Nouvelles critiques - Utilisateurs·trices progressifs·ves

A return to the roots of a monster that grew out of traumatic guilt, a feeling of failure and the rise of the atomic age, which Japan felt on its body like no other nation. Yamazaki and co. have filmed an organic blend of post-war family drama and Jaws on steroids, making clever and aesthetically economical use of their limited budget. Even though those limits are perceptible, they are always in service of the whole, which is both intimate and epic at the same time. Godzilla Minus One is the kind of blockbuster that Gareth Edwards tried to make, i.e. unencumbered by compromises and pressure from the studio. It is depressing and uplifting, naïve and touching. Everything that I require from a blockbuster!

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Shark and Tarantula are the best thieves in town, but now their luck has run out. Instead of prison, however, they're going to re-education to become good guys. And they're gonna love it! The Bad Guys is an unexpectedly fresh and entertaining animated film with absolutely delicious action and exceedingly well executed heists, whose writers have a background in heist movies. Too bad the story itself and its heroes are somewhat bland.

Of all the Marvel superheroes, Doctor Strange has the most potential for visually wild and appealing films. Filmmakers can get awfully crazy, and especially now that Strange is supposed to travel to other worlds and universes and where everything was once again based on magic, so the boundaries of normalcy were pushed a lot further than, say, in Black Widow. In that respect, there's nothing to fault in the Multiverse of Madness. Sam Raimi enjoyed his return to blockbusters and, unexpectedly, Kevin Feige allowed him to be his typical self. There are a few horror and scary moments, references to the visual style of the first Spider-Man and even Evil Dead, and it's nice to watch. The trouble is that there's not much interesting stuff going on. The story this time around is fairly banal, the characters uninteresting, and the whole time I felt like there was a missing minute here or there where it could slow down and go a bit more in-depth. I didn't get the sense that the universe was at stake or that Strange himself had to undergo some major transformation. It's simply a nice attraction, but it wraps up a not very interesting plot. It should have been better.

Stephanie was supposed to be the star of the prom, but there was an accident. Now she's coming out of a coma after 20 years. She looks thirty-seven, but she's seventeen, and she's clear about what she wants: to finish school and become prom queen! Rebel Wilson is fine in the lead role of this Netflix comedy, and the poignant moments work unexpectedly well. Unfortunately, when it comes to humor, Alex Hardcastle seems to purposely try to sidestep anything funny in the script as much as possible. As a result, Senior Year is not a funny or witty film, but watching it will leave you feeling how funny and witty it could have been.

Elsa Pataky protects a military station in the middle of the ocean that is supposed to shoot nuclear bombs out of the sky. Against her are a bunch of criminals, a lousy script, boring direction and a small budget. Interceptor is an uninteresting action movie with at best mediocre fights and shootouts, a rubbish villain, one good fatality and a lot of bullshit in two rooms. Cheap, cheap, boring. Waste of time.

Pixar's Llightyear is a great homage to classic sci-fi movie adventures and a nostalgically fun film for anyone who watches Star Wars every now and again. An old-school piece full of great action with a likeable hero who's a little different from his Toy Story colleague. With unexpectedly fewer jokes and humour, but a quite interesting and in the right places touching story, a casual retro atmosphere, a brisk pace and filmed with the right fan enthusiasm.

I don't think there isn't a single more unsatisfying activity in life than watching Kevin Hart comedies. Extra star for the gym fight.

More of the same? You could say that. But at the same time, it must be said that it doesn't matter at all. Marty Pohl promised a more professional film while maintaining a distinctive approach and sense of humor, and he delivered. While it still has a few technical flaws (mainly the sound), it already looks like a film that can go to cinemas. It's more spectacular and tighter, while remaining as likeable as last time. There have been a few changes to the cast of main characters, but the important thing is that they are met with one crazy situation after another, and nobody is holding back. Party Harder once again offers a mix of nasty, vulgar and offensive scenes that are thankfully still funny. And at some moments, you shake your head at how far Pohl and his team were able and willing to go. The greater filmmaking and obviously more professional approach makes the whole thing hold together better. At the same time, however, it's obvious that a lot of the material ended up in the editing room and some of the jokes aren’t finished to a decent punchline and simply fizzle out. On the other hand, it's important to say that there are so many jokes that if one doesn't amuse you or you feel it could have been better, you'll think about it for about fifteen seconds at most, because then the next joke will come. It's nice to see that with the sequel they have moved towards more professionalism, but it's even nicer that despite the professionalism they remain as personable as last time. Better than last time, in fact. And I want more.

Dita had just broken up with her boyfriend and was left with depression and a dog she didn't want. But she's not getting rid of it. Thanks to it, she gradually regains her lost optimism and also meets a slightly awkward but nice neighbour, and life can be worth living again. It is an old-school romantic comedy that is neither unnecessarily complicated nor vulgar, but at the same time it is not surprising or original. Its fine cast and above-average craftsmanship, however, easily place it among the best of what's being produced among Czech romcoms.

Too much of the same in Waititi's delivery. What was fresh last time has now become annoying. It's like a five year old directing, just cramming all the ideas in, not realising that if he gives a joke three seconds after a fateful scene, he'll be killing the whole thing. That said, we have a potentially very interesting bad guy, and even Thor's relationship with Jane Foster has some interesting depth. I remembered that video from The Onion featuring Chris Morgan, the writer of Fast and Furious, and he was a five-year-old boy. This is exactly the same thing. Waititi is having fun, his stars are having fun, and I'm bored because the movie, despite a ton of action, a lot of humor, and some strong emotional scenes, is neither engaging, nor funny, nor ultimately interesting. When Marvel first rolled out, I had a terrible time watching each film try to at least partially grasp the genre. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was at its core an old-school spy thriller, Iron Man a techno thriller and Thor honest-to-goodness fantasy. Now all that gone. Now it's just a movie by Taika Waititi, a director who can't give a film any dramatic shape. And he can't even manage not to be ironic and not cut his own scenes. Instead, he crams flying goats and has them scream hilariously about twenty times. Most of the time it was all slightly embarrassing.

It’s no miracle, but it fortunately is an interesting film. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a properly wild ride, where for a long time you have no idea what the they actually want to say, but the gradual unravelling and discovery is damn interesting. Partly, thanks to the awesome action scenes, the clever script, the strong emotional moments and the lots of ideas, but mostly because of the approach of both directors, who push it all into the audience almost to the point of violence. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film where you have no idea what you're going to see in fifteen minutes, alternating extremely fast paced scenes with slower ones, unafraid to go for the jugular, turning from a wild action sci-fi into an intimate drama about the most ordinary things, and then into a rip-roaring comedy. It's just too much. Two hours and twenty minutes is a subjectively untenable runtime for a film that, while it works on a dramatic level, still runs in a pretty rut despite the original visuals. And on the other hand, the moments where Kwan and Scheinert pour one wild idea after another from their sleeves start to get tiresome after a few minutes. Everything Everywhere All at Once is really interesting, but it needs someone to tell the directors where to add and subtract. Sometimes it's a bit of a drag, despite the imagination, creativity, great actors, action and emotion.

Compared to Bourne, The Gray Man is a lot dumber and more B-ish. Compared to Bond, it’s less stylish. Compared to Hunt, it’s less imaginative. But if you throw out the attempts to compare to him the greatest heroes of spy-action movies, he actually doesn't come out nearly as bad. The premise is already a B-movie washout, so it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that the movie will be similarly off. The opening scene in Bangkok would easily stand up to a Bond film, but then it takes almost an hour before anything really interesting and entertaining starts happening. And no, I don’t mean trying to go in depth with flat heroes and trying to describe the behind-the-scenes practices of CIA agents who don't even trust each other. Once the action shifts to Prague, however, and the tram set-piece you couldn't help but read about kicks in, it becomes fully apparent that The Gray Man may have had bigger ambitions, but only on paper. If the film and the audience can come to terms with the fact that it's a big overpriced action B-movie, they can enjoy it as much as I did. The Russo's may go a little overboard with the drones and the stunts could have been better handled, but the action is truly spectacular, imaginative and you can see the budget. Chris Evans is a fine asshole, Ryan Gosling doesn't offend, but it's not his life role, and Ana de Armas relies on acting cute even though she has two rocket launchers on her back and a grenade launcher in her hand. If you find that idea funny and entertaining rather than awkward and ridiculous, chances are you'll enjoy this solid action flick. Netflix may have wanted more, and it's not great by any means. On the other hand, if The Gray Man catches on and we get a sequel, I'll gladly spend those two hours with them again.

The princess did not want to marry the evil king, so he locked her in a tower and threatened to murder her family and subjects. But this princess knows kung-fu and she's gonna kick everybody's ass. An action comedy built on fairy tale foundations that delivers very solid fights, a likeable heroine, humour and a short running time. And that's it. On the other hand, it plays fair from the start and doesn't even pretend to be anything more than it should and wants to be. Director Le-Van Kiet has shown for a small budget that he has something to offer Hollywood. Hopefully someone will take notice, I'd quite like to see something bigger and more ambitious from this bunch.

Ladybug is an assassin in need of an easy job, so she boards a Japanese express train to find and steal a seemingly ordinary suitcase. Little does she know she's walking into a trap. There are more killers on the train, and soon blood is flowing. David Leitch delivers a very wild action comedy which, apart from the great action, offers an interesting and above all very attractively told story that alternates humour with drama and lots of crazy twists. Bullet Train is reminiscent of Guy Ritchie's gangster movies peppered with lots of shootings and fights. And although it loses a bit of pace towards the end, it's definitely worth getting on this train.

Dan Trachtenberg gave me a similar pleasure as he did with 10 Cloverfield Lane. Predator: Prey is a confidently made adventure horror film that isn't afraid to go its own way, and at the same time, I dare say it will please fans of Predator more than anything that came after the second film. And like 10 Cloverfield Lane, the trailers are pretty deceptive and the film ends up having a slightly different feel and pace than you might expect. Still, I think I enjoyed the first half more, where there's no rush to get anywhere and the Comanche setting is unadorned and quite attractive. And while there's no Arnold, these tough guys from the American plains aren't wimps either. The main character is also very easy to root for. What I enjoyed most, however, was the way Trachtenberg treats the Predator itself in the first half. It gets an unexpected amount of space here, and for the first time we get to see it properly as a hunter, and a very fierce and cruel one at that. The new Predator won't rewrite the history of the genre or the brand, but it's a well made and above all cleverly conceived film. The former is what we hoped for, the latter is what I personally didn't expect, and I'm all the more pleased about it. It was a success.

Idris Elba and his daughters encounter a lion in the middle of the African wilderness. They fight it for an hour, supporting characters die, and then what you expect happens. Beast is a cookie-cutter thriller that impresses primarily because of its cinematography and long takes, but certainly not with the story, which doesn't stray off the beaten track for a second. It's not bad, but I can't really think of a reason to send anyone to see it. As a thriller, Beast doesn't have much to offer.

Siblings OJ and Emerald are struggling with a failing farm, their own relationship, and now with something hiding in the clouds, and as it soon turns out, it's pretty damn dangerous. Only how do you expose this thing, which is good at hiding and doesn't like to let witnesses in, to the world? And how to survive it? Jordan Peele delivers a science fiction film that doesn't quite work in the first half, and he as a director doesn't quite manage to build the tension as well as he might have liked. But he makes up for it all with the final act, when the humans and the mysterious something from the clouds have a fair fight. The closer we get to the end, the smarter and more entertaining Nope gets. And it looks really beautiful. But Peele still can't do real fear and terror.

No one there is the least bit likeable and it's so terribly cheesy.

When I came out of the cinema, I was so resigned. I wanted for Jan Žižka to be a good film, and I wished it for myself. But two days passed and the situation changed a bit. Well, enough. I don't really know what to praise about Petr Jákl's latest film, but I also can't say I suffered with it. Overall, it's "just" not very good. Honestly, the twenty-three million dollar budget doesn't show in the result, but that's the least of the problems. The bigger problem is the awfully cluttered fight scenes, but the worst by far is the actual presentation of the story. Sod historical accuracy, whether the armor is period appropriate, that sort of thing. Of course, the fact that Žižka is a woefully flat character with no working motivation and Ben Foster spends most of the time floundering is already a problem. As is the entire second half, which consists more or less of running around the woods, swapping prisoners and looking for someone who just hid somewhere. I can only praise Roland Møller's villain, but the rest is mediocre at best, lacking directorial ideas, an interesting story and anything else that would be worth paying attention to. A Czech big movie of Hollywood standards this is certainly not.

Former spouses George Clooney and Julia Roberts arrive in Bali to disrupt their daughter's wedding, and in the process, they discover they may actually still love each other. Ticket to Paradise is a good-looking, predictable romance that doesn't have any escalating conflicts, surprises or any attempt at innovation. On the other hand, the exotic setting and the two aging stars may be enough for an undemanding audience – demanding is obviously not what anyone is aiming for here.