robinalers Reviews

We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018)

Wasted Time

[3/10 · 1 August 2023]

I will be honest, this felt like I wasted my time. The cinematography isn't noteworthy, the filming and camera work feels more like the director wanted to come across as artsy and fancy but it didn't serve extra purpose, it didn't add to the moments or emotions. The characters are stale and tame and the story is simply non-existent.

The acting is good and I like how they try to portray the characters. They do their best, but there is just nothing there. There is nothing happening. Again, it feels like the director wanted to portray charicatures rather than humans just for the sake of their own view.

Sometimes, people seem to forget that a film (much like a book) is first and foremost a story. And a story needs to be about something, it needs to tell something. This tells nothing, it has no story. It's a sequence of scenes leading up to deception after deception. There is no story being told here, no emotions being shown or being drawn from the viewer. No start nor an end.

And for those saying it's a drama. A drama always holds a story and always gets you to care about the characters. A drama is about taking you to understand characters, people, emotions, actions, their lives. There needs to be true friction, whether internal or external. You, the viewer, never care about the characters and the friction that does exist is so out of the blue, you are left to think 'Surely there's more to it? Surely something will happen?'

But no. There is nothing to it and nothing ever happens.

It is utter boredom.

The Sea Beast (2022)

Nothing more than entertaining

[5/10 · 16 July 2022]

Though the visuals are as times bsolutely stunning, I thought the movie as a whole was utterly disappointing given its current (7.1) rating.

I've read some reviews here and found it very odd that both the bad and the negative reviews focus so much on racial diversity, yet not enough on the movie itself.

The voice acting wasn't on the level you'd expect given the cast and the story was incredibly generic-which can be fine, but then the rest has to blow you away.

Next to that, the two main characters had a very odd relationship; oftentimes it felt more in the brink of a starting romantic relationship than a father and daughter relationship. Their bikkering almost feels like flirting and I truly believe that if you'd had put two characters of similar age in this film, without changing anything, it would've been more believable as a story

The little girl was also utterly annoying, she had no flaws in her character at all and the wisdom of a 50 year old at the age of, like, 11. Schooling adults who have more life experience left, right and centre, and easily drawing conclusions that adults seem to not understand or be capable of drawing... It makes her character just not likeable and believable from the very first moment. There's nothing innocent, playful or childish about her character; which (even for an orphan) just doesn't seem logical or right.

It's alright to watch as a movie though; you won't feel it totally wasted your time. But that's about as good as it gets.

Encanto (2021)

Intriguing until it disappoints

[6/10 · 26 December 2021]

A great story makes you think, makes you wonder, makes you feel. It teaches you something. Coco-quite possibly the best animated movie I've ever seen-is such a film for me. Encanto however, is not.

I cannot understand what the makers of this film want to teach me. Get treated disrespectfully for years just because you're different, but it's ok once they say sorry? Family is still family, even if they shut you out and make fun of you and blame you? Are these lessons we want to be taught? Are these images we want kids to be raised with?

Of course, a movie should entertain at first and not necessarily teach you. So to give it credit, this movie will do that to an end extent. You will feel entertained at certain points. But the lack of a solid message, just doesn't push this to where it could be.

Visually, the movie is stunning. No doubt. But when it comes to the story, the message it wishes to get across, it falls short.

The Harder They Fall (2021)

Falls Flat

[3/10 · 3 December 2021]

I love a great revenge story, so I was very excited about this ons. But it just never seems to take off. You never really feel for the main character as his seemingly peaceful but harbshly disrupted life as a kid hardly get explored.

Then it cuts to quick revenge on one character and a very slow revenge on the main character (Idris Elba). There's no build-up, no tension, no feeling the struggle of getting revenge, no giving everything up to get revenge. And once you think it kicks off, it doesn't.

It could be a bit of a parody on classical westerns, but then the music and tone just don't make any sense. And yeah, the music... No, just because it's different doesn't mean it's "amazing". Personal taste aside, music needs to compliment the images and time, this does neither.

There's much better westerns out there. So I suggest you skip this and go for Django or The Good The Bad & The Ugly or something.

Dune (2021)

Like foreplay, not for those looking for a quick thrill

[8/10 · 27 September 2021]

Dune isn't the movie that any of us expected (especially not the ending). But the original story is so grandiose and long, that telling it in one sitting would be too difficult. One could argue that two movies might not even do the story and works justice.

Anyway, this is not the epic movie that people expected beforehand. Yes, it was visually stunning with fantastic sound design (including music) and great acting. But it was not the action packed movie that you might have expected from the trailer, the first movie adaptation, or even the book. Is that a bad thing though? Not in my opinion.

It sets a great tone and much like the characters in the story, you feel trapped in the situation. Even before they leave their home planet, Paul and his family (especially his dad) seem to be aware of the fact that their hand is forced and that their house is in tremendous danger. That "trapped" feeling never leaves you and only becomes stronger as the movie progresses due to its scenes and tempo. But that means it "lacks" in the blockbuster action (though it is there).

To sum it up: Dune is like foreplay. You have to be able to enjoy the continuous tension and the lack of a climax.

Those who love that, will love Dune. Those looking for a quick "bang", will not.

The Terror (2018–2025)

Genius season 1! Tedious season 2

[9/10 · 9 August 2021]

Season 1 is probably the most unsettling and amazingly cast, filmed and displayed series I have ever seen. Right up there with Chernobyl. From start to finish, you will feel lost, abandoned and just downright spooked. And as the story progresses, you feel like you've been there on the ships just as long as the characters. Don't ask me how, but the series does a great job at making a long time feel like a long time in a short time. If that makes sense. Anyway, it's visually pleasing, as well as it is great storytelling. And all of it is paired with a fantastic and unnerving soundtrack that fits both the century the story plays in, as well as the setting in which it is taking place.

Not going too focus much on season 2, as it is everything season 1 isn't. It feels like a drama wanting to be a horror when it displays the character stories, and a horror wanting to be a drama when it displays the supernatural. It doesn't do the story of injustice to Japanese citizens in the US during WW2 justice and it doesn't do the supernatural horror feel justice. A shame after such a fantastic season 1.

Collective (2019)

Touching yet horrifying

[9/10 · 5 August 2021]

This documentary is filmed in a slow and simplistic way, which fits the story it wishes to tell. It is not bombastic, it is not over the top, it doesn't present cliffhangers nor does it use music to guide emotions.

It tells the story as it is with no fancy extras. Making it very complimentary to the story of the burn victim who lost her hands and who's body was there for all to see in portraits. They tell the same story: tragedy occured and then tragedy continued.

Gripping until the very end and a definite must watch.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Zac Snyder's 4 hours of average

[5/10 · 7 May 2021]

Oof, where to begin. It'll keep you entertained and busy, but it will never make you care or truly feel engaged. Why? Here's why:

The story is flawed, linear and full of plotholes. The biggest being that the bad guys somehow cannot put one and one together and realise that the planet where they found the three boxes now, is exactly the same planet as where they lost it in the first place. Wow, shocker.

The characters are bland, boring and have nothing that makes you care for them. Superman coming back from the dead feels kinda cool, but that's about it. The Flash is just some nerdy kid who's a genius, but isn't. Cyborg guy is just some teenager who hates his dad until he doesn't-also a genius, but never really shows it. Wonder Woman equals a perfect daughter in law good girl. Aquaman seems the most intelligent one, but never goes further then mwuah. You never care for what happens to any of them and their stories go all over the place.

That last part is also due to editing. The first 30-45 minutes are like walking through a town you barely know holding a map upside down. You feel like you should know where you are, yet you can't really seem to get it. The story jumps all over the place and introduces characters so chaotically that you will simply lose interest. And the chaos is not because of all the different characters, there are many movies out there that introduce a lot of characters (e.g. Marvel, Godfather), yet it doesn't feel chaotic. The story flows naturally and every cut makes sense. Now we just meet a lot of cool looking people with cool powers, yet we have no clue what's going on.

Combine this with way, way, waaaay to many slow motion shots (like seriously, it's insane), and you have yourself a story that feels chaotic, yet dragged and slow at the same time. And unlike with some of Snyder's well known work, like 300, the slow motion shots serve 0 purpose. Often they're just there to make characters look cool, like a car commercial showing all the cool gadgets and its sleek design. At least with the commercial it serves the purpose of selling me a car.

Then lastly we have the hilarious music at times. Every time Wonderwoman shows up,even if she does literally nothing, prepare to hear a choir or a cool guitar riff. I know it's like a theme song, but it should be subtle. It just feels laughable at times.

But not all is bad, the CGI often is quite cool (sometimes laughable, but can't have it all). The character designs are very cool and so is the choreography for the fight scenes. But that's everything this movies really has to offer. The rest of it is tediously chaotic.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: did you find this review dragging? Then this movie will definitely not be for you.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Wasted hours

[2/10 · 10 April 2021]

This movie starts intriguing and though the acting and the tone of the movie are well set, it never becomes more than three people having dinner and doing house chores.

Her flashbacks are definitely taking you into a deeper spiral of the truth, but it never reveals anything about the cult itself. It also hardly explains as to why she left the cult. Even after the murder she witnessed, she still wants the cultesder to praise her and give her attention.

Why leave then?

The character is also not someone you care for. She seems to still believe in whatever the cult taught her and she disagrees strongly with modern society. Yet she leeches off her family and seems to never fully adjust to a different life. If you disagree so strongly with modern society and believe in your way of living at the cult, then I ask again: why leave then?

And then the finale, the ending. I cannot stress enough how open endings such as these are the most lazy and uninspired form of writing. I don't mind open endings and love having to think about what could've been (e.g. Vanilla Sky, Inception), but this ending is flawed beyond repair. We do not properly say goodbye to the characters, we do not get to see any hint as to which direction the story could go. Alright, it ranges anywhere from her getting psychological help and getting better to certain death to her and her family. But there is so much in between those two extremes, that the viewer is left with a bad taste afterwards. It is lazy writing where the writer early had no idea of how to turn a boring drama into the thriller it claims to be.

The Dig (2021)

A story about nothing

[5/10 · 29 January 2021]

Ralph Fiennes plays the character beautifully and carries the movie for the first half. Alas, not enough to make it interesting.

While the start is promising and portrays Basil's (Ralph Fiennes) passion and great work, halfway through the movie the storyline just switches. What started as an ode to Basil's work, the importance of the find and Mrs. Pretty's trust, quickly turned into a story a love story about two characters we hardly care about. Suddenly, Basil is nothing more than a sidelined character who's just kind of "there". Like the makers of the movie just decided to make a completely different film halfway through.

I feel the movie does little more justice to acknowledge Basil's work than history has done by not acknowledging it. His importance and find have been overshadowed by a random love story we've all seen before in many other movies and to have sidelined the archeological find and Basil's importance for some cheap love story, feels wrong.

Cats (2019)

Tells a great life lesson

[1/10 · 9 January 2021]

So, as someone who is unfamiliar with the musical, seeing the ending made me go "What the actual..." Basically the moral of the story is that when life gets tough, when you feel alone, when your memories haunt you, the best thing to do is just to die... Great life lesson right there.

1917 (2019)

A walk through Hell. And back

[9/10 · 20 June 2020]

1917 is one example why film making is considered an art form. This movie will not give you the Avengers type action, or the war scenes from A Bridge Too Far. Instead, the movie decides to let you join on an incredible quest, alongside two regular blokes. It does so by making you feel claustrophobic when they do, feel tired when they do and feel pain when they do. I've seen a few reviews (still positive), stating its biggest flaw is the lack of a more complicated story. But I believe that those reviews have missed the point of the story. War is not about complication; it's about regular people meeting one another and sometimes they are on your side, sometimes they are not. It's about normal people, like you and me, being part of something abnormal.

The symbolism in this movie is incredible and it'll take hold of you, consciously or subconsciously. The link between No Man's Land-death and danger as far as the eye can see, and nothing more-and Purgatory is easily made. The inferno in the city Écoust, where there's only enemies, darkness and fire is the absolute depth of Hell. But the strongest connection might be at the very end.

Where the remaining character finds himself with the sun gracing his face, the peaceful field reminds you of the beginning and the single tree that stands there, where he will sit and rest deservedly, is a mirroring image of where he and his friend began their journey. They started in what seemed to be Heaven and they walked through Hell. Only one made it through to the other side, but a part of him (his friend, the one who saved his life) never did-emphasized by the fact that the tree is hollow.

He walked through Hell. And back.

The Nun (2018)

Not what you want it to be

[6/10 · 6 September 2018]

Let's begin with saying that the movie is definitely still worth the time to see. As there are a few moments where The Nun is portrayed in such a way that you do feel how great and powerful it is, and the music during these scenes (trust me, you will recognise them when you see them) is incredible. You'll feel hopeless, just as the characters at that time, but unfortunately these moments are scarce.

As human being, we find darkness scary, we hate it because we cannot see properly and thus find ourselves in the unknown. This is what drives a good horror movie, it is why the first Paranormal Activity was such a success for example. The horror of things happening, but not knowing what it is or where it is. The Nun fails to deliver this horror of the unknown. As we, in almost all scenes, see what it is that should terrify us, in great and gory detail. And while I love a tip of the hat to a more old school type of horror (more gore and monstrous feelings), I do not like how The Nun delivers it.

The amount of times we see a close up of the face of the nun is insane, and takes away the fear that this character had left us in during the Conjuring movies. It was the lack of screentime and the darkness surrounding this character that made her so extremely scary and interesting in those movies. It reminded me of the Devil's face in the original Exorcist movie. We don't see it often, but when we see it it terrifies us, because we cannot quite tell all the characteristics of its face, and it is always surrounded by darkness. The Nun is blatantly obvious, and her screaming in the camera makes it feel more like you're watching The Mummy, than The Nun.

Then there's the writing, the addition of comic relief is a good idea, but the timing is always off and rarely funny. The storyline is a bit basic, a gateway to hell, again, a demon needs a body, again, our past haunts us, again; it delivers nothing we haven't seen already. And I don't mind that, but then at least deliver it with tenacity. The jump scares feel as though they know that the audience knows its coming, so they just try to come at you from a different position than you expect: e.g., camera does a full 360, we expect something to happen, it doesn't and then something drops from above.

No, the movie disappoints. The story is basic, the timing of humor is laughable and the excessive amount of screentime - for that which petrified us with hardly any in the Conjuring movies - makes the Nun into something we hoped it wouldn't be. And unfortunately the great scenery, actually horrifying scenes and amazing soundtrack just can't lift this movie beyond 'just another horror movie'.

Kill the Irishman (2011)

A ratatouille of better movies

[4/10 · 29 August 2018]

I was pretty intruiged by this movie after reading what it was about and seeing the cast. But that intruiging feeling was soon swept away by utter disappointment. How this movie gets quite high reviews is beyond me.

The movie starts with our main protagonist in a car and, ultimately, this car exploding. It's basically a rip-off of Casino's famous scene, but not quite as good. It feels too rushed and that's exactly what's wrong with this movie.

The movie is a string of scenes that are cut so tightly onto one another that we never really understand the story. It's like mixing your sorbet with your steak, it just doesn't work. The simple voice over, which we always see in gangster movies, has a few funny lines and is slightly different than others, but that's about the only interesting thing that's actually different.

You never feel any connection with the main character and we jump across the timeline like Kermit the frog. He meets his future wife, they have sex, there's a montage of happy times how he gets more successful (like in any other gangster movie) and suddenly he gets caught by police, though he never had anything to do with them. Out of the blue everything is dark and gloomy again. His wife pays for his lawyer, says they have no money (crazg expensive lawyer or no savings?). They sell the house, go to a shady area, suddenly they have two kids of a few years old. How? We only see one gift at a birthday that shows she's pregnant, but never see him or her with kids after that.

We never really get any connection with any character. Danny just likea to punch people and become a big guy. Christopher Walken's first appearance makes it seem as though they know one another, but I haven't seen them meet before. Everything feels just like a scene taken from a movie that did it better. And it leaves the cast gasping for air.

Not worth the time

Altered Carbon (2018–2020)

It'll grab you, but almost instantly let go of you

[6/10 · 7 February 2018]

This series will grab your attention very quickly, but that attention and interest will often slip away, like a bad magnet.

Having heard a lot of good things about this title I reckoned I had to give it a shot. The story appealed to me, though not a massive fan of sci-fi "it always rains" worlds, the mystery to it spoke out. Unfortunately it couldn't live up to the expectations and that has numerous reasons.

Reason one is the flawed characters. Though some character are very interesting some key characters will never connect with you. And - considering that these characters are what drive the story and leave an opening for more than one season - this can be considered a big flaw. Our main character, Tak, is played by two separate actors (one in the "present" time and one in the "past") yet their portray is very different. Of course a character will grow and be different, but we are talking about a very emotional, almost blinded by love and obedience, character in the past. And then a typical cool dude who clearly shows to think for himself in the present. The gap between the two is too big. Then another character flaw is the fact that the love of his life and his former mentor literally has no character arc. And I mean zero, I have seen more interesting things in a fridge than in this character. She's portrayed too much as a philosopher and prophet, with no flaws. I mean, even Jesus (arguably the biggest prophet known to man) has been portrayed in movies and shown in the bible to have flaws, fears. Yet this chick has none at all, why? And don't even get me started about the forced love story between her and Tak. I mean, the best character in the story is probably "Poe", the Artificial Intelligence hotel owner, and he's not even an actual person... Yet he shows fear, love, knowledge, detemination, the whole shabang. If the writers could have done it with him, how come not with the rest?

Reason two is simple, because of the characters that fail the story fails. One episode follows the back story of Take, but because there is hardly any connection with his past self and his lover/mentor/prophet that entire episode is simply boring. You don't even want to know anything about his back story, up until then you take everything that's been told for granted and accept it, you just want to know what happens with the murder mystery.

The world and story show great potential. Infinite life, a battle of religion versus science, humanity versus losing that sense of humanity. There is so much to explore. That's what keeps you watching, that and the good ol' detective mystery about death, corruption and betrayel. Calling out a former terrorist to figure out who killed you, great start. Unfortunately it's one of the only things that's great about this series. The rest of the time you will find moments of disappointment sneaking their way in.