Pest0lini Reviews

Argylle (2024)

Matthew Vaughn could have done so much better

[6/10 · 3 February 2024]

Pros :

• Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell have a really good chemistry
• the soundtrack is decent good
• the first half action sequences are really fun and creative
• most of the humor doesn't feel forced, some gag are really funny
• the pacing was good, nothing feels too streched or too short
• Henry Cavill is charisma
• Dua Lipa is good for her part

Cons :

• really ugly vfx, far worse that Vaughn's previous films, the last two actions sequences have a resident evil franchise feeling, and it is not good and far from kingsman standard
• the supporting cast ( especially Jackson ) are not invested at all, feels like a glorified 1-day shooting cameo
• the plot loses itself in the second half, and tries to be absurd and smart to the point it becames just annoying
• the feeling that I watched a kingsman-lite without the charm of it or at the stylised violence of it.

• the multiples twists are sometimes good, sometimes predictable but still good, but most of the times just silly and with the impression that Vaughn tries to be more "in your face"

overall : it's not a horrible film that is an insult to the spy genre, you could have fun watching it, and i hope you do, but it's a far cry from what Matthew Vaughn can do as a filmmaker.

Last Journey of Paul W.R. (2020)

Brillant

[10/10 · 19 May 2021]

As a french person, this film will be special for me because it was the first movie i saw in theaters since the pandemic. I did not saw the short film which inspired the movie but i saw plenty of science fiction films and blade runner, which was a huge influence on this film.

Hugo Becker plays a stoic but endaring protagonist to perfection and his alchemy with Lya Oussadit-Lessert is one of the strong points of the movie, Jean Reno, with his sole presence, adds a lot of gravitas and drama, Paul Hamy is mesmerizing and Philippe Katerine complete this cast with his touch of comedy he master so well.

The visual effects are outstanding for an independant film. The cinematography and directing were one of the best directings I saw in a french movie in a long time with beautiful crafted shots, The screenplay is simple but very philosophical and allows the spectator to enter this world with ease, the production design is on point and the music, very reminscent of Blade Runner 2049, is a treat.

Bref, si des francophones passent par ici, allez voir ce film, c'est la preuve cinématographique de ce que la France fait de mieux en termes de science-fiction.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The most amitious comic book movie but not the best ( by little )

[8/10 · 30 April 2018]

When I saw Iron Man for the first time in theaters , I was a kid who just discover Comic books and I would never thought , 10 years later , a movie like Infinity War were going to happen . This movie is like a combination of Comic book fan dreams : The crossover and the multiples interactions between characters , The gigantic battles , the surprise and the vilain ( Josh Brolin is clearly MVP here ) but if you are a bit of a cinephile , you might be disturbed by the direction who are not very great if not terrible , or some lazy writing or some characters development . Even with these problems , Infinity war didn't disappoint and is by far one of the best MCU movies