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Crisis Jung (2018)
A masterpiece of symbolism, metaphor, and self-acceptance.
I randomly stumbled on Studio Bobbybills after seeing a clip of another one of their show (Peepoodo). I browsed their YouTube channel, saw episode 10 of Crisis Jung in my recommended, and clicked on it.
I was not expecting any of what was about to happen. It felt so unique, I had to start the show from the beginning. I'm actually sad I watched the last episode first before starting it from the beginning. But anyway.
Crisis Jung is about the journey of self-acceptance. It is filled with symbolism and different metaphors. I will be honest, I am simply too dumb to understand all of it by myself. In fact, a comment left on Episode 9 of the show (which is on YouTube) is what made me understand. I will paste the comment further down.
Not only is it such a deep story, but it's also very humorous. The show doesn't take itself too seriously but still manages to give you a powerful message. The way this is a French show, but Jung still says "I don't do that anymore!" in English, even though the entirety of the show is spoken in French. His technique of THE 10 BIG MEATY PUNCHES. The skit with the unending chasm that they took 5 years to go around, even though the bridge was right next to their starting point... It's hilarious while also being serious.
The show is just so unique and thrives in spite of its small budget. The story, characters, the messages and symbolism behind it all... it's honestly a one-of-a-kind experience. The idea of portraying each emotion as a foe to conquer, spawned by Little Jesus, is a good idea.
You need to look past the gore and nudity. A lot of the gore is mostly for shock and "cool" value, but if you're used to watching common, popular shows, nudity will be a foreign concept to you. Most times, nudity will be used for no other purpose than bringing in viewers (looking at you Game of Thrones...) but nudity is a natural part of life and that's how you need to look at it in Crisis Jung.
The only thing that holds this show from a 9/10 or even a 10/10 is the budget. Unfortunately, the show only consists of 10 episodes that each last 6 minutes on average. The animation itself is also not very impressive. A LOT of sequences and shots are re-used each episode. The sound-mixing of the dubbing is also lacking in quality, as you can hear the mics of the voice actors almost blowing out because the actors are screaming too loud. However, this won't hold the show back from having smooth animation during certain fights and characters movement in important scenes. The music itself is also absolutely amazing and I still hope Bobbypills will release the OST one day.
Now, like I've said at the start, I personally had understood almost nothing of the show. Unfortunate I'm just too dumb, which really frustrates me. It angers me that I'm unable to truly appreciate this piece of art for its true worth... But THANKFULLY, someone left a comment that made me understand. It is originally in French, but I've translated it:
"This is an absolutely excellent and rare work.
It is quite simply the story of the transition from naive love to mature love in the head of a man. Rage being a tool to channel to overcome our own pride and gain the necessary qualities.
The whole thing also pays homage to manga from the 80s.
The strange and dreamlike atmosphere shows that we are in the mind of a man tortured by his own pride (which I interpret as Little Jesus). The simple detail of his wife looking away from him was enough to break his heart.
He will then begin a psychoanalysis which will allow him to grow.
If almost all the characters have beards, it is because they are projections produced by this man's mind. His naive feminine ideal (Marie-Madelaine) wears a beard to show that it is an emanation of his spirit.
At the same time, it shows the fine boundary that exists between man and woman, both so close and so incomprehensible to each other.
Conversely, the bad guys with chainsaws (reference to the neighbor at the beginning) are the projections that Jung himself makes of the men in competition with him, whose sexuality is a devastating power.
In his heartbroken rage, Jung's pride separated the body (object of the man's primal fantasy, represented by Thunder Dominic) from the head (vessel of the soul) of his wife.
After having overcome his pride by channeling rage, to gain the qualities of a mature love. He reconquers Maria in a climax where Jung's mind becomes peaceful again (all his projections, even negative cry with joy). True love then fully unites man and woman.
And it's magnificent." --Text by @louisgangloff (aka 'Historiae' on YouTube)
This man's comment helped me understand the show. As soon as I finished reading it, all of it finally clicked.
You'll notice, as soon as Jung sees Maria looking away while they're kissing, the apocalypse happens. This is so insanely well thought-up. I cannot praise the creators of this show enough. This is actual, pure genius.
My reasoning for the 8/10 score is because while the show is very good, like I said the production issues hinder the score. I also still haven't understood all of the show. For example, I don't understand the symbolism behind the ways he defeated a few of Little Jesus' spawns. Same thing for the Violence X 1000. But still, if you have the mind to understand the show correctly (unlike me), this can become a 10/10.
Please watch Crisis Jung.
Memento (2000)
7.8/10 - Very good, puzzling movie.
What can I say about this film... It's mind-bending, hard to understand, but GOOD. The first thing that will leave you completely confused for maybe the first 15 minutes is that THE SCENES ARE IN REVERSE ORDER. The movie will start at the end of the story, and it will end at the beginning. You'll probably understand this in just a few minutes, but even while knowing, your brain will not process the information and piece the puzzle together correctly. This will also challenge your memory; in normal movies, you can remember the past couple scenes well enough, but in Memento, you will remember them, but your brain just won't attach them together correctly. Whenever the movie progressed and changed scene, I had to actively try to remember what had happened right before, and how it ties into this new scene (which technically happens before the scene you just watched, not after).
Anyways, apart from that, the movie was quite intriguing. However it pummels you with different lines, events, actions, that all contribute to your current theories on the plot. But because of this, you will not take any information as truth, but rather things that you will need to keep in mind until the information is proven correct (or false). Because of this, when the actual big twist/reveal happens, it won't really leave you an impact, because you don't know if that new information is true or not. This kinda ruined the big reveal for me.
Anyways, let's start talking about the actual components of the film now. Starting with the characters.
You won't really have an appeal for any of them, except maybe for Leonard (the protagonist) or if you're stretching it a bit, Teddy. They're all written well enough, but more and more things just get "revealed" about them and that makes you unable to really make any concrete feelings/opinions on them. You might start liking one character, then the movie throws a small bit of info (that might or might not be true) about him and then you just won't know what to think of him anymore. Anyway, the acting was good, each character had a role and played it, it was good.
Now, the OST. The soundtracks in this movie are pretty good. You won't hear a soundtrack often, though. It's a bit uncommon, or at least it's pretty subtle and you won't notice it. But, during important scenes, there will be an OST that you'll notice right away, and it will fit, it will sound nice, it will just be good.
The cinematography. It's pretty good as well. There are a few hints in this movie that you can notice and understand only if you pay really attention to everything. The scenes are filmed well, etc.
In conclusion, this is a good movie. The ending didn't really satisfy me, but I think it was worth watching.
Archive 81 (2022)
8/10 - Shows you how good a show can be.
A good TV show. Suspenseful, scary, mysterious, thrilling. I liked it, the acting, the cinematography, soundtracks, sound design, the story itself. A very good show worth watching. The writers are very smart, the writing in this show was very good in my opinion. Now, for my in-depth thoughts on the show below, with slight/minor spoilers.
I will start by talking about the characters and actors. I simply loved them, especially Dan, Marc, and their relationship. When I first saw Marc, I thought to myself "Wait, don't I know this actor?" and I did. Matt McGorry played Asher Millstone in 'How to Get Away with Murder', a show I watched the first three seasons of. Matt definitely gained some weight between those two shows, but it was still the same actor I liked. Matt played the character of Marc Higgins perfectly, just like I enjoyed Asher Millstone, I loved Marc Higgins, and it was Matt McGorry's performance who brought these characters to life.
Dan is a good character, I like him, but it really is Marc Higgins' loyal friendship that elevates Dan's character. In the last episode of Season 1, when Marc told Dan he wasn't helping him just for his dumb podcast, but because they're friends, that was one of the scenes I liked the most.
Now, Melody Pendras. Just like Dan, she's a character I enjoy, and want to see her "win", but nothing more. I honestly don't have much to say, but I liked how "direct" she had become halfway through the show, she was done with the Visser's crap. For example, how she pushed Cassandra (an actual old lady) into the wall, I liked that. I didn't like that she didn't fight back much in Episode 8, when John Smith (the tenant), was holding her against her will in front of the Kaelego statue and Samuel, she could've easily fought back by punching or kicking Samuel, or even just headbutting the tenant, I don't know, Sure, it wouldn't have made a different in what was going to happen probably, but I feel like it would've made her character feel stronger and more determined. She's already an engaging female lead, but that would've made her even more engaging IMO. Not to mention she should've been fighting for her life, if I were in her place, I wouldn't have stopped fighting back, like, even if the guy's twice my size, you know dang well I would've tried everything to get out until I'm just completely exhausted. I wouldn't just watch things happen without doing anything.
The other characters are also well done. Father Russo comes to mind, when you first see him, you're neutral or think he's a jerk, then he does something I won't spoil and you instantly start disliking him, only for a thing to be revealed and you realize he wasn't necessarily a jerk and was a good guy. That character was gone too fast IMO.
Virgil Davenport is also quite an interesting character. I don't dislike him, I actually like the character, even though he does stuff that isn't very likeable.
Now, for the soundtrack and sound design. It's great, the people behind it are very smart. The music fits perfectly, is played at the correct time, and has meaning. And for sound design and some audio cues, there would be an important or shocking piece of information revealed and bam, there would be a sound that plays at the same time. That's something I noticed and wanted to point out.
Now, the cinematography. It's also good, there were only one scene I had trouble watching, which is from Episode 4, a woman basically mutilates herself, quite gory. There were also a few jumpscares if I remember correctly, and only one or two managed to make me have a reaction, however they're good jumpscares. And for the CGi, it's good, good enough for the show at least.
Now for the things I didn't like. I will spoil things majorly, so don't read this part if you don't want spoilers.
Again, Episode 8. Melody goes to free Jess from the apartment, by going through to the window, but instead of following Jess through the fire escape and run to the precinct, she decides to.. stay? Why? It's not like they were going to be able to catch them. It's extremely dumb.
Now, Dan is in the "Otherworld", and instead of following Melody through the portal (where they were supposed to go) when Samuel takes Melody, he stays there? Alright, this might be a bit nitpicky, but still.
And the third thing, which I already talked about when speaking about Melody. But why doesn't she fight back when being forced to do the ritual? And we know it's not because she's just under shock or something, because as we saw before, she's the type of either scream, or at least physically react when something shocking happens (For example, Chris falling from the building in front of her, she screamed in terror then fell unconscious. Then when first viewing The Circle tape where Iris Vos slits Rose's throat, she does a small scream and puts her hand on her mouth). But here, she doesn't looked shocked when Tamara gets her throat slit, she stands there not doing anything.
Anyway, in conclusion, this is a worthwhile show and I cannot wait for Season 2.
District 9 (2009)
8.4/10 - Racism disguised as Sci-fi
Wow, what an amazing movie. District 9 had been on my watchlist for some time now, all I heard about it was that it was originally supposed to be a Halo movie, and that it was really good. I jumped in with friends and family, and we were all a bit "confused" at first, we weren't expecting the documentary-style of filming, I definitely liked it, but not all of us did. Anyway, when it started getting more serious, we all started to really like the film. The journey of Wikus was also really sad, but overall, it's a great movie DEFINITELY worth watching. Anyway, I will now write a more in-depth review, there may be spoilers.
Let's start with the CGI and cinematography. Both were amazing, the way the movie was filmed was good, not disappointing or confusing, just good. As for the CGI, it was phenomenal, for a 2009 movie, it is breathtaking, the way the CGI was used is simply ingeniously done. Especially the closeup shots, which you'd expect the opposite, but no, the "far-away" shots are actually not as good as the shots where the aliens are right in your face. Not to mention the actual design of the prawns, and how you can really see the emotions on their face, even though they speak an alien language, and they don't have a human face! This is a good segway to my next topic.
The aliens and how they don't speak English. You know how in most movies where the aliens are important, and they speak English? Like in the Marvel movies, for example? How is Thanos speaking english? Is there a universal translator like in Star Trek or something? Nope. Anyway, this is one of the things I really like about District 9, THE ALIENS SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE. Sure, it might not be as emotionally investing as if they were speaking English, like in the MCU, but it's more realistic, and for a movie like in D9 where realism is important, this is good. But even if they couldn't speak English, their facial expressions were enough. There's one alien called Christopher that is pretty important to the plot, and you can really see his emotions when the camera pans to his face. It's really well done, congratulations to the VFX team tbh
Now, the characters. There will be spoilers. The main (and important ones) are good. The side ones however? They're decent, I guess. Nothing special basically, since they're not really developed. As for the antagonist, Koobus, he's quite lackluster. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand, but to me he seemed evil for no good reason, he has no reason to be as "evil" as he was. Otherwise though, Christopher and Wikus were great. Wikus is a good character, at first he seemed normal, but also kind of a jerk, he didn't really care what happened to the prawns, going as far to say "no don't shoot it, the cameras are on" or something along those lines. But what confuses me, is that a bit later in the movie, when a prawn was used as a shooting target, he really didn't want it to die, even saying to just use a pig or something. So again, maybe I missed some development, but to me that was strange. Anyway, after that, he'll still be a jerk to now the second "main character", a prawn called Christopher. Wikus will leave him to die TWICE, the first time, even, betraying him, however near the end of the movie, he really becomes a good guy. Anyway, I really like Wikus as a character, his development is really good.
Now for Christopher, the prawn, he's also pretty good. He doesn't really have any development, or maybe he does but definitely not as much as Wikus. I like how he was much smarter than the other prawns, maybe because he had a more important role in the ship? I don't know. Anyway, when Wikus tries to make him sign the paper immediately, Chris definitely can read and understand that what they're doing is illegal, and it's pretty funny. I liked how he had a kid he was taking care of, much like a human would. I also liked how he felt sad when he saw his prawn friend getting killed, you could definitely see his expression through his eyes. And I REALLY liked how when he and Wikus storm the MNU HQ, he sees the way they experiment on the prawns. He just stands there, looking at the mutilated corpse of one of his kind, even though there are soldiers shooting at them. I really liked that entire scene, and when Wikus tells him to remember his kid and how he's gotta protect him? Magnificent. Prawns may not look like humans, but damn, they're just like us. I also liked how Wikus abandons him, but then comes back at the end, it's really beautiful.
Now, the story/plot! It was really interesting how it started as a documentary comedy, I liked it. Some moments were really funny, especially with Wikus' accent. Even when it started getting more serious, like when Wikus is all sick and he gets home and it's a surprise party, and he says he thinks he pooped his pants or something, that was funny. I praise this film for how it changed genres in the span of an hour and 40 minutes. But when the more serious parts arrive, the movie gets really good.
The soundtracks. It was good, like most movies, but the main theme is really good. I'm usually not into these kinds of tracks, with "throat" singing, but it fit the movie, theme, and characters really well.
Anyway, I think I'm done now. Overall, a great movie that everyone should watch, I can't wait for District 10!
#Saraitda (2020)
An alright zombie movie.
An alright film, not much is going on in it. It's a bit slow, the only thing the characters really do is move through their apartment complex, then escape, in the span of the entire movie. Like I said, really not much goes on in it, the film ended and I started thinking to myself "Wait, that's it?". A sequel would greatly improve the quality of the story itself, as barely anything was told in this first movie.
A pretty realistic movie though I think, except for the zombie part of course. The characters weren't bad, didn't felt any attachment to any of them tho, stayed neutral.
An alright movie overall, it's quite slow and don't expect much from it tho.
Inuyashiki (2018)
7/10 - Alright adaptation, but watch the anime instead.
Honestly, it's an _alright_ adaptation, there's way worse out there (like Netflix's Death Note for example), but you should just watch the anime instead of this movie, almost everything in the anime is better. Except for the soundtracks.
Now, for the actual review of this movie:
It misses too many aspects of the anime, it rushes them, it applies things from the anime that are purposefully developed, but without developing them in the movie. Ichiro Inuyashiki should care way more about the lives of the people he couldn't save, but in this movie, he doesn't care enough. The whole reason why he wants to save people is because it allows him to "stay human", even as a robot, it allows him to find his humanity again, but in the movie, it's not that clear why he saves them in the first place.
The CGi itself is REALLY good though, way better than the CG which was used in the anime. It's really good CGI which won't take you out of the movie.
Action scenes are also good, they were satisfying to watch.
The soundtracks are also good, maybe better than the ones in the anime, except for one thing. The song used in the trailer isn't used a single time in the movie, except during the credits, which is really dumb as it was a song by MAN WITH A MISSION, the band who did the opening of the anime.
Anyway, overall it's fine, if you're planning to watch the anime but wanna watch this movie too, then watch the movie first then the anime.
Inuyashiki (2017)
7.7/10 - A great freakin' anime from 2017 that nobody really watched.
Watched it for the first time in 2018 and it slapped, watched it again two more times since then (finished the third time a couple weeks ago) and it still slaps.
Inuyashiki is about an old man and a teenager who get accidentally killed by aliens and are then rebuilt as killing machines. Ichiro Inuyashiki (the old man) gets pretty much ignored by his family, he finds out he has cancer and only has a few months to live, but all attempts to tell his family fails. He starts becoming really sad because of it, asking himself if they would even cry when he died, and he then goes to cry in a random park with his newly found dog Hanako. In the same park, there's a teenager standing beside him, Ichiro notices him right before they get both killed by the interplanetary car crash the aliens caused. And it's basically how the show starts.
This small review will contain spoilers, so don't read further
I loved the actual story and plot of the anime, it's really simple yet emotional and engaging. Seeing Ichiro "finding" his humanity by saving people is just heartwarming, whilst seeing Hiro (the teenager) killing people to find his is engaging. The contrast between the two characters is really neat and interesting, some episodes you will see Ichiro save people, and others you'll see Hiro kill some. I liked how several times Hiro tried to stop doing bad deeds but the world simply didn't let him. He would've became a good guy if the cops didn't find him when he started saving people to make up for all the people he had killed.
The characters are just good in this show, the side ones are nothing special, but Hiro, and most significantly Ichiro, are just really great. Seeing Ichiro just save people again and again, and then them tearing up is just so emotional and wholesome to watch. I'm not someone who easily gets emotional because of movies and shows, but seeing the last two episodes almost made me tear up, my eyes were really watery. When Ichiro tried to revive Marie, that was probably the most emotional moment of the anime, or maybe it's tied to the last one. But the acting during that scene was just incredible, it was so freaking sad and you actually felt everything (I did, at least).
Hiro Shishigami was quite the good character as well. He's simply a sociopath who happened to get (almost) godly powers. Most of his murders were unjustified and quite atrocious, but a lot were really satisfying to watch. Like when he killed those bullies and 4channers, or even when he killed all those civilians in the city and the police department. Even if those murders were objectively bad, I personally just found myself enjoying them. Anyway, the saddest parts about his character is when his mother kills herself, when he starts becoming good, and when he sacrifices himself for the few people he loves (Ando, Shion and her grandmother). I think the way they made Hiro killing a bunch of cops enjoyable for the viewer is by making the cops attack him, whilst also killing Shion and her grandma RIGHT AFTER he started becoming a good person by saving as many people, and more, than he killed. That way, the audience asks itself if Hiro really is a bad guy or not. In my opinion, he was, but became good when he started saving those people. I think the cops were wrong in this particular scenario, if they had let Hiro get away with his murders, he would've kept saving people.
Since Ichiro is the protagonist and Hiro the antagonist, of course you're gonna expect them to fight at some point, even more so when their philosophies are literally opposites, however, when they do fight, it's quite underwhelming, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Inuyashiki is more about two persons trying to find and keep their humanity after basically losing it and becoming killing machines, it's not about which character is the strongest.
The soundtracks of the anime is good, not Bleach level of course, but it's not bad by any means. The opening by MAN WITH A MISSION and the ending by Qaijiff are great and fit the anime quite well. Unlike most animes, they don't play the soundtracks often. Hiro will be killing a family and it'll just be silence, no music whatsoever.
Also, something I really liked is how the characters speak more realistically than in most animes. In most animes nowadays, characters will always have over-exaggerated reactions, but in Inuyashiki, whilst still being a bit unrealistic, are more believable.
The only true bad thing about this anime in my opinion is the CGI/3d used for animation during fight scenes and transformation scenes and whatnot. The CGI isn't that great and at some points it ruined a bit of the enjoyability.
The ending of the anime itself is also good, which is not quite common. It's sad, but understandable, and isn't a cop-out.
Anyway, Inuyashiki is definitely an anime worth watching. Only 11 episodes and a good story, it won't waste your time. Overall a great anime that 2017 wasn't ready for, deserves more recognition.
Sometimes I wish the anime continued but then I ask myself how could it with that ending? Still tho, I don't like when shows I enjoyed are over lol.
Blue Ruin (2013)
7.2/10 -- A quite enjoyable movie. Didn't try to have a complicated story, just had a simple, realistic one that everybody could understand easily.
But even though it was simple, that didn't mean it wasn't gonna put you at the edge of your seat. There were a few moments which were really nerve racking, those moments personally made me think constantly "What's gonna happen?! What's gonna happen??!!!" over and over. Even though it's quite slow at the start, it probably WILL fasten your heartbeat at times.
Like I just said, it's quite a slow movie, not a lot of action during the first half, so if you're looking for just an action packed flick where you turn off your brain and relax, this isn't for you. If you go into this movie, you need to understand that it's slow, that the story isn't complex, interesting, or unique, or that it has great characters. No, this does have good characters, but they don't really introduce them to you a lot, it's as if you're just plucked from the skies and placed there to watch a story that was already going on, you don't know these people, you're just a spectator. Yeah, you get to know them throughout the film a bit, but not really. But, that didn't prevent me from getting attached to them somewhat, so don't worry about that.
The story itself is good. Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want spoilers. Basically, we follow the story of a homeless guy, the parents of that guy got killed by some dude and that dude is now released from prison, so our protagonist, Dwight, goes to get revenge for his parents. However, the story is a bit deeper than that, there's more to it. And I liked that about the film, it's not as simple as the synopsis would make it out to be (though it's still a quite simple story about rednecks and feuds between two families).
It's a really realistic movie, you very probably won't be pulled out of it by some plot armor or other unrealistic happenings. The protagonist is not some top-level martial artist, he can't aim a gun for shit, he makes mistakes, and a lot of them, he's no Gary Sue.
The score for the movie (score = soundtrack) was good, I'm gonna be honest, I don't remember it, but I don't think it was anything special. There wasn't that much soundtracks playing throughout the movie, but when there was, they weren't bad and were quite fitting.
Cinematography was good, there wasn't any bad or annoying shots, they were all good and visually appealing. Action scenes were also good, no significant jumpcuts that would make you say "What the hell's happening?? I can't see nuthin' ! "
I also liked how they didn't cast top-models, extremely attractive actors. The protagonist is totally normal looking, some might even say ugly (though I don't think so). All the actors are honestly normal looking, no Brad Pitts or Scarlet Johanssons. Some might say that's a bad thing, but in this movie's context, it really, really isn't, casting a good looking guy would not have much sense and would've kinda pulled you out of it.
Anyway, good movie. Nothing outstanding, just a good movie. I recommend it.
Overlord (2018)
(7.5/10) Good movie which is definitely worth watching!
Honestly, what can I say about Overlord? Do you like horror? Action? WWII? All combined? Then this is for you! (Careful though, there's a lot of gore which might be too much if you're not used to it. Not too much gore though, NOT the kind of movie that throws gore around for the fun of it.)
When the movie starts, you'll get hooked. You're plunged right into the action (almost) straight away. In only the first 10 or 15 minutes of the movie, you will see one of the best paratrooping scenes ever. I was personally on the edge of my seat the entire duration of those first 10 minutes, until it quieted down a bit to let the audience breath from all that action and suspense.
The scenario itself is good, a small squadron is sent to take down a communications center which is located in the church of a French village, but obviously, things don't go too well and almost all the planes are taken down by the German Anti-Air batteries, from that point on, they need to regroup when they land and formulate an attack. The way the story progresses is quite good and nothing really stood out to me.
The gunfights are GREAT! There was nothing better than seeing Germans shoot their STG's, MG42's, MP40's, etc. And the Americans use their trusty M1 Garand and Thomson. Not only the sounds are great, but the actual "choreography" is very good as well. And also, the characters don't have too much plot-armor! Still a bit of course, but not too much in my opinion.
The horror was well done, there was a massive jumpscare which was kind of predictable, but it was still a good jumpscare, and there's a couple more small ones, but nothing worth mentioning. The actual stuff inside the lab beneath the church though, is very scary and maybe even blood-curling, a lot of body horror there. Also, one scene is very gory, so you might reconsider watching this movie if you have trouble handling that kinda stuff.
Now, for the characters. They're all good, nothing unique or "really good", just all good characters, some a bit cliché, like your typical bad German guy and the American, strong, serious leader. There's also the comedic relief character that you might get attached to. Anyway, they get a small bit of development, but not much because this is still only a movie. But yeah, good characters, and there's a good chance you won't dislike any.
The actors were good as well, you might recognize the Colonel if you've watched Black Mirror, and also a couple others. Anyway, some didn't give an outstanding performance, but they were certainly convincing enough!
They also tried going for the least amount of CG possible in this movie, and going for practical. Which is why it gets so shocking at times.
Overall, a good movie which is really worth watching. Definitely entertained me, and also, if you're a Call of Duty Zombies fan, you will certainly want to check this movie out, since it's probably the closest we'll get to Nazi Zombies!
Love and Monsters (2020)
Good movie. Solid 8/10
I definitely enjoyed the movie, I found a few moments a bit cliché, and which are always present in PG-13 movies. The plot armor was also a bit mind-boggling at times, but I think it was still a good movie.
I like the protagonist, he's not a Will Smith or some survival expert, he's a relatable young guy who stupidly goes on a quest for love, without even really thinking about it. But what makes it good is that he realizes this at the end, "Why did I do this?", he realizes it was so dumb, but even if it was indeed stupid, he doesn't regret doing it. It allowed him to find himself, be who he wanted to be.
I really liked the moments of panic, they were pretty realistic. Like when Joel has plenty of leeches on him, how he panics a bit at first, then when he realizes they're all over him, he just goes full panic mode, I think it was funny, neat, and realistic. The "fight" scene where he fights the giant centipede is also great, how he freezes, gets knocked back, while centipede traps the dog, getting ready to kill him, it was so intense. Then we see a flashback of Joel's family and how they died, which instantly gives purpose to that monster, instead of being just dumb CGI monster which gives the no reasons for the audience to care about, it turns into the embodiment of Joel's pain, that centipede isn't the insect which killed his family, but it might as well be, because it's the same situation all over again, except this time, instead of his family, it's his dog. Very well done. The other scene against the queen sand gobbler or whatever it's called, was also very nice. How Joel and the dog are hiding in a tree trunk, and Joel had to force the dog's mouth closed, it was stressing and a bit hard to watch, a good scene overall. And for the final monster, which was the crab, at first i wasn't impressed at all, but it's only at the end where it managed to make the audience actually care about this encounter. Joel almost blows up the crab, but then, he sees it's eyes, just like how Winnow said you can see if a monster is good or bad by seeing their eyes, like with the giant snail, again, good scene which was well done.
Now, for the characters, I think they're neat. Unlike in most apocalypse movies or shows where they always kill each other, here, they're all supportive of each other. Adversity brings cooperation! Anyway, my favorite characters are probably Joel, and Merle (the guy with the cowboy hat), they're very interesting. Merle is brutally honest, but he doesn't want Joel to die, he gives him advice, and for Joel, his humor is pretty good, his arc is also good. I also love how at the end, when Joel turns the map around, he sees all the messages his friends back the bunker left for him, it was so heartwarming.
The soundtracks in this movie were not really special in any way, but how they used it was very well done, how they stopped the music at the right moment and stuff was nice.
Anyway, this was my disorganized and dumb review. Pretty good movie!