Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Shia LaBeouf, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I always had a weak spot for tennis (I remember watching Roland Garros on TV when I was growing up in France) and this might be actually the best movie I have seen dealing with this sport. Indeed, when played by the best players at the top of their game, tennis is basically a search for perfection, it can be just spellbinding to behold and this idea was perfectly displayed in this movie. I’m also glad I didn’t know or remember the outcome of this final, which is considered by many as the best tennis game ever played, or at least, the best Wimbledon final. As far as I was concerned, I was actually rooting for McEnroe but losing during such a mythic game actually made him a legend. Seriously, to see him coming up on the centre court being booed by the crowd and then leaving with a standing ovation was pretty awesome. Eventually, the only issue I had was the fact that they focused so much more on Björn Borg than on John McEnroe. Not that Borg was not an interesting character, he was probably one of the greatest tennis players and obviously a major inspiration for Roger Federer, in my opinion the best tennis player ever. However, I think that half of what they told about Borg could have been removed and, with the extra time, they could have developed more McEnroe’s background resulting in something more balanced. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might be an acquired taste, I actually really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in tennis. 

Since I have seen almost all the Disney Classic animated productions, I was quite eager to check their latest production, especially since it was now available for free on Disney+. Well, even if it won’t become one of their most memorable features, I thought it was still really enjoyable though. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for their exotic fairy tales (see also ‘Mulan’ or ‘Moana’) and the damned thing was just so gorgeous to look at but, at this point, I wouldn’t expect less from these guys. It was also neat to see a Disney animated features with so many strong female characters such as Raya herself but also Namaari who was definitely one of the most badass Disney characters I have seen. Concerning Sisu, Awkwafina was just pitch-perfect to voice this character and she was, as usual, often really funny. However, I wish they did develop more her character but I guess it’s something that could be said about all the characters involved in this tale. Concerning the story itself, to be honest, it was rather generic and predictable but I thought it was still entertaining enough though. Eventually, the only issue I had was that the whole thing was too short in my opinion. Indeed, even though the movie is advertised as being near 2 hrs, there is actually almost 20 mins of end-credits, Anyway, during her quest, Raya had to visit 4 different parts of this fantasy world which was pretty neat but, because of the rather short running time, each time again, the action was just so rushed. Indeed, her quest was really epic and gave her the opportunity to visit each corner of this world and, eventually, you might wonder if a full-length feature was actually the right format for this tale. Anyway, to conclude, all in all, it was still a really solid Disney animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but I thought I might as well check it out anyway. First of all, I have to admit that it had been a while since I saw the first instalment with my step-son and, to be honest, I didn’t remember much about it but it didn’t really matter though. Basically, the CGI was once again rather impressive, I have to admit that the action scenes were not bad but the plot was still generic and tedious, I’m afraid. What mostly surprised me was the number of characters that they added to this sequel: Rocksteady, Bebop, Casey Jones, Krang, Baxter Stockman, Alessandra Ambrosio, Laura Linney obviously showing up for a (hopefully) juicy paycheck,… They were even not 1 but 2 nameless Asian chicks with only a few lines of dialogues playing some useless sidekicks to 2 different main characters. I have to admit that, for some reason, it was actually neat to see Casey Jones, even if the character really doesn’t work in a live-action version like this one. Indeed, my little brother was the one obsessing with the Ninja Turtles back then we were kids but I do remember actually having a really cool Casey Jones toy figure (see underneath). I actually looked it up on the internet and this freaking toy now costs more than 150 dollars so I wish I kept the damned thing! Concerning the movie itself, I think it might be actually fairly entertaining for kids around 12 years old but, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t care much for it and I will probably forget about the whole thing within a few days, exactly like its predecessor. Concerning Megan Fox, it is rather sad, even pathetic, that she got fired from the ‘Transformers’ franchise after comparing Michael Bay with Hitler to then work again with the same guy 5 years later for a very similar franchise, albeit much less successful commercially speaking. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, I don’t think it is really worth a look, expect maybe if you are a 9-12 year old boy.

05/10

To be honest, I have to admit that I was slightly worried about this movie. Indeed, when the first instalment was released, it had been hugely popular but I had noticed that this sequel didn’t make so much waves when it came out. However, since the damned thing was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out anyway. I even re-watched the previous instalment the day before. At least, pretty much everyone seemed to agree that the actors to portray the adult versions of the kids were pretty much spot-on, even if, personally, I had a rather hard time to picture James McAvoy as the adult version of Bill Denbrough. On top of that, it is still hands-down one of the best stories delivered by Stephen King and it was just awesome to see again this group of friends more than 25 years later. Still, even if it turned out to be a decent watch, it was certainly a step-down from the previous movie though. Indeed, as long they focused on how the adult characters struggled with the traumatic experience they had when they were kids, the whole thing was actually pretty good but , unfortunately, they kept adding just too many stuff and most of it was barely interesting, at least, not to me. Some memory loss? Some ancient Indian ritual? A quest for some personal artifacts? The really far-fetched origins of Pennywise? Of course, I understand that most of it actually came from the book (which I haven’t read at this point) but I think it would have been much stronger if they have focused more on the characters themselves and what they were going through emotionally. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is still a really strong story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was suggested by a fellow Listal member, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, I still can’t say I was impressed though. It is possible that I might have enjoyed it more if there wasn’t such an overdose of movies and TV-shows dealing with the current zombie craze. Anyway, in this case, the end-result felt like a rather overlong episode of ‘The Walking Dead’ taking place in Australia. I have to admit that it was an interesting approach to focus on a really average couple but, to be honest, I never really cared about them and the fact that they both got infected rather stupidly made it even harder to root for them. Eventually, the most interesting thing about this flick was to show these aboriginals going back to their ancient lifestyle and facing such a pandemic in their own way. Unfortunately, they decided to focus on this white man when they should have spent more time on the aboriginals. Another interesting approach would have been to follow the plot developed years ago by Jim Jarmusch with ‘Dead Man’. Indeed, in this case, they could have dropped the wife, showing only Andy basically dying very slowly right from the start and Thoomi could have supported him during this final journey. Anyway, it is pretty obvious that the aboriginals were actually what made this movie interesting but they were barely given any screen time after all. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still fairly entertaining and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.