(film review) [STREAMING] - Rebel Moon part 1: Child of Fire

Trash? I would not say trash, but maybe I am giving one of my "favourite" directors a pass? Maybe I am being too lenient on Zack because most of his movies, I have seen and enjoyed. This film has a few problems, but the problems it does have, are major problems. Everything else is fine and in some cases, great. True Zack Snyder storytelling, but the problems stick out like a sore thumb and some people may not be able to cast that aside. I am not saying that I happily cast aside the problems, not at all, but I feel I can identify the problems, separate them from the other good/great moments and give my opinion on what I think of the movie overall. I'll explain.

Kora is an ex-soldier, who defected from the Imperium, an infantry, part of The Motherworld a militaristic empire who seek to rule the universe through centuries of conquests and war. Living a quiet life on a distant moon on a farm helping out the locals, the imperium comes knocking and Admiral Atticus Noble seeks out the moon and it's dwellers. Knowing how Noble will operate, Kora decides to help the farmers out by rallying a team of warriors to help her take down the Motherworld and stop their tyranny.


Very cut and dry. A simple story of good vs bad. We have a protagonist and we have an antagonist. Before this movie was released, I heard that this film was proposed to Lucas Film (now at Disney) as a Star Wars movie and Lucas rejected it. Netflix took it and allowed Zack to make the movie he wanted. There is a very high possibility that nobody oversaw his work and let Zack get on with it because if I am honest, it shows. Zack is a great storyteller with a visual flare that dwarfs Michael Bay. I have said this many times here in many reviews. I am not a Zack fanboy but I do like his movies, so maybe I am being a bit biased here, but I would not say the movie is straight-up trash. It just feels like a movie made specifically to be a part 1, than a movie that happens to be a part 1. If that makes any sense! For example, this year alone we have had two movies I can draw from that felt like a whole movie but ended on a cliffhanger because they were part 1 of 2; 'Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse' and 'Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1'. Both films were lengthy, told a story with minimal flashbacks and were split into a three-act structure. You are introduced to the characters, we are told as to what is to be done and how to do it, and we go about trying to achieve that goal. This movie does not quite do that. We are introduced to the characters, we are told what is to be done, we spend time looking for more characters and given even more back-story of the main character (exposition) and then a fight ensues, finished, the end. The entire film felt like a first act including part of a second act with nothing but flashbacks and slow motion. Or better yet, more accurately, the film could have been a series and this was the end of Season One. The film generally felt unengaging because of this, slightly disjointed, and rushed, although still operating at a slow pace not really getting anywhere and everything simply felt surface level. It spends a lot of time trying to get somewhere but ultimately getting nowhere. The film reminded me of playing an RPG game, you've got your main character and they are on a quest, they pick up an assortment of different characters who will help you in your fight and each of them look very different from each other with different skill sets. Not terrible, but not executed in a way that made the characters stick out. The characters do not really sit with you either. It is very exposition-heavy for the main character. These are the issues with this film, along with the main actress being OK and the dialogue also being, just OK. The villain was trying to be menacing, but...was not that menacing at all, the film just felt very brief and chopped.


The music, and the action, are all superb. It is funny how a lot of the action is in slow motion so you can see the detail and what is going on, a Zack Snyder staple; the problem is, it was just a little overdone in my honest opinion, just a little too heavy-handed. Visually the movie is great though, something you can never take away from Zack. The music is also really good as it gave me Man of Steel vibes in places. The special effects could have been a little better considering 'The Creator' looked amazing on a shoestring budget, but it is Netflix, I am not going to cry over the special effects here. The acting from most of the characters was good. Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein and Charlie Hunnam were the standouts, but I just feel these characters could have been given more. Maybe if there were less slow-mo and more and better dialogue, the characters would have connected with the audience better, but then this leads me to the part 1 of it all.

Of recent, I have heard that Zack has a director's cut of this first part which makes me think 1 of 2 things happened here. Netflix stepped in and was actually involved in overseeing his work and told him to strip the movie down to a respectable time (because we all know Zack cannot make short films), so Zack did a lot of chopping and what he cut out of it, IS in fact in the directors cut which will tell more story OR, Zack and/or Netflix came to the decision of having a director's cut because "Release the Snyder Cut" was a movement and maybe Netflix thought they could capitalise off the back of that, either way, the film feels rushed and it ends awkwardly. The characters are touched on at a surface level, if that and the story hardly had any meat on its bones. It would have been nice to have the characters more fleshed out and memorable because the movie simply comes across as a fetch quest.


But did I enjoy the movie overall? Yes and no. I made 3 attempts to watch this movie and each time I tried, I was tired and I did fall asleep. All. Three. Times. Being ill and tired is one thing, but the main character is cool, but not really engaging. All the flashbacks and exposition got tired and boring. The slow motion, the visuals and the coolness of the film does not do enough to keep your attention because, well...we have seen it all before, you know. Sophia is nice and all, but they tried too hard for her to be badass but could have done more with her character if they took her in another direction. Like, she was the reluctant hero, with the charisma of a grape, but giving out forced speeches that had the weight of a feather which was meant to influence people to help her with her plight. Maybe it is her delivery. Maybe it is just how it is written. Maybe Part 2 will be better (because the trailer actually does look better) and maybe this film should have been one long 7-hour movie (I kid). Zack is a great filmmaker, but he does really need to know how to use better executions when directing. He is not trash by any means, but his misses are usually centred around the same things, all the time. Where is 300 Zack or Man of Steel Zack? There were glimpses of him here, but not enough. More Suckerpunch Snyder I'm afraid. Good but not as engaging with the characters overall lends to the film feeling hollow. The visuals, action and music are good though, but just not enough.

(trailer review) - Rebel Moon

  

(TEASER TRAILER)

The Teaser! What was THAT garbage? Sorry, but seriously, what WAS that? In my last review, I said "I cannot say that this teaser trailer blew me away" and that was one of if not the very first thing I said. This trailer though, WOW! Lead with this! If you have read any of my Zack Snyder reviews, plus, I also said in my last review of this movie's trailer, "...I am a Zack Snyder fan" but fan or not, this trailer looks epic. I know it was a teaser but unfortunately, I do not believe that the teaser trailer helped to sell this movie to me or anyone at all, especially if you compare it to this. They definitely held back because if you look at these two trailers back to back, this trailer tells you everything and nothing about this movie, while the last trailer just gives us some very clean visuals and a whole lot of nothing. While I will say the visuals do somewhat still look fairly clean in comparison to Dune, for example, I am actually blown away by this trailer.

Whilst the last trailer intrigued me (and let's be honest, likely because of Zack Snyder), this trailer gave me 300/Gladiator vibes, Star Wars (obviously, considering), Dune, and maybe even a little Game of Thrones. I am totally down with this movie and the cast alone is excellent. Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Ray Fisher, Ed Skrein and Anthony Hopkins. All the quality stylised imagery we expect from Zack is here. The sci-fi AND the fantasy is here. The music sounds great and I can only hope, Zack has crafted a nice little movie he can build a franchise from even though it was initially meant to be a Star Wars story. Seeing those "glowing swords/batons" felt a little forced, but other than that and the legions of soldiers standing to attention like stormtroopers, I hope this film feels nothing like Star Wars. We need something different. We need new IP and this might actually be it. The second trailer should give us a little more, but so far, this looks great.

(film review) - Alita: Battle Angel

This film seemed to be going through all types of hell in order to be put onto screen.  James Cameron wanted a specific look to this movie and to also enforce a “gimmick” with the help of Robert Rodriguez to tell the story of Battle Angel: Alita, I mean, Alita: Battle Angel, and with their sensibilities together, produced and directed a film that I, actually, well…really enjoyed!

After a major war known as “The Fall”, society is split with those who live at the top in the City of Zalem and those who live at the bottom in what is known as the Iron City, a junkyard dumping ground.  Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz), whilst in a junkyard, finds a disembodied female Cyborg and decides to put her together and name her Alita (Rosa Salazar).  Now discovering a whole new world, the people in it and the life or death competitive sport of Motorball, Alita stumbles across the person responsible for the murders of innocent women and instinctively engages into a fight which allows her to remember old memories of a previous life she had and rediscover her unique fighting style.
With a passion for fighting and feeling invincible, Alita decides to join the hunter warriors and enters the brutal game of Motorball to help send her friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson) up to the City of Zalem, but when Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley), a huge cyborg is out to kill her, requested by Nova by way of Vector (Mahershala Ali), and now that there is a bounty on Hugo’s head, set by an assassin named Zapan (Ed Skrein), it is up to Alita to go toe-to-toe with those out to kill her and her friend whilst trying to unlock the secrets of her hidden past.

I enjoyed this movie as I went in with zero expectations having seen possibly only 2 trailers and I just wanted to see it as it looked cool.  One of my thoughts whilst watching the movies was “When are they doing Akira?” As Akira is one of my favourite Manga movies from back in the day and I would love to see it.

I don’t have any complaints about this movie as I knew what I was getting when I was going in, in regards to the big eyes, which actually wasn’t THAT bad.  Maybe if the eyes were even bigger, then it would have been more distracting than it already was, so it wasn't that bad.  And although the story of a person with missing memories and hidden talents is done to death and old, it was great to see in this movie, as it also reminded me of the old Geena Davis movie, ‘A Long Kis Goodnight” (I love that film).  The film also had similarities to Elysium.
At one stage, I kept asking myself, why does everyone have a missing arm? But then I started to see more cyborgs and when it came to the Motorball sport, I was introduced to even more cyborgs which broadened the world even more than it already was.  I can’t go into too much of the story without giving away plot points or parts of the story, but we only see a small part of Alita’s story with what is obviously set up for even more movies, because everyone wants to do a Franchise! With that said though, this is something I would love to see how deep and far they will go into the world of Alita as what I saw, I really enjoyed and I never watched the manga or read the comics

The acting was great and the CGI and special effects were quite phenomenal. You can’t really expect anything less from James Cameron, you know.  I even saw this in 3D and sometimes 3D can be off-putting or distracting...it wasn't this time around.  But I’d suggest that if you want to see more films like this, then this film will need to get supported or films like Akira, Attack on Titan and other Anime/Manga, just won’t get done….especially with their worlds being soo vast and great.  I think Robert and James did a good one with this one and I definitely want more.

(film review) - Deadpool

Deadpool. What the hell is a Deadpool? Well the answer to that is actually explained in the film.  I'm not 100% if this is correct to the comic book universe which has been retconned over the many years after the character was conceived, but like Deadpool, he derives from the Marvel comic book universe and is a genetically modified person.  Think of Captain America.  Think of Wolverine's adamantium covered bones and healing factor.  Think Spider-Man (A character they modelled Deadpool off of fusing him with Deadshot from DC. Comics).  The point I am trying to make here is that, Deadpool is an experiment and not necessarily a Mutant although he has the Mutant healing ability Wolverine has as he was also a part of the Weapon X program Wolverine was subjected to.  A point that was slightly/briefly covered in the terrible film, X-Men Origin: Wolverine, a film that brought us Deadpool as Wade Wilson and completely butchered his character and appearance.  This film basically gives you a better and more correct telling of Wade Wilson, the merc with a mouth who is a completely self-aware character and how he becomes Deadpool.

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a Mercenary.  He will kill people for money and he has no problems with that.  A bit of an arsehole and a bit crazy (messed up in the head), he eventually meets a woman who he then falls in love with, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).  Whilst in this relationship, Wade is diagnosed with terminal cancer which forces him to leave her to seek treatment at the hands of Francis/Ajax (Ed Skrein).  However, as the deal does not pan out to be exactly how it was initially intended, Wade must now correct the outcome of the experiment and save his girlfriend at the same time.  To add to Wade's troubles, both Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) join him on his quest.

First of all, this is a hilarious movie.  Maybe for some of you, some of the jokes may not hit, but there are soo many jokes throughout this film, you'd be forgiven if you thought this film was a comedy.  To be precise, this film is a revenge movie infused with a love story.  About a man trying to get his girl.  But as well as being a revenge story, a superhero comic book movie as well as one, NOT FOR KIDS, this film is firing on all cylinders.  If you have seen the marketing, the lewd/sexual jokes and the violence (including blood) in the trailers, this film basically spells out ADULT in every single way possible.  This is a character for adults with adult themes, although a superhero movie.  You will see the contrasts of his character and the X-Men characters when you watch the film which makes the movie work soo well.  Another element to this movie that makes the movie work soo well is that, Wade is a very self-aware character.  In the comics, he is THE ONLY CHARACTER in comic book history (I think), who knows he is in a comic book.  He would often approach subject matters outside of comic book lure and also address his readers.  This film does the same thing.  They stick soo close to the comics with this, the results are hilarious.  Poking fun and making jokes about anything and EVERYTHING! Blink and you will miss it, but there is a moment #Spoilers (I guess), that Deadpool actually moves the camera for the audience and at times he would randomly address the audience where the other characters won't have the foggiest of whom he is talking to.

Brilliantly executed by director Tim Miller and excellent acted by Ryan Reynolds.  With other actors doing a great job such as the main villain Ajax, his "sidekick"/Bodyguard Angeldust (Gina Carano), this film is bound to entertain.  The fact that they made this film for $58m dollars, which sounds like a lot, but in comic book movie standards is, peanuts, this film does not come off as sloppy, badly edited nor cheaply made.  I guess there is an argument to made in regards to a few shots but...$58 million? X-Men Origins Wolverine was made for $150m and the last X-Men film, Days of Future Past was made for $200m. How is that for context?

Have a watch, i'm sure you will love it.