rgkarim

LIKES:

Fantastic Acting

Beautiful Setting

Intelligent Writing

Appropriate Comedy

Well-Designed Narrative

Still Working The Characters Well

Charming

Great Cinema/Sound

A Fitting Handoff

Summary: When it comes to Downton Abbey, most know that this is a very character-centric story that requires a lot of building, growth, and actors to bring all this to life. I'll proudly say that despite the time, the cast of Downton continues to be amazing in their ability to bring Grade A performances for the series. I won't call out the top-billed this time, because Downton's story is not just a single performance, but being able to work with the entire cast to make this off-kilter family. Every sentence, line, and emotion is dropped with meticulous craft, the details and authenticity continuing to feel so real as they deal with the pressures of European society that was quite pressing back in the day. There are very few weak chains in the mix, and to continue to bring such strength to these established characters serves as the primary pillar to hold this movie up.

Pushing the acting to the side, the movie continues to shine in the traditional elements of filmmaking without having to blow up the screen in high-definition special effects and CGI creations that we've become drenched in. Beautiful settings that are not reliant on green screens offers a treat for the eyes, further immersing one into the culture of the historical England, while also teasing our fantasies of living in a palace, so to speak. Fancy costumes further help establish the feeling of the times with gorgeous gowns, regal suits, and the authentic uniforms of the working class being accurate, crisp, and holding to the standards the culture has established for years, yet, also changes much like the theme of this chapter. Helping capture the majestic culture, great use of lighting, camera movement, and filter use to help give each element that finesse I've admired of the series for years. Add the sound editing's efficiency and quality to the mix now, which keeps the dialogue clear, the voices in check, and achieves the balance that so many other films fail to get right, and you've got the amazing quality I love in British Cinema.

As for the story, the movie again shows the intelligence of the writers, Fellowes adaptations having to work so much into a shorter time period, and often hitting a quality that seems to slip in modern works. Downton is not going to be for everyone, but the fanbase to the series will enjoy the banter between classes, the strategic bouts of reputation recovery, those simplistic monologues that hold more weight than a hammer, and the touching elements of friendship that this series has always harped on being important. Baked into the regal lines is comedy that fits the bill, awkward pauses, catty insults, and blunt admissions that hold tactful delivery all working to generate laughs in the audience who attended the showing I was in. And the narrative is still touching, holding those themes of challenge to the status, while also pushing themes of modernization, forgiveness, and self-reflection that may be the most important things for the world right now. And though it's not perfect, the movie handles many of the characters well, practically every member returning getting enough screen time to make it worth including in this supposed final installment. The Grand Finale easily maintains its charming nature that respect the energy of the series, and when you get to the final moments, accomplishes much to be that fitting handoff/send off to the series.

DISLIKES:

The Plot Is Very Jumbled

Lacks Some Of The Bite The Previous Films Had

Gets A Tad Stale/Boring

Some Elements That Feel Unfinished or Hasty

Summary: Where the movie was not the best for me though, is that the movie feels a bit less put together in certain avenues that the other films did better. For one thing, the plot feels a bit lackluster and jumbled when it comes to the usual story these movies turn around. It feels a bit rushed and jumbled, a movie that tries to make a big dramatic stab, but ends up getting lost in the overreaching message of change and the subplots around it. Though there was great character development, I felt there were a lot of plots contending for time, and many of them didn't amount to the usual dramatic ambience that the preceding movies brough with them. Even the story hinted in the synopsis felt rushed, simplified to a mere discussion and lacked any real bite outside the earlier moments. Without those teeth, the story feels a bit boring, the pace at times feeling slowed down by these broad bouts of waiting and conversation that are missing that element of cohesion to identify and solve the problems. Even some of the developing antagonists feel a bit simpler than the other members of this franchise have served. Some of them felt they caved in too quickly, others felt turned away by a simple speech, and others felt they hadn't really done much to really garnish the role of primary antagonism. Another film that suffers from too much in one movie, Downton Abbey's main issue seems to be shaving off the usual juicy depths of material for getting everyone's story wrapped up in this final installment.

The VERDICT: Downton Abbey's grand finale holds the same amount of class that the pervious have had in so many ways. The cast continues to commit their best to the roles, doing everything to keep these characters as enriching, fun, and memorable as possible. It handles the real material with intelligence, dialogue, direction, and character development all utilized together to continue to evolve the world this family finds themselves in the middle of. With many characters getting to hold a presence in this film, audiences should quite enjoy this supposed love letter to the series, appreciating how much of a send-off this film serves. Add in the great visual and audio direction, and you once again achieve something that modern approaches struggle to comprehend. And yet, the movie still feels like something is missing, a true uniting cause, antagonism, or impasse that requires all of our band to cooperate to achieve. The underlying dramatic plots feel incomplete, rushed subplots competing for time to make sure we have everyone's tale remotely finished. In that inclusion, the movie still holds that charm, but lacks the full prominence of the tale and that makes this film a bit more boring and tame than I particularly like. Some stronger drama, a little more strategy to solving the issues, and just a better problem/antagonist would have taken this movie further for me to enjoy. When I factor everything together, this movie is specifically for the fans, and per my friend who went with me, a large respectful handling of these characters worthy of a theater visit. As for the movie's scores, I give this film: Drama: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.5-8.

LIKES: The Atmosphere The Acting The Cinematography The Musical Support The Realism The Dialogue The Character Development The Comedy The Emotions/Thrills The Twists To The Story Summary: King's work is always about establishing the horror atmosphere, something that doesn't always transition in the films when budget, pacing, and a new direction come to mind. The Long Walk, though, is a film that brings King's twisted imagination to life, unleashing a lot of things in the run time they were given. An atmosphere that is realistic, this dystopian future doesn't seem so distant, which brings that scariness to life in ways no CGI creature can. The foreboding elements of this dystopian U. S. A. Hit very close to home, and King's story holds so many components that the movie weighs heavily on your mind. Strong cinematography brings the vision to life, filters chosen appropriately to bring the full feeling behind the moments with ashy grey textures and foreboding shadows of the night. Dynamic angles give you the horrors of the moment in full light, finding the best angles to convey the inevitable, and crush your spirit when the bang goes off. And to keep things constantly moving without losing focus, achieved an engaging spectacle that will match many mental images of the hell such an event would be. Musical elements elevate these moments further, with a heavy focus on piano-led ballads that serve as an undertone of hope, sadness, and even the fight, depending on which scene you are in. It establishes so much without breaking the budget bank, and to execute this material with this much class, poise, and composure is something I appreciate as a reviewer.

Yet, the best filming in the world will seldom tell the story without a good character to anchor to, and The Long Walk has many for one to latch onto. Each of these boys has a different motivation, character quality, mannerism, and backstory, some of them very relevant to the world we live in. While only a few get the true layered effect, the movie accomplishes giving most of the assembled walkers some defining characteristics to keep them separate. Most of these "secondary" characters get their qualities in dialogue, which is intelligent, realistic, fiery, and yet poetic, something that is again very hard to achieve. It may not be the grandiose speeches, or some Shakespearean couplet that is ahead of its time, but that personalization and exchange expand the walking to something a little more exciting. And within that dialogue is comedy, which is essential to stop you from completely crumbling into your chair when the first contestant is eliminated. It's not a slapstick venue, but again, that right amount of touch to mirror some of the messages in this movie. And the backstories themselves hold so much merit, many of them holding ideals and approachable goals that you could see the youth holding onto when forced into this mess. The acting that brings it to life is incredible, performances that mostly keep in the realm of belief without crossing too much into the overacting territory. Wareing does his role justice, especially in the end, where he finally gets a bit more of an opportunity to be stronger. Hoffman and Jonsson are the key players here, with so much of the movie on their shoulders as they interact with everything in the group. Their chemistry is incredible, an authentic bond that spreads to the rest of the cast and serves to continue being that torch in the immense darkness that surrounds it. With this superb cast and the production value, the movie accomplishes delivering the emotional thrills, and I found myself not fighting sleep in this film as I waited to see what the film's direction was going to take in this adaptation of the novel. Especially with a few of the twists they brought to the tale. From the recap I read, this adaptation sticks close to the material, combining some key moments into other characters, or perhaps smoothing out some edges that might not be as enjoyable to watch. I liked many of them, and feel it accomplished the herculean task of honoring the film, and within the time frame.

DISLIKES: The Language Some Things Are Really Gross The Hill Scene The Pacing At Times How Hard It Is To Watch The Ending Summary: The movie's limitations start with the language. Again, I can see the realism in the dialogue, but this is one of those films that refuses to use cursing as a spice, but more like drenching it in ketchup. The F bomb is the main vocabulary, and I got bored with the constant use of the word when there was so much more bite, charm, and heat in other words. Past that point, the movie does start to cross into gross territory at times. While this is indeed something one has to consider, I don't find close-up shots of disturbing bowel movements and struggling to handle bodily functions to be rewarding. The focus on some of these scenes with characters we haven't gotten much investment in could have used a bit more censorship, which sometimes is a blessing when you get into the movie. Though the censorship sometimes gets a bit too much, particularly during the hill scene, a pretty big moment in the movie, which gets a bit out of hand and loses some of that coordination. I get the point of the chaos, but maybe not getting so stuck on that one angle and giving the others a bit more time might have helped give that scene a bit more pop, instead of feeling so fast and done. This leads me to the next limitation, the pacing inconsistency at times. I found the film to be pretty good, but the one aspect I didn't like was how many of these characters seemed to have potential, but then get pulled to the side until their inevitable end. That kind of character usage isn't the worst, but I know it could have been better. To know surprise, this material is a hard watch, and while I can't say it's a dislike, I again issue a warning to please be very careful during these times before visiting this film. It's a bit too relevant, it's very graphic, and you need to make sure you have your triggers in check before you step into the film, because many in my theater struggled to watch (per their comments). And when it comes to the ending, well, you'll either like the artistic vision, or you won't. I myself had hoped for something different, but I won't reveal anything to avoid spoilers.

The VERDICT: My time with the Long Walk was powerful. It's a movie that does horror right in many ways, taking a concept that seems so simple and unleashing its full might with the right visual and acting splendor. Fantastic acting brings great writing to life, the portrayals so realistic that it is hard to remember that it's just a movie. And the cinema quality is superb to make this movie one where a good theater will maximize what the story has to show you. Like the Hunger Games meets the Baton Death March, King's writing is captured so well, a surprisingly balanced ballet of darkness where dystopian messages are challenged by other elements the world needs to see. However, the movie is not perfect, with some choices of scenes and language a bit too unbalanced and excessive, which gets annoying at times. Pacing gets a bit off at times, and the new twists may turn the purists away, but given time constraints, it works for me. I'll say again, I think this movie is best in a theater, and currently is my leader for September, but check this out (with steeled resolve) at home if you can stomach the material. My scores for this film are: Horror: 8.0-8.5 Movie Overall: 8.0.

O Elliot Cowan LIKES: Great Sound Editing Some Horrifying Moments Decent Acting Deeper Story Values A Solid Ending The Graphics Are Decent The Music Summary: The Conjuring always holds great sound effects for a viewer like me. Often more horrifying than the actual visuals, Last Rites continues the trend of finding horrifying sounds to help tease your fears and fill your imagination with dark images that can destroy your safety blanket with ease. Scratches in the shadows, whispers that precede blaring horns, creepy music boxes, and horrendous dolls with their shrill speaks. It all works to make some chilling moments, horrifying elements that show why this movie series was one of the scariest, with the tricks Wan pulled. These moments had several people in the audience jumping or screaming, and that was a comfort that I think a lot of people were missing from some of the recent entries. The graphics are decent at times, horrifying makeup that shows off the talent of the artists, making humanoid creatures who, at times, can make your skin crawl with their creepy smiles and haunting eyes. Other designs work well with objects and other sinister media emerging from the shadows to illustrate some imagination still left in this universe. And the music is a fun little cherry on top, an ambience added with the fun soundtrack of the eighties, and the emotional, haunting orchestra that the series is known for. It's a beautiful balance, especially at the end, when a nice little twist is added to wrap the story up.

Speaking of the story, the movie's plot continues along the track of dramatic character development, trying to give layers to the couple's past beyond the exorcising prowess they are known for providing. It works to a level, some extra subplots that serve to foreshadow the underlying plot of this movie and the motivations for why the Bakers are present in the first place. I found it fitting, and could appreciate the reach they were making to help take the Hollywood plot and the real-life story, and combine them into something semi-accurate. The acting prowess remains par for the series, Farmiga and Wilson continuing to make these roles shine, adding dramatic reading of simple lines, passionate recitations of Bible verses, and giving us that spark of hope amidst a sea of satanic creatures. Cowan does his job fine enough when he's on screen; it's just in the shadows to newcomers Hardy and Tomlinson, who get far more screen time and focus. As for the ending, it works, enough of a closure to let the series rest, should they choose to, but also provide openings for other stories to emerge should someone else get the itch to make more tales about the Warrens' artifacts.

DISLIKES: Rushed Pace/Plot Not As Scary Character Involvement Is Mediocre A Bit Too Cheesy Needed More Focused Villain More Drama Than Horror Lacking the Strategy Too Dark In Visuals At Times Ironically A Tad Too Long Summary: Yet, the movie is still lacking some of the bite that the trailers were trying to promote over the last few weeks. Many of the scares are using the same tricks they've done a bunch, but still lack the timing, finesse, and style that the first few installments had. Several of these things felt like throwaways, randomly starting out of the blue and then rapidly stopping without so much as a fight. It got boring for me, so many random hauntings seemingly pulled from a hat to make an appearance, and they crammed as many of these elements into one movie as they could. I applaud the attempts to make this a story-based horror, with characters that excel above the usual horror fodder that we know so well. However, the plot feels very inconsistent, a rushed sprint to the finale, all in the focus of tying this tale up, that it feels a bit tamer and unfinished. Some of these moments cross into that cheesy territory, a preachy, overdramatic execution that feels it belongs in a Nancy Meyers film. It's not bad, but just out of place at times, further grating the horror element away in favor of the dramatic flair that. What's worse is that the character involvement also feels mediocre; many of the new faces are not necessary, a quick introduction or accessory scene before falling into the screams. The Warrens' family drama overshadows them with ease, a shame given the potential that lay in that house. Even the villain felt ambiguous, a scattered array of those scares holding some references and metaphorical horror, but lacking so much of the strong force that other entities held. That kind of loose direction does little for me in story engagement, and I think after a strong opening, that potential died quickly alongside the strategy of handling this material. When all of this comes together, Last Rites movie feels a bit too long, ironically needing more time to tell all the stories, but yet feels bloated when they can't pick a lane. Finally, be warned of your theater. This film is dark, not just in content, but in the actual lighting/quality of the film. Many scenes are hard to glimpse anything, and if you don't have a screen setting for brightness, you might feel like you are lost or missing something with the natural lighting approach. Game of Thrones vibes were felt at times during this movie, and I'm just warning viewers to choose their theater well.

The VERDICT: The Conjuring: Last Rites accomplishes much in bringing the tale to a finish. It is trying to return to the elements that made the franchise what it is, with good use of sound effects, some diverse scare factors, solid shadow use, and layered characters brought to life by good acting. Those moments where things come together show just how good Conjuring's world can craft scary scenes that will remain in your mind for years to come. However, those moments are few and far between, as the latest installment is crammed to the brim with way too many things. It lacks strategy, execution style, and even a plan to make the story a cohesive thriller, trying to pull so many elements and characters into a tiny run time. So many new faces are forgettable, and the scares fizzle out too much with how haphazardly those scares were placed. The villain feels too ambiguous, and the dramatic storytelling took hold of the reins, washing away a lot of the potential the opening scenes focused on building. I don't hate it, nor do I find it the worst elements in the film, but trying to veer too much into other genres is continuing to dilute the edge I think fans want in this movie. Is it worth a trip to the theater? I say yes, especially if you like drama/horror combinations and aren't looking for the scariest screen of the bunch. Otherwise, this one has more potential at home, where you can adjust the brightness of your screen if you need it for this film.

My scores are: Horror/Mystery/Thriller: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0.