boydmatta Reviews

Elemental (2023)

Oscar-worthy animation

[10/10 · 2 September 2023]

I'd heard mixed things about it, so wasn't going in expecting much, but I was absolutely blown away by the creativity, wit, writing, and overall presentation.

In animation, where there are no limits, it's fantastic to see that being used to the absolute full. The city has had so much attention put into it, the architecture, infrastructure and design surrounding everything by playing into all sorts of clever tropes with the various elements. There is always something exciting and interesting, based on how the elements actually work in the real world that consistently captivate.

As much as Pixar targets children, there is nothing here to stop anyone of any age from getting something from this. The creativity will easily hold any child's attention, but I was really impressed by how well it held mine - which will be of relief to any parents considering this, as there's more than enough wit in the wordplay and interactions that will go over a child's head to keep older viewers engaged.

The story itself is heartwarming, well-written, well-directed (key to drawing out strong performances from voice-acting), all crucial in any film, but really contributed to the more emotional, moving parts of this film (though parents need not worry about anything traumatising their kids like the opening to Up did). Every character is also unique in appearance and personality. The behaviour of their physical body as an extension of their personality is second to none, and the expression is incredible. I was always on the lookout waiting to spot interesting ways they interact with the world and use their uniqueness to overcome problems.

It may not be the longest film, but I was happy throughout, and not a scene was wasted. Everything felt intentional and I would much rather it ended as it did when the story as done, than put in filler that brought the quality down.

This film is a serious contender for Academy Awards, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves - critics or general audiences.

Spider-Man: Lotus (2023)

Deserving of a 1

[1/10 · 1 September 2023]

When giving a 1/10, I feel i must be certain that there is no area of merit at all. This normally results in me excusing a 1 in favour for a 2 or 3, when the wider scope of the film has something likeable - maybe an unusually good musical score, some creative cinematography, or just one person in the cast whose particularly captivating.

I was not aware of the controversy that surrounded this film before I saw it. So this review will stick entirely to the film's content.

Spider-Man Lotus is not so lucky. Perhaps if the VFX team had not been forced to quit in protest, this very low budget film may have eked out a 2.

The plot, and film generally, are incredibly depressing. The main characters spend a majority of the time arguing, and even when they didn't, were far from showing a deep friendship. Their positive relationship is pushed to the side for tragedy and 'drama' way too quickly for anyone to care, so then their fallout seems too extreme and unjustified. Although if you had to listen to the dialogue they had written, maybe the creators came to the same conclusion and most of it ended up on the cutting room floor.

This would also explain the rather short runtime - not that it feels it. You spend minutes staring at blank skyline in transitions for no reason. It's set in New York, we know that. If you're going to show a transition shot of a location, do it at the specific location you're going to. Instead, it's a drone shot of NYC in one direction, then 10 minutes later, a drone shot of NYC in the other direction. I have no idea where we're going, where we've come from, and why we're spending so long looking at generic skyline.

The feeling of going nowhere is amplified by the film's insistence of flashbacks, often in black and white for the lowest common-denominator filmmaking to make it 'dramatic'. This gives us more time to pan random locations, to watch characters we don't like talk in ways that aren't human for long stretches.

I'll give the costumes and locations themselves a pass, as the budget is laterally going to constraint those kinds of things, and unless they were obtusely bad, there's not much to complain about - aside the fact that there's very little Spider-Man in this Spider-Man movie, so if the actors are using their own clothes for so much, maybe a little more could have been spent on the main costume, and definitely on the Shocker suit.

Honestly, the core tone seems the biggest issue. This is supposed to be Spider-Man - who fires his mouth faster than his webs. But it's moody, grim, and seems to have complete contempt for audience. The opening scene (being the only one that Spider-Man is remotely identifiable as the character) is woefully written. It seems spitefully bad in order to force the audience to come on board with its depressing tone for the rest of it. Clearly from other reviews, most people have seen through it and we have come to the same conclusion.

Tetris (2023)

A questionable concept, brilliantly executed!

[10/10 · 26 August 2023]

I imagine many people were sceptical of the potential of a film about obtaining the handheld gaming rights to Tetris. Thankfully, my worries were all for nought.

Taron Egerton's casting as the lead, as well as the appearance of Roger Allam (of who I'm a fan), motivated me to give this a watch, and I'm very glad I did. Taron is incredibly capable as the lead, as one expects with his now well-established career, and conveys all of his character's persistence, friendships, relationships, irritation, and most importantly adoration of Tetris. He also has an energised physicality which I did not expect to comment on, but it adds a surprising amount of energy and motion to what would otherwise be rather still scenes of dialogue. Allam also revels in the near-villainy of Robert Maxwell, and his manipulations throughout the film are given lots of gravitas from Allam. The rest of the cast are also superb. Everyone is completely convincing in their roles, and with the numerous double-crossings, are demanded to be very fluid with their acting to quickly jump into different emotions and states of mind.

The cinematography itself was very good. Though confronted with limitations of not being able to film in the real locations, the sets all felt completely authentic and likely assisted in providing an oppressive atmosphere for the actors to use. Transitions and sprinkled use of Tetris-esque effects were a nice change-up to help add some levity and were a clever way of making transitions more interesting.

The script is very tight, everyone speaks in a natural way, and have distinct personalities from each other - which helps when considering the number of Russian accents, especially when multiple are shouting at each other. It's interesting how if this were absent, you would end up with jumbled voices, but when done well, as it is here, you can still understand and follow along.

I have looked into where the film deviates from the actual events (no surprises the car chase through the streets of Moscow is fiction), and I didn't find any of them to stretch into incredulity, nor unfairly portray real people.

I am disappointed by the average reception and mediocre ratings, as it found it captivating and would look forward to anything similar by those involved in the future.

Ahsoka (2023– )

Woeful in almost every aspect - Skip to bottom for update by end of series

[2/10 · 24 August 2023]

I'll get the positives out of the way first, because it's not all bad and there is good stuff here:

Production design is good. Locations look real, lived-in, match their Rebels counterparts, and are in-line with the general aesthetic of Star Wars.

The costumes are similarly well-made and accurate, with Ezra especially looking extremely consistent with his animated counterpart.

Audio and the rest of the technical aspects are also all strong, they fit what you would think they sound like, are interesting, and don't distract from the film.

I'm mixed on the cuts, which are very much a nod to the wipes in older Star Wars, but very much used in excess in the prequels. The jumps in the grander story of the prequels gave them more purpose, but this smaller story doesn't demand it.

Ray Stevenson is the stand out of this cast without question, and I'm not saying that just because of his unfortunate passing. He is far more charismatic, and frequently changes his tone and attitude depending on who he's talking to and what they're talking about - the same can't be said for the rest of the cast, which will become apparent in my criticisms.

At time of writing, Thrawn has not yet appeared, but as he is the same actor from Rebels, I have little doubt that his performance will elevate my opinion of the series.

The discussion about ex-imperials still working in positions was also very interesting, and brought good real-life parallels as the Empire is based of the Nazis, and post-WW2 ex-Nazis were continued to be employed because they much up pretty much everyone. Unfortunately this gets kind of sidelined and they are blanketed as Empire-sympathisers, but I would certainly be interested in seeing more of this.

Now for the unfortunately long list of negatives:

For starters, you could start at episode 3, because the first two are total filler.

Episode 2 ends with the final scene from Rebels.

All that happens in the first two episodes, is they arbitrarily say Ashoka and Sabine don't get on (which didn't happen in Rebels) and they're trying to fix that relationship, which they do by the end of episode 2 anyway. If it's not going to be a consistent elements of the series, then why have it?

Most egregiously (with regards to the plot), the core of it has no basis. Why is there a random orb in a ditch from a middle-of-nowhere planet, that when you turn it (which was laughably easy enough to do, but somehow took the characters hours or even days? Literally randomly turning the sides would've eventually gotten it to unlock long before Sabine stumbled across the solution), reveals a map that inexplicably is related to Thrawn's whereabouts?

On the acting side, there's a bizarre choice in the every line of dialogue has an unnaturally long pause between the people speaking. There's no natural flow, change of pace in urgent talks, interrupting or cutting people off. Everyone stands almost perfectly still, reads their lines completely flat, then there's a big pause, then another person does the same thing. If you were to play a drinking game out of just this complaint, you'd be absolutely smashed. The people I watched it with noticed it themselves, and I've seen many other reviews also state this, so I know this isn't a nitpick. It is a clear and noticeable flaw.

The direction generally seems to have been a complete afterthought. Their behaviour is also unsettling stiff. There is almost no movement, with actors (largely) stood like they've been handcuffed constantly. They don't turn, gesture or emphasise, pace under stress, or any other human motion. I'm not asking for Sorkin levels of dialogue, but everyone behaves like an NPC in a dialogue tree - motionless, staring at you, giving slow, flat, wooden responses. I don't understand how the animated show is more dynamic and 'real' than this live-action show.

The action itself also has some poor choices. The camera often lingers on characters watching the fight from afar, rather than being in the action, to then travelling as a swing or movement is happening so you can't make out what's going on. I suspect attempts to hide the choreography due to poor quality is to blame, considering these are the people who knew who to animate the Clone Wars duels excellently.

As far as plot holes, 2 major ones stick out: First, Sabine's surviving a lightsaber being plunged straight through her - the kind that killed: Qui-Gon, Savage, most Jedi who confronted Palpatine, and Han Solo.

Second, the suicide droids that can denote entire cities, which has all sorts of implications both in this show (anytime they sneak up on anyone, just detonate when they don't know you're there) and the rest of canon (just use these to win any battlefield conflict or blow up any ship).

Clearly from the average score, hardcore Clone Wars and Filoni fans have flooded the scores for this. Younger children may also enjoy it because they naturally won't be as critical as older viewers. And if you just want to stick something on (that's paid as a part of your Disney+ subscription to there's no additional cost) with high production to passively enjoy in the background, you might well get some mileage from this.

If you are looking for a sci-fi series with high production values, from a long-running franchise, with great characters, action, locations, themes and concepts, then Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just wrapped its second season, and I've loved every episode of it.

FULL SERIES REVIEW:

An update to my review, initially written after the first two episodes premiered.

Much to my dismay, the score has not changed. Admittedly, many of my original complaints would not be able to be remedied - such as fight choreography, pacing and dialogue. These have persisted and continue to bore, irritate, and drag.

The big change since my initial review has been Thrawn's (eventual) entry into the show. Sadly, this was for nought. He has no agency, relying pretty much entirely on other character's to do things (extending to coming up with ideas). And as with the rest of the show, stands around talking very slowly to other people who stand still and talk slowly. The issue isn't dialogue in itself, but it is all solely function. All of his lines feel like they're out of an RTS game. Just strategic talk and planning and resources. I'm not asking for Shakespeare, but more dynamic conversations with different people and some, any insight into things beyond the immediate plot are sorely lacking.

Additionally, he's just an idiot. I don't think there was a single tactical decision he made, where in that moment I sat there and thought 'yes, that's the right thing for Thrawn to do'. I was baffled by each and every one, that seemed designed to make the heroes win through plot contrivances, and I thought these in the moments they occurred. I didn't sit back afterwards, replay it in my head then have issues. I saw them immediately.

This carries for the whole series really, full of woefully directed scenes, with flat, emotionless dialogue, and the idiocy of characters is just beggar's belief.

I won't spoil, but the final scenes that set up what's to come was so painfully pandering my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. Frankly Thrawn's appearance was all that held my interest in this show (having endured the shambles of BOBF, Bad Batch, and Kenobi - and frankly, I couldn't say this was any better), and seeing the outcome of this I can safely say I'll be writing off any more Star Wars from these writers/directors for the foreseeable future.

Scrubs (2001–2010)

A perfect blend of comedy and seriousness

[10/10 · 5 May 2018]

Never have I watched a sitcom, that had so pouch dark, heart-wrenching moments. The show is unique in how the funny moments are equally as good as the sincere ones. Dr Cox in particular, is a great character that the audience really emphasises with. J.D's daydreaming is a unique aspect of the show, that really enhances the emotions of the characters; and allows for comedic moments that other, realistic sitcoms wouldn't be able to do. Great casting, dialogue, monologue and filming.

Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011)

The death of a franchise

[1/10 · 5 May 2018]

An early Hollywood cash-grab, clearly riding of the success and cult surrounding the original Spy Kids trilogy. Lost all the charm the originals had, and the surprisingly good child actors of the first 3 films, have been replaced by the blatantly terrible child actors in this one. The humour went from quite witty, with some elements for adults too; to the expected toilet-humour you get from and lazy kids film. The beauty of the originals, was that they weren't rated 'U' for kids, they were 'U' for everyone. Anyone could watch the originals, whereas this can only be watched by children not smart enough to understand why they're seeing.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Proof that Phantom Menace wasn't a fluke

[2/10 · 5 May 2018]

Easily the worst in the SW franchise. No real character development, for anyone, and all characters are one-dimensional and dull. Even the passion from Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid fails to come through on screen - largely due to a poor script. CGI was unnecessarily forced, and it holds up the least of all the films by today's standards. Anakin's romance didn't hold me, and the film was oversaturated with lightsabers everywhere. In the originals, (and sequels), lightsabers were treats for the audience. Here, the tradition was broken hardest, in having the sheer volume of them on-screen at once. The film also lacks any stand out moment, that all the other films have: Maul and pod racing from TPM; the transformation scene in ROTS; the trench run in ANH; Vader's reveal in ESB; the duel in ROTJ; Han's death in TFA; and Luke's death in TLJ. The only redeeming factor, is that it gave us some quality memes.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Cinematic Perfection

[10/10 · 5 May 2018]

A film with perfect casting, dialogue, acting and narrative. A perfect blend of a variety of genres, with elements of romance, comedy, (thriller/horror-like darker segments; ROUS and the pit of despair), all under the fantasy banner that holds it all together. There's something here for everyone. To anyone that hasn't seen it, it's inconcievable how good it is