Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I thought I should finally watch the damned thing at some point. First of all, it’s too bad that Netflix did provide only the version dubbed in Hindi instead of the original version in Telugu. Still, it turned out to be such a f*cking blast, I have seen around 7000 movies and I had never seen anything like this. Seriously, it was probably one of the craziest movies I have ever seen. Basically, they took so many different genres such as action, romance, comedy, drama, historical epic, patriotic propaganda,… and cranked up all these genres to the max and, even though it should have been a total disaster, it actually worked so well. On top of that, it featured some of the most exhilarating action scenes I have seen and, without ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, it would have been hands-down visually the most impressive movie released in 2022. It also featured one of the most fascinating bromances. Eventually, I still think that there were a (few) dull moments though. Above all, I didn’t care much for the half-baked romance between Bheem and Jenny and it was pretty obvious that this romance was added just so that Bheem could find Malli in a completely random way. In fact, since he knew that Malli had been abducted by the governor and his wife, I don’t understand why it was supposed to be so difficult to find Malli’s location. Still, it was some minor flaw and the whole thing was just so freaking entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think it was a masterpiece (it wasn’t far from it though), I really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are oblivious about Indian movies (like me) and want to discover them. 

To be honest, after the really useless live-action version released by Disney this year, I can’t say I was really dying to see again another version of this famous tale, especially so soon. However, a new movie directed by Guillermo Del Toro is always a big event, especially when it is a passion project like this one on which he has been working for more than 10 years. Well, first of all, there is no doubt that the damned thing was visually really neat and if you’re into stop-motion, this flick is definitely a must-see. Concerning the story itself, it was pretty cool that they did extend the introduction and displayed in the process the relationship between Geppetto and his deceased son, Carlo. They also combined some elements from Frankenstein’s story. As a result, Geppetto actually really freaked out when Pinocchio came to life and it took him a while to accept him and eventually love him. It really deferred from the other adaptations but I thought it was a really interesting approach. For some reason, the action was also taking place in the 30’s in Fascist Italy which was not necessarily a bad idea but I’m not sure if it really had such an interesting added value. Unfortunately, even though Del Toro did tweak the story a little bit, in my opinion, it was still the same old tale that I have seen so many times by now and I find it hard to really care at this point. Above all, I think they should have dropped as many details as possible from the Disney classic adaptation to make sure that this movie could really stand on its own. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Guillermo Del Toro’s work. 

In 2009, I saw ‘Avatar’ with my step-kids in the movie theater when it was released. Back then, they were only 12 and 15 years old. Yesterday, we went to see this sequel together (with their little sister as well) and it was just awesome to share again this experience with them. On top of that, this time, we saw it in IMAX 3D (something I always wished we did with the first instalment) and the damned thing was just visually so impressive. Seriously, some people might complain that it’s too long but I thought the time passed by really fast. What I enjoyed the most was probably the fact that James Cameron several times actually completely ignored the plot to focus instead on this fascinating world. It was also a great move to focus on a completely different Na'vi tribe living on the shores of some islands. Finally, the last thing that really worked was the fact that they didn’t focus only on Jake Sully but on his whole family instead. As a result, there was not really a main character but several characters in the spotlight and I was positively surprised by how complex they were portrayed. Indeed, as displayed in this movie, Jake Sully was still a charismatic leader but also an authoritarian jerk and Neytiri was still a fearless warrior but also apparently a rather psychotic mama bear. Still, in spite of what some reviewers might argue, I don't think this movie was such an improvement on its predecessor. Indeed, back then, the first installment was so mind-blowing above all because it was so much ahead of the game and, in my opinion, it had at least a 10 years lead on the rest of the competition. However, this movie, even if it was more than a decent sequel, didn’t feel like such a game-changer after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away like ‘Avatar’ did so many years ago, I still really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie had been a huge flop when it was released (apparently, it was even one of the biggest flops ever), since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it did remind me of ‘Nikita’ and I always been a huge fan of this concept. Sure, with such stories, half of it is always rather preposterous but, when it’s well done, it can be super entertaining and, in this case, I think the end-result was not bad after all. Still, there was one thing that did bother me though. Indeed, why on Earth did Keith Proctor contact Stephanie Patrick in the first place? It could have worked but I wish they developed more the reasons behind his actions. In my opinion, he didn’t make much sense that a journalist would reach out to a junkie prostitute regarding a massive terrorist conspiracy. Seriously, what was he trying to achieve? Except that aspect, everything actually worked fairly well though and I appreciate how raw the whole thing was which is always the best approach with this genre. On top of that, [Link removed - login to see] gave here a really solid performance and she certainly didn’t deserve this movie to flop so hard. Jude Law was not bad either. Coming back on the story, I have to admit that I was expecting some twist at the end, that she had been manipulated to kill some people who had nothing to do with the plane crash but it turned out to be so straightforward after all. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deal breaker though. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws and its rather lame reputation, it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Nicolas Cage, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I had never heard of Sion Sono before but, apparently, the guy had a rather prolific career going over almost 30 years. Well, after looking into it, his work seems to be quite intriguing and, indeed, this movie turned out to be weird, daft and even really unhinged. Seriously, it felt like they took some acid when they wrote this movie and it seemed they took some even more while they were shooting the damned thing. I read somewhere from some critic that it was actually his most mainstream(!) movie so far so I can’t imagine how weird his other movies must be. Sure, now, I made it sound as if it was a super cool movie but, unfortunately, even if it was definitely much bolder than the usual cheap action flicks that Cage has been doing during the last 10 years, I’m afraid it was never really interesting or entertaining at all. Basically, this movie was just an unwatchable f*cking mess. The most pathetic thing was probably the suit that Nicolas Cage had to wear and, in fact, if this weird material was the perfect material for Cage to go completely nuts, I thought his performance was rather tame after all. At least, he wasn't really wasted like Sofia Boutella who was given nothing to do at all. Eventually, I did give this movie a few extra points because it was so wild but, to be honest, I just didn’t care at all about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse with Nicolas Cage, it was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of musicals in general, I have to admit that I’m not familiar with Rodgers and Hammerstein and it’s only afterwards that I discovered that they were also responsible for ‘Oklahoma!’ (which seriously bored me) and ‘The Sound of Music’ (which is at least a massive classic). Well, I think it was rather tricky to make a rather fluffy and shallow musical taking place during WWII but I have to admit that they almost pulled it off though. By the way, this movie got a lot of critics because they used some garish color filters but, even though the effect was indeed sometimes jarring, it didn’t bother me that much and most of the movie was actually quite beautiful to look at. Still, even though the running time was over 150 mins, in my opinion, nothing much really happened after all. Concerning the cast, Rossano Brazzi did remind me of some kind of vintage version of Jean Dujardin. However, even if his French was not bad, it was pretty obvious that he was not French though (he was in fact Italian). However, I have to admit that he did have a nice chemistry with the really lovely Mitzi Gaynor. Unfortunately, the other romance didn’t work so well though. Indeed, even if John Kerr and France Nuyen did also have a decent chemistry, the way this couple met was just so random. Of course, you could argue that it was a case of ‘love at first sight’ but they could have developed more this relationship. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it was a decent watch after all 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. At least, you have to admit that the title was pretty badass. Well, in spite of its ambitious title, it turned out to be a huge flop when it was released after all. To be honest, I’m not a religious man, even the opposite, I’m a die-hard atheist but I always thought that religion was a fascinating subject. At some point, I did try to read the Bible but, to be honest, the Old Testament is such a drag and, after a few hundred pages, I have to admit that I just quit the damned thing. Anyway, I thought it was pretty neat to see a massive epic dealing with the most famous man that ever walked this earth. Still, I’m glad that the version I watched was ‘only’ 3 hours long. Indeed, I understand that they wanted to be faithful to the dogma and scripture but most of the dialogue was some riddles and the fact that I saw the movie on the BBC without subtitles probably didn’t help. At least, Max von Sydow, who was fairly unknown in the US at the time, was a perfect choice and I think he delivered here a solid performance. Concerning the ‘story’ itself, it’s so interesting and actually quite inspiring that the basis of his beliefs was basically love and forgiveness. However, as displayed in this movie, the main reason why so many people started to believe in him was not because his way of thinking was so amazing but mostly because he kept performing some magic tricks on a regular basis such as curing people, changing water into wine or walking on water (it’s interesting that the last two mentioned miracles were actually not displayed in this movie). As a result, with no offence, it does make the whole Christendom look fairly ridiculous but that’s of course a personal opinion. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you are interested in the subject matter. 

To be honest, it seemed to be a really obscure flick but since it was directed by Lasse Hallström and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, like Switzerland, Sweden was neutral during WWII so it was interesting to see a movie focusing on this time period. Indeed, while in most of Europe a massive conflict impacting the lives of millions of people was taking place, life was apparently going on in Sweden as if nothing completely dreadful was happening just a few hundred kilometers away. Eventually, I wonder why Hallström decided to tell this story explicitly during this time period. Anyway, concerning the story itself, even if the tone was light and even frivolous, there was still something rather cringe-inducing about this engineer obsessing over all these young girls, especially after the rise of the MeToo movement. At least, it was encouraging that all these women seemed to be aware of his creepy behavior. However, it didn’t last for long. Indeed, at some point, some completely random character managed to convince Cederqvist to get a fancy car and, suddenly, all these girls decided to sleep with him which was such a weird turn of events. Finally, the last issue with this movie was that none of the characters was developed, not even the main character or any of the countless girls involved. And, yet, even if I didn’t care much for what this movie had to offer, back in these days, Hallström had such an interesting directly style. It was especially visible during a scene in one long take taking place in some dorm with so many young girls going in and out of the shot and the camera dancing around then at the same time. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was rather generous with my rating here but I guess it might still be worth a look but probably only if you are really interested in Lasse Hallström’s work.