Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

I watched the first movie at the cinema and when I saw this movie advertised, I decided it would be good to watch the second one.

While there were quite a lot of similarities with the first movie, I did feel that Shelby’s motivations for creating her own sorority house were at least valid ones… but I did feel that a lot of the secondary characters weren’t explored as well as they might have been.

It was good to see Teddy after the events of the movie and how, although he hadn’t really grown up by then, he was affected by the consequences of the previous film… even though he was insistent on blaming everyone else for his problems.

I also especially liked seeing Pete again and I enjoyed seeing his relationship with his boyfriend-turned-fiance. I also enjoyed seeing Lisa Kudrow have a brief cameo appearance again.

The very first scene in this movie was particularly cringeworthy and kind of disgusting, even though I did like seeing Kelly and Mac together. Their parenting did, at times, leave a bit to be desired… but it was obvious they loved each other and Stella. (Even if they probably shouldn’t have let their daughter play with what she’d picked up…)

I did like seeing the fact that Kappa Nu was a sorority more focused on individuality and it was a bit sad to see the girls compromise on who they were, despite the hostility. I also found it amusing to see Shelby’s complete confusion about corded phones… something that teenagers nowadays probably would find difficult to imagine.

There were some nice scenes of friendship involving Teddy and it was good to see Mac and Kelly willing to open their home to him. While I did think he was very immature, I also thought it was kind of sad that he felt pushed out by the people he was trying to be friends with.

I cringed as much as I laughed in this movie and I found it entertaining and quite simple to watch. I don’t think I’d watch it again… but especially if you enjoyed the first movie, I would suggest watching this.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I actually found this movie quite difficult to watch. There was a lot of action and tension right from the start and by the end of the movie, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next.

There wasn’t a whole lot of background provided on the characters, though it was good to get some brief glimpses of the personal lives of Katherine and Frank before they were involved in making such difficult decisions.

I thought it was good to have the opportunity to see Alia and her family in brief snippets, since I then began caring about what was going to happen to her. But I was also able to see both sides of the conflict, so even though I was desperately rooting for Alia to survive, I wasn’t demonising the soldiers for the tough decisions I had to make.

While I would have liked to see more detail about many of the characters’ history and motivations (especially considering how personally Katherine seemed to have taken Susan’s defection), I felt that there was a lot of good detail and conflicts with the characters.

While all of them seemed to be struggling with morals, I especially found Steve’s actions to be commendable. I found it interesting that he wasn’t actually in the plane and had to direct a drone… even more so considering that he didn’t just see Alia as an image on a screen, despite not being there in person.

I thought it was really interesting to see the use of the bug and hummingbird cameras, though they did put me a bit on edge… especially when it came to the bug camera.

I really liked Jama’s character, especially towards the end of the movie. I thought it was really good to see how good he was at what he did.

While I did feel like I was missing a lot of the background of the characters and storyline, I did find this a really good, intense movie to watch.

(This review may contain spoilers).

This movie is in a genre I probably wouldn’t have chosen to watch on my own… but having had the opportunity to see the premier, I did like this film more than I thought I would.

I felt this movie was a good mix of comedy and serious moments. It was interesting to see Florence so lively and joyful at the beginning… and to see how she kept her spirit through the course of the movie. While I did feel some sympathy for the character, I also felt that her strength showed through really well… especially considering what a good actress Meryl Streep is. (It was interesting to see her singing so badly, considering the actress is really good at carrying a tune).

I felt Hugh Grant had a lot more emotional depth in this movie, though I was very confused about the relationship between Florence and St. Clair, especially considering that the intimacy between them didn’t seem to be husband and wife… or even lovers. Still, it was obvious that he was devoted to Florence… despite having a relationship with Kathleen behind her back. (I had zero sympathy for Kathleen).

I liked Agnes far more than I thought I would initially. I would have liked to see a bit more of her background expanded upon. It was also very strange to see Simon Helberg in a role other than the Big Bang Theory… but I felt he played Cosme McMoon really well and it was good to see his facial expressions as he realised Florence’s singing wasn’t what he’d been led to believe.

Although there were parts of this movie that were light-hearted, I thought the seriousness was handled really well… and it helped that most of the actors were those who seemed more comfortable in their roles. The ending was particularly moving and although there was a lot of comedy, I didn’t feel that it should be billed as such.

If you’re on the fence about seeing this movie, I would suggest watching it. It’s well-cast and acted and although I wouldn’t want to watch it again any time soon, it was very entertaining to watch the first time.