Le temps de l'Armageddon

If director Gray thinks Reagan mentioning Armageddon was traumatic, he ought to talk to those of us who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis! Other than being scared by the suggestion of nuclear war rather than actually being on the brink of it, this film is lackluster and derivitive. Nothing original and nothing new to say, with pedestrian direction, and an uninspired script. This is a movie that thinks it has a lot to say but it just doesn't have anything interesting to say. It's hard to become invested in such silly, shallow, and self-absorbed characters. An excellent cast does the best they can but it all adds up to very little indeed.

You've seen it many times before, watching other people grow up's such a chore, we've all been adolescent, distracted and pubescent, it's a boring set of takes and you will snore. Perhaps if it had something new to say, portrayed a family more uniquely in their way, a novel circumstance, to catch your eye, a second glance, not monotony of children in their play. If you make it to the end you might just wonder, why fine actors chose to loot your time and plunder, must be quite a fallow year, to want to make this and appear, in something that's so dull, it makes you want to slumber.

Although it also makes you wonder whether an aging Welshman is the only person who could have filled that specific role.

This was okay, but that's as much as I can say really.

My mate suggested going when I was visiting him. I had no idea what we were going to see, I just heard him ask for two tickets for 'Armageddon', which probably misled me about what sort of film we were going to see. So for the first half hour or so I was waiting for something to happen: an inciting moment. It never came.

That said, it was a pleasant enough watch, although it was more suited for a rainy afternoon at home, rather than a prequel to a couple of pints and a meal out.

The irony was that before we went out we had been chatting about how many films, usually random picks from Netflix that had proved bearable if not delightful, had resulted in angry shouting at the screen when the final credits seemed to appear mid story.

Armageddon Time proved to be one of those films. But on this occasion it was sort of signalled. I think we both knew it was going to happen a minute or so ahead of the event. Talk about anticlimax. Every one of the smattering of people in the cinema, like us, just stood up and walked out without a word.

A dull and boring film which ended with me thinking "what was the point" and what a waste of time. A complete mystery as to what was the story and more importantly what was the moral of the story. Even Anthony Hopkins could not save this film. I kept on waiting for the wisdom of Hopkins' character to be revealed and passed on to his grandson given his obliquely alluded to family history of terror during the Second World War at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. All Hopkins' character could come up with was a single reference to "be a mensch". We had to put up with two extremely annoying adolescents.

Didn't really know what the movie was about heading in, but even so the opening sequence was confusing and that feeling persists throughout as the narrative is somewhat chaotic, but this is the result of the movie being shown from a child's point of view. The movie seems like an authentic family experience, and for the most part I didn't really know what the purpose is or what it was leading to but still enjoyed it. A film that's massively elevated by the cast's performances.

The kids can get annoying at times as kids do but the movie let's you relate to them and feel their emotions. It has a few very uncomfortable scenes and has a constant piteous feel after the first act or so. We're just witnessing a family's life, so there's no actual story to it and narration feels off because life isn't always linear or follows a path. This will definitely put some people off.

The acting is superb, especially from the kids who're the lead roles and able to convey their emotion across; Anthony Hopkins and Anne Hathaway were amazing despite being only in supporting roles, felt like watching real people in real life not in a movie. Jessica Chastain was a surprise, she seemed off but I also think that's how her character was meant to be portrayed. It's just unfortunate such great performances had no story for them to hold together. The movie just feels like childhood memories to me all jumbled up.

It's not a movie for everyone and I hesitate to call it perfect nor recommend it but it is beautiful and the performances alone make this a worthy watch. The story wasn't much to behold, but I'll remember this for the heart rending feel it gave. I am still confused as to where the movie titled came from.