sneaker-peeker

Given the director and the cast involved, I had huge hopes for this movie. Almost as huge as the let down I ultimately got. A thriller with obvious twists, two great actors with zero chemistry and a plot so devoided of wit or ingenuity that the fact this movie was released the same year as 'Knives out' or 'Parasite' is almost shameful. Just five minutes into the the movie anyone can tell who's playing who, and the "big reveal" at the end is merely exposition to justify the motivation behind the plot, but once you get to break it down you realize most of it doesn't make sense. Despite its many flaws, it's a well made movie with a beautiful production and decent performances (considering what they had to work with) but other than that, I would say wait until it comes out in Netflix.

Martin Scorsese directs the story of a man that reached fortune by becoming really good at doing illegal activities and eventually got in trouble with the law in part for his careless behavior and in part for the bad companion he associated with.

One of the few good things of the movie is how it accurately describes the aggressive and intense scene stockbrokers and sellers in general live in, unfortunately that had been done before and done better. Other than that, the movie is just a collection of depraved anecdotes set in slow-mo sequences with cool music (usually "borrowed" from other movies) and that makes it a genuine snore fest (literally, there were people snoring in the audience)

I really wanted to like it, but it turned out to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen, and I've seen the 'English Patient'. I really don't understand why the movie tries so hard to rub in our faces Jordan Belford's excessive and decadent lifestyle, which btw wasn't as shocking as I was expecting.

It's funny how critics bash repetitive action and destruction scenes in movies like 'Transformers' or 'Man of Steel', but praise repetitive morbid scenes in movies like this one, when in both cases is a tedious experience.

For the first time ever I found myself attending a movie in which I wasn't interested in anything that was going on or cared for any of the characters and when that happens one starts noticing a lot of continuity and edition mistakes that not even direct to DVD movies have, like when a character is supposed to be speaking but even from a behind shot we can see the actor isn't talking at all or the infamous Leonardo Dicaprio "magic pants" scene. But the biggest sin of the movie is that it sacrifices the essence over the form, and by that I mean the pace of the story.

Once you get over the so called "controversial" scenes, you realize the pace is slower than grass growth, because the story didn't need a 3 hour movie to be told. The length of the movie was a consequence of the depraved overkill. Don't believe me? Take agent Denham for instance (the character played by Kyle Chandler) he was introduced 10 minutes into the movie, so we have a pretty good idea of his role in the story and where it's going, however the character speaks his first line 90 minutes after he's introduced (that's right, I was so bored I started timing things like that)

Grasp that for a few secs. Ninety minutes! I could have walked out, watched 'Gravity' (again) walked back in and the character wouldn't have yet said anything. And how does the plot unfolds in those 90 minutes? It doesn't, all we see is sex, drugs and partying over and over again. I haven't read the book but I believe Scorsese could've made the movie more engaging if instead of focusing so much on Belford's life would have shown how his actions affected people, I mean we're talking about lifetime savings that were robbed and that resulted in broken families,hundreds (if not thousands) of people losing their homes, their health and even their lives. It could've at least bonded emotionally with the audience.

But the fact is, if you've seen the 2 min trailer you already know 90% of the story and even worse, the remaining 10% has also been done before and done better when it was called 'Casino' (btw, the first paragraph of this review was copy / pasted from a review of that movie) which was an exciting story, however when seen in WoWS it seems wasted and clichéd and of course you may also take into account that even when their performances were good, Jonah Hill is no Joe Pesci, Margot Robbie is no Sharon Stone and unfortunately Leo Dicaprio is no Bobby Deniro.

So my recommendation is sneak in, wait until McConaughey's performance is over and then leave.

Don't believe the hype

4/10

Without a doubt, 'War of the Worlds' has to be Spielberg's best THRILLER since 'JAWS'. Yes, that's right, this movie has a little bit of sci-fi, and a little bit of a "coming of age" theme, but it's hardly an action flick, and I believe that's why most movie goers get disappointed by the outcome. The friend I went with felt the movie didn't satisfy her expectations, since she was expecting a more 'Independence Day' kind of movie and be amazed by incredible destruction scenes, but fortunately for me Spielberg gave a different approach to the story.

WOTW, it's a darker and earthlier view of an alien invasion where Spielberg take us deep into the story of the Ray Ferrie's family struggle to escape a "war", that seems more like an extermination. The movie is fast paced and gives no chance for explanations, for questions like "Why are the aliens here? What do they want? Where do they come from?" the answer is "Who cares?? Start running if you want to survive", just like it would happen in real life, and I believe that's where the greatness of this movie relies.

The realism in the film is top notch to a scary level, to the point of feeling that you're actually in the story, running away with the Ferries escaping from those evil tripods and this is supported by the visual effects that are so well crafted that you can't tell where they are, (unlike 'ROTS' which almost looks like an animated film), and the character development is very simple, but also well done, since Tom Cruise plays a "regular guy" a mere John Doe that even when he is the protagonist of the story, he is not the protagonist of the events surrounding him, which gives the viewer a fairest chance to relate with the character.

And even when the ending is more of a conclusion than a climax, it kept the realistic and disturbing atmosphere of the story making it coherent and true to the novel. Even when the movie it's flawed, at the end I must say I enjoyed the ride very much and would positively recommend it if you're looking for a flick with intense suspense in it (ala 'Signs' meets 'Dawn of the Dead'), but be aware if you're looking for an action movie, this may disappoint you.