Reviews

6 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
The Innocents (2021)
6/10
child's play gone wrong
17 February 2023
Nordic horror films really have no filter when it comes to violence especially involving children, something that is not seen in Hollywood or Asian films. Thus probably why there is no rating for the film.

This is a film centered around a group of children who slowly discover that they have supernatural abilities and their playing around with these powers leads to some dark events. These powers give some of these children the ability to let out and vent their internal struggles growing up in abusive situations with some devastating consequences. While others use their powers to help others. There is sort of a theme about how the parents treat their kids can affect the children's behaviour. As the kids play around with their powers and each other, there are some disturbing and mean things that kids do to each other which may very well happen in real life. Yet there are limits to how far one can go and the film shows that while kids may be cruel they do have a sense of what is wrong and right when it crosses a line. There are some racist undertones with the choice of the cast depicting certain characters and actions.

Apart from the disturbing scenes, this film had some excellent cinematography which really puts you in in the children's (who are the main actors) shoes. The zooming out shots are especially effective at giving a bird's eye view of the world.

Overall, would give it a 6.7/10 (rating system only allows whole numbers) for excellent acting by the children and vivid imagery. If they would have left out some of the violent depictions then it would have deserved a higher rating. The writer and director (same person), Eskil Vogt, certainly has some sick ideas that they wished to do as kids.
0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Speak No Evil (2022)
4/10
Good reason for movie having no rating
19 January 2023
This is a horror movie so some gore is not unexpected but some of the scenes may be too graphic and disturbing for some viewers. The film breaks a code with its depiction of violence towards a certain group, but maybe it is only distasteful in Hollywood. It is about a Danish family who are invited to a Dutch family's home for the weekend whom they met while on vacation abroad. They soon realize the unpleasantness of their hosts yet try to stay polite as the guests.

Acting and music is on point for the story. Various shots of the protagonist are effective at hinting that something is wrong. There are elements reminiscent of other recent horror movies. The major blow to this film is the unnecessary graphic scenes. It could have got the message through without them.
1 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Hanna (2011)
7/10
cunning assassin vs. innocent girl
24 December 2022
This is a story about a unique and peculiar child named Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), on the run from presumably the CIA, finding out about herself and the world during a life-death struggle with a heartless American intelligence officer (Cate Blanchett). Blanchett scares as the cold and calculated killer spy trying to eliminate loose ends from an old case. Eric Bana is the protective father who excels at displaying the right emotions. The movie takes us from the serene and snowy arctic where Ronan grows up training to be an assassin to her travels across Europe with a quirky and clueless family on vacation to reach her target destination. We have an interesting performance by Tom Hollander as the evil accomplice chasing Ronan. An exciting ride.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Raging Fire (2021)
6/10
going through the motions
24 December 2022
This HK crime/action thriller stars big screen veterans Donnie Yen as the by-the-book cop chasing Nicholas Tse as the disgruntled former protege hell bent on revenge. The story and acting are unoriginal and unbelievable (not in a good way) to say the least. If you switch your brain off and just watch it for the action and fight scenes then sure it works but don't expect any great drama. The entire movie seems like it was made just to bring back the HK police-gangster action movie with aging stars past their prime as the draw. Nic and Donnie have had better movies as their performances here fall flat. The movie written and directed by the late Benny Chan as his final work has some nostalgic touches with old faces appearing but overall fails to excite.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Mortal Kombat (2021)
7/10
Cheesy but fun, nostalgic movie nonetheless
20 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
With these kind of movies, it is a bit like watching a video game at times with the one liners they say before they fight or after they defeat an enemy but is necessary and nostalgic to tie it to the video game.

The movie starts out with a bang in the first fight scene and sets up the story well. The handsome Hiroyuki Sanada plays the legendary Hanzo Hisashi. The next part where they introduce each of the good guys is a bit slow and unsatisfying as we see how weak they are compared to the main antagonist, Sub Zero. But it's all a part of the set-up for the come back for the good guys later on. This is not an entirely new concept. The younger/less well known actors who play the good guys are an attempt to modernize the franchise like many other recent action hero movies, but with some familiar faces including Hiroyuki and Tadanobu Asano, it works okay. Overall, the dialogue is cheesy and the younger cast a bit underwhelming but the fight scenes and nostalgic details were fun enough. Worth a watch if you are fan of this title.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Geostorm (2017)
5/10
An unoriginal disaster flick with familiar faces
18 December 2022
This is a disaster film led by Gerard Butler and Jim Sturgess playing brothers trying to save the world from a malfunctioning satellite system which is causing series of catastrophic weather events which threatens to end the world. The protagonists must find out what or who is sabotaging their weather controlling satellites before a 'geostorm' or series of worsening storms that become self-sustaining, occurs and destroys the planet.

Although we have some familiar faces with Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris, Andy Garcia, and a brief appearance by Daniel Wu, the uninspiring acting by most of the cast fails to connect the audience with the characters. Butler is his usual macho, save the day alpha male but essentially fails to convince with his softer co-actor Sturgess that this is anything we have not seen before. Cornish is the only redeeming character as she plays the love interest of Sturgges and a secret service agent kicking butt.

The corny dialogue, predictable story, along with cheap looking CGI scenes randomly thrown in made me want to fast forward to the end.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed