Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Dwayne Johnson, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I don’t think it was so bad after all. Obviously, sure, the plot was really far-fetched and this massive building was quite ridiculous. I mean, it was nice that they took such a tall skyscraper but I wish they kept it slightly more realistic as the damned thing seriously looked so fake. Indeed, such movies are always composed of preposterous action scenes so, to compensate how fake the action actually is, it does help to have a more realistic background and some believable characters. Concerning the characters, even though Dwayne Johnson was supposed to play some version of John McClane, Johnson was unfortunately dreadfully serious through the whole thing, except for a very few one-liners. So, it seemed I didn’t care for many things about this movie and, yet, I thought it was still fairly entertaining though. The main reason was that there were a couple of action scenes which were just really impressive. Of course, what all happened was quite preposterous but it did help that the main character was ex-military. Indeed, Johnson with his insane muscular silhouette might be actually able to pull such stunts for real or maybe not but the fact that you keep wondering if it might be possible made the whole thing much more fun to watch. Anyway, to conclude, even if I might have been slightly too generous with my rating here, it was actually a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but there was a nice cast involved and I was curious what to see what Andy Serkis would manage to do with his directorial debut. Well, even if it was a really strong story with a lot of potential, to be honest, I wasn’t really sure about the tone chosen by Serkis though. Indeed, considering the material, I thought they would go for some inspirational drama but the tone turned out to be much lighter than I expected. Sure, I guess it probably made the whole thing easier to swallow but the downside was that it vastly glossed over some elements. For example, how did they manage this situation financially since they both couldn’t work? Furthermore, even if going out the hospital might have tremendously helped Robin Cavendish to move on with his life, the way he completely embraced his new life with no second thoughts whatsoever seemed rather doubtful. I mean, sure, it was a vast improvement for him but I don’t think the guy became suicidal only because he was living in a hospital. Another issue was that they put mostly the focus on the fact that Robin and Diana Cavendish tremendously loved each other. Basically, it was the reason why they managed to overcome so many obstacles but while it was very cute and romantic, it felt also rather naïve. Still, Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy had a very nice chemistry and they both delivered some really solid performances. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, back in those days, Brendan Fraser managed to get his breakthrough by playing such goofy characters and, as a result, it was probably the main reason why I never took the guy seriously. At least, I don’t think it was a bad idea of making a spoof of Tarzan. Indeed, the whole concept of the king of jungle has always been actually quite ridiculous so to make fun of it actually did make sense. Eventually, in this case, the end-result turned out to be some rather daft comedy but, even if I have to admit that it was rather harmless, it was also hardly entertaining, I’m afraid. The main issue was that they never tried to go further than some running jokes involving George crashing against a tree or Ape delivering some major farts. It's too bad because it could have been fun to display how incompetent George was in his job as ’King of the Jungle’. Anyway, the bottom line was that the damned thing was just rather poorly written. I mean, they began in the jungle but it seemed that they got stuck half way through so they sent the characters to San Francisco but, once again, they didn’t really figure out how to further develop this tale from this point so they moved the major characters back again to the jungle. Concerning Brendan Fraser, I have to admit that he was physically actually quite convincing but his whole act of fool-with-a-heart-of-gold never really worked for me. Anyway, to conclude, I was actually seriously bored by the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look.     

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be a rather weak, generic and predictable story. As a result, I was at first quite bored and the fact that it would run for 2 long hours was rather daunting. However, what saved this movie from becoming completely lame was the 4 characters involved though. Indeed, even if none of them was really complex whatsoever, they were still fairly well developed and, above all, the cast was really solid (Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish). I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with her work but Haddish was very often quite funny in this movie and, for some reason, I have never noticed before that Regina Hall was actually so attractive. Anyway, in spite of the rather lame material, this group of friends was actually pretty neat, they had some nice chemistry together and it was rather obvious that the cast had a blast. Anyway, to conclude, even if the concept was actually pretty weak, the damned thing turned out to be rather harmless and I guess it might be worth a look but only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect but since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick and since it was available on Netflix, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I wish had a better knowledge of the historical background and of all the protagonists involved before watching this movie. Indeed, during the first 15 mins, there was so much information to digest, so many names to remember, I have to admit that I did struggle to get a good grip on the damned thing. Fortunately, as soon as the trial began, it became much more straightforward. In fact, it was probably one of the most incredible but also ridiculous trials I have ever seen. In my opinion, it was another proof of how actually rigged the American judicial system was and actually still is. Indeed, I believe that, before any US trial even starts, most of the time, the accused is actually considered as guilty or innocent solely based on their economical, social, racial and, in this case, political background. Of course, you have tons of American movies showing some nail-biting trials during which you wonder what the outcome might turn out to be but the reality is much more predictable and disheartening, I’m afraid. I have noticed that Sacha Baron Cohen was praised for his performance and he was indeed really good but, in my opinion, he stood out mostly because he had the most and probably the only really multi-layered character. That’s the tricky thing when you have 7 accused (plus Bobby Seale) and 2 hours of running time, as a result, except for Abbie Hoffman and maybe Tom Hayden, all the characters were defined with 1 or 2 scenes and were reduced to one specific character stroke. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a solid watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, it was only when the movie was finished that I noticed that the damned thing had been actually directed by John Krasinski. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a rather typical quirky comedy about some dysfunctional family but I have to admit that the approach chosen by Krasinski had some potential. For example, there were some nice little details like for example when you get to see the Hollars watching some lame TV show in Sally’s hospital room. Indeed, it felt really sweet and genuine. Unfortunately, since it was apparently a comedy, they kept forcing the characters to go through some hoops just to get a few laughs. In this case, the biggest victim was probably Ron Hollar. I mean, Sharlto Copley gave a solid performance but, not only the guy was divorced, had lost his job, had to live with his parents, but he kept getting humiliated through most of the duration which was hardly entertaining. Another issue was the fact that the makers did struggle to handle so many characters with each one their own half-baked subplot. In this case, the biggest victim was probably Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who was actually the main reason why I wanted to watch the damned thing). I mean, what was the point of bringing this character at all in the mix if she would never showed up again after this one single scene? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre. 

In fact, I wanted to see the original version first but since this remake was directly available thanks to my TV provider, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, if you thought that ‘Black Swan’ gave a creepy look on the dance world, I think that Luca Guadagnino managed to deliver here the creepiest dance movie ever. Seriously, this movie was pretty much the stuff of nightmares and it was often quite spellbinding to behold. Still, even though I enjoyed most of it, the whole thing didn’t completely work though. First of all, I think it was a mistake to let the audience know almost right from the start that the teachers at this dance company were some kind of witches. Indeed, it would have been much spookier, much stronger if they had kept it more ambiguous. The fact that the running time was quite long made this even worse (it was apparently almost 1 hour longer than Argento’s version). Then, in spite the previously mentioned running time, we didn’t really get to know any of the characters and, probably even more problematic, they didn’t evolve whatsoever between the beginning and the end. I mean, even if Dakota Johnson did a deliver a very strong performance, probably her best so far, she still felt like an empty vessel. Still, from a visual point of view, Guadagnino delivered here another gorgeous movie and some images and scenes were quite haunting. It was also a movie during which there was so much stuff going on going such as history, war, politics, gender, witchcraft, horror, psychology, … It was probably too much to handle but this mix was still intriguing to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't a complete homerun, it was still a nice watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I’m well aware that this franchise has a rather lousy reputation but, to be honest, I have to admit that ‘London Has Fallen’ was slightly better than its predecessor so I thought I might as well check this 3^rd instalment.  Well, unfortunately, this sequel turned out to be a huge step back, I’m afraid. Indeed, above all, the plot was just so generic and seriously tedious. I mean, by now, I can’t remember how many flicks I have seen dealing with the main character being setup for some complot. Obviously, Mike Banning then spent most of the duration trying to prove his innocence while the good guys and bad guys were hunting him down. On top of that, he had also some major health issues which was also not terribly original. I mean, all this was not necessarily a bad idea but the biggest issue was that the makers didn't add anything new, surprising or entertaining with these tired old concepts and, as a result, I was seriously bored through the whole thing. It was also pretty obvious that they had slashed in the budget (it was apparently almost half cheaper than ‘Olympus Has Fallen’) as, this time around, they didn’t have a huge cast of over-qualified actors involved. They still managed to add Danny Huston, Nick Nolte and Jada Pinkett Smith to this franchise though. Huston was actually not bad, Nolte was obviously completely wasted but I felt above all bad for Pinkett Smith. Is it really the only gig she could find to show to the world that she still has a career beside being Miss Will Smith? Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie was rather harmless, I seriously struggled not to fall asleep while watching the damned thing so I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you really like the genre.