Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Christian Bale and since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I was really surprised by how lame the damned thing actually turned out be and I’m still bewildered by the fact that this movie has such high ratings on this website and on IMDb (around 7.5). However, the fact that it had a much lower Metascore (only 46%) should have been a major red flag though. Anyway, eventually, pretty much nothing worked in this movie. Seriously, even though the historical background was interesting and had some potential, the story was just a boring mess. As usual with such Chinese productions, you had some obvious propaganda with a random Chinese soldier killing single-handedly around 50 Japanese soldiers who were all displayed as some bloodthirsty rapist monsters. However, this was just a completely superfluous subplot, the main story was actually about a large group of convent girl students AND a large group of prostitutes looking for shelter in a church during the invasion of Nanking by the Japanese army. However, except maybe for one prostitute called Yu Mo, none of these girls were developed whatsoever as they spent most of the movie running around and screaming at the horrors committed by the Japanese army. To make the whole thing even more convoluted, they also gave us another completely random American character, obviously, so they could sell more easily this movie in Western countries but I'm afraid Christian Bale gave here one of his weakest performance playing really unconvincingly your typical ‘White saviour’. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just so weak and you should probably avoid it, even if you are interested in Zhang Yimou’s work.

Like every boy growing up in Europe, I was fascinated by football/soccer at some point and since Pelé was the best the football player ever, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after hearing so many great things about the guy, I was actually really neat to see so much footage showing his mighty skills. It was also quite impressive that he managed to go to 4 World Cups in a row, winning 3 of them, even if he got injured during 2 of these World Cups. Beyond football, Pelé turned out to be a major icon, worldwide but above all in Brazil but that’s a topic the movie rather struggled to deal with. Indeed, while Pelé did rule the football fields for most of the 60’s, Brazil was actually ruled by a brutal dictatorship up until the 80’s. And what Pelé did back then regarding the political turmoil in his beloved home country? Well, nothing actually and this movie never really managed to properly address this topic. I mean, of course, you could blame Pelé for not taking a stand but eventually, even if he was so much beloved, he was eventually an average guy, an adult who played with a ball for a living, not a revolutionary or a political leader. It’s actually such an interest concept, the fact that even though we always idolize such athletes (in this movie, Pelé was compared to ‘Superman’ and was considered as a ‘King’ by many), they don’t have actually some superpowers, they are all made of flesh and blood like the rest of us. Unfortunately, this movie was not really interested in this and they focused instead on hammering the fact that Pelé was amazing, which might have been true but it was not really the most fascinating aspect about this legend after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather generic, I still think it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in football. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have always been a huge fan of Meryl Streep, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it could have been an interesting cautionary tale showing that, even if you are passionate and talented (which seemed to be the case with Ricki), there is no guaranty that you will be successful in the music business, in the contrary, the probability is pretty high that you will eventually struggle your whole life. Unfortunately, even though the whole thing had indeed some potential, to be honest, the story turned to be actually really generic and even borderline lame. It’s too bad because the characters were not bad at all, even if they were all rather poorly developed. Indeed, they all kept hammering the fact that Ricki had left them but the reasons why remained rather foggy. Basically, since Ricki was not an alcoholic, a drug or sex addict, the whole conflict between these characters seemed rather bogus as she could have been both, a mother and a rock-star. I mean, being a musician and being eccentric do not make you automatically a bad parent. However, this movie was never interested in getting deeper into these characters and what happened to them and, instead, spent most of the duration trying to convince the viewers unconvincingly that Ricki had been such a bad person. Fortunately, there is no denying that Meryl Streep was again just amazing in this flick though. Indeed, she was just so convincing, as usual, she completely disappeared in her character and, in fact, she even definitely displayed some skills as a musician and as a singer. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look but only to see Meryl Streep giving in another badass performance. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, even though the title did sound pretty cool, even after watching the damned thing, I still have no idea what it actually meant. Anyway, the beginning was really promising and, if this movie would have been properly developed, it could have turned out to be a pretty neat Hitchcockian thriller. I'm not surprised that it was adapted from a book from Patricia Highsmith since Rydal keept reminding me of Tom Ripley. Unfortunately, the whole thing fell apart rather quickly, I’m afraid. Indeed, from the moment the 3 characters ran off together, except for MacFarland killing his wife by accident, nothing really noteworthy happened to them afterwards. To make things worse, none of them really evolved through this ordeal. As a result, even though Kirsten Dunst looked really lovely, she was stuck playing a thankless role as her character didn’t have any impact on the story. Oscar Isaac’s character was even more problematic though. Indeed, it seemed that the makers didn’t know what to do with this guy so, instead of further developing him and explaining what could be his game plan, he remained terribly murky from the beginning until the very end. Eventually, Viggo Mortensen was the only one who managed to be completely convincing but he also had the advantage that this character was the only who was at least rather well defined. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie had some potential, the story really went nowhere but I guess it might still be worth a look if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Paul Greengrass’s work and since this movie had been rather well received, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I took me a while to get into this movie and I guess it mostly had to with the fact that the plot was actually really generic and predictable. And, yet, it still managed to grab me at some point. Indeed, even if it wasn’t the darkest Western I have seen, the tone was still quite sad and I think that’s why the two main characters eventually bonded, not necessarily because they were kind to one and another but because they shared a deep sorrow. What made this even more interesting was that their pain and sorrow actually echoed the pain and sorrow experienced by the whole nation at the time including the Indians, the settlers, the black slaves, the Civil war veterans and the South in general. In my opinion, these two characters were fairly well developed and even though it was obvious the kid needed the captain to move forward, he also needed her to be able to face his past. Eventually, the whole thing did end on a hopeful note but I think it also echoed how, in spite of a very rough start, the USA as a nation still became a world leader, whether you like it or not. In fact, it was apparently the first movie Greengrass made with a happy ending and it was a conscious choice from the director. Anyway, to conclude, even if the story was maybe generic, it was still a decent watch 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 I always had a weak spot for Thomas Vinterberg's work and since there was a really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. I have to admit that I haven't read Thomas Hardy's classic book but I did see an older adaptation directed by John Schlesinger and starring Julie Christie and, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of this story. With this version, they decided to show Bathsheba Everdene as a woman ahead of her time, some kind of early feminist, which was, at first, an interesting approach. Indeed, within this context, even if it was a bold move for the time period, it was rather understandable that she would refuse the marriage proposals of two men she barely knew at the time and because she wasn’t ready to get hitched yet. However, this whole approach was completely ruined by the fact that, for some reasons, she did accept to marry a 3rd guy for some rather obscure reasons. Indeed, why did she get married with Francis Troy? Because he was so romantic? To be honest, it is rather hard to take this argument seriously since she had spent maybe 10 mins with the guy. To make things worse, on her wedding night, she was already regretting her decision... Of course, you could argue that it was the whole point, to show Bathsheba as a fascinating but also flawed woman but, eventually, I had a hard time to really root for her and, at some point, you might wonder why all these guys were actually chasing her. Still, I have to admit that the directing was fine and Vinterberg had delivered here a really gorgeous movie to look at. Furthermore, even though the characters in this tale might seem weak or poorly developed, I still think that the cast involved did deliver some really solid performances (Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge). Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn't care much for this tale, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.