brucefinch

I'll come clean. I like Samara Weaving as an actress but also find her easy on the eye. When I heard there was quite a bit of her in it, I ventured past the low IMDB rating and thought how bad could it be? Turns out, not that bad at all.

To begin, it looked - well - professional. Shots were executed by people who cared. That's already going to make it easier to watch, I thought. Next, there was some first-grade support talent - Brian Cox, Udo Kier - small parts but well played.

And the surprise was Carly Chaikin - I really empathised with her character. Thugs looked and acted like thugs, hitmen like hitmen - nobody really overacting. (The only slight letdown being the lead, Zach Avery) Sure, the story was a little far-fetched - but if I want everyday, I'll look out the window. Yes, you do get a glimpse of Samara's boobs but this had a lot more going for it than that. It didn't overstay its welcome and I ended up feeling entertained.

First off, I know nothing about a Borderlands game. I just saw a flashy trailer with some promising stars and thought, sure, I'll give it a go.

A bit surprised to see Cate Blanchett in it... could she pull off a badass, wise-cracking bounty hunter? Turns out she could - definitely a strong point in the film. Indeed, there was quite a bit of good acting talent in it - AND Kevin Hart. And yet, somehow it all seemed wasted. (Why did they bother with Jack Black?) I quickly accepted the lurid art direction - especially after finding out its game origins. And, not having any comparisons to make, was fine with the cast. But what really let it down was the lazy writing.

I'd even go along with the fairly thin, derivative plotline if it was an enjoyable journey along the way. But the dialogue was a string of tired lines trying to be hip and edgy and falling very flat. Clearly this was intended to be action/comedy - and the action was actually ok - but Eli should have handed over some the comedy content to people with the right skills. I get a lot more laughs out of a late night talk show monologue.

So, while it looked pretty cool - and the fight scene using Motorhead's Ace of Spades sounded cool - ultimately, I just didn't get enough personality from any of the characters to care what happened to them. (With Furiosa a similar-looking movie, it gave me renewed respect for George Miller as a writer/director.)

I've followed the Halloween franchise on and off from day one. Saw the original in 1978 and liked it so much I stole the poster outside the cinema. (Still have it). ("The trick is to stay alive" - so cool)

Have seen many of the sequels but they lost me a little in the middle there. Then 2018's version got good enough reviews to entice me back. It was pretty good and I thought 'they've breathed life back into the series'.

Maybe I should listened to my gut when I saw Danny McBride's name attached to Halloween Kills. He's pretty hit and miss in my experience. This was a miss... It was lots of other things. Well cast, well shot, with an instantly recognisable John Carpenter soundtrack. What could go wrong? It was also silly, chaotic, irrational and bloodthirsty. None of those things matter a darn if the movie is entertaining. Alas... It was far from entertaining. My wife called it 'dumb'. And, as much as I wanted to like it, I found it tedious. I yawned. A lot.

Ultimately, it felt like it was nothing more than... a mess.