Change Your Image
Soulnd
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Upgrade (2018)
Upgrade meets the requirements and exceeds the expectations! A well written and executed story makes all the difference.
Wow. I don't usually write reviews but when I do... (Hope it doesn't get too long)
Friday night, feeling sleepy, wanted to watch something that would eventually keep me awake. I went through my watchlist and Upgrade got my attention. The picture is written and directed by Leigh Whannell who is most known for starting the whole Saw series 15 years ago. I have a weak spot for people that put their minds and ideas on paper and then go into the director's chair and orchestrate the whole thing.
I was completely awake and on my toes from the first few minutes. The movie is engaging, thrilling, thought provoking and entertaining. Now just to make it clear - I'm not a fan of the big budget Avengers/Marvel Universe/Fast & Furious etc. no brain/full action flicks. Even though in its core Upgrade is an action/revenge story it is also a great sci-fi psychological thriller. There are similarities with Black Mirror, Ex Machina, 2001, Moon, The Matrix, The Terminator and the rest of the films in the man vs. machine universe and Upgrade manages to impress.
Even with such a low budget a well written and executed story makes all the difference. Nothing too original but it beats the majority of the nonsense that is being made nowadays. I just love how dark and moody the whole trip is. There is not much that the actors can do in terms of acting in order to impress the viewer, but it may have been way, way worse so good job there. I must mention the soundtrack! I LOVE IT! Great job Jed Palmer, thank you. (currently playing in the background while I'm writing this) In the technical aspect I think that the scenes were very well shot, the effects and the editing were also on point. There is no space for much character development here, you don't need no backstory or anything. I think the movie does a great job at what it's trying to be and for what it's worth I'm giving it a 10/10.
Upgrade meet the requirements and exceeds the expectations!
Eskiya (1996)
Expected something much more interesting and original. At the end whole movie felt like a waste of time...
I'll start with one word - cliché. I want to apologize to all the turkish users who love the film as it probably holds a special place in the Turkish cinema history but... the movie is bad. I was wondering for a few years if I should see it and I finally did last night. I expected some hidden indie gem but what I saw was quite the opposite (keep in mind that this was made in 1996, not 1946). The whole story behind the film is way too simple (in a bad way). Annoying lack of realism at places, the acting is awful, some of the scenes are so absurd they are not even funny (the scene with the shooting or the drug dealing or the chasing or the running after women and willing to have sex)...
The film is touching upon subjects as coming out of prison after a long time and discovering that many things have changed, young vs old, gangster life, love, revenge, age, death... and that's fine. But the characters were so thin. There is nothing new that you see or learn for the whole 2 hours. I felt some sympathy for Baran in the beginning but that was it. Cumali and his 'friends' are way too stupid and not realistic. (Wow that moment when he got some mad money to get the guy out of prison, WTF...)
The only good thing in my opinion was the camera work in a few places. (The shot that goes through all 4 floors of the hotel seeing what happens in the different rooms to some of the characters)
I'm giving this a 4/10 and I don't think I'll ever see it again after years and be like "Ah I didn't understand that when I watched it years ago, it's so much better now". This film does not deserve it's high rating.
Cheers,
Soulnd