wittmann73 Reviews

The Equalizer 3 (2023)

Disappointing finale

[3/10 · 9 September 2023]

I am a huge fan of the first part, the second one was decent, but this one was a huge disappointment. Hard to believe the same star and director were involved in this. The main problem is that this third installment is incredibly slow and lacks action, esp. When compared to the first Equalizer movie.

That 80% of the film was in Italian with subtitles did not help.

There are only three very short action scenes in this, one at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end. Nothing about them is exciting or special. Most of the time you see Denzel sitting at a table drinking tea or walking around a nice Italian city. The villains are totally generic and forgettable. The sub-plot with a young female CIA agent is unnecessary.

What left me thinking was why was everyone in this Italian city so nice towards Denzel´s character, although they did not know him at all? Why did the doctor help him and did not report him? Why did the policeman help him, why did he not search his car or did any background check?

The idea of McCall going against the Italian mafia sounded so cool and promising, but the outcome was disappointing. Maybe Fuqua and Denzel just wanted to have a nice holiday in Italy.

Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

Season 3 won me back

[6/10 · 10 March 2023]

Ok, the first 2 seasons were atrocious. I was so disappointed.

But after positive reviews for Season 3 I gave it another shot. And I am glad I did! Season 3 feels like a whole new show, like TNG "good old times".

So if you gave up on the show after the first two seasons, give it another try, you will not be disappointed.

Action, emotions, story, our childhood heroes ... it finally feels like Star Trek again. Thank you, Jonathan Frakes!

Season One and Two: 2 stars

Season Three: 7 stars.

I need a few more words, so I just repeat my message. Give S3 a try if you liked TNG, you wont regret it. And forget the first two seasons.

Enola Holmes (2020)

Another movie surfing the new-feminist wave

[1/10 · 5 November 2022]

Making established male characters like Sherlock Holmes look dumb so that your new, female character looks super-smart and capable is the laziest screenwriting possible. Dear feminists and wokists, please invent your own characters and keep your dirty hands off established male characters.

Making established male characters like Sherlock Holmes look dumb so that your new, female character looks super-smart and capable is the laziest screenwriting possible. Dear feminists and wokists, please invent your own characters and keep your dirty hands off established male characters.

Thank you very much.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

How?

[1/10 · 14 August 2022]

When you skip through the reviews 90% of them are 1s, 2s, 3s or 4s, barely higher. So how come this POS woke disgrace of a movie has a 6.9 rating? Mix up with "Afterlife"? Or lots of studio plants?

The Terminal List (2022– )

Good revenge thriller

[7/10 · 5 July 2022]

Your woke media hates it, your male audience loves it.

That is basically all you need to know. The plot is simple, but entertaining, the action is good. I would recommend it to a manly man audience.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Burning trainwreck

[1/10 · 27 June 2022]

This movie is complete trash. Feminist, woke trash. Noisy, gory nonsense.

Dr. Strange a weak side character in his own movie.

I did not pay for this movie and still feel ripped off.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Thank you, Tom Cruise!

[9/10 · 15 June 2022]

That is how you make a sequel. Respect the original characters. Respect the original story. Respect the fans. Do not push your agenda into the movie.

Kick ass action. Great soundtrack. A manly man movie.

Thank you Tom Cruise and crew for making this movie, we desperately needed it after so many disappointing movies and TV shows lately.

9/10.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Created by people who hate Star Wars

[1/10 · 13 June 2022]

Bad acting, bad writing, bad editing, bad directing, bad soundtrack.

"Deconstructing" another beloved Star Wars hero and making him a weak character in his own show. "Bait and switch" by Disney to lure the fans in and then promoting their shady agenda.

No tension because we all know that the main characters will survive for EP4. Rediculous scenes like the Leia chase or laser gate.

Feeling bad for Hayden and Ewan being part of this. We and they deserved better. Lucas should have never sold Star Wars.

The Book of Boba Fett (2021– )

Much better after episode 4

[6/10 · 17 January 2022]

Honestly, after "The Mandalorian" I expected much more from this.

Instead of following "the way", they keep repeating the old mistakes that already made EP 7-9 unbearable.

Additionally, this show looks and feels cheap and if it was made for kids. The lead actor is too old and out of shape to play Boba Fett. Not cool at all. After 3 episodes I have no idea where the story is supposed to be going. The first two episodes were average at best, the third simply boring.

Update: After finishing all 7 episodes I have to change my rating from 4 to 6. The last 3 episodes were really fun. As soon as Mando appears it is like a completely new show.

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Craptastic

[1/10 · 11 August 2021]

Whoever thought this script was a good idea needs his/her head examined. Plot makes no sense, jokes are not funny, random stuff happens. What a waste of money and some good actors.

The Marksman (2021)

Nothing to write home about

[5/10 · 15 July 2021]

More a road movie than action movie. Last 15 mins are ok. Liam does a solid joyb as usual, but nothing to write home about. Pretty sure most ppl will forget this one fast.

5/10.

Stromberg - The Movie (2014)

Great, but too long

[7/10 · 26 January 2021]

It is a funny movie with the beloved characters from the original TV show. And believe me, funny German movies are hard to find. Unfortunately, this movies with a runtime of about 2 hours is about 30 mins too long. It definitely loses steam in the last 30 mins. 90 minutes would have been perfect for this comedy.

7/10.

Tenet (2020)

Uhmm

[1/10 · 19 December 2020]

It was apparently about people running backwards, a nucular rocket and Robert Pattinson. Did not understand what the hell was going on. Avoid.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

This is the way

[8/10 · 12 December 2020]

"The Mandalorian" is what Star Wars should look and feel like. My faith in the franchise has been restored, though I still wish the aweful EP 7,8 and 9 never happened.

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Average conclusion to the saga

[5/10 · 7 August 2020]

What I liked:

Stallone as Rambo. The gore and violence, not giving in to PC. The last 30 minutes.

What I did not like:

The plot was average and rehashed ("Taken"). The first hour dragged. Not enough action for a Rambo movie. In Part 2 he fought the Vietcong, in Part 3 the Russian Army, in Part 4 the Burmese army and in this ... a generic Mexican drug cartel because someone kidnapped the daughter of his maid. Lame.

Should have ended with Rambo 4.

Greyhound (2020)

Disappointing WW2 movie

[3/10 · 29 July 2020]

The first 15 minutes of "Greyhound" are kind of interesting, but then it all becomes repetitive fast. It basically only consists of scenes of Tom Hanks on the bridge yelling orders, Hanks looking through windows, Hanks using his binoculars, Hanks sending guys to fetch things from his cabin or Hanks thinking about his girlfriend at home.

Talking about characters, there is zero character development, basically no plot and therefore no tension. You do not care what happens to these people because you do not know anything about them, nor does the movie tell us anything interesting about them.

What could have been an interesting psychological and tactical duel between the German sub commander "Grey Wolf" and the Tom Hanks character is wasted. The German sub commander does not appear on screen, we only hear his voice twice when he taunts Hanks, needlessly breaking radio silence.

German submarines also like to surface regularly in this movie, doing drive-by shootings and attacking US destroyers head on, a suicidal tactic that no real U-Boot commander ever used in real life.

The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)

Started with a Big Bang, then went downhill fast

[6/10 · 15 June 2020]

This show was pure gold at first when it was just Penny and the boys: when Sheldon was never open to the possibility of a relationship because of his social awkwardness and inability to understand people, when Raj couldn't speak with a girl around, and a hot girl moves in. It was genius and hilarious. The introduction of Bernadette and Amy ruined this show. Their characters are awful and intensely annoying and unfunny. Their introduction also ruined other character's story lines. Sheldon never would've ended up dating a girl the way they wrote him in with Amy. Howard was perfect when he was the overly horny nerd, and him marrying and settling down with Bernadette ruined his character. They couldn't figure out how to keep Raj the silent character so they made him talk to girls and even date as well. Which was pathetic writing. Making Penny fit in with all of them ended up removing the hot, dumb blonde girl around nerds effect that made the show great to begin with. Now, they just made it more like "Friends" instead of the clashing personalities dynamic that made this show good.

Just watch Seasons 1-5, skip the rest.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

A good movie, but maybe I expected too much

[8/10 · 25 April 2019]

Endgame is a good movie. There is a lot of quality. But after all the hype and the excellent "Infinity War" I probably expected too much.

What I liked: The actors did a great job, esp. Robert Downey Junior. The screentime of Captain Marvel was reduced to a tolerable minimum. Our original heroes all get their moments to shine. Humor was hit and miss but mostly it worked. The "Thor is a slob now" joke was a bit overused though. The end battle is pretty epic.

What I disliked: There was not enough action and the story drags at times. The Time Travel idea was probably the only way out of the corner the writers had written themselves in after Infinity War and there are also the typical problems/plotholes that come with time travel stories.

It's not the best MCU movie but I can't dispute its good conclusion.

Dunkirk (2017)

What I learned from Dunkirk

[2/10 · 11 November 2018]

The 1940 Dunkirk evacuation consisted of a couple of boats, a few hundred Brit soldiers on the beach and 4 planes above.

A low and slow Spitfire without an engine can still shoot down a Stuka dive bomber coming from high alt as long as the pilot is Tom Hardy.

If you have to land your plane on a beach make sure you land as far away from your own troops as possible so you can get captured by the enemy.

Continuity is overrated these days, as is a decent score, an interesting plot or characters you care for.

Dont trust movie critics.

2/10 because the first 10 minutes are interesting.

The Predator (2018)

"No GOD! No God, please no! No! Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[1/10 · 10 November 2018]

What have they done to the Predator? This must be the worst movie of 2018. What a horrible mess, what a trainwreck, what an insult to the fans and the original two movies. This movie should have never been made. Anyone who read the script and thought this was a good idea should have his head examined. Shane Black, I expected so much more from you.

1/10

Better Call Saul (2015– )

A show about nothing

[2/10 · 17 June 2017]

After watching and wasting my time with 2 full seasons I finally gave up on the show. Why? Because it goes nowhere. It is about nothing. It is a waste of time. It whispers: "Stay tuned, maybe something will happen." But it doesn't. Nothing happens. Nothing makes much sense. The pacing could not be any slower. The only interesting character is Mike.

2/10 for Mike and some remotely interesting scenes. Avoid. This is no Breaking Bad, far from it.

00 Schneider - Im Wendekreis der Eidechse (2013)

this one is a fail

[2/10 · 21 October 2013]

Of course one cannot be surprised to find out that this latest Helge Schneider flick is trash, that is what Helge does and did brilliantly in the past.

I was a fan of him in the early 1990s already when Helge was pretty much a nobody to the German public. Truth is you either like Helge or you hate him, same with his films. I admit that I loved the first 00-Schneider in 1994 and also his "Texas" movie. Although both basically only consist of outtakes and bloopers, both films were actually very funny and quotable.

But apparently Helge is not the same Helge anymore - or he does not want to be. "Im Wendekreis" is Helge's latest attempt, scenes once more don't make any sense, offer weird characters and no plot to speak of. But this time it is just not funny. It is a walkout.

Sorry Helge, this one is a fail. Stick to CDs or try harder next time. Additional star for the slo-mo fight at the end.

In Time (2011)

Interesting concept, but ...

[5/10 · 9 December 2011]

Let me play the nitpicker here: First off, the idea that your "clock" is always visible is pretty stupid to begin with. That's like us walking around with a bank balance stamped across our arm. It should become visible with a touch on the wrist or something.

The fact that all you have to do is touch arms to take time is stupid, ,too. There's no way to make it voluntary? No kind of security? I mean, it's you life for crying out loud!!

Will and Sylvia robbing their first time bank. How did they get a hold of an armored truck in the first place? All you have to do to rob a bank and get all the time you want is crash into the front? If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it! There are people dying in the streets everyday and no one has thought to do this?

Olivia's death, it was too cliché. Literally missing it by like a second? Come on!

Why would the lead Minute Man want to 'fight' Will? (also, they never made that concept clear until they sat at that table) Why wouldn't he just take his time and be done with it? He had nothing to gain from it. It was just weak writing in my opinion.

And what happened to that subplot of Will's father? They kept alluding to some great reveal or that Leon knew something Will didn't, but then the film just forgot about it. Are they trying to tell us that Will's altruism was hereditary? When Will got to Greenich, what was his plan? It seemed to me like he was just buying his way into high society and playing with the rich. I couldn't figure out what his endgame was going to be.

This one is again not a flaw, but can we all agree that car crash into the ditch looked just ridiculous? Terrible CGI and not believable at all.

And how they got the jump on Weiss, Sylvia's father. He's got more security around him than the President, but all you need is a pair of sunglasses to get the jump on him? Does the "security team" consist of random people who do not know each other? Then once you got him to lead you upstairs, all his bodyguards did what? Went out for lunch? Why didn't they go after him? Why weren't they waiting downstairs for him? Why weren't any alarms sounding? Stupid. So you have a million years in you hand and presumably only an hour on you wrist, yet you don't take any for yourself? I guess handing a little girl 999,999 years, 11 months, and 28 days just doesn't have the same resonance.

You can pay one year to get into Greenwich zone ... or you just walk in, there is no security or guards anyway.

"Wire me my per diem- wait, never mind ..." that was stupid. All he had to do was put his arm out. Also, it made it obvious from that point how Leon was going to die.

Conclusion: If you're the kind of viewer who can overlook flaws like this, I can see someone finding this movie enjoyable, it had an interesting premise, with a good cast, but plots holes you could drive a monster truck through.

Predators (2010)

disappointing indeed

[4/10 · 12 July 2010]

I didn't expect much of this film but was still disappointed. The actors are not very convincing, the plot not very suspenseful and it is hard to identify with any of the characters. In fact, hardly anyone of them is likable. Adrian Brody is no match for Schwarzenegger. The story falls flat : as the viewer already knows from the trailer that the gang is on a remote Alien planet, it still takes Adrian Brody and his friends 20 mins to figure that one out, which results in a snore fest for the audience. The movie has no real beginning and no real ending and therefore it feels a bit choppy and patchwork-like most of the time. Some good ideas don't make a good film.

Action also only ho-hum, only one memorable scene at best. Soundtrack ripped off from Silvestri, nice to hear it again but it also makes you yearn for the 1987 original. Laurence Fishburn with a 10 min cameo that is more confusing than cool.

All in all a low budget B-movie that neither the fans nor the world really needed.

4/10

Robin Hood (2010)

"Gladiator" it is not

[4/10 · 15 May 2010]

I went to see the film with low expectations and I wasn't disappointed. The film starts with some good action in France and the first 15 minutes are well done.

After that, with the return of Robin to England, the movie slows down a lot and basically nothing interesting happens for the next 90 minutes. Lots of talking, some plots unfold, but all in all only ho-hum. Nothing to write home about. I espected more action and especially more suspense in a film about Robin Hood

Then the last 20 minutes the film picks up speed again and has a nice final battle on a beach. But what were the "feral boys" suddenly doing there with Maid Marian? That was silly and never explained.

All in all, the film doesn't play in the same league as "Gladiator", although Crowe and Scott are involved again. Crowe shows a solid performance, but nothing memorable. The film shows some great locations and sets, but doesn't do much with it.

The villain is well played by Marc Strong, but criminally underused, and the final showdown between him and Robin Hood is a huge letdown compared to "Gladiator".

Personally, I rate this film 5/10. The film is not a flop, but it is one of those films you see once and then forget.