I saw this on the weekend with my 15-year-old daughter. It wasn’t terrible, but it was certainly about 20 minutes too long and would have been better with some tighter editing (probably could have cut the evil siblings thread from the picture entirely and been better off for it. And I like Malin Akerman!). Also, the CG wasn’t as good as I was expecting, particularly the parts where The Rock was in-scene with some other monster.
He has come a long way, though, from Tooth Fairy. He certainly can carry a movie of this type, and if you go in with reasonable expectations, it’s a fun enough night at the movies.
Just an FYI, my expectations were on the floor. I played Rampage as a kid. I expected little to no plot, about monsters destroying building… and the entire reason they go to the city, destroy buildings, and bad guys still there, it was just bad. But yeah, to each their own… my expectations were reasonable.
I just caught a trailer on YouTube for a movie called Upgrade and it looks ok in a slight kind of way. But I was dead certain the main character was being played by Tom Hardy but it’s someone else entirely who bears a striking resemblance!
I am going to recommend Chappaquiddick, as it turned out to be more than I expected it to be, and the acting Is pretty good. It seemed to have left a strong impression on those watching it. I thought I knew what it was going to be like going in, but it had a lot of different colors in it and it does make you think.
I’m rating 10 x 10 as a thumbs up, but only just so. It’s a middle of the scale thriller movie that fell short in some small ways to be better. The acting varied from scene to scene, especially so with Lewis (Luke Evans) who seemed to be able to channel anger and sadness when needed, but fell into monotone, barely caring voice projection in too many scenes. Cathy (Kelly Reilly) fared a little better, but we don’t get too many glimpses of her range until late in the movie.
The plot worked, it actually took me by a small surprise as I slowly pieced together what was going on. That being said, the slow exposition and sudden understanding of what was going on was kind of ruined when not long afterward the characters had to once again step us through things as they voiced out what the audience slowly pieces together. A slight nod for the small surprise that happens during that talk, however.
The “thriller” part of the movie doesn’t really keep you on the edge of your seat, rather you’ll roll your eyes a bit as so many thriller/horror tropes play out in the actions of what we think are seemingly intelligent people. Examples with things like, never double checking bindings, or verifying if someone is alive or not, or not turning your back on an enemy, etc.
But it tried, it was well shot and semi-decently directed. So slight thumbs up.
I’ll go with Skipper on the slight thumbs-up, mainly because I like both actors a lot.
But the script and, uh, reveal/resolution is sooooo dumb. It doesn’t help that the “girl locked in the basement” genre feels so icky. The way this movie plays on that, and tries to manipulate you, just feels cheap. But, yeah, Luke Evans and Kelly Reilly! If you can’t watch Evans in No One Lives or Reilly in Eden Lake – both heartily recommended for horror fans – I guess this will do as a bit of filler.
Sometimes, though icky, it seems to work. I enjoyed Split, where the fear was intensified by one captee while hearing what the others are going through. I guess you could throw Kiss the Girls in the same lot. It amped up the tension and eventual escape.
Also there was one movie in particular where a woman was captured and goes through it thinking that another captee in a room next to her was genuine and she befriends them only to find out it was really the antagonist. I can’t remember the name of that one though.
I haven’t gone to the theater much since superhero movies took over, but that might change now that I’ve found out they’re showing Bollywood movies here. I caught this one today.
I found the lack of subtlety refreshing. The hero goes out and punishes the corrupt, beats up the thugs, and fixes all the problems of everyone in society while remaining humble and in touch with his roots. It reminded me of the ancient biography of Cyrus the Great, except in modern times and with more singing and dancing. If nothing else, it’s interesting to see a movie from a culture where they don’t need their heroes to be brooding and angsty.
Has anyone else seen You Were Never Really Here? I was a little cool on it initially, and thought it needed about 15 more minutes of narrative, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it and like it more and more. I regret having seen the trailer because I ended up expecting something more along the lines of Green Room in terms of violence and intensity. Looking forward to seeing it again, knowing what it is and where it goes.
We enjoyed watching this over the weekend. Game Night shined in the comedic play and dialog multiple times. I am of the opinion I could watch Jason Bateman in pretty damn near any movie.
Dunno if this needs its own thread, so posting here, but the upcoming Mercury\Queen movie looks great. Well, the trailer sounds great. Which is probably what’s making me love it so much. I mean, it’s Queen music, expertly cut together into a fantastic medley.
