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Reviews
Voyagers (2021)
Two words - DUMB & INSULTING
Just some quick background for you all, in that I usually try not to beat up on movies despite the fact they may not meet my expectations (as that would entail probably sitting here on this site 24/7 writing about the myriad of dozens up on dozens of disappointing efforts over the years)
I'm a HUGE sci-fi fan and of course also love other genres as well, just to give you some background.
To that end, I recently checked this film out, as it seemed like an interesting premise. And frankly, it was. The first half of the movie was well done and fairly realistic. Unfortunately (and here is where we have a bit of a spoiler alert), once the antagonist (and his soon to be brain-dead sheep followers) was fully infused with hyper-testosterone by not taking the specific protocol of medication required for all of the crew members, the film went straight into the garbage bin for me.
I mean, did the director really think that teenagers are so completely stupid that they would believe an 'alien' was involved in the death of the adult/supervising character (Colin Farrell) especially after they saw for themselves the actual video of him (the aforementioned antagonist) showing that he was the one who in fact killed the Farrell character?
I just shook my head as things continued to spiral out of control into complete nonsense (and no, as some have alluded to, this was NO Lord of the Flies meets Space - Lord of the Flies was an excellent character study and a fine novel but this film was a pathetic and disgraceful attempt to try and seemingly mimic some of the dynamics of said novel and it failed miserably to do so)
It's really too bad, as I indicated, the premise was interesting and the first half was quite good. Yet the last part of the film was a hot-mess of teen-angst meets out of control hormone self-indulgence.
All I have to say is, STAY AWAY from this piece of ludicrous garbage and check out so many other very fine sci-fi/space flicks that are out there - contact me if you would like a list.
Cheers.
Borealis (2013)
Great flick...until producition apparently ran out of $$$.
What a complete waste and how incredibly despicable that the 90 minutes of this film was very good, gritty, good action, interesting plot, good acting, only to have it essentially cut off at the 90 minute mark in a blink of an eye, with ZERO questions/plot clarifications or even any sort of subtle possible resolutions inferred or involved (the only thing I can think of is that there is a part 2 out there somewhere or in the works?)
Just so disgusted with how the directors/company thought they could get away with this. This was at least a solid 7 in my my mind, but because the ending was so completely abrupt and left the viewer with absolutely NOTHING in terms of any answers as concerns every and any single plot item, I feel even a four is being generous.
Truly sad, as this could have been phenomenal and a high end sci-fi/action/thriller but instead it looks like the production company spent too much money on those useless and pointless high-end shots of blimps circling the compound instead of resolving or furthering the plot to at least some sort of reasonable ending. Man, I am so extremely disappointed and I GUARANTEE you will be too.
Could have/should have been great. Instead, it was merely a tease and ended up being half a film.
SMH
Point of No Return (1993)
I lasted approximately 15 minutes....OUTRAGEOUSLY RIDICULOUS
I love the premise of this flick (and heard it was based on the very fine French (?) movie 'Nikita' which I did in fact see and enjoyed.
However, that movie, unlike this one, actually had some credibility and an anti-hero in the lead that was fairly likeable.
In this one, right from the start, I couldn't stand Fonda's character (or her acting for that matter).
However, what really did it for me (i.e. made me beyond disgusted and turn off the film) was when she was being 'rehabilitated' - the scene where it was her first time learning martial arts.
When the instructor asks her to punch him, egging her on to do it. Of course she doesn't do anything, so at that point the instructor gives up and looks away mumbling something to the other students about her being pathetic (I'm paraphrasing her, so bear with me). And of course at that very point, where he has his head turned slightly, she slugs him in the face and knocks him down.
Just a huge insult to any movie audience to think that a high level assasin-esque martial arts trainer would not have seen the punch coming or would have let down his guard to such an extent as to allow this scrawny kid to punch (and knock him down).
I confess I never thought I'd be so outraged at this debacle and that the director would actually think ANY audience would buy into this scene. Absolutely 110% ridiculous nonsense.
So there you go, I don't know how the rest of the movie goes (maybe some how it redeems itself in the end); however, the absolute unlikeability of Fonda as the main character along with the absurdity of that one scene was just too much for me to continue watching.
I've seen a gazillion movies and this particular scene would be fine if the movie was a spoof or comedy or what have you. But to think they actually intended it to be serious was, as indicated, a huge insult to the intelligence of ANYONE.
The Mason Brothers (2020)
Brutal, Just Brutal (and not in a good way)
From some of the other reviews I was indeed expecting a bit of a 'Reservoir Dog"-ish type of dynamic. And although at the very basic level this film does have a somewhat similar plot line, the acting, execution, characters, and in particularly the ending, are absolutely horrid.
I usually don't go by the really negative reviews on here where people give an extremely low rating (i.e 1 or 2) but this movie absolutely deserves it.
Not too much else to say other than stay AWAY from this piece of garbage. There are an infinite amount of other similar types of movies that are also infinitely better.
Smetto quando voglio (2014)
Fantastic film - Must See!
I'll just keep this to a fairly brief synopsis and let you know that the film pretty much has it all. Extremely funny/likeable characters, excellent plot/story-line, a lot of dark and light humour, just enough violence to make things realistic, all mixed together into an extremely enjoyable couple of hours. I didn't want the film to end, to tell you the truth.
What a concept - a bunch of ex-University professors i.e. intellectual nerds - stumble upon a way to make money by inventing a new drug molecule that is not on the illegal list in Italy. Through their combined biological/historical/mathematical knowledge, they happen to make one of the most sought after 'smart drugs' on the market. But of course things get very complicated and go south very quickly.
I'll leave it at that, but you will absolutely love the ride. Again, a brilliant effort and one of the best movies I've seen in a while.
Virtual Revolution (2016)
Excellent Sci Fi Gem
I can't believe there are actually people on here who gave extremely low ratings to this fantastic flick. It just shows you not to trust many of the reviewers that come on this web-site. I had to make an account just now to state my disappointment and let everyone know that there are many movies which I probably would not have enjoyed had I listened to some of these (as someone else put it on here) simpletons who can't appreciate a quality piece of entertainment.
I was extremely impressed by the concept, the cinematography, the story-line, and the effects, given that this was supposedly a very low budget effort.
I urge anyone that enjoys science fiction/dystopian type of films, that it is a must-see flick. For those that gave it such low ratings, you are either complete movie snobs or have zero taste.
So glad that I trusted my judgement and not the ridiculous 4.9 rating. Complete B.S.