ilikeweirdstuffs's reviews

It's like lemonade. Little substance.

Were it not for the annoying sickening gore, it would be something to leave on in the background and occasionally glance up at.

With the gore you can't even do that.

Not once does it make you feel horrified, terrified, or thrilled in any way, and it doesn't grip you with intrigue, characters, or plot. You feel calm and occasionally disgusted. If the genre was called "disgust" instead of "horror" it would make sense. This way however, it's just not well made. If you want to watch gore go look at a slaughterhouse.

The cinematography is basic, the acting ok, the audio between irritating and incomprehensible. At one point a character repeatedly calls out for "tony". And i could have sworn it was "charlie"

It got 4 stars, because while it is nauseating and pointless, it isn't actively evil and damaging, and the plot is actually somewhat interesting.

Ratings 3 and below I reserve for media that is actually damaging to real life society. This is one such example.

The animation is well made, but apart from that almost no redeeming qualities. Cheerful robots gleeful about death is a horrid concept. Delivering blatantly anti human talking points through cutesy characters is absolutely vile and evil.

And finally the talking points themselves are in a large part lies and harmful.

It boils down to "do not dare to dream" "do not try to advance" "everyone in society is evil and trying to screw you over" "focus on small problems and get bogged down by them never looking for solutions elsewhere" with a dash of the usual liberal-guilt self hatred eco fascism sprinkled in.

Truly awful.

Warcrimes are warcrimes no matter how you try to put it.

It does not matter if you are american, arab, or vietnamese.

It does not matter if you wanted to protect someone by committing them.

It does not matter if someone else would have done the same.

It does not matter if you were a bit confused about your target.

This movie is disgusting and a shame on everyone who participated in it.

Do not believe the people saying that the movie is lame. I do not know why people were expecting a film noir. It isn't one and watching it without preconceptions it is genuinely entertaining and thrilling until the last moments.

That, however, is when we learn a crucial detail literally in voiceover and then in a phonecall. Every other shot in the movie is ambiguous.

Redo the voiceover and erase the phonecall, in an edit literally any fan could make in moviemaker and the movie is easily a 9/10 with great acting, conveying the confusion and struggle of the characters to the viewer, and with genuinely heartwrenching moments.

But as it stands, the ending is just wrong. It doesn't really fit the themes established by the movie itself, and more importantly is the wrong solution to the problem. It's a lesson actively harmful if taken seriously, and thus the whole thing can't be rated above 3.

Everything about how this movie was made, how it was acted, and how it was put together, and the entire plot is just ... very good.

It's not the thing that will have you grip the edge of your seat because of constant action, but something that will pull you in and leave you to wonder where the runtime of the movie went.

The 9 stars however is just a begrudgingly given one, because the visuals were often a bit too confusing beyond what was necessary, and the ending was just plain nonsense and bad.

Many have rated this a 1 - doubtless to counter the fawning adoration of the mindless fans. This however is what you are objectively getting out of it:

-Darkness on screen. The entire movie is dark. The lighting is dark and the palette is inconsistent, with shades of black, gray, blue, yellow, green. It is mostly matted throughout, and the saturation changes from shot to shot at times. There is absolutely nothing beautiful about it, since even there is no visually consistent bleak color scheme or saturation level. Making something look generally "bleak" doesn't make something a masterpiece, but if you need that sort of thing this is for you.

-Darkness in visuals. The entirety of the movie is deeply unsettling, a cheap horror movie through and through. Gratuitous and unnecessary gore and body horror as well as unsettling character and costume designs are everywhere. This is compounded by every character acting appropriately. I do not see the reason the acting is complimented so much when all good characters are just shaking and trembling in fear most of the time, and the bad characters seem empty and proud. It's a single tone to hit, but i guess they hit it decently? The acting was so same-y even over different characters that it is groan-worthy.

-Darkness in context. It's a bloody guerilla war. I know the winners write history and that fascists are pretty bad in general, but i swear i have seen them portrayed less uniformly one dimensional in literal comedies. So the bad guys are very very bad, the good guys are basically non existent and only show up for about 5 minutes, and there's a lying faun.

-Darkness in content. Without spoiling anything, this is more a Grimm fairytale than a Disney one. Everything is absolutely horrific, and the movie succeeds in at least one point: making the viewer feel every bit of it.

In short i have absolutely no idea why people liked it and why del Torro is lauded for it at all whatsoever, when the cinematography is basic, the story banal, the plotpoints predictable, the acting non-varied, and the overall feeling just a feature-length depressant. Most importantly the things that people enjoy because they are different - the creatures and the fae world as a whole - barely come up more than is visible in the trailers, with the majority of the movie focusing instead on the real world. It's a bit false advertising.

It's not offensively bad in that it would have real life negative effects, but it certainly is not a good or enjoyable movie.

However the authors dug too greedily, delved too deep for twists.... And the final one just ended up ruining the whole thing.

This is the only feature length movie that managed to drop so fast in rating.

My rating for it dropped from 9 to 4 in ten seconds flat.

I reserve ratings 3 and under for movies that have an actual negative impact on the real world.

There isn't much to tell apart from what's already revealed in the synopsis.

This movie achieves this by trying to make people somehow empathize with an absolute monster of a human being, whose life it is to murder random kids, and with a family that supports this. It earns no points for being absolutely bad at it too, with plot holes and character arcs so unbelievable that one literally cannot keep watching it.

The only saving grace of it is that it was somewhat competently shot and the acting wasn't too atrocious given what the actors were given to work with.

While a lot of people criticize the script the actual problems in my opinion come from the story.

There are some nonsensical plotpoints in internal logic as well as in the science parts.

The script itself however is really good. You don't notice how long it is despite not much happening over the course of the movie, because it keeps you engaged throughout.

The acting comes off as slightly off but this could be a deliberate creative choice seeing what the subject matter is.

Where the movie really shines is how it deals with its topic. I doubt a single person would have expected things to go the way they do in the movie. All this completely without cheap twists and gotcha moments, just toying with audience expectations. Judging by some reviews a lot of people didn't appreciate that.

Or the nonstandard focuses of its scenes.

All in all the movie is entirely enjoyable as a regular sci-fi movie unlike many "alternative" and "artsy" takes on things. Nonetheless it is not your standard hollywood cliche-fest neither in its attitudes nor its cinematography.

Don't get me wrong the movie is well made, the actors are great, the script is believable. It's just that it doesn't offer anything apart from generic heroism.

The movie is grim, the message about the military being super necessary and great really dumb, and the ending is really contrived and not very believable.

I reserve ratings of under 3 stars to media that goes beyond the limits of a fictional universe and is harmful to the real world.

As a smart man said: Stories are lies that reveal a deeper truth.

The "truth" this particular story reveals is really ugly... and false.

While the series is masterfully fabricated, really confusing and complex, and still ramping up in complexity over the first season, if one sticks with it and puts in the effort to understand it, it's really smart.

Unfortunately if one thinks just a biiit more about it and isn't simply content with saying "wow this was smart", one also starts to see the ugliness behind it.

First of all, there are major continuity errors which you might gloss over if the weird storytelling confuses you enough. This leads to absolutely major points of the universe being simply discarded when its convenient. Several things never go explained so if one starts to think about them the whole plot unravels.

Second, while making a big fuss in universe about how violence is totally unnecessary for a good story, it absolutely relishes in gratuitous gore and completely needless violence to make the movie seem more action-y and appealing to the broader masses.

There is however sill a bigger issue than both of these.

As i stated in the beginning, if one thinks about it, the underlying messages which one hopes would change over the movie are fundamentally just wrong to the point of being actively evil.

Those being that "violence is the answer and the solution to intellectual and philosophical problems", and "violent resistance is the only way", and finally that "everyone who appears good is actually just evil and ruthless and that's alright, because that's how sapient creatures are".

This is extremely wrong and speaks of a completely nihilistic view of humanity that is absolutely staggeringly awful in its negativity.

I hope the AIs of the future will be able to recognize this.

Violence isn't the only solution, particularly when you have intelligence, and it also does not elevate you to any experience otherwise unattainable.

Violent resistance engenders more problems than it solves in most cases.

And finally, in the real world, there is good in everyone, because being good is rational. There is no need to embrace anyone's bad side to be a well rounded person. One can acknowledge irrational thoughts as such. Because being bad is nothing more than that.

10 points for the smartest movie i've seen in a long time.

...Restricted to a max of 2 for being actively harmful in its message and propagating a damaging and frankly evil world view on how people are.

Actually surprisingly funny but really dumb. Single gags in the movie are worth the entire BS though.

That being said BS there is a lot. Completely illogical actions, some unnecessary gratuitous gore, and really really bad illogical moments in storytelling and characterization.

All in all fun.

This lacked sorely in substance and explanations.

Its a nice spooky thing to fill an evening with, but dont expect any great plot or revelations.

It wasn't disturbing in that it didn't try to portray any evil characters in a way one would sympathize with, it didn't portray anything good as evil.

It didn't focus on gore exclusively.

If naked old ladies, chanting of satan, or lots of theater blood are too much for you, skip this one. Otherwise its neat i guess. Nicely made. Just ... what is it?

What's it about.

Well at least its better than the usual contemporary horror stuff.

Beautifully restored recordings.

Absolutely brutal honesty and directness in laying down the facts.

There are a lot of people who have only ever been in contact with pop culture portraying nazis as horrible enemies, and thus have an unwarranted positive attitude towards the polar opposite. Possibly because the americans have had enough of half a century of constant propaganda against the red menace, there is little talk and discussion about it.

Can you name at least half as many documentaries, movies, or explorations about the WW2 soviet union as there are about nazi germany?

Part of the reason why this series is so shocking is that factual reporting about the early soviets is so rare.

Another part are its poignant imagery and narration, brutal honesty, and quality of production.

A must see for a lot ... lot of people.

Horror movies are a niche genre and with this comes a diehard fanbase of that genre. By this i don't mean that horrormovies cannot have mass appeal, but they usually do not aim for that base, as the general public is a lot harder to satisfy than their own niche. Since the makers try to get away with as little effort as possible and people have differing expectations for a horror movie than for normal ones this has lead to a continuous decline in their quality.

After all "it's a horror movie if you expect it to be like a normal movie you're watching it wrong!".

Plot? Characters? Worldbuilding? Actual fear? Things to make you think? Coherence? Believability? Watchability?

It doesn't matter if there are only sad excuses for these with no depth, or if they don't even exist at all. No, viewers will gladly excuse all of these faults and mistake anything that is disturbing or disgusting for a sense of fear and thus horror movies that would have been total flops by normal movie standards are taking over the genre.

Not so 'Dead End'.

-While it is slightly psychedelic the characters are nonetheless believable, real feeling, and thus manage a connection to the viewer.

-The plot is simple but interesting and functional.

-The building of the universe of the movie, including the characters this movie is mostly an exploration of, continues throughout until the end.

-The tribulations of the characters are viscerally gripping, and tension and some fear is kept up throughout.

-The entire thing is coherent with no moments that really pull you out of it, even though you are left wondering what exactly is going on.

-The entire thing is less on the cliché monster / ghost side and is thus not just dismissable out of the box.

-But finally and perhaps most importantly one walks away from the movie thinking and feeling and slightly dazed. Not because of some continuous assault on the viewers stomach, nerves, and sense of morality. No, one has a hard time immediately letting go of the movie because one actually is given things to think about that are at least slightly deeper than platitudes and less obtrusive than simply unexplained stuff about the movie.

No matter how good, i've not seen any other horror movie pull this off this well.

Sure it has some gore, jumpscares, horror cliches, dumb actions, but the entire movie is remarkably restrained and thus delivering an all the more poignant and enjoyable experience.

I can appreciate some darkness in movies. But having every single last one of the characters detestable with no redeeming qualities, while at the same time dragging things out with self fellating artsy nonsense taken from better movies, to the point that the entire movie essentially lacks a plot and instead only has singular cardboard cutout events and characters and a ton of talking.... that is pushing it too far.

I really wish directors who think that disturbing the audience is a valid replacement for creating actual excitement, fear, and suspense would get booted out of mainstream hollywood already. Along with all the critics who will gush all over any movie with praise as long as it does a few lighting tricks, and weird cuts for dat sweet artsy cred.

Don't get me wrong the movie is absolutely beautifully shot, and the acting is nice, but the singular motivation throughout remains the one from the trailer: revenge.... And while that motivation is understandable in some of its incarnations, it's not so much in others.

Also everything ABOUT the variations of revenge is so hollow and grim and evil in every line and action that one comes away feeling dirty just having observed these characters for a while, as well as a sense of having been attacked. The only things it accomplishes are to make one feel really disturbed by a too creepy and sad portrayal of psychopathic insanity. So if that and a sea of artsy stuff is all you need to like a movie you'll love this one.

Glorifying revenge is bad.

Glorifying murder is evil.

This movie attempts to do both.

The only reason it might not succeed is because all the characters are actually detestable despite their cool demeanor. Plus sympathetic characters are revealed to be monsters. Which is thoroughly uncomfortable. But this means that if it isn't damaging because it glorifies revenge, it's damaging for being incredibly depressing. Seriously, even Tarantino movies are less depressing to watch.

Although maybe this could actually be a meta cautionary tale against how hollow people become when consumed by revenge. Though with how low brow the artsy stuff in the movie is i wouldn't bet on it.

In either case a movie needs to have some characters the audience at least isn't creeped out by. This one doesn't. Its awful to watch awful people do awful things, so 3 stars.

The movie handled all topics it brought up masterfully and with care and dignity... up until the final minutes where all of that and the previously built up themes go flying out of the window.

I reserve ratings of 3 and below for movies that harm mankind by existing. This one certainly deserves that category.

And its such a shame too, because - without spoiling anything - its exclusively the ending dragging down an otherwise well made movie.

"An old couple on a last long roadtrip find their passion for love and life" my a**.

That summary is like summarizing 'Independence Day' as "A peaceful and happy meeting of cultures from different parts of the galaxy." The exact opposite is true.

An absolutely horrid piece of what i assume is propaganda.

Could have come straight from the desk of Göbbels with its final message.

I assume like life, things can't be perfect in a movie. But still, its pretty infuriating to see an ending which could've been perfect but ended up not, after a movie that hit perfect notes all throughout.

In the rest of the movie: Great tone, great suspense, great messages, great visuals. Leaves you wanting to see more from the cast and crew.

This movie could've been really good and a beacon for superhero movies, at least an 8.

But it was just too much. Everywhere.

Too much CGI by a bit, undercutting any weight the scenes had. Batman was just a little bit too pathetic. Flash's backstory was just a little bit too awesome for the pathetic nerd. The superman part was just a bit too dumb but important. The badguys voice was just a bit too growly to understand.

In either case on the cusp of the third decade in the 21st century CGI with this quality is inexcusable.

And the worst part is one could clearly see that all this was lovingly and nicely crafted, incuding bits of the CGI.

A special mention goes to whoever wrote Flash's and Cyborg's parts. They were witty, charming, but relatable unlike most of the over-the-top heroes. In both marvel and DC.

This could easily have been an absolutely awesome 9 or 10. Beautifully shot, great acting, the leads playing off of each other in a spectacular manner, interesting, engaging, believable characters, on point humour, easy to grasp yet not too trivial, amazing cinematography, drama that had me grip my seat, beautiful score, stellar pacing, not feeling hollywood overpolished, great atmosphere and universe creation, almost perfect CGI, and most importantly a good and deep message that was masterfully woven into an extremely enjoyable movie.

It wouldn't have been perfect, because of some visual gripes, and that it was ultimately still just a movie about supers, but it would have been a contender for a 10, definitely a 9.

What ultimately messed all of this up is easy to pinpoint. Bluntly: the major poster/trailer fight scene, and the fight scene after that. Ridiculous and overblown and the principles of the character echoed a mere MINUTE before went flying out the window for some spectacle. Especially since she was not fighting nazis in WW1... Absolutely disgusting, somewhat lackluster for a hollywood production, pointless, and if cut from the movie and reshot with less overblown action and more spy-drama, it would have immediately improved the movie a lot.

This movie was really enjoyable first and foremost. I finished watching it with a feeling of "wow this was awesome".

The CGI was pretty, the world crafted with it compelling and nice, the characters all had depth and somewhat of an arc. It took care to be generally enjoyable for everyone no matter which characters you found most interesting and nice.

This would easily have been a 9/10 despite the somewhat corporate overpolished aspect of things.

However there were some glaring problems: -Without spoiling anything the climactic fight scene is .... very lackluster, as others have pointed out. Fields and a cheaply rendered underground place? Did the CGI budget run out?

-Connected to this and all major fight scenes, while some african style music was included in other places, the fight scenes sorely lacked them. Some unique music in those places could have enhanced this whole thing massively, but instead we just got the same old orchestral stuff, instead of some enhanced wakandan music.

-On the other side of things the whole white man as "colonizers" thing has been pushed a bit too much and it's incredibly cringe-y.

-Furthermore like with all avengers movies the good guys kill too many people. Additionally in this one they are defending a government style which - while admittedly it has worked for them - is really really nonsensical.

So all in all a nigh perfect movie hampered by blunders that are too big to ignore.