those romances are written in the show. We have the lesbian girls in the earlier episodes and their love story is pretty cringey and on the nose. At least in this episode it's only the women being obnoxious in the very first scene, Jake Johnson is an amazing actor for being able to pretend he's falling for that weirdo.

The rest of the episode is acutally quite watchable. The struggle is real and they actually use some real 90ies game references at some point. It's even the first time in this series i hear something that sounds vaguely like real game dev talk. I almost feel respected as a game dev. Almost.

But it's telling why all the 90ies video and movie recreations are so more authentic than anything video game related. Game devs didn't present their game on VHS tapes in the 90ies. Come on, it's an interactive medium! The writers have such a shallow idea of what they are writing about, it's embarrassing.

Well, best so far, still no cigar.

Mythic Quest: Pilot (2020) Season 1, Episode 1

Too on the nose and superficial.

[4/10 · 10 May 2022]

I think after 20 years working various game dev jobs, i can call myself a game dev. As such, this first episode was pretty cringe.

Don't get me wrong, it's the best series about game dev i've seen yet, but that's more due to the fact that all others were utter garbage. This is "only" heavily flawed.

First off, it's all very on the nose. The relations and goals of all the characters are smacked right in your face. Which isn't inherently bad, but then the pilot isn't really doing much with it and instead misses the chance to make the viewer figure those out. A little mystey could have gone a long way there.

Second, the source material is treated very superficial. Game dev terms are thrown around like popcorn, but their implications is taken very superficial. For example, a big DLC is released in that episode. This usually represents a huge milestone for any project with millions on the line. Yet here it's merily a small side issue as the main fight is about one asset. As such it feels more like set dressing for average TV drama than actual part of the story.

Third, hardly any of the protagonists is likeable. Worst is that Poppy girl. She's bitchy, she's bossy and she's a horrible game designer, as she's stubbornly clinging to her first design until an awkward talk with her boss, which was supposed to be heartfelt. I hated her character after only half of the episode. Yet the series seems to paint her as the central sympathy point?

The rest of the cast aren't horrible, but are all bad stereotypes of what non-dev people suspect game devs are like. Which is a pity, as i have experienced amazing characters in my field, far from what this superficial screenplay could come up with.

And finally the screenplay. It's so stale and uninspired. Which is sad, as i know that the trio of McElhenney, Hornsby and Day already gave us "Always sunny in Philadelphia". But here it's painfully obvious they didn't do the research and just jumped onto a trend. It's so sad, because i KNOW that you can make a fantastic series about game dev. This one is not it.

Arcane (2021– )

It's good "young adult" content. But far from mature.

[6/10 · 12 January 2022]

I've played League of Legends on and off for a good 10 years now, so i was looking forward to this. While i love the gameplay, i never really got warm with the lore. And that continues with the animated series.

The major point to make is: The visuals are fantastic. The designs are brilliant, the animations are detailed and close to flawless and the backgrounds something to marvel at. The general art design of this series even outshines the game art. Fortiche, the animation studio responsible, outdid themselves once again in spectacular fashion, standing easily head to head with the genre-champion "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse".

That said, i was very underwhelmed by the screenplay. The story takes place in a stereotypical arrogant aristocrats versus dirty peasants scenario, which in itself isn't a bad thing. It rides on the ideas of Charles Dickens, and if you're looking for inspiration, the best is a good place to look for. Alas, the characters are written in a very kitschy way, superficial at times and their actions feel forced and often hard to understand.

This is a problem of the general writing, as scenes feel often written more for effect than necessity. Finesse is overruled by intensity on pretty every occasion, in contrast to the fine art style it's shown in. Plotpoints, characters and events jump at you out of nowhere, not because they make sense, but because they look cool. Style over substance. As such character development often falls short, either by developing too much (for background characters) or too little (for the protagonists). And don't even start me on Hextech, the worst macguffin i've seen in a while.

It's obvious the authors were going for "Game of Thrones" epicness, but lack the writing skills of a George R. R. Martin. This is especially painful in how they tackle mature topics like politics, sex and crime. Those often come across immature, pushed onto the viewer in a weird serious but not really serious manner. For example the brothel scene somewhere in the later episodes is neither outright romanticized as in "Moulin Rouge" nor as gritty as a real brothel. Just raunchy enough to say we're doing grown up stuff, not explicite enough to tackle the implications of prostitution in a horribly rigid, conservative society. It all just can't hold a candle the sophistication of the visuals, which is a major bummer.

As such I'm puzzled of the hype this series gets. My best guess is that it's mostly seen by a "Hunger Games"-audience, young adults, that sympathize with the troubles these teens go through and therefore easier forgive the shortcomings of the story. And that's the audience i'd recommend this wholeheartly! Sadly it wasn't working for me, i was left disappointed.

Red Notice (2021)

Good and bad. Mostly stupid.

[5/10 · 29 November 2021]

With that lineup you know what to expect. You got Ryan Reynolds for the laughs, the Rock for the action and Gal Gadot for some sexiness. And that's what you get, not a bit more.

The story is a bland heist plot weakly copied from several classics. Everything is so on the nose and predictable, it would be laughable if it wasn't for the entertainment routine Reynolds and Johnson bring to the table. Gal Gadot seems to just have fun, as her character isn't even written convincingly. That said nothing is there to convince you this is anything but a stupid, short-lived action flick.

What's really bad is that for the money spend the movie looks amazingly amateurish at times. There are some really awkwardly cheap blue-screen shots aswell as bad CG-effects and the set design drops occasionally to a highschool stageplay level. For the budget spent, this is rather embarrassing.

Furthermore the movie steals far too bluntly from James Bond and Indiana Jones movies. So much so, Reynolds obviously had the urge to comment this in his typical snarky way surprisingly often throughout the movie.

The only reason to watch is the fun the two main actors have on the screen. Reynolds manages to pull any aweful screenplay around and here he saves this from being another horrible Netflix star hodgepodge.

Devs (2020)

Seems lots of people went in with the wrong expectation.

[9/10 · 13 September 2021]

I loved every minute. The cinematography is amazing, the score is mesmerizing and the acting ist absolutely passable from my point of view.

It's not hard scifi? I think you need to check your definition there, buddy. This falls straight into the center of it: How do human react to a presently impossible idea that turns their world view upside down? Technology and science are not supposed to be the star in hard scifi, they merily serve as vehicles to ask questions. So if you're hooked up on logical fallacies, you're missing the point by a mile, as this is not what the series aims at. After Ex Machina and Annihilation Alex Garland proves once more he understands that point perfectly.

I didn't see any issues with the acting either. From my point it seems like some people confuse acting and character. The series didn't come across to me like you're supposed to like any of the protagonists. This is an ensemble of egomaniacs, each working towards their own goal. At best you sympathize with each at certain points throughout the story, but nobody sticks out as a person to really identify with. While this can ruin a series, here it is used to underline the idea and simply demonstrate different points of view.

For example the main protagonist Lily is irrationally jumping after her lover into a ridiculously risky spy hunt ready to sacrifice anyone close to her - Of course she's a huge pain in the butt! She's not a loveable person and Sonoya Mizuno clearly understands that.

Same goes for the rest of the crew. It's different personalities and each one has very different motives of what the Devs team is working towards. Watching those play out is the actual motivation to watch this series. As such it succeeds superbly from my point of view. At least i will am already excited for Garlands next strike.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

A masterpiece forever in my 3 best animated movies.

[10/10 · 26 July 2021]

And a masterpiece that easily holds up to any movie, while doing this in a breathtaking beauty.

Most reviewers marvel at the visual style, which is by no question amazing. Yet the greatest archivement of what makes this an epic is the ease in which it tells a complex story about various parties at war within a detailled set of rules, laws and traditions while still managing to focus on the small as to not overwhelm the viewer. You have war factions crashing, you have animal spirits attacking human caravans, you have emporer henchmen, you have nature gods in mystical forests transcending human comprehension and you have a boy trying to understand what is happening to his world. The amount of directors i would trust to pull all these ideas off successfully in one single movie fits in my hand. And yet Hayao Miyazaki makes it look like it's the easiest thing in the world.

One of the biggest aspects which sets it far apart from general hollywood animation is the fact that you have no "good versus evil". All characters have their own motivations, views and flaws, which lead to the actions they take to influence the way story turns out. The hero isn't a hero for killing the villian, he is just pushed into a complex world to navigate. At times he has to take actions he doesn't want to and at times he has to decide between two equal choices. There is no clear path and that makes his world feel so natural.

Of course it wouldn't be the epic masterpiece it is without amazing visuals and music. You're carried into a mesmerizing wonderland in such a fantastic fashion, i get teary eyed just thinking about it. This is what cinema should be.

Gods of Egypt (2016)

How to spend a lot of money to make something look so cheap.

[2/10 · 13 February 2021]

Why did i even watch this? If you think a cruise ship style dance show is fun, this might be up your sleeve. It's a shallow and ridiciously overstylized Ancient Egypt fan fiction. Story-wise barely above a B-movie-level and that reflects in the acting. Gerald Butler with his heavy accents is never believeable as any kind of ancient egyptian. He doesn't even care, he is just having fun.

Visually this probably most reflects a Las Vegas slot game. Gold, gold and more gold, it's gratuitous. The CG is competent in some moments but aweful most of the time. It's simply overused, the whole movie turns into a reality ignoring motion ride far too often.

It's so bad that it almost makes the jump to "so bad it's good"-territory. Almost.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Visually stunning, yet very weak writing.

[5/10 · 25 January 2021]

The plot points can be seen coming from a mile away, everything is written for effect instead of logic and hardly any idea is really creative. Nothing happens organically, everything happens because the screenplay says so. I've seen video games with better storytelling.

The fan-service is pretty over the top sometimes. Still not as bad as the recent movies, but if you are not a die-hard fan who loves every corner of Mos Eisley cantina and holds his breath at the sight of a light saber, it's getting annoying.

What really pisses me off is that there is no writing cleverness anywhere, not even in the details. It's like watching a 6-year-old perform a magic trick. Even worse, with Season 2 they rip off other Scifi franchises in quite blatant fashion.

It's a pity, because the visuals are great, the designs are amazing, there is so much love in the look of this. And you see the budget on the screen, the effects are great, there are massive scenes with complex cheography and the world feels properly alive. The actors also do a fine job with what they are given.

But it's ultimately just spectacle lacking any common sense. If you breath Star Wars, you'll like. Otherwise stay away.

Ad Astra (2019)

A film about emptiness.

[7/10 · 17 January 2021]

While that makes a lot of movies boring, Ad Astra worked for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a movie that feels long on purpose and expects you to be patient. I went in prepared, so to me it felt almost medidative.

This is owed first and foremost to the great soundtrack, the grandious visuals and the brilliant cinematography. It's obvious a lot of passionate and visually gifted people were at work here, as this movie is simply beautiful to look at. The atmosphere of space, emptiness, coldness and loneliness has seldomely been better put to film.

But space is only an allegory for the emptiness, coldness and loneliness of the main character Roy McBride played by Brat Pitt. The story depicts him dealing with his emotional void and his trip to find his father as a desperate attempt to reignite his own humanity. Pitt does a great subtle job portraying a technical mind seperated from his emotions.

There are some goofy scenes, the screenplay doesn't quite hit the mark it's aiming for and it takes almost as many liberties with physics as "Gravity". As such it falls short of compareable movies like "Odyssey 2001" and "Interstellar". I still enjoyed it for what it is: A beautiful movie.

The Midnight Sky (2020)

Okay-ish, if you llike slow scifi.

[7/10 · 29 December 2020]

I do and as such i wasn't too disappointed. I've got a great TV and as such the beautiful visuals and the professional filming and effects kept me hooked.

But that's about what is exceptional about this, the rest is rather stale. The story is nothing to write home about. The screenplay is weak at best, full of logical aswell as scientific goofs and relies too much on unnecessary pathos. And beside Clooney nobody really convinces in their roles. Only George gives it all, stumbling through snow storms, diving in icy lakes and looking convincingly miserable.

And even for a fan of Interstellar and similar slow-burn scifi movies, this is unnecessary elongated. At least 30 mins could have been cut without missing anything. Less science goofs and schmalzy soundtrack and this could have been solid. At least it's not as stupid as Gravity.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

I loved it.

[9/10 · 23 December 2020]

Seems a lot of people concentrate on the plot holes, which is sad. Because none of those actually influence the story of the movie in any meaningful way. Some seem to get stuck on political views, which is silly. I was just here to see a heartfelt story and that's what i got: Great drama and comedy.

The first and foremost: For once i fully agree with the academy awards, the acting is sublime. Frances McDormand is simply great as the bitter mother, who never did the necessary griefing after the violant murder of her daughter and channels her pain into blaming the local police members for a perceived lack of action. She's so much at war with everybody to the point she's kicking kids in the groin and offending police men in their station to their faces, that she can't see she's just causing more pain.

I'm also a huge fan of Sam Rockwell, it's pure joy watching him giving 150% each time. While his character Dixon as a dim-witted momma-boy in a man's body is written a little thick, he is definately pulling the best out of it. Raised by his mother in a conservative household without a real father figure, he is battling with his homosexuality alone and this frustration vents in random acts of violance.

Equally great is the rest of the cast. Woody Harrelsons routine playing the loving, quirky family father is once again displayed. Caleb Landry Jones does a fine job as the liberal "too smart for his own good" advert clerk, whose world view is diametrically opposed to Dixon. Peter Dinklage deserves a hug for the short (pun intended) portrayal of the disrespected "midget of the town" with a huge crush. My favorite is Sandy Martin as Dixons grumpy, short-phrased mother. I watched her scenes more than once simply for her amazing comical performance!

While the screenplay comes across as too forced at times, the actors simply make it work. Sure, you can nitpick that several plot points feel unauthentic. But this is a movie, none of those really interfere with the story and reality too is strange at times. To me it's like watching "Jurassic Park" and complaining that Dinos aren't real - Yes, we all know, but that's beside the point now, isn't it? From my perspective this movie accomplishes everything it wanted to do and that quite handsomely. What else would you want?

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

A girls power fantasy.

[6/10 · 16 November 2020]

I watched it because Netflix kept pushing it in the front line. It's a well made fairy tale set in a modern world: Against all odds a girl coming from bad environment and with hardly any formal training manages to beat chess players with years of practice - The universal girl story, told with chess.

Why Netflix is pushing that onto me is beyond my understanding, a middle aged single man is obviously not the target group for this. Don't get me wrong, it's a well told story and the actors are amazing. My favorite is the stepmother, her arc from frustrated divorcee to smart businesswomen is greatly perfomed by Marielle Heller. And the makeup department had a hard time to "bore down" Anya Taylor-Joy's beauty to make her believeable as the wallflower. Her performance does sell it though. The rest of the cast is equally excellent.

It's also nice the filmmakers treated chess with respect by hiring no other than world champion Garry Kasparov as a consultant. As such the games are great, but due to the fast cuts you need to pause to really comprehend them.

Sadly the story is filled with kitschy stereotypes and comes across quite cringy at times. Every chess player she's facing is an overly condescending scumbag, yet she beats them handily and in the course wins over their hearts turning them into charming love interests. The competition between the players feels greatly overdramatized and a little too crude for my taste. The first episode was comically horrific, almost reminding me to Zack Snyders "Sucker Punch". It's a fairy tale in the style of "Amélie" - not as magical, a little more gritty, but a fairy tale nonetheless.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Horrible.

[3/10 · 13 August 2020]

I really tried to like this movie. But it's just horrible. And i love Zack Snyders work, he is an amazing director when it comes to capture scenes. He is a very visual director and that's what i love about every of his former movie.

But this one is a major fail. Snyder is the perfect director to make a great script into a visually stunning movie. He is great in elevating an existing masterwork. But he is unable to create one.

This movie is a testiment for that. While certain scenes are simply marvellous, the script lacks pretty much everything a good script needs. No depth, no cleverness, no style. The dialogues are forcing a pathos in such a painful way, it's comical. And that's a shame, taken the talent that's on screen. Henry Caville feels like he was chiseled out of marble to play the role of the man of steel. Yet the script gives him painfully ridiculous lines to say, you might just feed Superman kryptonite and end up in the same place.

Next to the dialogue are the ridiculous script decisions. In this movie Batmans has no problem murdering bad boys with the help of firearms. Yet when it comes to face Superman, he trusts his fate to ... a spear?! You can hardly create a more "MacGuffin"-item than that.

The whole script oozes pathos left and right to the point it becomes comical. And when it tries to be comical, it fails. Most scenes feel like out of place in a super hero movie. And any conclusion coming out of this comes across as idiotic.

Please, Mr. Snyder, listen to people.

Fear City: New York vs the Mafia (2020)

Well craftet documentary!

[9/10 · 23 July 2020]

This 3-episode mini-series is a well crafted and riveting piece. It tells the story on how the golden age of organised crime was ended by the FBI and does a great job so.

I can't really comment on the validity of the various informations given, but people from all parts of the spectrum get to speak their mind. Mob gangsters, prosecution attorneys, FBI-agents all explain their own world view during one of the most prominent times in US criminal history. Several anecdotes about bugging various locations contrast with well with the sheer megalomains of a handful families controling what accounts to large amounts of New York and the United States.

It's a gripping time piece of the 70ies and 80ies and a fitting requiem for the italian mob.

Special Correspondents (2016)

Missed opportunity.

[5/10 · 27 May 2020]

I haven't seen the french original, but i know what movie this one reminds me of: "Wag the dog". The story is similar: Two low-class radio journalists fake a civil war in Ecuador to save their necks. And while the '97 comedy is an example for a great political satire, this one mostly falls flat even as a comedy.

It does start out promising. The idea is also interesting and executed sorta acceptable for the first half hour. The characters work decently enough and their motivations seem legit, although it's all written very, very much on the nose. No buzzkill, but you pretty much can tell where it all goes within the first ten minutes.

Yet even that was not meant to last. The screenplay drops into cheap shots and dump attempts at social satire. At the 1-hour-mark it becomes unbearably superficial and unintentionally clumsy. And while american culture is already treated poorly, i doubt the writers ever even looked Ecuador up on wikipedia. It's writing at its absolute laziest, relying on weak screwball stereotypes from the 80ies.

The acting isn't amazing either. Ricky Gervais has one and only one character, he again is the pudgy underdog brit with the good-natured heart. By now it feels naive to expect more range from him. Then there is Eric Bana and this is the first comedy i've seen him in, but his deliveries only range from good-ish to weak. The only actors that feel spot on are Kelly Macdonalds as the wallflower love-interest and Kevin Pollak as the radio boss. Both seemed to me like they could have done more if they'd been given a chance. This screenplay didn't.

The last two thirds of this movie are just dragging out the little material it has and it all left me unsatisfied and disappointed. "The office" was a far better remake.

Extraction (2020)

Good action flick.

[8/10 · 8 May 2020]

What more can you say? The production values are impressive, the action is directed stellar for most of the time and Chris Hemsworth is a great action hero.

The plot itself isn't amazing, but it serves enough reason for all the shooting, kicking and screaming. I'm surprised some people are annoyed by this, as this didn't seem to be a problem with Max Max Fury Road or John Wick - Great movies in their own right. Instead it focuses on what it also does best: The juicy action! Hemsworth is hands-on, he sure took quite some beating while making. His character is written well enough to feel believeable and his acting is on par. Same goes for Randeep Hooda, who is quite explosive as the antagonist.

Most of the creativity and talent by the crew was spent in the first half and it shows. The camera work and the direction is simply amazing, the car chase scene left me puzzeling what was going on (in a good way). Sadly the creativity drops off quite going towards the ending, which is a little disappointing. It all becomes a little too predictable and cheesy.

Nevertheless a highly recommendable no-bullshit action flick.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Weak. But at least not 3rd-trilogy-horrible.

[5/10 · 10 March 2020]

This series does a lot of things right that Ep 7, 8 and 9 failed. But that's not a major accomplishment, that's the base requirement. And that's about the biggest compliment i can make to "The Mandalorian": It did not fail.

It did not succeed either. Starting with the screenplay, every scene is written for effect, not for logic. The first scene is symptomatic: While there were many less violent ways to deal with a bunch of low-life bounty-hunters, Mando chooses the most dangerous, violent, destructive and lethal way. Effective? Sure. Cool looking? I guess so. Smart? Not so much.

And that idea keeps on. Mando needs to kill a big monster. Is it smart to take a kid along for such a dangerous mission? Not really, but the plot needs it for a later story point. Why does he need to kill that monster? He needs to fetch a thing, explained in the scene before and never mentioned after. Nothing seems to flow organically, it's all crowbarred together.

The world building is adequate, but as it has to appeal to fans, it's overfilled with references to the point that it smothers creativity. Then again the ideas and designs that aren't taken from the original trilogy equally lack in spirit and ingenuity. Nothing sticks. Besides, of course, Baby Yoda. Disney could only make a more blatant marketing move by having his eggshell feature a Coca-Cola logo. Effective on the lowest common denominator.

The acting is adequate too, given with what they have to work with. Pedro Pascal never felt so underused, which is mostly owed to his costume. If you're a short-spoken, silent guy and your head is constantly in a tincan, there is only so much you can do about it. Werner Herzog appears like he wandered in from another set.

This series' reviews base their exuberance to the last two movies being disappointments of such epic proportions. Simply hitting the target is now easily confused with a bulls-eye and as such it's kinda easy to hail Jon Favreau as the saviour of the license. His style is blunt, but effective. But All in all too predictable and easy for me.

Coming to America (1988)

Beautiful oldschool romantic comedy.

[8/10 · 22 December 2019]

The script is like from another era in its phantastic setting, but it simply works. Especially when it's so well executed by a directing legend like John Landis.

When Eddie Murphy is having fun, he is simply amazing and the role of the naive prince on a mission seems to fit him like a glove. Although it is usually him telling the jokes, this time the comedy derives from the situations, which the contrast of the protagonist versus his environment brings about. As such it requires a real actor and Eddie proves once again he's more than just a loudmouth entertainer.

The rest of the cast is equally great and with a great screenplay it's just a joy to see Landis direct it all with such ease. Which makes this one of the greatest Eddie Murphy movies so far.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Star Wars is finally dead.

[3/10 · 19 December 2019]

I'm not sure wether it's worse or better than Episode VIII. This movie is just utter chaos. Pretty much every scene is created for spectacle or heavy-handed characterization. The majority are hamfistedly lifted from the first trilogy. Famous EPIV-VI imagery is crowbared in without any sensitivity for the symbolism. "You like Emporer Palpatine, right?" Disney seems to shout in dispair.

Nothing flows naturally, most events seem to come out of nowhere and aren't explained in the slightest. Kylo Ren needs to find a thingy. Why? Don't ask. look at the flashy lightsaber. The crew finds an ancient weapon that leads to some important thing. Why? They were lucky i guess, it's not important, look at the shiny lights. The screenplay is absolutely predicteable, even the big twist in the middle is a horrible rehash.

The relationships between protagonists feel forced and constructed. Rey and Finn try their best to resemble Han and Leia, but it's done very clumsy and artificial. Not Anakin-Padmé-clumsy, but still far from natural. Lightsabers are swiss army knives for Jedis instead of mystical weapons which should be used with caution. The force is super-powerful, unless the screenplay doesn't want it. Rey jumps around like Super Mario in one scene and struggles heavily to climb a rock in the next. And the humorous scenes mostly fall flat beside some minor exceptions.

There are only a few good bits. The lightsaber battles feel a lot less like some ridiculous dance coreography or circus act, but more like a struggle between two opposing characters. And there is a beautiful homage to Carrie Fisher, which actually felt dear, honest and respectful. But most good ideas here are merely touched on and dropped in favour of more spectacle.

What little of Star Wars magic remained has finally left the screen. It's now a disney amusement ride, just over two hours long. This is Disney in full blown panic mode, solely relying on hype and fan service to generate revenue. At times it seems like J.J. just wanted to be done with it. This is the director, whose dream was to make Star Wars movies! I was dragged in by friends claiming a need for closure, but i left 30 minutes before the end. It felt like i could spend my time in better ways.

Unless you don't give a damn about subtlety, consistency, flow, interesting characters and a lot more central moviemaking guidelines, don't watch this.