Typical diminishing-returns horror sequel which happens to have three of the most racist jump scares of all time in its opening 20 minutes. Bill Nunn and one or two good gore effects can’t save this one.
Reviews tagged ‘homework’ by Luke Fowler Pro
2019
Liked Watched
Mostly great concept, mostly great performances, mostly great visuals, mostly great visceral scares; I wish the overall impression was of the positives adding up instead of the negatives. If it weren’t for a series of phenomenally weird/weirdly phenomenal images toward the end (in a scene most consider to be the film’s biggest misstep, funnily enough), I might have outright disliked this? (Oh, I guess the score’s good. Extra points for the score. The score brings up the score.) More than…
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2015
Totally forgot I'd even reviewed this back in 2019, and it turns out I stand by most of it, except the bit where I say Speed Racer is better than The Matrix Reloaded (and that the latter is a "misfire"), and more importantly, the subsequent bit where I say "Jupiter Ascending doesn’t feel like a movie that only the Wachowskis could have made". It's more generic than their typical directorial output, this is true, but that feels more like a…
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2012
Liked this ever so slightly more than last time (way back in high school), if only because the book wasn’t as fresh in my mind. I could easily write several thousand words on the deep-rooted problems with Cloud Atlas as a movie, as well as the struggle to reconcile those with its myriad, undeniable successes, but I think I’ve solidified my main issue with the adaptation. David Mitchell’s novel is, underneath all its structural knottiness, not all that interested in being…
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2008
Liked Rewatched
Pretty much the exact same reservations as last time, but boy oh boy, when this is good, it’s the best movies have ever been. Downright depressing that nothing else has ever looked or moved like this. Closest reference point is The Cat in the Fucking Hat—depressing, I tell you!
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2003
Liked Rewatched
Man, what the fuck…I was never anti-Reloaded, but nothing could have prepared me for how well this would line up with my current-day tastes. This is a huge movie, a story so sprawling that it makes the original seem walled-off and intimate by comparison—come to think of it, there’s a pertinent metaphor somewhere in there, but I can’t engage Critic Brain with The Matrix Reloaded. It’s too cool for that. It’s Spider-Man 3 with the thematic cohesion of Spider-Man 2. It’s structured like three consecutive TV episodes in the middle of a final season. It’s messy in all the most interesting ways. It’s ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᶦʳˢᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ
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1995
Liked Rewatched
I came around. The one holdover critique from my first watch is that I was once again thoroughly desensitized to female nudity by the end, and I don’t think that was the point [reading this back two years later: maybe it was?], but I can only commend Paul on his stamina in response. Otherwise: perfectly structured, directed/acted to a mesmerizing fever pitch, and frequently insane-looking. This must be heaven on 35mm. Simply too good to be a bad movie.
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