EvilPhoEniX

I like Alex Garland's work and even though he makes films that aren't exactly audience friendly, he hasn't stepped on my toes once so far, so I was curious to see how he'd handle a slightly different material, more audience friendly, with a blockbuster format and on a very topical subject, and it's great, though not without its faults. It's a war road movie set in a war-ravaged America with an apocalyptic tinge that has a very slow pace most of the time, but thankfully it works thanks to convincing actors, decent dialogue and an uncomfortable atmosphere. I was a bit bothered that we don't see the birth of the conflict but are thrown somewhere in the middle, and also that the whole film is from a journalists point of view, I would have liked to see what's going on in other parts of America or some behind the scenes from the government on what the president is currently dealing with/planning, but never mind. The highlights are two scenes: the confrontation with Jesse Plemons, which has a very chilling atmosphere and a great build up, and then the finale – I was worried Garland would give us a three-minute shootout but he surprised us. We actually get more than twenty minutes of military action! A massive attack on the White House and it has it all: amazing sound of weapons, perfect cinematography, gripping atmosphere, in short it looks really dense and authentic, a perfect dreamlike action war finale. Of course, the few naturalistic shots are nice, but there could have been more of them. 80%

Tasteless, infantile and almost unwatchable. The humour is in the style of Charlie Chaplin's worst work with a brain aneurysm, so if you're 10+ enjoy. It's a series of gags with no story and no wit, creativity or intelligence. It's all about beavers, sorry people dressed up as beavers and is it funny or does it lead to anything funny? It doesn't. A laughably unconvincing farce where lasting two hours was almost a superhuman feat. I was praying for Jigsaw to walk in the door and end this torture. In a sentence, black and white silent crap. I have not been as embarrassed watching a film as I was here in a long time. The film is lucky I don't give Boo! ratings and I appreciate that it must have taken quite a bit of work to create, but that's all – never fuckin more (maybe under the influence of various substances it can work). 3/10.

Brutal, chilling, distressing, uncomfortable, dark and very realistic. It's fucking awesome!! It's a bit like End of Watch, but with paramedics and I have to say, I was pretty engrossed. The story is very simple, but luckily here it’s not about the plot. We have the likable Ty Sheridan who starts out as a Rookie paramedic and gets the seasoned veteran Sean Penn as his partner (a decent return!) and the whole movie we watch him go from case to case in the tough city of New York and it is a doozy! From junkies to drug addicts. According to the film, it seems like a very unenviable job where patients fuck you hard, colleagues make pranks putting a dead dog in your locker, you get into very difficult and challenging situations where you sometimes have the opportunity to make life decisions. The brutal atmosphere of New York City is laced with violence through and through. Gunshot victims, heart attacks, dog bites, premature births, gang violence, schizophrenics and victims of domestic violence. Add to that great acting, solid dialogue and some twist and turns! Great stuff. 8/10

I found it even weaker than the first one. I liked the first one better because of the fun recruiting team with a vibe like The Magnificent Seven. Charlie Hunnam was there, the monster spider was awesome and Ed Skrein played the Nazi great, here there’s just nothing. The first hour there's not even any action, it just focuses on the background of the characters, which nobody cares about now. The monsters are completely absent, no new interesting characters are added, the action is okay, but I don't think there's much room for R-rated, I can't even imagine where gore could be, there's no big fight. I didn't really enjoy it and I like mindless carnage. Weak, I'd rather have an Army of the Dead sequel than this dead franchise. 4/10.

It was a hard film to get, but in the end it was a success. The film had the makings of being the action flick of the year and after 20 minutes I was even sure of it because the hospital sequence full of awesome fights, top choreography and a ruthless sniper was awesome, but then it starts to stagnate a bit. It bothered me a lot that there were comic interludes, I really hate it when I have an action dark movie and there are these Asian comic interludes that don't fit here at all and are awkward, it kind of spoils the impression of an otherwise solid action movie. Technically it's otherwise decent, the female protagonist is likeable and definitely has skill, story-wise it's obviously very weak and sometimes the weaker CGI hurts especially during the explosions. I was expecting a more intense finale, so that's why only 3 stars in the end, but it's good fun. Had I seen it 5 years ago, I would have probably gone crazy. 65%

The first South Wind is a Balkan gangster film with all the European trappings and quite possibly the best film from Serbia (I recommend it), the second one is much weaker because it lacks interesting characters, is less violent and doesn't have the right narrative swing. It improves a bit in the second half (the junkie den scene is believable and unpleasant) and the final action shootout was fine, but it needed more action. Technically still good and it's definitely watchable, just a noticeable drop in quality after the first part. 6/10.

I was looking forward to it, but it ended up being a very average thriller where not much happens. The protagonist has been hiding for 20 years that he threw a body off a cliff and covered his tracks after a hit-and-run, but he is not aware know that the father of the deceased, now a grandfather, knows about it and invites them for coffee for revenge. For an hour almost nothing interesting happens and the film suffers from the fact that there aren't many characters to slaughter, which is a shame because grandpa is resourceful and can make traps. The one brutal gore scene with the guillotine was great, but it's a bit too little for today. The finale is at least a little suspenseful, but nothing great. 5/10.

Flashback with mercenaries. Now that was something!! The spectacle of Ulta the evil cold and ruthless bastard killing innocents for fun, plus one of the best knife duels I've seen. !!!I had a good time. 100%

A dense psychological thriller with an original concept. The story revolves around Vincent, a very ordinary guy who works in an office, but all of a sudden he is attacked by random people who want to murder him and he has to adapt to a new lifestyle. Danger lurks at every turn and he learns that there are more like him. Vincent is literally living a nightmare where no one can be trusted – even small children will want to kill him. It's clever, it's pulled off by the lead actor's performance, it's got quite a disturbing atmosphere, it's entertaining, and the ending builds to a finale of apocalyptic proportions that was pleasantly gritty. A French metaphor for violence in society and I enjoyed it. It's a shame the film leaves questions unanswered, I certainly wouldn't be angry for a twist here. 75%

Compared to The Omen it's as expected two levels worse, but it has my sympathy for the R-rating – had it been PG-13 I'd go for maybe a 2. Sydney Sweeney looks ordinary for the first time, she doesn't show her beautiful boobs in a mini dress and has no make up, she's no sex goddess, but an ordinary girl. Visually it's pretty average, the story is ordinary, though I appreciate it's not a ghost story, but it goes in a slightly different direction. The jump-scares didn't work for me, but the bit of gore was nice. All in all a watchable average but easily forgettable. 5/10.