Watched in the cinema (149th visit in 2024)
It seems as if the success of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" in 2018 has encouraged the big Hollywood animation studios to leave the perfect recreation of reality to one side for a while and instead go all out artistically again. The makers behind "The Wild Robot" are also following this trend in their adaptation of Peter Brown's three-part children's book series, with the backgrounds in particular being inspired by Impressionism. As the…
Watched on Blu-Ray (Extended Cut)
The conclusion of this grandiose journey through a fictional world, some of which seems more real than ours at the comparable time period, begins with a flashback depicting the first encounter between the Ring and Gollum (Andy Serkis). In the present, King Théoden (Bernard Hill) has won the battle at Helm's Deep through the intervention of Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the Rohirrim and is bracing himself for Sauron's next strategic moves. For Sauron, though weakened,…
Watched on Blu-Ray (Extended Cut)
In the battle with the Balrog, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) was dragged into the infinite depths of Khazad-Dûm, Boromir (Sean Bean) died trying to protect two hobbits from a horde of orcs, but they were kidnapped anyway. The heir to the throne of Gondor Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the pointy-eared elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and the fierce dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) took up pursuit of the two kidnapped hobbits, Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan). Meanwhile,…
Watched on Blu-Ray (Extended Cut)
The dark ruler Sauron of Mordor once forged a ring with the power of which he threatened to subjugate all of Middle-earth. In the Battle of Dagorlad, at the foot of Mount Doom, Isildur chopped off the dark ruler's finger and the ring. The ring was lost, however, and fell into the hands of the unassuming hobbit Bilbo (Ian Holm) via some detours. He kept his "precious" safe for 60 years. At the age of…
Watched on DVD
Before in 2018's "Widows" by Steve McQueen 4 mismatched women (Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki) attempted a heist, back in 1996 their female colleagues Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise hatched a plan to rob a bank in "Set It Off", directed by F. Gary Gray.
Similarly frustrating experiences underlie their rampage. A bank robbery has taken place in the neighborhood, and Frankie (Vivica A. Fox), a bank employee,…
Watched on Disney +
Given the sheer number of Marvel comic book films since "Iron Man", if you wanted to keep track of which characters appeared where, it would probably fill half an encyclopaedia. Fortunately, for the third near-solo appearance for the hammer-wielding god of thunder in "Thor: Ragnarok", director Taika Waititi realised that the story should work even without detailed prior knowledge. That he also decided to tell an action-comedy is the biggest stroke of luck of all.
However,…
Watched in the cinema (56th visit in 2021)
You have to hand it to Marvel: It is very impressive the talent they have been able to attract for their own Cinematic Universe. This does not only apply to the numerous stars in front of the camera who turn the films into events. There are also well-known filmmakers behind the camera. Among them are also those whom one would not associate with comic adaptations at first glance, be it horror expert…
Watched on Blu-Ray
As is the case when someone is successful: Others quickly find themselves wanting to profit from this success. This was also the case when Street Fighter II first became a phenomenon in the arcades in the early 1990s and then conquered the living rooms of the world as a video game adaptation. Many a company tried its hand at competing at the time. While most of them went down without a sound, Mortal Kombat managed to build…
Shocktober 2020 # 27
Watched on Netflix
Rarely does a director in the production of a renowned studio like 20th Century Fox give his mad creative will such free rein as Gore Verbinski in "A Cure for Wellness".
With the story of Lockhart, a young and ambitious Wall Street broker who is sent by his superiors to a wellness centre in the Swiss Alps to bring a missing CEO of the financial company back to New York, Verbinski unleashes a…
Watched in the cinema
That was definitely one of the most nerve-racking cinema experiences of my life. While the movie was running, there were obviously massive server problems, which led to numerous image stutters and interruptions of the IMAX projection. In total, there were perhaps 20-30 interruptions, which caused many viewers to leave the auditorium frustrated at some point, and also caused everyone to fear that the next epic moment would be destroyed by a picture failure. While, as I…
Watched on Blu-Ray
One thing is clear: when the DC staff who were responsible for Justice League saw this film, something must have broken deep inside of them.
When a series of 18 films within 10 years reaches the ultimate climax with the 19th film and with such a high entertainment value, I, as a film enthusiast, can only pull my hat off.
The greatest achievement of the Russo brothers is to have so many superheroes perform in about 2.5…
Watched on Blu-Ray
One of the few Marvel films I did not see in the cinema back then. I saw it after home release. But I had forgotten a lot. So a second sighting in preparation for part 2 was needed.
Overall a typical origin story. Solid entertainment with some very good gags and a few less good ones. The movie is full of good actors who are obviously having fun, but are completely under-challenged. Paul Rudd is a sympathetic…