Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have recently re-watched ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset’ so, obviously, I was really eager to check out this last installment. On top of that, I kept hearing some great things about this flick so I had some rather high expectations. First of all, I know it might sound silly, but I was actually a little bit confused by the location. Indeed, it was only during the last 30 minutes that I understood that they were not actually living in Greece but that they were there only on vacation. Anyway, that was certainly not a deal breaker. Basically, at last, Jesse and Céline were finally together and, in fact, when the film starts, they have actually been together for almost a decade and they even have 2 cute twin girls. So, you could think that all is well but, eventually, most of the romance is now gone and they spend maybe half of the movie arguing about various subjects. I know, it might sound disappointing for everyone who just wanted to see some spotless eternal love in their movies but, if you, like me, are craving for something more down-to-earth and realistic, then you will definitely love this flick. Indeed, by now, those characters have been so well developed (after all, we have spent 2 decades following their evolution as individuals and as a couple) and they are still fascinating to behold. On top of that, most of their thoughts and feelings are so relatable, especially if you are yourself in a long-term relationship with kids, and it made the whole thing even more meaningful to me. To conclude, it was definitely a great flick, one of the best romantic features I have seen and this trilogy is just downright amazing. 

In 2015, they finally released a new sequel for this franchise but, to be honest, I never expected it to become so huge. Indeed, even though a new Star Wars installment is coming up in the next months, there is a good chance that this sequel will turn out to be the highest grossing movie released for that year. Anyway, almost 20 years ago, after the smashing success of the first installment, it wasn’t really surprising that they would come up with a new sequel and since Steven Spielberg was back in the directing chair, there was some hope that it would be a pretty good blockbuster. Well, eventually, I really didn't like this flick and I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. I mean, of course, there were some impressive action scenes but, in my opinion, it was such an idiotic story. To be honest, I don’t think that the plot was already  the strongest aspect of the first installment but there were many elements which compensated this resulting in something really entertaining. It  wasn’t the case here and I thought that the whole thing was big, loud, kind of stupid and most of the time rather tedious to watch. To conclude, even though it might sound surprising, I actually prefer the 3^rd installment and I don’t think this first sequel was any good but you might end up enjoying it more than I did. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, first of all, back in the 80’s, Disney was going through some rough times and even though most of their movies had done fairly well at the box-office, none of them had been very memorable.  In fact, even if during the 70’s, their animated movies didn't turn out to be really impressive either. Eventually, they managed to make a massive come-back with this movie which would be the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. In fact, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theatre when it was released and I must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time. Eventually, to be honest, even though I thought it was well made and fairly entertaining, I can’t say I really loved this movie though. Basically, this movie would establish the template for the following Disney productions during the 90’s and one of the trademarks of this template would be some musical-comedy format with Broadway-styled songs but, to be honest, I have always been rather bored by these songs. Well, after 30 long years and many rewatches, I think I finally get this movie. Above all, what really impressed was Ariel as this character was pretty much pitch-perfect. Indeed, not only she was quite gorgeous but she also had the charisma of such classic princess like Snow White or Cinderella. However, what made her such a success was the fact that she was also a perfect representation of a modern teenager and this mix was just so well done. The story itself was also a solid old fashioned fairy tale, something they used to do so well in the past and it was a great idea to finally come-back to this genre, especially with such a tremendous end-result. The only down point would be when they turned Ariel into a mute. Obviously, they needed to find some obstacle to temporarily slow down this romance but this choice made Ariel, such a well-rounded character, terrible passive during the 3^rd act. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be flawless, it was still a massive classic fairy tale from Disney and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since I have it on DVD and since I just bought an awesome brand new TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember perfectly when I saw this flick the first time though. Indeed, back then, I just started to live in the Netherlands and I was coming back to France for the Christmas holidays. For the 1st installment, my best buddy had no idea what to expect but, this time, he was just dying to watch this follow-up. Therefore, we planned to watch this one and we went once again with a group of friends. Anyway, it was definitely really awesome, I was starting to feel the epicness of the whole thing even more and, in my opinion, it was an improvement on 'The Fellowship'. Indeed, this time, there was no need to introduce the characters and most of the movie was filled with some amazing battle scenes. On top of that, there was this one major character who was finally properly introduced and it was obviously Gollum. Even though 20 years later, he might not seem much, back then, it was such a milestone and the first time that such a 3 dimensional and compelling character was created through CGI and motion capture. Anyway, this character was just truly mind-blowing, it was totally revolutionary and we should definitely give some credit to both Jackson and Serkis for this amazing work. I have seen this movie many times by now and I have to admit that, the last time I watched it, for the first time ever, I actually preferred ‘The Fellowship…’ probably because this 2^nd installment felt more disjointed. Anyway, to conclude, as a stand alone movie, it is still really amazing but, as one third of a great epic tale, it is even more awesome and the damned thing is pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff.

I already saw this movie (In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw it in the movie theater when it was released) but my wife was quite eager to check it out again. First of all, I have to confess that I have always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies. Unfortunately, there are in fact not so many great romantic-comedies out there and most of them are actually terribly underwhelming. Anyway, in this genre, this movie is pretty much a classic so you might assume that I really loved the damned thing. On top of that, it was written and directed by Richard Curtis, the guy who wrote ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ which is easily one of the very best movies in this genre, at least, in my opinion. Well, eventually, even though I thought it was not bad, I can’t say I really loved the damned thing though. I mean, sure, there was an impressive cast involved, maybe the biggest one I have ever seen in a romantic-comedy (Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Sienna Guillory, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Alan Rickman, Rodrigo Santoro, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Claudia Schiffer, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards). However, even though the various stories involved were usually quite cute, I don't think that any of them was really amazing. That’s also the problem with having so many characters and so many sub-plots, as a result, you never spend enough time with one single story to really care about it. At least, not all these little stories did end up with a sappy happy-ending which was refreshing but they were still alll rather half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think it is actually rather overrated, I have to admit that it is still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.