Almas Marcadas

I suppose it's my own fault but when I saw this I thought it might be a gangster thriller. Nope, it's about the on-off relationship between tattoo artist "Rule" (Chase Stokes) and his friend "Shaw" (Sydney Taylor). She used to date his brother "Remy" but we quickly learn that he was involved in a car accident with his brother and so now we have our requisite dose of family baggage to explain why "Rule" is a bit of a commitment-phobe. Meantime, she is supposed to be dating millionaire drip "Gabe" (Michael Bradway) to keep her rather wealthy but venal mother sweet, but in the end it's her bit of rough that she really craves. Can they sort things out and get past his fear of being called her boyfriend? There's the odd bit of sensitively photographed sex and it does pay slight homage to the artistry of some creative tattooists but for the most part it's a weakly constructed romantic will they/won't they drama that didn't really engage me at all. There is plenty of eye-candy on offer, including from the sparingly used, wooden as a picket fence, Alexander Ludwig as his elder brother "Rome" and Ella Balinska tries to inject a little bit of life into things as her best pal "Ayden" but neither Stokes nor Taylor do anything like enough with the, admittedly pedestrian, script or the story to bring this to life. Quite how it got a general release in the UK is, as Yul Brynner might have said, "a puzzlement ". It looks good and there are a few power ballads to help it along, but it's really just a mediocre television movie, sorry.

Definitely missed the mark of what the book encompassed. They twisted what made their relationship so hard and yet so rewarding by making it more fluff. They left out how important their history was and how that really ruled Rule and his actions. Both families dynamics, which play a major role in their relationship was completely changed to more fluff. There was not character arc to be found. Both remained flat and you don't understand why they would or wouldn't be together to begin with. It followed the books in the most basic sense of bad boy tattooist and good girl looking for a wild ride. But the story line was difficult to follow and didn't flow well. Not the actors fault. They work with what they got. But the essence of the story was no where to be found.

I just couldn't continue. It was horrible. And definitely not recommended if you like the books at all. I rented it to support Jay, but I would rather not have a movie than have one that's so different from the books we love. I'm not expecting a 1.5 hour movie to have everything from a 6-8 hour read, but I also wasn't expecting such a deviation. Character deviation, plot deviation, and not for the better.

The dialogue is absolutely asinine, there's so much cursing (like every other word) and very little substance. I should have read Reddit before purchasing, and I suggest you do too.

Those who gave any rating above a 3 must be bots or paid.

I probably really would've like this movie when I was 14. The story is straight out of the Wattpad 2013 handbook: the names, the angst, the manufactured dark backstory for the MMC, the cliche bff that does nothing other than live for the FMC to return home, and the characters that sound like they just learned how to cuss. I really wanted to like the movie if only to honor younger me, but older me was disappointed. For a 1.5 hour movie, it was watchable and I only picked up my phone a couple times. The movie writers could've used the books as a jumping off point and written the script with more substance. Perhaps my biggest gripe with the movie is its lack of using Alexander Ludwig to his fullest potential.

I can't believe this movie is directed by Nick Cassavetes, the legend that directed mastepieces like Alpha dog and The Notebook.

Then i've checked who wrote the script..the same person that wrote the lame scripts of After 3 and 4.

I have to be honest, the script is flat it has no big substance that's why the characters are weak, definitely not actor's fault (even if Inanna again with that meangirl attitude...please move on).

It is not a drama, not a romance so i'mo wondering what it is. The story don't flow well as should like there's no plot to follow and we jump from one thing to the other. I do not feel the family dynamics and i don't feel any development of the characters.

The themes in the book should be taken more seriously and I'm giving a 6 only because of the third part of the movie.

A praise to the one in charge of costumes.