Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Nicole Kidman, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the whole gimmick of the obsessive dishevelled detective was nothing new but I think it was the first time I saw it played by a woman and there is no doubt that Kidman gave here a hell of a one-woman show. I also enjoyed the fact that, even though half what she did was fairly or even really messed-up, the other half was actually some really solid police work. Still, even if I really enjoyed the mood and Kidman’s top-notch performance, to be honest, the story was not really great though. Eventually, I’m not surprised that they went for a mix chronology since it is nowadays such an overused gimmick to make a story look more complicated than it actually is. In fact, what was the added value of these flashbacks? In this case, since you learned basically nothing about Silas, it seemed that the sole purpose was to show how pretty and full of potential Erin Bell was before this completely botched undercover gig. However, I actually believe the whole thing would have actually worked better without theses flashbacks. Indeed, it would have certainly improved the sluggish pace and it would have made the whole thing even more ambiguous and therefore more interesting. Still, by removing the flashbacks, I’m afraid the plot-holes would have been even more obvious. The biggest one, in my opinion, was that it never really made sense why Silas would contact Erin Bell which was pretty big since it did set the whole thing in motion. And yet, in spite of its flaws, the story was still intriguing enough. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, if only to see Nicole Kidman completely disappearing in this seriously messed-up character. 

To be honest, with such a lame title, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since I have a weak spot for Liam Neeson and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a really lazy rip-off of ‘Taken’ and, at this point, I wish such a fine actor would finally do something else. Seriously, except for a nice pay check, I just can’t see what could have been the appeal for Neeson. On top of that, to make things worse, the concept was pretty idiotic this time around. So, the basic idea was that the main character was framed for a murder he didn’t commit (wasn’t it exactly the same plot in ‘Taken 3’?!?) but the only way to achieve this goal would be to have the bad guy actually confessing which was/is pretty lame. Of course, you might argue that you shouldn’t watch such movies for their depth but even the action stuff didn’t really impress me. Indeed, I actually saw the trailer at some point and you did get to see a handful of action scenes. However, if you’re expecting some non-stop badass action, well, you’ll be disappointed because what you get to see in the trailer is in fact pretty much everything that actually happened action-wise during the whole thing. Concerning the rest of the cast, they were not bad but they were not helped by the fact that none of their characters were developed whatsoever. It was mostly sad for Kate Walsh who learned that her boyfriend was a master thief, looked shocked and bewildered and then completely switched to support him and love him anyway within a span of 10 mins. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just pretty boring and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of such action flicks starring Liam Neeson.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I do think that the concept of a teenager finding some futuristic weapon did have some potential and this weapon was indeed pretty cool. Unfortunately, the makers clearly struggled to properly develop this idea, to make sure that this teenager would end up in some situations where he would have to use this weapon at some point. Seriously, the end-result was, to be honest, rather pathetic and pretty much nothing did make sense after all. Indeed, right from the start, it was rather unconvincing that a 14-year-old kid would go on a road-trip with his older brother, who just go out of jail, without even having a single conversation with his father about the matter. Then, why on Earth would Jimmy Solinski take his kid brother to a strip club?!? I thought it was also rather unlikely that a strip club would allow a 14-year-old boy to come in even if he was drinking only some soda. But don’t worry, it actually got even more ridiculous afterwards… Indeed, what is the first place you would go to when you are supposed to keep a low profile after being linked with some multiple homicides? Las Vegas, of course!!! At this point, after Jimmy got caught by the police, you would expect the gangsters chasing him to drop him but, instead, they actually assaulted the police precinct as if it was the most normal thing to do in the world and without too much trouble. It was also seriously rather far-fetched that, during this assault, a police officer would actually give the keys to Eli Solinski to get his ‘fancy’ gun while his own brother was in custody. After that, they gave us an ending which was obviously supposed to open some new doors but, just like the rest, it was just too random and borderline ridiculous. Eventually, it could have worked if they went for a seriously wacky tone but this movie was just so dreary self-serious. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just really weak and you should probably avoid it.  

I didn’t really have some high expectations regarding this movie but since I have a weak spot for Emilia Clarke and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, the damned thing was terribly generic and completely predictable… except for the ending but I will come back on this later on. Indeed, so many movies have already been made with some virtually identical plot. Eventually, in this genre, ‘Intouchables’ might be the most famous movie with pretty much exactly the same plot but, even though it was a huge box-office success, to be honest, this massive crowd-pleaser already didn’t really impress me. Anyway, I have to admit that this movie was still a decent watch though. First of all, after ‘Terminator Genisys’ which turned out to be a major flop, it was the 2^nd high-profile role for Emilia Clarke and I thought it was really neat how she gave a completely different performance than what she did in ‘Game of Thrones’. Furthermore, even though the whole thing was seriously predictable, I have to admit that I didn’t expect that, at the end, Will Traynor would choose to end his life. Apparently, this ending did generate a lot of dismay among the disabled community as many felt that this movie somehow might advocate suicide for disabled people but I don’t agree. This movie was actually more pro-choice in the sense that disabled people, especially if they are clearly constantly suffering like Will, should have the choice to end their life if that’s what they want. Anyway, even though the movie focused on their burgeoning love, they still ended up with Will choosing to die which was quite refreshing and I wish they focused more on this. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing ground-breaking, I have to admit that it was not bad after all and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I remember it very well, when I was growing up in the 90’s, Luciano Pavarotti was probably one of the biggest stars in the world but, to be honest, back then, I didn’t care much about the guy. Still, even I have never been really interested in Pavarotti, since this documentary was directed by Ron Howard, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I had basically zero knowledge about opera so it was the first cool thing about this movie, the fact that I finally got the opportunity to discover this music genre. On top of that, there is no doubt that the guy had an incredible voice but it went much further than that. Indeed, Pavarotti was also actually terribly charismatic and I think that it, in combination with his voice and technical baggage, allowed him to have such a long and successful career. Of course, the Opera purists probably didn’t care that he did so many things which had barely anything to do with Opera. However, that’s a choice that Pavarotti made very early in his career which was to reach the biggest audience possible and I think you can say that he clearly did succeed. Eventually, the only issue I had was that there was virtually no controversial material regarding the maestro. I mean, it is pretty obvious that Pavarotti had many affairs while he was on the road but, in this movie, it was handled as if it was the most normal thing in the world when, even in Pavarotti’s case, it did result in the end of his first marriage. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing ground-breaking, I thought it was an interesting documentary and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Luciano Pavarotti’s work and life. 

To be honest, I can’t say I was really dying to watch yet a new take on the caped crusader. Basically, pretty much like with Spider-Man, the issue with Batman is that they keep bringing so many new iterations at such a rapid pace and I wish they would just let it rest for at least a decade. However, I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed Matt Reeves’s approach after all. Indeed, somehow, he managed to get even grittier than Christopher Nolan and, at this point, the only way to be more realistic would be to drop the super-hero costume all together. Basically, it was some kind of neo-noir detective story, something which has been done many times in the Batman comic-books but never in the movie adaptations. Anyway, it was really cool to see this character playing detective with James Gordon and Catwoman as his sidekicks. I also really liked the idea of Bruce Wayne being a rich recluse as it made much more sense. Indeed, how can you go all night long fighting crime and during the day having another full agenda pretending to be a rich playboy? So, the approach and the tone were really neat but, unfortunately, the story was entertaining but not really great after all, I’m afraid. I mean, it started really promisingly but, to be honest, if you would remove the intricate mind-games of the Riddler, it was all rather pretty generic and straightforward after all. I’m not blaming Paul Dano (I wish I didn't know he would be the Riddler at least a full year before the movie was released though), he gave a really solid performance, but I wasn’t really impressed by his plan after all. The fact that the damned thing was too long (which was even more surprising since it wasn’t even an origin story) certainly didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, I still thought it was an intriguing take on this character and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.