dilipbts

I like it. It's witty, well acted and directed. This version of Lupin is a clever re-imagining (with some flaws), trying to fast-forward the original character 100-years. And yes, XXIst century Lupin is the son of African immigrants. And why not? Omar Sy is a great lead character and the production values are good. Perfectly enjoyable light entertainment. I repeat: this is meant to be watched for fun, it's not faithful to the details of the original books, it's not meant to be realistic. Good tv is escapism. It reminds me in a good way of successful series like Hustle, or Leverage. With intricate cons and twists. To the critics: you are right, this is not a series of Lupin faithful to the original books and historical context, in a way that David Suchet's Poirot was. But it is in the same line of re-imagining classics (though not quite as spectacular, but neither on the same budget) as Dominic Cumberbatch's Sherlock. It's an enjoyable ride. Don't begrudge the artistic licence. Have some fun. For god's sake it's 2021!

There is no reason, in terms of story, for Stranger Things to take place in the '80s. But the '80s atmosphere - the dial phones, the chain smoking, Winona Ryder - are there to clue you in on the inspiration for this movie, which is pretty much every supernatural movie from the 80s with a focus on kids. E. T., Poltergeist, that sort of thing.

The wondrous thing is how dead-on this tribute. It's not just the clothes and hair, but the style of acting, the scripting approach, the structure, all hold true to their inspiration. You've got the young nerdy kids, the horny, unsure teenagers, the monster, the mysterious one with the power, the bad science/government people, the conflicted investigator, the tearful mom.

You could argue that this entire season is simply a pastiche made up of recycled elements, and I wouldn't disagree, but it really feels less like a copy and more like something of that era, as though the writers had fallen into a coma in 1985, woke up and got to working.

While it doesn't have the high style of the Spielberg films that are a primary influence, it does have the likability. The story is consistently engaging and fun, the acting is excellent, and the movie has sufficient laughs and tears to satisfy.

After many years we finally have an Uncharted film, this film is based on the really popular video game franchise and today I have watched it and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a young man getting recruited to go on a hunt for a long lost treasure.

Main Character Tom Holland plays Nathan Drake and I can't help myself he is really entertaining to watch and I think this is just because of Holland's natural charm and charisma manages to drag him through. But the issue is that he just isn't what I wanted from Nathan Drake as a character, he is nothing like his video game counterpart and that is a big shame. I was watching the film and all I saw was Peter Parker just without his Spider-Man costume. Hopefully, this is only because this film came out just after Spider-Man: No Way Home but I do worry that Holland might become typecast and a one trick pony.

Supporting Characters Mark Wahlberg plays Sully and it is a similar story to our main character. He has plenty of natural charisma to him and his chemistry with Holland is really good and at least there is some sort of character development on show. But I felt like it was Mark Wahlberg walking around and the character of Sully from the video games and that was the issue for me, he is just the same as he is in every other film and this is a slight shame for me. Sophia Ali plays Chloe and I actually quite liked her, maybe because she was the one performer I didn't recognise made her feel like an actual character and somebody who was actually interesting to watch. The bad guys didn't work though, Antonio Banderas is here but he is just your generic villain and I don't know when but it seems like when a European bad guy is needed then he is the one cast and it just didn't work here. Tai Gabrielle is better as a villain but she isn't that great either but was at least a physical enemy to Drake.

Story The story did a pretty good job of showing a young Nathan Drake starting his career and leading us on a fun adventure story across the globe that had shades of Indiana Jones to it. There is some sort of character development attempted and the actors seemed like they were having fun here. But there is a lack of depth and direction for the overall plot of the film. I think it could needed to pace itself a bit better and focus on the characters a bit more and give the villains way better motivations.

Script The film actually has a surprising amount of humour to it and I was chuckling my way through most of the film, mixed with a bit of heart made this alright. But there isn't enough here, I didn't care about the characters enough and sometimes it felt like the film relied on its star power instead of actually crafting these better written heroes and villains.

Style The style has some really good action scenes, including the crazy cargo plane scene that was in all of the trailers. The film is quite relentless too, the adventure moves at a pretty break neck pace which is good but it also harms the characterisation and plot of the film. It was a fun action film without the depth needed to become a good film.

Overall Overall, Uncharted is a pretty average adventure film. There is some good here for sure and Sony are hoping to make this a franchise but it doesn't do enough for me to get me excited for that or recommend this for a watch.