lamps

Or how the massive ambitions of a filmmaker can tarnish a great film in the second half. During the first 80 minutes or so, I was glued to my seat – that absolute wave of depression, the original setting and the carefully built hopelessness worked on me like all those mind altering substances did on the main characters. And when explicit death came, it felt like a needle under a nail thanks to its perfectly prepared motivational chessboard. Aster has awesome ideas, he knows how to make the viewer nervous with only a perfect blend of sound and image, and he’s not afraid of experimenting with themes and genres, so even with a pinch of Bergman (in the reliance of the expressions of the actors), a pinch of Miklós Jancsó (long shots and the precisely arranged depth of the movements in the mise-en-scène) and a dose of Hardy’s The Wicker Man, it doesn’t feel overstuffed. Until the middle, that is. Then, as in his previous work, the director somehow stops telling the story of the characters in an intelligible way and relies on visual gimmicks to fool the viewer, who doesn’t have anyone to focus their sympathies on. The characters become pawns in a psychopathic game with a message that is unfortunately weak due to the not very effective relationships among them and the weird, unemotional ending. And yet, the boredom was only minimal and the film somehow managed to keep me constantly curious about what would happen in the next minute; it’s a pity that in the end it was mostly the bluff of a smart creator who knows how to put together atmospheric sequences, but forgets about a holistic and narrative structure. For me, 70% and I’m adding the fourth star only for the joy of watching the charmingly charismatic Florence Pugh, who (again) was like made for this role. I will surely watch it again.

This monsterverse is a rare example of variable filmmaking techniques that result in considerably different movies. Godzilla, perhaps the most distinctive blockbuster of the decade, cleverly linked the events from the characters’ perspective and the futility of their actions, while Kong: Skull Island delivered straightforward and over-the-top adventure focused on human actions (and how they make everything worse). This sequel starring the fairy lizard is somewhere in between, it takes from the first one the serious attempts at fatalism and the portrayal of the insignificance of the human characters, while form Kong it takes the narrative drive, more space for the monster encounters and a more active human participation with the Titans. I don’t think it will be any surprise to say that the oscillation between two such different concepts results in a pretty impersonal approach that is often somewhat simplified, and that maybe even weakens both the nature of the clashes of the monsters and the fate and motivations of the human heroes. The catalyst of the story is a group of people, but their significance is gradually lost and by the end It’s pushed aside by contrived family ties and the helplessness in the face of the powerful titans. Though the protagonists try to act throughout the story, their actions (which fortunately aren’t stupid or naive but understandably motivated) only serve the purpose of delaying the climax (unlike the first movie, where the characters actually tried to prepare for it). On the other hand, the narration flows by quickly, rhythmically setting monumental action set pieces into a story that systematically shuffles between the subjective observation of the terrors and the havoc caused by the monsters and the admiration for Godzilla, whose iconic image the film develops and escalates. The twists are also linked smoothly and they basically make sense, though they are often simplified by the insanely fast movements through space and, of course, the indecision over which approach should take precedence. The individual scenes and their staging are great, it’s a shame that they were unable to build a more coherent story arc around them. In any case, it’s still an interesting approach to the extensive mythology of that world, to which I will gladly return. 70%

A slow and tedious conversational drama that relies only on excellent actors and a bleak post-war rural setting where the inhabitants hide a shared secret. Unfortunately, it’s not very good at escalating the tension and the curiosity and to make us fear for the life of the protagonist (because the twist is very obvious and also, as a classic western, the hero is an almost untouchable god). Bonus points at least for the successful metaphor of the social divisions and mistrust of the time.

The peak of the genre and a delight for connoisseurs. Ultra naturalist filmmaking without hesitation that will exhaust you physically and mentally and won’t let you sleep. The first half is non-stop tension and a brutally stifling and realistic portrayal of the lowest levels of humanity and the moral back-country, and the second half is an incredibly unpleasant reflection of the previously tapped and exploited horrors, all with brilliant cinematography and sound. A film without which the word horror would lose its meaning.

The third outing of John Wick carries on with the legacy of the second one, using thoroughbred action to move forward a simple story and to reveal corners of that world which had previously remained hidden. It significantly reinforces the serial nature and the mutually supporting narratives across the franchise and its structure and, at least after a first screening, feels considerably more loose and episodic than the previous entries, which is mainly thanks to the work with the old-new characters and the action scenes. What is missing this time is the presence of a dominant villain, like in the two previous episodes, that could direct Wick’s motivations and would give form to the obstacles throughout the film. Parabellum is no longer a story about vengeance and its consequences, it’s about the culmination of an uprising against a powerful system, where the cards can be unexpectedly turned and the tension is provided by the constant confrontation of characters and not by a smooth journey towards a final clash. Most of the secondary characters appear for a few minutes to help John, both to take another step forward in his rebellion (and to explain it psychologically) and to increase a little more the knowledge of the audience about the scope and practices of that world. Wedged into all that are the action scenes, which are plenty, and they are all either preceded or followed by another shift in the plot. And while some of them are truly magnificent, with unexpected settings and cool killing tools (if you’re someone who doesn’t respect horses yet, that will change), others feel a bit tiring with their repetition of similar gimmicks. But I still have to tip my hat in appreciation at Stahelski, the stuntmen and Reeves, because almost every single action sequence, despite the fluctuating wow factor, is a showcase of the most honest school of stunt work and staging, next to which The Expendables should hide in a corner and pray John Wick won't find them. However, as effective as the film is in its dynamic sequences, the quiet interludes don’t have much glittering potential. Whereas the second one had mortar in the shape the main villain, here I missed a similar driving force, especially in the middle, when seeing armed goons jumping on poor John from every corner started to get a bit boring. The ending, fortunately, corrects the inconsistencies and prepares a very fertile ground for the shootout and fistfight of the century, which cleverly underscores the core concept of personal rebellion and further reinforces the driving idea of "John Wick vs The World". It’s not as elegant and smooth as the second one and the pace grinds at times, but that final scene manages to surprise and put most of the doubts away in a box labelled minor details. 85%

This couldn’t be more disappointing. Awful decisions by the characters, disregard for established narrative logic, drama through empty long shots, stupid actions by important characters and some really terrible editing (I would have done a better job editing Jamie’s and Euron’s fight even after ten beers). All of that kills the potential of the fateful finale I still believed in (and I still have a little hope for in the last episode). If it wasn’t for the Hound it would be screenwriting crap.

I’m basically satisfied with how colourful the film is, how packed it is with various genre detours and episodes, how it holds itself pretty well together and, mainly, with how much fun it is. The attractive locations change often and the plans to fulfil the main goal are gradually rewritten, the fictional world is also mythologically rich enough and there are two motivated villains in the game. The screaming Momoa is quite likeable, the red-haired Amber Heard looks like out of PornHub and Patrick Wilson tries but cannot go beyond his cookie-cutter role. James Wan handles well the digital orgy on the surface and conjures up a couple of truly captivating scenes, but he can’t quite manage to imprint a unified distinctive identity and break free from the routine archetypical templates the film is made of. At times, those templates are effective and even fun (the exotic Sicily looks like plucked out of Tintin), but more often than not, they devalue the narrative as such (the stupidly slowed down hero moments, the ineffective romantic line and the poorly escalated climax). It’s nice that in its adventure scale Aquaman didn’t get stuck on a single lazy pattern and that it tries to bring some fresh air to the comic-book movie approach, but it’s still self-awarely silly and too simplistic in the way it solves the subplots to deserve the uncritical enthusiasm of my geek self and five stars. But many parts and the creative intentions could deserve 4*. 70%

A refreshing behind-the-scenes look into the most famous space mission that relies only on depersonalised facts and a narration through authentic audio and video recordings. Though the unemotional approach might not be very attractive for those uninterested, this is still a very valuable documentary from a point of view different than what we are used to in similar projects.

An Asian blockbuster that’s not afraid of being bombastic and throwing at the viewer one attraction after another. Unfortunately, the quality of the special effects doesn’t help it much and, more importantly, it takes itself way too seriously at times – our planet’s journey towards Jupiter is supposed to make the viewer relate to possible future scenarios. It’s narratively overstuffed and uses ridiculous shortcuts (the voice-overs are annoying), but made with gusto and original enough to go through those two hours in good health. Interesting Eastern diversification for one go.

I really looked forward to it, but this time the creators didn’t deliver the fun. There’s still some guilty-pleasure value and the special effects are quite good, but the story doesn’t hold together at all, and at times it looks as if it had been written by a gang of teenagers fresh out of a sci-fi movie marathon. The heroes are awful and you will find more humour on a date between a blind man and a deaf woman. I still love going back to the first one, but there’s no reason why this had to be made (though I’m sure it will have its fans).