EvilPhoEniX

Jaume Collet-Serra is a talented director, his first film Orphan is great and I liked his collaboration with Liam Neeson (that was back when Liam was still making fine films). Unfortunately, I didn't like this feel-good film. It takes something from Indiana Jones, Jumanji and Pirates of the Caribbean, but it can't come close to any of the them. It lacks its own edge, it lacks epicness or anything downright wow. I like The Rock a lot, but I wasn't entertained at all here; the humor went absolutely me, even Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was more interesting than this whole expedition. Emily Blunt is good, she's nice to look at, but I didn't trust the chemistry between the two protagonists. The jungle sets are quite nice, and even though it's too colourful and digital, the setting is probably the most interesting thing about the film. The villain here is not interesting at all good. The human one was chosen in a completely inappropriate and uninteresting way, and Edgar Ramirez as the "zombie" looked cool, but for my taste he had little room to do anything downright great. The action scenes didn't entertain me, nothing much explodes, there's a lack of physical action, it's more of a jungle chase with the occasional animal. Yes, the kids will be happy, but it's not enough for me and it's about half an hour longer than it should be. In the cinema I hoped it would be finally over and that's never a positive calling card. Two stars seems harsh as I'm obviously not the target audience, but for me it's the weakest cinema visit so far and a mild ordeal. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 0/5, Entertainment 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5. 5/10.

The ending of Netflix's Event Fear Street Trilogy is surprisingly the weakest link, and that touted big things. I'm still happy for this trilogy, though, because it brought a fresh wind to the almost half-dead slasher subgenre, and there are plenty of winks and references to older films that will please many a horror veteran. The year 1666 beckoned with its period setting with a touch of The Witch, but it's a shame that the third installment lingered barely an hour in that period, because some shots were definitely worth it (eyes gouged ut in a church with a mad parish priest or a hell of a lot of unpleasant hand chopping, this scene definitely stuck in the memory). the second half is where all the killers clash and the whole plot is explained. The finale definitely could have been more intense, but it didn't offend or annoy me enough to bury the whole series because of it. This episode will find its fans as well. Personally I regret the lack of breasts, and there could have been more humor and gore as well. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

Netflix has released a special episode for the awesome zombie series Kingdom and I think even those unfamiliar with the series can watch it. The film focuses on the character of Aishin, who is seeking revenge for the loss of her tribe and family, as well as the origin of a mysterious plant. It has a slower opening, the zombies enter the scene somewhere after an hour into the film and the plot honestly didn't grab me much either, but the visuals are absolutely awesome (the colors and the scenery are gorgeous), and to see a zombie tiger so soon after Army of the Dead is something I didn't expect either (though Snyder's is obviously better). The zombie make-up effects are great, the tension escalates well in the last half hour, and Aishin with does a great job the bow, too bad that there is less gore (I already have high standards). I hesitate with the rating, but there are few zombie movies, the film has its qualities and, even though I won't watch it again, I'll give it a reluctant 4 stars (quite possibly for the tiger). Story 3.5/5, Action 4/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5. 7/10.

A decent German vampire movie from Netflix. Personally, I was expecting something better, but since the vampire movies of the last few years have been going more in the art direction, it would be unfair to shoot this one down with an average rating, even though I'm closer to 3 stars after watching it. On the plus side, it has an attractive airplane setting from which there is no escape, and the cramped atmosphere works well. The make-up effects are good, it has decent technical aspects, a fine pacing, and I like the idea of combining the hijacking of the plane by terrorists with vampires, that's quite original. The downside for me is the running time of two hours, 90 minutes would have been more than enough for a film of this calibre (which is also affected by the slower start). The gore, unfortunately, is almost missing (you don’t see any guts, limbs or severed heads), and there’s not enough blood for my taste (it's not even close to Army of the Dead), but I'll turn a blind eye, I wasn't bored. The film deserves the genre four stars from the absence of decent vampire movies at least in the last five years. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5. 7/10.

An enjoyable martial arts caper in an attractive Japanese setting. I'm not going to say that Snake Eyes is a great movie, it's not, and it's not a movie that you will want to see again when it's over. On the other hand there are a lot of familiar and favorite faces of mine, ninjas, the yakuza and a lot of action scenes, so I had a great time and got what I expected. Henry Golding is likeable, Andrew Koji is the biggest draw, Iko Uwais has less space but is good, and the duo of Samara Weaving and Tokyo is a dream threesome; the acting is very good. I have a few reservations about the action scenes and the most disappointing is the absence of R-rated action – had there been blood spurting in the rainy streets of Japan I'd probably be moaning with bliss. The messy editing bothered me at times, but the decent choreography, the fine fighters in front of the camera and the hard contact punches more or less made up for it. Plot-wise, the film doesn't impress with anything, of course, but by action standards I think it's good enough. I had fun. A fan of Asia and action should not be disappointed. The rest of the audience can skip the cinema. PS: I consider the jump-scare during the snake scene to be the most sneaky in perhaps the last ten years. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 7/10.

The fifth and perhaps last episode is, together with the first, the weakest. It's very obvious the the Purge franchise is a cash cow without higher ambitions, but this time I felt that they didn't try to stick to what I enjoyed in the previous films. It's nice that they still manage to come up with something relatively new and interesting, but this sequel lacked juice for me. There is not much gore, the setting of Mexico is fine, but when I remember Sicario, where I had an uncomfortable feeling with every shot, that is definitely not the case here. The action is routine, the shootouts are not impressive (at times it felt like a cheaper 90's B-movie), even the Masks, what Purge is famous for, I can't think of any cool one after watching it. There definitely won't be a Halloween costume sale after this one. I'd rather not see another sequel. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 3/5. 5/10.

After almost two years, a Marvel movie finally hit the cinemas and the result is nothing to write home about. For me, a pretty useless movie about a useless character. The first hour is surprisingly solid, it's well paced, the action is kept down to earth and the fights have decent choreography – they're Bourne style so I enjoyed them. I'm also pleased with Florence Pugh, whom I like a lot, and the Taskmaster's entrance is awesome. By the second hour, however, I felt that perhaps the director had been replaced, the action goes by the wayside, and so does the fun goes, the humour is completely absent, the Taskmaster goes by the wayside! (it's reprehensible to sideline such an interesting villain like that!), and the finale was perhaps the weakest of all the action scenes, so I'm quite disappointed. I rate the first half as 8/10, the second half is about 5-6, and in the end I'm rounding up more towards 6, because for Marvel I found it unbalanced, the effects aren't too dazzling either, it felt a bit like it was going half throttle and quite possibly the first Marvel movie I definitely won't watch again. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

Navot Papushado is not Illya Naishuller, Chad Stahelski, Gareth Evans or David Leitch and it shows. I was looking forward to Gunpowder Milkshake after the first trailers and I didn't expect it to be so routine and sterile. The story is very simple and anyone who has a need to deal with story in action movies can take a star off. I stopped worrying about it ten years ago and I now tend to focus on other things, but even those couldn't quite satisfy me. The visuals are solid, the music is fine, Chloe Coleman after My Spy is awesome again, and the decent R-rated action is also a pleasure. But the big disappointment for me is Karen Gillan, who on the one hand can't act much and on the other, I didn't believe her as a hired assassin. She is wooden in the action scenes, slow and because of that all the action lacks punch, drive, zest and momentum. However, there are quite a lot of action scenes and they are filmed neatly, but I didn't feel the physicality or the passion., and that's quite a problem, at least the slow-mo fight in the kitchen deserves a rewatch. If you like action movies, you won't be disappointed, the film it's entertaining and action packed enough, only that it's quite naive and not very satisfying like other action flicks even from Female heroines (Atomic Blonde). Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

You Feel like you have already seen it! Classic Horror Story had all the makings of being a great horror film, and, though it's certainly not a bad one, I'm a bit disappointed and will be more strict with my rating this time. The Italian touch is fine, the rural setting is beautiful (the forest is awesome), the music is great, the make-up effects are good, there is an impressive cottage (Hansel and Gretel?), and a quite unconventional story with a surprising twist, with sirens and dark red, and nice horror references. Not to confuse a rip-off with an homage, that's clearly the makers' intention. The film has a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel from the start and slowly references various exploitation and hixploitation films, which is my favourite sub-genre, so logically I was really looking forward it. Itit switches into a sort of variation on Ari Aster's Midsommar, which is all fine and dandy, but it struck me that Leatherface left his chainsaw in the shed and I can't quite explain why a hixploitation from Italy is more afraid of gore than I am of spiders! If the makers are going to put torture in a film, why should everything be left to the viewer's imagination? Ok, bookworms may not mind, but I was looking forward to a proper some gore after five years (there should have been blood should have spurting from the screen to my living room! ), but it all remained somewhere in the hints. In this the film definitely doesn't fulfill its potential, and that it can't be said either that there is an intense or unpleasant horror atmosphere, which is a pity, because the film had a good start, a lot of other things (music, setting, visuals, plot) that work, but for me they are not enough. If I had to compare it to something, it's like going to a brothel and getting your balls tickled by a hooker, but without the blowjob. Story 3/5, Action 2/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

I was expecting more and I have a few complaints, but it's still a strong genre average and in slasher series, there hasn't been anything this substantial in a good few years. People unfamiliar with the genre see it as a rip-off, “The Better Ones" see it as fanboy enthusiasm for the horror genre and an homage to older pieces. Nightwing is definitely the new Crystal Lake, and the redhead from Stranger Things has the makings of a new scream queen. I'm not going to compare the episodes, each has different strengths, I was a little bummed that they avoided nudity, I understand that the book is PG-13 and made for teens, but I missed it here. The film is probably most reminiscent of Sleepaway Camp, Friday the 13th and The Burning, and anyone who loved those films since the 80s should enjoy this one as well, at least on the nostalgia side. There are plenty of references (Carrie!), retro music, likeable characters, and you can tell that it's cleverly conceived and it all fits together nicely within the genre. The first half is slower, the wait for the first murder is longer than I would have liked, and the gore could definitely have been more substantial – it takes place either in the dark, many times out of frame and as a result I only remembered two severed heads. Even though emotionally I'm leaning towards three stars, I had an above average time and I'm going to take all three episodes as a whole, where I hope the witches will pull it off a full score. I'm happy with the whole series so far and I'm glad Netflix picked it up. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5. 7/10.