hanschsolo

This is a weird film. It's overfilled but empty. Too many characters, too many set-ups, but not any depth or real world-building. The most gravitating aspect that made the films tension fall flat, is that we only watch, but we see nothing. When Metropolis get's torn apart, we do not see the people on the ground struggling to get out, we do not see the ashes of the buildings or the dirt on their faces, it is a cleaned-up film.

The Fortress of solitude is also an example for the clean, blank look of this film. There is almost no shadow, no lighting hitting across the room, there is no epic, otherworldly feeling to it. In other words, It feels like I'm watching a comic-book adaptation, and maybe this is a good adaptation of the early superman comics, but for me it doesn't feel immersive if we cannot get a glimpse of reality in this, thematically this falls so flat, the characters are not wired in between together, Lex and Superman basically share no connection, when they stand against each other it feels like two seven year olds talking.

And that's a prominent problem with the script, it's like a child wrote it. Superman Returns by far isn't a very great movie, but in that film, when Lex and Superman meetup, it feels grown, real, motivated, and in Batman v Superman that scene even feels biblical, cause the character of Jessie Eisenbergs Lex has a narrative, a bit of depth, and a goal that's more understandable than an I'm jealous, like Lex in this film.

The point is, I as an audience member and a filmmaker myself, I don't want good or evil. I want grey zones. I want these characters to be deconstructed in every way. I don't want comic book accuracy, fan service, or anything that is even slightly copying the John Williams Superman theme. Because if we just adapt and copy something, where is the experience of something new?

But the worst thing of all is that the film has no true focus in its story. A little of Bavaria, a little bit of Kal-El his parents, then there's also some Louis and Clark Drama, his Grandpa and Grandma, the Justice Gang, Lex and his ultimate lifeform... It's TOO MUCH. I would've rather wanted a Superman character study. And the jokes... why does every movie nowadays treat every serious, emotional scene like a joke afterwards... I would've rather wanted rather feel than laugh, but I guess that's just been me for now.

In all, this can be a good Superman film if you're a huge Superman fan, but this is by far, not a good movie in my opinion. It would've been maybe if it wasn't for Richard Donner back in the day, but he already peaked with the colorful, bright, idea and image of Superman.

While 28 Years Later (filmed on an IPhone 15) has an ambitious cinematic style it falls short in it's drama and plot that struggles to find real meaning. There are things we've rarely seen before in Zombie films, like freezing frames when zombies get shot in the head, fast cuts with wide range camera angles, un-chronological order of scenes within an span of a minute... these are bold choices that make the first half so good. The whole arc where Spike and his father reach out into the land is bold experimental zombie cinema.

But then it crashes aside from a few scenes. Slow scenes, emotional drama that doesn't really hit, it loses its energy and it's rush almost completely. And yes, there are still tense and even funny moments, especially when they meet the character called Erik, but Ralph Finnes his character isn't dived on deeply enough to make him interesting for long. His motivations are understandable and clear, but you can be barely empathetic for him. And that's okay if that wasn't intended, but it makes the emotional Impact fall flat for me.

And I don't really wanna talk about the ending, it's tonally so out of place and almost cringeworthy in every way. I don't even wanna see how this continues with these characters because it feels like a comedy at this point. When Spike and his father left their homes I got goosebumps all over my body. The music, the cuts to the red color graded zombie perspectives, the voice over... that's cinema. But In the end, It feels like this seriousness is all trashed for a joke. Yes, it's entertaining, experimental, and bold very often, but it falls flat completely. Too much emotion on small scale doesn't work for this kind of an film that should feel grand-scaled, and If it should work, you need to dive more deeply into the psyche of the characters.

This is what I call Modern-Artistry. An modern-artist is defined by abstract ways of thinking and telling stories, which can in the end no longer be defined by the receiver. An normal artist maybe has abstract ways of thinking and telling stories, but he puts it into context, perspective, and a narrative that can be defined in either one direction or many directions by the receiver. The difference between them, Is a fine but important line. While the normal artist filter their feelings through logic, the moderns just throw away that aspect completely. Which makes the art stuck in mind and time, all of its timeless qualities, like relevance, emotional impact, and teachings get lost.

Hurry Up Tomorrow is exactly that. An film without clear direction, context and meaning. It can't be interpreted, because there is small to no context. The film actually start off strong, visually striking with a great soundtrack that actually gets under the skin, brilliant sound design that feels like you go through the events with them. Jenna Ortega's character burning the house down actually made me hyped, I wanted to learn and see more about her character, dive deeper into her obviously psychologically broken character. Same with Abel, which actually delivered an excellent performance mostly.

But then... the film loses it's momentum INCREDIBLY fast because It holds on shots for too long, where no progression is seen. It's STILL imagery. But fair enough, I accept that somehow and let it pass... Jenna Ortega's character grows so extremely little in so much time. Abel's character Is frequently depressed, but we don't really dive deeper into his head or his past experiences to FEEL his pain. He's just angry and sad throughout the film without us knowing why or... how?

It's just too little for the runtime. It loses it's audience, Including me, fast, because It has not enough character-work. And why do we love stories? Because of characters. Why do we love characters? Because we either empathize with them or hate them with a burning passion. Why? Because WE are humans. We yearn for comfort in ourselves, but in Drama, often we need to experience discomfort in ourselves. That's what makes a good Drama for me.

Overall, It's an film that struggles to find it's way. But maybe this is my fault, I expected an deep psychological analysis of these characters, but it feels more like an ode to The Weeknd himself. Especially after listening to the Album for months, which feels like absolute cinema to the ears, and tells a wonderful cohesive story with sounds, this is extra disappointing. In the end, Jenna Ortega and Abel did deliver well with their acting, the visuals and the sound design are outstanding, the aspect ratio changes makes this feel trippy and unique, but the story is tied to a bed.