Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, even though I really enjoyed 'Sicario', I was surprised that they decided to make a sequel. Indeed, it seemed to be a rather self-contained story and it wasn't really what you could call a huge blockbuster. Anyway, I wanted to check if this sequel was any good, even if it wasn't directed by Denis Villeneuve but he did give his seal of approval so I was hoping it would be at least a decent watch. Well, at least, Stefano Sollima did manage to keep the same visual style and mood and both Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro once again gave some really solid performamces. Furthermore, it was also interesting that the focus was this time not on the war on Drugs but on human trafficking which apparently has become the biggest source of income for the Mexican cartels. However, the whole thing was still missing to become truly remarkable. First of all, coming back to 'Sicario', even though I did like this movie, I didn't think it was really so amazing and it was even slightly overrated in my opinion so while watching this sequel, I couldn't help thinking that the whole thing was rather unnecessary. Furthermore, I wasn't so sure about the story. For example, there was this major plot-hole about  why they kept going back and forth between the USA and Mexico. It was even pointed out by one of the characters and the best explanation they could come up with was that ' they didn't have there the necessary infrastructure' by it wasn't really convincing. Indeed, why didn't they kidnap the girl and brought her right away to her final destination? Furthermore, when they brought her back back to Mexico, why did they go by car which was pretty much the most dangerous option? Why didn't use again an helicopter? Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Samuel L. Jackson, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. The first issue I had was with Luke Wilson. Indeed, even if he did look the part, he gave a rather weak performance and he was never convincing. Another thing that bothered me was that the whole thing looked so fake, especially Luke Wilson's house. For a very long time, I was wondering if the general fakeness was by design, if it was some kind of Twilight Zone deal, but it was apparently giving this movie way too much credit. Indeed, the 3rd act finally gave some kind of resolution but it was a really weak conclusion to an already rather underwhelming movie. Eventually, the only thing that worked was Samuel L. Jackson. Indeed, it is not very often that he gets the opportunity to play a lead character and, in contrary to Wilson's really limp performance, he was pretty badass and really convincing. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, the damned thing was pretty much a waste of time and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since the story was intriguing, I was really eager to check it out. Indeed, even though I'm a rather lousy chess player, I think it is a fascinating game so it was really neat to see a movie dealing with Bobby Fisher, probably one of the best chess players that ever lived and easily the most famous one. Well, Fisher turned out to quite a spellbinding character and, with this material, you could definitely make a great movie but, unfortunately, it turned out to be only decent but not much more than that, I'm afraid. I won't blame Tobey Maguire who gave here a really solid performance but, in my opinion, the biggest issue was with the directing. I mean, Edward Zwick is not really a bad director, in fact, he usually choses some interesting projects, but he is not what you would call a fascinating 'author' and it was unfortunately pretty obvious here. Indeed, Bobby Fisher was pretty much an icon back in those days, his game with Boris Spassky was a huge event followed by millions of people, and yet Zwick delivered such a safe uninspiring by-the-numbers biopic which was watchable but not really satisfying. You can only imagine what a director like David Fincher (who was actually attached to this project for several years) could have done with this fascinating material. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still an entertaining story though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject. 

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, to be honest, it didn't really work, I'm afraid, and the main reason why was because the whole thing was just so random. I mean, the plot was basically about a rich orphan who gets involved with some hoodlums pushing him to buy a gym so they can tear it down to build something else. However, after maybe 5 minutes, the main character, who seemed completely aimless, apparently completely forgot what he was actually supposed to do and actually became friends with the people working at this gym. Somehow, I have to admit that the whole thing was actually so absurd that it could have been actually awesome. For example, I was actually really impressed by Arnold Schwarzenegger who was playing such a complex and actually fairly deep character. He actually delivered here one of his best performances and you can only wonder what would have happened with his career if he had focused more on dramas instead than on all these action flicks. So, the characters were actually interesting but I get the feeling that Bob Rafelson had no idea what to do with them and the whole thing felt terribly half-baked after all. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be one of the most random films I have ever seen, it just didn't work and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Since I have always been a huge fan of the Coen brothers, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Well, even if it won't go down as one of their best movies, I thought it was fairly enjoyable and, at least, it was a slight improvement on 'Hail, Caesar!' which was, in my opinion, one of their weakest movies so far. First of all, even though some hard-core movie fans might prefer the good old celluloid, the digital photography displayed in this movie was beautiful and, in my opinion, it was the most gorgeous movie delivered by the Coen brothers so far. Concerning the little stories they gave us, to be honest, even though they were not bad, none of them really impressed me. The first one dealing with Buster Scruggs himself was by far the best one but all the others were going from just decent to actually rather weak. Eventually, the whole thing gave the feeling that the brothers couldn't come up with one really good story so they compiled a bunch of rather half-baked tales together. The best example would be the segment 'Meal Ticket'. I mean, it wasn't really bad but the outcome was rather predictable and it didn't seem to be a really smart choice to have half of the running time with Harrison repeating again and again his text. Eventually, it's a good example showing that most of these tales were never really about the plot but about mixing the Western genre with the typical Coen mood and quirkyness. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Coen brothers's work.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jennifer Lawrence, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, even if it was a decent watch, I still ended up with some mixed feelings though. The first thing that bothered me was the fact that even though it did look and sound like a vintage Cold War thriller, it was actually taking place nowadays and it gave me the feeling that the makers therefore didn't really trust the material enough. Another thing that bothered me was that the accents were just completely random. Indeed, sometimes, the characters were actually speaking very little Russian, God knows why, and the rest of the time they would speak in English with a fake Russian accent but some actors like Jennifer Lawrence or Charlotte Rampling would sometimes revert to their normal accent. Still, they were some strong scenes and it could have been really awesome if the main character would  have been darker, more ambitious and, above all, more ambiguous. In my opinion, it would have been much more compelling if these 2 spies kept manipulating each other and, in the process, kept the viewers constantly in the dark about their true intentions. I mean, this movie did play around with this idea but it wasn't never really convincing enough. Anyway, to conclude, even though it turned out to be another rather half-baked project involving Jennifer Lawrence, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, since this movie has a rather lame reputation, I had some rather low expectations but since there was a really nice cast involved, I still wanted to check it out. Well, to my surprise, the beginning scenes were actually not bad at all. Indeed, Stephen Gaghan had started with a compelling view on college life with some believeable characters and the mood was also pretty neat.  Unfortunately, the whole thing never really took off and for at least one hour, nothing much really happened. Seriously, it has been a while since I have seen a movie going absolutely nowhere like this one. Basically, it was one of these thrillers focusing way too much on the mood instead of providing some substance. Then, at last, during the final act, this mystery was finally expained but it was just so predictable and it felt therefore completely anticlimactic. To make things worse, I thought that Katie Holmes and Benjamin Bratt both gave some wooden performances. I mean, sure, they were both attractive but neither of them was convincing playing some supposedly broken souls and it was rather lame that they would fall for each other. Anyway, to conclude, even if it turned out to be actually slightly better than I expected, it was still rather weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.