Atenea

This is very good. The initial scene is one of the best intros...in the cinema history. As simple as that. Technically the film is always great and one of those that I would really have preferred to watch in a cinema room. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't want that.

I see some people criticising the plot or the script. Well, the plot is good IMO. For a film that happens in one night I think it touches in many things and isn't even politically correct (a lot of the spectators would have preferred to blame only the police because for them is always white and black). The script is...honestly, good enough? Yeah, some dialogue is not that great, but what do you think would be the real dialogue in a situation like this one? Do you really know how these people or most people usually speak in these scenarios?

A very good film. Really surprised to see this is the first film of one of the main actors and one of those films that will force me to watch previous films of this director.

This film is great. All the losers slamming it are just low-key right-wing supporters who are disappointed it didn't end up like they were thinking it would. It was heading the way they wanted and then when it took a turn they got pissed. They can't fathom the situation, so they have to cry foul. It doesn't fit with their perception of how things "really are" so they have to bash it. It's a fictitious story, but they would have you believe that it's too far removed from reality, which is not the case.

The "critics" trying to rip on technicalities like cinematography or camera work or whatever are just reaching here. I'm a video editor. This film is incredibly shot. Almost every scene is a one-shot continuous camera shot and done perfectly. And these people are complaining about it?! They're just reaching for something that isn't there because the actual subject matter makes them uncomfortable. The lighting in every scene is superb, and the backdrop is unwaveringly urban to the point you can taste the concrete. It's near perfect. It is so well done.

Just watch this film and enjoy it for what it is. Don't let these fake and butt-hurt "reviewers" deprive you of an excellent watch. They always feel the need to come on here and try to dissuade you right away because it's not up their alley, but don't miss out on an overall top-notch flick.

THERE IS NOTHING SMALL ABOUT ATHENA. THEREFORE, THE ONLY WAY TO DO JUSTICE TO THIS MOVIE IS TO WRITE A REVIEW IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

IT STARTS WITH AN ATTACK ON ALL SENSES IN A SHOT THAT SEEMS TO STRETCH THROUGH THE ENTIRE MOVIE.

THE MASS SCENES OF UNREST GIVE YOU AN INSIGHT HOW A SIEGE IN ANCIENT TIMES HAVE LOOKED LIKE. AND WITH DIFFERENT COSTUMES AND WEAPONS, YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD A FEELING OF PARTICIPATING IN A BATTLE BACK THEN.

AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT ADRENALINE IS EVERYTHING ATHENA HAS TO OFFER, THE AUTHORS OPTED FOR EMOTIONS AND REACHED THE HEIGHTS OF AN ANCIENT GREEK TRAGEDY. THE CHARACTERS HAD TO MAKE DIFICULT CHOICES, TO SAY THE LEAST.

THE RUNNING TIME OF ROUGHLY 90 MINUTES WAS THE RIGHT DECISION. EVERYTHING BEYOND WOULD BE PERSIFLAGE.

IF I NEED TO SUM THIS ALL UP, I'D SAY ATHENA WAS MORE OF AN EXPERIENCE THAN MERELY A FILM. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME A MOVIE I STREAMED DIDN'T MAKE ME REACH FOR THE FAST-FORWARD BUTTON. IT FELT AS IF SOMEONE WAS PUNCHING ME IN THE STOMACH DURING THE WHOLE DURATION OF THE MOVIE.

IF WE ARE TO TAKE A LIGHTER APPROACH TO THIS REVIEW, ATHENA WOULD BE HATE (1995) MEETS TROY (2004).

IN TERMS OF IMDB STARTS ATHENA IS AT THE TOP OF THE RANGE.

ATHENA is an urban war movie with a political touch by Romain Gavras who follows the lead of his father -the Greek well known director and screenplay writer- Costa Gavras. The film is all about how the lives of 3 French siblings with an Algerian descent immerse into chaos after the death of the fourth younger brother under unclear circumstances. The pain of the loss becomes rage and then... BOOM! Everything explodes at ATHENA building complex in Paris and the social strife begins. Although the film has all the necessary elements to be mentioned as a contemporary Greek tragedy and besides the insane long take opening scene it also has a lot of weak spots and blurry motives.

Athena is one of the most surprising films I've seen this year and I think it's safe to say I ended up loving it, I didn't know what to expect going in and this film wonderfully surprised me, while it's basically a retelling of the year between George Floyd's death and the trial in 2021, but it managed to put a few twists and turns in also.

It's a visual spectacle with a brilliant atmosphere, beautiful cinematography and truly bone cracking fight scenes, our main character, Abdel, is brilliant, Dali Benssalah put on a truly raw and powerful performance perfectly portraying the pain we all felt during the time of violence and riots.

The musical score is absolutely wonderful, wow, it's some of the best I've heard since Causeway, Athena manages to give us a driven character story while also having a somewhat breathtaking ending to pull it all together, and I'm proud to say I loved it.

Athena gets an A-