Jeremy_Blaiklock

What can I say about this movie? It wasn't bad, and it wasn't great. It's a story so predictable that I was calling out story beats ahead of time, headed by an okay but unimpressive female lead of mediocre talent.

I think the most credit should go to the CG animators, since the most compelling performances by far were from the apes. Owen Teague, who's a fine actor, does a great job voicing the dull, predictable hero Noah, and William H. Macy collects a paycheck while playing a one-dimensional character that criminally underuses his abundant talents.

I've got 50 characters left in this review, so I'll wrap it up. Is it a waste of time? No. Should you watch it if you value your time and want something good and moving? Also no.

So when I heard about this movie I was pretty excited. A guy who's obsession with shoving things up his butt spirals out of control, absorbing pets, kids and finally fully grown people.

It's a ludacris premise, and life being as bleak as it is, I was looking forward to an absurd movie befitting the premise. This was to be the preposterous tale of the titular Butt Boy and the world-weary detective that finally stopped his rectal rampage.

While that was indeed what I got, the movie's tone doesn't match the promise of it's premise. There were a few moments of levity, but they're largely drowned out by the grim heaviness of the rest of the movie. Most of the hour and a half running time is composed of bleak, depressing, dark (both thematically and the chronic underuse of lighting) scenes where everyone's just miserable, and by the end of the movie I was pretty miserable too.

It's hard to describe Death Stranding, as a dream-like experience about love, loss, loneliness, connection and stranding, all amid a stark and beautiful world.

You can have fun (as I did) delivering packages across middle America and knocking out crazed MULEs to get the materials to keep all the roads and machines in working order, as well as donate things to your fellow players. And that's a fine thing to do. But don't get lost in that, as it can all be done after the story, and I suggest that you play it that way.

I would describe the game as an experience, something to be taken in a bit at a time. It encompasses a kind of beautiful melancholy in a way that's hard to describe, and is well worth crossing the snow-capped mountains and rocky valleys for. Ultimately it's a tale of longing amid fear, connection amid isolation, and hope amid extinction.