LeoAlexson Reviews

Onward (I) (2020)

Become who you want to be

[8/10 · 21 April 2021]

When I was watching "Onward", I could clearly associate myself with the characters.

This is a story about two brothers who lost their father, and with the help of magic, they have the opportunity to meet with him again, but only for 24 hours.

But to do this, they will have to go through a difficult adventure, during which they must understand that teamwork and support at the very beginning of the path is necessary, and the main thing is that you have the right person who can put you on the right path, let it be not trodden and it may seem that it is not really there, but this support, insurance at the right time will allow you to truly open up and take the right steps.

One of the brothers just turned sixteen, he understands that he wants to change himself and his life. He realizes that the time has come to pull himself together and go out on the street as a new person. As a reminder, he made a list of what he must do today in order for his life to change, but he is hindered by the main enemy inherent in everyone, this is fear. Fear of opening up to new people, fear of looking strange, fear of not being able to be brave like his father.

The other brother always behaves as if he is not afraid of anything and always open to new obstacles. He loves his car and family, because he has a brother, in whom he believes and will never let him lose faith in himself. Living a full life without fear and doubt, he sometimes seems to other people as if he is useless and makes too many mistakes. But to become the person you want to be, you have to make mistakes: small mistakes, big mistakes, huge mistakes. This bitter experience will help you see the right path.

Both brothers need each other to reach the goal of their adventure. However, not only they will get benefit from this journey, on the way they will meet characters who have lost what they had in the past, forgetting in the routine of modern life that they were legends once. After all, why you need to take the right step, run to something after which you will be proud of yourself, if the path that you need to go through seems endless and your legs hurt all the time. So most people just get in the car and drive in circles.

When all the mistakes are made and the path has been passed, you will need to return there from where it all began in order to see everything with new, acquired experience and take the last step, open the door with a key and cross the threshold. The reward that awaits you at the end may only be with you for a couple of seconds or you decide to give it to the one who needs it at this moment, anyway you will never say that all this was in vain.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Thanos and his enemies

[8/10 · 7 May 2018]

At the moment, marvel cinematic universe has 19 movies. Whether you like them or not, they create an important part of modern cinema. These movies bring a huge number of people to cinemas. Some of these movies are incredibly original and creative, some are not. But they all represent a pop culture of the twenty-first century. In the twentieth century, the Avengers were cowboys. An example of real space cowboys are the Guardians of the galaxy. Throughout almost the entire first film, each of the Guardians pursued only personal interests, just like cowboys do in most movies. Or the actions of Spider-Man I associate with Shane from the 1953 movie. Turning to the new film, I want to say that I like Marvel, like their characters, their ability to inspire children. But I also like a good movies and a few of the latest movies of the cinematic universe are disappointed me with a weak script and focusing on visual effects. Infinity War I liked much more. There are a lot of characters in this movie. A lot. Some of them reveal themselves on the new side, they surprise with their abilities. But there is one character, which is more interesting to watch than all the others, his name is Thanos. In each scene where Thanos is present, you can watch his motivation, his rage, his ability to love and kill. From the first minutes viewers are given to understand that this movie will be much darker than all the past, that this movie is not afraid to kill the heroes. Everything that happens in the movie reminds an incredibly expensive theatrical production. The heroes understand that they don't want to die and see the death of those who they love because of the genocide of Thanos. Thanos himself and his hunting for stones resemble Disney and how they buy more and more studios. In conclusion, I just want to quote the dialogue between Thanos and Gamora at the end of the movie.

"Did you do it?" "Yes." "What did it cost?" "Everything."

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Your memories of the past are real?

[9/10 · 5 October 2017]

How iconic was the first "Blade Runner", how many creators it inspired to create new films in the science fiction genre, how many things it predicted, what philosophical thoughts it was conveying. Many fans of the first film expected to see something similar, but Denis Villeneuve introduced us his view of the universe, while retaining the spirit of the first film.

Story. The creators of the film made every effort to keep the story in secret, and this was not done in vain. In order not to reveal the essence of the story, I just want to say that this is a story about how one way or another, everyone considers himself to be special.

Director. Denis Villeneuve also brought us a lot of things that humanity is realizing in the near future. In most of his films Villeneuve touches on the theme of children, in this film he also devoted much time to the theme of parents and children. In fact, as some critics noted, the picture is very similar to Tarkovsky's work, the meditative narrative of the film allows us to reflect on philosophical questions: are all our memories real and is man really a supreme being?

Music and visual effects. Despite the fact that there were two outstanding composers working on the film (Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer), the music in the film is quite small and it is not remembered. Basically, all the compositions are very similar to each other and create an exceptionally tense atmosphere. A small amount of original music in the film partially compensates for the appearance in the film songs by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Unlike music, the film strikes a visual component. The film implements completely new creative design ideas, thanks to which you experience a real visual pleasure.

The Result. In the end, we can say that Villeneuve did not turn "Blade Runner 2049" into another remake movies, the main task of which is to tell the same story with modern shooting technologies to attract a new audience and sell toys. After watching the film i have a strong desire to see it again on the big screen.

9 out of 10

Going in Style (2017)

Zach Braff's third film

[8/10 · 6 April 2017]

Personally, I really like the works of Zach Braff, I fell in love with him in the series "Scrubs", which, thanks to the actor's play of Braff, delighted the fans for many years. Later I became interested in his first feature film "Garden State", which showed an unusual director's style of Braff. Then, after many years, the second film "Wish i Was Here" appeared, in which the matured director shared with the audience his experiences about the upbringing of children and death. Before watching "Going in Style" i found out that the film is a remake of the same picture released in 1979, this prompted me first to see it. Let's move on to the film itself.

Actors Actors on the main roles, Braff took the first magnitude: Morgan Freeman, Michael Kane, Alan Arkin. Each of the actors is already a professional in their field, so they played at their good level: convincingly and vigorously. This film is the sixth joint work of Morgan Freeman and Michael Kane after the trilogy of Christopher Nolan about Batman and the "Now You See Me" dialog. Not a bad role was the young actress Joey King, who played the granddaughter of the character Michael Caine. I think that the actress will have many good and interesting roles in the future. Also pleased with the appearance of Christopher Lloyd, who was remembered by the majority for the role of Dr. Emmett Brown in the trilogy "Back to the Future".

Story As I wrote earlier, before watching this film, I already looked at the version of 1979. When I went to the film, I assumed that I would see the story one by one, only with the eyes of another director. But, as it turned out, the film's writers foresaw this and pleasantly surprised me by changing the plot in key places. Both films, the 1979 film and the Braff movie are based on the work of Edward Cannon.

Cinematography Separately, I would like to note the excellent and beautiful camera-work of Rodney Charters, which positively influenced the film and created for him a memorable style.

The Result Although the film is not based on the original script of Zach Braff, his style is still very clearly traced in the picture. I believe that under the leadership of Braff, the film turned out to be much more energetic and cheerful compared to the previous interpretation of the work of Edward Cannon. Remained pleasantly surprised and pleased of film. I look forward to the next product of Braff.

9 out of 10