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Reviews
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Ambitious, comic fan oriented, slow start, satisfactory
I was a Biiiiiiig Into the Spider Verse fan. Hearing that the sequel has gone berserk in comments, I couldn't help but follow the hype, and expecting a sequel that finally follows the quality of the first film. But after seeing it in cinema, I gotta say that it does fall a little far from the tree, but still satisfactory though.
I'm kinda a classics movie fan, I'm not really used to all the electric style musics, the fansy kaleidoscopic cinematography. The first film Into the Spider verse was just the right amount for me: a steady push of story pace, the right amount of character lines and visual effects, a clear coming of age Spider man classic story telling, and really astounding soundtrack. It was in my heart the best spider man movie ever.
Across the spider verse is a very ambitious sequel, you can easily tell that producers have put in gargantuan amount of work, and they wish to exceed the success from the first. However, as a non comic fan, I got 50% lost during the first half of the movie: so many little jokes, so many lines, some are clear, some got covered by score, and all of them are small talks that just force you to laugh, which I don't like. The first films amount of talk was just the right amount, because in real life people don't banter and make jokes for everything and at any time! E.g. Uncle Aaron portrays a caring, swag uncle in just one scene where he taught the "shoulder touch" to Miles, and he went to graffiti with Miles. See? You don't need to talk sassy jokes nonstop, and you literally can't force audience to like a character. It goes for Miles parents, Gwen, the Indian spider man, and Peter B Parker. So many lovable characters from film 1 just become unprofound storytelling gimmicks, where were the life of them like in the first film? Where were the iconic moments like Pere Parker telling Miles "You can't know when you're ready, it's a leap of faith"? Or like Miles leaping off of building in slow motion, with "What's up danger" playing in the back? Seriously, the gravity of pace is gone, the swag is gone, the liveness of characters is gone.
The movie gets better in the second part, where it became a thriller/mystery movie, you can feel that the story telling is getting the hang of it. See? Slower, be more patient, and take some gravity into the story telling would be so much better. I kinda lost it when Gwen puts up a team of force to rescue Miles, and when Miles meets Earth 42 himself as Prowler. The scenes get longer, music fits better, and the hype is built up for Beyond the Spider Verse. But honestly the first half was a typical Hollywood talk show that does little to character arcs, and inevitably can't make itself exceed the first film. I wish the film could be edited to cut out the talks, keep only the core contents. The thriller/mystery plot is an excellent take, go bigger in Beyond the Spider Verse, and please impress me.
Les Misérables (2012)
Generosity and love always prevails
The story of Valjean (his duo with Javert), the victory of Republic in France history over monarchy is the strong epitome of liberty, freedom's overwhelming power over selfishness and autocracy. The general goodness may seem weak in the face of cold-hearted government apparatus; yet at the end of the day, every man with a least sense of conscience will be moved, and then remorse like Javert did.
In essence, we should always strive towards kindness. No matter how stupid it may seem, at the long run it defines who we are, let us transcend beyond mundane limitations. "Loving another person is to see the face of God", "your father is a saint". We can be a saint too if we do good to others.
It Takes Two (2021)
Appreciate the effort, yet still sad
I have not been a hard core gamer in the past. I played FPS games like COD, PUBG in the past as starts, but I stopped playing video games up until age of 16 or something. Later on I developed interests in movies, and watched tons of movies over the years. Now after a little tired of Hollywood genres, and after hearing good words about It Takes Two (2021), and also finding a good partner to play this game with, I thought that it would be a good chance to appreciate new 3A games again, from my perspective of half gamer, half movie / story critic. After 22 hrs of playing throughout 1 month, here are my reviews:
I can see that from gameplay perspective, this is really good. So many different games, different gizmos. Hazelight's efforts are highly appreciated. I haven't played games in years, my partner is a 22 yo classmate who never played PC or 3A games in her life. The adventure is intriguing, challenging, and not too intimidating for both of us. Kept us playing all the way till the end.
However, from writing and script perspective, I have to say that this is not even close to the mediocre Hollywood stories: too fast of an ending. All the characters and hype that have been introduced and built up through the story aren't addressed at all, and we don't even get to see whether the family will remain together or not. I could speculate COVID plays a vital role, also I should not ignore the great accomplishment of managing such a big gameplay scope, but as a movie lover, and because the finess of the story up until the last bit have really kept my expectations so high for the finale. I couldn't help but feeling unsatisfied after the ending.
Wish that in the future, gameplay and storytelling could be integrated better in another generation of 3A games. For now, I would just have to remain conservative towards game stories' levels. After all, they are games, not movies. The cooperation between partners and fun are more appreciated over mere stories.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Nostalgia just overwhelms me
Lots of people think this is a terrible film. Yet I think it just brings back all the good memories of Jane and Thor, and literally puts a good end to the hero Thor.
Being one of the first MCU franchise, Thor: God of thunder has portrayed a very realistic hero. He has seen and done it all, been through good, halcyon young
prince when he was the pride of Asgard, beloved by all. He was careless, reckless, waged war without second thoughts; Later he was a struggling prince, facing the death of his mom, breaking up with Jane, facing the death of his father, Heimdall, his Kingdom. He was traumatized by his sister, by Thanos, losing hope losing faith, shoving sanwiches into his face. After everything, we wish to see how Thor would embark on a new journey at the end of Avengers: End game, when he told Valkyrie that he would stop being burden by responsibilities, by legends and poems, and chase his own life. Then, Thor: Love and Thunder shows us the answer: he wants nothing but the old flame of his. After battling all the epic powers of the universe, he seeks nothing but peace in his heart, to talk again with the love of his life. We see that Thor is the same king as always: saving Asgard, saving the universe, giving help when help is needed. Yet he is tired, he draws no satisfaction from saving others. Only when he saw Jane arrives as the Mighty Thor, when she wields Mjolnir, all the good days and good memories are resurrected. He becomes happy, talking jokes all film long, has enthusiasm in his face, fights with desperation again in battle. He finds peace.
Forces of Nature (1999)
Sandra Bullock's charm at full speed
Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck, two lovely actors' collaboration, produces a fresh portrait of romantic dilemmas and the challenge of marriage. Starring them is terrific for this story, because they're both charismatic and the kind of people who would have love affairs, but still have that intrinsic integrity. Sandra's performance is more natural and pleasant than Ben's, and the road trips twist and turns are hilarious. Sandra's passion and down to earth, her humor just propagate through the screen, another good film that rests on Sandra's downright jolly as cornerstone.