benlenzen

This film was incredibly good. The soundtrack was spectacular, in the cinema you could just FEEL the historic weight of the events the film centers around. The pacing was also perfect, for a historic drama, its 140 minutes felt incredibly short. The cast and the acting was great as well. But most importantly, the deeper meaning and the messages of the film are just so important, and were delivered spectacularly. You just walk out with a pit in your stomach.

I still had some minor problems with the film, for example that it has some of the classic Hollywood US-centrism. I appreciate that the film was based mainly on a book, focusing on the relationship between the american psychiatrist and Göring, but I would have loved some more focus on other important figures. We didn't hear one single word from a russian or french judge or prosecutor for example. Some moments also felt a bit too unrealistic or theatrical for me, Jacksons meeting with the pope comes to mind, or the role and treatment of the psychiatrist in some parts. Also, it would have been great if Görings actor could have been german, but Russell Crowe makes up for it with an incredible performance, so I'll let that one go.

All in all the positives far outweigh the negatives for me though. A highly important, thought-provoking and entertaining film.

The movie starts pretty slow, but from the beginning on you can connect with the characters. The first half hour or so has A LOT of funny little moments, maybe even one or two to many, considering the tone and themes of the movie, but it still works somehow, especially because the actors do a very good job(Important sidenote: I watched it in the original language with subtitles).

The movie lacks a bit of structure though, and the first half feels a bit long and stretched in some parts, it doesn't really feel like we are getting somewhere anytime soon. But it picks up in the second half! What still lacks is real tension. BUT there are a lot of very powerful moments near the end, spectacularly delivered by the cast.

You should also not expect thorough explanations of argentinian history or the court case itself, the movie is about people fighting for justice and shows there struggles and emotions.

So if you want to see an emotional, yet funny, movie with some real heart, and you bring some patience with you, I can really recommend it!

So far house of the dragon is pretty good. It looks fantastic(these dragons omg), the acting is good, the dialogue is good and the plot is decent. But, if you compare it with the early seasons of Game of Thrones, it's just leagues below it in my opinion, and I will try to explain why. (Sidenote: When I refer to GOT, I am just talking about Season 1-4).

One of my main complaints is, that everything just feels a bit too heavy. The music is always dramatic, every scene feels like it wants to be very important. And that's why the scenes where it would be important to feel this heaviness, just don't hit that much. And every good show has a bit of humor in it, even if it's subtle, but that just lacks here. This isn't an emotional rollercoaster, it's just one flat line of heavy scenes.

The characters are just fine, not nearly as strong as in GOT. Otto Hightower is just not nearly as good as Tywin Lannister or Littlefinger. Viserys is the most interesting and fresh character so far in my opinion. Daemon is a bit overrated I think, not bad tho.

My probably biggest complaint is, that the Plot is a bit too "simple" (until now) in my opinion. The plotting is not nearly as subtle and intriguing as in GOT. The war in the stepstones for example really had no depth at all. But we will see, I guess the plot will get more interesting soon, GRRM is involved.

I'm also not a big fan of the time jumps, it's just a bit too much, and gives off a bit of a history documentary vibe. This is fine, but it can't compare to a really good-flowing story(like GOT).

My last complaint is, that everything just looks(and feels) a bit too polished. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly. It just doesn't feel medieval, and it looks "like a tv show" to me, somehow a bit unrealistic, I can't really dive into the world that much.

Also (without any spoilers), the end of Episode 3 was a bit worrying, the last sequence had some pretty stupid plotholes and didn't make much sense.

But let's see where it goes! For now, it's a 7.5/10 for me, but I bet it will either go up or down significantly from here. But I'm sure it won't ever be as good as S1-S4 of GOT. And this is ok and makes sense. The story of GOT is basically GRRM life's work. The story of HOT D is just a tiny part of the (obviously amazing) backstory for the main story. If it would be a better story than the main one, it would just be weird haha.

So if you are watching mainly for the plot and the characters, it won't ever beat early-GOT. If you're watching mainly for the vibe, the action and crazy dragons, it could even beat GOT for you!