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Death to 2020 (2020)
A film we never knew we needed
As a mockumentary, Death to 2020 puts a satirical spin on the events happening throughout this year. The dialogues are witty and full of sarcasms, which are typical of British satires. For this very reason, some people who are not familiar with British sense of humor may not like this film. In addition, this film is rather short (running time is about 70 minutes) and so it is not overwhelming, even for people who may not get the jokes or those who find some of the contents offensive. Not a masterpiece, but definitely worth the watch!
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
Boring and forgettable
While Margot Robbie is a good Harley Quinn, the character was not given enough arc. The plot was predictable and mainstream, especially due to lack of a strong antagonist. The main antagonist, played by Ewan McGregor, was not developed and hence did not add significant value to the plot story. Although some of the fight scenes were entertaining, the film as a whole was truly forgettable.
The Gentlemen (2019)
A good film to start the decade
The Gentlemen marks the return of Guy Ritchie to comedy-crime genre, after almost a decade of absence. The screenplay was brilliantly written, with its witty dialogues ( mostly owing to Hugh Grant's extraordinary performance) and plot twists deserving the highest praise. Subjectively-speaking, the film's suspenseful atmosphere felt like that of Knives Out (2019), although The Gentlemen is more pacey and lighthearted.
However, its lack of well-choreographed fight scenes, while not a major issue, can leave a feeling of incompleteness. Nevertheless, it is still a very enjoyable film that will start your New Year with a smile.
Rating: 7.5
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Unimaginative and simplistic, yet entertaining enough.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Star Wars saga with an uplifting spirit of togetherness. While it lacked originality and imagination, as did the other two films in the sequel trilogy, it provided the audience with a simple-yet-heartwarming closure to a decades-long galactic adventure.
The main problem with the sequel trilogy rooted from the creative differences during the production, especially in the screenplay department. For instance, the original trilogy was primarily written by George Lucas with the help of two other writers. The latest trilogy was written by several different writers, with Star Wars: The Last Jedi written and directed by a single person, who was then not involved in the making of the final episode. This resulted in unfocused plots that failed to tell a single coherent story. Moreover, the trilogy also suffered from the absence of a main villain - each episode had its own antagonistic characters, but not a single strong character to faithfully lead the dark side of the force. It seemed that Rian Johnson's decision to kill off a potentially major supervillain in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi was a blunder that the filmmakers simply could not bounce back from. This had set a mountain too high to climb for the writers and director of the final episode, and they could only do as much.
Nevertheless, one could still enjoy watching their favourite characters back in action after more than a decade of absence. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was also full of reminiscences of the past events in the saga that took the audience on a pleasant final trip down memory lane. This showed a commendable devotion of the filmmakers to the fans and an understanding that a Star Wars film need not be complex to be successful - it needs only to entertain and this film did just that. Overall, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was entertaining and evocative, although its unimaginative plot story and reliance on the appearances of characters from the original trilogy would draw criticisms from both critics and the general audience alike.
Rating: 6.5/10
The Greatest Showman (2017)
A very enjoyable film, don't listen to the critics
This film is by no means technically perfect - not in the eyes of the critics anyway. I could understand this view to some extent. For instance, the story lacked real conflicts. There were several conflicts encountered by various characters in the film, but none of them was rigid enough to serve as a solid foundation of the plot story. This resulted in a relatively thin character development. I would also argue that a musical film like this could benefit from utilizing long-take shots, especially in dance sequences - this film did not have many long and continuous scenes. But, films are not just about technicality.
I did not feel that this film was created solely obtain to technical achievements, such as best screenplay, best cinematography, etc. This film was made to deliver a message about social discrimination and it did just that. There is no need for a Shakespeare-like screenplay or a La La Land-like cinematography. Nor it had to be 100% historically accurate. In other words, this film should not be judged by its technical aspects per se, but also by the moral message it is trying to convey and its overall entertainment value. In my opinion, this is what the critics failed to see.
I highly recommend this film, and do watch it in the cinema for better experience. The songs are very beautiful, both from the music and lyrics point of view. Some of the scenes are just magical. Overall, a very enjoyable film to watch. A very good job by the Michael Gracey for his directorial debut.