deon-24

First we had Heathcliff and Cathy, then Almasy and Helen, and now King and Queen. The stunning Fiennes / Binoche duo does it again without any effort. Their screen presence alone sets this retelling apart from the norm. It is NOT the Troy devastation not the massacres of war. It is about facing your past and finding solace in your determination

It must be difficult to take this age old mythical story of Homer, turn and twist it to reveal a new angle and dimension.... and make it as believable as any other modern true story. It is THAT good!

Fiennes has found a new depth in his portrayal of characters, Binoche is as stunning as ever, and the cinematography is oh-so-well done. Yes - here and there is a small lapse in pace, but the story is solid as those rocks being battered by the waves

Yes - it is myth. It is a word-of-mouth retelling over centuries. It is a compelling love story... and it is believable. Perhaps this could be his year to hold aloft the Oscar that has evaded Fiennes for so long?

If one HAS to look for negatives, it lies perhaps in the pursuits of the suitors, and also in their eventual downfall

I do not believe a movie should ever get a 10 - yes, some are out there... so I am sticking to a 9

Make it a 9.5.

On the one side there is so much to say about Joker 2... but yet so little actually

Good version : cinematically superb; using music to showcase the ambiguity of the self (both for Arthur as well as Lee) was very well done; scene settings were well designed; soundtrack choices well considered to highlight each of the various mental challenges at various instances; acting for the most part is above par; chemistry between Arthur and Lee was well directed; editing was better than expected

For the rest, the storyline itself is what brings this movie to its death. It is flat, listless, uninspiring and boring. One would have thought having a blank canvass with such an impressive array of mental attributes to reign in and work with and conceptualize, one would want to shoot for a Pulitzer here. But sadly it is a no. One is left to wonder why they made this as a sequel... or why they made it altogether... Arthur's physical torso seems to miraculously weave between deformity and normality. Shall we put it down to continuity? Not well done. Arthur's Joker face seems to vary as well from shot to shot within some scenes. Surely make-up department has a fixed set of directives how the Joker's face is to be made up? This is a simple face. This is not doing a 5-hour Thanos transformation...??

And Harvey Dent? Disaster! If you are going to lean on characters from previous or other movies - even from comic books - then make sure that there is a transition of powerful (acting) influence if you use another actor. Aaron must be cringing.....

Best to watch the movie for the good acting and the music and go along with the back-and-forth motions that contribute very little to the experience

And for Lady Gaga hoping for an Oscar nod here? Not today, darling. Your character did not really have an influence on the movie. In fact, Lee could have been written out

Giving a 6/10 purely for the inherent positives above. As an honest composite overall, could pass for a 5/10.

The good : it is not 2 hours long!

The bad : aimed at a small fraction of the audience spectrum

The plot is amusing, although it lasts 10 minutes. Thereafter it seems as if people were trying to invent scenes just to give Akwafina screen time... Oh, did I say she also MADE the movie? Yip, so there is the bear bug. With a bit of afterthought, there are several processes in the plot that you can shoot holes through, even if it is only a piece of fiction

It seems that this notion of the past 10 - 15 years is becoming a modern standard where (some) actors turn into producers so they can act in their own movie, where other directors would not give them those opportunities (with just cause, I suppose)

It creates an atmosphere where these actor-producers FORCE you to accept their scenes, however bad they may be. Again - this is not true for ALL actor-producers out there

John Cena is such an accomplished all-round personality and gives a lot of credibility to this movie and ticks all the boxes. Without him this would be a 1 star movie

As for MGC : well done for coming on board for this one. Now, please remind me not to watch Akwafina's next attempt.