EchoMaRinE Reviews

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

a real trash...

[4/10 · 27 December 2015]

Frankly, this review doesn't contain any spoiler. All I will say is, Force Awakens is a very bad summary of the previous Star Wars movies. There is nothing new, not even a single moment. From my point of view, telling this is not a spoiler but a sign that the movie is a real trash.The story is very predictable. Honestly, after the first five minutes, the movie lost me. There is no character development phase. If you don't know the previous movies, there is no way you can get the story. If you know the previous movies, you can predict each and every moment of the movie. In any case, bad plot, even worse story telling. What were they thinking? Lets make a bigger death star. Put Ford in the center of the story. Make good advertisement and everything will be OK. Everything went OK for Episode 7. They made quite some money but I don't think incoming episodes will get any of this attention. Moral of the story, overrated pop corn movie with nothing (I really mean nothing) special. Don't destroy your good old memories.

Waiting for Superman (2010)

we were going to fix everything...

[6/10 · 6 December 2015]

Well, that is a difficult movie/documentary to review. I cant say this is a masterpiece but it is not as bad as some people claim. Lets start with the positive things. There is a concrete idea about the US education system problem (I am not saying the idea is right or wrong. There is an idea). The presentation of the idea is fine but for something to be called "documentary", I would expect more evidence about the proposed claims. Some potential solutions are also presented and they sound like there is a way to fix the problem. Looking at the negative things, the list is longer I am afraid. First of all, I was confused about the status of the private education (as someone not living in US). At the beginning, I felt like the whole movie will be about how great the private schools are and how bad the public education is. It didn't go in that direction but the target was certainly the public schools. The attack on the unions just doesn't feel right. If your system does not let you show the stick, you can encourage people with carrots. Instead of trying to force teachers out of the unions by offering more money, it is possible to offer more money for better performance. Therefore, the proposition "we were going to fix everything but the unions didn't let us do" sounds childish and blaming unions for the performance of teachers is quite one-sided (as most reviewers point out). I agree with the "better teacher for better education" idea but the proper way to have better teachers is not bribing them to leave unions. Instead, one can offer performance based promotions and better education for teachers (yes, education of the educator). Anyways, the last ten to twenty minutes were really pointless as well. To sum up, the movie is pointing a problem but the way they try to propose potential solutions is somehow problematic.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

do not trust that super positive reviews

[6/10 · 1 December 2013]

I actually was not going to write a review but after reading all those "best movie ever" comments, I felt the responsibility to write something. I watched the movie at an IMax (where even the worst movie looks OK) but there was nothing visually spectacular. Character development phase is not that bad but there was no character that I could like (including Katniss. Actually especially Katniss). There was nothing special about the performance of Jennifer Lawrence to say the least. She really needs to work on acting and expressions. She was really boring. The other characters don't even have an impact. When it comes to the story, it is somewhat not so believable. I am a huge fan of sci-fi and fantastic movies but the story of Hunger Games has never been appealing to me. Anyway, do not trust that super positive reviews. This is an average movie with an average story and average acting.

World War Z (2013)

A zombie movie with OK additions to the concept

[7/10 · 29 June 2013]

Well, this was a zombie movie with OK additions to the concept. The collaborative scenes of the zombies (such as the scene where zombies use each other to climb a wall) were quite good both from the CGI side and the idea side. On the other hand, the virus spreads ultra quickly. This was not a good idea from my point of view. A whole city gets sick in a few seconds. Acting was not that great I am afraid. A lot of characters just pop up and than turn into a zombie. The directing and story telling was not that great either. I believe the biggest success of the movie was the good advertising. Just to sum up, the movie was not boring and had some positive contributions to the zombie concept. But, it is not a movie that I will remember as a great zombie movie.

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Derivative of the movie Moon

[7/10 · 24 April 2013]

Frankly, the amount of joy you will get out of this movie depends on how familiar you are with SciFi. If you have seen a lot of science fiction movies, you will get bored as hell. The scenario is basically a derivative of the movie Moon. A guy doing some work on a deserted planet starts questioning his existence and past. Then he finds out what he knows as truth has nothing to do with reality. I am not saying the movie is bad but it is too long and I didn't see anything original. Visuals are good. Acting is OK. Story is fine but very predictable. No twist, no surprise. It ends as you would expect and you can guess the end after first ten minutes.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

if you have no idea what G.I. Joe is, don't even think about it

[7/10 · 6 April 2013]

I saw the movie with couple of friends who didn't know the G.I. Joe concept and they hated the movie. From my point of view, it was kind of OK (and I saw all the movies and the cartoon). The acting is fine. Especially Dwayne Johnson was quite good. Directing is not that great. Story telling is weak. Special effects are good. If more time was spent for character development, the movie would be more understandable for people that are not familiar with G.I. Joe. In the end, the action was pretty good but there were so many characters without any background. Moral of the story, if you just want to see an action movie but you have no idea what G.I. Joe is, don't even think about watching it. Otherwise, you can give it a try.

Django Unchained (2012)

Blood, violence, boring conversations and a story that has nothing special

[6/10 · 12 February 2013]

Frankly, this was a really boring movie with too much unnecessary violence. But since the director is Tarantino, criticizing this movie is some sort of taboo. If you have seen some of Tarantino's work, there is nothing new in this one. Blood, violence, boring conversations and a story that has nothing special. Heads explode, bodies tear apart and people dies. That is the one sentence summary. I am not even mentioning the references that would be counted as racist. Moral of the story, this movie is not my cup of tea. Neither the action justifies itself for such a long period of time nor the story is interesting enough to compensate for the violence which was totally unnecessary.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

definitely the best movie of 2012

[10/10 · 22 December 2012]

I must say I was very skeptical since I know the book and it might be very difficult to make more than one movie based on that story. But they simply managed to make a great movie even from the beginning of the book, which was kind of boring. So, I would say the movie is actually better than the book and this is a very very rear thing. The story telling is amazingly good and simple. The visuals are stunning and acting is simply amazing. I think this is like the first movie in years I am giving a 10 without thinking twice and I am really willing to see it one more time. Moral of the story, this is definitely the best movie of 2012.

Prometheus (I) (2012)

are you kidding me...

[6/10 · 6 October 2012]

To make the long story short, this is nothing like Alien. It seems Ridley lost his touch for sci-fi as well. Let me point out why.

The gravest part was the story. It starts with an expedition to a distant planet with a couple of people that are least suitable for the job. Come on, they are going for the man kinds biggest expedition and a couple of clueless idiot, a weird robot, a captain that acts like anything but a captain, a woman whose function was not even clear and so on. Would this be your crew for a scientific expedition? And some of these geniuses act like they saw a pet dog when they see an alien life form...

The badly chosen characters were not the only thing annoying about the story. There was almost no tension. It was like watching a B rated sci-fi channel movie. They encounter alien species and they act as if they see tigers in a zoo.

Now lets come to the acting. It was cheesy, mostly annoying and very unprofessional.

Overall, lower your expectations if you will watch it. In the end, I am not going to watch this movie one more time, ever. Shame on you Ridley Scott...

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

the pointless spider-man

[6/10 · 12 July 2012]

OK, if you are wondering why they made another spider-man movie, there is actually no concrete answer. The story is mostly same and there is no amazing fight scene or whatsoever that could make this movie or the spider-man character amazing. So if anything at all, you can call this movie as the pointless spider-man. I am sick of watching remakes of great movies. Just that you can shoot the movie in 3D (and the 3D of this movie was the worst I have ever seen) doesn't mean you should make another movie. I mean it, I don't want to pay to see the same things over and over anymore. Here is my grading for this movie. -1 for the originality, -1 for the acting, -2 for the super super bad 3D.

Dark Shadows (2012)

somehow not that good

[7/10 · 6 July 2012]

My overall opinion is not negative but I feel like the idea is wasted a bit. The movie started pretty good. But after twenty minutes, everything became predictable. It was not boring but it was not very entertaining either. I don't even think this movie is comedy. There are very few jokes. Overall acting was kind of OK but Depp is becoming a very one dimensional actor by playing always similar characters. The scenery was pretty good and I must say, visuals were quite good as well. At the end, I wouldn't watch this movie once more but at least I didn't regret paying for it. If you didn't like the other Depp and Burton movies, don't even think watching this one.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

What a waste

[6/10 · 10 June 2012]

Well, this could have been a very nice movie but it is just an average pop-corn movie mostly because of Kristen Stewart's super bad performance. The movie starts good. Story is kind of OK. The visuals were well studied and the atmosphere was done in a good way. What ruined this movie for me was Kristen Stewart. I think she has medical problems with her facial muscles. Her face was so expressionless, depressing and boring, I mean it. At some point it starts being disturbing since you cant concentrate the movie. The male characters are not the finest either but at least they try. What a waste of such a nice idea. I feel very sorry for the director.

The Dictator (2012)

The trailers are way much better than the movie

[5/10 · 7 June 2012]

Here is the short story of this movie. The trailers are way much better than the movie. From the beginning to the end, the movie is full of jokes but most of them are really not funny. Compared to the previous movies of Cohen, this one is at least worth watching. There was less insult, less adult content, more jokes that everybody can enjoy. The story line was not so brilliant but at least it was coherent. Acting was kind of OK. Considering the trailer was better than the movie, I must say the directing was not so great. Overall, an average movie. It was worth the time I spent but I am not so sure whether it was worth the money I paid.

John Carter (2012)

Starts boring, and gets even more boring

[6/10 · 2 June 2012]

Starts boring, gets even more boring and ends as pointless as it can. Do not read the best comments. They are certainly written on purpose. The box office says actually how good or bad the movie is. It is basically special effects with weak story and bad acting. The character development phase is very short (saying someones name hundred times is not character development) and this leads to a story that can not catch your attention. It was really not easy to watch it till the end. At some point movie makers will understand that CGI is not enough to make a movie. You actually need a story and some people with acting abilities as well.

The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012 Video)

Battle for Cheesy Jokes

[4/10 · 20 May 2012]

I guess the director thought he could compensate the bad script and the bad directing with cheesy jokes. Unfortunately he couldn't. With little effort, this could have been an OK movie. The idea is not bad. The acting is not fantastic but I assume they did what they were told to do. So the failure boils down to the director. Let me explain why this movie is rated this low. It is boring (I mean it. Even the fight scenes are boring. You see two people fighting and the rest of the crowd in the battle field do silly movements), there are so many cheesy jokes and they are not funny at all, the sound tracks are not appropriate for this genre, acting is cheesy as well and the directing is ultra bad. Overall, not worth watching.

The Smurfs (2011)

who is the target audience?

[5/10 · 30 April 2012]

Well, I wish I could write something positive but the movie is neither for kids nor for adults. Kids wouldn't even get what is going on and adults may find it childish and boring. So, who is the target audience for this movie? I don't know but definitely not kids. I enjoyed smurfs when I was a kid. They were little, blue and cute characters living in a different world. There was childish action and fun. Also, what made Smurfs enjoyable during our childhood was the forest they live and all this little things they build. This movie carries the story to our time and world (which is an idea I found completely bad). So, all aspects of the magical world they were living in is left behind as well. Moral of the story, weak story and little fun.

The Descendants (2011)

good but not the best

[8/10 · 30 April 2012]

The movie is about a man who lost his his wife recently and discovered her secret relationship with another guy. With his kids that he didn't spent too much time with, he starts a new life with different priorities. The overall movie was nice but not the best movie of the year or the best performance of Clooney. I have seen a lot of movies of him and he even looked bored in this movie. Anyways, if you like drama and looking for a movie that you can watch as a family, go for it. The music is nice, scenery is beautiful and story is fine. The biggest downside is, it is long and sometimes gets really boring. Nevertheless, it is worth watching.

The Three Musketeers (2011)

pretty good action

[8/10 · 30 April 2012]

I was actually going through an IMDb list and saw the rating of this movie as 5.8 so I felt the urge to write a review. I read some comments and it seems there was witch hunt for this nice and entertaining movie. It is not the best movie of 2011 but come on, it is much better than a lot of movies that have way higher ratings. First of all, the action is pretty good. The acting is very well done and the CGI is used professionally. This is a modern approach to the classic three musketeers and I enjoyed it a lot. From my point of view, a remake needs to add some stuff to the original movie and this movie made it successfully.

Chronicle (2012)

Please no more found footage crap

[3/10 · 30 April 2012]

The movie is about three boys, gaining superpowers after entering a cave. They soon realize that power changes their life drastically. Let me start with the good parts. It is actually nice to see the birth of a superhero, the initial struggle with the power and the way power changes someones life. What made me disappointed was the script and the way they did the filming. The found footage style of movie making frustrates me more than super-bad acting since I am not paying to see a shaking camera. I hated it since the beginning and I don't see why people insist shooting a whole movie with hand held cameras. Anyways, the script was weak as well. There was nothing you wouldn't expect. To make the long story short, if I had seen this movie on TV, I wouldn't watch it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Movie with Overrated Rating.

[7/10 · 21 January 2012]

As a person that read the book and watched the Swedish version of the movie, my first conclusion is people rated this movie without watching. I am not saying the movie is bad but considering the book, it is just fine (even at the edge of fine). The character development phase is ultra lame. I watched the movie with couple of friends and at the end they had a lot of questions in mind. Considering the length of the movie, one can easily judge how bad the script was. There were so many useless details (and yeah, I read the other two books as well. I know what I am talking about). If you sum up the time spent on details neither necessary for this movie nor the rest of the series, one could use that time to tell the story properly. Lets talk about the positive sides as well. The script follows the book in an OK manner (but towards the ending I guess the script writer got bored). On the other hand, everything is so rushed. I must say, the scenery is well portrait. Lastly, I need to warn you about the adult content as well. This is simply not a family movie. As a conclusion, an OK movie but not a masterpiece or what so ever.

I Am Number Four (2011)

A big failure

[29 August 2011]

Well, if I were 13 years old I would appreciate this movie but I am not. The idea was good actually but acting, screenplay, directing, effects ( I mean it), character development, everything else was a big failure. I read some comments that talk about great visual effects. Did we watch the same movie? Coming back to the idea, it was good since it was taken from other movies such as Terminator. During the whole movie, I was really really bored. Once again, cheesy characters do not fit into SciFi. Unless you have a serious idea with serious people executing it, usually the result is disaster. So, avoid it by all means. It is a waste of time.

Machete (2010)

The Fake Kill Bill

[5/10 · 23 January 2011]

I call this movie as The Fake Kill Bill with a weak story and weak acting. I read some of the reviews and as usual, a lot of people wrote without watching. Some directors have a strange fun base that votes blindly. Machete is a movie that I wouldn't dare to watch if I had seen it on TV. The plot is super crappy, which looks like written by a 10 year old boy. I have no idea what De Niro was doing in this movie. The whole movie is based on butchering people. The story is politically distorted and pointless, the main character looks so emotionless (showing no facial expression doesn't mean you look cool)and out of every weird idea this movie is based on, supporting illegal immigration is portrayed as a heroic act. Moral of the story, if you like movies with a lot of blood, give it a try but you better lower your expectations.

Hunting Season (2010)

the overall movie is quite good

[9/10 · 7 January 2011]

Well, let me be brief. There are downsides but the overall movie is quite good. Especially the beginning was very well done. The acting was pretty good but the story was not as strong as it could be. At the middle of the movie, the reason of the murder was so clear that I must say it ruined the rest of the movie. They could add a twist at the end but they follow a straightforward story line and the movie ends exactly where you would expect. Apart from this, the movie fulfills the expectations. The soundtracks are quite nice, the cinematography is stunning, the atmosphere is given very well and the character development phase is pretty good. If you are bored of crappy Hollywood movies, this one is a quite nice alternative.

Four Lions (2010)

I am sorry but I don't buy it

[1/10 · 7 January 2011]

OK, may be I have a totally different understanding of humor but come on this is neither a topic for comedy nor the way they handle the story was funny. If they expect me to laugh when someone blows himself, I am sorry but I don't buy it. Especially the death scene of character Fessal was really shocking. After quite some boring minutes the movie could get funny but the most miserable character dies suddenly in a horrific way, goes into trash bag and script writer thinks this is funny. I managed to watch it till end and the ending was even more horrific. I really wonder weather I live on the same planet with those people that rated 7 or more.

Stonehenge Apocalypse (2010 TV Movie)

watch it if you like SciFi

[8/10 · 1 January 2011]

I like movies that gives what they promise and this movie is certainly one of those. The story is quite interesting and it seems they managed to use their limited budget pretty good. Visuals are not stunning but not disturbing as well. Acting is OK and story is consistent. If you like SciFi movies, it is quite likely that you may enjoy this one. I don't think it would be fair to compare it with high budget SciFi movies but the overall idea and story telling kept me watching it till the end and I didn't regret. As a last word, I would say watch it if you like SciFi and alien conspiracies but lower your expectancies a bit. Otherwise, you may get bored.