badado Reviews

Dune (2021)

Yaaawn!

[5/10 · 4 October 2021]

I don't remember the last time I was so bored watching an epic movie of this size. I am really surprised to see most of the reviews with a 9+ rating. Can't believe it. From a 100+M dollars budget movie I expected more solid acting and story. Dune goes on par with "Arrival": but this time, instead of falling asleep and leaving theater probably 30 before the ending, I endured until the end credits.

Cinematography and Score are the only components that deserve some credit. The rest is just forgettable over-hyped dialogue and soulless characters. Never again. Ps. Can somebody tell me why blockbusters these days need to have a 140 min+ run??? 120 is well enough, unless behind the camera there is James Cameron.

Arrival (II) (2016)

Presumptuous and overrated

[4/10 · 23 January 2017]

I went to see "Arrival" after I read some positive reviews and I was completely disappointed when the credits started to roll. The direction is average and the story is dull. It was really difficult not to fall asleep in the movie theater. The director is presumptuously assuming that the audience will be sucked in to his movie: the result is an inconsistent film, with zero suspense nor anything interesting to say. So what does the message have to say? That languages and the communication between from different nations and cultures will save us from wars and unify us?

Completely overrated; I was expecting more from the director of the powerful Incendies and Prisoners. Will I ever watch it again? Surely not.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

A movie that fails to deliver

[5/10 · 30 March 2016]

Amid movie reboots and reunions, year 2016 starts as the most saturated superhero year.

Originality is gone and, apart for a few superb exceptions (Deadpool), the genre is falling apart.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is part of this fall. The movie starts, again, with the same scene (the killing of Bruce Wayne parents), that we saw dozens of times. We find ourselves surrounded by the same situations, action and evil monsters (and somebody tell me why the bad guy should always look like an Orc took out from the Lords of the Ring?), so why show them again?. Ben Affleck (his best superhero depiction was in Daredevil, a movie hundred times more fun than this one) acts with a handbrake, Henry Cavill is a "sleep man walking", Jeremy Irons is underused and Jesse Eisenberg looks like an evil version of Mark Zuckerberg from The Social Network. BvS, in my opinion, is an unoriginal, dull movie, that will be fast forgotten after you leave the movie theater.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

A Sci-Fi movie with a retro outfit

[5/10 · 16 December 2015]

Star Wars TFA is first of all a tribute to the original trilogy. Everything in this movie has a "retro" touch. The SFX (perfectly integrated and never too invasive), the characters (like the ones taken from a comic book), the action (that again mirrors the old trilogy). There is nothing innovative about TFA, but the trip is certainly worth the price of the ticket (and J J Abrams is certainly giving justice to the saga). Disney succeeded in assembling an event, before the movie itself. The problem is that the promoters grossly over-hyped the movie. Moreover all box office expectation discussions are just annoying. Star Wars TFA will probably brake some box office records, but is not memorable like, for instance, Avatar. James Cameron's movie set some new standards and people came back to the teathers for more. I do not think I will go back to see Star Wars anytime soon as there is not enough magic around it. I rate it 7 stars out of 10. Re: A Sci-Fi with a "retro" outfit

The Visit (I) (2015)

A comeback to form for Shymalan

[7/10 · 16 December 2015]

The Visit is a genuine surprise. It marks a return to form for director M.Night Shyamalan after his last (moderate) big budget movies.

His new feature looks like his first films, thanks to a minimalist touch and a perfect command of the story, camera and characters.

In some moments the location reminds the one seen in The Village, with the woods surrounding the main setting.

The story starts slowly but it is immediately engaging, and drags the viewer in a claustrophobic setting of an isolated grandparents farm.

And, like in previous Shyamalan classics, the climax is both surprising and shocking.

Aliens (1986)

SF movie masterpiece

[9/10 · 10 December 2015]

I was 11 when this movie came out, but probably 13 when I first saw it on VHS. I watched Aliens at least 10 times; can't get tired of it. Fast paced action, excellent story telling, accurate writing of characters and top notch SFX! Once the movie starts you are totally sucked in the story and feel part of the rescue team. You care about each character and you are worrying about what is going to happen next. Like somebody else already said, Aliens is one the rarest cases of a sequel surpassing the original. This is probably James Cameron best movie and among the 10 SciFi ever made! My only regret is not having the opportunity to see it in the movie theaters when it was released.

My Internship in Canada (2015)

Solid acting but overall boring

[6/10 · 11 August 2015]

I saw "Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre" on August 10th at the Locarno Film Festival. Part of the cast, including director Philippe Falardeau, introduced the world premiere of the movie and joked with the audience (almost 5'000 people fitting the stunning setting of Piazza Grande: the outdoor cinema of the festival). I must say that the acting was very good, with solid performances by Patrick Huard, Suzanne Clément and Irdens Exantus. Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre played like a political comedy, sometimes quite funny, but overall boring. I fell asleep a couple of times during the screening (not an easy task, when you are sitting in front of a giant screen of 85x45 feet, filled with loud surround sound.

American Sniper (2014)

Average war movie.

[6/10 · 19 January 2015]

I really like Clint Eastwood movies and Mystic River is among my favorite ones.

American Sniper is the story of an American sniper in Middle East war over several years. The movie is beautifully shot, but I really did not connect with the main character, nor the other ones. I prefed way better Black Hawk Dawn (Ridley Scott). What I really do not get is the patriotic ending, with real footage of his funeral parade.

Why the sniper is considered a hero (ok he saved other soldier's lives) if he killed so many people?

If you want to see a movie about war (not war movies) I suggest:

• Full Metal Jacket - The Thin Red Line

Planet Terror (2007)

Lots of gore, some laughs but no story

[5/10 · 6 August 2007]

I had the chance to see the European premiere of the long version of the fragment "Planet Terror" at the Locarno International Film Fest. This was certainly an amazing experience since it was played on the unique giant screen of the Piazza Grande with more than 5,000 people watching. Also I was lucky to have Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan sat in front of me, after they introduced the film to the audience. Apparently Rodriguez was really excited to see his creature on that particular screen, reminiscent of the mytical US Drive-Ins. During the movie I catched him taping with his D-camera the audience and also some of the best scenes of his movie (like the final clash with Rose and her leg-machinegun).

I must admit that this was a stunning experience.

Audience was cheering as the movie appeared on the giant screen full with scratches and dusty sound. After the "Machete" trailer featuring Danny Trejo, "Planet Terror" started to rumble.

I quite enjoyed the movie, though I found it sometimes repetitive and lacking of decent acting. Of course this is not a movie running for an Oscar but a tribute to Grindhouse movies of the '70 so we can forgive him that issues.

"Planet terror" doesn't add anything to the genre but it is certainly one of the best horror movies of 2007. Ultra-gore and ultra-splatter. Not to be missed by genre fans.

Ado

Vexille (2007)

technically stunning, but lacks of story

[5/10 · 3 August 2007]

On the giant screen of the Locarno Film Festival open air cinema Vexille was an amazing experience. Visually is stunning but doesn't escape the "yaawn effect". The story is not so original but features interesting references to titles as Escape from N.Y.; Dune; Terminator; The Ghost in the Shell and many others. The score also is powerful and reminiscent of the sci-fi movies of the '80. Vexille is sometimes boring throughout, but the action scenes (in particularly the chase scenes) are really impressive and original. This is a movie you need to see in a digitally equipped movie theater to experience it's full impact.

Don't miss the DVD when it will be released!

Transformers (2007)

I am starting to like Michael Bay

[7/10 · 30 June 2007]

I watched Transformer yesterday (I am Swiss Italian and the movie opened here as world-premiere in Australia and Italy on Thursday, June 28th).

The movie totally blew me away from the beginning to the end. There wasn't a moment where I felt bored (and hey, that's not easy for a 144' movie!). First of all I can easily say Transformers in one of the best movie of Michael Bay (among them I put The Rock, Bad Boys 2 and The Island).

Not only action scenes are stunning but Bay also shows he can add first-rate humor to more quiet moments and dialogue sequences.

You'll never look to a car or a truck the same way you did before after watching Transformers.

Transformers will be a cult movie, that's for sure.

My best scene? There is one moment in the movie which glorificate Cinema and made me feel exalted: toward the end, during the city battle, when one Autobot jumps in slow-motion over a screaming woman to avoid collision with some guided missiles: you can also hear great background music of Steve Jablonsky. That was awesome!!

I am not a kid anymore but this movie really makes me feel happy and gratified. Ado

Irreversible (2002)

"Memento" meets "Straw Dogs"

[7/10 · 30 May 2002]

Gaspar Noé delivers a movie that deeply get inside you and affects the mind and the body... As soon as the first "strong" sequence comes to the screen you'll notice at which level the director's vision is so realistic. Some scenes seem like a snuff movie. I don't understand why people who are so scared and emotionally touched by the movie are giving bad reviews; the movie is not a masterpiece but it really reach its goal: nobody walks outside the movie theater like before.

Irreversible is dark & dirty like Hell... it could be a piece of normal life: the violence we watch on tv sometimes is worse and more scary. It remembers me when "John Carpenter's The Thing" opened in 1982: critics were talking bad about the movie because its realistic and scary effects. What happened 20 years later? It's a classic!

I would rate the movie: 6 stars out of 10