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aidenpedersen
ig: aid3nreviews
Letterboxd: AratakaSan
Reviews
Upgrade (2018)
Mostly a Downgrade
Upgrade was... pretty great at times. However, apart from the action and actually pretty great ending, this film felt like it was an amalgamation of DOWNgrades of aspects from other films. The world was just really really light cyberpunk (think 'Altered Carbon' but no where near as established), the main relationship reminiscent of that in 'Venom' and if it had any type of thematic resonance, it was just watered down 'Black Mirror'. Even the main actor was pretty similar to Tom Hardy IN Venom (although he wasn't as good) (also, I don't think Venom is a good movie, but there are some aspects that are decent). The writing was passable, nothing felt utterly shocking yet it wasn't as if it was overly predictable. The acting was fine, no one was great and I think that that aspect, along with a bunch of other things (visual effects etc) were mostly due to a pretty small budget. Besides all that however, were the action sequences. This is what truly made this film slightly better than it had any right to be. The way these sequences are filmed, and how they're written are quite fantastic. While most of the writing fell short, the way that the scenes were put together was quite creative. Finally, I will say that the actual end to the film (not necessarily the final confrontation but the actual like last minute or two) was pretty awesome. It's not as if it wasn't a little ham-fisted like most of the plot/story/writing, but, similarly to the action sequences it was quite creative, and made the film significantly better than it could've been. Ultimately, a lot of this film was quite generic, but it had some pretty great aspects that made it stand out a bit.
If this had had a bigger budget and a better team of writers, I think it could've been a unique action film in the vein of Mad Max: Fury Road. It should've gone way more in on the action aspect, as much of the story felt quite generic and slowed down the film significantly.
6.8
Mimic (1997)
Dark and grimy, sure, but also weightless and messy
Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on this film, considering I went in expecting it to be significantly better, but there was honestly nothing compelling about this film. Right off the bat, the inciting incident is very lackluster. We barely get anything to fully understand the scale of what's going on, and somehow that stays consistent for the entire runtime. This film is also pretty hard to get into because of the characters. It's possible that with better actors, they could've been far more compelling, yet, unfortunately, I still highly doubt that. Because of the lackluster characters, I never felt anything when they were in danger, which isn't something you want in a horror film. I usually like Guillermo del Toro, and while his direction at least shines a little bit, and there are elements that could lead me to believe he was actually interested in this project, it felt ridiculously weightless and messy. I didn't even find this to be 'so bad its funny', which is really irritating, because at least those are kinda fun. Mimic, despite having a short runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes, STILL felt too long.
3.1/10
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Don't expect it to make sense upon first watch
Purposefully mind-warping, I'm Thinking of Ending Things presents many interesting ideas in an intriguing way. This film essentially begs us to consider how we view time, as well as how we make our choices. Should I take this risk? Is it even worth it if I succeed? These questions are pretty simple when you look at them separately, yet this film manages to craft an interesting film centred around questions and concepts like those. In terms of performances, everyone here is fantastic. Most of the actors in this film have to do some pretty abnormal stuff, and they pull it off quite well. Alongside this, the writing for characters (as well as the rest of the story) is fantastic. Notably, the dynamic between Jake and Lucy is great and really sells the points/ideas that the film presents. The overarching plot/story is somewhat sensible. Obviously don't go into this film expecting it to be a relaxed watch, you will most certainly have to be constantly paying attention to try and work out whats happening. But for about half of the runtime, you could likely have a decent grasp of what's going on (that does change though, I can assure you). This film succeeds largely due to Kaufman's writing and directing. I've so far only seen his writing in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', and while I thought that film was far, far more accessible, I think that this film largely has more to dissect overall (still note that I'm Thinking of Ending Things is an adapted screenplay as opposed to Eternal Sunshine). Ultimately, while I still really don't fully understand this film, it's definitely one of the most intriguing I've seen in a while. I'm certain it'll prove more comprehensible and rewarding upon rewatches, and I think I'll definitely get around to seeing some more of his work shortly.
8.7/10
ig: aid3nreviews
Letterboxd: AratakaSan