I just finished watching Santos, and was curious as to what rating it would have on IMDb, as the rating on Netflix was less than three stars. Now, I am just shocked! How could these two guys give Santos one star only? I would reserve that to movies which truly sin against my senses -- and that would have to be a TRULY awful movie, to deserve such a low rating.
I may be inclined to give this to one of those slasher movies, where you spend half the movie yelling at the screen "DON'T GO THERE!!!" You know, those movies where you can tell the actors are super stupid, as if the casting was done over a weekend, on one of those Orange Julius tables across from the GAP...
Or, OK, I could give one star to those class C dragon slayer movies, where the dragon is a little puppet, the fire is clearly coming from a blowtorch, the castle is made of papier mache and the acting is all done by yelling and extreme facial contortion. Nah, I'd probably give those a three star for effort.
But the acting in Santos is really good! I mean, REALLY good. I hate to compare apples to Spy Kid, but really, the acting beats most movies in a similar genre...
The story is unique! Different creative, weird... I love the story. There, I said it. I am not saying I loved the movie, but the story... Yes, there was gold there. Although you can tell that someone on editing "loved" it a little too much, cause quite a bit of the movie could have been cut... actually, make that "SHOULD have been cut." But who cares? Is bad editing enough for such a low rating?
So what, the guy snorted some crap. HOW can this movie be given so low a rating, when Kick-Ass (one of my favorite super hero movies -- and much grosser in parts) has almost an 8 star rating?
And the acting on Spy Kids... gag me. Please.
I agree that the editing should have been sharper (throughout! See, I am honest), and that the movie could have been a tad shorter; but to say that the story made no sense just shows a lack of imagination and/or a lack of trying... not that the reviewers above ALWAYS lack imagination, but maybe on that day, their imagination had been sucked by an alternative universe.
To claim that Santos is derivative without saying what it derives from is also a weak argument... I found the story to be quite different, the special effects to be quite decent and sometimes, great (except for the last five minutes!!! I think they may have run out of money or something) and the acting is superb.
I am giving this movie a 7 stars rating -- I am not comparing this to Citizen Kane, people. I am, however, judging this movie's entertainment value when compared to other movies such as this... it may not be a 7 for some, but it certainly deserves more than what it has.
Please, grab some popcorn, flush your mind of preconceptions and give this Chilean quirkfest a try. It is worth it! Come on! There are MUCH worse Hollywood crapbusters that don't get slammed this way... watch this movie, then come back here and let's raise this puppy up. It's just so unfair otherwise.
