Songbird

Yes this film is pretty simple, but I didnt think it was too bad, I was tempted to give it a 10 to help it average up to a better score. I have seen far worse and I quite enjoyed it, its not a 10 for sure but its a nice easy watch. I think people have given it such bad reviews it seems as they think its 'exploiting the pandemic', so should all war films be banned etc ? Thats just stupid, the backdrop of covid just makes the film relatable to life right now.

It's a love story in times of quarantine, with little to no action, a couple that in all their three conversations on camera was about "the safety of their daughter", an don Juan trying to make more money but his actions does the opposite of doing the job, an annoying Demi Moore in a character with a weird sense of morality and, again, a good performance of Peter Stormare. If the movie tried to send a message, it just went past me.

When this was announced it had Michael Bay's name attached as producer and was supposedly going to be a pandemic thriller. Now I know many people have a disdain for Michael Bay, but I actually think that he brings some visual prowess to his projects however it's clear that his name was only attached for recognition purposes. This is neither anything visually bombastic or anything close to being a pulse pounding thriller. It's a very amateur romantic drama that focuses more on the interpersonal communication between characters as they struggle through the changing times. It becomes increasingly dragging and you just keep asking yourself what the real intent of the overall film really is. Some of the actors are seasoned veterans but are truly underutilized for new or younger actors that are frankly not on par. The production value is that of a cancelled TV series on the big networks as well. Overall this is just a very big failure and definitely not what I was expecting.

There was some potential here, and if anything, it should have allowed viewers to perfectly relate to what the characters in this movie are going through. Sadly, this movie largely falls flat.

With the Covid pandemic as its backdrop, and a dystopian near future as its setting, 'Songbird' had all the ingredients for at least a solid thriller. The movie has trouble finding its own identity however, following several different plotlines, none of which are thoroughly worked out.

The two main romantic leads, played by KJ Apa and Sofia Carson, get the majority of the screen time, and their arc is the one that's arguably best worked out. However, their story feels bland, and very derivative of a load of other doomed romance stories. The two bad guys, Peter Stormare and Bradley Whitford, are uninspired and boring, with neither getting to do anything particularly memorable. Add some other one-off characters played by Demi Moore, Craig Robinson and Alexandra Daddario, and you have a reasonably talented cast who are not given that much to work with.

The movie's plot furthermore would have allowed the filmmaker to add some biting social critiques and maybe even some satire, but this is nowhere to be seen. The movie is a basic romance on one end, and a bland action thriller on the other. Really, aside from being a quarantine movie coming out during a quarantine, there isn't that much special about this movie.

Furthermore, I have to mention my dislike of the movie's camerawork and editing. The shaky-cam aesthetic and rapid editing can work very well for certain movies, but it feels totally superfluous and unnecessary here.

Overall, the actors' performances were solid enough, but the story and execution lacked in quality.

This movie was not bad. It's not Oscar material, but it's watchable. It's like one critic ripped it, then others followed suit trying to one-up each other to see who could rip it harder. It's on Hulu for free so just watch it. After I watched it I read an LA Times article about how it was made which makes me appreciate it a little more.