chrisgordon

I'm a bit surprised by the viciousness of many of the films critics. Even though I agree with many of the criticisms.... It's derivative, the initial aggression against the first village required much more cost and effort than would be retuned in resources, it steals heavily from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the Seven Samurai and all of its remakes... BUT it looks good. This more closely resembles pulp inspired space opera than most recent sci-fi movies. The action set pieces are well choreographed and the colour palette is attractive and resembles high end graphic novels. There are MANY good films that are derivatives or remakes. Yes, there are some lazy narrative choices but all in all I really enjoyed this and while I respect others may disagree with me, I think many of the critics who have cranked up the bile and the negative superlatives are just examples of the polarisation of discourse where some people think they have to mark to extremes to make a point.

The Whale is a movie that genuinely lives up to the hype, but the danger of raving too much about it is that it runs the risk of diluting the simplicity and ramping up expectations. It is a simple, clever, beautiful, heroic, melancholy, sad and joyous story that plays out like a long one act play. The direction is economical, restrained and unrushed, making Charlie's whole world the film's whole world. With the camera on Charlie (Brendon Fraser) for the majority of the time, it allows Fraser to languidly use his entire acting palate, not only supplying the big, dramatic moments but all of the smaller, sometimes intimate and sometimes seemingly inconsequential moments as well.

It feels real, and as simple as that sentence sounds, it's an almost impossible thing to deliver. Director Darren Aronofsky has provided a warm and subtle film that integrates isolation, sexuality, being different, remorse and redemption without waving them like a banner. There are clever reveals and while you may have an inkling where the show is going, I don't think you will fully predict the emotional gut punch coming your way until it's upon you.

With all the superhero films and rushed-to-Netflix movies these days, I don't see much superb film making these days, or many that I think are worth 10 out of 10. This is.

I saw the latest Marvel movie, Eternals the other day, and I've since read that it has received the worst reviews of any of the Marvel movies.

It's actually not that bad... in fact I enjoyed it. It branches out from the same old characters in Avengers and co., it provides diversity that fits well and makes sense, and it provides a detailed and cool back story to the broader Marvel Universe. And it looked a million bucks... sumptuous colours, great fight scenes, Kumail Nanjiani steals the show...yada yada yada.

But it did provide a few bits that niggled.

(1) The characters. The first three you'll meet are Superman, The Flash and Wonder Woman. I mean, that's not their names, they are Ikarus, Sersi and Thena but that's the power sets and templates they've pinched from DC. Kinda generic and unadventurous, but that's not the movie's fault, that's Marvel.

(2) It's overlong. At 2 hours 36 in a darkened cinema wearing a mask that forces you to rebreath the same carbon dioxide you just breathed out, it's a perfect storm for an unintentional snooze. There was a LOT of padding... a hell of a lot... which, edited better, would have made for a tighter film.

(3) Blatant and repetitive cross promotion. This, in my opinion, is the biggest and most common flaw to the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. Characters are inserted into storylines with the most tenuous connection and very little need to the narrative, only to promote the next Marvel release. It takes you, the viewer, out of the story, destroys the suspension of disbelief and reminds you that these are just products we are being sold. Christopher Nolan didn't do it in the Batman films, it didn't happen in the Joker movie, so it IS possible to stick to the art and the story in telling a super-hero yarn, without resorting to being a carney telling people to "step right up" for our next show. I also saw Shang-Chi on the same weekend and there it was again... blatant as can be.

On IMDB the aggregate ratings average was 6.9. Sounds about right.