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Rick and Morty: Night Family (2022)
Very enjoyable despite forced concept
The concept of this episode is based largely on the recent TV series "Severance".
Except from the fact that it seems a bit far fetched at times because of the incoherence with the universe (Rick could easily gift his family what they'd want without using that kind of technology) and common sense (People can't survive without sleep which is basically a period needed to maintain our brain's health), the idea was well-exploited, I smiled and even burst out laughing a few times. I also like to welcome the fact that the showrunners have chosen to give more importance to Summer this season (cf. The second episode).
Even if the concept is not as powerful as the series' best (By memory : "The Ricks must be crazy", "Total Rickall", "Morty's mind blowers", "The Ricklantis Mixup", "Mort Dinner with Andre"...), it's still a very solid and encouraging episode and I hope R&M will not repeat the overly transgressive and gross humor of the previous season.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Does it come in black ?
Four years later, Zack Snyder's Director's cut Justice League is hitting the small screen. In order to finish his version, Snyder did several reshoots and was privileged with knowledge of the shortcoming of the previous version and the feedbacks from critics and fans. On top of that, he was freeer in term of deadline and film duration. Final result is a movie more in line with previous DC Extended Universe movies and the Director's vision and style. It feels that more respect has been paid to the characters and the original work. A boon for the fans, but the work has its flaws and reveals the director's own shortcomings.
First thing first, the movie is way too lengthy (4 hours !). For finish it, I needed to divide it into two parts. It's cut in several parts, but there is no any cliffhanger among those parts. The viewer may need a little time to adapt to the ratio change from 16:9 to 4:3. Of course, visually, Snyder's version is darker to reflect its content. Soundtrack is of fair quality excepts for the antique songs straight out of "Troy" in every intense scene of Wonder woman which borders on the ridiculous.
The movie starts with a circular travelling which gives us a different viewpoint of a memorable scene from the previous movie, namely the death of Superman. Next, it's followed by a travelling/several wide shots which link the event to future key characters. This powerful opening scene makes us forget the mediocre one with parademons from the Joss Whedon's version. Then, we are introduced (or reintroduced) to all the characters :
- Batman : The founding member of the team. Bruce Wayne looks slimer in the reshoots. Unfortunately, the character lacks a bit of energy and Batman's superdetective aspects are not enough demonstrated even when he is seeking for new recruits. He functions more on money than brain.
- Wonder woman : Among one of the two founding members of the league with Bruce Wayne. She brings her emotional sensitivity along with her warrior skills and is less sexualized in this version.
- Flash : The comic relief of the team. Dumbest scenes and dialogues have been removed and his running motion has been corrected as well. The character brings one of the most beautiful and epic scene of the movie during the battle again Steppenwolf. However, I still don't get the part-time job subplot : Why does someone like Barry Allen has difficulties in finding a steady job ? Does he lack social skills or does he struggle to reconcile career and superhero life ? Obviously, its looks like a choice made so that young adults can relate to him.
- Cyborg : Among the best additions to the movie. Besides having very interesting power, he is source of several emotional scenes and many tragedies surround the character. His father's death may appear a bit illogical though. I think that his character could have brought some more mature and interesting subjects like transhumanism etc. but next time maybe
- Aquaman : Snyder's version adds nothing in particular to the character and we already know the end of his story in the former solo movie. He may appear a bit clueless at times and some of his scenes have lost their fun for the sake of the more solemn tone.
- Martian manhunter : Interesting to see the first live adaptation of this character.
- Steppenwolf : Big improvement in term of character design. They suceeded in making the character more intriguing by showing his vulnerability.
- Darkseid : Looks intimidating enough (Thanks mostly to his hellish headquarter) even though he brings nothing special to the film's landscape. Because of the lack of means and facial motion capture, his face isn't expressive and well-detailed enough.
- Superman : The character lacks a bit of charisma. I have never been really impressed by Henry Cavill's performance even though there were some very beautiful scenes created with his role in "Batman v Superman" and in this movie as well. His ressurection is not enough compelling in comparison to his Jesus-Christ-like-death in the former movie.
- Loïs : Is Amy Adams too aged for this role ? Her grief is more emphasized in this version thus contributes to empower Superman's return.
- Joker : The character brings something special and new to the DCEU, major flaws shown in "Suicide squad" have been erased. However, he pales in comparison with the previous versions of the character. "Injustice" is one of my favourite superhero storylines, it's a pity that I think that we'll have to wait for a while before it could be adapted.
One of the film's major flaw is that the conflicts and links established between the characters are overlooked and they team up far too easily and quickly. Wonder Woman joining the team is more natural because of her former introduction in "Batman v Superman" and Cyborg's integration is pretty convincing as well. But, Flash's recruitment is a bit rushed and Aquaman's choice of entering in the group is totally unexplained. On top of that, the lack of types diversity and real chemistry among the characters gives a result less convincing than DCEU's competitors. The difficult entrance of the team in their first intervention is an example of this weakness. Once again, it can be explained by the DCEU's chaotic agenda management and the lack of time given for the actors to bring depth to their characters and the relationships among them.
In term of action and fight scenes, it turns out to be less impressive than the competitors despite of having more powerful characters. I am thinking mainly of Batman whose fight scenes are far less badass than in "Batman v Superman" because he depends more on his military logistics than in the previous versions. Nevertheless, there's real improvement in comparison to the Whedon's Version. The battle scene of Steppenwolf and his parademon sidekicks versus the amazons is the best. Generally, there's more suspense and intensity in the fight scenes especially the one of the three mother boxes' separation. There's also more gore details showed in some beheading and dismembering scenes. Besides, when Cyborg envisions the brutal deaths of his peers while trying to bring back Superman's life, the film turns into a darker and more apocalyptic tune.
Conclusively, Zack Snyder's Justice League is far superior than the 2017 movie, but still it falls short on several aspects in comparison to some of his previous movies. I must admit that I wasn't as amazed as when I watched some scenes from "Watchmen" or "Batman v Superman". Whatsoever, it's still a good surprise and an entertaining blockbuster, so let's be grateful and savour it during this hard time for cinema industry.
7.5/10
The Mandalorian: Chapter 8: Redemption (2019)
Silly plot
Despite high production value as usual, plot is very stupid. Star Wars was never known for its smart plot or character development, I didn't expect much on these aspects but "enough is enough" :
- One droid killing half of the stormtroopers (they are useless as usuals) in town on its own
- Mandalorian's brotherhood massacred by the same above stormtroopers
- The Mandalorian in love with the droid
- Not finishing Gideon even knowing that his ship didn't explode (professional misconduct)
- Cara and Greef choosing to stay on the planet after having killed several imperial officers
The Mandalorian: Chapter 4: Sanctuary (2019)
Seven samurais rip-off
Weakest episode so far. The main plot of the episode is a short (bad) remake of seven samurais.
Main character's development seems a bit rushed. I am a bit skeptical about the fact that the anti hero changed his mindset and status in the span of 4 episodes going from cold-blood killer bounty hunter to big-hearted knight.
He also makes some very questionable choices : Leaving the most wanted kid of the galaxy in the hands of armless villagers ? Give me a break.
The Gentlemen (2019)
One of the most stylish movie ever but no substance
Guy Ritchie comes back with an umpteenth flick.
It's a Lock stock and two smoking barriers movie with smartphones, YouTube and a scene from Black Mirror... all in full HD and with Matthew Mcconaughey.
Don't expect any moral or characters' developments.
Prepare to watch a gallery of handsome and badass characters spitting badass lines. It's very well-crafted and with precise direction but it lacks memorable scenes.
Music and sound editing are on point (except for some really loud scenes) but it's rather forgettable.
The movie relies a lot on the actors' charisma especially Matthew Mcconaughey and Hugh Grant.
Matthew and all his crew are a mix of gentlemen and gangsters, you won't root for them and they'll get out of situation in no time anyway. Sir Hugh Grant is by far the best and only funny character of the movie thanks to his narration skills, his filmmaking references and his gay jokes to Charlie Hunham.
It's cute but not sexy. It's funny but lacks humor. There's technology but it's not modern.
Snatch is a true classic and came up to the level of Pulp Fuction. The Gentlemen doesn't reach them.
Westworld: The Winter Line (2020)
WWIII meets WWII, R&M and Inception
Visually beautiful as always, they added a new TV set just for this episode.
The plot is quite absorbing even though the sci-fi concepts have already been used similarly in other TV series or movies : WWII resistance spy plot meets Rick & Morty (The Alien simulation episode in 1st season) and Inception (time is relative)
Maeve is at her best. Finally, we can have a demo of her high intelligence and her large set of skills.
The reference to Game of Thrones is a good idea even though I hope it prepares us to something bigger in the future like they did for The Samurai World
Rick and Morty: The Old Man and the Seat (2019)
Worst episode so far all seasons included
First time I'm really disappointed of this TV serie.
First thing that bothers me is the characters' psychology. To sum up, there's a mother and daughter fight who comes out of nowhere, people fall in love, then breakup or divorce in the space of a few seconds.
Second thing is the plot. Rick's storyline is gross (sorry for people who were eating while watching) and also has a lot of incoherences : Why would Rick need to travel so far to find a quiet place ? Why didn't he secure the seat in the first place to prevent intrusions ?
The dating app and the aliens master plan are totally WTF and the Morty/Jerry and Summer/Beth duos bring nothing except the fact that now Morty & Summer disrespect their parents. Just like the previous episode, there's a ton of gadgets, aliens, robots and stuff but it doesn't compensate for the weakness of the concepts.
Joker (2019)
Overrated
The plot is really simple. All is centered around the main character who suffers from a medical condition and is in pain, never finds hope and then tipps into folly.
The structure of the movie resemble of the Hangover of the same Phillips : In both movies, characters are mired in their issues throughout the entire movie until the last minutes, and then there's a final climax.
If both movies share similarities, it also share some weaknesses which are the lack of plot and character development. There's not a real scenario, there's just a chain of events, lot of things are revealed and it gets crazier and crazier.
One thing that bother me is the unrealistic depiction of the wealthy characters : Traders and millionaires physically bullying people in the train or in public toilets... Yeah.
Aside from the bad writing, all the cast is really convincing. Phoenix truly stepped up for the role, has a large panel of emotions and is always convincing.
There's a bit of Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker when he has this warm amazed look on his face.
A main problem of the movie is that it makes viewers empathize with the character but his actions doesn't speak in his favour.
In fact, there's an escalation of gratuity in his murders that announce his quick descent into darkness :
At first, he kills three traders for physically attacking him. It can be characterized as disproportionated self-defense.
Second, he kills his adoptive mother because she lied to him since his childhood.
Third, he kills his colleague who lied and betrayed him to protect his job.
Fourth, he kills Franklin (the second parental figure he kills directly or indirectly, the third one being Thomas Wayne) because he made fun of him.
Finally, he kills the Arkham therapist for no apparent reason.
Talking about future, I can't see this Joker exists outside of a standalone movie. He doesn't have the abilities to become the criminal mastermind who will battle Batman.
Some few good points :
First one is cinematography. It's fair to say that it's the most realistic depiction of Gotham to date : colored people, callgirls, trash everywhere etc.
Second, music is OK. There's some notes that are clearly taken from the Nolan's Batman but it's rather a nice tribute.
Community: Cooperative Polygraphy (2014)
Pierce of genius
I got shocked badly in the previous episode when they announced Pierce's death since he was one of my favorite characters.
How sad it was for me seeing him removed from the open credit.
Even being absent, his character still made me laugh, especially the part with the sperms cylinders, bref, it is pure comedy gold with Jeff in.
A great episode even it is only people talking around a table. Which shows that you can be entertaining only by well-written dialogues.
The Boys: The Name of the Game (2019)
The boys aren't alright
The first scene sets the tone. We quickly see two young teenagers debate and swear about their favorite superheroes. Honestly, I was expecting a serie for a larger audience but it's clearly adult material because of the graphic violence, gore and sex scenes.
The pitch of the TV series (adapted from a comic book) mixing superhero and showbiz world is a very original idea. It's clearly condemning the class inequality and the showbiz world excesses. To present superheroes as corrupted divas is clearly a change for the genre. From what I have seen, there's a clearly a bias and we can consider this show as a pamphlet. It's well illustrated and the orgy scene in the private club is quite amazing.
The second strong point of the show is its visual effects. The first scene is a jaw-dropping pursuit scene, with a symbolic sequence among dollar bills. It's blockbuster level so it couldn't be expected to be frequent. The action scenes are also quite convincing, the final fight against Translucent was even creative.
But, there is a weak point which is the characters' personality. Aside from Starlight (Erin Moriarty) which is interesting because she looks real and has a feminine duality, strong and fragile at the same time, the other characters are rather bland, Hughie (Jack Quaid) in particular despite he is a tortured soul. Karl Urban who plays a pseudo-Morpheus (nice reference to Matrix though) struggles to stand out of the sort, but anyhow he provokes our curiosity of knowing his past. Finally, the superheroes are too much one dimensional for the moment and demonized, particularly in the final sequence.
As a conclusion, this pilot has some tedious moments but we can't be indifferent to all the concepts and visual effects. This show clearly has potential and could be fantastic if the characters are better developed.
Lucifer: Devil Is as Devil Does (2019)
The ending gave me chills
After what happened at the end of the previous episode (the beatdown of Julian by badass Lucifer), I was going to be disappointed by the the sudden step back just before the end of the episode. I thought that badass Lucifer was going to last two episodes then came the ending.
Unfortunately, I guessed the ending a few seconds before it occured because of the promotional pictures, but it still gave me goosebumps mainly because of father Kinley's prophecy and Chloé's reaction.
The little downside of the episode was Dan's stupid decision to go looking for Julian's father and in general, his hate toward Lucifer throughout the season is a bit over the top and not well-explained. finally, his relationship with Ella was truly unexpected, I don't know why they had to add this relationship and now, I fear that something may happen to one of them because they are among my favorite characters.
Will there be a major death among Lucifer's friends that will make him a true monster ? I have chills only by thinking of it...
Lucifer: O, Ye of Little Faith, Father (2019)
Quality upgrade this start of season
Fuuu, this episode and the previous one were amazing. The show has taken a more serious and darker turn.
Since Chloé has seen Lucifer's face, everything will not be the same and all the emotional scenes involving the two of them in this episode and the previous one were kind of sad and creepy at the same time.
Honestly, I am a bit shocked by the sudden escalation on violence : the interrogation scene with the rope, the fight scene with Maze and Dan, the death scene with the chair... I hope that there won't be too much gratuitous cruelty and gore in the future, the show doesn't need this.
Tom Ellis has gained a lot for the season, I personally will miss the less brutal/sweeter version of Lucifer and all his jokes as well, but I like that the serie is becoming more mature and dares to make Lucifer looks more evil and less like a romcom or sitcom character (one of the downsides of the second part of season 3).
Even thou I found the plot of father Kinley a bit far-fetched, it was necessary to show his ruthlessness. The mirror scene gave me goosebumps, I found it a bit sick (in The Exorcist way), this new season's villain has great potential and I hope that he will be more coherent than the previous one.
Thanks Netflix for buying the show and for bringing it to an upper level
8.5/10
Lucifer: Off the Record (2017)
The darkest episode so far
This is the first review that I write for this show.
This episode doesn't advance the general plot but has some special moments.
First of all, because of the guest stars : Patrick Fabian from Better Call Saul and John Billingsley that I know from "The Man from Earth".
It's a very smart choice of actors, the roles they play are also well-developped and Patrick Fabian adds a lot of depth in the show.
Secondly, there are two scenes that truly add something to the serie : The first one is visual and it's the face reveal of Lucifer.
Visual effect team made a real improvement, I found the former version of his face less convincing, but this time I was truly scared and amazed by the result and it was efficiently presented.
The second one is more conceptual, and it's when Lucifer explains the nature of hell. The serie dares a lot to dig on some concepts, that has always been one of the strong point of the serie but this time it has a more philosophical meaning than usual.
Finally, the twists are particularly amazing, the first one being the character played by Patrick Fabian being the husband of Linda,
The second one being the very dark ending that reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror
There are still a lot of funny moments but I was surprised because of the far more darker tone of the episode compared to the others until now.
This episode proves that Lucifer can create very good "standalone" episodes. I hope that they continue with this constant quality.
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Enjoyable
First thing to say, the movie is a feast for the eyes. I am talking about the colors, film sets and costumes. The CGI are also great. The beast is well-designed and the living objects look photorealistic.
The story remains quite simple and manichean (but what do you expect from a fairy tale ?). More or less, it's about the battle of knowledge against ignorance and open-mindedness against discrimination.
Emma Watson is ok. Apart from the beast, the other characters are quite caricatured therefore not very appealing.
The end of the movie is among the best moments because it surprises us with the cast.
I won't compare this movie to the other versions because I have not seen them but overall, it was rather enjoyable.
The Lion King (2019)
Bad artistic choice and lure of profit ?
It is now obvious that The Lion King story doesn't suit the Live Action movie format.
Because of its realism, the movie loses the expressivity, fantasy and humor of the original one. The songs have been shorten and some dialogues have been rewritten, only not for the better.
At least, the movie could have been smarter. It is in certain points, some incoherences have been fixed but not all, but in general the ideas lack of developments.
Jon Favreau may not have been the better choice because he is not really good at filming landscapes (I already saw it in The Jungle Book). James Cameron (Avatar) and Ang Lee (Life of Pi) would have done a better job.
I had shed a tear or two in some key scenes, but it was very modestly made.
Doubtlessly, this movie has been made only for money's sake.
Power Rangers (2017)
Powerfully dull
First, the characters are at least bland (Dacre Montgomery and Naomi Scott) and at worst annoying (RJ Cyler and Ludi Lin).
Elizabeth Banks who plays the villain does ham acting and looks ridiculous. She also has her share of cheesy lines and makes some very questionable choices.
Bryan Cranston is reduced as an pixel heap on a screen and came only for the paycheck I guess.
Don't expect some good characters developments, after all it's the director of Project X. Concerning direction, a lot of scenes are filmed too close to the actors.
We have to wait until lhe last fourth of the movie to finally see the heroes wearing their armours. Until then, it's quite boring. I laughed at one scene at the end of the final battle (which reminds me of Pokemon the series), then it's followed by a cringeworthy sequence which is meant to be cool, but fails I guess.
Verdict : 4/10
(Sorry for my bad english, I am french)
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
The best Spider-man movie and the best marvel movie so far
(Review for people who had watched the movie)
Buy your tickets, and prepare to fly throughout Europe with Peter and his friends. Don't be afraid of turbulences because travel will not be a easy ride.
First let's talk about the first strong point of the movie which is its plot.
Some would laugh again about the unluck of Peter who always manages to be at the place where the villain appears but what do you expect from a superhero movie ?
Of course, the twist about the true identity of the villain is a bit obvious and an open secret for fans of Spider-man, but there are also three other ones at the end of the movie which had surprised me a lot.
Throughout the movie, there are a lot of things which are references to new technology : The use of drones as a military end, the use of virtual reality and the google glasses are really smart choices.
But the real thing about the plot is its abundance of references. Of course, there are plenty of references to the Marvel EU, the first being about the events which occured at the end of Infinity War. In fact, I was hoping to see some footages of the effect of "the snap" among the civilians in Avengers : Endgame and I didn't expect them to be in this movie, so it's a pleasant surprise. I also like the references to the other characters of the MEU (other than Iron man) : Thor, Captain America and Dr Strange because they are well presented and relevant. Because of the geeky characters, there are also a lot of references to pop culture, the recurring one in the new Spider-man franchise being references to the Star Wars universe. The sequence with the infinite mirrors is also a reference to one of the last Star wars movie in my opinion.
But the best among all of them is the recast of JK Simmons as Jonah Jameson. I can hardly wait to see him again in the next movie. Maybe there will be also a cameo of Tobey Maguire and/or Andrew Garfield in the future, it would be extraordinary.
The final twist is a great reference to the end of Iron man (first marvel movie).
The scenario focus a lot on the inner conflicts of Peter Parker who has to struggle about his identites as a teenager and a superhero, in particularly as the successor of Iron man.
The romances scenes are also great thanks to the cast, which bring me to the second strong point of the movie, that is its actors.
Tom Holland has to play more dramatic scenes because of the context and manages it marvellously. He acts with ease the inner conflicts of Spider-man who struggles to reconcile his superhero life and his personal life. In my opinion, this theme is nearly as well-exploited as in Spider-man 2. The death of the fatherly figure in the person of Tony Stark (replacing the Uncle Ben character) is also well depicted.
Zendaya plays a nerdy version of MJ, and it's very refreshing. She and Tom Holland have great chemistry.
As always, Samuel Jackson is very badass as Nick Fury, has a lot of screen time and funny moments especially at his first apperance.
Jacob Batalon plays a very funny sidekick and his relationship with Betty is a cool depiction of teenage romance. I'd like to salute the general effort to show heterodox interracial relationships on screen, and bringing to light Asian male characters as romance interests is a real progress in the entertainment industry.
Finally, Jake Gylenhaal plays a very persuasive and memorable villain. He suceeds to look too cool to be true in the first half of the movie, being like a big brother to Peter, then he plays a very cold villain in the second half. His two costumes are well designed as his drones. The last two Spider-man movies really suceed in creating great villains. The vulture and Mysterio are the best villains in all the Spider-man movies alongside Doctor Octopus from Spider-man 2.
Finally, the action scenes are breathtaking. Of course, as a real fan of virtual reaIity as a science-fiction concept, I particularly love all the illusion sequences which are really fantastic and psychedelic.
The movie is full of pyrotechnic effects, the swinging sequences are also verry convicing. The army of drones at the end of the movie is really impressive and the last acrobatic sequence of Spider-man among them is a real joy to watch.
As a conclusion, it's a great finish for the third phase and the first cycle of the Marvel extended universe.
VERDICT : 8.5/10
Aladdin (2019)
Magical and better than the orginal
I didn't go with great expectations to watch this movie because of the average-good ratings but I have been, hooked and amazed from the first scene to the last.
First I salute Guy Ritchie's directing. He made a great job for directing all the actions/VFX scenes, making the camera flit around like a margic carpet. The romantic and emotional scenes were well-directed too.
The first strong point of the movie is its great visuals thanks to the budget and artistic choices : The film sets and costumes were great and the CGI were amazing. All the scenes with the genius were truly fantastic especially in his first appearance scene (I particularly like a sequence where he breaks the fourth wall like it has never been done before).
The second strong point is the musical performances. Most of the songs are remake of the original ones but singers are great (even in the French version) and the orchestral parts are great. There are maybe six or seven musical scenes, efficiently presented and not invading at all.
The third strong point is the actors : Mena Massoud was OK, but I particularly love Naomi Scott who was stunning and truly revealed by this role.
Will Smith is also perfect as a genius, playing a great side kick, wingman and friend for Aladdin (he looks very young for a guy at 50). I think that's his best role since "The Pursuit of Happiness" and he could use his singing/dancing skills for the role. On the other hand, Jaffar looked less evil than the original one and does not even has his own song, but maybe it was to make him more serious.
Finally, the dialogues are quick-witted like in most of Guy Ritchies' movies, and funny especially in the romantic scenes. The film also had themes of high drama like impossible love or the restrictions of patriarchal societies.
Aladdin won't be remembered as movie of profound and philosophical meaning reflection, but it is great entertainement that I would like to advise you to look in a theater because of the visuals and sounds (music and souns). For me, it's the best blockbuster of the year up to now, even better than Avengers : Endgame and it is a big surprise.
I rate it 8/10 (modified)
Love, Death & Robots: The Secret War (2019)
Action-centered as usual but still epic
It's not a very original episode. It's a mix between Wolfeinstein for the inclusion of Demons in WW history and one of the last episode of Season 7 of Game of Thrones.
The visual style is the same as « Beyond The Aquila Rift » and « Lucky 13 ».
It's one of the most breathtaking piece of bravery of the all season.
Kôdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurûshu: Chizome no euphie (2007)
Code Geass' Red Wedding
That was a truly shocking, powerful and tragic episode.
The ways things escalated quickly at the end reminded me of Game of Thrones' Rain of Castamere.
Best episode I have seen so far.