joseph_the_broseph Reviews

Dunkirk (2017)

The overall theme contradicts most of the bad character

[9/10 · 12 January 2019]

Dunkirk is a very polarizing film. It is littered with amazing visuals, outstanding acting, and sound effects and music that have absolutely no right to be as good as they are. But as a film, the story and characters could use a lot of work. But Dunkirk is more than just a film, it is a war film. The lack of character development reflects the fact that Dunkirk is not about characters influencing an event, it is simply about the event. The characters must survive the events that play out, yes, but they aren't developed and we barely know their names. Nevertheless, Dunkirk is terrific at portraying the view of the British Army's side of those events, from the point of view of the civilians rescuing the British soldiers from France, the pilots high in the sky trying to help those trapped on the beach, or the people on land who will do anything to survive. The timeline is warped, and it creates a lack of story continuity. We, as the audience, simply watch events play out until the climax (the oil scene). But even without compelling characters or an overall story flow, Dunkirk is a thrilling and intense ride all the way through, and it deserves a watch.

Special Effects: The planes and boats were real, as was the environment they flew around in. The sound was amazing, and it not only immersed you in the film, but it also created a feel to the film that nothing else has come close to. 19/20

Story: The story is inconsistent and often overlaps from different perspectives, but the urgency of it is clear: The British troops must escape France before "the enemy" finds them. 16/20

Characters: The characters are nearly nonexistent. There is barely any dialogue, (and that does serve a plot point) but the movie is more focused on the event; the history; then it is on the characters. 16/20

Soundtrack: This film's soundtrack is golden. Tense, yet beautiful at times, it displays how music is done right. 20/20

Acting: The acting is also amazing. Cillian Murphy as the "Shivering Soldier" was the best actor in the film, because even though he had almost no dialogue, he did amazing. Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy were fantastic as well. 19/20

Overall rating: 90%

2036 Origin Unknown (2018)

They actually tried

[3/10 · 6 October 2018]

So this movie clearly has a low budget. No doubt about that. There is only one main character, (Mack), and her motivation is that she wants to find out what caused the Martian One to crash, killing her father. She is helped by a robot named ARTI. Mack's opinion about AI changes very abruptly at the beginning, but the movie was maybe a 6 or even a 7 outta 10 for the first half. But the second half is where it loses all sense. The story just goes kinda crazy. Overall, I appreciate the fact that they did the best with what they had.

Special Effects: They overused a strange kaleidoscope effect during the first and last to try and glorify the fact that they had special effects, but it was kind of annoying. 10/20

Story: Good but slow at first, and then they lost any interesting material as the second half plummeted downwards. 11/20

Characters: One of the problems with this movie was that the characters (if you count the robot as a character) didn't have much development. Like I said, Mack changes her opinion of ARTI pretty fast at the beginning, and the character's reactions to the dialogue was sort of weird as well. 12/20

Acting: Mediocre, the main actress was trying. But sometimes she laughed and smiled at things that weren't funny, and it was kind of strange. I'm glad they didn't shove it in the audience's face that the main character was female. 11/20

Soundtrack: Bland, probably from a stock website or something, but if they made it themselves, kudos. 12/20

Overall Rating: 56%

Let me just add that this should be in film school.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020)

Pretty darn good for a "kid's show"

[29 August 2018]

Before I start, let me clarify: I am not a six-year old writing this based on watching seven episodes from Season 1. This is my favorite show and I have memorized every episode. So, let's get started! This show is simple- it is, to put it in concise terms, a series of events happening between episodes 2 and 3 of the prequels. This show shows the progression of how the writers and animators weren't afraid to try new things after a while. Season 1 of this show is sort of dull. As I said, the creators weren't very brave at this point, and didn't really know what crossed the line. Soon, of course, they found out: THERE IS NO LINE. There are a few good episodes in the season, getting better as it comes to a close. But overall, it was just flashy lights and big noises- your typical kid's show. Season 2 is where they started accelerating, in terms of creativity. They made their first four-episode story arc, and made some pretty darn good standalones. "Cat and Mouse" was a particular favorite of mine. Season 3 is where they really started putting some good stuff into the show. There was a lot more commentary, and the show got pretty intellectual and actually got older audiences thinking. The last few episodes of the season are where they really show their transition. The animators changed their style, and a lot of things changed, but I loved the change in the Jedi's clothing style and the beginning of this new, smarter, creative show that the people behind this masterpiece had just started. Season 4 is where it gets great. What surprised me was the amount of violence. Clone Wars was no longer a show for seven year olds. Now it was a show for twelve and thirteen year olds, and for the parents watching too. They came up with some great stories, including "Obi-Wan goes undercover," "Water Wars", "General Krell," and of course, the revival of Darth frickin' Maul. That's right. They bring back Darth Maul. Anyway, Season 5 was all four-part arcs. (On the DVD version, Revival is right before Shades of Reason.) These were very interesting stories. The first arc, for example, is a strange meld of the American Revolution and the Vietnam War, as Jedi go to train people on another planet, who are looking to overthrow their tyrant ruler, King Rash. Sometimes, the arcs get too lighthearted (Like the one with R2-D2 and the frog colonel) but overall it was a good season, with an astonishingly beautiful, sad, and open ending. Season 6 is where they just went nuts. Clone Wars was not on TV anymore, so they could do whatever they wanted. And the episodes in Season 6 went from Fives investigating something in the genetic code of the clones, to Anakin and Obi-Wan looking for clues as to the mysterious death of Sifo-Dyas. Great season. Anyway,

Animation: Sort of lazy and generic at the start, but it sure got better. 18/20

Plots: Started off bland, but got interesting very fast. 19/20

Characters: Fleshed out over time, they were actually given real development. 19/20

Soundtracks: At first, they were all very similar, and then they made themes, and started using an orchestra and made some music very satisfying for the ears. 18/20

Voice Acting: Good. 17/20

Overall rating: 91%