atlastu2

When I saw the trailer for this film, I was kind of excited since it's based on a story for Stephen King, and the premise was interesting, plus the two main lead actors (Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell) are definitely great.

As the story progress, I kept waiting for the cool parts to start happening, but sadly they hardly ever happened, and all we saw is a big indirect advertising campaign for iphone (not that Apple needs it), but seriously the whole movie is based on the iphone.

Another thing that got me confused is how the movie's genre says "horror" but it has no such thing, it's very misleading, it's more of a drama thriller.

I loved the parts when Craig was reading to Harrigan, and how their relationship got stronger, in spite of the vast difference between them.

I guess the main message the film is trying to convey is the effect of modern technology (in this case the smartphone) on our lives, and how it completely disengage us from the real world, and end up controlling us and feeding us lies. And also to be careful what we wish for.

"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers". Oscar Wilde.

I wanted to write this review, not to talk about the film itself, but the fact that the two lead actresses are in their 20s playing girls in high school, which is happening a lot in all the teen films these days, and honestly it ruins the whole experience. I just need to understand why this happens, i mean there are new talents discovered everyday, why do film producers feel the need to cast much older actors for roles that are clearly not right for them. I didn't really enjoy that film, didn't identify or sympathize with anyone in it. It had way too many twists and unrealistic things, so it stopped making sense to me. But i did like the soundtrack. One more thing this film is way too long for a teen comedy, I mean two hours, come one.

I was a little surprised when I saw the trailer of Samaritan, seeing Stallone for the first time in his career as a superhero (not that he wasn't one already),but the idea of him wearing a mask and a costume, that was something. The fact that the director is Julius Avery (the man behind Overlord), and the villain is Pilou Asbæk (who teamed up with him in Overlord), were promising elements. Also the child who played Sam, was a good choice. But sadly they couldn't save the film from it's shallow script, and dull dialogues (except one line at the end said by Stallone, about choosing the right path). I'm a big fan of Stallone, and I love how he was able to revive the Rocky franchise, by being the mentor in Creed, his presence in these films gave it grace and depth, but this film lacks these elements. It's trying to give the vibe of Gotham city and the Joker, where everything is thrown into chaos, and the people are waiting for a hero or a villain to make a difference, but the execution was very poor. I felt that Stallone wasn't really feeling the character, and the events are very predictable, the boy who needs a father figure, and the reclusive man whose past catches up with him and is forced to make a stand to save those he cares about. I wished this film had more to offer, but unfortunately it was very average.