Yet, when I heard that Vince Gilligan was making a sequel about Jesse Pinkman’s fate, I was thrilled, to say the least. Not because I cared about Jesse, but because Gilligan is one of my top 3 most favourite directors. Actually, top 2. Well, since Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s failure with “Wild Pear Tree”, Mr.Gilligan is my most favourite director. A kind that you’d queue up for hours and blindly throw your money at.

Now, the 2 hours of El Camino is over and I am not as enthusiastic as before.

El Camino is a finely directed and produced movie. It is thoroughly well-written, too. Murad argues that it does not contribute to the overall story line, but maybe it was never about the story line. I could easily write a dozen of very decent quotes from El Camino. People from all walks of life could talk about Jesse’s situation and decisions for hours. And that is the art that Gilligan delivers, which he usually magnificently weaves into a superb story line. So, no matter how perfect, the story line has always been secondary. Therefore, it could very well be that Gilligan didn’t seek to contribute to the overall story with El Camino, hence why he failed in that department (read Murad’s opinion on why and how he failed).

But this failure was not what made me uncomfortable watching Jesse driving off in Alaska and the credits rolling.

Let me go back to saying that Vince Gilligan is my favourite director and I adore his work like no one else’s. Every time I say this, tho, I pause for a second and think about Hancock.

Until now, that feature was his only mediocre work in the past two decades. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, as he was not the one who wrote the original script, it was his first feature, etc. But El Camino completed “the Gilligan puzzle” for me.

Vince Gilligan has a peculiar story-telling technique. He sets up the scene carefully and sweats every detail, gives us insight into the characters’ emotional situation, provides the necessary background (isn’t he big on flashbacks), and then triggers the action. No wonder that action ends up making perfect sense and leaving a lasting impact. And apart from being a genius writer and a skillful director, he needs one essential ingredient to achieve these – time. Which he usually has plenty of. Take Better Call Saul – four seasons in, and it is only just stepping into what the story is really about. Long story short, it is Gilligan’s signature to roll a slow introduction into the action.

He does not have that luxury in a feature film.

If you tried to elevator-pitch Breaking Bad, it would have sounded mediocre at best. Unlike Inception, Slumdog Millionaire, Catch Me If You Can, et. al. Yet, Breaking Bad is a masterpiece that made a bold mark in the history of cinematography. This paradox is rooted in the fact that its storyline is secondary. Thinking of El Camino, that is the one phrase that comes to my mind – an elevator pitch of upcoming series.

Murad said that El Camino felt like three movies squashed into one. I claim that each one of those three could be made into a season, especially considering Gilligan’s narration techniques. That’s exactly what I watched in those 2 hours of Netflixing – an abridged supercut of 3 seasons of a brilliant series that will never exist.

Going back to “the Gilligan puzzle” – the missing piece is his elevator-pitching skills.

Now that Jesse Pinkman sorted his vacuum cleaner, are we back to Saul Goodman’s path to his Hoover MaxExtract 60? I certainly hope so, and I want to see my favourite director back at doing what he does the best.

The post A <s>Breaking</s> Bad Movie appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Show is very well done. It is obvious that Amazon has not kept the budgets tight and production thus is very impressive. Acting and writing is very good. I really enjoyed how much show spends time developing minor characters and giving everyone a certain evolution arcs (kinda reminded of another show that did that for 7 seasons and then managed to magnificently screw it all up in 8th). Thus just like in Watchmen, there are not good or bad guys, there are light gray or dark gray guys (whole 50 shades of… damn, nevermind).

Show is not without faults, as usual with streaming shows pacing slumps in the middle, but then explosively picks up. I also didn’t like the ending much. It seemed more like an end of episode and not a certain full stop of season finale.

And if you are not convinced that this show is awesome – I watched all episodes over a weekend, with last 6 of them in one single day. Last time I binge-watched a show like this was first season of Stranger Things.

4.7/5.0

The post The Boys appeared first on Kino-AZ.

But aside from nostalgic points, film doesn’t bring that much to the table. Let’s start with that it would be impossible for anyone who hasn’t seen the show to even understand what is going on. Film doesn’t even try to establish known characters, and why would it? In the end, “El Camino” is essentially, just a 3-episode miniseries edited into one single film. Yes, the storyline is engaging and exciting, but I didn’t see anything grandiose akin to explosive “Breaking Bad” plot progressions or even close to what my expectations were. Weirdly enough it feels like film embraces this whole motion of serenity. Then again, maybe, just to quote one character “quiet is all that you (Jesse) needs right now”.

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Casting is just AMAZING! You could just lay back and enjoy EVERY SINGLE PERSON on screen go crazy doing what they do best. DiCaprio blew my mind with everything he put in his character. Pitt still got all his magic and then some. Robbie shines encompassing wild and carefree, yet very accessible Tate. I literally could write a whole post about each of them and the rest of the stellar cast this film has.

My only complaint is with portrayal of Manson Family. Tarantino, known for giving his characters in-depth backstories, gives them almost nothing. We are to know that they are bad. Why? Even in “Inglourious Basterds” Tarantino shows Nazis do horrible stuff. Atrocities of slavers in “Django Unchained” are painted vividly. These are the characters far better known to everyone to be bad already, yet he still spends time to establish them as villains. Same doesn’t apply for Manson Family in “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood”. He shows them as a bunch of hippy, dumpster-diving, free-spirited girls who might have some weird tendencies. I mean I do know they are bad people and the whole ordeal, but only because I googled where Marilyn Manson took his stage name. Because of that for me the ending seemed to be a little off.

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this film and would urge you to watch it, if only for MIND-BLOWING acting. And shirtless Brad Pitt.

The post Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

John Wick has one hour before his “excommunicado” verdict kicks in. In exactly 60 minutes the bounty on his head will attract every single member of crime family and will make him a living target. Wick knows how difficult his task to survive has become. So, he rushes across town to his old “friends” hoping they will fulfill their duties and provide him safe passage overseas. But his path is riddled with people who want to collect bounty and so Wick has to do the thing he is best at – hunt. Meanwhile, two people who helped him in Chapter 2 – Winston and Bowery King meet a mysterious figure The Adjudicator. She informs them that since they have helped John Wick they have seven days to vacate their posts or face the wrath of High Table.

Writing

On one side, there is very easy task for screenwriters of “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”. Just put the character of Keanu Reeves into a corner where he has to fight his way out. Then repeat that over and over until “The End”. Nothing fancy, right? Wrong. In the best tradition of previous films, “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” doesn’t take an easy route. Yes, essentially Keanu does fight his way out of corners through the film, but setup for each skirmish is different. Interwoven with intricate details on previously established glamorous world of underbelly of society, film takes it one step further. We find out (if only briefly) the history of John Wick, who he was and who he became. What exactly drives him and why he actually wants to stay alive, despite losing everything and being on edge of mental and physical breakdown.

We are introduced with new locales and new supporting cast. He travels across the sea to find the only person who owes him and would be ready to face consequences of helping him. In this kind of film, new characters usually go in and out, because the main star is John Wick. They do the same in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”, but how they go out is completely different story. And every single supporting character has a backstory, motivation, story arc and a appropriate exit. Yes, we are here to watch Keanu kick ass, but also why not see others do the same?

Where screenwriters specifically excel is in having a coherent story that takes John Wick from point A to point B, while maintaining the overall logic and not drowning in the absurdity of what is happening. I mean how else can you explain that I can ignore the fact that according to film there is apparently more assassins on the streets of New York than tourists? Or that John Wick is able to ride a bike, while fighting with horde of other bikers. Or that he can sustain multiple deadly injuries without collapsing into agony. This all happens because film manages to put us into such a deep trance of storytelling that we are ready to forget and forgive all this glaring details and just enjoy the action instead.

Directing

And action we have! Chad Stahelski returns as a director, but again this time without David Leitch. Stahelski has John Wick fight anything the he can lay his hands on. Everything is deadly in his hands – guns, knives, swords, axes, bike helmets, even horses and dogs. You might think you have seen it all, but Stahelski still manages to surprise us with more elaborate choreography, crazier opponents and wilder kills. And he does that all while maintaining the intricate plot and keeping viewer totally invested into the film. And while “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” is not as emotionally heavy as previous films, it instead embraces the fun aspect of it.

It is fun maybe because of multiple homages to different movies that “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” provides. In one scene, John assembles a revolver, just like Tuco in Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and The Ugly”. In other sequence, John has to fight with swords and background music is extremely similar to Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”. How about the scene where John has to fight an assassin played by NBA player Boban Marjanovic? Isn’t that direct reference to famous Bruce Lee fight with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? By using all this small details, Stahelski basically assembles a very solid action film.

Acting

That Keanu Reeves was born for this role leaves absolutely no doubt. If someone didn’t believe that in previous films, in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” that is beyond obvious. He is a very talented actor that has shined in hundreds other roles, but in John Wick he finds his true self. With Nicolas Cage-like dedication he delivers such out-of-this-world performance, that for a long amount of time you just continue seeing him exactly as John Wick and not as an actor who plays the role.

Supporting cast includes already established characters played by Ian McShane, Lance Reddick and Laurence Fishburne. I did enjoy new additions, even though Halle Berry was surely included only to up star level of the film. But even her character doesn’t appear too superfluous and she has her fair share of action. It was also very nice to see Mark Dacascos again on big screen. My only complaint was about the character Adjudicator played by Asia Kate Dillon, who was supposed to be all business and no fun, but somehow felt too fake.

Summary

“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” continues tradition of previous films, giving viewers wall to wall action and endless fight sequences, all while maintaining very interesting plot and expanding on the previously established rules of the world that heroes live in.

The post John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

Right after the events of “Infinity War”, members of Avengers are trying to figure out the way forward. And while some of them are set on to taking revenge on Thanos, there are those among them who are done fighting and all they want is accept the fate and move on. Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it sounds. Because despite their superpowers after all they are just humans. And living with idea that they could have stopped Thanos takes it’s toll on every single member of the group. So when the chance arises to fight back, they would throw away all deliberations, insecurities and struggles and will do everything they can to get back at Thanos. And doesn’t matter how minuscule that chance is. After all we are in the endgame.

Writing

Thanos can finally rest

Despite not being Marvel fan at all, I admit I was satisfied the way “Infinity War” ended. Film pushed the boundaries of acceptable rules of engagement with this kind of material. I also enjoyed Thanos character very much, as he was not a one-dimensional dummy set to fill the role of obscure villain. So, although I didn’t have any emotional connection to the heroes, I was very much invested in seeing how the filmmakers will resolve the conflicts of first film. This was also fueled by the fact that two MCU films that came out in between this films (“Ant-Man and The Wasp” and “Captain Marvel“) offered no answer at all.

The result is whooping 181 minutes long. “Avengers: Endgame” doesn’t hold back and dives heads on into the film. The emotional state of the heroes after big loss and their struggle to cope with it plays very nice at first, however the film then gets into a slow slump. You would think that “Avengers: Endgame” would have it easier. After all there are not hundred superheroes to concentrate on and give every single one of them adequate screen time. So, there is a chance to instead use the allocated time to explore each of the Avengers members individually. This works well for most of time. We get to know what each of them thinks and how their emotional state has been affected by knowledge that they have failed this miserably. Unfortunately, it means bunch of mopey and quasi-teary moments that eventually start dragging film down.

“Avengers”, or what’s left of them need to assemble for one more time

But when things start happening, script really picks up. There are very bold choices that screenwriters make and film suddenly sets off into a completely fresh territory. In a total twist of events, film suddenly forgets its emotional context and gets to be fun and extremely entertaining. Jokes and situational gags make comeback and they land very straight and spot on. But right when you think “Avengers: Endgame” will be fun, film suddenly makes a turn to re-introduce emotional aspects and in a very predictable tone foreshadows what to expect of the ending.

Huge let down for me was Thanos. Despite the first film, Thanos is completely straight character with no backstory, no motivations and no explanation of his actions. Film spends literally zero time on exploring his character, except maybe a short speech. It’s like filmmakers not even tried to bother with him and just say us “yeah, just watch the first film”. And, in contrast to “Infinity War”, Thanos turns into regular bad guy who just wants to slash and cut.

I am not expecting anything smart of the films like “Avengers: Endgame”, but this film left me with a lot of questions. And I am not talking about borderline idioitic scientific/psychological/theoretic implications of actions of heroes, but just pure logic of and acceptance of rules of engagement set by previous films. Without going into spoilers, it just didn’t make sense how some things were deliberately told to us not to be possible, suddenly becoming acceptable just for the sake of the plot progression and resolution.

Directing

We will spend time crying, instead of fighting

“Avengers: Endgame” pushes the envelope of blockbuster films to the limit, just like “The Avengers” did. Eventual battles are big, bold and just insane in intricacy. Maybe not as crazy and elaborate as “Avengers: Infinity War“, but still close to it. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo did a very good job maintaining watchability of the fights, and overall dynamics of the script.

Unfortunately, Russo Brothers tried to make “Avengers: Endgame” an emotional film. It means that for the huge amount of time people either cry or try not to cry or are just depressed. Which eventually turns this film into another “Return of the King”. I understand the idea to keep the viewers invested, but people came to see CGI superheroes fight CGI monsters and get their answers. And I am sure directors would have achieved same amount of emotionality if they would have cut a good 60 minute chunk of the film or shortened some of the scenes.

Editing is another thing that has suffered in “Avengers: Endgame”. Whereas in “Infinity War” it was fairly easy to track what is where and when, this got really sluggish in “Avengers: Endgame”. There are some scenes that happen in parallel, but cuts between the scenes are very lazily done. As such it feels that we spend more time on emotional scenes than fun scenes. And going up and down, up and down gets really annoying soon. Same thing can be said about last battle. I just hated that they show huge ruckus of fight, but when concentrating on single heroes, they suddenly have time to hug, talk, embrace each other, share feelings and hug even more. It’s like all the fights get suspended immediately.

Downey with his best yet performance as Tony Stark

Acting

I would like to specifically mention Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo among the standout performances. Downey, for the first time, feels utterly genuine and completely relatable. There is absolutely no fakeness in his performance. It is really obvious how he goes through every single emotion. Which actually means that he was just faking it all in previous films. Ruffalo again shows his superb acting skills. I am glad that directors once again give him something else to do rather than “Hulk Smash” routine. Among the other performance I did also enjoy Karen Gillan as Nebula, which is given much more to do than her usual self and excels just like in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle“, and somewhat distant acting of Chris Hemsworth.

Summary

“Avengers: Endgame” is superbly made blockbuster that pushes the boundary of what can be done in action film, while maintaining interesting story and answering most of the questions left from previous film. Unfortunately, film spends too much time on tearjerker moments and emotional context that dilutes the effect.

The post Avengers: Endgame appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

Vers has no memories of her past. Instead she gets constant nightmares. They tell her of a weird fight on a distant shores where some alien creature tries to kill her. These dreams, and her inability to shut down her emotions and “think with head instead of heart”, prevents her from becoming ultimate warrior of Kree Empire’s elite Starforce team. Despite this, her mentor Yon-Rogg takes her to next mission. It is a rescue mission involving infiltration of Skrulls, alien race that has been long-time enemies of Kree. But, the mission turns into an ambush. Skrulls capture Vers but she finds an opening and escapes captivity. She crash lands on a planet C-53, with a strange feeling that she has already been to this planet before. And no wonder, because C-53 is actually Earth.

Writing

Let’s just agree that writing in MCU is not the strongest. So, if I would be grading this movie on originality, subtlety, sophistication, common sense, rationale, and character evolution, I would give this film 0 stars. Instead, MCU films (especially, later ones) are famous for witty dialogues, funny one-liners, exciting action sequences and character interactions. And while MCU films like “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Black Panther” excel in this, I can’t say the same for “Captain Marvel”. Vers is written to be serious, with a twist for humor, but that absolutely doesn’t fit her nature. One-

And we will fist-fight! Because it is awesome!

liners and jokes she delivers feel very out-of-character for a person who is struggling to find who she is. Yes, there are some funny moments, but none of them involve the wittiness and playfulness of Vers and are 100% situational and rely on nostalgia (Blockbuster! RadioShack! AltaVista! Pagers! Yay!).

Action sequences have me at a crossroad. Some of them felt redundant (especially, in the first part of the film) and some of them felt that they were included only for the sake of making film more action-oriented and had very little to do with actual plotline (especially, towards the end). Not to spoil anything, Vers learns something about her past (so cliche, by the way) and it all seems to makes sense at first. However, now thinking back, some actions that she and other characters have done before that revelation, now meant absolutely nothing. And character interaction, which mainly consists of Nick Fury saying something and Vers replying with some supposedly funny jibe, gets old very quick.

Worst part? We all know how it ends. There is absolutely no need to watch this film. Not because it is bad or good it offers nothing new that would be so groundbreaking or revolutionary to the plotline. But, you will say, so does “Captain America“, how about it then? Well, the role of Captain America in the Avengers might have been known, but the way the film ended made absolute sense and actually tied up a lot of lose ends. Also, now we have two Captains?

Captain Marvel is here!

Directing

Taking into account that directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck had almost no experience in action films, they both did a very respectable job with “Captain Marvel”. Film’s action sequences are well streamlined and hence, it doesn’t lag behind other MCU films. In fact, it actually is better than some sluggishly paced films like first two “Thor” films. Directors manage to actually thread in some emotional exposition sequences with no sacrifice to overall pace. But despite all, there are some nitpicking moments. Editing is just pure torture. As in all MCU films “Captain Marvel” is not devout of bringing characters with superhuman abilities and/or uber-technological weapons to mere fist-fights and then cuts between shots every three frames. Cinematography is all hindered by constant camera jumps and close-ups of CGI goodness.

Yes, she is wearing Nine Inch Nails t-shirt

Acting

I like Brie Larson. I really do. She is an amazing character actor, with very strong emotional output. And even in “Kong: Skull Island” with heavy action scenes, she managed to deliver sincere performance. However, she just doesn’t fit as Captain Marvel. Or the version of the character that I see on the screen. Yes, she is totally delivering the emotional aspect of the character. She manages to be raw, strong, powerful and emotional. She is a very straight face character. What she fails though when film tries to portray her from comedic and action point of view.

Samuel L. Jackson is a national treasure. He delivers everything in a famous to him manner, but it just never gets old. Casting and actual performance of Ben Mendelsohn was quite surprising. He usually plays ridiculously one-dimensional villains, like in “Ready Player One” or “Dark Knight Rises“. In “Captain Marvel” he finally gets his chance to shine, albeit being behind heavy makeup.

Summary

Despite all the flaws with the writing, film is entertaining and engaging. It turns out to be not as bad as half of MCU films, but it is not better than the other half. It doesn’t bring anything new to overall storyline and because of this, honestly, is absolutely and utterly redundant.

The post Captain Marvel appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

Nels Coxman works as a snowplow driver in Colorado mountain resort town. He is just doing his job, keeping roads open during heavy snow season, says Nels, while humbly accepting Citizen of the Year award. Right at that time, his son Kyle is kidnapped by some shady characters. Next morning police calls Nels to inform him that Kyle has been found dead from heroine overdose. Nels’s life is shattered in a moment. He doesn’t want to believe that Kyle would ever use heroine! Then Kyle’s friend shows up at his shop. He tells Nels that Kyle was actually mistakenly murdered by local dealer “Speedo” who thinks he stole drugs from him. Nels is furious, but one name is enough to set up a man to a path of revenge and destruction.

Not even snow can stop Neeson

Writing

Of course, there is a certain variation to the formula of Neeson’s Revenge. Nels is not a special agent, he is not anyhow proficient in martial arts nor has he acquired skills during his tenure as a snowplow driver that might be useful in killing and tracking people. He is an everyday man (though, honestly, I couldn’t quite make it out how a regular snowplow driver can afford a lavish mountain villa). Nels is broken and aimless when he learns about his son. But what brings him back to life is immense desire to bring justice to people who killed Kyle.

Whereas most of the films would have gone full action, “Cold Pursuit” takes different approach. In what can be considered as best homage to Tarantino and post-Pulp Fiction era crime cinema, film takes us deep into dark humor and irreverence territory. Secondary and tertiary cast is humongous. People talk random stuff, that has very little to do with the plot, other than give an (at times completely redundant) insight into minds of members of crime organization and what not. Script introduces characters, gives them several lines to say or do, just to have them die in a weird and gruesome manner. And though it might seem annoying, this trick actually brings much needed fresh air into the film and, I will have to agree, is extremely fun to watch.

What do you do with the body of dead drug dealer?

Directing

“Cold Pursuit” is a remake of Norwegian film “In Order of Disappearance”. In fact, both films have same director – Hans Petter Moland. He approaches the subject not with action film in mind, but philosophically. And when I say philosophical, I don’t mean “You Were Never Really Here“, but “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths“. Film is full with beautiful landscape shots of snowy mountains and winter sky, complimented with sudden blood splatter of brain and guts. And the more I think of it, more I see comparison of styles of Moland and Martin McDonagh. In fact, towards the ending, “Cold Pursuit” definitely steps into “In Bruges” territory with all the weirdness and chaos.

Problem is – Moland is not McDonagh. Film somewhat loses itself in transition from reality to surrealism. Final confrontation, that was supposed to be grandiose and explosive, feels rushed and kinda incomplete. Not anticlimactic, just incomplete. And while watching it, I constantly was thinking that something is missing.

Enemies meet face to face

Acting

Since this is nth revenge film for Liam Neeson, he brings nothing new to the character. He is still same old man, who despite his calm appearance and demeanor is ready to choke people and knock their brains off using a shotgun. Even in “Widows” he was mostly the same. There is a huge supporting cast, naming all of whom would be pointless, but to name few who stand out despite given limited screen time – Tom Bateman (as drug lord Viking), Domenick Lombardozzi (his bodyguard Mustang), Tom Jackson (White Bull) and William Forsythe (as Wingman).

Summary

“Cold Pursuit” is classic Liam Neeson revenge film with a twist. Dark humor and irreverence of the tone does make it stand out from similar action films and will surely entertain fans of this genre. Others, probably not so much.

The post Cold Pursuit appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

An alien spaceship is pursuing another one through space. A brief ripple of time-space continuum and runaway spaceship gets thrown into vicinity of Earth. It has to crash land. Unfortunately, it crashes in the forest of Mexico, right where U.S. Special Forces are conducting an operation. Army sniper Quinn McKenna is first to discover the spaceship and also what seems to be body armor of alien creature. McKenna knows something is happening as soon as he sees US helicopter flying over. So, he grabs alien’s helmet and runs away. In the meantime, alien creature is captured and brought to secret government facility in U.S.A. So is biologist Casey Bracket who is escorted to facility to help investigate alien creature genome. She is very surprised to find out that this is not the first time aliens made landing, that they are extremely dangerous and kill for sport. And also, they are called Predators.

Writing

Problems with “The Predator” start very early. Not that I did expect extreme sophistication of plot and structure, but there are a lot of issues with writing. There is just not enough room to fit all what has been written on the paper to the screen! Unlike other movies of this genre, “The Predator” boasts a huge amount of supporting cast members. When usually these characters would get bottled in and left to die one by one, there is not enough time to get them all killed. And screenplay doesn’t even offer us a bottle situation. There are good guys, bad guys, semi-good guys, semi-bad guys, neutral guys. All kind of guys. Film dives deep to analyze intricate details between the characters and just gets lost in it.

Aliens do exist

No, I am probably wrong. Screenplay probably had it all clear – the interactions, the logic and all. How one scene ties into another, how one dialogue leads to new information. But since film is just couple minutes shy of two hours I am sure there was a lot of things left on the editing floor. As such film seems very chaotic at times. Characters make some weird choices that we have to take for granted. Literally at one point I was wondering where RV came from (no spoilers). You will see what I am talking about. And I am sure there was a scene or two explaining all that but was just deleted from final picture.

Is it problem of editing though? Was so much cut that screenplay became incoherent and ineffective? I highly doubt that. Because editor did leave several unneeded scenes and jokes. I am more and more sure that this is really screenplay problem. And I want to believe that this film could have been way better if it would have been made into two movies. Or if the screenplay was butchered properly to have less things happening in one single film.

On the other hand, film has characteristic to Shane Black style dialogues and character interactions. When film wants to get funny it does so very well. There are a lot of self-satirical references, running gags, you know, simple stuff that can make film from being a stupid mess to somewhat tolerable B-rated, grindhouse film. I have to admit that film achieves that very well.

Yeap, that is him!

Directing

Problems with editing and script aside, Shane Black does a decent job with directing. This especially shows itself during action sequences, which are adequately made and satisfyingly violent. Packing enough punch to make previous film jealous, “The Predator” delivers a very potent image of alien creature going berserk. Isn’t that all why we came to see “The Predator”? To see ridiculously ugly creature from outer space that enjoys killing other creatures for a sake of it, rip a hole in man’s guts and pull out his spine? We don’t need a proper script for that! We just want gore, guts and gurgling sounds!

As a result, “The Predator” turns into an action film. Unlike the rest of the series which had some kind of balance of action, horror, science fiction and thriller elements, “The Predator” is pure action film. Nothing more and nothing less. Whether you like it or not depends on what you actually expect of it.

When supporting characters are better than main ones

Acting

“The Predator” is one of the rare films that has supporting characters much better than the main one. How weird is that? And yet we have extremely shallow and one-dimensional main characters in face of Boyd Holbrook, who plays sniper Quinn McKenna and completely not interesting Olivia Munn playing biologist Casey Brackett. Oh, and also Sterling K. Brown, who is extremely talented dramatic actor playing extremely uncharacteristic bad guy. Even in mediocre “Hotel Artemis” he had a better role.

Supporting cast on the other hand shines through always fun to watch Thomas Jane, “Game of Thrones” alum Alfie Allen, comic star Keegan-Michael Key, charismatic Trevante Rhodes, talented young actor Jacob Tremblay, and, hell, even full of fight Yvonne Strahovski. Every single on of them are more defined and developed than the main characters. Again, this might be just the same issue of screenplay.

Summary

“The Predator” gives what fans wanted to see – alien creature wrecking havoc. Nothing more, nothing less. Shane Black does very well during action sequences, but anything else drags into incoherent mess, with supporting characters more interesting that main heroes. If you like the kind of movies where you get drunk and just enjoy the spectacle, “The Predator” is definitely for you. You will find it fun and entertaining. Otherwise, it will seem like a freaking train-wreck to you.

The post The Predator appeared first on Kino-AZ.

Story

But it doesn’t start that well for Ethan Hunt. After he receives mysterious package which informs him of his mission (should he choose to accept it) and self-destructs in five seconds, Ethan faces big dilemma. He needs to choose between life of his friend and lives of possibly billions of people. Ethan without much deliberation decides to save his buddy. In result, he now has to live with consequences of this choice which leads to his own government berating him and forcing to fix his mistakes. Now he and his team of IMF operatives and such have to race against the time. They travel to Paris to meet with mysterious arms dealer, White Widow, who might or might not be able to help Ethan with his problem. But it the world of spies, Ethan should remember that nothing is what it seems to be.

Writing

Christopher McQuarrie returns to write and direct “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”. And if you thought that previous installments were getting all “Fast and Furious”, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is “Fast and Furious” on steroids, but without any ridiculousness. I like how Ethan Hunt’s character is more tamed in this film. Yes, he still punches walls and survives all kind of transportation accidents, but all these are not as stupid as it was in previous films. Main selling point of “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is, of course, relentless action sequences. But even without them film is satisfyingly good to watch. There is a coherent script, that seems more fluid than previous films. Screenplay no longer throws Ethan to random exotic locations just for the sake of it, just like in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol“.

Spy games

But there are several things I didn’t like about screenplay. Firstly, the whole film’s premise is built on Ethan’s decision to save his friend instead of saving millions of people. In the world of spies, secret agents and operatives it is so unbelievable and inconceivable that an operative as experienced as Ethan Hunt will choose to save his friend and risk deaths of millions. Film justifies this choice by painting Ethan as humane operative. And making everyone care and like Ethan more. Even his boss understands and commends him for his choice. It was so stupid, it almost ruined the whole movie, because I kept saying to myself “well, this is good BUT it wouldn’t have happened have Ethan made the correct choice”.

Then there is weirdly complex plot. I left theater thinking I understood everything, but when my father (whom I’ve seen this film with) asked me who is White Widow and what exactly she was doing there, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t give him a coherent answer. And for next fifteen minutes of drive home I was trying to remember what happened and who double-crossed whom and who is secret agent and who is bad guy and realized that I literally couldn’t make any sense of the plotline. It’s not that it is overly complicated, vice versa, it seems pretty straightforward but just then doesn’t make much sense.

Hunt (Cruise) hangs for his life

Directing

“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” hides all these shortcomings with over the top action scenes. And what action scenes are these! Beautifully staged, intricately choreographed, generously filmed and elegantly presented. In the era when CGI and green screens dominate the films, it is a miracle to see “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” which uses a lot of practical effects and rely on incredibly complicated stunts. The motorcycle chase through Paris and helicopter ride through Himalayas, I am sure will stay in memories for long time.

Besides crazy stunts, McQuarrie manages to get viewers on the edge of the seat and keep him there from first scene all the way to the end credits. “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” boasts 2.5 hours runtime, but it NEVER bores you. I have to compliment McQuarrie that even in the slower scenes he keeps everyone entertained.

Hunt (Cruise) and Walker (Cavill) trying to find White Widow

Acting

Unlike previous films I actually did enjoy Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. He doesn’t dominate the screen time as before and his portrayal is more down-to-Earth. Yes, he is still same James Bond, macho guy, but he feels like more matured, evolved version of himself. Cruise did his own stunts, as usual, and it only magnifies his performance. Hunt’s team members are Ving Rhames as Luther and Simon Pegg as Benji. Both of them bring nothing new, albeit serving as much needed relief from the Cruise. Rebecca Ferguson reprises her role as MI6 operative. But she looks SO much alike Michelle Monaghan, who returns as Ethan’s wife, Julia, that I honestly confused them several times during the film. Henry Cavill appears as CIA operative August Walker and he makes more believable agent than a Superman. Maybe he should stick to this kind of roles.

Summary

“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is clearly not only the best film of the series, but also one of the best action films since “Mad Max: Fury Road”. It is amazingly well-made action film, that will keep you biting your nails through its long runtime. Intricate stunts that are masterfully filmed and edited are a wonder to watch and manage to mask out ridiculousness and complexity of the plot.

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