fciocca

"Ballerina" is the spin-off of John Wick that I was waiting for so long. This new chapter expands the lore of the Ruska Roma family, deepening characters such as The Director and introducing a new dangerous cult in the picture. However the movie does not lose too much time in complex storylines, by simply giving to the audience what it wants: blood spilled, fights, shootouts and tons of violence. The director came back at the origin with more curated and synchronized stunt actions. I was pleased to see the neon-lights club shootouts with the energetic music of Le Castle Vania. I mean, this was always one of the core ingredients. Eve does not appear invincible like in the third and fourth chapters, in fact she finds herself many times in dangerous and precarious situations. Naturally there are some sequences that are clearly over-the-top, however there is a nice balance and a lot of variety in the fighting scenes that made the movie very entertaining to watch.

I think that after the terrible mini TV show "The Continental", and the JW chapter four that for me was the lowest point that this franchise ever reached, it was about time to make a movie that the hardcore fans might really appreciate. We will see what the future will hold, but for me this is a good starting point to potentially bring this franchise even further. My rating is a split 7.5 stars out of 10.

A fictional famous popstar after an hiatus of 30 years releases a brand new album and for the occasion invites a small group of people into a manor for an exclusive event to premiere the songs of the LP. The audience can immediately understand that something is off: Alfred Moretti is the leader of a cult, and what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend, quickly becomes a doom where the guests need to survive. The director did not really build any sort of tension, it is very clear within the first 30 minutes how the film is going to end. But I think that the writer was aware of this and in fact he did not lose time to build some overcomplicated plot twists that would ruin the experience. The execution was pretty solid: there are some well made body horror scenes, but the director never pushed too hard, so there is no excessive and over-the-top gore. Despite having actors such as John Malkovich and Ayo Edebiri, for me no one really stands out. However, the performances were good and entertaining. From a technical perspective there are some really nice and competent shots.

The whole cult setting was well built and reminded me a bit of "Midsommar". The final twist is intriguing, leaving a bit of suspense, creating room for the audience to speculate on the story and maybe even hinting for a possible continuation. I liked its simplicity and being straight-to-the point. I think that it is a nice watch for the thriller lovers, with a darker and macabre turn. My rate is 6.5 out of 10.

"LAZARUS" is set in the future, where the NSA "hired" a group of talented and skilled people, in order to track down Skinner, the creator of a drug that once taken does not let you fall sick. However, this pill contains a toxin that will cause the death of anyone that ingested it. The only person that has the vaccine is the doctor that disappeared. Hence, an international manhunt starts against time, in order to obtain the cure before humanity is completely wiped out. The premises are simple and straight-forward. All the different missions involving the task force are set in different parts of the world. There are episodes set in more exotic locations such as Turkey or Pakistan, but also in cold and inhospitable environments like Antarctica, adding a lot of variation.

The series shines especially on the action sequences, which are dynamic and overall well directed. We can see shootouts and bare hand fights accompanied by energetic electronic or jazz music. Watanabe did a good job with Axel that has the most compelling combats, thanks to his acrobatic abilities and the capacity of always finding a way to escape the most deadly situations. Overall all the characters have their own peculiarities and personalities, and even if they all fall into well defined tropes, they all have something unique that make this group engaging. Every single member of Lazarus served a specific purpose and actively contributed to progress the investigation, complementing each other. My favourite characters were Christine and Doug. The first is the perfect balance of a sensual and skilled agent that manages multiple times to trick others into giving out crucial intel, while the latter is practically the critical brain of the group that handles all the logistics.

On the other hand, I have to say that the plot overall feels lazy and uninspired. Certain dynamics are very predictable. The screenwriter played it safe, but this also means that there is very little on this TV show that stands out. It seems to watch the umpteenth spy story involving yet another global crisis. We have plenty of those and there are productions that made it way better than "LAZARUS". What saved the show were the characters that, as I mentioned before, have some unique peculiarities. Moreover the ending felt rushed and quite disappointing, with everything explained in the very last minutes of the 13th episode. All the efforts to create an international web of conspiracies and subterfuges was ruined by the fact that the story needed to be wrapped as quickly as possible. Clearly the series required a few more episodes to go full circle, maybe even a full second season, especially considering that the episodes do not even last 30 minutes. My final rate is 6.5.