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Awix (3310 KP) rated Battleship (2012) in Movies

Mar 7, 2018 (Updated Mar 7, 2018)

Battleship (2012)

2012 | Action, Sci-Fi

5.5

(17 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Zombie reflexes in the Hollywood blockbuster machine sputtered into a grisly half-life and pondered the question 'if movies about the Transformers toys make so much money, what other toy/game based rubbish can we railroad audiences into going to see?' And the answer that came back was 'let's do a movie based on Battleship, featuring the pop-star Rihanna'.

Utterly dimwitted action blockbuster and Michael Bay pastiche; the weird thing is that Michael Bay pastiches are marginally better than actual Michael Bay films, mainly because if your starting point is a Michael Bay film the only way is up. This is still insultingly stupid. The actors deserve some kind of credit for getting through the film with straight faces, given it includes a laboriously contrived sequence where the characters are basically playing real-life Battleships against the aliens. Somehow made even worse by the way it fawns over members of the military (subtext being that it's unpatriotic not to like this movie). The special effects are not too bad but considering this is a movie with a $210 million budget that's like saying they remembered to put film in the camera.

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Ross (3282 KP) rated Annihilation (2018) in Movies

Jul 8, 2019

Annihilation (2018)

2018 | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

7.0

(72 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A bunch of visuals clumsily stuck together

I liked the synopsis of this film, so with a night free of the kids we settled down to watch it. It started well, something of an Aliens feel to it. But it quickly became just a loose collection of some visuals (either artworks, sculptures or modern interpretive dance routines) that the director wanted to put in a film loosely stitched together with the worst attempt at a sci-fi plot I have ever seen.
The focus of the film was on the set piece visuals, which at times were stunning - such as people-shaped bushes, crystal trees and the final scene. However, choosing to cram these into a loose sci-fi plot was the wrong decision. Sci-fi fans (the only people likely to watch this based on the description) need a water-tight plot that makes some amount of sense, while leaving some aspects open to interpretation. This film is the latest in a worrying trend of films who make no effort to explain why things happen, and instead cling to a loose premise.
While the film kept my interest enough, it left me very disappointed over the second hour.