bradersl7 Reviews

Sweet Girl (2021)

Just another basic Netflix addition

[4/10 · 8 September 2021]

Honestly didn't expect too much from this but when Netflix said "it's a thriller film like "Taken". Then I was like ahh I'll give it a go!

It started off quickly with Momoa jumping off the roof of a stadium and it essentially goes back in time to the death off Amanda (Momoa's Wife) and a threat going out to the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. This is how all amazing films atart! Of course it then comes up with "6 months later" (one of my pet peeves for films, stop telling me about it and let me work it out) and Momoa has to meet a journalist who thinks he can bring down the pharmaceutical company, he then gets killed on the train by a hitman and Momoa fights the hitman who ends up stabbing Momoa, his daughter (Rachel) also gets thrown around like a rag doll. Even though there are probably cameras on the trains and stations and eye witnesses the hitman is never caught?

Then another "2 years later" comes up. Yay! Momoa who recovers from hit stab wound then attends an event and ends up killing the CEO and his bodyguard (with an non-silenced gun and no one hears, like at all?). Anyway Momoa and his Rachel then go on the run and 2 other hitmen find them both straight away even though it was "90 miles away" and Momoa then kills both of them as well?!

Momoa and Rachel are also after another guy from the same pharmaceutical company and the original hitman (from the train) ends up killing him because he is protecting his boss (a senator).

Both Momoa and Rachel then travel back to go and get the senator. This is when the scene on the stadium happens and it turns out that Momoa died when he got stabbed on the train and it has been Rachel who has been doing all the killing and hunting people etc. That's right a 18 killed 2 trained hitmen 1 trained bodyguard and a CEO, she jumped off the roof of the stadium and landed in the river below where she was taken into an ambulance and outmuscled an FBI agent 2 paramedics and crashed the ambulance where she then just walked out?

Rachel then appears at the senators rally and then inside her office and later kills the original hitman (from the train). Gets a recording of the senator saying that she took bribes and ordered hits on people and sends it to the FBI and Rachel then gets on a plane to enjoy her life.

Either the FBI, Police and all authorities are just terrible at their jobs or she is secretly a spy that is just awesome at killing and covert missions. It's just so hard to believe that it's either and it's just poor writing. It's just not a good film like at all, it's 2 hours long and I have no idea where those 2 hours were, they tried to add a twist in there to make it interesting but it just made it even more stupid.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

WB should of split this into 2

[8/10 · 22 March 2021]

I'm never really one to read up on films or TV shows apart from reviews, I like sitting there watching them and forming my own opinion of them. I honestly never watch trailers either, don't want to get myself hyped up for films for them to be awful *cough latest Star Wars trilogy and Wonder Women 1984 cough*. I have watched the animated Justice league as a kid and as an adult and have loved it!

The film Justice League was terrible, too rushed, no character development and too many obvious interference from the studio. I wanted to watch Zack Snyder's cut because I have heard great things and read amazing reviews.

It is a long film for sure but there wasn't one moment when I lost focus or interest, every single character you get attached to, it is well written and well directed. The CGI however could of been better in places I thought. Overall I sat there for almost 4 hours and enjoyed myself, WB really should of let Snyder release this in 2 parts (because of the length). Although the first 2 hours wouldn't of been that exciting on the action, apart from the fight in the tunnel. Snyder has a clear plan of how he wants to proceed with the DC universe and WB really need to let him do that, the fans enjoy these types films when they are thought out and not just pumped out because DC and WB are playing catch-up to Marvel and Disney.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

Exciting start

[8/10 · 21 March 2021]

To start off with, this is way too early to give a review about the whole season, it's been ONE episode. I know that but I wanted to give my view.

People are saying it's thrilling and filled with action but there was about 4/5 minutes of action in the whole episode? The first action sequence was exciting but the pace of the scene was way too quick, it was getting chopped and change of angles constantly when they are fighting on the plane, it is one of my most hated things in TV shows and films. Why do you need to cut one scene in to 6 different frames?

The rest of the episode was learning more about Falcons family (his sister and 2 nephews) and how they are trying to get by after "the blip", personally I always find it interesting to see how Marvel tries to humanise these superheroes and I think they have done a good job especially with Falcon. Falcon also handed Captain America's shield over to the Government and Falcon is essentially trying to find his own path without the Cap there to guide him and I believe he is trying to live up to him.

Winter soldier (Bucky) is trying to find his purpose throughout this episode by speaking to a therapist and going on a date. There was no new action from Bucky as such, only a scene about one of the assassinations he did when he was under control from Hydra.

Overall, it was an interesting episode, not loads of action but enough to get by and enjoy it. It's clear to see that Marvel have laid out a map for this show with enemies already established and bringing them back for spin off shows like this. I am excited by what comes next but don't get your hopes up!

The Devil All the Time (2020)

Not everyone's cup of tea

[8/10 · 25 September 2020]

This is a movie that demands your attention, it has around 5 different sub plots which all join together by the end of the film. With the narration by the author, Donald Ray Pollock, it comes across as a live action book reading which is an interesting concept and I really like it. I fully understand that the narration is not for everyone but I enjoyed it and it is one of the best Netflix films I've seen.

The acting choices were solid and it's obvious that all of the actors gave it their all! Tom Holland was excellent as Arvin and it's clear to see that he is trying to be more of a serious actor. Sebastian Stan was a great addition as a corrupt police officer (Lee) trying to do whatever is possible to keep up his pristine appearances and will give it all up to get revenge for his baby sisters death. Lee's baby sister (Sandy, played by Riley Keough) does well to show the marriage trap that she is in with her psychotic husband (Carl, played by Jason Clarke) and you can tell that is breaking with the character arc from the start of the film to the end. Robert Pattinson puts in a solid performance and it's great to see him in a film so so much better than the Twilight Trilogy. He has made a real redemption in my eyes and is becoming a very credible and reliable actor.

Effectively all of the acting choices are great, all the actors put a shift in and the direction is great and works well with the narration. There are points which could of been narrated but the actors facial expressions are always on point and you fully understand the situations that they are in.

The movie, like the book, shows many different interpretations of what religion is. It doesn't matter what means in the eyes of people who follow it, no matter the religion, people do extreme and dangerous things to try and please their "God". Especially in a time where there was lot of small, isolated towns in America where the population of those towns did not have a greater vision of outside that town and tried to find meaning in things greater than themselves such as "God".

Charlie's Angels (2019)

Ehh

[5/10 · 7 August 2020]

The film doesn't take itself too seriously and I accepted that but this is not what I would call an action film at all! It's a spy comedy with very minimal if any good action sequences, they were cut too much and it's hard to follow what is happening in most of the fights.

The only real positive I found was that the key 3 characters all had quite good chemistry, it lead to some ehh jokes which in a film which is directed by someone who has more of an action background would be better. The script is typical cringe from these Charlie's angels films and the plot I would say is amazing but made sense. There is a small twist but I feel like they show it too early, the film still has 30 odd minutes left and we know who the protagonist is, we know the girls are going to win. Kristen Stewart really shows her range with this film and looks like she honestly had fun with it (along with the other 2 female actors) her comedic side really comes out. There is no real exposition on each character which is fine but it doesn't let the audience get attached to all of them which is also sort of ruins any fight scenes as you don't emotionally care for them all. With no exposition most of the background comes through Angels introducing new Angels for instance one is a former MI6 agent, okay we can deal with that but Stewart's character is minimal in this area, all I can remember is that she is a lesbian! That's it and that's only because there are jokes about it a few times in the first act?! Once is fine!

The cinematography of the film is nice, it's well filmed, it's the same guy who done Baby Driver and the Matrix so it's to be expected but the action sequences are just cut to pieces which sort of ruins it for me. This obviously isn't his fault but it doesn't help the film.

The Gentlemen (2019)

Ritchie back to crime and what a return!

[9/10 · 4 August 2020]

Guy Ritchie's last directed film was Aladdin, a film which I felt was completely wrong for Ritchie. The film wasn't the best and that's not Ritchies fault as such, I believe that this is down to the restrictions from Disney. The Gentlemen was the opposite, it's obvious that he had a lot of fun directing this film and it's Guy Ritchie back in the crime genre! What more can you want!

The first act especially before Colin Farrell's character (Coach) is very slow paced and once Coach comes in, the pace picks up a hell of a lot. The plot is about Hugh Grant's character (Fletcher) is "black mailing" Ray and Mickey (played but Charlie Hunnam and Matthew McConaughey respectively) as Fletcher is an investigative reporter for a large tabloid paper. Mickey runs a secretive weed empire in England and Ray is his calm and collective assistant, Fletcher finds out how it is ran and is attempting to get £20 million from them to stop the story from running. Meanwhile Mickey is trying to sell and get of out the game, he shows one of his weed growing sites to a potential buyer (Matthew played by Jeremy Strong). Matthew is trying to get the whole empire on the cheap and tells wannabe gangster to steal the weed and make the asking price lowered.

That is the plot, it's straight forward but it's Guy Ritchie, you need to pay attention throughout, especially early on! Each character adds a lot to the film and there isn't too much forced exposition as the film is played out in one night with cut backs to what Fletcher says what he has found out. Charlie Hunnam plays a very calm and intelligent assistant with a small amount of humour which he plays very well and it's obvious that Ritchie likes to works with him since King Arthur and I'm looking forward to what Hunnam brings in the future and hopefully with Ritchie too.

There is a lot of humour which mainly comes from Fletcher (Hugh Grant) who is almost unrecognisable from his usual roles but does so so well, he plays this role without a fault. His accent is flawless throughout! Mickey (McConaughey) is similar to Hunnam's character being calm most of the time, respectful and intelligent but there are points where he loses his temper and has to get his hands dirty and McConaughey has it in him, he is intimidating and threatening and doesn't even need to lift a finger. Farrell (Coach) does very well, he adds some more humour to the film and plays the character very well as a man with experience but has morales and you can tell he almost hates the new sort of gangster (like all the gangsters in this film).

Overall, the film is a class act! The casting was flawless and the way the film was played out adds a real rewatch ability to this film. I feel like everyone put the film down before it come out because it was on the January premiere list but this is honestly one of the best crime films I've seen in a while, maybe even rivals crime films like The Departed. There is a lot of camera sequences like the car crash is so nice to watch, the video edits on the fights and impressive and relevant to what people would do nowadays too! This film will become a classic crime film which will hold up for years to come, I feel especially in England as it's more relatable.

1917 (2019)

Great film and technically even better!

[9/10 · 19 July 2020]

The film itself is a great film, there's not too much dialogue but as the film has been attempted to be filmed in one cut, the long open wide angles allow the audience to take a lot of information in at one point. So you need to be fully invested in the film to take all the information in and the film gives you a lot of scenes for you to be involved in.

The minimal amount of dialogue is similar to Dunkirk as you can tell more by the actors faces due to the emotions etc. The small amount of dialogue also gives you a greater perspective of what the First World War was like and for this sort of film, that is key! The one cut technique is a wonderful idea especially as it's on a film with a journey as you start to feel the strain that it is taking on Schofield making the journey and the danger that is at stake if he doesn't make the journey. It genuinely feels like you are along for the journey! Some action films don't give you this a plot that has so much at stake where you are rooting for the main character so much, each fight or gunfight you feel the pressure that is on and you want and need Schofield to survive to get the message to the battalion on the front line.

Despite the use of 2 almost unknown actors being used in the 2 key roles of the film, the casting is flawless. The use of bigger, more well known actors being dotted about the film makes the whole experience better and I can't wait to see what George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, you can see that they learnt a lot from this experience and with actors like Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch.

White Collar (2009–2014)

Each episode is captivating!!

[8/10 · 17 July 2020]

Watching it my 2nd time through and it's just as captivating as I remember a few years ago, the writing sometimes is a bit forced but it's rare. The green screens in the early seasons is horrible to watch, mainly whenever Peter and El go on dates etc but it's New York! You don't expect them to be able to film in places like Rockefeller Centre!

Each episode keeps you involved and interested throughout, you can easily binge watch a season in a day! Even after a few seasons, the plot to each episode doesn't get repetitive or feel dragged out. The casting feels like an excellent choice as well with Matt Bomer as Neal Cafferey, he plays the cocky, smart and slick con artist so well. There also seems like there's a lot of chemistry between all the characters and the actors.

Some shows don't focus as much on the on going plot but White Collar has a good on going plot that lasts a season or so but is secondary compared to the plot for each episode which is fun to see.

The only fault I have with this show is that there are so many reoccurring actors and mainly extras where you don't even know their names! I'm not asking for a full episode on each of the extras etc but if they're in the show so often then why not have there be a little bit of back story or character development on each extras who's been in there so often or at least a "Hey Agent ........ can you do ........" something like that.

Baby Driver (2017)

Edgar Wright at his best!

[9/10 · 11 July 2020]

Loved this film, the first 5 minute opening scene is incredible! The fact there's no dialogue for 5 minutes but it still tells a story is amazing, you found out so much about Baby through the music, the clothing and the driving in that opening scene more than any exposition could of told you. The whole film feels so natural and there's little added extras like the lyrics of the songs being on sign posts, the pavement and walls when Baby goes to get coffee after the first job.

It's even got a small twist where the film makes the audience believe that Bats is going to be the main protagonist in the movie but it turns out Buddy is. The film is so well made, Edgar Wright is known for being style over substance but this was a perfect film for him, the use of the music throughout is so clever as you can feel every emotion that Baby is feeling and the songs contribute loads to that. The driving sequences are flawless and not cut to pieces like most action films nowadays! For instance, when Baby just through the back of an open mini van, it's one clean cut shot where the cameraman comes out of the mini van. In films like the Fast series, that would be cut about 50 times!!

The casting as well is perfection, John Hamm as Buddy is just played to a T and it's nice to see him in more of a darker role than what he is used to playing, Jamie Foxx as Bats is the kind of role that suits him well, just a crazier version of him in Horrible Bosses. Kevin Spacey as Doc is just typical Spacey, commands the screen every minute he is on it. Ansel Elgort as Baby is fantastic, you feel for him and the mistake he made as a kid and that he is being taken advantaged of massively, he just wants to take care of Joe and run away with Debbie. Every emotion on his face you feel and sympathise with. They all looked like they just had a lot of fun with the roles which is great to see on screen!

Primeval (2007–2011)

Loved it as a kid but...

[7/10 · 9 July 2020]

When I was younger, this was by far my most favourite TV show ever! I used to be buzzing for every episode on a Saturday, record it and then watch it again on Sunday! The concept to me was fascinating and almost every episode there would be a new dinosaur and I was always questioning what if this happened for real, especially because it was places in the UK which made it so much more relatable.

I then started to rewatch it this year and I couldn't finish the first season, it just wasn't the same experience that I had when I was younger. As you watch more and more TV shows and films you can start to pick holes in them. This I didn't want to do that (I know I would). It's disappointing but I've stuck with the judgment to just leave it as the great TV show it is in my memories. If they make a reboot of this with up to date CGI and good casting choices (like before) then I would be on board!!

Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019)

Terrible

[4/10 · 8 July 2020]

Watched this and the 2nd one in one night and now I've wasted more than 3 hours of my life to this!

The problem I had with this film was that they had to force the plot so much! They showed clips of the first films protagonist because nobody remembered who it was and didn't care! Then the bring his son in to cast revenge but the plan is weak asf, they had 2 of the chinese guys, who were breaking the kidnapped woman, in their captive but yet didn't kill them? They don't know who they are what so ever, so why not kill them?

The film is just filled with errors for example the henchmen shoot one of their captive and show his blood on the floor, then they drag him and there's no trail? Sloppy! Stallone literally uses a flash light all the time in the tunnels, if I can see, you can see mate! In the tunnels or just after, Stallone sets up his flash light to be on strobe and has a guy walk through the door and investigate it, the other henchman then closes the door behind him and starts to get into a better position till Stallone goes through a different doorway next to the very same door and jams a pole through his head, what is the point of the first door? It's next to a doorway which leads to the same place and which no one saw before!

In the "big" final fight scene, Stallone gets shot and it looks like it's hit his eye as there's a lot of blood there, next scene when Stallone goes into hand to hand combat, no blood on his eye? If you're going to make a film then don't piss off the audience with cheap film making, be consistent with what's just happened at least! Also Stallone is like 70 I swear, how is no one kicking his arse?

At the very end there's a scene where the bodyguard jumps out of a pipe into the tunnel and then falls to the ground, what on earth does that add to the film?! Nothing at all! Please don't say it's to set up another film and somehow he is the new protagonist!! I started to watch the credit scenes at the end and there is just huge text behind whoever is on the screen for instance with the director, the text just reads director? Seems like more attention was put on the end credits than the actual film!

Also how many producers do you need? I think I saw 10 at least? None of them said anything like "why are we doing this" 10 producers and still a bad film!

Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)

Why?

[4/10 · 8 July 2020]

First one was enjoyable to watch and from what I remember I enjoyed it! This one is just awful, why make this a trilogy? To me trilogies are meant to be for films that are well made and well executed such as the Bourne trilogy or LOTR, this is just terrible!

The whole plot relies on Krimbal being so arrogant to show Stallone that he has a good algorithm and even after he has been doing well getting hundreds of prisoners into the Hades, he just "has" to get Stallone in there? Why not the rest of his crew which they fought when the captured Stallones character! At the end with the "big" fight which lasted about a minute, every single punch was thrown then the camera cut to a different angle, this is literally for every single punch or kick, it was so dark and you couldn't tell what was happening at all. Why would the audience enjoy this?

Honestly didn't enjoy any of the film! Would highly recommend to just watch the first one and ignore the rest, the first one was an interesting concept and was executed at the best it could be, somehow they still watched this through and was like "yeah this is great, let's make a 3rd". Stupid decision!

Bird Box (2018)

Ehh

[5/10 · 2 July 2020]

Honestly couldn't finish the movie, I rarely ever do that but after 10 minutes of purely cheap and uncomfortable dialogue, I was very put off, got about an hour in and gave in, what was all the hype about this film?? Sandra Bullock puts in a good performance with a lot of emotion but John Malchovic seems like he doesn't care for the parts that he is in. Interesting plot but poorly executed, typical Netflix film for me.

Extraction (2020)

Honestly wasn't expecting much

[8/10 · 21 June 2020]

For a director debut, it was very good! The action sequences are honestly incredible, the plot is weak and if the Russo brothers didn't have their names attached, it wouldn't of been such a high budget. Character development is poor as I didn't feel too attached to any of them but that's fine, the film knows it's a gritty action packed film and keeps to that, the character development as I said is poor but is there to help you try and rout for them to survive. Most Netflix films are trash and I turn them off after the first 20 minutes but I really didn't want to turn this one off. You can easily tell that the director was a former stuntman as the action sequences are so good, for me, they are up there with some of the John Wick fights, Chris Hemsworth does well with the role and it's good to see him play a role with a lot more grit and an almost darker side than I've seen in a while especially compared to the MCU.

If the action sequences weren't as good then this would get a 5, they make that much of a difference!

Crawl (I) (2019)

Another generic wannabe horror film

[6/10 · 19 June 2020]

I didn't mind this movie as such but the further I got into the film, the more I just wanted it to end. The start set a bit of context to Haley's life as a swimmer and then a big storm hits and she wants to get her Dad out of the storm. Gators then come and that's effectively it! The film was nicely paced but after a while when Haley's been bitten twice and still able to swim everywhere like it's nothing more than a scratch, I almost wanted the gators to get them by the end. Honestly think there was one "jump" scene where a police office gets taken by a gator, definitely a great horror film or even a horror film for that matter but if you like the idea of gators eating people then watch this. Everything is about swimming and Dave (Haley's Dad) will let you know about it! Dave also calls the younger Haley a "apex predator" which just foreshadows that's she's going to be better than the gators by the end of the film. Disappointing as the trailer looked good and very intense, was only another wannabe modern day horror film although the intense setting was consistent but not enough jump scares for an actual horror.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Was very slow paced but I enjoyed it

[7/10 · 19 June 2020]

Was perhaps one of the slowest paced films I've watched in a while, there is a message to this film but it it is put across poorly, there is one hell of cast to this film but character development is minimal for most of them. If you're looking for a fast paced zombie film with lots of action then don't watch this but if you like dry humour then give this a go, Murray and Driver bounce well of each other and there are some funny bits. A lot of poor reviews on here and after watching, it's clear to see it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Somewhere Between (2017)

Needs more than an interesting plot!

[5/10 · 14 March 2020]

All this show is just an interesting plot. The idea of going back in time to save Serena and Nicos brother is interesting but the writing is just terrible, as an example "there a thing that killers do, they kill people" like what does that even mean to the show? Stop trying to make everything so dramatic! The character development just feels forced, the actors, especially the main children are so irritating that is ruins their characters and likability. Shame really because with the same premise, a change in script to be more natural with a change of actors and it would be a worthwhile watch!

Designated Survivor (2016–2019)

Compelling 1st season, 2nd average but the 3rd...

[7/10 · 13 June 2019]

The first season was enjoyable and couldn't wait to find out the conspiracy behind it all and the politics side was also engaging, the 2nd season was average at best and felt that it was a long season and each episode dragged out. Very political and the death of the First Lady was just added to create more drama but it just seemed desperate.

Now the 3rd season has way too many issues that are real world issues and the stories for each are structured well but it just seems like the show is attempting too hard to stay relevant! The use of Kirkman's trans sister/brother in law which was never mentioned before what so ever even though you've met the mother in law and the First Lady who died and the sister/brother in law was not mentioned? The season is very political with a bit of drama regarding the campaign and the typical immigration issues and has a little bit of action from Hannah Wells, I've just seen the episode where she dies so no more action right?! Will wait and see...