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The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
2018 | Sci-Fi
Totally unnecessary
What have we done to deserve yet another Cloverfield film? The first one was a surprise hit, but all these sequels/spin offs or whatever you want to call them are doing is cheapening the original.

This has a great cast, who are sadly very mis-used. The majority of the characters are undeveloped and those that aren't have slightly vague and irrational motivations. The sfx are okay although i think some of the physical props and costumes could have been better. The main issue with this film though is the plot. It is a little bit ridiculous and very confused. It uses alternate dimensions and realities as a general explanation for a load of weird things going on, which is such a poor justification and doesn't work. It seems to throw in as many sci-fi film cliches as it possibly can along with some oddly placed humour.


And the link to Cloverfield itself is there, albeit inferred until right at the end. And it doesn't quite go so far as explaining how this fits with the original film timeline wise and just isn't necessary. This is yet another stunning example of a completely pointless sequel/spin off.
  
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Sawyer (231 KP) Feb 11, 2018

i really liked 10 cloverfield lane but yea i do think this new one was not good at all

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Dean (6921 KP) rated The Invisible Man (2020) in Movies

Mar 5, 2020 (Updated Mar 5, 2020)  
The Invisible Man (2020)
The Invisible Man (2020)
2020 | Horror, Sci-Fi
Great acting (1 more)
Fresh twist on a classic
Defies the law of physics (0 more)
The invisible enemy
The first thing I thought of when I saw the trailer for this was it reminded me of @Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) To be honest it has more in common with that classic thriller than other invisible man films. The opening sequence is very similar and I assume inspired by it. The acting is very good as our victim of domestic violence goes through an entire range of emotions with many thinking she is crazy. The SFX scenes are pretty good and look believable. I only noticed after this is billed as a Horror. There are a couple of jump scares and some bloody scenes but it definitely fits a Thriller more closely.
The only down side is some of the science in some scenes just wouldn't make sense in real life, rain hitting a solid object etc.
Must add the score really added to the intensity of many scenes and created a sense of being on a knife edge.
Overall a good enjoyable film. If you like a mix of thriller, with a Sci-fi angle and especially a fan of sleeping with the Enemy, you'll find this a nice surprise.
  
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Peter_mark84 (59 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Resident Evil 7 biohazard in Video Games

Jun 27, 2019  
Resident Evil 7 biohazard
Resident Evil 7 biohazard
2017 | Action/Adventure
First person scares (4 more)
Amazing graphics
Clever A.I
Intriguing story
Really challenging boss fights
Handgun is bit naff (0 more)
Scary stuff
So I have been play this for while.

Totally love the game, one of the best Resident Evils I have played. The graphics and SFX set a very tense atmosphere. The graphics in particular are very crisp and it almost looks real. This is true for Baker family and other Humans you meet.

Monsters less look realistic in comparison. Though do give great jump scare. Not sure on their official name but I call the "Venomites", The tall tendrily creatures that the Bakers seem to have are creepy as hell.

The puzzles are you standard Resident Evil fare, which is good and really enjoyable for fans of the older entries in particular.

The boss fights are something else, So far I fought Ma & Pa Baker. These were tough to beat. Using a lot of different attacks to keep you guessing. No QTEs, just good old wits, skill and hoping your ammo does not run out.

I particularly like the story, keeps you guessing and wondering if and how this fits into the rest of Resident Evil universe.

I recommend this to anyone who loves a good scary game. Just maybe don't play before bed.
  
Deep Rising (1998)
Deep Rising (1998)
1998 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
I love me a creature feature!
A wise-cracking boar captain is hired to bring a band of mercenaries out to sea for an unknown mission. He soon finds out there are several large bombs on board his hull. Meanwhile on a nearby large luxury liner, someone has sabotage's the ships instruments so they are now dead in the water. A beautiful thief is also captured and locked in an inner cabin of the ship.

When the small craft arrives, they notice all the ship's crew and passengers have vanishes do the force of an unknown entity. Once they discover what has happened and what is involved, they have to try and escape the now sinking ship quickly to save themselves.

Treat Williams and Famke Janssen lead the pack here of a very entertaining creature feature in the vein of The Relic, Mimic, Phantoms, The Virus or other films of that era.

Very entertaining as long as you don't think much about it or are able to accept the premise and story as is. The SFX are of the time period. Not great by today's standards or even of those like Jurassic Park which was made years earlier. They are not as bad as The Rock in the Scorpion King (man was that awful)!

  
Show all 4 comments.
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Chad Miller (121 KP) Aug 5, 2019

I need to own this. I love Famke and I keep forgetting she is in this!

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Nickg24 (492 KP) Aug 6, 2019

I love that film,havent seen it in a long time.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
It's great but I fell sleep
For years I have been adamant that McGuire was THE Spiderman since I didn't like Garfield's version.

However, when this one popped up on Netflix one Saturday evening, I thought "why the heck not." I wasn't disappointed. It is really difficult not to like Tom Holland. An I biased because he's British? No. The kid was talent. He is funny, can do impressive tricks and a professional dancer... it's no wonder why they chose him. But let's swing back into the review shall we?

So Pete is trying hard to be noticed by our MCU's Stark after the events of Cival War. (I fell asleep watching that too but that's a review for another day.) He swings into action, sort of accidentally causing more trouble than saving it but you can't deny he wants to help people.

The SFX were okay but the whole build up to the fight at the end literally brought me to sleepy land. It may hold your attention for that brief moment but I woke up wondering where Gwyneth Paltrow came from and was she in this movie the whole time?

Other than that, Holland has become my favourite Spidey. I haven't seen far from home yet but I do hope it lives up to this version of the friendly neighbourhood spiderman.
  
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Dean (6921 KP) rated Reminiscence (2021) in Movies

Sep 2, 2021 (Updated Sep 2, 2021)  
Reminiscence (2021)
Reminiscence (2021)
2021 | Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
6
5.7 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Rebecca Ferguson (1 more)
The score
Misses the mark in a few areas (0 more)
You are going on a journey...
A strange film in many ways. I haven't seen much publicity for it, yet the trailer I saw last week gave me high hopes.
A noir style film set in the near future of a world that's largely flooded, including the location of Miami. Where the rich have built huge dams to keep their area dry while the poor are in flooded areas. So people pay to relive their memories of happier times to experience again with the technology available. The owner of this technology then tries to track down a mysterious woman who has gone missing.
Huge potential which in the main part is not explored at all. Some nice Sfx in places and sets of the flooded Miami but even the setting could have been used more.
The script is basic and what starts as quite an intricate plot becomes rather simple before the ending. The cast is pretty good, although Cliff Curtis is miscast as a tough guy, villian. It's stylish in places and fans of noir, detective films will enjoy it more but others may find it very slow going especially at the start.
A missed opportunity overall, one that might be more popular once available on the small screen. Although not a film many will reminisce about.
  
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Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated The Boys in TV

Sep 30, 2019  
The Boys
The Boys
2019 | Action, Crime, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Casting, dialogue, SFX & Karl Urban (obviously) (0 more)
Gotta wait for season two.. (0 more)
Alone their nothing, together their the F'N Spice Girls!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Before I start, just wanna point out that because of this show, to me every bad thing is now diabolical and said like karl urban...

Season 1 has come and gone and what a season it was, Karl Urban plays a badass anti hero-loving crusader of sorts whose probably in need of some anger management who reunites with his old team who seemingly left their friendship a little salty to say the least.

After managing to capture a "Hero" and a member of the 7 (team of hero's), butcher (urban) is after answers as to what happened to his missing wife 8 year's ago after she was sexually assaulted by another hero and the leader of the 7!
Things take a humorous, dark and violent twist with every move.
In a world where Superheroes are often as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and sometimes even as revered as gods. But that's when they're using their powers for good. What happens when the heroes go rogue and start abusing their powers? When it's the powerless against the super powerful, the Boys head out on a heroic quest to expose the truth about the Seven and Vought, the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty secrets.

Based on the comic book series of the same name
  
The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Great fun British film
This film seems pretty timely - the backdrop of the country being split and in turmoil with everyone miserable and/or arguing perfectly nails pre-Brexit Britain, without actually naming the cause of the upset. Seeing kids sensing their parents' and teachers' stress levels and looking to help really nails home how much we are all struggling with the current climate and need to think about the impact that has on our homelives.
The plot is fairly standard Arthurian legend - boy pulls sword from stone and seeks to unite his enemies behind him in battling against forces of evil. The film does this with full knowledge and gentle telling of the actual legend, and doesn't look to be a re-telling, rather a modern day "second coming of Arthur".
There are plenty of laughs throughout the film, with a typical British flavour.
There is also action aplenty with some really powerful battle scenes and excellent SFX.
Director Joe Cornish (of Adam & Joe fame - there is also a nice cameo from Adam Buxton in the film) does a fantastic job of telling the story through the eyes of a child but without it being patronising or twee.
The cast are superb, with the young Merlin really being a star (and creepily like a young Joe Cornish). While I enjoyed Patrick Stewart's role as Merlin, I felt it added less gravitas than I think was intended and wasn't really necessary, the young incarnation perfectly playing the role himself.
A great, fun and thrilling adventure.
  
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Lee (2222 KP) Feb 19, 2019

I seem to be the only one who found the young Merlin annoying as hell ?

Justice League (2017)
Justice League (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Decent cast performances (1 more)
Good fun
Varying quality of SFX (1 more)
Painfully safe
Justice At Last For DC Fans?
Last weekend, a movie dropped that most comic book fans have been hotly anticipating for the last few decades. The follow up to the disappointment that was Dawn of Justice, Justice League had a lot to live up to. I’m not going to try and convince you that it is a perfect movie, but I enjoyed it. If I was judging the movie on it’s own I would probably be much harsher with my rating etc, but in the context of other DCEU movies, it’s a breath of fresh air.

 The first half of the movie is extremely choppy and unfocused and feels more like a grab bag of scenes cut together to resemble a story rather than any sort of coherent story. Then the last half of the movie plays it incredibly safe and plays out exactly how you would predict. There are no surprises or twists and then the credits roll and half heartedly set up a potential sequel, although with the huge amount of money Warner Bros lost on this movie if the rumoured budget amount of 300 million is to be believed, we may not be getting another entry any time soon. Which is sort of a shame because there are aspects of this movie that I really like, such as Batfleck and Jeremy Irons as Alfred.

 There isn’t really much to talk about here, which is disappointing. Although Batman V Superman left a great deal to be desired as a decent comic book movie, it at least gave all of us something to talk about. The cast is alright, Affleck was just as great as Batman as he’s been up until now, Cavill puts in a decent Superman performance if you can get by that dodgy CGI upper lip, Gal Gadot is great as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher does fine as Cyborg, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is pretty one dimensional, but I think that’s more to do with the script than with the actor. Ezra Miller is annoying but clearly supposed to be the comic relief in the film. JK Simmons is wasted as Jim Gordon, but it’s nice to see Amy Adams in a reduced role here. I don’t hate Amy Adams, but I am not a fan of her portrayal as Lois Lane and surprisingly, she actually serves a purpose in this film, as opposed to pondering about with a camera looking surprised. The SFX varies greatly, with some really impressive visual effects and some that look like absolute garbage.

 Slight spoilers going forwards I guess, but it’s not exactly a shocking revelation that they resurrect Superman from the dead in this movie, which as a long time comic book fan, I feel like could have been handled better.

 Overall, it’s not the worst movie in the world; it’s not even the worst movie in this universe, but really it should be great. This movie should be so much better than, ‘okay,’ it’s the Justice League for Christssake. This film isn’t even as good as Thor Ragnarok, the third sequel in one of the least popular Avenger’s solo film. Justice League should have blown Thor out of the water, both commercially and critically! However, as a standalone film, without any context around it, it is a fun film and I did enjoy my time with it.
  
Stranger Things  - Season 2
Stranger Things - Season 2
2017 | Sci-Fi
Exciting once it gets going (1 more)
SFX are on point
The story takes a while to get off the ground (0 more)
Back To Hawkins
I loved the first season of Stranger Things and season 2 was one of my most anticipated shows of this year. While I don’t feel that season 2 surpassed the preceding season of the show, it is another solid chapter in what is fixing to be a pretty epic saga. The show takes a while to find its feet; some unorthodox structural choices cause the series to begin on a fairly unfocused note. It is revealed in the first episode that Eleven has been in hiding and living with Hopper since the events at the end of season 1 and once that cliffhanger from the last season is addressed, everything else is pretty hunky dory. Will is still tripping out and seeing the upside down every now and again, but that is expected to pass and we aren’t presented with any real conflict until a few episodes into the new season. The first season opened with the disappearance of Will and we were immediately on board with the goals of every character in the show, whereas the first few episodes of this season feel unfocused and there isn’t really any sense of purpose felt.
Once the plot gets going and the season finds its feet, the show definitely become more enjoyable and exciting and that pace and sense of intrigue continues all the way through until the end of the season, other than episode 7 that is. Overall though, I did enjoy this season and am very excited to see the future seasons in this story play out. 8/10