Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I kept hearing some really good things, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after watching a couple of movies directed by Chloé Zhao, I think I’m rather acquainted with her directing style. However, to be honest, even if I admire her work, I can’t say I’m really a huge fan though. Basically, like a documentary, you get to see some ‘real’ people but since they are actually telling a story, it is still a work of fiction. As a result, it seems that Zhao managed to harness the best qualities of both genres, documentary and fiction, to make something really intriguing. Still, even if I really like her approach, to be honest, I think it was a little bit too dry, at least, for me. Indeed, eventually, Brady Blackburn never really stated what he felt or thought so I had a rather hard time to really connect with him and what he was going through. The fact that I don’t feel much for this rodeo world probably didn’t help either. Still, there is no denying that Brady was a really intriguing character and the fact that Brady Jandreau pretty much played himself gave the whole thing some super realistic quality (it went even further since his actual father and autistic sister in the movie were also his family for real). Eventually, the actors were all playing some characters so similar to who they actually are and, as a result, you could barely call it actually ‘acting’ but it’s not a critic, in the contrary. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I didn’t have some really high expectations regarding this movie but since I have a weak spot for Jennifer Garner, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, this kind of religious movies is definitely not my thing and, as a result, I really had a hard time to connect with the damned thing. Seriously, don’t you think it was actually slightly messed up that they spent 1000's of dollars to flight on a regular basis to see one of the most renowned pedestrians in the country who, eventually, never managed to really help their daughter? Eventually, the poor girl basically got cured after falling down on her head 9 meters in some hollow tree and, since this family was deeply religious, they immediately concluded that it must have been some act of God. However, as far as I was concerned, it seemed more that, somehow, the whole event apparently did reset her defective nervous system. Of course, I will have to admit that this recovery was indeed miraculous but, in my opinion, it actually displayed how our world is completely dominated by sheer chaos and randomness and, sometimes, well, we do get lucky, that’s all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the damned thing was rather harmless and if believing in God does help this people to live a more harmonious life, why not? Furthermore, I did appreciate the way that they depicted that a religion should be about love and about being aware of all the little miracles in your everyday lives. Anyway, to conclude, I still didn’t care much about the damned thing though and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are really into this kind of Christian movies. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since I have a weak spot for Bruce Willis, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, as I expected, it turned out to be indeed pretty bad, I’m afraid. Basically, it was another cheap-ass action flick displaying Bruce Willis prominently on all the promotional material when he was in fact playing a minor character (in fact, he even filmed all his scenes in a single day). Instead, the lead was played by Kellan Lutz, a seriously uncharismatic actor who obviously did spend more time in the gym then in acting lessons. At least, Gina Carano, even if she is not a great actress, is actually pretty badass and it is too bad they just gave her only a few fighting scenes which, on top of that, were so dark that you could barely see anything. It is also rather bewildering that they chose to have her walking around in a sexy dress as they could have cast in this case any other model/actress to do the job. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, this guy [Link removed - login to see] is just an awful director. For some reason, he actually thinks that filming everything with an ugly ass yellow filter will suddenly makes his movie look grittier but it’s such a cheap ineffective move. Concerning the action scenes, that’s obviously were Miller invested most of his time, attention and energy but even these scenes were boring and poorly put together. And, yet, I actually thing the damned thing actually had some potential but, to be honest, nothing really worked in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be the worst movie I have seen starring Bruce Willis, it wasn’t far from it though and you should pretty much avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if the concept actually had some potential, the damned thing still turned out to be rather weak after all. The first mistake they made was to go for a mockumentary. Sure, this gimmick was maybe fun and original 40 years ago when ‘This is Spinal Tap’ was released but, nowadays and especially in this case, it didn’t really have any added value and, above all, it was barely entertaining. Even more problematic was the fact that all the characters involved in this team of so-called ‘amazing’ hitmen were just so lame and pathetic, except maybe for Sanaa. By the way, while watching this movie, I was convinced that this character was played by Leïla Bekhti and I was wondering how the French actress actually ended up in such a weird American B action flick. It is only when the movie was finished that I discovered that it wasn’t Leïla Bekhti at all but Hannah Simone, a British-Canadian actress I wasn’t familiar with. But, seriously, check the pictures underneath, the resemblance is just uncanny. Anyway, Simone or Bekhti, it didn’t really matter, this movie was actually turning out to be fairly abysmal and the only thing that prevented the damned thing to become a total disaster was when Arnold Schwarzenegger finally showed up. Indeed, it had been years since I saw the Austrian Oak doing some comedy and, while the rest of the cast really bored me, he was actually quite pitch-perfect. Eventually, you wish they actually brought the guy sooner. Anyway, to conclude, despite the efforts of good old Arnie, the damned thing was still really 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 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.