DarienWest

Star Wars, one of the most famous franchises to ever exist on our planet. And it ends with one of the most mediocre movies possibly ever made. There are some really good aspect, some aspects that could've worked if done differently, and there were some aspects that merely existed.

The pacing is all over the place. They fit more rushed content into the first act than Episodes 7 and 8 combined, and the ending drags heavily. The 2 hour 20 minute runtime isn't even that long but it still doesn't feel justified.

The plot is so predictable at times it gets painful. Whenever a new plot point is introduced, if you think you know how it's going to end, you definitely know how it's going to end.

Some of the parts of the soundtrack were good, some were terrible, some were just remade versions from previous movies.

Most of the computer generations looked amazing, but some of it looked atrocious. The main parts where it sucked were some of the funky looking aliens, and there's a scene at the end - you'll see what I mean when you see it.

Most of the character arcs are way too rushed as well. Characters just change sides or have a change in heart with the flip of a switch.

There were several attempts at comedy, but there was only one moment that was intentionally funny. The movie was overall very inconsistent in terms of tone, some parts are trying to be a sitcom but other parts are trying to be a dark thriller.

Despite all these problems this movie does have redeeming qualities that balances it out. The acting across the board exceeds expectations. As mentioned earlier, most of the computer generations and soundtrack pieces were good as well. And the movie certainly wasn't boring. I've seen it once, and I won't see it again. Definitely the most mediocre and unspecial movie of the year, and possibly even the most mediocre movie I've ever seen.

Ford v Ferrari is the most average and mediocre film to release at this point in the year. There is nothing great, good, bad, or terrible about this movie. It's just okay. But considering that great movies do exist, mediocre movies feel unsatisfying by comparison.

The acting is by far the best part of the film. Matt Damon is amazing, Christian Bale is pretty great, and everyone else is just average, which is disappointing considering the notable cast. The child acting wasn't all that good.

The writing is pretty unspecial and average. It takes the classic American underdog trope and does pretty much nothing original with it. There's almost nothing to say on this subject because of how little substance the writing has.

The editing was alright but nothing special. The shot composition was alright but nothing special. The soundtrack... I've already forgotten everything about it, only a day after it came out. The adr was super noticeable and terribly implemented.

Watch this if you are into racing or this story in particular, but for me it felt like a futile attempt at sweeping the Oscars.

If the writing were ignored, I would give this a 7/10. The acting is pretty solid, Brad Pitt is extremely good at playing his character, the sets and backgrounds are immersive, the music is solid but isn't special, and the CGI is convincing. There were also some decent shots. The only thing hurting that rating is the sound design which is kind of inconsistent at times. There's a scene where the characters are on the moon and shouldn't hear anything except for the radios, and part of the time this is true but there are other parts where you can still hear the outside.

But when you factor in how the plot and characters are written, my rating of the movie gets tanked. The main character doesn't really change throughout the story that much, his motivations or thoughts aren't really explored that much, and throughout the film there are scenes of dialogue in his head which wouldn't have made a difference if they were removed. There were a lot of illogical moments, plot holes, and contrivances which didn't feel as if much care was put into them. The world that this takes place in (the future) isn't very well developed, and even though we visit the Moon and Mars we never really get a glimpse of the society. On Mars we only see about 4 people in total, even though a character mentions that thousands live there. At the beginning another character mentions territorial wars on the Moon... how did that ever happen? Well, they never really say. While I do understand that this is something that the main character most likely already knows, and it would seem awkward if this was explained to them, there has to be some other way it could be explained to the audience.

But with that said, I don't think this movie is entirely bad. I would still recommend it, just to show people how big a difference writing can make in a movie's quality just because of how little it is cared for. Personally I thought most of the film was unengaging, but maybe you have different tastes and can watch this easily.