Terminal

My movie needs are simple. I want to be entertained. that is it. I don't need any fancy references or nods to previous movies or directors etc. I don't need to be informed or moved or left speechless.

The best part of this movie is it makes it very easy to suspend belief. So you don't have to watch it and suddenly think oh man that wouldn't happen or gee that was wrong. It is highly stylized, the dialogue is great and there is a definite rhythm to it. The acting is great some of the back and forth between actors is actually very witty and very solid. It has twists and turns- none of them earth shattering but great nonetheless.

I think every actor in it was great- I cannot for the life of me figure out why everyone hates it so much. My best guess is that pretentious people either thought it was going to be one thing and it wasn't so they are upset or pretentious people expected it to be more artsy like some of those noir type films can be.

Reading the reviews before I watch it I sort of knew it would be good. I think at a certain point people who I disagree with made it clear they didn't like it so in a sort of the enemy of my enemy thing- The bad reviews seemed like folks who expect too much of a simple small movie or tried to take this movie way too seriously and those who liked it seemed to simply take it as a piece of entertainment.

My wife and I watched it on a Sunday night after dinner curled up on the couch and felt like it sounded good, so we'll ignore the bad reviews and buy it on Xbox 1. I am really glad we did. The movie isn't going to change your life, it isn't going to be one of those life altering movies This movie was great and it did the one thing we wanted on a lazy Sunday night... It entertained us.

My God the people who hated this movie are the same type of people who loved La La Land and Mother- I will almost always enjoy a movie they hate- I watched two movies this past week- Black Panther and Terminal. Black Panther was applauded as being incredible- I thought it was just ok and I just can't get anymore involved with it than saying it was just ok.

So if you are looking for something a bit different than what has come out the last few years and can enjoy something for what it is- simple entertainment the give it a shot you'll probably also really like it.

In short, only people that hate fluffy puppies- don't like this movie.

Unknown, bewildered and mysterious. Those are the words that appear across your mind as this tarted-up noir feelings cartoon shows itself with flamboyant colors spread around the hollow space of the ominous underground of terminal.

This dark tale focuses on a few key characters and their conversations and meet-ups with a deranged waitress played by none other than the charming with talents, Margot Robbie. The Terminal opens with Ms. Robbie as Annie who meets with a priest that will lead to a number of assassinations and overly complicated double crosses which is unbeknownst to the audience before the story uncovers itself layer by layer.

The plot is hazy and foggy for the first ride of 20 minutes but it does take shape beyond that that gives the thinking of alerting the audience to stop daydreaming and start paying attention as the story begins to properly revolve and complete its messy puzzles.

Most of the plot and character developments here willingly to take in the form of twists. There are three major twists deliver within this movie and two of them are quite unexpected but stay to its relevancy of the unnecessary draggy and hard-boiled dialogues.

Encountering the frequent odd happenings and disjointing scenes, time doesn't always move in a linear fashion here. The reason here is because Terminal is mainly relegated to two separate narratives that never quite intersect as a whole. It touches briefly upon another and moves on again with their story back and forth. What is even worse is those two separate entities entitle to slow down the front gear with the misdirection of irrelevant talkings however, they later on become somewhat important for the twists at the end gear that the audience could never see beforehand.

Robbie serves as the personification of what we imagine a femme fatale would be, she delivers her character deep into dark territories as her face morphs into an evil-smiling mad scientist and scary-looking enchantress, hoping that the people watching may madly falling in love with her overly done character, or so you thought. Of course, Robbie does well with her performance as usual but the servings of the substances for the movie lacks the foundation of a truly good movie even far from being a masterpiece artistry of work.

While the recent trailers and neon-lighted posters let on that this is a revenge story, well not so much. It's more of having a porn-fashioned movie with mesmerizing colors and sparkling environments igniting the dark empty world of crime.

Verdict: 49/100. Hands down, I can guarantee it is one of 2018's best looking visuals, the visually stunning colors and dazzling cinematography mimics Suicide Squad, another movie with the presence of Robbie of a different genre that holds the identity of the true definition of 'style over substance'. Robbie may save this movie, cracking the judgments on two sides of which she may or may not. If you love Margot Robbie, then give it a try. Her performance here is the solid proof for her to get that Harley Quinn spin-off film made, already.

Despite some excellent acting performances this film didn't do much for me. I felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things. Using a mixture of various film makers styles it just didn't seem to provide anything fresh. The story telling method used too many twists to work successfully. If stylish visuals and multi layered stories are your main thing then give it a go. Otherwise you may find some of the negative comments and low scores this film has attracted to be justified.

My rating 5/10

I'll start with my usual writer/director moan although this isn't as bad as most, and Vaughn Stein almost pulls it off.

It's visually stunning, has some superb actors - Margot Robbie in particular - but the convoluted story-telling style and, indeed, the plot, make it less than it should have been. You'll have to keep your eyes and ears open and resist the temptation to walk out or switch off 20-30 mins into the movie. The stopy lines do come together, if slightly haphazardly.

There are some nice twists. One or two you'll probably have an inkling of. One you won't as there's no foreshadowing at all, and although it ties everything (mostly) together, you may well feel cheated as the writer(*/director) swaggers about thinking what a clever writer I am!

Still, immerse yourself in a comic/noir-ish nightmare and see what you think.

I don't usually post reviews on IMDb - other people have already done it, and often better than I could - and most of the time, I find the ratings more or less on par with my own impressions of movies.

However, sometimes, I can't help but wonder "How in God's name has this movie gotten this rating?" Terminal is one of those movies.

The abysmally low rating, coupled with the very few (and most of them, poor) reviews, made me want to give my two cents and try to set the record straight. Or, at least, set it straight-er.

For me, Terminal was a thoroughly enjoyable movie - it has a great cast, witty and dark humor, interesting enough plot (not too cliche or too predictable) and, being around one and a half hours long, it does not overstay it's welcome. If you're into labeling things, you could call it neo-noir or something other, but the fact is that Terminal is very much its own thing, visually and plotwise. Personally, it reminded me of a theater play.

The ending could have been executed differently or better - the plot unraveling was overly (and unnecessary) convoluted and the ending itself was a little unimaginative and disappointing. But that's just my personal view.

Overall, Terminal is a good enough movie - and that is good enough for me. And even though it wouldn't make it to any of my "top 10 movie lists", it is still a pretty solid movie, that deserves at least a 7. Which is why I gave it an 8.