phileo-88526 Reviews

Time (2021)

Excellent Black comedy

[9/10 · 13 February 2022]

Top notch performances by each of the 3 main characters. I remember watching Lam Suet from his gangster films with Johnnie To at the helm. He was a supporting character in those movies but really expanded his range as a main character in this movie. The other 2 actors I did not follow as much, as their movies were before my time. But that makes this 3 past their prime actors perfect for this kind of movie.

The characters in this movie go through trials and tribulations that make it easy to root for them. The plot twist ending was most appropriate and not too surprising given the camaraderie and bond setup throughout the whole between the 3 main characters - it was all leading up to the final and satisfying conclusion.

Great quality movie, quality acting and worth a re-watch for sure.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

I want a Refund from Patty Jenkins

[2/10 · 1 January 2021]

This hot mess of a dumpster fire that can't be unseen is inferior to the first one in every single way imaginable. In the first one, the was no filler, almost every scene helped to move the plot forward. But in this one, the "fish out of water" scenes played by Steve Trevor were so gratuitous and unoriginal it was like they were begging for a laugh out of me - it did not work.

The opening act, while impressive, was disconnected from the rest of the story and could be completely cut out of the movie and you would not miss anything. I was hoping it was a setup for some big adventure involving WW and the Amazonians, or that it would actually lead somewhere other than a one liner, but I was left disappointed. There was a lot of scenes just being milked for dramatic effect, but not really moving the plot forward - Zack Snyder, was that you?

If you came to this movie expecting a big splash by the Cheetah you will wind up like me - sorely disappointed. I was hoping for better buildup with the Cheetah, and for more to be at stake such that when the inevitable showdown came, then the clash between the two would earned. But none of that came to pass and it was almost forced, the storyline would not even allow me to hate the Cheetah. And what's worse, if you blink, the fight is already over before it even began.

If you came into this movie expecting Wonder Woman to flex her superhero powers, you will wind up like me - sorely disappointed. There are 3, maybe 4 scenes where WW gets freed from the shackles of this movie and showcase her powers. The action set pieces while decent enough to give the movie that extra star, still left me wondering whether it was worth it to suffer through 150 minutes for a few morsels ??? So if this is not an action movie about a superhero, then what kind of movie is this? If they're trying to conjure up a sense of nostalgia for the 80's, then Patty Jenkins should take some notes from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni on how to do a better job at it.

In many scenes, this movie is almost a recycle/rehash of the first movie - "fish out of water" (WW in 1st movie, Trevor in this one), WW charging forward against the bad guys, the obligatory showdown with the big Bad, and how it was not meant to be with Steve Trevor - again. If this movie is trying to be a love story, we got that already the first time, so why bother bringing Trevor back again only to rehash the same trope ..... again?

So this movie half- tried to fool itself into being a superhero action movie, a love story, a nostalgic 80's era story, but wound up with me asking for a refund