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Suicide Squad (2016)
Better than people say, could have been amazing, but still disappointing. Spoilers within.
The first third of the movie was great, surprising given the bad reviews. The build up and introduction of the characters was stylish, worked well, was fun, and was adult.
It starts to change when they are getting changed into their mission clothes, the atmosphere lightens up, but not really in a good way, and the one-liners are a bit too staged as everything pauses while they are delivered not only here but also from here on in the movie.
The mission they set out on quickly turns into bay-transformers-esque shooting and fighting which is a bit boring and cliched, and goes on for most of the remainder of the movie, interspersed with brief dialogues and plot points. Some tension manages to be created with the control that the mission leader has over them, but it's hard to take it seriously, especially when team member's like deadshot could have done away with the mission leader if they had wanted, what stops him? Morals?
Morals and conscience are a truly interesting grey area here, in which the people in charge turn out to be if not as bad, then perhaps worse than the suicide squad themselves, which also raises the question of the team's obedience to such leaders. While there are discussions and intentions toward rebellion, they never really follow through, even at the end when all is said and done. Strangely the authority figure's criminal behaviour does not cause their authority to be questioned by the team, this especially applies at the end of the movie when the authority figure takes time off their jail sentences. It feels like Hitler telling some criminals they can be released early for good behaviour.
The bar scene is missing some of the funny lines from the trailer, and Katana's decision to join them for a drink is an example of a 180 which makes no sense and doesn't get explained, and all the while they are drinking, soul-searching, and having their moral reckonings, the main 'evil' protagonist's world-crushing business gets conveniently paused.
As to the joker, the role was done well despite people's disliking of this version, I can see how the actor didn't watch other versions in order to create their own, and they are convincing as a chilling, crazy, oddball villian. It was unusual to see the joker used in a love subplot, but this twisted infatuation was done okay, and was fairly entertaining.
So overall don't expect clever plot points or everything to always make sense, don't expect satisfying fighting, though there are one or two interesting action pieces. The relationships are the most interesting part of the movie, and the team member's personal struggles end up being the most convincing thing about this fairly unconvincing movie, with Harley Quinn and Deadshot providing the most in this area, despite this Deadshot's acting is subdued, but Harley is believable. It is an antihero movie, and unapologetically unmoralistic, apart from that it follows some hollywood formulas, and could have been so much more, especially if it had kept the feel from the first third.
The Land That Time Forgot (2009)
Surprised that movie has a heart and soul, despite cliches and bad effects
I turned to SyFy channel near the start of the movie and instantly judged this to be a B-movie cliched re-hash with awful script and laughable special effects. Well although it is these things, it has a surprising heart, which kept me watching till the end.
First of all the negatives:
- the CGI is really outdated, it just about works for the water-monster tentacle, but for T-Rex you can't help but cringe a little, however I got used to it and found T-Rex scary before long.
- the characters are incredibly brave for being faced with ferocious dinosaurs, and don't seem particularly bothered, in fact the dinosaurs don't make regular appearances but after they do they are quickly forgotten by the PTSD-impervious people. Jurassic Park this isn't.
- gender stereotypes: the women are so cliched as supportive but unwilling to take part in action. The men are the opposite and so cliched too.
Now the positives:
- I expected some characters to be more cliched, like the nazis. But everyone quickly turned out to be good team members and joined together in good spirit, americans with nazis and even some comedy thrown in briefly despite the language barrier. However some treacherousness came from people who initially helped the newcomers which was unexpected.
- Overall the characters were presented as thinking and thoughtful and trying to figure out a plan intelligently to solve their various crisis. The nazi leader who can speak some English describes how he was studying at Cambridge before the war, this reflects the surprising theme of the movie, that brain overcomes brawn, with T-Rex being the major brawn. The solution to getting off the island is a science-based one and the architect is shown to be resourceful and intelligent. Geeks for the win.
- Despite the cliched female and male roles, the males were given specific moments to show 'weakness' and sensitivity, for example after escaping the clutches of dinosaurs, however this only happened for the males with female partners, and then their partner could comfort them. Cliched female role in those situations, but unexpected male 'human-ness'.
- Another surprising theme was one of warm-heartedness and sefllessness. Some of the self-sacrifice was beyond believable, but despite pushing this too far, the overall theme of taking care of each other and of bonding was apparent. Having said that, there is a strong smattering of selfishness too, but the movie had more heart than I was expecting. In fact the ending could have been portrayed in a few different lights, but the one chosen was to make it warm-hearted and positive.
OVERALL I didn't expect to watch this movie to the end, but the unexpected warm heart of the movie plus the championing of intelligent and even geeky knowledge to create solutions to their crisis won me over. This movie is still bad, but has some good themes, good enough that I would recommend as a time-passer.
The Land That Time Forgot (2009)
Surprised that movie has a heart and soul, despite cliches and bad effects
I turned to SyFy channel near the start of the movie and instantly judged this to be a B-movie cliched re-hash with awful script and laughable special effects. Well although it is these things, it has a surprising heart, which kept me watching till the end.
First of all the negatives:
- the CGI is really outdated, it just about works for the water-monster tentacle, but for T-Rex you can't help but cringe a little, however I got used to it and found T-Rex scary before long.
- the characters are incredibly brave for being faced with ferocious dinosaurs, and don't seem particularly bothered, in fact the dinosaurs don't make regular appearances but after they do they are quickly forgotten by the PTSD-impervious people. Jurassic Park this isn't.
- gender stereotypes: the women are so cliched as supportive but unwilling to take part in action. The men are the opposite and so cliched too.
Now the positives:
- I expected some characters to be more cliched, like the nazis. But everyone quickly turned out to be good team members and joined together in good spirit, americans with nazis and even some comedy thrown in briefly despite the language barrier. However some treacherousness came from people who initially helped the newcomers which was unexpected.
- Overall the characters were presented as thinking and thoughtful and trying to figure out a plan intelligently to solve their various crisis. The nazi leader who can speak some English describes how he was studying at Cambridge before the war, this reflects the surprising theme of the movie, that brain overcomes brawn, with T-Rex being the major brawn. The solution to getting off the island is a science-based one and the architect is shown to be resourceful and intelligent. Geeks for the win.
- Despite the cliched female and male roles, the males were given specific moments to show 'weakness' and sensitivity, for example after escaping the clutches of dinosaurs, however this only happened for the males with female partners, and then their partner could comfort them. Cliched female role in those situations, but unexpected male 'human-ness'.
- Another surprising theme was one of warm-heartedness and sefllessness. Some of the self-sacrifice was beyond believable, but despite pushing this too far, the overall theme of taking care of each other and of bonding was apparent. Having said that, there is a strong smattering of selfishness too, but the movie had more heart than I was expecting. In fact the ending could have been portrayed in a few different lights, but the one chosen was to make it warm-hearted and positive.
OVERALL I didn't expect to watch this movie to the end, but the unexpected warm heart of the movie plus the championing of intelligent and even geeky knowledge to create solutions to their crisis won me over. This movie is still bad, but has some good themes, good enough that I would recommend as a time-passer.