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JT (287 KP) rated Ready or Not (2019) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020

Ready or Not (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

7.6

(46 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Original story (1 more)

Solid tension

The ending might not be appreciated (0 more)

White wedding goes full bloodshed

Grace (Samara Weaving) is about to marry the man of her dreams, Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien). But her new in-laws, as it turns out, are going to be a real nightmare.

After a long sweeping shot through a gothic house 30-years earlier which sets up the back story to what is going to unfold, Grace is tasked with drawing a card from a mysterious mechanical box.

The premise is simple, whatever game is on the card she has to play in order to be accepted into the family – a tradition which must be accepted.

Innocently believing that it is just a harmless game of Hide-and-Seek Grace sets off to hide. The family, however, arming themselves with a variety of antique weaponry, must kill poor Grace before sunrise or they will all perish.

The family is an eclectic mix of batshit crazed parents, eccentric grandparents, troublesome daughters and drunken sons. When merged they come across as a psychopath’s answer to the Keystone Cops, all flair but no clue whatsoever.

Ready or Not manages to balance horror and comedy nicely. It is gory when it needs to be with several grotesque and humorous scenes that will leave viewers squirming in their seats.

The remainder of the film is a tense game of cat and mouse with Grace now realising what the real motives of the family are. She must hold her nerve to see out the night and make it to morning.

The setting is perfect for this type of caper and the gothic mansion provides plenty of twists and turns; from secret doors and passages to outhouses filled with decaying corpses.

Grace turns from the bride in white to the bride in blood as she battles the family – the tension rarely lets up for a second. Ready or Not gets just about everything spot on and it never suffers from horror cliches or boredom.

Weaving gives a good account of herself as a modern-day scream queen turned badass, running around in a torn wedding dress and trainers dispelling the myth ‘till death do us part‘.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

2014 | Classics, Drama

5.3

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Exodus: Gods and Kings is a new movie directed by Ridley Scott.

With other great films under his belt such as Alien, Gladiator, GI Jane, and many many more, I had high hopes for this film.

The cast includes Christian Bale as Moses, Ben Kingsley as Nun, Joel Edgerton as Ramses, John Turturro as Seti, Sigourney Weaver as Tuya, and Aaron Paul as Joshua.

At 2 hours and 22 minutes long, I actually FELT the movie dragging in places, and yet I was less than thrilled with the ending.

The 3D didn’t add anything to the movie. During scenes where the 3D should have been a major asset to the film, enhancing the viewing experience, and drawing the audience into the story, it really didn’t add anything to the story, nor did it seem to add any “wow factor”.

Being completely non-religious myself, I cannot speak to many of the other seemingly negative comments regarding the films lack of “following the true story”, but I can say that the story presented was rather…. Lackluster.

In previews it seemed as if the whole movie would be set on a grand grand scale, and that it was worth paying to see on the big screen.

In actuality, while the movie does seem to be set on a grand scale, it just didn’t grab me in enough, didn’t capture my feelings and make me root for one side or the other, didn’t make me CARE enough about the characters or the story to want to bother to see it again, on the big screen or even on the tv.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “horrible”‘ or even “bad”, but I couldn’t tell someone “this is a movie you simply MUST SEE on the big screen”, either.

If I’d have paid to see it, I’d have been annoyed.

The best summation that I might be able to give this movie is…. “Meh”.

I’d give this movie a reluctant 2 out of 5 stars, and only as many as 2 to give Ridley Scott the benefit of the doubt.