Micke_Eriksson Reviews

Colossal (2016)

Extremely bad ending, gaping hole in the plot

[4/10 · 17 November 2023]

I couldn't bare myself to rate this any higher than 4. I was disappointed, to put it mildly. When I first read the outline of the movie, I thought it was something that the monster somehow was a demon that resided within her in some weird way, her unbeknownst or something like that.

Looking at the movie poster and the trailer, you would definitely think that - I did!

Apparently not. Ok, the whole thing is wildly different. Sure, I buy that. It happens that first impression, or the guys writing the plots explain things in a skewed way.

Here's where the movie gets progressively worse though.

It starts fairly ok. When she returns home to her childhood home.

Recently dumped for partying too much.

Down on her butt, she picks up where she left off with a child hood friend and rekindle that friendship.

She get's help, then a job and the partying goes on

Pretty soon there's emotions everywhere, jealousy lose ends and resentment brewing deeply within, and it all comes out in seemingly murderous rage that suddenly transitions to playfulness, then energy-less sorrow and anger (Near the end) where nothing is happening. It's also very unclear if it's a fit of jealousy or something else behind the sudden change of Oscar's character

Yeah, right, somewhere in the beginning of the previous sentence they discovered that he's bridezilla in Seoul.

At the same time, the reason to why going on a rampage isn't explained in any way. This would then be closer to the end of the movie.

Most of the movie is about drinking and feelings. It's only the last 20 minutes or so that we get to understand why things are happening, or so the director attempted:

We get a glimpse of what seem to be childish anger due to a destroyed model of what looks like a house (I actually paused this movie a while back, then returned later to finish watching it, so I don't recall what exactly it was, or its significance to the story), which somehow started it all, but this was never further explained or discussed.

By this time, they've turned evil and somewhat twisted, and it's where the movie gets bad, or rather the outcome of it.

The ending was like an ice cream cone without the ice cream.

Why she was appearing as that large entity wasn't explained either.

It would've been nice to have some reason and explanations instead of just been left puzzled trying to figure stuff out.

Not sure how, but there are some creative writers out there that surely could've thought up something better than that.

I was actually thinking that him being tossed for miles like a ball, was just a metaphoric thing (He didn't come off as a true villain, so I don't get it) and that he was spared somehow, but no.

Nothing about him either.

This movie was a complete waste of time.

Not saying much about the acting as they're both good actors. Anne Hathaway (Gloria) in action movies and dramas, so-so in comedies, and Jason Sudeikis (Oscar) in well, I don't think I've seen him in any other roles that comedic ones. Apparently voice-overs too which is easily missed I suppose. Also which doesn't fit the character in this movie. Difficult to take him seriously with the darkness of this character he plays.

Tim Blake Nelson (Garth)is mostly fun to watch. I was a bit disappointed that his character just upped and left like he did. He should've had more screen time.

Dan Stevens (Tim) was a surprise. I first saw him as a guy that gets even with bullies and ill-doers but turned out to be a psychopath in The Guest (2014).

He had a weird role here. Ex-boyfriend that gets drawn into a weird discussion without having been confirmed (I think) as an ex.

Could've had some more development I suppose.

Austin Stowell (Joel) - Same thing there. Hapless guy that lacked spine in my opinion. Didn't say nor did much. Could have been further developed with a better vocabulary and a larger role other then the coward one-night-stand.

Firebreather (2009 TV Movie)

Ehhm... Not sure what to make of this

[5/10 · 1 November 2023]

I enjoy the occasional animated movie here & there. Not as often nowadays as I'm getting older and I shouldn't say wiser, but seasoned in lack of a better word - I've seen lots of movies, so you sort of expect certain things from the creators.

This movie had very little of those elements, such as a proper backstory, continuity (Lots of scenes missing, and it felt rushed) and some things left unexplained (and then some!).

The animation I think is made possible with some type of game-engine. This probably saved the budget a lot, and it shows. It lacks details and movements are very crude and unnatural in some scenes.

What kept me wondering throughout the whole movie was how he was conceived. This was almost told, but no. I kept thinking that perhaps Belloc was able to take on a human shape and size, but it would appear that wasn't able to as it wasn't neither mentioned or otherwise hinted.

I keep thinking of tent and its bag - If the tent is too big - You get where I'm going with this.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of this, Maybe not the analogy with tents, but with the obvious proverbial elephant in the room, so to speak.

As others here mention, the action is so-so, not good, nor bad. Average, and the story in itself is not new. Boy finds out he's special, there are bad antagonist elements, long lost dad's to the rescue/aid, bada bing, a few scenes later everyone's happy, The End.

It's no Avatar, that's for sure.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Indiana Jones and the deprivacy of destiny

[6/10 · 12 October 2023]

I was very disappointed with this. I was soaking it in as the story went along, the details left & right, and starting to figure out what the end would be like (I'm not pointing out what I'm referring to, so that I don't spoil it for anyone), just like with the previous installments.

They mention or speak about a specific thing, its uses, why or how they would do a certain thing, and somehow thanks to clever (and often predictable) writing, it was where the story was heading.

However, this was not the case and I was very annoyed when the movie suddenly and abruptly ended on an unsung note, on a road not traveled, and the movie ended just as bad as it had started with non-status quo.

The action was as good as could be expected, partially because of the character Indy & his bad (?) luck, and with his age accounted for, so it was good. It's just the ending that really annoyed me. At least The Last Crusade had a nice ending, of which I was expecting something similar in this one... One could only pray that they've got some alternate extended Directors Cut-ending coming on Bluray where they change the ending completely and make it right.

I was really looking forward to this movie since it was announced, but it was a huge disappointment thanks to this.

I rated this 6 out 10, and I gave one of those points for the action-scenes for the first 80% of the movie, for Indy's spunk, the rest was so that it would average (There are worse movies after all!).

Rim of the World (2019)

A movie so full of itself, and all over the map

[4/10 · 3 September 2022]

I don't know where to begin. Cheesy, unfunny, immature and down right silly dialogs throughout the movie.

Didn't finish it because I just gave up, near the end.

I get movies most often has multiple tiers to fulfill before reaching their goals, but when they start to script sequences like that of a video game, I'm out!

Not going to ruin for anyone, but since when does generators need to be fired up in sequence, climbing into vents, talks about vault doors that won't open until power's back on. Sound exactly like a video game to me, and that's where I had enough of it.

Had it been the other way around, from movie to an actual video game I wouldn't though twice about it, but it's not.

I think this movie is aimed at 13-15 year olds, not for a more mature audience, and certainly not for the younger ones, for several reasons, strong language and graphic content, and bad scripting.

Also, the movie's laced with movie quotes and references and is quite silly in general. If you've seen thousands of movies from this genre, along with action and (sometimes bad) comedies, you'll find this a big "meh".

I rarely rate below 5, but this was an exception.

Mainly because of the opening scene in the camp where the counselors gave the impression that this was a comedy, while the movie sort of implied that it wasn't, which would mean that, if there wasn't this alien attack, they'd probably be liable, and probably sued for gross negligence, bad conduct and improper behavior.

You'll see why, if you do indeed decide to watch this.

The CGI was OK. I mean, I've seen way worse, so at least they tried to make them somewhat realistic.

It would be nice to have seen them up close, as well as if there's other types of aliens than these foot soldiers.

And, perhaps it's something near the end about this, as well as that key's origin, what's on it, and how they obtained it. Sensing a plot hole here.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Not the best of the spinoffs, but probably not the worst either.

[5/10 · 17 June 2022]

First off, I don't think it deserves any lower than 5 - Come on people, you suck at rating! It's either 1-2 or 10, nothing in between (The few of you who actually set a weighted rating - I applaud you!).

I do agree that this director probably should've done some other Disney movie, as well as the choreographer since the first few close combat scenes were awful. I literary had to pause and catch my breath when I saw the "Now I punch, you duck, ok?" coordination. I find this somewhat of an insult. Even the first movies of the (then) trilogy had, albeit very few, but much better fight choreography than this - Tempting to say tripe, but, I say less good instead.

The story in itself, so far, is not that bad, but on places it's there touching stuff where it shouldn't, or at least not quite. Seeing as how distant Leia and Kenobi was in the trilogy, there's no way they'd been in joint adventures like this. The movies showed no chemistry, or how to put it, that would've happened. I'd say women are like elephants in that regard.

Treat them nice, befriend them when they're young, and they'll remember it all their life and they'd show their affection and appreciation when they meet you later in life. Leia hardly showed any of this in Ep IV.

Granted, in this show, she's only 10 years old. Had she been 4 or 5 I could've bought the platonic speech she gives R2-D2 to record. Sadly, she doesn't get to meet with him, and she should've displayed great sorrow upon the news of his demise.

It's too sad that today's technology wasn't available back in the 70's, otherwise, had mr Lucas had the opportunity, we might would've had a whole armada of movies and shows from the SW universe by now.

I was a bit disappointed that he sold the rights for the franchise, but I was somewhat pleased that Disney allowed us fans to see the end of the Saga, although the ultimate outcome was a huuge disappointment as well as an unprecedented twist ending.

Personally never read any of his books, only heard rumors, but never in my life did I expect that ending.

Also, all the movies and shows that Disney's pushing to the market I find intriguing and very interesting, but every here and there you keep finding Disneyfications and contemporary (from our universe and current crap they're pushing onto us) stuff. They need to hire people that knows what they're doing (A.k.a. Hardcore fans of the franchise, and knowledgeable in the SW realm & history), so that we don't get some cheap crap that we just would've done without.

SW Rouge One was a bit of a letdown. Although, a few survived, and explains how they got the plans for the Death Star, but in all, it was just like milking Almonds just for the sake of the milk. Prior to that movie, it had never entered my mind to even ask (if I was a character in the movie) how they obtained those plans. I have seen this twice and I'm reluctant to see it again. Not a favorite. Same about SW Ep 9. Damn, almost the whole thing feels wasteful given the outcome. All those lives, not to mention the main characters, for, well, wouldn't say nothing, but less..?

Note sure if Mr. Lucas's Star Wars would've ended the same way, but I like to believe that it didn't.

Mythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014)

Well, no LOTR, a lot of bad CGI & mediocre acting

[5/10 · 4 June 2022]

First off, I was hoping to see more of. Kevin Sorbo, and I got that Hercules-feeling at first, but that faded pretty quickly. I think they could've spent a little more time perfecting the CGI scenes and had a better synchronicity between the CGI characters and the actors (Although, I've seen much worse!). Better yet, before letting these scene gone to print, let someone (that has some knowledge/expertise) give them a second or a third opinion.

Also, the fighting scenes are mediocre at best. You can really see how they're not very convincing as they wait for their opponent to match their moves (Character one checks to see character number two getting ready for a punch or sword, then acts). Not much rehearsal I think to these scenes.

Characters lack substance. There's no getting to know them, they're just there for a reason briefly explained, no depth, no nuance, and badly scripted to begin with.

If you want to make a character liked, you need to show a bit more in-depth story about them, or give them a good enough reason to be in this type of quest by means of a good script and a good director.

I was a bit annoyed with the character Thane, which, by this movie's standard was the rag-doll. Beaten time and time again, almost like he's the comic relief, but clearly isn't since his character lacks that depth and even the persona for it. It just wasn't in the cards. This is also where the bad synchronization between CGI and actors come in.

The main character of Marek is also very weak. No real background to who she is, where she came from (many movies circles back to the origins, explanations to their conditions, reasons etc by flashbacks, narration and so on), and as the movie progresses, the viewer is not given the whole picture.

Also, when they're running in the forest, they kept going on about getting to a clearing. This would make little sense as they'd be better protected among trees, something that obviously became obvious as they were running from one danger to the next when they went back into the forest. If anything, a clearing would be a big no-no as it would imply open terrain, thus they'd be visible and more likely to be discovered. Anyone that has ever been in this type of situation would know this, in this case, Thane of all people.

I was a bit surprised that this movie actually has a bit "gore". Not so much blood, but you do get a few severed heads and a few open wounds.

I'm not much for bloody scenes or anything, but when it's blood-less you can always prepare yourself for some bad scenes.

As for the casting. I think that some roles were mal placed, or at the very least bad makeup:

The character Teela has plucked eyebrows which I find disturbing, and she's also super skinny which wouldn't have matched any woman of that era. She's cute, don't get me wrong, but not suitable for that role.

The Thief Dagen doesn't quite fit the description, or at the very least here's where poor writing comes into play with the character depth, or lack thereof to be precise.

Overall, this movie is watchable, and maybe if you're young you might enjoy this flick, but if you've been in existence since the late 70's and therefor seen many/most movies, you'll probably agree with me, in parts at least.

Moon Knight (2022)

Interesting, but don't like deities without explanations...

[6/10 · 12 May 2022]

So, they're "gods", but no one explained the origins in some way (Like the Asgards simply being pretty much humans, but with higher longevity and super strength, some mystic powers etc).

The explanation about Steven/Marc dual personality was explained quite late, and did give an "Aha, figures" revelation, which sort of made sense.

Otherwise it was quite messy the last few episodes with a lot of jumping between the story and all that it entailed, without giving away too much.

Anyone watching it will know what I meant.

I liked the adventuring-bits where they was searching for "artifacts", and the fighting scenes, but the end really was confusing, as it almost promises a sequel(s), and one, in particular, of the numerous blackouts that Steven/Marc had didn't make sense and was not explained at all, in any way. Huge disappointment to say the least.

I didn't feel this to fit into the Marvel Universe, other than the neon colors, beams, and of course, super human strenght.

I don't like when they involve deities (unexplained and religious-like), and that's what DC Comics did and I don't like those characters where there's ghosts, zombies, gods, demons and such crap, seems like Marvel's heading down that slippery slope.

Then it's better that they split it into something else and don't intermix the two.

Didn't actually see any reference to previous Marvel productions, if they did, I missed it.

Overall, long, messy and stuff not explained.

Gave it a 6 for the effort with one point for actors and for, supposedly, being a Marvel product.

Crysis (2007 Video Game)

A bit late for a review, and it isn't much of one really.

[9/10 · 7 May 2022]

Just wanted to say that this is one of the top 10 games I've ever played.

It's simply amazing how much graphics that have been crammed into this game, and it's even less than the newer versions.

It was one of the few games that I played (I didn't play for many years so games and hardware have improved greatly since then!) after I got a decent setup with a so-so GPU (and some time later I got an even better one!) and I was blown away of the graphics. The level of details are astonishing, vibrant, alive, and yes, frightening aliens as they just jump at you (This is where a Trainer helps you from smashing your keyboard - Cheating, you betcha, but saves nerves, and possibly your peripherals from a beating).

With mentioned newer GPU (ATI/AMD), I re-experienced the game, but this time with Eyefinity and 3 monitors - Sensational! Same, but a world of a difference in game feel. You get so much peripheral vision with a multi-monitor setup - This was what I wanted people to know, as for a reason for this review.

Forget single monitor (unless you have one of those large ulta-wide ones) - You haven't gamed until you've gamed on a multi-monitor setup.

Anywhoo, what more is grate with this game is the length of it.

You play a handful of missions and thinking it'll end soon, but it will keep you occupied for hours on end as the missions keep piling up, one after the other.

Personally, I'm not much for fighting aliens in games, but these are somewhat of an exception since they're, well, what the game's all about.

Some appear near impossible to kill, and I never go for the highest game mode, and it's taken me hours to complete some missions, and thankfully it's no 3 tries & "Game Over" like many games, so you can skip quite a lot of boring bits (like when you have to re-do a whole level) and jump back into the saddle.

It's easy to miss out on some mission objectives that are explained to you (or rather the character), especially if English isn't your native tongue, so some levels seem quite straight forward, but can be very difficult to remember some keywords that were spoken and put that into the current task at hand, as some solutions might be not so obvious to find.

You'll get there, eventually if/when you encounter such obstacles.

Omega Doom (1996)

A lot of the movie remains unexplained and more...

[4/10 · 20 March 2022]

I actually saw this years ago, but I must have suppressed my memory somehow.

First of all, it's most certainly a B-movie, no two ways about that.

The director for this should, if not already (Not checked), get another job.

The plot stinks to high heaven, and the writers have absolutely no talent for terminology, nor logic, and least of all technology.

I'm surprised that movies that have this kind of theme, where the story plays out in the future, that they don't have proper consultants that actually understand something about anatomy (which goes beyond bright white skeletons shown in the beginning), how an android (not "robots"!) would move, talk, reason and least of all function.

None of those things has been taken into consideration, and we see actors that aren't particularly good at mimicking what an android could potentially look like, and how it would move.

In order to have any advantage over any other model, it would have to be proficient, agile and generally quick in combat.

Some attempts are made to make it look so, but fails miserably for the most part.

There are huge gaps in the plot, as what lead the "robots" to be what they've become - Not much of a backstory exactly.

Why would androids, or "robots" (really hurts my head with the terminology here!), have need for water? I could understand if it was for any form of fusion- or hydrogen fuel, something for power, but it's not even addressed. Had they been cyborgs I could understand for the human part, but they're not.

The level of knowledge they (don't) possess regarding weapons is staggering. A bullet shown could interpret as potentially a found weapons cache, but for a "robot" to try to put a rifle round into a revolver which clearly is way too big, really reeks and some of the writing team had a really bad day with that logic.

Any AI with proper ocular means to determine spacial measurements would immediately assess that task, and conclude that it wouldn't fit.

Humans can jump to conclusions, irrational thought etc, through emotions overriding common sense, but any AI (or "robots"!) shouldn't do this mistake, again with the bad day(s) for the writing team!.

Also, they keep mentioning "the weapons", and no hints to what kind of weapon, and seeing how that, what's her name, totally snowed in on that revolver (and the bullet that wouldn't fit)m I can't imagine they spent a lot of time thinking about that part of the story.

Had this been done in the 70-80's I could've swallowed it with something to drink, but this late in time, mid-90's ? Come on!

It was made when movies was starting to get good C. G. I (Ok, not all movies should use it, but I meant in general as it was actually getting pretty darn good!) and props got properly manufactured and it no longer looked like crap - In other words, from the mid-90's movies were getting way better, but no, we got this. The "head" is an example when C. G. I. Shouldn't be used, or at least done properly, and also they should be aware what a detached head actually would look like if it was trying to move, as they clearly failed to account for, as proof by the poor effects.

Usually I don't rate this low, but there are a few exceptions, and this is one of them. I hate movies that can't do the genre justice when the movie crew don't even make an effort to try to be both futuristic and logic at the same time.

I gave this a 4 on account of the late Rutger Hauer starring in it, who will forever be missed as one of the greatest actors in this genre and more, especially during the 80's.

Without him, this would be in the range between 1-2 in ratings.

All in all, pretty dull movie, and as many here states, it's like a western movie, but pretty uneventful for the most part. First minutes or so looks promising, but gets exponentially badder the longer into the movie you get, and the ending isn't a payoff either.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Not the best of the series, predictable and nullifies a lot at the same time

[6/10 · 12 March 2022]

I get the story, but too bad it was pretty much a total rip-off out of "Into the Spider verse", in essence.

Good action and all that, but dang. I found this sort of disappointing in the end.

While watching it you don't know what's going to happen, so you sit there and try to explore what's happening and all that, but when it's over you're kind of relieved that it is. This is apparently a prelude to the next Dr. Strange-movie, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

No, I'm not saying it was a bad movie, but it did feel a bit out-of-place, especially since you've (presumably) already seen the "Into the Spider verse".

But, what really gets me is that some of the end-results of the outcome, without revealing too much, is that it kind of shreds the previous movies (all three previous remakes) and does leave existential questions, like which version could be considered from this reality/universe/dimension/time etc...

If either didn't/doesn't exist the whole Marvel franchise is out the window, or at least most of the movies does share some connections.

What happened to the Stark inheritance? Happy's relation to Spider-man Peter Parker - That leave a lot of questions unanswered in my book.

I haven't picked up a comic book in probably almost 3 decades now, so I don't know much what happened to aunt May since then, but back then I can't recall anything happening to her other than perhaps some sinister bad guys targeting her, but with a positive outcome.

That should also count as what happens in the comic books should reflect on "our" multiverse-version of Spider-man, thus what major events happens in those should correspond with the movie. Not quite buying that outcome with aunt May's destiny.

I will watch this movie again, that I'm sure of, as well as the rest of the other Marvel movies, maybe I can puzzle together some more answers, probably more questions too.

Fortress (2021)

Had to stop watching after 45 minutes

[4/10 · 18 January 2022]

I was initially OK with the B-actors, but first I read on TheMovieDB that it had high rating (63%), so I thought that this might even be a decent one.

Boy, was I wrong...

I don't want to spoil the movie, but these guys who were technical consultants needs to find themselves new jobs, or learn a thing or two.

First off, operatives (bad guys) all dressed in black, enters through a fence, walks right onto the wide open area, alternating between sign-commands (or whatever it's called), and voice commands. Ok, uhuh, sure.

Girl getting attacked was particularly annoying. The camera shots were those of someone who'd been either drugged or the aggressor being invisible or supernatural, thus not being able to determine the location of said threat. This was neither the case. In fact, just poorly though out scene.

Really ruined it for me.

What made me turn it off was when the aggressors, apparently were pinned down on a lower plane ground by police(?) , and bystanders (via surveillance camera) suddenly blurted out "Something's wrong", and we get to see a monitor showing arrows, in two different colors; Red and green. Suddenly two or three more arrows appear, angled even, and switching back to the scene in question, we see a rifle being cocked, then fired.

The bullet(???) strikes one of the officers, but fragmented, like that of a shotgun, but very far apart. Ok, Maybe some ammo I've never seen.

But, what really ticked me off, was that (camera now showing that camera monitor), suddenly the green arrows (good guys) just vanished on the screen.

Sorry, but that just doesn't happen unless you have some very sophisticated equipment that utilizes A. I or the "good guys" are wearing beacons which would indicate that, and these beacons would also be monitoring their respective health. Simply not feasible that this would be the case. They were probably hoping that the audience would be stupid enough to ignore this.

This was a huge "Nope" for me, and I just turned it right the F off.

I can't stand crap like this when the storytelling is weak, but execution of said story is even weaker.

This gets a generous 4 of 10 - There are in fact much worse movies out there that deserves even lower ratings. Something some should bare in mind before voting.

As someone else said here, another nail in Mr. Willis's coffin of a career.

Sad. I just don't get why he can't get roles like he used to. They were top-notch, for the most part. Hollywood - Stop this nonsense with blacklisting actors. You're only making it worse for the fans as these actors need money, just like the rest of us, and if they have to take mediocre jobs to pay the bill, they let down the fans, and their salaries goes down with it, leaving them poor and unwanted. Evil circle!

Future Force (1989)

Couldn't bring myself to either finish the move nor rate more than 4

[4/10 · 6 January 2022]

I do enjoy the occasional retro futuristic Sci-fi flick, although, thanks to more recent films, it doesn't happen very often since "back in the day", they had little good ideas for what the future would actually bring.

This movie, however, is a bit of a downer, especially if you're interested in high tech stuff. I like electronics and computers, so the first thing I reacted to was that "Robotic hand". Sure, looks cool and that.

I could even buy the concept of lasers, mini-missiles and increased strength. Make sense that it would/could have. But, strong but here: When he's able to hold on to a car, without anything that would support this massive force from moving from that point, I lost all faith for the movie.

It's like that meme, somewhere in like Pakistan where you have three or four people pushing a stuck truck, trying to push it loose. Sure, makes perfect sense - Then you have this guy standing on the flatbed on the truck pushing on the chassis compartment where the driver sits, trying to assist - Anyone with a itty-bitty brain would understand that it's just not working.

This is the same thing with the robotic glove or whatever you want to call it. You need to anchor it somewhere (preferably an exoskeleton of some kind) in order to exceed the frailness of the human body, in this case being his torso, pelvis and subsequently legs, feet and finally shoes.

Stupid!

Next part, where the one of bad guys "hacks" the C. O. P. S database.

First off, the contents on that "menu" doesn't have much actual content.

Just entering a an account number, then a non-censored password (BURRO, assuming Spanish for Donkey, perhaps a reference to Mule..?) , followed by "Subject Name: Marion Simms" (seeing as how many people there are in the world, you'd think a simple first and last name would yield a large amount of possible "suspects", without any social security number or any other such identification), then entering "Crime Charged With: TREASON", "Courts Verdict: GUILTY, and finally "Sentence: DEATH".

I would never imagine it'd ever be that simple to have someone taken cared of, seeing as how you always need proof to your claims.

Oh well, moving on.

Actually, not much further. The acting is about what to expect from a B-movie, some can act, others just do what the director tells them to, at their best attempt to appease him, I guess?

You see actors, a lot of them shouldn't have even been cast to their respective roles.. As I said, I lost interest watching it, and thought I'd give a bit of a heads up here to others.

If you love/like Carradine - See it and disregard this.

If you want a good retro Sci-fi flick - Don't see this, move on!

There are a lot of goofs, strangely none have been reported. As of right now I've actually forgotten what it was, but that should also tell you a thing or two about the movie.

Injustice (2021)

Utter tripe. Why has it become a niche to turn DC characters gone bad?

[3/10 · 8 November 2021]

I occasionally enjoy watching these as I grew up with comic books, but lately it would seem someone wants to tarnish our super heroes that we grew up to love and enjoy.

I understand how one thing could lead to another, but the character depth here is questionable as it's portrayed. Why would Superman suddenly start seeing red? Understandably, loosing Louis would create hatred, despair, anger and all of that register that comes with loss and grief.

Supposedly, Kal El is a learned man, educated by the information stored by his father, mother and extensive library and repository of knowledge stored withing the crystals and should therefor be knowledgeable about psychology and all that entails, and being the man that he is, and with that knowledge of past experiences, it shouldn't have led to this cluster hump that he found himself in, spiraling out of control.

A temporary lapse in judgement, a "snap" I could understand, but not starting to overrun the planet, each time escalating his actions.

As far as the movie was, besides that, I found it moderate entertaining, and I couldn't help but to feel it was ridiculous at times with that, what's-his-name, that could shape-shift/morph almost like Green Lantern.

The way some scenes were drawn, it looked like a silly daytime cartoon for children.

Night Wing was a bit of a downer too, mixing in spiritual stuff in the story (Ok, I let that one slide as it's DC Comics and they do that sort of stuff), but what happened then, the scene where that took place in the beginning was left unexplained and just sort of happened.

Wonder Woman was surprisingly OK with Superman's judgement gone bad like a week old milk.

Now, I didn't in particular follow her in comics when I was a kid, so I was never a fan, but as she's portrayed in various movies, she would never side to that mindset like she did here. It would go against her core beliefs and upbringing.

The whole movie, in itself just felt wrong and what I keep thinking back on, is that Superman has the power to go back in time, or at least in some comics, as do The Flash, if I'm not mistaken. Nothing that had been taken into account.

Alternate realities is however on the table, but not time travel.

I'd say that's a plot-hole.

If you have a kid, don't show this to him/her. I wouldn't recommend it as it's not a great portrayal of our beloved supers, but also it does contain some elements not suitable for kids like blood and body parts.

I've seen a few of these new animated movies, and they're getting dark and gritty and seem to stray from the earlier comics. Sure, new times and all that, but they shouldn't alter their personas like they did here.

Escape from Death Block 13 (2021)

Interesting movie, not original, but almost ghost from the past revisiting

[5/10 · 8 November 2021]

I had to see this movie since I've missed the rise of Robert Bronzi.

His look is uncanny to that of the late Charles Bronson. At some angles you would easily think it is him. Almost creepy.

However, about this movie.

Hardly original concept. Guy gets in trouble, framed, goes to jail, gets a promise of reduced sentence, gets into fights and everyday prison dilemmas.

As far as the story goes, it's not that bad, in spite not being an original idea (in any way), what's particularly bad with it, is the acting, or should I say lack of it.

I do appreciate the use of non-actors as they usually shows more realistic expressions, but unfortunately some over-act, smirks and just doesn't give that feeling that they know how to act. You notice this with the most of the inmates when they're in frame. Can't help to almost focus more on their so called acting rather than the movie itself.

Choreography is also really really bad. Clearly someone haven't seen enough fight scenes (while filming, from other angles etc) to make it believable and authentic looking. You can see blows a mile away, almost in slow motion in some scenes and clearly see them missing by inches.

We can only hope that some director sees this and it's potential (Not a bad story, really, just poor writing) and do a remake with Bronzi. Maybe even make it play out during the 80-90's so that it would fit better with Bronzi's fighting style, then hire someone who can write a proper plot, re-cast a few of the inmates, and above all, direct the actors so that they look the part.

I think they could do better with CGI which is really visible at times, and also leave out some of the gore or at least not have it in frame like they did. Instant lowering of the movie expectations!

I rated this 5, but that extra star was for Bronzi and that he's a near copy of Bronzon, 4 is for the story, which I would've given otherwise.

As far as directing and thereby controlling actors, I'd rate 3, possibly 2.

Tomb Raider (2018)

Play the newer games first, then watch this movie!

[8/10 · 12 October 2021]

Hi folks.

I first saw this when it came out, and I was a bit disappointed over how tame miss Croft was.

I guess I expected it to be in the same spirit as the previous movies, but I was very mistaken and a bit annoyed and thought this was a dud.

However, I recently happened to stumble upon the newer (Around the same time as the release of this movie) games, "Tomb Raider v1 Game of the Year", followed by "Shadow of the Tomb Raider".

Really nice graphics by the way, and make sure to play it with Eyefinity too for a better experience!

Anyways, the games actually tells a story about why she's following up on her late father that inexplicably disappeared, presumed dead and sort of why she walked away from the inheritance at first.

Also why she didn't have the same fighting skills, accuracy as well as deep knowledge of archeology like the Angelina Jolie's portrayal of lady Croft that we (Well, most anyway) all know to had set the standard.

Those movies were good, but also bad at the same time, but mostly based straight off the video game which then had Lady Lara Croft as a cunning and skill-full adventure-fighter-warrior-archeologist.

This movie (but also the game, more so even!) however explains how she became this character.

Play the game, then revisit this movie and I promise you that your perspective has changed after that.

But, most importantly, disregard the first movies prior to watching this reboot!

Fast & Furious Spy Racers (2019–2021)

This is horrible on so many levels

[4/10 · 12 December 2020]

First off, it's a rip-off from the first movie, story-wise, only that instead of a Brian-character, it's Tony (I can't recall any reference to a cousin in the past installments) who gets drafted by Dom (Which looks horribly animated btw!), then (Only got as far as to Ep 2½ then I said out loud to myself: "Ok, that's it - Bye bye!", and I'm Swedish, to be kept in mind!), there's the rip-off when he suggests that there were something more than just the race, and he wanted in on it, the score...

Leading up to that point, it's filled with ridiculous action, and these are kids we're talking about. Granted, backed by the government, but no agency, in their right mind would ever give a bunch of kids a fully loaded (with tech, spy-stuff etc) trailer. Besides, that lady Nowhere one can't take serious due to her unintentional jokes, or rather comments she spouts out here and there. Had this been a cartoon made around the first movie I wouldn't thought much of it, but this crazy ass tech-overkill has got to stop!

Don't get me wrong - The movies are great, only that they're stepping up the norm for each installment, pushing the boundaries even further, which in turn makes the other movies lame by comparison. By that I mean the impossible stunts, that one in a trillion shot of that level of precision to land juuuust right (and succeed) .

Now, toss in this show, years after, and these kids are at the same level - Ridiculous! Tony couldn't even win a simple race in the beginning, and his companions - A tech-guy, not unlike Tej, but way girlie (Took a while to figure that out at the beginning!), a muscles guy apparently with the intelligence of a cannoli, and not the bronze either, that went to the girl Echo with the colored hair.

They've maxed this show out from the get-go. Don't think I'll be watching this no more. Read that season 2 was worse, so... I can imagine.

Preteens to teenagers might enjoy this show, because they don't know better, but trust me - They will.

I prefer movies and series that can keep it somewhat real, like old style James Bond movies where they had tech better than what existed at the time. To put that in perspective - Compare the latest with Brosnan where the CGI goes full blares and whistles, with the Sean Connery ones!

Same with many movies today, they up the ante all the time, needlessly too. It's important to keep at least one foot grounded i my opinion. You don't just bend the laws of physics without anything to show for it.

Project Power (2020)

Well, that's Hollywood for you...

[6/10 · 23 August 2020]

This movie did have a good premise, until they crossed over to the Hulk (2003 version) with the powers origins. At first I didn't think much of it, but in the later part of the movie it became apparent. When you see this, you'll understand where I'm going with this, had you seen that Hulk movie that is...

It did very well at the beginning, some unpredictable moves, surprising twists in logic (car scene at crossing - I'm not saying anything else, or I'll spoil it) that I didn't expect - Good one!

But at the end they blew it when the movie gave sort of a "Doh..."-moment of clarity at the big... Well, you know, the finale, showdown, last punch, bonanza etc.

The effects took upper hand and became the cheesy stuff we've seen before. They should've toned it down a little. If they're making a sequel to this, you can't expect something less. Sort of like they do with most movies today when they're stepping it up a notch for each iteration (For eg. Marvel). But, back on topic.

Expect a very promising beginning and middle, as for the ending.. Well, I think someone had hubris and was in a hurry there to get it done. It probably looked very good on paper.

All things considered it's a watchable movie. I gave it 6 out of 10. Might change it in the future when it's all taken in (and re-watched of course!) and I had a chance to reflect upon stuff.

The Dead Zone (1983)

Good movie, but some plotholes. Slight spoiler warning, but explains why also

[7/10 · 23 November 2019]

First of all, this movie does not deserve 9 or 10 out of 10 - No movie does! Secondly, this movie has a good story, but there are severe plot holes. Characters are hollow and shallow. I got the sense that this had been cut by someone with ADHD, thus lacking in patience. No real prologue to the movie, meaning no real backstory. He worked as a teacher, had a romantic interest in a fellow teacher, they got together, he decided to leave, had an accident (Which didn't look too severe even, nor realistic enough to cause that damage!), he woke up 5 years later.

Shortly after waking up, he started having premonitions about one of the nurses, some more ones, and all of the suddenly his mother dies for no reason (No premonitions about that... Hmm?).

This goes on through out the movie. The characters are undeveloped and no real thought about what happened between the events like peoples reactions, emotions and aftermath because of these events. They've just happened for some reason unexplained.

Christopher Walken however did a fine job as per usual. He's got his style of acting, and having never seen this before until now, I was amazed how different this role was against some of his previous roles (Bond-villain, psychotic villain in The Rundown, not to mention a a mellow museum clerk in The Maiden Heist).

This movie is see worthy for sure, but you're probably going to feel that you missed something while watching this. I sure did.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

What the..? How the..? I give up!

[5/10 · 3 September 2019]

First of all; The movie in itself isn't that bad as many are quick to point out. However, I don't understand what the writers are thinking. Only thing I can think of is that if there is to be a sequel to this which will correct the right now skewed timeline.

I rated this 5, and just because they left a huuuuge plot hole! Initially I was going to rate this 6, but... Meh!

What happened to Raven? Have the previous X-men movies (Story-wise; The later movies) been rendered null and void due to this timeline?

So, why didn't Jean, or Phoenix return to her corporal form? This, along with other bits and pieces from the previous (Story-wise; Later) movies conflicts with the whole.. Well, mostly everything.

Take Kurt for one. In X2 he's introduced into the team, from what the audience can tell, for the first time. Here he looks like he's a regular crew member, gone on for years as a such.

Also, Raven's whole back-story also conflicts with the first (First of the later, story-wise) as she's seen as an enemy with no connection to either Charles nor being an ex-X-men (Or X-woman - Yes, some genus crap baked into this movie! Not that there's anything wrong with it, just that it's so damn forced today and apparent!).

One of many other things that kept bugging me is the tech stuff, or at least from the previous movies that story-wise plays out in their youth: Stuff that clearly are lit by LED's, have sleek design (Which certainly wasn't simply done back in the 60's!).

There's not much authenticity in those movies. Sure they're supposed to have wicked gadgets and all that, like James Bond, but they've let the designers run amok. So much so indeed that it really looks like modern tech from today.

We, the audience, can only hope that they'll reboot the entire thing, and spend a couple of years of working up a better timeline, better developed characters (As it stands now, to make a weird comparison, it's like Windows XP developed to pieces into Windows 10 where even the most fundamental stuff have been altered and moved around so it makes no sense what so ever!), and perhaps begin with the young characters in the 60's, and work their way up to the modern time, instead of the movies we have today.

Clearly, there's been too many alterations to the whole franchise with too many directors and writers, all eager to make a mark of their own!

Fire and Ice (1983)

Interesting movie, but...

[5/10 · 2 July 2019]

I was actually intrigued over the style they used for the animations. Very realistic at some points, but some scenes were excruciating to watch as they seemed to be in slow motion. Very annoying!

I mean - How long does it take to swing an axe..? This scene was a good 6-7 seconds.

As far as the story goes... Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't see all of it at once. I have other things that needs doing, so it had to be split into two days of watching it.

The characters are somewhat lacking depth, flat and at some angles they even look slightly retarded, but mostly the entire movie is sort of get to the bad guy, get caught, break free, get caught again, break free, look like you've got arthritis for a couple of scenes, slay the bad guy then "The end" and end credits.

Nevertheless, I understand that they needed to get to the bad guy and whoop his butt, but the actual hero is not who you'd think it'd be. The thought-to-be hero is somewhat of an bumbling idiot (Sorry, but he strikes me as such!), hapless and makes strange decisions.

The ending is indeed weird, and you're sitting there wondering what happened to the (actual) hero, which is really a guy which had no particular history, nor quite explained anything of his reason of being there, you get no explanation how he evaded the crumbling ice cave (Or whatever the heck that was supposed to be), and the entire thing ends just like that.

So, I'd say these animators should've had a better script, probably more money and time too. Or, better yet; A remake perhaps would do it more justice..? Someone like James Cameron maybe?

Perhaps you wonder why I left 5 of 10 stars? Well, simple; The movie doesn't such entirely, at least not if you were to ignore the storyline, and focus on the animation, so in fairness; 3/10 for story, 7/10 for animation, and overall gets an 5/10 (Yeah, the math doesn't quite add up, so deal with it!).

I think if someone were to make a remake they should actually try actual drawings in their animations and only do touch-ups with CGI. Let's face it - CGI today, where the hell is it going to end? It's so used up it's almost getting boring.

Hand drawn animations with no motion capture (Sure did look like it in this movie) is something I really like in animated movies!

That's art!

Extinction (2018)

Surprisingly good movie, with a twist. Spoiler-alert!

[8/10 · 1 April 2019]

The movie starts like most others with an introduction to their daily lives, work, social interactions and so on. Peter, the main character is haunted by reoccurring dreams of which he can't make head or tails of.

As the movie moves on, the more the pieces of the puzzle starts to come together, and WHAM - The real twister. They're all androids, who knew!!?

I like how they pieced the movie together, and I really REALLY hope they're making a sequel to this one!

Also, just because of others criticizing those "damn kids" - Get your facts straight before ranting about the kids doing stupid decisions - Kids to that! They can't rationalize like adults can, even if they're in this case androids.

They have their programming as base line (Being synthetic children), also, as they're some + 50 years old, something has to be omitted for them to keep their minds at their apparent age.

Their environment is far different from that of normal humans where they live in an utopian world as far as we viewers can tell. An educated guess is that the majority of the people are living in a closed loop with very little change in their surrounding. They did also have their minds wiped from memories when they were re-purposed. And finally to their defense; As the human mind is without a doubt one of the most complex machine in this galaxy, how much focus can be spent on that of rationalism in case of severe stress/horror/terror/war/etc? Way too many parameters to match those of a human child which could have any diagnosis of ADD, ADHD, Downs Syndrome or any other debilitating disease/condition.

There are lots of children who really don't understand reason. Just look at YouTube! So, why can't the kids in this movie be excused?

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Not to be taken as a serious Sci-fi movie

[6/10 · 27 February 2019]

First off, I'd like to say that this movie isn't your typical Sci-fi action movie. If you have the DVD version you can actually hear the director and some of cast members mocking the movie. They didn't take this script serious.

Personally, just to jump into it, the funniest thing is when Travolta's character is trying to find out what makes humans happy. This was hilarious, the whole demeanor of this character.

Meaning he thought that being depraved of food for days in severe cold, with no possibility to make a fire, they (The escaped, or more to the point they'd been allowed to escape), they come across a rat. So, with little choice they, after some hesitation, sinks their teeth into this rat. All in order to survive. The conclusion of Travolta's character: It's their favorite food! They've also been spied upon with hidden cameras.

If you just ignore basically the whole script (Which really isn't that bad, really!), and just watch it for the comedic parts it's a good movie.

I'd say that without Travolta and Forest Whitaker as aliens, this would indeed be worthless. In my opinion they're perfect as the ever scheming, dubious plotting. black mailing aliens. So, ignore the mediocre costumes and other stuff that seems bad and focus on these two characters as kind of stupid aliens with low expectations. These clowns couldn't possibly invade a planet, could they..?

See it, laugh at it, enjoy it!

Home Alone 3 (1997)

See the movie for what it is, not how original it's not!

[6/10 · 12 December 2009]

Most people does the mistake of comparing movies against each other. Sure, I've watched them from the first, on to the next and found the first two quite good. I didn't however expect this one to be any good since that kid who played little Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) wasn't in it.

I was quite mistaken. Had this movie been made in parallel it'd been just as good as the original. That said and fully aware of the 'gags' used are not new, but in a sadistical humorous way they were pretty damn funny. Like that mechanical grass-trimmer (Not sure what they're called really, not motorized anyhow) who gave that dude a nice trim. Also that sling-shot was nice too.

I'd guess that everyone would love to have this bright a kid. It's nice to see such kids, just because they are so vivid and awake. Difficult to explain, but yeah. They're fun to talk to. OK, so this was in the script since it's a movie, but not every other kid can perform a role such as this.

Another thing also. Most people here who'we voted on this movie is probably +20 years old and, as I said, compared this with the other two movies and just because of a no-show by Macaulay Culkin, they dismissed it.

See it for what it is!

Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991)

Not that bad, really...

[6/10 · 13 March 2009]

First of all: Remember that this genre was quite popular in the beginning of the 90's, as well during the 80's of course. Many out there who're voting, and never seen this before, tend to compare this with modern movies and their film techniques and not seeing it for what it is. Not going to say masterpiece here, nor a work of art, but well above average. Actually, there's one part of this movie-series that are in some fashion a work of art, and that'd be the work they did with the animals. No you say? How do you get a friggen tiger to behave, the ferrets (Of which we won't get to see too much, except for in the beginning, as they "acted" in the first movie. That eagle, how do you train one to begin with? Let alone getting it to lay almost dormant on the ground for that period of time until Dar picks him up?

Then there's that nostalgic feeling of the 90's vs. a parallel world without modern technology. That part I like, and also am missing the 80-90's when ppl. were more friendly (Started to become worse during the 90's though) and not like today were we're screwing one another over something as trivial as monetary issues, or even worse, status. I'm not saying that y2k is when it all started or anything, 'cos it did way before that, I'd say like the 70's or something like that, probably before that, but what I'm saying is that it has escalated enormously since technology grew into what it is today when it's easier to hide behind a computer instead of socialize as we did 'back then'.

With this I want to point out that "thanks" to science we've become increasingly obsessed about, or should I write picky about how well a movie is made, what funding it had, how good the directors (status) are etc. This is what passes for good movies nowadays. Yeah, sure, a lot of them ARE good, but that's most likely because they (Companies behind them) were well funded and all of that ballet. Back in the old days the filming-crews were experimenting with new cameras, lenses, and generally improvised whenever something difficult to shoot came up. They didn't have the same kind of funding either, as the the investors weren't aware whether it'd be a success or not. And by saying that, they also didn't have that much insight into the technical stuff (A.k.a. - This is how the movie will turn out to become!).

It bothers me that ppl. are ignorant of such things, as well as clanking down on actors ("Bad" movies in general), when it's really the (casting-) directors fault, or just a bad written script. It's rarely ppl. take a movie for what it is and how much heart has been put into it.

This movie I think they mostly did for fun, and because we ppl. always have it in for cultural hick-ups and also we like it when disasters happen and all that jazz.

I gave this 6 out of 10 just because it's fun, retro, and I like Mark Singer (Mostly from V-series really) as an actor.

xXx: State of the Union (2005)

xXx was good, this was awful

[5/10 · 14 June 2005]

I'm not the one usually clanking down on movies, but I knew this was bad news, when I heard one of the extraz in the behind talked about xXx, meaning Xander Cage, died in a mission in Bora-Bora. I don't know if that's the directors, or any other of the film- crews way of getting even with Vin Diesel for canceling his starring on this movie. But it sure leveled the movies credentials from say 10 smack down to 2 on a scale.

Set aside from the 'small' deviations (The hyped up, black style-ish way with rap-ish music, talk & walk) from the first movie, style and actors performances (Note, Cube & Vin are totally different so I'm not talking about the actual acting- skills, but their way of, hell, I guess it would be after all, classed as acting. Their acting- style to say the least). The utmost first thing i reacted on was the opening scene where they blow several holes in the ground. Using some sort of self- drilling explosives, just something that belongs in a real Sci- Fi flick. That just threw me off a bit.

One other thing, when xXx2 (Cube) takes a little jump with the (swamp?)boat..? Come the *beep* on..!!? Who the hell could do a jump with that precision, without calculating the jump for at least a month..? Just plain stupid. Then there are the final scene, two things; First when he jams the car up on the rail, wobbling from one side to the other..?

Even his ancestors would have turn into scrap metal just being family with this guy. Secondly, blasting the crap out of the rear section, tail, call it what you will, smacking the front of the car inside what's left of the rear end of the train, climbing onto, and inside the train, the millisecond after he jumps of the car, it starts playing stray ping- pong ball, doing more back-flips then a dolphin on drugs.

He also fights like a sissy (many openings for a-smack-down-to-the-bones- kinda punch. Sadly, this happens in a lot of movies)

Don't get me wrong, this comment is quite harsh, to many it probably seems like I don't know what I'm talking about, some do. Hey, that's life

Lastly, I want to point out that this movie is quite entertaining although I just pinned it down far down 'critic's lane' I gave it 3 out of 10. There are far more worthless movies, to name one: The Mangler 2.0 (Yeah, I know, different genre, but still, that's a BAD movie!)

See this movie, see what I'm talking about. Well worth the price in the theaters (Not that I paid any, but but..)

Oh, another thing, I don't know if it was a money- issue, but this one's a bit shorter, it's only 101 minutes long, whilst the first movie was 124 minutes (132 for Directors Cut).

If they'd extended the whole plot to about the same length, it probably would have given a better impression. Doing the aftermath, this movie was a bit too intense.

But but, anyway, this is my a bit of my perspective of this movie. Make up your own...

A little, I don't intend to rack down on colored ppl. If you must know, I'm 50/50 myself.

Peace out.