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katedriver
Reviews
Scream (2022)
So Damn Close To Perfection
I'm not going to lie - I'm disappointed.
We got a de-aged imaginary Billy Loomis and NO Stu Macher?
The 1st act was so promising and I was having SUCH a great time and then things went awry.
OK. I do get the reviews saying it's the best since the original, it was super self aware and enjoyable to an extent (better than the 4th), BUT the reveal was possibly the most disappointing so far & felt like a sloppy piece of writing. Richie was an odd choice but I did begin suspecting him after he was slashed 'missing every major vein and artery'. Amber must have had a total of three minutes screen time and is one of the killers? Is this a joke? We knew NOTHING about her, it was so pointless. It felt like someone leaked the real killer so they rewrote her in as a killer. Even after the reveal I expected them to break the mould and reveal a third killer but no. It felt rushed, didn't make sense and was only a shocker of how disappointing the killers were.
The set up for who the killer could've been (Stu) was perfectly executed and hinted but then failed to deliver - multiple times Billy Loomis was referenced and characters were reminded there was a second killer. It was literally setting up Stu being alive and taking revenge for being overshadowed by Billy. (On a second viewing, I counted - they set it up to be Stu at least three times).
If it had been a standalone slasher not using the franchise name/ghostface it would've been a very impressive, love letter to horror and so much fun.
The death of Dewey is when I started to lose interest. I knew they were going to kill him and at that point in my head I said I'll only forgive his death if it's at the hands of Stu. I'm really bitter that one of the originals died - they'd all survived so long it just felt like a lame shock tactic.
The call backs to multiple scenes and references were a nice touch - Wes Hicks following a similar pattern to Sidney being alone in her house, opening the doors and closing them without injury then upon locking the front door locking the killer in the house with him, Gale referencing her bangs, Tara completely mimicking Casey Becker. And some references were hidden clues - ie. Richie being lightly wounded. We also had Kirby confirmed as surviving and Sidney confirmed as marrying Detective Mark Kindcaid from Scream 3.
We were SO close to perfection.
I would be SO happy if this is the last in the franchise but I fear it won't be.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Bloody Hell.
I loved this film so much. I never thought we'd get another endgame. But they did it. The audience were clapping, gasping, cheering and crying. Absolutely outstanding acting from Tom Holland.
When Peter caught MJ. I crumbled and still haven't composed myself an hour later.
Dracula (2020)
An excellent adaptation let down by the third episode.
BBC's Dracula breathed new life into a modern classic but a twist ending in the second episode lead to a sadly disappointing final episode. Claes Bang brought a witty, charming, sadistic and seductive Count Dracula putting a new spin onto an often old, stuffy and overdone character.
The first two episodes play on classic motifs and themes, filled with comedy (Count Dracula throwing a nuns head as though it was a bridal bouquet being a personal favourite) horror and sexual tension. The second episode plays out as though a murder mystery that we the audience are in on with the Count and the final scene left our jaws to the floor. The laws and the legends of the vampire were interesting to discover and using Dracula to dispel these myths in a comedic way was an excellent writing choice.
Dolly Wells Agatha Van Helsing was played with defiance and humour, an unsatisfied nun who questioned her faith and had an interest in dark arts, she went against the grain and provided the perfect opposite to all Dracula stands for.
The decision to launch Dracula into modern times in the third part was however, a disastrous writing choice. Whilst his charm remained, the modern technology, theming and idea that people would take the legend of Dracula so seriously they would build a task force launched us into completely different territory and provided an altogether different feel to the first two episodes. There is something unsettling about the 'olden days' - the lack of lighting and technology make for better story telling altogether.
The series would have been solid having the last episode take place in the same period as the first two, but the lack of sense provided seeing Dracula in present day proves there is no place for the classic Count Dracula in modern times.
Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019)
Not the best.
Some very predictable scenes and awful, cheesy dialogue. Last 20 minutes were Game of Thrones standard, not quite sure what the first 40 were about.