Far too overwrought… never mind overlong. Why do the stakes have to be so ruddy high? Barely feels like a Mission movie until the final biplane hurrah (a finale that is structural copy of Fallout finale).

The first hour is positively fantasy sci-fi; Dr Strangelove without the jokes and twice the exposition.

The next bit is an Abyss riff with nods to 2001… and when I say Abyss, I mean the boring bit when Ed Harris is falling forever falling.…

This is just about kinda fine. (rewatched with mother).

So much of the first half (two thirds?) is just clunky, the story herking and jerking along. Clearly there are production reasons why, but that shouldn’t be the viewer’s concern.

The submarine tease: yeh, like it; the allusions to the Entity are confusing

The sandy desert Isla bit: fine, dont mind it

The government info dump: dont like it, clunky; cross talking stakes waffle (the opposite of the amazing macguffin set…

Sans Zimmer / No Thanks

Gladiator is a faintly risible fairly boring film.

Gladiator 2 is sadly laughable and really boring.

How do you waste Denzel, Mescal AND Pascal? I dunno, ask Ridders, he knows. 

Pascal does best; Denzel, he doesn’t get enough meat/scenery to chew: Mescal, is stolid, but just can’t do solemn committed po-faced Rusty Crowe that this hacky olde worlde part demands. The role is off, and the film is out of time (and a beat for…

A real mixed bag. I wasn’t filled with confidence at the One Day Earlier intro - always smacks of a lack of trust in the audience. But the next wonderfully patient character/history/place set up lured me right in. Coogler’s doing it all right - I’m caring about the characters so it matters when the vampiric shoe drops.

And then dusk of this Dusk till Dawn falls… and it all falls to pieces. Too silly to be scary, with action too…