MrHlad

Author Elly Conway discovers that her spy books have more in common with reality than she thought, and that their hero, Argyle, may very well be real. But why does everyone suddenly want to kill her? Matthew Vaughn delivers another homage to spy action movies that is full of ideas and original action sequences, but this time perhaps so wild that it may be beyond tolerable for some.

In the 1990s, the police in Slovakia had an unexpected rapport with gangsters. But a pragmatic cop from Poprad and his new partner discover that there are things they can't turn a blind eye to, and blood will flow in the streets. Cop War is a stylish gangster drama with great actors, excellent atmosphere and world-class visuals. Too bad the plot is a bit disjointed and there are perhaps a few too many wild twists towards the end. But it is a high European standard in its genre, and we are not used to that here.

The main problem I had with the first Dune was that I had a hard time finding even one single character whose fate I cared about. It was a beautiful but cold and empty film. The second film, however, manages to repair the series' reputation in that sense rather quickly. The heroes finally do something interesting, they talk to each other, the debates have a point, and Villeneuve wraps it all up in just a little bit nicer visuals. Dune: Part Two is more beautiful, but also more action-packed, brisker and more watchable. Until suddenly it isn't. Villeneuve seems to realise after a hundred minutes or so that he still has a lot of story to tell and that he just can't cram it into the remaining hour. So he hits the gas and the film is suddenly unnecessarily rushed, running away from interesting topics because he still has to finish this or that. And while the final battle looks really magnificent, once again, with the closing credits, I got the feeling that there may very well be a great story behind this beautiful film, but even this time it didn't get told in the way it deserved. Unlike the first part, I wasn't bored this time, but if I ever see this part again, it will be before the premiere of the eventual third. For despite all the qualities, there is still a certain aftertaste of incompleteness.

I've waited more than twenty years for a movie or TV series adaptation of “Fallout”. It pretty much sucks.

Furiosa was still a child when she was taken from her home. She grew up surrounded by violence and madness, but she never stopped wanting revenge. In the wasteland, a war is brewing between two armies of brutal dictators, and Furiosa intends to be on the front lines. George Miller returns to a harsh post-apocalyptic world, but in a slightly different way than you might expect. There's still plenty of action, and there are so many ideas in a single scene that other Hollywood blockbusters could live off of it for years. However, this time around there are more complex characters and, above all, a greater effort to immerse yourself in a world full of chaos and discover that it too has its own order. Miller delivers another one of his visually lavish and uncompromising visions, and he knows he can afford not to pander to audiences who expect nothing more than more of what they got last time.

The world is in danger as an ancient spirit returns to the scene, intent on turning everything into ice, and he must be stopped by the Ghostbusters, young and old – or rather, the old ones. The sequel to the successfully rebooted franchise refuses to move on, relying on the nostalgia card, which of course stops working after half an hour. And then it gets bad. They don't really address the plot, the new characters or ideas, they just look for ways to reference something from the original films, forgetting that the film should build up, lead to something and you should care about the characters not just because you saw some of them thirty-five years ago. A useless film that may well bury the franchise.

In Hollow Earth, Kong discovers a civilization terrorized by a giant monster, and since he's no match for it, he must join forces with Godzilla. And all the while, things are going horribly wrong. The new entry into the Monsterverse is utter bollocks, except that director Adam Wingard fills it with lots of cool fights, a nicely colored world, and doesn't waste any time. The two hours are a fine loud action flush. That's all it is. But that's all anyone could hope for.

To be honest, I have to say that I got exactly what I expected. And while I wasn't looking for a miracle, I definitely intended to enjoy a smart, good-looking sci-fi adventure at the cinema, and that's what Wes Ball delivered. This is the first installment of a new planned trilogy, so a lot of time is spent on world building (which has changed quite a bit from the last film) and introducing the main characters. And just the first scene with them is enough to blow you away, because Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looks gorgeous, and Ball also makes great use of the attractive setting of the ruined cities that nature is taking back. But that's just the beginning. What's most interesting about Ball's new release is the ape society itself, hinting at the ways and directions in which the new civilization and each ape community is evolving. Noah is also quite a likable hero, different from Caesar and to some extent a bit more ordinary and with simpler motivations, but he serves well as a guide in the journey through a world we actually have to rediscover, as does his human partner Freya Allan, with whom it's unclear for a long time how they will work with her. The only problem is that because of the long exposition and introduction of the world, there is not much time for the plot itself, which is a bit rushed in the last third. The ambiguous villain could have done more interesting things with a better script, and the moral issues facing some of the heroes deserve more space, but again, I understand that you can't cram everything into two and a half hours. What Ball has crammed in is amply sufficient for a satisfying sci-fi adventure that can easily stand alongside the previous installments. And I hope he gets a chance to continue telling his story

After finding that his days of fighting are over because he will have to become a spiritual master, Po decides to embark on one last adventure with a young thief, but little does he know that he will be up against an adversary who may be beyond his strength. Kung Fu Panda 4 is an inoffensive animated action flick, but it doesn't take the franchise anywhere. On the one hand, we get fine fights and a goofy protagonist, but alongside that we also get a minimum of new ideas and a woeful lack of old familiar ones. It's enough for a slightly above average animated flick, but I’m not sure this series can offer something more.

A silly heist action flick with not very interesting action scenes, an uncharismatic cast and visuals that are quite ugly at times. Logic took a holiday, and while the whole thing runs pretty smoothly for at least the first half, overall there aren't enough attractions to make you willingly forget the stupidity of the whole film and enjoy it like, say, Fast X. All in all, Lift is just too stupid and too uninteresting to work as anything more than background noise.