Ediebalboa

A slightly slower start, but a grand finale. You can really feel a big difference between the first and second half of the film. Unlike Quantum of Solace, Mendes doesn't try to cram everything into an hour and a half like Forster, but develops the plot much more slowly and thus more naturally. The editing also calmed down with the pace, something I appreciate, especially because of the last Bond film, where the insane editing speed was more like a trailer than a movie. I would also like to praise the exotic and domestic locations. Thanks to this, much of the film is finally taking place in London and Scotland after many years. Of the new actors, Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris were great choices, but the new Q has so far failed to convince me. Otherwise, all credit to Bardem, who ranks among the best villains ever to rival Bond. The ending with the denouement was one of the most accomplished in the whole series and got me excited for the next episodes.

I may have watched the 13th Warrior too soon. Otherwise, I would have missed my most important banter motif of dragging knights across the floor, which would have been a huge shame for my parents. Jerry Goldsmith managed to successfully knock out all the Zimmers, Williamses and even the reigning Howard Shore with The Lord of the Rings. The film itself ended up several leagues worse, though, but even after all these years I don't have the feeling of downright frustration when watching it. Rather, it's just the shockingly untapped potential that, under different circumstances, could have led to the most epic Viking romp ever created.

Obesity and bulimia are issues that have not been addressed much by Hollywood, so I applaud the fact that this substantial rarity does not downplay the issue, nor does it revel in it. By Aronofsky's standards, it is a fairly normal story that is unexpectedly friendly to the audience whose feelings he likes to play with. Towards the end, however, he mines emotions in an outrageous way, and as a result all previous believability is taken away. It's disappointing, but not enough to obscure the most important thing, Brendan Fraser is back at full force after all these years, and if anyone deserves countless accolades for this feat in the coming months, it's him.

In the end, it wasn’t such a disappointment. I was skeptical about the Bourne sequel from the beginning, but after it was announced that it would be a different agent with his own storyline, it looked promising after all. The result is only good and a bit drawn out, but the action scenes with their inventiveness still haven't lost their sparkle, including the location shooting (beautiful Alaska at the beginning). The problems begin when the film starts to connect to the events of the previous trilogy with a well-rounded story. It's quite disruptive, because it's pretty obvious that the writers could drag the series out indefinitely with this kind of dissection. The ending, which I have the impression was naively set up for a sequel, is related to this. Even the new version of "Extreme Ways" at the end seemed a bit stale this time.

After reading the book, I expected nothing but the best from The Firm, if only because I thought Tom Cruise was a perfect fit for the role of McDeere. Syndey Pollack disappointed me, though. He failed to give the film either the action or the suspense that kept me glued to the book, not to mention the many minor and major changes in the story. The ending of the adaptation was fatally rewritten compared to the book and completely changed its tone. It's nice to have so many actors who fit their roles in front of the camera at the same time, but what's the point when the film just draws from a solid source material and the rest takes its own path.

A year ago it was Spielberg, this year it’s Gibson. Once again, we get a film from the last century, where the director of Braveheart definitely does not disappoint. By the time you land on Okinawa, you're thinking, "Yeah, I've seen this many times before." But then comes the carnage... ugly, harsh, repulsive for some, but for others it's amazingly technical and detailed. On a small battlefield, all hell breaks loose, surpassing in its realism the vast majority of what has ever been seen on the screen. You'll be glad for a master who has a few more miracles up his sleeve, because Hacksaw Ridge is mainly a film about heroism.

It's not a great action flick, but I have to be extremely grateful that this film with the biggest action stars of the last century was made. At the very least, the scenes with Arnold ripping the door off the Smart and the arrival of Chuck Norris will stay with me forever.

Third time’s the best. Rocket's origin, along with an emotionally drained Star-Lord and Gunn's most confident direction yet, brings the Guardians of the Galaxy to adulthood. Well, almost. In the more serious moments, the atmosphere thickens more than ever, but then another joke or the thirtieth song comes along. This exuberant gang stays true to themselves with all the good (mostly), but sometimes some of the bad too. This time, however, I was the least short of perfection.

I haven't seen a more black and white portrayal of the struggle for independence, but I have to admit that if the Americans (Germans) are making the British look like pigs, at least they are led by the biggest of them all, Jason Isaacs. He makes you keep your fingers crossed for Mel to chop up as many Redcoats as he can with his tomahawk. If, on top of that, he also has Ledger, Karyo, Cooper and Wilkinson, the result can’t be mediocre.

Just as Netflix gave the series a great kick in Season 3, it has now cut it down with a vengeance. I would have liked a better fate for Uthred, but this battle seemed a bit of a lost cause from the start. Cramming the themes of 3 books into one less than two-hour film doesn't bode well and despite a few decent shortcuts, it shows at every turn. Like the first episode of the entire series (and one of the weakest), Uthred possesses a teleport that causes locations and emotions to change at the snap of a finger. So we say goodbye to some old heroes in a hurry, while others just manage to tell you: “I’m Anlaf, I will be bad“, which is not very dignified for the culmination of a multi-year saga. Uthred's "banishment" in particular is a complete mockery. As a fan, the only thing I appreciate is the Valhalla passage. For that alone, and for the passable final battle, I give this epilogue a final pardon.