mattxrt Reviews

Attack on Titan: Night of the End (2022) Season 4, Episode 25

Well written dialogue coupled with god tier voice acting and score manage to elevate this episode to some of the series' best

[10/10 · 6 March 2022]

This episode reminds me a lot of Midnight Sun from Season 3, an episode that was also almost entirely dialogue based and focused on the conflicting ideologies of its characters rather than on the action and yet it still managed to be just as captivating as some of most action packed episodes of Attack on Titan.

It just goes to show what a powerful effect good voice acting and score can have, when coupled with great dialogue, on a narrative. That even as something as mundane as a bunch of people sitting around a camp talking can be equally as exciting as two huge titans fighting. A great example of the efficacy of animation as a medium and why people are just as enthusiastic to see an episode even after having read the manga.

Attack on Titan: Pride (2022) Season 4, Episode 24

Even this close to the end Attack on Titan still manages to surprise in the most unexpected ways

[10/10 · 27 February 2022]

What if the people you were trying to save opposed your goals? This is the interesting conundrum that Attack on Titan sets up at the end of this episode and I've got to say it's a surprising if not fascinating development. Like of course it wasn't going to be that straight forward. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Conny, Hange and Levi are their own persons with their own drives and goals. What they each want doesn't necessary align with what Eren wants.

For some, like Connie, Jean and Armin, it's simply wanting to do what they feel is the right thing, for others like Levi it's the desire for revenge. We can see bits of what motivates them to do so like Connie talking about wanting to make his mother proud by saving those in need or Jean witnessing a horrific display of xenophobia that can result in a world fractured by tribalism. (An interesting parallel to how Marley treated Eldians, a theme ever present in Attack on Titan.)

Can they stop Eren? Will stopping him even do anything at this point? I don't know but the upcoming clash of ideologies seems like they're going to make for some terrific next couple of episodes, after all that's where Attack on Titan has always shined the most.

On a side note, the interaction between Connie, Armin and Annie was a rare moment of levity that I really enjoyed and is a nice reminder that these three were at one point friends who grew up with each other.

Old (2021)

An interesting premise bogged down by a godawful script and wonky direction

[6/10 · 23 February 2022]

To call the films concept cool would be an understatement, in fact it's the only reason I was completely glued to the screen from start to end. The camerawork, vfx and makeup do a wonderful job in quickly aging up these characters in a realistic manner that is absolutely fascinating and sometimes even scary to watch unfold.

The problem? Every time the characters opened their mouths. The dialogue in this film is literally B movie tier, it's so bad that it's honestly hard to believe it's in a movie of this calibre and talent.

It's a shame because you can clearly see all of the relevant themes that would arise from such a situation clearly on the screen, it's just the dialogue accompanying it that makes it hard to take seriously.

The direction in this film is also all over the place, there are scenes of genuine skill that full on displays Shyamalan's background in horror, he manages to convey the terrifying prospect of aging decades within mere hours impressively well to the audience and then there are scenes that makes seasoned veteran actors look like they're amateurs.

Big Time Adolescence (2019)

Funny with a surprising perspective on where bad influences can come from

[8/10 · 23 February 2022]

While it's a funny coming of age film, the thing that stood out to me the most is while Zeke (Pete Davidson's character) is clearly a bad influence on Mo, he isn't exactly a bad person and clearly cares about him like a big brother. It's something I don't think that's often portrayed in films about toxic relationships/friendships. That sometimes people can be a bad influence on someone even without meaning to.

And I think by the end of the film Mo realizes that, that Zeke's not really ever gonna change and it's in his best interests as hard as it maybe to cut him off.

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015)

Not perfect but the chemistry between the actors still makes you root for them

[8/10 · 23 February 2022]

The writing and dialogue may not be on par with the Before trilogy (which this film is almost always inevitably compared to) but the almost palpable chemistry between the two actors still makes it work well enough to be an entertaining watch. If a romance movie makes you feel like "Hey I wish I could experience something like this" then imo the film did its job.

And any film that relies entirely on dialogue to be entertaining is worthy of admiration because it is not really something easy to pull off.

All the Money in the World (2017)

A standout performance in an otherwise uninteresting thriller

[6/10 · 23 February 2022]

Christopher Plummer steals the show as J. Paul Getty, with a powerful performance as a selfish, greedy old man that would give Scrooge McDuck and Ebenezer Scrooge a run for their money. The actual film surrounding it though often feels uninteresting and poorly paced where the characters are just going through the motions to recreate the actual real life events. While it is fascinating to see a person like Getty exist in real life, that can only carry a film so far.

Attack on Titan: Sunset (2022) Season 4, Episode 23

A great reminder that victory never comes without cost in war for either side

[10/10 · 22 February 2022]

Collateral damage, internal politics and prisoners of war are a big focus of this episode as you can feel Attack on Titan slowly wrapping up any loose ends as it approaches the finale.

It's easy to think "Hey we won, everythings gonna be fine and dandy now" when in reality, it's rarely if ever the case in times of conflict. Just cause Eren has saved his people doesn't necessarily mean there is gonna be peace in the world now. Existing internal divisions and politics threaten to tear apart the lives of the Eldians and it's pretty obvious at this point things are gonna get much worse before they get better. The collateral cost resulting from the rumbling are starting to split apart the Eldians on how they view Eren, and how they treat the survivors on the losing side and how they deal with Reiner, Annie, Pieck, Falco and Zeke from this point on may very well decide if the Eldians end up repeating the same mistakes as their predecessors and that of Marley.

Also I never thought I'd be excited to see and feel bad for Annie of all people but I guess it just once again goes to show what a fantastic job Hajime Isayama has done of blurring the lines between good and evil & right and wrong, that I no longer feel the same animosity towards her now that I felt in Season 1 for her actions.

Attack on Titan: Thaw (2022) Season 4, Episode 22

AoT takes a well deserved breather after a crazy last couple of episodes

[10/10 · 14 February 2022]

It's over, Eren has done it. Eren is in the process of committing mass worldwide genocide to save his people and we get to see the reactions of multiple people witnessing it unfolding before their eyes. And it's fascinating to see because in many ways it reflects the thoughts of us, the audience themselves.

The Eldian's beyond the walls are slowly realizing the terror of their approaching fate. Reiner laments being unable to stop Eren and accepts his fate and that of his family's and homeland. A distraught Gabi is later seen asking Armin to ask Eren if everyone beyond the walls really has to die, that can't he just destroy their militaries. Jean is in disbelief that Eren would do something like this but reluctantly blames the world for bringing it upon themselves. Armin thinks it's going too far, calling it genocide of unprecedented scale but is unsure of whether to stop Eren. There is a collective realization that Eren is committing this monstrous act for them, the people he cares so much about, putting them all in a depressive state.

There is an interesting conversation between Gabi, Kaya and Niccolo about who the devils really are among them and Niccolo succinctly puts, that's it's a part of all of them, otherwise the world wouldn't be like this. That the only way to escape this, is to escape the forest they're all trapped in, that even if it's not possible they got to still keep trying.

It's moments like these that makes Attack on Titan so great, the willing to philosophize on these hard tough to approach topics, that elevates this show from just a great action series to a true great work of fiction.

Also once again big props to the music and animation in this episode, the scene with the scouts and recruits fighting the Titans was fantastic while still managing to make the brief encounter/farewell with Commander Pixis emotional.

Attack on Titan: From You, 2000 Years Ago (2022) Season 4, Episode 21

Will go down in history as the most shocking act in all of anime/manga. Wouldn't expect anything less from AoT 10/10.

[10/10 · 12 February 2022]

How do you end 2000 years of Titan domination and save Eldia at the same time? By making sure there is no one to dominate over or attack you in the first place AKA worldwide genocide.

To call Eren's act at the end of this episode shocking and unexpected would be an understatement. Is Eren even a hero at this point? Is he a full blown villain now? It doesn't matter. Hajime Isayama has blurred the lines between right and wrong so much at this point, all you can do is sit and watch in shock because honestly none of us can offer a different solution.

Because the alternative is literally seeing your people get wiped out through genocide itself or slowly forced to be driven to extinction via involuntary sterilization. Either way neither allows you to chose your own faith and there is nothing worse in this world than having your freedom and choice taken away from you.

I don't know what I would've done if I were in Eren's place but god does this make for some captivating piece of television. An absolute masterpiece of an episode.

Attack on Titan: Memories of the Future (2022) Season 4, Episode 20

Confused and intrigued in the best way possible

[10/10 · 31 January 2022]

I don't know how Attack on Titan does it episode after episode but I'm yet again left questioning everything I thought I knew. And I fricking love it.

Attack on Titan: Two Brothers (2022) Season 4, Episode 19

Absolutely Speechless

[10/10 · 24 January 2022]

While I've loved Season 4 in general, I honestly didn't think anything was going to match the gutpunch of Hero from last season, I was wrong. The episode is just unrelenting from start to finish and there wasn't a single second I wasn't at the edge of my seat. The animation, the music, the emotional beats, the pacing, the tension, everything was top notch. This may very well be the best episode of Attack on Titan.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

More interested in commentating on the state of filmmaking than on the themes that made the original so captivating

[6/10 · 3 January 2022]

The film spends a solid first half of it's runtime commentating on the state of filmmaking, studios, reboots and franchises in which it becomes increasingly apparent that it's just Lana Wachowski using the film as a mouthpiece to bitch to the audience that she didn't want to make the film and the studio forced her to do it. Which is fine but people don't come to watch a Matrix film for a commentary on the state of Hollywood, there are plenty of other films that do that better. The original Matrix appealed to people because of it's exploration of themes such as AI, technology, man vs machine, existentialism, fate, free will, choice etc. Heck over the years as the directors themselves have come out as trans, the Matrix has slowly come to be seen as a form of trans allegory but the new film other than a throwaway line does absolutely nothing with it.

Unfortunately the first half is also where she puts the most effort as that's the part she was really interested in, because the 2nd half just feels like a rushed hodge podge of a romance/rescue plot where it seems like the director just realized "Oh yeah I've still got an entire movie to finish". The main theme here seems to be that of love but the 2nd half is so rushed that all of Neo/Trinity's development just feels unearned. The film could have definitely used an extra half an hour or more to make their developments more fleshed out.

It also doesn't help that the action is also very unremarkable which the the sequels at least excelled in.

Don't Look Up (2021)

A hardhitting but uneven too on the nose satire that will appeal to it's target demographic but not much else

[6/10 · 3 January 2022]

The film isn't bad, the acting is great, a lot of the comedy lands but its satire (largely on the climate crisis but also applicable to the COVID-19 pandemic as well) is too on the nose to convince anyone outside it's target demographic to change their stance. Heck at some points the movie just straight up ceases to be satire and screams at the naysayers/deniers for being dumbasses even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Don't get me wrong it worked for me, at times it was eerily close to actual real life events but I sincerely doubt this approach is going to convince anyone who doesn't share a similar mindset as me. A good satire should even make people outside of it's target demographic at least think and ponder on their stance, if I was a climate change denier/anti vaxxer this film would just feel like it's talking down to me. After all it's not us we need to convince, it's them.

Attack on Titan: Hero (2019) Season 3, Episode 17

Best episode of Attack on Titan

[10/10 · 29 May 2019]

This episode far surpassed my expectations, there is so much much happening in this episode, it's hard to believe they managed to fit all that into 20 mins. From the soldiers charging against the Beast Titan (RIP Marlo) to Levi soloing him to Armin's brave sacrifice (MVP of the episode), I was completely glued to the screen from the beginning to to the very end.

I don't think I've cried so many times during a single episode of any tv show, the episode just keeps hitting you in the feels one moment after another. Seeing the soldiers keep on marching despite knowing their commander has fallen, despite knowing they're heading into certain death was just too intense. Levi getting his kill taken away from him knowing he made a promise to Erwin was also really hard to watch. And of course there is Armin, this episode cements why he is my favorite character in the show and that's because of his character arc. This is the same kid that completely froze when a Titan was about to eat him and now here he is defeating the Colossal Titan, now that's what you call a great character arc. I absolutely bawled my eyes out when he sacrificed himself to defeat the Colossal Titan. Truly, the real hero of this episode.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)

Worth it for seeing the big battle but not much else

[5/10 · 9 May 2019]

If you are a big Twilight fan, you'll probably love this movie. For those who aren't big fans of twilight, the final battle alone is worth watching this movie for. There is a serious lack of good vampire vs wolf fight scenes in movies and television and if the twilight series is the only place I can get my fill of big budget vampire v wolf fight scenes, so be it. 5/10

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Very underrated

[7/10 · 9 May 2019]

I absolutely adored this movie as a teen and I still think very fondly of it as an adult. I wish they made more films like this these days, cause the adventure genre is seriously lacking.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

A fitting ending to a great series

[8/10 · 9 May 2019]

As big Harry Potter fan I was pretty satisfied with this movie. Some of the few issues I do have with it is it could have been a little more faithful to the book, and I wish it could have been a bit longer as well and there was more focus on characters like Fred, Lupin and all the characters who died. However the movie knocks all the key moments from the book out of the park, Snape's revelation, Harry's death, the ending etc were all really well done. The main leads also give their best performance so far in this one.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)

Great if you are a kid.

[4/10 · 9 May 2019]

I used to love this film as kid, I mean Tom and Jerry talking for the first time, that's freaking awesome. Seeing this an adult though, man this film has not aged well.

The Revenant (I) (2015)

Impressively directed but not much else

[6/10 · 9 May 2019]

The revenant seems more like a movie made to showcase Leonardo Dicaprio's acting chops than to tell an engaging story. The film is pretty by the numbers and while I sympathized with Hugh's predicament, it's something we've seen in films over hundreds of times. The film looks stunning and is beautifully shot though, I can see why it won the Oscar for Best Director and Cinematographer so props to them both.

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Hilariously bad

[5/10 · 9 May 2019]

If you were a fan of the first films R-rated grittiness, you probably won't like this. However this is a lot more funnier than the last one and seeing all these over the top action stars together is pretty cool to be honest. And Chuck Norris alone is enough to warrant it a five star minimum,

Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019) Season 8, Episode 4

The writing just keeps getting worse and worse with each episode

[1/10 · 9 May 2019]

The writing in this series has gone so downhill that it's almost hilarious, it's pretty obvious at this point that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss cannot write. I thought The Long Night was bad but this episode takes the series an even new low. At least the last episode had a few redeeming things in it (e.g. Theon's arc) but there is absolutely nothing redeeming in this episode.

Lets see where to begin, the first half of this episode is just filler padding with the Northerners and their allies celebrating their victory, drinking, joking around, playing games and getting laid. Thousands of their breathrens are dead and they're partying even though just a few hundred miles across King's Landing, Cersei is still planning to kill them all. There is no meaningful dialogue, no important development, no nothing, just characters talking and acting like idiots. Keep in mind there is only two episode left in the season and the first half of the episode does absolutely nothing to advance the plot.

The second half of the episode is easily the worst writing in all of Game of Thrones, Daenerys acting all out of character and being all petty and begging Jon not to reveal his secrets, Jon not saying goodbye to Ghost, Daenerys or her fleet not seeing a dozen ships sailing towards them, Euron sniping a Dragon 3 times and still somehow miss shooting dozens of spears at a much bigger dragon advancing towards them, Daenerys forgetting her dragon can breathe fire from thousands of metres away, Daenerys showing up with her army and dragon in front of the wall of Kings Landing mounted with several scorpions, Cersei not immediately killing them all despite previously blowing up the Sept just to get rid of her enemies, Tyrion walking towards the wall and Cersei not immediately killing him despite paying Bronn earlier to do so. There is just so much stupidity in this episode, it's impossible to list them all.

A lot of these problems could have been solved if they just had more episodes and more time to flesh out the story but at this point it's pretty clear, D&D wanted 6 episodes not because they wanted to allocate more budget to each episode (there are only two big battle episodes) or because it's the perfect amount of episodes for the remaining story, it's because they do not have the capability to write an entire 10 episodes seasons worth of material without GRRMs books.

Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019) Season 8, Episode 3

Very disappointing

[3/10 · 9 May 2019]

I don't know where to start honestly, this was easily the most anticipated TV episode of all time aside from the upcoming final episode and to see the way it turned out, it just.... I honestly don't have the word to describe it cause even disappointment just doesn't cut it.

The episode didn't have much plot or dialogue since it's a very battle heavy episode, so there isn't much to criticize there, so I'll just list all the things I didn't like in this episode.

1. The lighting in the episode was terrible, I could barely see any of the action even after turning up my brightness all the way up. I don't know if it was because they didn't have the budget for the CGI or what but this is easily the most biggest and ambitious battle of the show, not being able to follow the action is just inexcusable.

2. The episode had huge plot armors, not a single main character died. It's insane how there were 2 Targaryens, 3 Starks, 2 Lannisters and somehow every single one of them managed to come out of it unscathed.

3. The Night Kings end was very disappointing, 7 seasons of buildup and this is how he meets his end? The Great War, more like The Great Battle. Seriously why even it call it the great war if you were going to just kill him after one episode. What happened to all the petty squabbles in Westeros taking a back seat to the real threat?

4. What was the point of Bran? We keep seeing his eyes turn white as he wargs/greenseers like he is about to do something big and you expect some sort of huge twist or game changing moment in the show but nada, nothing. All he does is give Arya the dagger and use a bunch of crows to lure the Night King towards him. They build him up as this massively important god like figure that will play a big role in the White Walker story but nope, no warging into a Dragon, no warging into the Nightking, no greenseeing into the first Long Night and talking to the Night King, nothing.

5. Arya is one of my favorite characters in the show but her killing the Night King didn't sit right with me, what happened to all the Azor Ahai, the whole Prince that was promised, lightbringer prophecy. What's the point of bringing back Jon from the dead if he wasn't going to do anything, what was the point of Rhaegar divorcing his wife, marrying Lyana and plunging the realm into war, seriously the entire events of Game of Thrones happened because he believed his son would become the Prince that was promised and save the world and now you're telling me he did all that for nothing.

6. The writing of the show is abysmal now, Arya jumping out of nowhere to kill the Night King, Jorah surviving a hundred stabs and still standing, the Dothrakhi charging into battle without any plan, the dragons moving around in the clouds for 10 minutes aimlessly, Jon surviving against hundreds of white walkers, there is just so much bad writing it just makes you want tear your hair out.

Even after all this, I will say though there were still some good things in the episode. Theon's story was just brilliant and this episode ended his arc perfectly, this is a character that has struggled with his identity for most of his life, constantly trying to reconcile his loyalty to his family and his allegiance to the Starks. He has been a coward for most of his life because of that and that has led him to committing some really heinous acts, which he has been trying to repent for ever since. And seeing him finally be brave in the face of overwhelming adversity, knowing for certain he is about to die cements his character arc as one of the best.

The episode was also well directed with good performances and despite not being able see the battle that well, you could still sense the epicness and scale of the battle, so props to the director for that.

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2019) Season 8, Episode 2

Pretty decent episode but slows down the pacing

[6/10 · 9 May 2019]

I liked how dialogue heavy this episode was considering how fast paced the series has been going for these last two seasons and not giving us much time for the characters to take a breather. However the episode is pretty slow and having two back to back episodes without much action especially in the last season can really slow down the pacing, which itself isn't a bad thing like I said at the start but the fact that we're so used to the fast pacing makes it a bit jarring. And while I did say I liked how dialogue heavy this episode was, this is the episode imo where the cracks in the writing have started to show, which gets worse and worse as the season progresses. While dialogue heavy, most of it doesn't add up to much meaningingful development for the characters and is mostly small talk.

Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019) Season 8, Episode 1

Good start to the season

[8/10 · 9 May 2019]

I loved this episode and it's probably one of the more better season premiers of the series, Jon's reunion with his siblings Bran and Arya are the highlights of this episode for more me. Although I do wish the episode spent a little more time on their reunions.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The Russo Brothers did it

[10/10 · 24 April 2019]

I didn't think this could surpass Infinity War but the Russo Brothers did it. Very few highly-anticipated movies live up to the hype, but Avengers: Endgame managed to do it. It's the perfect follow up to Infinity War, and I'll go so far as to say, maybe even the absolute pinnacle of the Marvel franchise. It's both hilarious and emotionally engaging (there were people crying at my theatre including me). And while it's a lot more character focused than Infinity War, as it should be considering this is the final hurrah for many of the original Avengers, that doesn't mean it's lacking In terms of visuals. The film is an absolute spectacle to behold, it easily tops Infinity War's action sequences in my opinion and even though it's three hours long, it doesn't feel bloated.

10/10 best Marvel movie in my opinion. It's honestly hard for me to see how they'll ever be able to top this one.