It wasn’t terrible, but I was bored. How could you do this to me, Tom Cruise? Trapped in a cinema, a man in my row translated in real time in Arabic for the woman seated next to him. A man behind me sucking on his teeth. The screen in front of me, talking sentences through multiple characters. No tension. No humor. A retcon of the entire series. Bull. The ending reminded me of Jurassic Park, where they needed to turn…
This second time around, the funny bits were funnier, and the tragic bits hit deeper. The lengths people go to follow a dream amidst wading in the shit. It’s a simple dream of owning a car wash, but it’s a realistic, believable, practical one. Al Pacino is too innocent for the world he’s inhabiting, and Gene Hackman needed to find his sense of humor. Too late for both of them, really, but I’d like to think Hackman gets his money, and goes back to Denver. Lion is just too far gone.
If Ridley Scott’s most recent Alien movies were akin to George Lucas’ prequels, this is like a J.J. Abrams continuation. For once I wish these types of franchise movies would be original, instead of digging up old references, and presenting a structurally similar story to the first one. I was never bored, and I love this world of Weyland-Yutani Corp., but like so much contemporary cinema, it just doesn’t go far enough. Tame. Fun, but scared of frightening its audience and leaving them uninformed of every, little detail 😩
Rife with allegorical situations that veer from realistic to surreal. Country, government, oppression, paranoia, prayer and belief in omens — the dead never really die— living through life believing in the propaganda of the victorious men who are said to have died, but really they ran away to shirk their responsibilities.
Breathtaking cinematography that reminded me of On The Silver Globe, but without the futurist, technological aspect. The film creates its own visual language and works through presenting an epic…
