Ink of Blood

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Tomb Raider

Posted by cat2002116 on March 19, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Tomb Raider

(This review may contain spoilers).

This isn’t the first Lara Croft movie I’ve seen, but so far, I think it might be my favourite.

This version of Lara Croft was very easy to empathise with and care about. It was really good to see the brief snippets of her past, as it allowed me to see the relationship she had with her father and something of what her life had been like growing up.

There wasn’t a lot of depth to the main villain of the movie, even though it was clear some attempt had been made to humanise him. The best types of villains are those who have good reasons behind their actions…or at least good reasons as far as they’re concerned. But many of his actions throughout just showed him as a completely evil person who enjoyed tormenting those forced to work under his command.

I found myself drawn really easily into this movie, even though it was kind of difficult to suspend my disbelief when it came to some of the things Lara could do. Some of those were foreshadowed and made sense; others really didn’t.

I did find the legend of Himiko to be really intriguing and it was particularly good to see the puzzles that had to be solved throughout.

I did think that, even though she was clearly capable of defending herself, Lara didn’t necessarily make the best decisions; and until she left to follow in the direction her father had taken, there were elements of telling rather than showing.

I couldn’t really say how true this movie stayed to the source material, but I did enjoy this movie and I did care about what happened to the characters. I probably wouldn’t rush to buy this movie on DVD, but I wouldn’t mind watching it again in the future.

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Mary Magdalene

Posted by cat2002116 on March 19, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Mary Magdalene

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I originally saw this movie advertised, I was very interested in watching it, as someone who’s been a Christian for a long time. I was immediately intrigued by a movie portraying Jesus’ life that focused primarily on one of his apostles who was a woman.

Having said that, I found this movie difficult to engage with at first. I feel part of that was due to the lack of ethnic realism.

I also found it hard with so many characters shown all at once without much depth. For instance, I had no idea how many siblings Mary had. And out of all the other apostles following Jesus, only Peter and Judas Iscariot had any real development. While I can undetstand a movie not having the time to spend developing every person portrayed, this was a group of people spending weeks travelling together. I was disappointed that more time wasn’t spent showing the friendships and, yes, conflicts between this group of people.

I did really like the focus put on women in this movie, but I felt there were other scenes in the Bible portraying women that I would have liked to see expanded upon. For instance, Jesus’ closeness with Lazarus’ sister; and the Samaritan woman at the well he asked for a drink of water from.

While it was good to see the male apostles questioning and doubting, I almost felt that Mary came across as quite one-dimensional. She seemed kind of on a pedestal; someone who had no questions or doubts that would have shown her as a real person with faith increasing as she grew and learned.

I wasn’t quite as absorbed in this movie as I could have been, but I felt that the reasoning behind the focus on Mary was good and, ultimately, I’m glad I decided to give it a chance, even though I don’t think I’ll be watching it again any time soon.

Coco

Posted by cat2002116 on March 19, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Coco

(This review may contain spoilers).

It took me a little while to get to see this movie, but having seen it today, I’m glad I managed to before it went out of cinemas.

While I wouldn’t have said this movie was terrible unique, it was really entertaining to watch. I enjoyed seeing Miguel interacting with his family and I thought the way his family history was told at the beginning worked really well.

There wasn’t a lot of interaction between Miguel’s family and the rest of the people in the town, so it was difficult to see how their refusal to allow music into their lives was viewed by everyone around them.

It was good to see that Miguel had such a strong passion for music and I found it really easy to empathise with him and his desire to follow his dream. I would say that his parents didn’t really seem to have much depth to them, or even to really interact with him; certainly not as much as his grandmother and great-grandmother.

I would have liked a bit more detail about the spirit guides and how they worked, as it seemed that only certain souls had them…and it was also amusing how those guides seemed to fit in with the personalities of their souls.

There was quite a bit of humour in this movie and I really liked the underlying themes of family. The land of the dead really stood out in comparison to the land of the living, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the souls who were completely forgotten about. It seemed that ‘final death’ would be inevitable for any soul.

This movie engaged me really well and I was completely absorbed in watching it. While I wouldn’t rush to buy it on DVD, it’s a film I wouldn’t mind watching again in the future.

Love, Simon

Posted by cat2002116 on March 18, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Love, Simon

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I saw this movie originally advertised at the cinema, it was one that immediately intrigued me, even though it wasn’t a genre that I would normally go out of my way to watch. So when it turned out the secret showing at my local cinema was for this movie, I was very happy.

Simon was a character I immediately found it really easy to identify with. It was really nice to see glimpses of his relationships with his parents and sister. I kind of wished his background with his friends ad been expanded upon a bit more, but I definitely liked what I saw of their friendship. And even though the letters between Simon and Blue were an important part of the movie, it was good to see other parts of Simon’s life were just as important.

While there was some attempt to make Martin a more sympathetic character, even by the end of the movie, I really didn’t like him.

I had some mixed feelings about the principal, as his attitude of wanting to be friends with everyone actually came across as quite fake.

There was a lot more humour in this movie than I was expecting and it was nice to see the way the feelings grew between Simon and Blue, even though neither of them knew who the other was. It was also good to see the way Simon imagined the email writer each time he thought he’d figured out Blue’s identity.

There were a lot of really sweet moments in this movie and I found it really easy to empathise with and care about what happened to Simon. By the end of the film, my romantic side had been fully reawakened; and I was very happy with everything that happened in the finale.

The Shape of Water

Posted by cat2002116 on March 18, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

The Shape of Water

(This review may contain spoilers).

It took me a while to sit down and write out this review as, even though I try not to go into movies with any preconceptions, I walked out of this one feeling very disappointed.

I thought there was lot of telling rather than showing, particularly when it came to Elisa not being able to talk. There weren’t any issues with people understanding her and the only time someone didn’t, it was when she would have been put in a bad situation if she had been understood.

The relationship that formed between Elisa and Amphibian Man was probably the most powerful part of this movie, even if it was hard to see the latter as really humanoid. There were some really sweet moments in this movie and I thought it was good to see the effects of segregation, even if the problems faced by someone with a disability weren’t really shown.

I did like seeing the friendship between Elisa and Zelda, as well as Zelda’s interactions and relationship with Giles.

To be honest, it was the first scene of this movie that was thoroughly engaging and actually quite beautiful to watch. The rest of the movie didn’t really have that same dreamlike quality to it that I’d engaged with right at the start.
I really didn’t like Strickland; which was sort of the point, I guess. But as a villain, he had zero depth to him. Plus, his wife looked like a completely stereotypical housewife from that time and it was very hard to take that seriously.

I did like seeing the characters work together and although there were some very disturbing, gory scenes, the movie was very entertaining to watch. I did find it engaging, despite there being issues I would have liked to see improved upon. I wouldn’t choose to watch this movie again any time soon, though.

Status Update

Posted by cat2002116 on March 18, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Status Update

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was immediately intrigued by the idea, even though I was fairly sure it would follow the same kind of criteria as many other movies for teenagers I’ve seen.

I found it quite hard to relate to Kyle at first. Mostly because the character seemed to come across as really one-dimensional and shallow. I found some of the secondary characters intriguing, but the fact there was hardly any ethnic diversity made me disappointed in the movie.

The really unique idea of this movie was the whole idea of the Universe app, as I liked that it made what was ‘put out there’ come true. I thought it was amusing how, on occasion, what Kyle put out there wasn’t what he was expecting what would happen, but it was a bit disappointing that not much else was done with that.

I didn’t really find Kyle very sympathetic throughout the movie and even though, by the end, he had more of a real friendship with Lonnie, for a lot of the movie, it seemed like Kyle was a really bad friend to him.

I didn’t think Kyle’s sister had a lot of depth to her, to be honest. She just seemed to latch onto her boyfriend and become a completely different person just for him. To be honest, none of the characters demonstrated a lot of depth or strength; and the person I felt the most sympathy for was Kyle’ mother.

While there were some brief moments of humour in this movie, I thought there wasn’t much that allowed it to stand out. The characters were fairly stereotypical and the Universe app could have been played with a lot more.

This movie was entertaining to watch, but I didn’t feel it was anything special and didn’t really feel it was enough to stand out. There was a lot that could have been improved upon.

I don’t intend to watch this movie again, at least any time soon.

Black Panther

Posted by cat2002116 on February 17, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Black Panther

(This review may contain spoilers).

To probably absolutely no one’s surprise, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to watch Black Panther on the day it came out at my local cinema.

I liked being able to get a little bit of background on the history of the black panthers, but although the images were very visually appealing, I didn’t feel like they fit with the rest of the movie.

I really liked being able to see something of the culture of Wakanda and the cIonflicts faced with bringing technology into a society that was more traditional. I thought the hints of conflicts between the characters were good and there were some very strong elements of foreshadowing throughout.

I did feel that the trailers for a certain future movie in the franchise removed some of the tension and worry about one of the characters.

While I did like T’Challa, I actually liked his sister and Okoye a whole lot more and I felt they were shown to have a lot more depth to them, while T’Challa was more of the stereotypical hero with his own journey to go on. And I was a bit disappointed that Nakia didn’t really have much depth to her apart from being a fairly stereotypical rebellious love interest.

I didn’t think there was as much humour in this movie as Marvel usually seems to contain, but there was plenty of action and tension to keep me focused throughout.

It was good to see a cameo, however brief, of one of the minor characters -Everett Ross – from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it was really good to see him developed a bit more and to see something of a true friendship forming between him and T’Challa.

One of the strongest parts of the movie, I felt, was the history of T’Challa’s family and how the past resurfaced in the present. I enjoyed seeing the glimpses of the culture and being able to see another character brought from the comics to the MCU.

I couldn’t really say this was my favourite Marvel movie, but I did find it very entertaining and wouldn’t mind watching it again. If you do go to see it, make sure you stay until the end, as there are two extra scenes during and post-credits.

Altered Carbon

Posted by cat2002116 on February 17, 2018
Posted in: Reviews, Television. Tagged: reviews, Television. Leave a comment

Altered Carbon

(This review may contain spoilers).

The first thing I should say about this series is that it’s the first in a long time I actually binge-watched. Only ten episodes, but I was engaged right from the start.

At first glance, this series shares a lot of similarities with another series called Dollhouse. Of course, the idea of living forever by transplanting a person’s mind into another’s body isn’t a really unique idea.

I did think there were a lot of moral and ethical problems that weren’t explored to the extent they could have been. While Kovacs was an interesting character to see and learn about, I found it very hard to reconcile the person he was in the flashbacks to who he was in the present. I actually preferred the version of him portrayed in his ‘original’ body.

It was good to see glimpses of the divide between the rich and the poor and one scene in particular involving a little girl who’d been transplanted into an adult body was absolutely heartbreaking.

I did feel that the show kept breaking its own rules, in particular when it came to the clones and being controlled by one mind.

Poe was by far my favourite character of the series and I found the idea of the AIs absolutely fascinating. Ortega was a close second favourite, but while there were glimpses and hints of her being a strong character, towards the end of the series, it felt like she was becoming a damsel in distress.

I was a bit less taken with Lizzie, as I felt there wasn’t much detail about how broken her psyche truly was and how Poe was actually helping her. By the end of the series, it was very hard to suspend my disbelief when it came to her; and there was virtually no foreshadowing of what was revealed.

I almost felt that the parallel storylines could have been separate series, as even though the flashbacks allowed me to learn more about Kovacs’ background, there was still a lot tht didn’t make sense.

I thought the idea was executed in a unique way and even though I felt there was a lot more depth that could have been shown, there was a lot about this series I found engaging and it had characters I really cared about.

The series itself is incredibly dark, bloody and violent. I wouldn’t say it’s on the same level of something like Game of Thrones, but it’s definitely something to steer clear of if you don’t like strong bloody violence.

Even though I did find there were problems in the series and things I felt could have been done better, the storyline was engaging enough to keep me watching throughout. And even though I don’t intend to rush to buy it on DVD as soon as it comes out, I will be watching the second season if and when it comes to Netflix.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Posted by cat2002116 on February 17, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Maze Runner The Death Cure

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having watched and enjoyed the previous two movies in this franchise, I was very excited when I saw the trailer for this one, even though I try not to get too hyped up before watching a movie.

It was good that this movie went straight into the action. I found myself immdiately drawn into the plight of the characters; but this movie won’t make any sense if you haven’t seen the previous two. I’d even go so far as to say rewatch them in preparation for seeing the third.

Perhaps the best part of the movie, at least in my opinion, was the friendship between Thomas and Newt. I loved their interactions and I felt they were the strongest characters in this movie.

I felt that Frypan in particular hadn’t been developed through the three movies. I would have liked to see more of him than just being a tagalong, which was what he came across as.

I didn’t really think much of Brenda in this movie, I have to say. There was considerably less of her sense of her self-preservation and more of her acting foolishly. It’s even stated in a conversation she has that she’s acting out of character. I liked her relationship with Jorge, but I didn’t really like her.

While I felt there was some attempt to give Teresa more depth, I didn’t really like her either – and I thought that Ava’s own arc was left hanging when it could have been explored in so much more depth.

Parts of this movie were very intense to watch, but the zombie-like cranks weren’t as creepy as they had been in the second movie.

I did like that there were some small elements of humour to offset the tension and it was also good to see a return of one of the previous characters and the conflicts that arose from that.

This movie didn’t really let up on the action or intensity and even though the cranks lost a lot of their effectiveness from the previous movie, there was still enough to make me care when they were attacking the characters.

I’ve seen this movie twice at the cinema now and plan to see it a third time. I also intend to buy it on DVD when it comes out.

If you’ve watched the previous movies in this franchise, I strongly recommend seeing this one.

Downsizing

Posted by cat2002116 on January 30, 2018
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

Downsizing

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I initially saw this movie advertised, I was really intrigued by the idea, especially as over-crowded population is a very real problem faced by humanity today. And even though the science wasn’t really explained to a satisfactory level, I still thought it was interesting to see the procedures humans had to go through before being downsized. However, the movie quite clearly broke its own rules when it came to shaving body hair, as said body hair was quite conspiciously left in a specific place on the men’s bodies.

While it was good to see there was some hostility between those who were regular sized and those who had been downsized, it was really only shown in short snippets involving society as a whole and only one person demonstrated hostility on a personal level – and that was someone who was very drunk and went on about voting, rather than any of the real issues he could have put voice to. And while Audrey’s mother apparently had problems wth it, I was only told about that. It wasn’t shown. The same with the families where some people had downsized and others had stayed regular size.

I felt that this movie couldn’t really decide what genre it wanted to be or what story to tell. There were a lot of elements that could have been explored to much greater potential and even though it was good to see how things were adapted for use in the small villages, there was very little shown about the problems they faced after having been shrunk. While it was good to see that there were some much darker parts of the society, that wasn’t really explored to any extent.

I thought there was a lot of potential in this movie, but that the problems that should have been faced by the downsized people were ignored or settled very easily. I don’t intend to watch this movie again any time soon.

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