Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. 

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Mary Poppins and, in my opinion, it was actually a terrible idea to make a sequel after all these years. However, since I have a weak spot for Emily Blunt and since this movie was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that it didn’t turn out to be such a misguided sequel after all, it was actually even a decent watch but I’m afraid it still pretty much bored me like its predecessor. At least, the whole thing looked fine and I especially enjoyed the scene mixing live-action with hand-drawn animation. Indeed, it has been a while since I have seen such a mix working so flawlessly. And, of course, it was quite brave of Emily Blunt to dare play such an iconic character and she was rightfully praised for her performance. However, I think it would have been more rewarding for her as an actress and for us as viewers if she would play some new unforgettable characters, instead of ending up recycling some classic material. Coming back to the movie itself, I still think it was rather tedious to watch though. For example, it was again dealing with some torn apart family with a recently deceased mother which has become such an overused gimmick, especially in Disney movies (Seriously, I saw last week  ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ which had exactly the same storyline). Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t care much for the damned thing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Samuel L. Jackson and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, I really liked the concept of the 3^rd John Shaft being a young hipster and also a computer geek working for the FBI who didn’t like weapons at all. Indeed, it was rather neat to introduce John Shaft (Senior) to our current time period and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson was still pretty awesome playing this character. However, if Regina Hall was fine as well, Jessie Usher and Alexandra Shipp were unfortunately rather weak, I’m afraid. As a result, it was only from the moment that Jackson got involved that the whole thing started to be entertaining. Another issue was that the running time was just too long for such a generic story. Basically, as long as the movie was focusing on the relationship between the 2 John Shaft’s, it was working fine, but pretty much everything else was rather underwhelming or even downright boring. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still turned out to be 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 it was on the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it turned out to be a rather odd movie praising the virtues of alcohol, especially whisky. Sure, it was all rather innocent but it’s difficult to imagine making such a movie nowadays (in fact, they did remake the very same story a couple of years ago but, unsurprisingly, it was quickly forgotten). To be honest, I have to admit I don’t have much knowledge of the Ealing comedies. I mean, I did watch ‘Kind Heart and Coronets’, probably their biggest classic, but I was only amused at best so I can’t say I’m really into their kind of humour. With this movie, the tricky thing was also that you pretty much knew everything that would happen from the very start so the main (and, as far as I was concerned, only) thing  to enjoy were the colourful inhabitants of this small island. I have to admit that these characters were indeed quite entertaining but, to be honest, they were barely developed at all and I still wonder how Scottish people feel about this movie as they were portrayed as some massive alcoholics who can’t live without their daily doses of whisky. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t really blown away by the damned thing, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie had been a huge commercial and critical flop, since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Indeed, I'm one of the lucky guys living in the Netherlands who had the opportunity to use Disney+ 2 full months before anyone else in the world. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it turned out to be another massive product design and CGI extravaganza but it was maybe the least annoying aspect about this movie. Indeed, the whole thing was nothing original at all and it was pretty much a mix of various movies such as ‘The Polar Express’, ‘Narnia’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and even ‘Hugo’. Above all, the damned thing was just so generic and boring. Seriously, they couldn’t come up with a better gimmick than having the main character missing her recently deceased mother? Eventually, the story and the characters involved were just terribly tedious and the only thing I enjoyed was the ballet during the end-credits. At the end of the day, you might wonder if the this movie wouldn’t have worked better if they didn’t go for such a bland and generic approach. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty much a waste of time and I don’t think it is worth a look whatsoever.