vincent_tillema

As a Dutchman I really wondered why. Why would you make a movie based on the Eurovision Songfestival? After all it is a weird thing 'we' do every year that 'nobody' really likes but we all take way too seriously. So when a bunch of Americans take on this event to make a movie it can only turn out to be as bad as many of the Dutch (or British) entries to the festival over the years. Right?

The answer is no. Because for some reason the director and actors actually understood what Eurovision is about better than they should. Maybe better than we Europeans do. Its in all the details. Like sending acts hoping they won't win so you don't have to host. People saying they hate the show but still demanding to watch it in a bar. The outright weird songs with their bizarre lyrics (even if songs have become far better over the past 2-3 years or so). The way the American tourists are treated in this movie is almost a meta thing for this movie.

The movie itself is simple but charming. A bit predictable but with great humor. There's sort of lightness to all of it that just makes it a joy to watch. Even if it drags a bit from time to time. Ferrell and McAdams are cast perfectly even with their fake Icelandish accents that vary in thickness throughout the movie. This movie succeeds where a European production never could do. It captures the weirdness perfectly, turns everything up a notch and delivers some of the best songfestival hits ever. Its not a perfect movie but its actually better than the real deal!

Go watch it! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm back to listening to Ja Ja Ding Dong. Again.

Lets go straight to the main question: Is The Rise of Skywalker good? Well...that depends. It's basically a piece of okay fanfiction with a billion dollar budget. Just like the previous ones. It does a lot of things wrong, will have you rolling your eyes and at the same time fires a million cool things at you as well.

The bad: There still is barely any character development outside of Kylo Ren. Rey's heritage is meh. There are lines that make writing in the prequels look almost Shakespearean. The story is waaaaaay too fast paced at first, leaving no room for anything other than "See this? Now check this!!!!!!". Force powers are once again laughably overpowered. Worst of all: it doesn't really tell you a story. It presents you with a collection of set pieces where things happen, but there is little to no time to actually delve into a real story.

So how can it be good at the same time? Well, once you accept the ST is not a cohesive thing and is best viewed as fanfiction you might be able to enjoy the insanity of it all. C3PO is amazing in this movie! If you ask me he is the best character in the entire movie. D-O is dope. Some mistakes of TLJ are 'fixed'. Everything looks slick as hell and the movie is one giant rollercoaster of all your childhood fantasies of what Star Wars is. See: fanfiction. There are great nods to the past. Some things are retconned to make sense. It's just really enjoyable, even if you're able to see its flaws at the same time.

It's not cool as the Mandalorian. It's also not as boring as Solo. It's not the closing you were hoping for or what the series deserves, but its a pretty damn good time.

6.5/10

What a missed opportunity! On one hand this movie has a great set up: a huge event that's easy to bring to film in a setting that's still somewhat overlooked when it comes to WW2 movies. It even manages to avoid the typical Pearl Harbor pitfalls and doesn't really bother with romantic subplots getting in the way of the main story. It's also a giant CGI fest that turns out pretty good. Mostly.

On the other hand...acting is bad. Like. Really bad. The first act in particular is horrible. The story is jumping all over the place, trying to make us care about way too many characters. The main character even manages to be an utterly unlikable Dick (pun intended) that walks around like he's the best thing the US has to offer. CGI also looks fake as hell in the first act. It's the sort of thing that'll pop up on an episode of the How Did This Get Made podcast.

Things sort of pick up in the second and third act with some impressive big fights but the story keeps on jumping around like it listened to Kriss Kross too much. The end is, of course, a giant Murica F Yeah eruption that had people during my viewing shaking their heads. That might seem harsh, but maybe that's because there are the building blocks of a perfectly fine movie scattered all over the place. Better editing and storytelling would've made this movie genuinely good instead of mediocre.

Not that it isnt enjoyable so it's not a total warning to skip it. It's just... Meh.