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Reviews
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Best dinosaur movie in 20 years
Jurassic World Dominion, unlike many other sequels in this saga, accomplishes what it set out to do. For casual viewers it has enough action, moments of wonder -that seemed to be missing in this franchise for the longest time- and enough plain fun. For the fans of the Jurassic movies it's a nostalgic joyride from start to finish.
Pros:
+ It's 6th movie in a franchise that manages not to feel dull and dumb.
+ Gone are the stupid moments of dinosaurs swallowing ringing cell phones, escape from dinosaur on high heels or dinosaurs smiling.
+ The plot, unlike in many of it's predecessors, actually makes more sense from scientific standpoint. It's still an action sci-fi horror monster movie, but it is consistent to the saga's mythos and characters.
+ Features more dinosaurs than all of the other movies combined, and the new ones are different and exciting.
+ The different locations of this movie from the previous tropical islands makes it stand out visually.
+ Fixes some of the plot holes of the saga, explains some character motivations and quickly resolves idiotic plotlines from the previous movie.
+ The script is very tight, I was amazed how they managed to fit everything into the runtime. Ending is not overdone like in the previous four movies and it is more impactful.
+ Stupid dialogue is pretty much gone, caricatures of human beings are not present. Some characters are fixed to be much better this time around. Some dialogue is surprisingly great. Fun jokes.
+ Some brilliant camerawork throughout, great effects, brilliant visuals.
+ The story weaves it's many protagonists through the plot and puts them all together for the grand finale in a believable way.
+ Great star power, the original cast elevates this movie and it's just a mystery to me why it took 29 years to put them in a movie together again.
+ Brains and fan moments throughout the movie that many of the sequels lacked.
Cons:
- The movie has very little time to breathe, I would appreciate a 15 minute longer version with more character development and dialogue.
- The cut suffers sometimes from the same issue as the last two movies, it is in some scenes way too abrupt.
- When the score doesn't play John Williams themes, it's mostly only above average.
- Missed opportunities for some side characters.
- The opening montage to catch up on the plot of previous movies is poorly done. It throws so much information on you and serves very little purpose other than exposition. It starts out like a B movie.
I don't think anybody expected a genre defying experience like Jurassic Park brought in 1993. It definitely shows though that some of the ideas from the original are brought up here: Cloning, impact on humanity, mixing of species. While every other sequel after that mainly served to be a fun summer blockbuster, this movie surprised me in delving slightly back into these ideas from the original. Since then, there always was some dumb moment in each of the sequels that made me cringe: The entire San Diego sequence from the second movie, the terrible second half of the third movie, the stupidity of the fourth movie that among other things suggested dinosaurs have human-like IQ and the entire fifth movie, that seems mostly like a parody. Jurassic World Dominion is fun, almost entirely absent of these moments and has enough for you to enjoy it, especially if you are a fan of the original. 8/10.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
A strange and underwhelming treatment to a brilliant saga
Three out of six episodes in and I can't but wonder what happened with the production of this series. This was supposed to be a love letter to the fans of the prequel trilogy and an incredible opportunity to let the great actors involved truly shine, but all we have got so far is the same, sterile approach that George Lucas applied to his work in early 2000's, without any of his charm and excitement.
The actors and characters:
Moses Ingram is amazing throughout and with Ewan McGregor pushes this show out of the dirt, but while she at least has a clear conflict to deal with, McGregor's scenes are mostly robbed of any true substance. Incredible to think this man is supposed to become Alec Guiness character in less than two decades. None of the other cast have much to work with and the acting is either sub-par or difficult to appreciate through uneven dialogue and bad writing. Vivien. Lyra Blair is charming but ultimately unbelievable character, with the attempt of displaying her greatness to-be, she loses credibility. This could have been the trauma to shape her into general of the rebellion, but she already has all the traits she needs from the get go. Hayden. Christensen is clearly trying hard, but is destroyed by bad direction. A large sum of missed opportunities.
The writing and direction:
While the overarching plot seems interesting and fun, dark trek to the minds of men who lost everything to one another, the execution is severely lacking. Why not take a lesson from Jon Favreau's excellent Mandalorian, as a character the Mandalorian shares much with Obi-Wan Kenobi in terms of past trauma, devotion to an order and searching for hope and purpose. He is captivating because of smart dialogue, and sometimes the lack of any at all. It is obvious the character in this series wasn't written by someone as smart as this character is supposed to be, he is getting similar treatment like. Mark Hamill in his last Star Wars outing. Why he needs a strong and unflawed female character to lead him from the abyss of his own mind is astonishing, especially if it already didn't work out once in the past. The heavy topics are not given enough attention, too much screen time is given to unimportant fan service and things that have no impact to where the focus of this series should have been. Give us a different cut in certain scenes, montage of the jedi in exile, show us the real struggle the galaxy is in, give us something to care. The action is below par, and sometimes even amateurish, some camera positions are just enigma to me and I won't even start about the uneven close-ups. It's only putting a piece into nearly finished puzzle, and it still can't be done decently.
The score and the appeal:
No original score from the Star Wars so far, no memorable or even decent new score. Even a below average scenes and acting can be elevated by a brilliant and tense score. When I am supposed to be afraid, I am asleep, when I am supposed to wonder, I am annoyed. Some of the music is written in strange mood, with the main themes held back, as if they were ashamed to find their true meaning. It is also strangely muted in some scenes, as if the creators knew they aren't dealing with anything amazing and tried to bury it under the surface. The feel of the scenes is monotone, strangely uninvolved and passive, similar to Lucas prequel trilogy, but that man had at least sense of spectacle and camera work. The few scenes that are done dramatic and engaging only show how boring and lifeless the rest of the runtime truly is.
Verdict:
While only half way through the series, I am worried this won't be a redemption story these characters and actors needed, it is not the Star Wars the fans wanted and the care and creative freedom this project required. Some amateur fan movies that came out about Obi-Wan Kenobi have much better score, suspense, acting and IQ than most of this disappointment. While not a complete insult like Rise of Skywalker, it is ultimately that, disappointing, and I cannot reccomend this series to anyone except the most hardcore fans, who already seen this hours after release. 4/10.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue (2020)
Return of the Jedi - The Mandalorian Review
Mandalorian season 1 and season 2 are worth watching for any fan of science fiction but also for everyone who enjoys great cinema. Well written narrative rewards intelligence and careful viewing, mostly brilliant directing hardly ever falters and acting is believable and moving. CGI and practical effects are well placed and have very high quality, the score is iconic and memorable.
What Mandalorian achieved is the revival of the original Star Wars trilogy magic and transformed it for the current audience, with new twists that bring much-needed evolution to the brand. While it entertains most viewers, it rewards the long-time fans even more and brings the wonder back into the galaxy far, far away.
It's difficult for me to ask much more from a spin-off Star Wars series, whoever you are I strongly suggest giving Mandalorian a chance. I rate this as one of the best experiences currently, therefore the perfect score.
Planet Earth II: Islands (2016)
Something you've never seen before
Planet Earth II - Islands has the difficult job to meet the high bar set by the incredible and stunning Planet Earth (2006). Not only it surpasses it's predecessor, it elevates and evolves the documentary genre of television to a whole another level. In roughly an hour, you are exposed to imagery that previously wasn't believed to be able to be caught on film whatsoever. I still do not understand how some of the shots the film crew captured were possible. With a little documentary at the end of the episode showing how insane and life threatening situations had the crew endure during the shoot, I cannot but wonder at the craft and care given to this documentary.
David Attenborough takes us around the world's most known, but also unknown islands to witness how the most interesting and rare breeds of animals live. It seamlessly blends small stories of said animals into a coherent narrative that urges you to observe how fragile balance is today's nature facing. Along with beautiful footage, you are presented with excellent structure, as if each animal had a script to follow. The narrative is just pitch perfect, the emotions are bursting from the screen and the beautiful soundtrack only elevates the strength of the material.
You will laugh, you will be close to tears, you will bite your nails throughout the action, you will collect your lower jaw from your carpet and by the end, you will be fully transported by the incredible adventure this documentary offers. Even if you do not care and never seen a documentary in your entire life, I suggest to give this one a go, because at times I thought I was watching a CGI scripted movie, and not a documentary that merely attempts to capture the reality. Perhaps it only means that this documentary finally succeeds on capturing that, which all the other documentaries about our planet desired to reach.
If you live on planet Earth, make sure you watch this. 10/10
The Walking Dead: What Comes After (2018)
Great surprise, excellent writing
After two seasons TWD had a major wake up call starting season 9, and this episode proves it. Easily one of the best, well written, well directed and acted gutt punch. We don't see only a major resolution with the main character, but also a major resolutions of other characters. This is the reason why you stayed watching TWD, this was the emotional ride we've been waiting for 2-3 years. Expectations completely turned on it's head, great style of this episode reminded me of season 1 when TWD was at it's best.