Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Disney+, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I always had a weak spot for this kind of rescue stories and this one was just quite amazing. Unfortunately, the introduction was rather weak though. Sure, I get that it was a way to introduce Bernie Webber as a soft mild-mannered man but the end-result was just rather awkward. To make things worse, the constant bashing of this main character during the beginning became rather tiresome fairly quickly. Anyway, in general, the characters were either poorly developed or not developed at all. For example, Ben Foster, one of the best character actors at work nowadays, had just a couple of uninteresting lines of dialogue and Eric Bana was stuck playing another really underwhelming bad guy.  Fortunately, from the point they finally get to sea to save these guys, the whole thing became seriously thrilling to behold. Indeed, the scenes when you get to see these small boat facing this huge storm were just quite amazing. Eventually, they had some impossible odds to face and even thought the outcome was completely predictable, it was still quite spellbinding. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still turned out to be an entertaining and uplifting movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though ‘The Equalizer’ had turned out to be fairly successful at the box-office, I didn’t care much for this flick but since I have a weak spot for Denzel Washington and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check this sequel. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be even worse than I expected. Seriously, I was so bored through the damned thing. Above all, it took so long to finally take off, in fact, in my opinion, the whole thing never actually took off. Indeed, I was expecting McCall to go to Belgium to investigate the murder of his friend at any moment but it actually never happened. Basically, he managed to figure out the whole case without setting a foot there which might seem impressive but it was actually rather lame. At least, Denzel Washington was not bad and it is remarkable that it took him so long to finally show up in a sequel but it’s a shame the end-result was just so damned underwhelming. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I just didn’t care for at all for this flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre. 

Of course, since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, even though I did like it, I can’t say I was completely blown away after all. I have to admit that it took me a while to figure out what actually bothered with this movie which had been virtually universally loved so far. Was it the saturation? I mean, we get such an overdose of super-hero movies. Even with the Joker himself, it has been already at least the 5^th iteration of this iconic character in 30 years and, even if Joaquin Phoenix was quite amazing, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and even Mark Hamill were just as heralded as he was. I mean, can you imagine Vito Corleone being played by 5 different actors? Furthermore, even though they are all making a big fuss about the fact that this movie could be a revolution in this genre, in my opinion, the story was actually rather basic and predictable. I mean, it was a decent story but this tale of a rather sad mentally ill man slowly becoming homicidal was not really original. Eventually, the genius moves from Todd Philips was not to deliver a great story but to include the Joker in the mix and to have this popular character played by one of the best actors around. Seriously, if you would remove these 2 elements, I wonder if this movie would make so many waves. And, yet, there is no denying that, once again, Joaquin Phoenix gave us here another intense and spellbinding performance. Basically, the whole thing was some kind of amazing dark one-man-show and Phoenix definitely made the most of it. Anyway, to conclude, it is obviously the darkest super-hero flick out there and even if I don’t think it is really masterpiece, it is still definitely worth a look, if only to see Joaquin Phoenix delivering another home-run. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Monica Bellucci, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, Bellucci had a rather small part after all which was slightly disappointing. Anyway, eventually, even though I did appreciate the realistic approach, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing though. I mean, the lack of plot didn’t bother me, it was basically a slice-of-life type of movie which can be a fine genre but, in my opinion, it was above all about the boring life of a rather boring teenager. There was in fact a whole bunch of other characters, almost all family members of the main character, but not one of them was properly developed and, even worse, none of them was really interesting. At least, I have to admit that all the actors involved did deliver some solid performances but we hardly get to know them at all after all. For example, why did they speak a mix of three different languages (Italian, German and French)? Eventually, in my opinion, this cloud of mystery around all these characters was just a rather artificial way to make them seem more interesting than they actually were. And I won’t mention the pathetic cheap ass TV-show showing up towards the end. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I haven’t seen the original version but since it is also available on Disney+, I should eventually watch it at some point in the future. Anyway, to be honest, it took me a while to get into this story, above all, because it is a rather simple even generic tale. Indeed, by now, I have seen my share of tales about a kid bonding with a nice alien/monster/mythical creature. However, I have to admit that the gentle approach chosen by David Lowery slowly won me over though. There was also a rare sense of wonder, especially during the scenes involving a pitch-perfect Robert Redford and it is rather impressive that, from such a generic story, Lowery still managed to touch me so much. It’s too bad that the whole sub-spot about Karl Urban trying to catch this dragon was rather tedious and it would have been really interesting if they could have come up with an idea to make a compelling tale without such a generic bad guy. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t become a huge box-office success, it is in fact the best live-action remake delivered by Disney so far and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though there were some good ideas and the damned thing had some potential, it turned out to be pretty weak, I’m afraid. Above all, their approach to the material was just completely wrong. Indeed, after watching ‘Narcos’ also on Netflix, with its gritty and raw approach to handle your average Latin cartel, it was rather difficult to take this movie seriously. Of course, you could blame Catherine Hardwicke but with her directing debut ‘Thirteen’, she had delivered one of the most realistic depiction of teenagers I have seen. Another missed opportunity was also how they handled Lino, the bad guy. Indeed, there were some scenes during which they displayed some interesting depth regarding this character but, each time around, this guy was acting again like any other generic bad guy. In my opinion, it would have been so much more interesting if he would have been actually a nice and smart man. As a result, it would have greatly confused the main character and their relationship would have been so much more complex and entertaining. Concerning Gina Rodriguez, she was not bad, at least, she did nail the girl-next-door look but, beside this, to be honest, she didn’t really impress me. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, it was rather weak 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. To be honest, even before the damned thing was released, it did sound like a rather misguided project. Seriously, even after watching this movie, I still wonder what was the whole point. Indeed, from a commercial point of view, Westerns are a bad investment as they always flop at the box-office and, from an artistical point of view, it was a basically a remake of a remake so it seemed terribly derivative. At least, I have to admit that the whole thing looked really good and there was a solid cast involved (Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard, Matt Bomer, Matthew Cullen, Cam Gigandet). Concerning the story, at least, it had been a while since I saw the original version (or, should I say, the previous remake) so I was fairly entertained but, to be honest, it is a rather basic story. What I missed the most was that, even if the running time was above the 2 hours, you don’t get to really know any of those 7 guys after all. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was a still a decent watch and I guess it is worth a look but only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I haven’t read the book but it is a major classic in American Literature but, to be honest, I took me a while to get into this movie. Still, the material was actually pretty strong. Unfortunately, Disney tried to squeeze this actually rather dark tale into a family feature with a G rating and the end-result was sometimes rather awkward. For example, towards the end, Jim almost got lynched which was obviously an horrible sight but this tragic twist was seriously toned down and it was pretty much played like some kind of joke. In general, Jim, as a character, was rather poorly developed anyway. Indeed, if it made sense that Huckelberry Finn would talk like a young boy, it was just really condescending and even rather annoying to see a grown-up man like Jim talking the same way. Still, the concept remains pretty awesome, having this kid living some adventures with a black man in the racist south of the USA and, if the tone would have been slightly darker and slightly more realistic, it could have been actually really neat. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jessica Chastain and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even if it was a really inspiring tale, it turned out to be only a decent watch and not much more than that, I’m afraid. First of all, even though Chastain is one of the most interesting actresses at work nowadays, I thought she was rather weak here. It didn’t help that she used such an annoying fake Polish accent and, in fact, all the actors were stuck speaking English with some completely random accents. Furthermore, I think it was also a mistake that her husband was played by such an uncharismatic guy. Indeed, the husband had been just as important as she was in saving all these Jews and, yet, there was somehow a rather misguided focus on her. In fact, I was actually amazed to discover afterwards that the husband was played by the same Belgian actor who had been so pitch-perfect, and indeed so charismatic, in ‘The Broken Circle Breakdown’. Concerning Daniel Brühl, he was basically stuck playing the typical twisted evil Nazi officer and there was no consistency in his character as his behaviour kept shifting depending of the needs of the script. Concerning the story itself, it was definitely some strong material and to see such selfless kindness in the darkest time of mankind remains awe-inspiring, even if the end-result was rather generic in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it since this movie had won the Golden Calf of the Best Dutch movie of the year, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I did end up with some mixed feelings. However, this is such a rare thing to see such an ambitious Dutch production and only therefore the damned thing already got some free extra points from me. Furthermore, this movie is one of the rare exceptions where a mixed-up chronology was not a useless gimmick but actually enhanced this tale. Still, the damned thing was not flawless, far from it, I’m afraid. Indeed, except for Dakota Fanning who gave here a really solid performance, the rest of the cast was, in my opinion, rather wasted. It wasn’t that Guy Pearce was bad though but his character was such a nasty piece of work and, to be honest, it was rather difficult to take him seriously. I mean, what was exactly the deal with this guy after all? Concerning Carice van Houten, it was rather sad to see her playing such a poorly developed and spineless character. To make things worse, the first time that someone finally told her the truth about how miserable her life actually was, she basically killed herself the very next minute. As a rather foreseeable consequence, she therefore left her defenceless daughter alone with her creepy dad and, as a result, it made it rather difficult to root for this woman. However, the most pathetic character was probably the one played by Kit Harington though. Seriously, it felt like watching Jon Snow showing up in a Western with an awful American accent. Finally, I didn’t really get why the main character had to actually cut out her tong. I mean, couldn’t she pretend to be mute instead? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was pretty neat to see a Dutch movie with some international ambitions and, only therefore, I think it is definitely worth a look.