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Here is how my rating system works:
1: Oh, *beep*!
2: Awful
3: Painful to watch
4: Just plain bad
5: Not good, not bad
6: Good
7: Very good
8: Excellent
9: Great movie
10: Unmatched masterpiece (for a fistful of titles)
Sometimes I add halves to give the criteria more flexibility.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Prehistoric Planet (2022)
The most astonishingly realistic portrayal of Mesozoic fauna ever put on film to date. A triumph of art and science.
#PrehistoricPlanet is, by far, the most astonishingly realistic portrayal of Mesozoic fauna ever put on film to date. A real game-changer, just like the original Jurassic Park was.
Episode 1: Simply mesmerizing! I found myself fully immersed to the point that I forgot that I was watching CGI creatures. I felt as if a documentary crew went back in time and captured the actual living, breathing animals in all their glory. I noticed two smart moves in that first episode in particular. The opening sequence echoes Planet Earth II's opening sequence, with the sloth swimming his way to answer a distant mating call. Both relied on the unexpected behavior of an animal that has a deep-rooted misconception in people's minds. Second, it was a well-calculated move to make the T. Rex, the most fearsome predator the planet has ever seen, prey in its debut. As if the filmmakers were declaring aloud from the beginning: "Forget about your stereotypical movie monster; this here is the real deal."
Episode 2: Oh boy, so many thoughts to organize! Superb! Just superb! The sole fact that it relied more on dinosaurs than other cretaceous fauna made it a step forward from the first. The Dreadnoughtus segment was jaw-dropping, the Mononycus sequence melted my heart, and other parts almost brought tears to my eyes. The guts to cut back and forth from a living lizard to CGI dinosaurs, under the harshest sunlight, without the slightest break of suspension of disbelief, is a great testament to the ingenuity of this work. These guys have nothing to fear or shy away from. Once more, what I was watching was something real, something I could feel and touch. And again, choosing to show the threat of great predators like Tarbosaurus without showing them in monstrous action was a great move that emphasizes the show's message: These are mere animals. Majestic, Yet mere animals. And most of the time do what mere animals do.
The show continues to rock hard in Episode 3. This one is beautifully shot and features some of the big stars of the dinosaur world. The only complaint I had is that we didn't see Velociraptors using the sickle claw to pin down prey to the ground. It would've been a great chance to emphasize the claw's actual purpose and further debunk its previous mainstream view as a disemboweling weapon. The T. Rex segment was stunning, Yet, I would have loved to see the male hunt down the Triceratops instead of having it happen off-screen. They already showed the gentle side of the tyrant king, and I was hungry to see it in full force.
Episode 4: Almost there. This one was the best among the five. Also, it's the only one that relies solely on dinosaurs and not other cretaceous fauna. There are really cool surprises here regarding behavior and hunting strategies. Some are indeed speculative, yet very interesting.
The show ends on a high note with Episode 5, leaving you hungry for more. What a journey! Prehistoric Planet has spoiled us rotten, and now any upcoming similar show will have to bend its neck up high to look at it before even trying. This show has come to stay for a long time. And despite the fact that it is lacking in some parts, narratively speaking, slow-paced in others to the point you might feel bored, and that it focuses more on species of the same dinosaur groups than needed instead of showing members of other groups (for instance, Pachycephalosaurus), Still, this show is a triumph of art and science overall what made before. It's a masterpiece unlike anything the world has ever seen before.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Far from perfect, but surprisingly good, and includes some of the most beautiful scenes in the franchise.
So, the first thoughts.
A huge improvement over the corny Jurassic World. Far from perfect, but surprisingly good, and it includes some of the most beautiful scenes in the whole franchise. There are moments brought real tears to my eyes, and that has never happened to me before in a JP movie.
The animatronics are back, and they are superb. They used them carefully and wisely to tell the story. T. rex is awesome. She is the most magnificent creature in the movie, and she got some really excellent appearances, in which she became a menace again.
The movie starts with a great opening sequence, and it builds up tension slowly, then all of a sudden it turns into a non-stop roller coaster. The acting is well held this time, and there is little to no cheesiness at all.
The nods to the first two films are subtle but well played. The movie is brimful of classic JP set-pieces and atmosphere. Bayona nailed it with set-pieces.
As for the cons, the movie has got too loud sometimes, and this made me feel that I need a break. It also dragged for about ten minutes in its third act; these were the main two things that bothered me the most.
All in all, it was worth waiting. Not great, but good, and really fun. It's suspenseful, scary, heartbreaking, wonderfully filmed, and visually resplendent. There are three scenes here any fan can consider them some of his favorite scenes in the franchise.
Mister Bayona, after careful consideration, I've decided to endorse your park.
Long live Jurassic Park.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
A mishmash of extravagant themes, flashy tone, and some top notch set pieces
Watching the new version of Kong yesterday felt like riding a crazy over-the-top roller coaster without fastening seat belts, and it took me some time to recover from the dizziness.
The movie is soaked in style, and very entertaining; it's not what you're expecting from a prototypical blockbuster creature feature, but instead, it's a mishmash of extravagant themes, flashy tone, and some top-notch set pieces.
What cheered me the most was how they handled the coloration and cinematography. All those irrational close-ups of Richard Nixon's crazily-moving head doll, the reflection of some massive explosion on a pair of shiny sunglasses resting on a soldier's smiling face, the brief shot of the clapping monkey, the rough cuts, the surprises, and the overall surreal tone. Some may see this as an absurdity, but not me. Tastes vary.
This movie intended to be a pure action spectacle, take it for what it is.
Jurassic World (2015)
The Park Is Awesome, Yet...
It was cool and fun to watch Jurassic World, yet it didn't deliver what I was expecting. I don't want to jump to hasty conclusions, the movie was good, above good, and it has some mesmerizing very well-made sequences and amazing action, but it lacked something... a spirit maybe.
Yes, its very heavy on the nostalgia, and yes there are moments that will bring tears to your eyes if you are a die-hard fan, also it's full of Easter eggs, but the awe and wonder were not enough. Some said that Jurassic World is the best sequel since the original, maybe it tops "The Lost world" at some parts, but The Lost World has more strength points over it. If you are expecting it to be more then a generic creature film, I think then it is not the one for you.
I actually don't know how to feel, and the funny thing is that all the issues I worried about, turned out to be the best stuff in the movie. The I. rex, the semi-friendly raptors, the Apatasaurus head. They even threw a line that explains the scientific inaccuracies in the dinosaurs, now everything is acceptable within the universe. On the other hand, the story had its corny parts, and It lacked depth, there wasn't any kind of scientific debate as to the first 2 movies, nothing at all.
The CGI was beyond awesome, settle down all your fears, It's perfect, and works very well on the big screen. Only a couple of moments you may feel that it's a little off. The T. rex, oddly and unfortunately, she was the least impressive CGI in the movie, along with the Ankylosaurus.
The animatronic shot was brilliant, I wonder why they didn't use more animatronics, as from what I've seen they seem to have improved vastly over the years. There were many close-ups here, especially for the Raptors, that animatronics would have worked perfectly for, but they didn't go with that option.
It will take more than one viewing to really see everything in this imagined little world they have created. The park is open, and yes, the park is awesome, but I think it will take some consideration to fully endorse it.
Maybe the long wait raised my expectations up to the sky, maybe this is why I'm a little disappointed... but the one thing I'm sure of, It's that Jurassic World doesn't get anywhere near to the level of Spielberg's original... long live Jurassic Park.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
A work of art that can't be matched
Why am I writing this now? I don't really know for sure, but I just remembered how much I love this movie.
In my opinion, Terminator 2 is one of the very few perfect movies in the history of cinema. Of course, this could be debatable, but of all the films I've watched since I was born, this is one of five or six movies in which I haven't been able to find the slightest flaw. It gets a golden ten out of ten. Bright, solid, and massive.
So, I could go on with a panegyric, but I'll try to be short and accurate:
1- The direction is just perfect. Every shot is marvelous, every camera movement is breathtaking. There is absolutely nothing you could add or subtract. Touch it and you spoil it, seriously.
2- The script is a work of art, the story is mesmerizing, well-constructed, well-developed from the first movie, which was an incredible hit too, and it still has its own creations as well, and full of unpredictable twists. I don't know about you, but this take on the post-human era was unbelievably frightening. The idea of a vast army of machines taking over the world after sending off warheads to every major city is dark enough. Its power and effectiveness are yet, 23 years later, not to be matched.
3- The atmosphere is genius. Gothic, cold, and sometimes idyllic. The use of camera angles with editing techniques and the score is beyond description, and the use of sound effects is as thrilling as it gets. The result is pure magic.
4- The visual effects are the best possible for 1991, and it holds today as good as it did 23 years ago. Here you'll witness the perfect marriage between CGI, makeup, and animatronics. Stan Winston with his team and the magicians of ILM took the industry of cinema to the 21 century with ultimate success.
5- The acting is splendid. Arnold in the only role that suits him, as the protective machine T-800. Linda Hamilton as the tough woman & caring mother is more than a revelation. Robert Patrick playing the shape-shifting T-1000 gives me the creeps.
6- The score. Brad Fiedel's work matches the images so perfectly as if it is bleeding from them. It is, and will always be, the best soundtrack for a cold, hostile, post-human futuristic atmosphere in sci-fi flick ever.
7- A very good sign of a movie that has gone down in history is the amount of collectively well-remembered scenes. Well, T2 has so many that I won't go into it.
8- So, what more? I urge all cinema fans and directors to watch this movie a zillion times as I've already done, and take notes all along. But not in order to rip-off from it as many others have done, but to learn, learn, learn, learn and learn how a movie should be done. CITIZEN KANE? You must be joking.