Reviews by johanlefourbe

I had no idea what to expect from this flick but I was in the mood in watching something completely different and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. The main reason I wanted to watch the damned thing was because the animation seemed to be really neat and, indeed, we have come a long way since ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’, the first CGI animated motion picture with photo-realistic characters, was released already 20 years ago. Indeed, in this area, this movie was quite impressive, even if it was maybe slightly overwhelming during the action scenes because it was going so fast with so many details and so much stuff happening at every corner of the screen. Concerning the story, well, it wasn’t so successful, I’m afraid. I mean, it was not bad but the whole thing was basically based on some rather convoluted Chinese mythology and, to be honest, I’m not sure I followed half of the story. And, yet, the more I think about it, the more I believed that the damned thing had some potential. Indeed, there was an intriguing dark undercurrent because Nezha was actually some kind of violent and egocentric god responsible for many innocent deaths through his various reincarnations. Unfortunately, the whole thing was just so damned messy and unfocused, they never went deeper in this interesting direction. Concerning the characters, some of them were actually pretty cool and/or entertaining (especially this monkey with 6 ears who might have been some Monkey King after all) but they were probably too many of them and, eventually, none of them was actually really developed whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing never really convinced me, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you want to watch something really different. 

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. I remember it quite well, there was quite an outcry from the critics  because it turned out to be a box-office flop  when the critics thought it was actually a great movie. Well, to be honest, I’m not surprised that the damned thing didn’t make much waves when it was released. I mean, sure, it was a solid directorial debut from Olivia Wilde and it was fairly entertaining but it was also terribly generic. The fact that the movie was really similar to ‘Superbad’ and that Beanie Feldstein is actually Jonah Hill’s sister didn’t help to make this movie less derivative. Fortunately, the whole thing did start to take off when these two girls finally got to this party (that it took them so long to get there was also a rather poor narrative choice). Indeed, from this point on, not only the two main characters but also all the other characters started to get more complex and more interesting and, suddenly, nobody was completely mean or stupid and, suddenly, Amy and Molly were also not necessarily the 2 smartest persons in the room. Indeed, at this point, it became pretty obvious that they were not involved in social activities outside school not because they were ostracized but mostly because they thought they were better than the rest of their peers. This approach was definitely more complex and interesting than what you usually get to see in the other movies in this genre and it's too bad they went in this direction really late. Anyway, even though the movie itself not always really worked, I really had a weak spot for these 2 girls. Indeed, they were fully developed as characters, they felt really genuine and it was probably one of the greatest friendships I have ever seen displayed in a movie. Finally, there is no denying that Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein both delivered some really good performances. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a solid comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, since I never really cared for this franchise, I wasn’t really expecting much from this last instalment but I still ended up watching the damned thing anyway. Indeed, even if the 1^st two instalments were incredibly successful (they are both in the top 3 highest grossing music comedies of all-time), I always thought that the concept was actually rather weak, even pretty lame. The thing that always disappointed me was that, each time this group is singing, it is obvious that they are actually not singing live and not only it looks terribly fake but it always felt like a missed opportunity since the damned thing was actually dealing with an a capella group. Anyway, in this case, even though by now the Bellas were all out of college, for some reasons, they were still eager to sing together in some lame a capella group which was even more pathetic than before. To make things worse, the whole thing was just seriously random. I mean, there was even a subplot dealing with Fat Amy’s long lost father who turned out to be some kind of James Bond villain. Concerning the cast, I have to admit that they had gathered a great number of interesting actresses (Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks, Brittany Snow, Ruby Rose) but, unfortunately, they were all rather wasted here each with their own really half-baked subplot. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather harmless, I think you should better avoid it, except if you are really a die-hard fan. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it had been very well received, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, it didn’t turn out to be an easy watch but since it was from the same guy who gave us ‘Tangerine’, it was hardly surprising. Indeed, Sean Baker gave us once again a movie without an actual plot and, in fact, during the whole thing, pretty much nothing really happened. And, yet, the damned thing still worked though. Once again, Baker continued his deconstruction of the America Dream by displaying some seemingly colourful but in fact decrepit hotels filled up with people living, or surviving would be more accurate, in the margins of society when a few miles away, 1000’s of tourists spends fortunes to go to Disneyworld. As I mentioned before, nothing much really happened through the whole thing, you mostly see the main characters either wandering aimlessly or running some scams and, on top of that, they were all rather unlikable making the whole thing ever harder to watch. Except of course for Willem Dafoe’s character. Dafoe would be eventually praised for his work here but, to be honest, I thought it was a distraction to see such a well-established actor among all these amateurs or first timers. The fact that he played basically the only decent guy around didn’t help either. Eventually, I was above all impressed by Brooklynn Prince who gave one of the most incredible child performances I have ever seen. Of course, she seemed to be so annoying and she was for sure, but behind the obnoxious behaviour, you had also a survivor with some major streetwise knowledge and a kid able to create the greatest adventures out of thin air. Concerning Halley played by Bria Vinaite, well, it was even more difficult to root for her for some obvious reasons. Indeed, she kept making some terrible decisions and her behaviour was probably even more obnoxious than her daughter so your first reaction would be to think that she might be the worst mother in the world. And, yet, if you would dig a little deeper, she actually gave her daughter a roof, food and, above all, love and it would have been easier for her to ditch the kid (like her father did apparently) but it was never an option for her. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing was seriously bleak and even heart-breaking, it was still a solid watch and it is definitely worth a look. 

Since this movie has a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I have to admit that I always had a hard time to connect with Sally Potter's work (and, by now, I have already seen half of the movies she has directed) and I'm afraid even her most heralded movie turned out to be quite challenging. At least, there is no doubt that Orlando was quite a fascinating character. Still, even if Tilda Swinton certainly delivered a strong performance here, I wonder if she was really the right choice to play this character. Indeed, in my opinion, an even more androgenous actor/actress might have worked better. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, beside the fact that the main character was apparently immortal and changed gender half-way through, the damned thing was pretty weird which wasn't a problem but it was also terribly random. Seriously, one of the segments involving some (random) Russian characters took place almost completely on ice but why?!? Another issue was that, even you spent the whole duration only focusing on this character, you actually never get to learn Orlando at all. Basically, he/she was treated as some kind of dreamlike being which was intriguing but he/she always remained at arm's length which turned out to be rather frustrating. For example, Orlando was first a man and then a woman but, while the character argued that it didn't make any difference, it actually did and, from the moment Orlando became a woman, she started t experience the same discrimination that most women have to face during their life. Unfortunately, that's something that wasn't developed at all, in fact, they kept moving from one random scene to another random scene instead of going deeper into any theme or idea displayed in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if the whole thing didn't completely work for me, it was still a really intriguing tale and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Following the ‘Fantastic Four’ debacle, Josh Trank still managed to come up with a new directing effort but, even though it turned out to be another critical bomb, I was still eager to check the end-result. Well, to be honest, I wonder why this movie had received such harsh reviews since it was far from being such a terrible disaster. Indeed, the movie was visually well made and Tom Hardy, probably one of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, delivered here another strong performance. However, I have to admit that the damned thing still didn’t really work though. It did remind me of another movie I saw a couple of years ago called ‘The Happy Prince’ which was dealing with the last year(s) of Oscar Wilde. Indeed, even if this approach might seem intriguing, in both cases, the makers made the same mistake to assume that, if someone is famous, their last years will always be fascinating to behold but it is actually rarely the case and definitely not with this movie. Indeed, basically, from the very beginning, Al Capone A.K.A. Fonse was in terrible shape and most of the movie was about watching him going from one mental meltdown to another or some other form of psychotic episode. So, even if it was rather well made and Hardy was solid, it felt rather repetitive fairly quickly and, like I said before, not as interesting as the makers were obviously hoping for. There were also a few sub-plots but they were all rather half-baked and even less interesting than the degeneration of the notorious gangster. Eventually, the most pathetic plot line was probably the one involving the FBI trying to catch him one last time. I mean, sure, the guy did some terrible things but, at this point, he was most of the time pretty much batsh*t crazy and already going through a slow and painful death so going after him was not only rather pointless but also really stupid. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I don’t think this movie deserves such a bad reception though and it is actually worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was suggested by a fellow Listal member, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really loved the intro and the whole Sergio Leone vibe so the damned thing certainly displayed some potential at first. Unfortunately, the plot turned out to be so generic and it was rather disappointing that nothing really interesting or noteworthy really happened through the whole duration after all. Seriously, it was pretty much ‘John Wick’ in the Wild West. Concerning the cast, Ethan Hawke was solid as usual but I wouldn’t expect less from such a dependable actor. However, I was above all impressed by John Travolta who was just pitch-perfect playing some some villainous Marshal who turned out to be more subtle than the typical bad guys that you usually get in your average Western. Seriously, even if Travolta’s career always had some major ups and downs, the guy can be actually seriously entertaining, especially when he plays such juicy characters. For the ladies, Taissa Farmiga was not really bad but I didn’t care much for her character and, to be honest, I was really surprised by how weak Karen Gillan was in this flick. Of course, you could argue that her character was supposed to be some annoying gold-digging b*tch but she was never convincing whatsoever and her whole performance felt completely tone-deaf. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch though and I guess it is worth a look if you really like the genre. 

I had no idea what to expect from this flick but I was in the mood in watching something completely different and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, it was based on a videogame which was itself based on some novel but to be honest, I had never heard of either the videogame or the book it was supposedly based on but the damned thing seemed to be visually pretty neat. And, indeed, in this area, I was actually quite impressed. That’s clearly the advantage of making movies in our modern age as the current CGI technology, when used properly, allows the film makers to create such gorgeous and fascinating worlds. Of course, some might argue that there was a huge CGI overdose but it worked for me. Indeed, somehow, it did remind me of ‘Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi’ which was definitely a huge complement for this movie but, just like in Miyazaki’s masterpiece, they managed to deliver here a convincing and intricate fantasy world. Concerning the story itself, I have to admit that I did have some to doubts but, all in all, it was entertaining enough. Still, it was probably too messy for my taste, it took me a while to get a good grip on this tale and, to be honest, I’m not sure if I really understood what the hell exactly happened at the end. The fact that there were too many characters involved also probably didn’t help either. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since this movie had been really poorly received, I wasn’t expecting much but since I have a weak spot for Natalie Portman, I was still eager to check it out. Actually, the fact that I was expecting to watch a really awful movie pretty much messed up my viewing since I was constantly expecting something really bad or stupid to happen at every corner. Well, to be honest, I don’t really get why this movie got such harsh reviews and poor ratings. Indeed, I thought it was such a fascinating story with another strong performance by Portman. Still, I’ll have to admit that it was far from being flawless though. First of all, the fact that they decided to deviate from the actual events led to some rather dubious artistical choices. For example, Lisa Nowak (the woman this story was based on) had actually 3 children but, instead, they gave her a niece who had her own really convoluted and completely half-baked backstory. Furthermore, since the niece never really did exist, there was really no reason why she should have been involved in Cola/Nowak’s wild chase. Eventually, the biggest failure was the fact that they never really convincingly displayed the link between her extra-marital affaire with another astronaut and her general mental meltdown following her return to Earth. Indeed, it was really interesting to see this brilliant and strong woman slowly losing her grip with reality after going through such a life changing event and it made sense that, the more she was obsessing about going back into outer space, the more erratic her behavior became and the less likely it was that she would ever go back there. However, how this all led to have sex with another astronaut and eventually even stalking the guy was never convincingly argued in this movie. Basically, the best explanation they could come up with was that, well, she became basically ‘crazy’ and did a lot of random weird stuff in the process but this explanation was rather lazy and obviously hardly satisfying. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still don’t get why this movie has such a lame reputation and I think it is actually worth a look.