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Awix (3310 KP) rated Geostorm (2017) in Movies
Feb 7, 2018 (Updated Feb 7, 2018)
Gerard Butles With The Elements
It's a movie directed by the producer of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, in which Gerard Butler is shot into space to have a fight with bad weather. If the description alone does not make you engage in fairly serious expectation-management, you must be new to this whole going-to-the-movies business.
Um, yeah: Gerard Butler plays a brilliant but maverick meteorologist (stay with me) who invents a global weather control system codenamed 'Dutch Boy' (possibly because the satellites are really high all the time), then gets sacked for being a pain in the neck. Years later, the system starts to go wrong (unimportant people like Afghans and Chinese meet spectacular weather-related deaths) and Butler is recruited by his brother (don't ask) to figure out the problem.
There is a lot of chasing about and a conspiracy and the world's most oddly designed self-destruct system, and the villain turns out to be the person you thought it was all the time. Butler spends most of the movie in space, which at least means Abbie Cornish can do more as a member of the Secret Service who ends up kidnapping the President (it's that kind of movie). Geostorm hasn't quite figured out how to handle having the President as a character in a movie in the current situation: Andy Garcia plays him in a very sensible, nondescript manner, quite divorced from reality.
I have to say a friend of mine said Geostorm was so bad it made London Has Fallen look like a Christopher Nolan movie, but it's not so much flat-out awful as simply very silly, obvious, and predictable, not to mention very much like all the other movies Dean Devlin produced for Roland Emmerich. I suppose the moral should be 'stick to what you're (reasonably) good at'.
Um, yeah: Gerard Butler plays a brilliant but maverick meteorologist (stay with me) who invents a global weather control system codenamed 'Dutch Boy' (possibly because the satellites are really high all the time), then gets sacked for being a pain in the neck. Years later, the system starts to go wrong (unimportant people like Afghans and Chinese meet spectacular weather-related deaths) and Butler is recruited by his brother (don't ask) to figure out the problem.
There is a lot of chasing about and a conspiracy and the world's most oddly designed self-destruct system, and the villain turns out to be the person you thought it was all the time. Butler spends most of the movie in space, which at least means Abbie Cornish can do more as a member of the Secret Service who ends up kidnapping the President (it's that kind of movie). Geostorm hasn't quite figured out how to handle having the President as a character in a movie in the current situation: Andy Garcia plays him in a very sensible, nondescript manner, quite divorced from reality.
I have to say a friend of mine said Geostorm was so bad it made London Has Fallen look like a Christopher Nolan movie, but it's not so much flat-out awful as simply very silly, obvious, and predictable, not to mention very much like all the other movies Dean Devlin produced for Roland Emmerich. I suppose the moral should be 'stick to what you're (reasonably) good at'.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Rampage (2018) in Movies
Dec 11, 2019 (Updated Dec 11, 2019)
A stupidly fun pile of nonsense
Rampage is a big old pile of dumb fun, teeming with mostly passable CGI, and featuring The Rock fighting giant monsters.
The plot is something along the lines of - big shady corporation is practicing illegal genetic tinkering (in space, because Hollywood), they lose control, space ship crashes, experimental lab must infects a few animals, including a Gorilla that is looked after and raised by The Rock (an ex military badass zookeeper helicopter pilot, because Hollywood), the animals become big and aggressive, blah blah blah, BIG MONSTERS FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND DWAYNE JOHNSON AND DESTROYING CHICAGO.
It's absolutely absurd from start to finish, but it knows what kind of film it is.
The Rock is hugely likable as always, Jeffery Dean Morgan is likable as always, everyone else I can kind of give it take.
The script is pretty standard for this kind of film, but does verge into laughable at times, especially when the films 'villains' are on screen. Played by Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy, they go just a bit too overboard with the whole evil CEO schtick, to the point of annoyance.
Also, Naomie Harris is in it for some reason, but doesn't really serve much of a purpose, and therefore, is a waste of her talent.
The CGI is pretty decent for the most part, but make no mistake, Ramage is a CGI orgy, and as such, it does fall apart here and there (that parachuting scene is just haunting).
Rampage is stupid, loud, obnoxious, but it's entertaining enough to be a good time.
The Rock holds it all together, and it could have been a lot worse had it been lead by someone else, and as far as video game movies go, it's not half bad.
The plot is something along the lines of - big shady corporation is practicing illegal genetic tinkering (in space, because Hollywood), they lose control, space ship crashes, experimental lab must infects a few animals, including a Gorilla that is looked after and raised by The Rock (an ex military badass zookeeper helicopter pilot, because Hollywood), the animals become big and aggressive, blah blah blah, BIG MONSTERS FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND DWAYNE JOHNSON AND DESTROYING CHICAGO.
It's absolutely absurd from start to finish, but it knows what kind of film it is.
The Rock is hugely likable as always, Jeffery Dean Morgan is likable as always, everyone else I can kind of give it take.
The script is pretty standard for this kind of film, but does verge into laughable at times, especially when the films 'villains' are on screen. Played by Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy, they go just a bit too overboard with the whole evil CEO schtick, to the point of annoyance.
Also, Naomie Harris is in it for some reason, but doesn't really serve much of a purpose, and therefore, is a waste of her talent.
The CGI is pretty decent for the most part, but make no mistake, Ramage is a CGI orgy, and as such, it does fall apart here and there (that parachuting scene is just haunting).
Rampage is stupid, loud, obnoxious, but it's entertaining enough to be a good time.
The Rock holds it all together, and it could have been a lot worse had it been lead by someone else, and as far as video game movies go, it's not half bad.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Dragon Pearl in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</b></i>
<i>Dragon Pearl</i> by Yoon Ha Lee is the latest in Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint under Disney that “highlights cultures and mythologies from around the world,” selected by author Rick Riordan. An #ownvoices novel based on Korean mythology and folklore, Lee’s novel follows a fox spirit named Min who runs off on a space adventure to find her missing brother and instead finds the highly sought-after Dragon Pearl to save the Thousand Worlds.
I found myself struggling with <i>Dragon Pearl</i> at times. There are moments the novel slows from the pace of the action, which could potentially drag the reader’s attention away from Min’s journey. Min’s quest to find her brother is easy, but it is expected as the novel is aimed at a middle-grade audience.
Ignore the slowness and the ease of the journey, however, and the story is a magical ride through the Thousand Worlds. I loved seeing Min encountering obstacles and working her way around them while figuring out her own magic. Most importantly, I enjoyed seeing how valuable her relationships are, both with her brother and with the developing friendships with the other cadets.
Fans of Rick Riordan’s novels who enjoy a journey through space with touches of mythology will love going on an adventure of their own with Min through Yoon Ha Lee’s <i>Dragon Pearl</i>.
<a href="https://60secondsmag.com/dragon-pearl-review/">This review is originally posted on 60 Seconds Online Magazine</a>
<i>Dragon Pearl</i> by Yoon Ha Lee is the latest in Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint under Disney that “highlights cultures and mythologies from around the world,” selected by author Rick Riordan. An #ownvoices novel based on Korean mythology and folklore, Lee’s novel follows a fox spirit named Min who runs off on a space adventure to find her missing brother and instead finds the highly sought-after Dragon Pearl to save the Thousand Worlds.
I found myself struggling with <i>Dragon Pearl</i> at times. There are moments the novel slows from the pace of the action, which could potentially drag the reader’s attention away from Min’s journey. Min’s quest to find her brother is easy, but it is expected as the novel is aimed at a middle-grade audience.
Ignore the slowness and the ease of the journey, however, and the story is a magical ride through the Thousand Worlds. I loved seeing Min encountering obstacles and working her way around them while figuring out her own magic. Most importantly, I enjoyed seeing how valuable her relationships are, both with her brother and with the developing friendships with the other cadets.
Fans of Rick Riordan’s novels who enjoy a journey through space with touches of mythology will love going on an adventure of their own with Min through Yoon Ha Lee’s <i>Dragon Pearl</i>.
<a href="https://60secondsmag.com/dragon-pearl-review/">This review is originally posted on 60 Seconds Online Magazine</a>
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