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Thomas_Davison
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Reviews
The Creator (2023)
District 9, but without a story
The excellent visual elements and effects may have been the only saving grace in what felt like a rushed capitalisation on the AI buzzword. The repetition of local villager vs US army slaughter was as predictable as the 'reveal'; which had been obvious to the audience from the start.
Considering the stunning score and well cast actors, there was little emotional weight provided to any character. It felt like an attempted reproduction of District 9, but without a sturdy moral base. American cheesy one-liners punctuated aslt odd moments, as it tried to convince the audience that the writing was sound. Not a rewatch nor a recommendation from me.
Mars Express (2023)
Strong world building for an unexpected story
For many sci-fi animated movies, audience captivation is driven purely by world building. Neon scenes and expansive horizons are often used to draw attention from a weak story. Not so in this beautifully animated sci-fi detective drama. The story finds the perfect balance between much loved detective clichés and unexpected turns in a story line, that has no need for smoothing by over hyped futurism. Despite this, the imaginative graphics cleanly place the viewer into the future, pushing us just far enough into the 'what could be' to retain a believability that compliments the story. This should be on your list of sci-fi movies to see before you die.
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)
More like a conspiracy theorist zoo than a documentary
Practically totally based around 'I think...' by people who have little or no knowledge of the case. Ridiculous extrapolation from no evidence. Not a documentary at all but rather a look at those who believe they are doing better than the police, all the while hindering the case with their outlandish speculation.
Ad Astra (2019)
Directionless directing
A script with no purpose or direction. Character arcs that stopped dead or went nowhere. And an apparent take-away message that one should give up immediately if what is sought is not found... A poor film set to a beautiful backdrop.
Oldboy (2013)
worse than awful
There are some bad films out there, but this particularly bad film was complimented by a plague of particularly bad actors. The 'baddie', played by Sharlto Copley, displayed some of the worst acting i have ever seen in my life. Seriously...a recently beaten up physics teacher could have given a better performance. The story line is fantastic, which is not surprising considering it was written for another film. This poor remake was a sad attempt to grab at the success of a superior creation. There was a vague attempt at matrix-esque choreographed fight scenes, which were as repetitive as they were cliché. A fantastic performance by Elizabeth Olsen was entirely drowned by the film surrounding her, as her believable acting seemed out of place compared to the farce she was foreground to. Will not watch again.