mnikolmartin Reviews

After Everything (2023)

Lesson in how not to make a movie

[2/10 · 2 December 2023]

I wanted an ending to this wonderful story, it's been a journey for me! There is a rushed version of it, ten minutes or so, with two epic songs of Amber Run and James Bay! That's the whole movie.

The rest is a Portuguese vacation for the movie makers and don't get me wrong, it's beautifully filmed. The problem is that it has no story and very little to do with After. The feeling of the books is completely lost to a filler that looks like youtube lounge chillout background.

I have many harsh words for the executive team, but in the end, what truly matters is that they learn from this mistake, so no other beloved stories get butchered like this.

Bridgerton (2020– )

Boring Season 2

[3/10 · 3 April 2022]

So much talk, my head hurts, and nothing happens in the first three episodes. One would think the viscount is more fun. The little wannabe wifey is beyond annoying with her sing-song voice and facial expressions. Music is nothing like in the first season, I might have watched it only for that.

Dune (2021)

Mesmerizing

[9/10 · 24 October 2021]

I haven't read the books but now I want to. I thought I was going to fall asleep as many warned us, but no, I was wide awake. It builds slowly, like a forgotten old epic. In the background, it talks about wealth, power and the mechanics of war but up close it's a single man's survival and spiritual journey. The desert is a powerful character that teaches and captivates and I can't wait to be back for a second part. I'm so happy someone dared breaking the 90 min mould and gave a book story real movie life. More like this please.

After We Fell (2021)

Very Well Done Adaptation

[8/10 · 19 October 2021]

We all know how movies never come close to the richness of the books for many reasons but the only reason here is the ridiculously short, barely scratching the story surface, runtime. If this movie was a few episodes or at least 2h long, it'd have been outstanding and better suited for unfamiliar audience.

The script, flow, scene time balance, acting, music, production design are all amazing, with one exception, the lighting is subdued, colors are muted warm, there's no picture definition even through the Fire TV, which usually makes everything vivid and loud. I get the intimacy atmosphere but it just feels faded and old.

I'm mostly pleased with the result as the third movie reaches far beyond the other two, although I'm sure the random viewer won't be able to make anything out of the story, which explains the average rating. I get it and it's time to approach complex stories differently, as they're not suited for the outdated 90-min movie format.

After (I) (2019)

Beautifully done

[7/10 · 6 May 2021]

As a huge fan of the crazy deep book love story, I fully understand the frustration with this subtle romance movie. Yes, it has almost nothing to do with the book, sigh, but then why did I watch it 20 times? It is a movie with unexpected cinematographic beauty and to be honest, I did not get enough of it. I loved almost every scene but the best one to me is Tessa's escape from the party straight into Hardin's room. It captures emotions from the book like no other scene and if they had left the seductive book sliding, it'd have achieved cult status. The only real love scene is shot and portrayed close to perfection, beautiful, dreamy and should have been longer to justify all else left out. This movie left me wanting more.