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mbtoloczko
Reviews
The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill (2021)
Solid action movie with an entertaining story
The choreography and stuntwork for the action scenes are excellent and far better than what I was expecting for a Japanese movie. It rivals any other movie. The story and the mannerisms of the actors are uniquely Japanese, so don't expect it to be a Hollywood movie. It is a very entertaining story and the acting is fine, again better than most stuff coming out of Hollywood these days. Some scenes are very bloody, but that's typical of Japanese movies. Don't overthink it.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Solid entertainment
Seems like opinions vary widely with this move. For me, it was solid Marvel entertainment. Good action and some funny lines. Story is fine too. Doesn't try to be too deep which is fine because its an action movie. Humor is appropriately used.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
The humor and story don't work for me
Doesn't do the Spider-man genre justice. The Spider-man genre has always had small amounts of interjected humor, but this movie goes way too far with the amount and placement. It marginalizes the movie. But that aside, I was fairly unimpressed with the story. Suspension of disbelief is always needed for superhero movies, but this story does whatever it wants to advance the storyline.
The Matrix (1999)
Well done in so many ways
I've watched this movie perhaps 20 times now, usually a about year between watchings. This most recent viewing really drove home how well done this movie is. The script, the cinematography, the uniqueness, the choice of actors, the special effects. It all fantastic. I think I appreciate the quality and uniqueness because its now been many years since such a novel movie has been made. I appreciate it even more after watching WW84 which was so absolutely horrible in many ways.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
So disappointing
I was expecting a serious-tone movie that in some way attempts to address current issues in a 1984 setting, and instead, I get a cornball comedy that attempts to make fun of everything 1984. A plot does exist, but its pretty lame.
What a horrible movie. I gave it 3 stars, but really its just as well a 1 star movie.
1917 (2019)
Not impressed
Problems 1) All possible war movie cliches rolled are stuffed into this movie with a poor attempt at linking them together. 2) The attempts to create surreal moments are lame. 3) Rampant lack of common sense in the soldier's actions. 4) Soldiers have many grandiose near death experiences. 5) Somehow the soldiers complete a 6-8 hour trek in two hours without any attempt to provide credible ways for them to advance in between scenes. And worse yet is that the the soldiers appear to travel very short distances that should have been much further. There are much better war movies out there.
Free Solo (2018)
Separating the feat from the quality of the movie
My immediately reaction to the movie was that it was fairly gripping and reasonably well done. The movie focuses on trying to capture the psychological aspects of what drives a person to do such a climb, and I think they did a reasonably good job. However, as others have stated, the movie would have been even better if there was more footage of the actual climb along with a bit more discussion and footage of the practical and physical aspects of preparing for this climb, because the reality is that this accomplishment is a synergy of many different capabilities - the interest, the lack of fear, the drive, the intelligence, the many aspects of physical ability, the preparation.
Several reviewers questioned the value of the large amount of footage with his girlfriend and that she was portrayed as overly needy and a drag on his quest. On the first point, I think the movie focuses more on the psychological aspects leading up to the climb, and its a bit difficult for an outsider to say what level of impact she played. On the second point, she didn't come across as needy and a drag to me, however she also didn't come across as a cheerleader.
I, Robot (2004)
Watched this again last night - great movie
I'm somewhat surprised that this movie is only a 7.1. Compared to many of today's more highly rated movies, I Robot has a much better story and better acting. Thoroughly enjoyed it despite having seen it several times.
Pacific Rim Uprising (2018)
Better than I expected
I almost didn't bother to watch this movie because of all the poor reviews. I decided to give it a try, and I found that while it wasn't as good as the original Pacific Rim, it was definitely much better than any Transformers movie that people like to use for comparison. Story was fine for a no-brainer sci-fi movie. Acting was good enough.
Colossal (2016)
Interesting
Very few movies are interesting to me anymore. This movie kept me interested for not only the sci-fi aspect, but also what the main character did in her "real" life. The combination of recovering alcohol and sci-fi is definitely odd and somewhat arbitrary, but the way its put together is interesting and entertaining. The other nice aspect is that the acting is pretty good. The plot itself has no deeper meaning in my estimation, but that's fine. Its still good entertainment.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
Really quite well done
Ok, sure its a zombie movie, but the adaptation is so well done in making an entertaining story and dialog that I can't help but think the person who wrote the script is quite intelligent. Anyhow, its fun take on Pride and Prejudice. Great story, great dialog, great acting.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Highly overrated
Over the last few years, I've seen an increasing trend for 8+ ratings of new movies on IMDb. Many do not warrant the rating. Even with this in mind, I was expecting at least a good story and good character development because even a 7 movie should be good. Instead, for Guardians of the Galaxy, I got a very plain story with an unsuccessful attempt at character development. While its normal for an action film to move quickly, this movie summarily jumps from one scene to another with a totally contrived plot. The attempts at character development and building friendship were totally lost on me. There was nothing in the story that made me think the characters had a useful reason to unite and get along. And the jokes were so-so at best. Probably the worst 8+ IMDb rating movie I've seen.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Don't bother...
Disappointing, but not unexpectedly. I knew it would be difficult to make Reloaded as good or better than the first, so I wasn't surprised when Reloaded was uninspiring. The story lacked substance, and the characters were boring.