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How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Official Storybook App)

Entertainment and Education

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App

GET READY TO EXPERIENCE ANOTHER MAGICAL DRAGON ADVENTURE STORY! * Join cool dragon hunter Hiccup...

Sorcery!

Games and Book

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App

An epic four-part adventure through a land of monsters, traps, and magic. Start your story here!...

BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Last Duel (2021) in Movies

Oct 30, 2021

The Last Duel (2021)

2021 | Drama, History

6.8

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Doesn't Really Work

With films such as GLADIATOR, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, ROBIN HOOD, EXODUS: GODS AND MONSTERS and the current THE LAST DUEL, Director Ridley Scott is single-handedly trying to keep alive the “Sword and Sandals” genre that was so much en vogue in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

However, he’ll have to do better than THE LAST DUEL to keep the genre going.

Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver and Jodi Comer, THE LAST DUEL tells the tale of the…well…Last Duel in France in the 1300’s. The story tells the tale of 2 noblemen, their ups & downs and the accusation of the wife of one of them that the other raped her. The only way to solve the dispute is a duel to the death.

Following the format of such films as RASHOMON (1950) and, more recently, WRATH OF MAN (2021), THE LAST DUEL is told in 4 parts - telling the same story from different perspectives. But, unlike RASHOMON and (surprisingly) WRATH OF MAN which peeled the onion back during each different telling, adding a deeper and richer layer to the story each time, THE LAST DUEL pretty much tells the same story over and over, not really telling it differently and not really adding any layers to the story. You pretty much know before THE LAST DUEL who is innocent, who is guilty and how the duel is going to play out.

So, Director Scott will need to rely on the performances and the look and feel of the film to get the audience hooked and intrigued during this 2 hour and 32 minute epic, but the script (by Nicole Holofcener, Affleck & Damon just isn’t up to the task.

The acting is…fine. Driver fares the best out of the 4 leads - probably because he is the actor most suited for this type of film than the others. Comer’s part is underwritten and she has surprisingly little to do - which brings us to Affleck and Damon. Affleck has the showier role and provides a spark of interest in his limited time on the screen while Damon is dour and serious and trudges through the film - as does the audience.

Director Scott (ALIEN) brings professionalism to the proceedings and accurately depicts the look and feel of the time and stages the duel (and battle scenes) with a trained eye, but the characters/performances did not leave me with anyone to truly root for (or care about) and by the time we got to THE LAST DUEL, I just wanted it to be over.

Letter Grade: B-

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Hearts on Air (Hearts, #6) in Books

Jan 9, 2020

This review and more can be found at my blog https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com/

This has been borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited library.

Well, first things first. You DO NOT have to read book #5.5, One Epic Night, to understand this as it is included at the beginning of this book.

Then the story continues where that one left off. Trevor is now a TV star in a free-running show that follows him and a handful of other free runners as they do stunts around London and other big cities. One difference now is that Reya is not in his life. Chapters go back and forth a few times so we see what happened in the months following their "one epic night" and how things didn't end so well with them.

It's been about 2 years since then and Trevor suddenly turns up in Reya's life again wanting to be friends again and asking if she'll fill in for one of their pregnant PA's while she's off on maternity. Reya is wary of letting Trev back into her life but eventually agrees and they travel to several cities around Europe with the group doing stunts and free running in pretty parks and some well known places. As they spend time together, they grow closer once more and before long those feelings from two years ago are creeping back in.

One thing that was driving me a little mad was the Leanne and Callum thing. I know they get their own book in a different series but seeing their love/hate relationship and the arguments and tender moments and NOT KNOWING what was happening was driving me a little mad. I will definitely be getting their book at some point.

I also liked how we saw pretty much every other character from the series in this one towards the end. I had honestly forgot how they all connected but seeing them in those last few chapters was really nice.

Definitely should be read if you've enjoyed previous books in the series.