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Reviews
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Great first half but second half dragged
The first 60-80 minutes were fantastic, interesting story with non stop action that for the most part looked authentic and low on cgi, then somewhere at that point the pace became slower and the characters kept talking every 2 seconds about THE KEY. What followed was much less realistic action movie with more cgi, green screens and girl power emphasis. I did like Hayley Atwell (very sexy) but the rest of the female cast was weak and felt forced. Tom Cruise himself did a decent job as usual and the main villain was okaysh. The last action sequence on the train felt way over the top, especially the whole bike stunt jumping from the top of the mountain and reaching to a specific part of the train at the exact right time and place. In the words of sleepy Joe - 'come on, man!'
Anyhow, still a decent movie, worth watching on the big screen mainly for it's first half but don't expect the sharpness and cleverness of some of the previous mission impossible movies that had better stories.
RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) (2022)
first 30 min were great but it went donwhill after with typical Bollywood drama
The first 30 min were action packed and promising. I enjoyed the intro to the 2 main characters but unfortunately from that point it went into the direction of songs, dances, emotional drama and a few more action scenes which were too cartoonish and unrealistic.
The Old Man: VII (2022)
Hamzad this and Hamzad that...WHO CARES???
The last episode of the season was it's worse. While the first episode was so promising and action packed with a lot of Jeff Bridges kicking ass the rest of the series took a gradual nosedive with boring flashbacks, long tedious dialogues and sidekick characters getting more screen time than Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow combined.
The last episode was the nail in the coffin, I think half of the episode was Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow driving a car and talking very slowly about Hamzad this and Hamzad that...who cares??? I wanted the show to focus more on Jeff Bridges being a fugitive like the first 3 episodes, not on his daughter and her boring background story.
Terrible.
The Gray Man (2022)
2-3 good action scenes but overall forgettable
Also, I felt Ryan Gosling was a miscast, he's a great actor which fits for more quiet roles like 'Drive' but not the 'bad ass' tough guy action hero as it is in this movie.
Chris Evans was having a lot of fun playing the villain and the rest of the cast was okaysh.
Story otherwise was very much 'been there done that' mashup of Jason Bourne, John Wick with overuse of cgi in some scenes.
Ryan Gosling's character got hit by a car, stabbed and shot several times and yet survived miraculously like he's a super hero from one of the Russo's brothers MCU movies.
Still, there were some good action scenes and probably it should be enough for 1 time watch but not more than that.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
100% special effects 0% story
Movie felt very rushed. There was no story whatsoever. Just a dumb collection of cgi scenes with silly humor that 90% of the time doesn't work. Thor has become a moron with super powers who can't decide if he's a super hero or a clown. Christian Bale was the only one who was trying with some decent acting despite the cheap material he was given.
Not recommend.
The Old Man: V (2022)
Boring flashbacks, Zoe Character is inconsistent
The guy who plays younger Chase is a weak actor and the whole flashback background story is too slow and boring. Zoe, who in the end of the previous episode was ready to kill Dan Chase suddenly has become much softer in this episode and seeking help. Huh? Make up your mind, writers! How can a character changes personalities so fast???
The Old Man: IV (2022)
It's all about the women now
The first episode was a classic good guy vs bad guy story. We were hooked (I've seen this pattern by the way in other shows lately, giving the audience what they want in the first episode and then changing tune later in the show adding more social political agendas) , 2nd and 3rd episodes were still good but already some of the attention went towards Zoe and Angela. Now the 4th episode has gone full feminist. The male characters have become sidekicks and its all about Chase's daughter and Zoe. And yes, the last few min were atrocious. Suddenly Dan Chase has become an emotional mumbling idiot which has been manipulated by the all mighty intelligent zoe who of course has been waiting for years for her vengeance against all men on the planet for what they have done to her.
The Lincoln Lawyer (2022)
Very enjoyable despite one poor casting choice
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo did a fantastic job carrying this show on his shoulders. The main story was compelling and all the supporting cast did a good job as well except Neve Campbell - I found her screen presence to be quite annoying and condescending for no good reason. Also her story felt like a forced filler subplot which I had zero interest in.
Other than that - it was a pleasant surprise, well written, directed and shot.
Looking forward for Season 2.
WandaVision (2021)
Started well, but went downhill towards the end
The first 5-6 episodes were surprisingly good. I enjoyed the sitcom format changing from decade to decade. Very cool intros. But they ran out of gas in the last 2-3 episodes and it became a very generic marvel good vs evil. Too much woke as well.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Dissapointing Sequel
The first Doctor Strange was much better, had a nice origin story, taking it's time to let us know the main characters and the connection between them and even some decent laughs here and there.
Multiverse of Madness however is a complete mess. Sam Raimi brings his usual team (Bruce Campbell cameo, composer Danny Elfman, make up artists) but it feels recycled and too familiar unless you're a young viewer which is not familiar with his past work.
The Story is all over the place involving woke elements, cameos which are hinting at the future of MCU and lots of cgi which might be an eye candy but gets tiresome especially in the poor last act.
Ambulance (2022)
Way too long, should have been an 80 min movie max
The first 10-15 min were decent, I liked the bank robbery scene, was a clear rip off of 'Heat' but I didn't mind. The rest of the movie was repetitive and messy. 2 hours of loud shouting mixed with awkward forced humor, cursing and chaotic action.
White House Down (2013)
Worst bad guys ever
Movie was very forgettable and cheesy. A copy/paste of Die Hard just much more dumber. The bad guys were the dumbest I've seen in any movie. I don't know how they came up with such a mastermind plan of taking over the white house without having a brain. There was some self humor which was welcome and some good action scenes but that's about it.
Reacher (2022)
Ritchson got the right physique but missing Cruise's screen presence
A combination of both would have given us the perfect Jack Reacher. The show itself is okay, follows pretty accurately the book and has some decent action here and there but to me personally the tone feels a bit too light, I preferred the more darker tone of the 2012 first Jack Reacher with Tom Cruise (the sequel was horrible) without too many smiles and more straight forward action and dialogues.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
1st act - meh, 2nd act - awesome!, 3rd act - Boring
This movie was very uneven. The first 30 min were quite slow and romantic. The next 40 min were breathtaking with cat and mouse chase that was superbly directed and shot. And the remaining 50 min were just boring with needless montages and goofy scenes.
Worth to watch for the 2nd act but else quite forgettable.
The Blacklist: Between Sleep and Awake (2022)
Ressler does 'Shane'
Solid episode focused almost exclusively on Ressler and what he went through since Keen's death.
While it had decent drama and some action it didn't contribute much to the main story. A 'Shane' like episode where Ressler helps a mother and her son in their life while at the same time fixing his own life.
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
Too old for the role, fake teeth
Production design looks the same as Mandalorian which is great but from the first episode the Achilles heel of this show is quite visible - the main actor. He was vicious back in the days ('Once were warriors') but that was almost 30 years ago. Now he's slow, has fake white teeth and doesn't fit to the role.
Red Notice (2021)
Brainless fun but forgettable
You get what you want here - big budget slick heist movie, the strength of Dwayne Johnson, the van wilder/Deadpool/every other RR movie humor and the sex appeal of Gal Gadot.
Out of the 3 I enjoyed mostly RR's Humor even though some jokes missed the mark. The action was well made but the story as predicted was far fetched and brainless.
Star Trek: The Apple (1967)
The one with the bad hairdos
Poorly written episode. Felt very cheap and silly. Funny how all 'aliens' the crew encounter speak fluent English and have little makeup and in this episode's case a funny looking hairdo to distinguish them from humans.
A few red-shirts die...no one cares. The Alien leader is a snake head statue and Mr. Sulu and Lt. Uhora are missing in action for some reason. At least the last 2 min were funny to redeem this poor episode.
No Time to Die (2021)
Bond movie shouldn't be longer than 2 hours
The biggest crime of this movie was that it was too long. I actually enjoyed the first 1.5 hours as it was action packed and compelling mostly but then it all of a sudden became an emotional drama which felt forced and poorly done.
Keep it down to 2 hours, guys, Bond is not suppose to be an Oscar bait schmaltz.
The Blacklist: The Skinner (No. 45): Conclusion (2021)
What's the point anymore?
I'm glad Liz is out of the picture as her presence in the last 2 seasons was annoying but on the big picture it seems like the show doesn't have a point anymore. Where is the mystery? Is it just going to be the new 'number of the week' every episode? Or are we going to have some new big mystery?
Old (2021)
Great first half (minus the poor acting) ruined by an abysmal second half
First half - lots of WTF moments, great camera work but poor acting (mainly the actress who plays the mother)
Second half - became a cheesy and tedious horror movie, lost my interest there...at least the ending was better but still overall a missed opportunity.
Vacation Friends (2021)
Solid Comedy, first 30 min were the best
Overall it was a fun movie, the first 30 min were hilarious and after that it gradually went downhill. John Cena was surprisingly good and the rest of the cast did a decent job as well.
One of the most challenging things in comedies is to keep an even amount of laughs throughout the whole movie and very few comedies in history managed to do that (The Naked Gun for example). 'Vacation Friends' loses its steam after the first crazy 30 min but manages to deliver some funny moments here and there after.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
An 88 mil B movie
Yes, the budget of this movie was 88 mil.
And yet, it feels like a direct to dvd/streaming second grade low budget action movie.
The first 30-40 min were not bad to be honest, some good action here and there but after that it went to full snooze mode. Lots of dull dialogues and 'fortune cookie' zen messages.
The plot was quite predictable and the actors were just reading lines without expressing much emotion.
Very forgettable.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
First 20 min were awesome, then it all went downhill
What a shame. The movie had such a strong opening, lots of action and great jokes, then gradually it went downhill with a boring story and some huge starfish alien being the main villain. The Starfish had 1 eye and when you shoot it, it's blood shoots hundreds of other small starfishes which cover the faces of human beings who come in contact with it (i wonder if it's a coincidence or a reference to humanity's status these days). Anyhow, there were some good action moments here and there and the special effects were impressive but the story was just too lubricious and not sophisticated enough to my taste.
4/10.
F9 (2021)
The Lazy and the Dull
By now this franchise feels like a sitcom which has run out of steam. You already know too well all the characters, the same jokes repeat themselves and you're in season 9 just watching it because of the name.
The special effects, explosions, fast cars and testosterone are all in this movie again but on every other element everything felt lazy and dull.
Writing - doesn't exist, leaving aside one hilarious line delivered by Charilize Theron related to star wars reference the story was very lame.
Characters - boring and one dimensional. There's almost no emotion expressed by any of them. They just read lines and do the physical part whenever it's needed.
Villain - very weak. John Cena was a great wrestler that turned out to be a reasonable actor but as hard as he tries he's quite limited and doesn't add anything new to this franchise.
Action - it can be fun sometimes, like going to a theme park but it has lost any connection to realism. The good guys fly in the air, jump from buildings, get shot at and miraculously survive without a scratch.
4/10.