carrandas Reviews

Pacifiction (2022)

3 Hours of my life I'm never getting back

[6/10 · 23 January 2023]

One of those movies that has raving critic reviews but where the audience just doesn't seem to like it.

The movie didn't work for me. I enjoyed the beautful locations and the mood. The acting was good. But the plot just didn't go anywhere. Some scenes seemed to go on forever without adding anything to the movie. I kept up for about an hour and then I just started daydreaming.

When I left the cinema, someone was complaining to me in the bathroom that it was such a bad movie. Another movie-goer put it nicely when walking out the doors: "well, this was 3 hours of my life I'm never getting back".

Jungle Cruise (2021)

Fun in the jungle

[8/10 · 14 August 2021]

As a kid, I loved my comics that took place in the jungle. In it, our brave heroes would sail the Amazon while fighting anaconda's, puma's and man-eating natives.

This movie is pretty much that in a movie! It even has the snakes, big cats and natives. So of course I enjoyed it. Dwayne and Emily are also enjoying themselves and it's a blast to see them playing as the skipper with the dad jokes and the strong willed heroine.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

Beautiful set pieces with forgettable participants

[8/10 · 14 August 2021]

This movie is a direct follow-up to the enjoyable 'Escape Room' from 2019. Zoey and Ben once again find themselves into a maze of deadly rooms with some other strangers, trying to escape from each one of them by solving puzzles.

This movie, like its predecessor stands out from the pack by its beautiful sets. The previous one had a memorable bar room, this one has a great looking art deco bank.

The characters however? Don't think I can remember a single name and I didn't really care when any of them started melting.

And the plot takes some very sharp turns. But if you don't overthink it, you'll have a blast watching them try to get out.

The Net (I) (1995)

Ordering pizza's online in 1995

[6/10 · 4 November 2020]

This is one of those movies I loved as a kid. I gave it another watch now that it's on Netflix but sadly didn't live up to my memory. The movie has an interesting premise, especially for 1995: everything we do or own is just data on a computer. What if someone decides to change all that? It's a cool idea but it's not executed well with very little excitement.

Still, some things I learned:

• You could order a pizza on the net in '95
• You could already book a plane
• You only had a fancy BMW if it had a carphone
• She's using an Apple, I should have bought apple shares in '95
• Sandra Bullock was really hot in '95. Probably the main reason I loved it as an adolescent

Greenland (2020)

Where's Bruce Willis when you need him?

[7/10 · 13 August 2020]

The planet is about to be destroyed by an asteroid and we only have x hours before it strikes. I expected them to call Bruce Willis again to do some off-world digging but he must be under house arrest.

We're following Gerard Butler and his family as they try to get to a safe place in Greenland while the world around them turns into chaos. Other people seem to put more efforts into looting shops for toilet paper or holding end-of-the-world parties making their route a bit like the Road.

Gerard trying to save his family and driving his ridiculously oversized car through meteoroids: it's all forget-about-corona-for-two-hours mindless fun!

Follow Me (2020)

Escape Room meets Saw

[7/10 · 7 August 2020]

A popular blogger gets invited with his friends to a Russian Escape Room which was 'especially made for him'. Think 'Escape Room' but replace the fancy decors and puzzles with a grey prison and torture devices.

If you enjoyed that one or movies like Saw/Hostel you'll probably enjoy this one, I did. Won't win any prizes but it's an entertaining 90 minutes. Even if I could see that one plot twist coming before they even entered the Escape Room.

The Rezort (2015)

Jurassic Zombies

[7/10 · 27 July 2019]

Tourists visit a Safari island when someone hacks the security. All security goes down and the dinosaurs start attacking everyone. Sounds familiar? Replace the dinosaurs with zombies, don't hire Spielberg and you've got this movie.

The movie starts following a woman who is sent to the island to kill zombies as a therapy session. Her team is joined by her husband, two teenage gamers, 'the soldier' and someone who rather suspiciously goes to the kill-a-zombie island but doesn't kill a zombie.

When things start to go wrong you'd assume they'd all go into their bullet-proof SUV's and ride to the nearest boat but that wouldn't be very exiting. Instead, they have to cross half the island, on foot, with a minimum of ammunition. From there on you can start betting who'll be next on the zombie kill list.

This movie isn't up to the standards set by Romero. But I still enjoyed it as brainless entertainment. If you like zombie movies, give this one a try, it's rather decent.