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The Tourist (2010)
Hmmm...?
So one day I'm scrolling aimlessly and a movie scene with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie pops up in my feed. A movie with these particular A-listers in the leads has got to be good, right? Or at least has the potential?
So I watched the movie and to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It certainly could have been a lot better, but it was still enjoyable. It was very chlichéid, yet some things were different.
I love seeing actors doing complete opposite stuff of what they've being doing before. So to watch my favorite Johnny Depp as an ordinary, boring and unsecure man was pretty interesting, even though one could argue this is not his best performance. However even if there was a good chemistry between them, I still probably wouldn't have bought Johnny and Angelina as a couple in the movie. I don't know how to explain it, but somehow, those two faces don't match.
Predictable as it was, the twist (if you can call it that) did surprise me just a little tiny bit. Not because I didn't saw it coming, but because I was wondering if it really would be that easy to guess. I guess deep down I wanted to be surprised at the end.
Overall, I'm not sure that I liked this movie, but it doesn't feel like a wasted time. Can't say it's either good or bad. It's there.
You can watch it if you're intrested and you'll probably find something to enjoy in it.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Why so serious?
First of all, no I don't think this movie is bad. But I don't think it should be thought of as the gold standart for comic book movies. Because honestly, this movie doesn't feel like a comic book.
This is a very good action movie, that dresses it's main protagonist and antagonist as comic book characters. And here I think lies the problem.
This is a movie about a billionaire, dressed as a bat, who beats an anarchist clown. And Christopher Nolan tries to make this look serious. I'm sorry, it doesn't work. It just takes away the comic book feeling. And therefore it becomes a little boring. If Heath Ledger isn't on the screen I find myself hardly invested in what's happening.
To be honest, I never really liked this movie that much. Maybe because I first watched when I was 8 and it felt boring. But I watched it a few times in later years and I still remember only pieces of fractions of what's happening, outside of scenes that have the Joker. And to be fair, I probably wouldn't have remembered those pieces, if I didn't watch reviews out of boredom.
I went online to see if there is anybody who feels the same way and they all said the same thing: Heath Ledger single handedly saves this movie. And while his performance is spectacular, I can't think of him as a definitive Joker. He is good for this movie, but I'm not sure if I can see him fit in other Batman movies. And a personal bias of mine is that no one is ever going to top Mark Hamill. However, Ledger did his own thing and he did good. Unlike other main charachters in the movie, this one won people over. But it's still in a movie that plays everything too serious.
It feels like Nolan took the main charachters from a comic book and put them in this, just because otherwise it would have been just another action movie. It lacks a certain element. It lacks that comic book campiness, that even the most serious comic books have a pinch of in them. And therefore it fails to deliver as a comic book movie.
That's not to say that being serious is a bad change. Too many comic book are corny as hell and very often it gets annoying. But if you get too serious, you get boring. One should not be at the expense of the other. One must find a balance between the comic book campiness and the seriousness of the real world.
To quote a certain character: Why so serious?
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
One of the best animations out there, BUT...
As spectacular as this movie is, I do have a few nitpicks, which do take the score lower.
1. The designs.
Specifically the faces of some characters. They are drawn great, but there are a lot of times when they do such expressions, which look very off putting to me. I can't explain it, I can't even understand it, but when I see it, it makes me cringe.
2. Shameik Moore's pronunciation.
Don't get me wrong, the guy does a very good performance, but sometimes it sounds like he doesn't fully open his mouth to deliver a line and it sounds like he's trying to say it while making a duck face.
3. The anime character.
I can't stand it. Maybe it's because generally I don't like anime, but she feels so annoying and she doesn't even have that much screen time. Her introduction is cringe with all the poses and typical anime traits, the way she moves... I know it is supposed to look like that, but it really puts me off.
Aside from that, what's there to say, that hasn't already been said? The movie is awesome! Bring 2D animation back!
Alien (1979)
A Genuine Horror
I usually don't get scared by horror films. Sure, jumpscares sometimes work and make me jump in my seat, but nothing I have ever watched compared to this scene. The chest burst is one of the most iconic moments in cinema, but to me, the vents chase had the biggest impact. I have watched a fair share of horrors beforehand and of course, there were a lot of scares like this one, so it was nothing new. But for a 70's film to frighten me that way in my twenties, even though it was so predictable what is going to happen... Maybe it's a good thing I came so late to the party. Both because I wouldn't have appreciated the movie properly and because I wouldn't have gotten any sleep.
There is no point to talk about anything else. Acting is great, effects are spectacular.
What can I say except, pure horrifying classic.