sjspode
Joined Dec 2021
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Reviews29
sjspode's rating
And having just seen it at home, I wish I hadn't missed it on the big screen.
As others have said, it's a (rare) return to form for Marvel. A decent mix of story, action, characters and drops of comedy too.
In addition to recent film disappointments the idea of the Thunderbolts as a cut price Avengers replacement didn't appeal at first, but Florence and the team delivered.
Recommended viewing and we wait to see whether thi# is a blip and the MCU returns to (recent) normal service of bland, reheated stories with swathes of city wide CGI destruction. Time will tell.
As others have said, it's a (rare) return to form for Marvel. A decent mix of story, action, characters and drops of comedy too.
In addition to recent film disappointments the idea of the Thunderbolts as a cut price Avengers replacement didn't appeal at first, but Florence and the team delivered.
Recommended viewing and we wait to see whether thi# is a blip and the MCU returns to (recent) normal service of bland, reheated stories with swathes of city wide CGI destruction. Time will tell.
As an F1 and motorsport fan I had low expectations of this film. And got pretty much what I was expecting.
Switching off any real knowledge and understanding of the sport (Drive to Survive doesn't count by the way...), you're left with a plucky underdog story where a new character helps galvanise the group to success and escape from a negative situation. And at that level it works.
Getting more into the detail, it doesn't work so well. 1) Sonny Hayes is too old and doesn't have enough current/ recent experience driving a modern F1 car quickly (+ the technicalities of having no Super Licence) 2) some of the driving tactics are questionable at best and unrealistic 3) things like designing the car 'for battle' would add extra weight in strengthening components that would make the cars uncompetitive v the opposition. Plus many more...
The whole thing about Sonny being 'in the zone' driving speech was a rehash of Ken Miles narration from 'Ford v Ferrari.' " There's a point at 7,000 RPM... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that's left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That's where you meet it...."
From an equality point of view I'm surprised that producer Lewis Hamilton and F1 Management would be happy that it's a young female mechanic that has the pit stop issues and that the female Technical Director ends up bedding the driver. Not good looks and totally superfluous to the story.
The action scenes were meant to be a big seller for the film, but for me they weren't anything special. And having now seen the film it's tough to see what the crew were doing following F1 around so many circuits for so little end product. A Second Unit could have caught most of the paddock, atmosphere shots etc without the need for the whole team, garage, pit setup many times.
So for the casual moviegoers and uninformed fans it's a decent (albeit overly long) film, and for real motorsport fans, at least it's not as bad as Stallone's Driven Indycar movie...
Switching off any real knowledge and understanding of the sport (Drive to Survive doesn't count by the way...), you're left with a plucky underdog story where a new character helps galvanise the group to success and escape from a negative situation. And at that level it works.
Getting more into the detail, it doesn't work so well. 1) Sonny Hayes is too old and doesn't have enough current/ recent experience driving a modern F1 car quickly (+ the technicalities of having no Super Licence) 2) some of the driving tactics are questionable at best and unrealistic 3) things like designing the car 'for battle' would add extra weight in strengthening components that would make the cars uncompetitive v the opposition. Plus many more...
The whole thing about Sonny being 'in the zone' driving speech was a rehash of Ken Miles narration from 'Ford v Ferrari.' " There's a point at 7,000 RPM... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that's left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That's where you meet it...."
From an equality point of view I'm surprised that producer Lewis Hamilton and F1 Management would be happy that it's a young female mechanic that has the pit stop issues and that the female Technical Director ends up bedding the driver. Not good looks and totally superfluous to the story.
The action scenes were meant to be a big seller for the film, but for me they weren't anything special. And having now seen the film it's tough to see what the crew were doing following F1 around so many circuits for so little end product. A Second Unit could have caught most of the paddock, atmosphere shots etc without the need for the whole team, garage, pit setup many times.
So for the casual moviegoers and uninformed fans it's a decent (albeit overly long) film, and for real motorsport fans, at least it's not as bad as Stallone's Driven Indycar movie...
Given Hollywood's history of classic gangster films, any new entrants to the genre will always have a high bar to reach.
And this film doesn't reach those classic levels, but is a decent effort.
Interesting choice to have Robert DeNiro play both main protagonists, and he does it well, putting enough difference in the characters to make things believable.
As mentioned elsewhere the production values are excellent, providing a very accurate 1950s atmosphere throughout.
The story is also interesting and the pacing is sedate overall with some brief action. The main problem is that it drags at times and may have benefited from some tighter editing.
If you're expecting a Godfather, Goodfellas or Casino type film you'll be disappointed but as a character driven period piece it might just suit.
And this film doesn't reach those classic levels, but is a decent effort.
Interesting choice to have Robert DeNiro play both main protagonists, and he does it well, putting enough difference in the characters to make things believable.
As mentioned elsewhere the production values are excellent, providing a very accurate 1950s atmosphere throughout.
The story is also interesting and the pacing is sedate overall with some brief action. The main problem is that it drags at times and may have benefited from some tighter editing.
If you're expecting a Godfather, Goodfellas or Casino type film you'll be disappointed but as a character driven period piece it might just suit.
