buckbeak-solo12

I don't even want to review this movie, but it hasn't even come out and somehow half of the ratings are one star. The movie itself is pretty great and I'd highly recommend you go see it when it comes out. The acting is very strong, the directing feels very fresh/unique, and you really grow to care about the film's romance. The political statements this movie makes are secondary to the story of these well-fleshed out characters and their struggles, which makes the commentary resonate stronger than many other movies like this. It ain't perfect --it's a bit long, especially when considering the repetitive structure of the story, and the shot composition is a bit boring but this is a movie that everyone should go and see. And jesus, I don't know how it would be possible, butcan you not find a way to weed out the people who review-bomb movies with strong political messages/that have minorities or women in the leading roles? Christ.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the overall rating for this movie is very low because of some racial prejudices, as critics seem to absolutely adore this film; the only reason that is is a sneaking suspicion and not something I firmly believe is because I didn't think the movie was very good... ha, pretty ironic. I saw the short film that this movie was based off of and I thought that it was a really great concept for a short film and, in the short, it was executed fairly well. However, by extending this to a feature-length film, the tendency to ignore very prominent logistical questions and stupid character decisions becomes much harder to do (for people like me anyways). As for what I enjoyed, I still think that the concept of going back to save someone from the past with the social context that this film employs (no spoilers) is really great, I thought that the cinematography and directing were very solid about 50% of the time, and most of the performances were really solid (especially main girl's brother -- CJ somethin; he was truly fantastic). But I think that this movie holds itself back in many places, although no place more than with it's screenplay; while I do like the concept for once the film gets going, there are so many instances where these teenagers, who are genius inventors of time-travel, make decisions that are so stupid that it's overwhelmingly transparent that they're only doing it to get to the next scene; they don't feel remotely in-character and they really take you out of the movie. Beyond that, the directing and cinematography is only somewhat good because it feels incredibly inconsistent; there are points where the film accurately captures a very authentic urban-vibe and there are other times where the world becomes incredibly cartoony and ludicrous. Also, while most of the acting is good, there's one character that's so incredibly obnoxious that he almost ruins every scene that he's in. And maybe if the movie ended with some kind of point, I wouldn't mind the fact that essentially nothing literally happens plot-wise -- hell, both this movie and the original short film are meant to be viewed more with the context of the social commentary each is trying to relay to the audience. But while the original short's ending is powerful and brings the message home hard, the movie's... doesn't? That's the more likely reason all these ratings are so low and I cannot disagree, the ending absolutely sucks; it's the kind of ending that kind of ruins the entire experience and makes any good qualities disappear from your mind. And, unfortunately, it kind of makes the movie not worth watching. HOWEVER -- I would HIGHLY recommend the original short film that this movie is based on. You could just probably google it and find somewhere where you can watch it. This director is promising and all the young talent will hopefully find future success (and I didn't want to bring this into my review too much, but it really is great to have so many POC working on a film and tpo have such excellent representation -- doesn't affect my rating, but I hope these people work again and continue to make films!). But this one isn't really worth a watch, unfortunately. 4/10, not very good.