OnZa Reviews

Only God Forgives (2013)

The plot is not really there

[6/10 · 16 June 2013]

"Only God Forgives" is a dark, serious and ultra-violent movie. It weighs in on Asian symbolism, spiritualism and response to revenge or own hand rights. It flows more like a music video than actual movie (even though it does not have fast cuts). That description also fits "Drive" but whereas that movie gained critical acclaim, this one has had way more split response and it's easy to see why.

Considering that even with star Ryan Gosling, "Only God Forgives" is to be considered a sub-genre movie and indie release, I can predict many people go to see it because of the previous (director & lead star) collaboration "Drive". I, like many others marching into movie theater to see it, had high hopes after Drive. I jokingly said that this is "Drive II". Well, it's not.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn has leaned towards heavy symbolism here, and unfortunately at the cost of plot where one considers how movies should have even a some kind of structure and character development. I had the impression after the movie that tackling the symbolism the writer/director probably thought he had invested more to his characters than he actually has. Gosling is the less spoken man like in the predecessor Drive, but without any likability. The "heroism" of the Drive main character could have been argued on but in this case there are no heroes or good guys in the movie. Just a self made perception of each religious or other view.

Some reviews said that the movie is style of substance but again (sorry) I need to reference to Drive and question even the style. It had couple of really nice shots and scenes with unique atmoshpere but I found it lacked the coolness. Also the stylisticity (is it a word?) of some the gore scenes only show of a bad taste. In my opinion you're either full on splatter or you're on the other end of the scale, not something in between.

This type of story would have been more powerful with some kind of invested emotion. I did not feel about anything when watching this movie. That is what separates if from it's predecessor and also other great movies. Now it's barely good.

I am afraid Nicolas Winding Refn have taken a step back here, although I am also pretty sure he does not entertain a thought of mainstream acclaim -that much we've seen from the previous movies. I hope he takes a sidestep for his next movie, and tries something different because he really is talented and an INDIVIDUAL director.

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Not quite there yet

[6/10 · 20 April 2013]

Oblivion is a beautifully shot movie. That all can be seen in the trailer already. The overall story is quite good also, and acting is satisfactory. This is mainly a Tom Cruise solo movie and the character feels like it's TOM CRUISE all the way. I did not feel at any point that this person was actually Jack Harper. That is the same problem with Tom Cruise and Will Smith lately.

Acting obviously is a big part of a movie (especially one with as scarce amount of personnel as this one) but all other aspects are equally as important. Like said there are many good pieces here but they are not connecting perfectly and well-thought out story has gaps in it's little nuances. Also, many plot turns are sourced from classic scifi movies with some variation.

It's not really easy describing the story of the movie without spoiling anything so I wont do it. People will be better of reading the general description and just go and view the movie themselves. In regards of similar content to this film I think "The Moon" by Duncan Jones was overall success. Still, this was not a bad movie by any means, but it was unfortunately not a memorable or great one either. Having said what I said about Cruise, he does his best and I am not sure if a less unknown star would have done any better in the role.

Django Unchained (2012)

He is back

[10/10 · 18 January 2013]

10 out of 10. Yes it is that good. At least after a first watch-through. Some people would argue that Tarantino had gone wrong with his last outing "Inglourious Basterds". But whether one liked that film or not, it does not matter, as the most important thing was that Tarantino found Christoph Waltz. Mr Waltz succeeds extraordinarily in Django Unchained too, and some would say he steals most of the scenes he is in. In addition to fine performance by this fine actor, we are served to solid performances by Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio too. Jamie's role is on parts a bit laid back and "cool" but we can sense his focus in his eyes. Leo obviously enjoys working with Tarantino and like many actors, really overplays (in a good way) when he gets into the role and spits out the well written dialog from QT. Directing is as good Tarantino as we've ever had, I'd probably most compare this to Kill Bill vol 2. There is blood but it is cartoonish and actually the most violent parts of the movie are couple of scenes portraying more emotional violence. Tarantino obviously pays great homepage to spaghetti westerns of yesterday and we are even treated to a score by Ennio Morricone. I wouldn't mind a sequel of sorts. Bloody well done!