bonnojacobs Reviews

Suicide Squad (2016)

A mess

[4/10 · 9 August 2016]

Like most reviewers, I enjoyed the first 20 minutes. It had a fun tone. It felt like a movie that wasn't going to take itself too serious (like, dare I say it, Deadpool). But then... it does.

It's hard to even begin where this movie goes wrong, but I'll give it a try. So many characters are shoehorned in that you don't really get to know any of them. They become one-dimensional characters with stupid one-liners. Especially Harley Quinn's sad attempts at being funny. It's cringe worthy. They try to rush the story forward, while also trying to build its characters. This is done with flashbacks that sometimes pop up so randomly and appear to hold no bearing on the story or the character for that matter(!). They're more like visual anecdotes, that contain stupid trivia. It's at this point that you realize things are only going downhill from here. The action is lackluster (and doesn't even get the chance to shine because the whole movie is set in a dark, rainy environment). The acting is downright bad (yes, even Leto's Joker and Robbie's Quinn). Only Will Smith's Deadshot and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller were great. They really carried this movie and made it bearable.

As for the plot. There wasn't really any. I could go on about how big of a mess this movie is and how the villain was stupid, but frankly I don't want to waste any further time discussing this...

Thunderbirds Are Go (2015–2020)

Good, but there's room for improvement.

[8/10 · 26 August 2015]

Let me start off saying that they've done a good job reviving the Thunderbirds series. Like many others I started off skeptic, especially because of the CGI. But let me tell you, it looks great. Apart from certain movements from the characters (the puppets from the originals moved awkwardly as well, so perhaps it's intentional) , they've done an amazing job.

The cinematography looks great.

Certain (re)design choices look good and are well thought out. They give a realistic feel to the world. Such as the ships and the suits. However, other designs were left out, such as the caps for the Thunderbirds and Parker and the music (much of the music is not on par with the original). It would've been a nice nostalgic nod.

The focus on the different characters is more balanced (e.g. Thunderbird 5 has a much bigger role). And the female cast has a bigger role to play as well. Plus, Brains is now Asian (so hurray for diversity I guess ;) )

My biggest criticism concerns the pacing. Perhaps kids these days like hyperactive TV and/or movies, but what I loved about the original Thunderbirds was its rather slow pacing and attention to (single) details. By pacing things up, scenes lose their tension and sense of urgency. Especially with the bombastic music playing in the background (the original Thunderbirds had lots of silent moments). They want to shove as many action as possible into a single episode.

I think today's kids would be just as appreciative of slower pacing as we were back in the day (but perhaps this is nostalgia speaking)