On paper, Underwater looks like a decent movie. It’s only 95 minutes long, happening in an environment that’s foreign to a lot of people, which lends itself to having almost a free range of ideas, where you might even alter some “rules” as to what might happen under such a pressure, deep, underneath the ocean.

Well, this movie took a different path of… not doing anything interesting, shooting everything in total darkness and having the editor consume 16 cups of coffee a day, as that editing was… something else. Let’s break each of these points down, shall we…?

First of all, the story couldn’t be any simpler. Which it’s not an issue, plenty of great films have really simple premise. But what those movies have Underwater doesn’t have are characters! You can have the simplest of stories, if you give us something (or somebody) to root for! I challenge anyone who had seen this movie, name me 3 characters and tell me something about them… Exactly, I have seen this movie yesterday and literally can’t remember Kristen Stewart‘s character name and the only interesting (character) thing about her was she had a dog…? That’s another thing, before you even get a chance to meet some of these, boom, they are dead. And if they don’t happen to die, you still don’t know much about them to root for them.

The darkness element is definitely not just this movie, so I will (try) to go easy here, as it’s unfortunately, the trend of last 10 years or so. It’s almost like there was a meeting we, mere peasants, didn’t know about, where there was established that any newer horror/thriller movie NEEDS to be shot in the dark, so you can’t see anything. It’s incredible, how the times have changed. I have recently re-watched the original Halloween (1978, review coming soon) and realised that even though the main action is happening at night, I never got lost, didn’t have to squint my eyes, trying to distinguish shapes on my screen… and on the budget of $80 million dollars (WHAT?! How was this movie anywhere close to $20 million…?!) I would expect to actually see what’s happening on the screen. This movie doesn’t look like $80 million movie, I am so sorry, but how…? I can’t get over it. Just for a comparison, Arrival (2016) much better movie, in every way, shape, form, dimension, looks more like $80 million movie, but it “only” costed around $47 million!! I really hope Kristen got payed well.

The editing… Look, plenty of people are making fun of Marvel movies being chopped to bits, and yes, that would be their biggest flaw. But compared to Underwater, any Marvel movie looks like it was shot by zombie Sergio Leone as that’s literally day and night. I swear there were sequences literally every second had a cut. I usually don’t notice editing, unless it’s great, or really, really bad. And this unfortunately was the latter.

What makes me the angriest is I could still see a decent movie with the same exact cast, story (well, tweak it a bit, so it’s not exactly exact) if only somebody more capable was behind the camera. Somebody like Drew Goddard, or even better, Ridley Scott as the potential is here, the cast is solid, the setting lends itself to pretty much anything. The wasted potential is always the worst offender. What could have been…

I think that sums up Underwater – wasted cast, wasted potential, no characters, and don’t even get me started on the “aliens”, more precisely on how generic/non-threatening they looked. I there was a competition to design “the most average looking alien you can think of” and then they’ve used the person’s design, who ended up third, that’s how average they looked. And who/what are they? What motivates them? Are they aliens or are they creatures from the earth? Well, fuck you for asking questions like these, the film won’t tell you. I am having a hard time to recommend this movie to anybody, even if you are the most hardcore Kristen Stewart’s fan, this movie you might want to skip. And yes, I am still mad about the $80 million budget…

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Have you ever wanted to see a movie, that is so 80’s, it’s almost offensive? Well, look no further, as Footloose it’s exactly that! It’s got everything! Dancing, montages, teenagers, fashion, hairstyles, kick ass songs that are somehow great within the movie and outdated outside of it, and on top of it all, there is really, really young Kevin Bacon.

The main crux of this story is quite simple. Kevin Bacon’s family moves into the town that for reasons, banned dancing (which according to the IMDb’s trivia section, was loosely inspired by true events, where small town in Oklahoma banned dancing until teenagers challenged it) and of course, that is the only thing this teenage sensation wants to do. So he get’s together with bunch of local kids and rebels against the system. And… that’s pretty much it.

And to be honest, sometimes, that is enough. Footloose might not be a cinematic landmark, that will be celebrated for its challenging views and deep philosophical discussions, but as far as entertainment value, it holds your attention for most of the time, and it didn’t age as badly as some others 80’s comedies. Plus, the songs are catchy, and the movie does transport you to the simpler times of when you were a teenager, trying to make your mark on the world, trying to go against the system, to stand for something.

What works in this movie is the hero (already mentioned Kevin Bacon) and the “villain” John Lithgow as he’s not just some two dimensional character. You can actually see and understand his motivation (his son died in a car accident, where he was killed by bunch of drunk teenagers) even though he’s going slightly overboard, you can understand where he is coming from. Also his final “revelation” was I thought believable enough, as it didn’t seem forced.

Only thing that goes against this movie in my mind is that there is no standout, no one scene that would stick with you. It’s been a couple of weeks since I watched this movie for the very first time, and I am going to be honest with you, except the main plotline, young Kevin Bacon and the fact that this movie was so 80’s it puts anything else from that decade to shame, I can’t recall anything else. That is why my rating is what it is, but who knows? Maybe one day, I will re-watch it and discover something else, something I have missed, but it is possible, that Footloose is just a movie, where baby faced Kevin Bacon really wants to dance. And to reiterate, that might be enough.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I always say I don’t mind watching any movie genre, as long as the story is good. But, there might be an exception to the rule, as there always is. The romantic comedies, or rom-coms, if you wish. I tend not to watch plenty of those, as… they are all kind of the same. Sure, you have a good/great one every once in a while, but for most of the time, you would usually get served a mediocre movie, that doesn’t offend you in any way, shape or form, but you won’t really remember it in a few day time. That is why I treasure the ones that manage to stand out, or supersede expectations. Just Like Heaven did that for me.

I think any rom-com lives or dies on two things – story and chemistry between the main couple. The story is usually various degrees of the same old same old, so most of those comedies are half dead from the start, so if the chemistry isn’t there, you know you are not in for a treat. I think Just Like Heaven succeeds on both levels. The story isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but you can tell it’s at least trying to do something, that we haven’t seen a lot and as far as the chemistry part, Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo have got it. You believe them every stage of their relationship (from the mandatory resentment to falling in love towards the end) you can see how these two would end up together. Plus, both of them play their roles really well and in a relaxed manner. The movie feels really natural, there is a sincerity about it and that definitely helps to sell the story.

Speaking of story, I did appreciate the movie trying to tinker with something new(ish), where the main character (Reese) is haunting Mark’s character, as she might (or might not) be dead. Since it’s a rom-com (and also the fact it’s over 15 years old) you probably guess rightly she isn’t, she’s “just” in a deep coma. That is my only “criticism” of this movie – I wish the reveal would happen slightly later in the movie. I feel like the story could have turned into a bit more goofy detective story, trying to figure out what is happening with Reese, maybe utilising more Jon Heder‘s character, as he played the “dude, who actually knows his shit” persona well. The most intriguing part of the movie is figuring out what is the deal with Reese, why only Mark’s character can see/interact with her and I felt this could have been more of surprise, but again, it’s only a minor criticism.

What I also loved about this film is it doesn’t feel too sugary. Sure, does it have its sweet/tender moments? Absolutely. Do they feel as sweet and cheesy as plethora of other rom-coms from the past 20 years or so? Fortunately, no. I don’t know, whether it’s something about having two very capable actors in the lead roles, but even though the movie is sweet, romantic, and all that good stuff, it never goes overboard. It never goes where the other, (below) mediocre movies would go.

Overall, I can strongly recommend Just Like Heaven as I was pleasantly surprised upon my re-watch to find out it’s still a really nice, lighthearted rom-com, that is not only bearable, it’s enjoyable. It’s so enjoyable in fact, that in a couple of years, I would not mind re-watching it again. And that is a sentence I can’t write about plenty of other movies in this genre.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Before getting into this review, I need to admit something – I am just a normal guy and as such, I have a weak spot for beautiful women, that are unique. And one of the most uniquely beautiful women of the last decade for me was (and still is) Alexandra Daddario. And yes, as plenty of other men, I have discovered her through her role on the first season of True Detective (2013) for… reasons. But the longer I was watching her throughout the years, plenty of other movies and pictures, it’s not just her body, but the eyes! They are out of this universe, I just can’t describe how hypnotising she is to me. That is how Night Hunter became a movie I had to see. Didn’t know, who else was in it, didn’t know, what it is about, I purely watched it because of Alexandra.

Let me tell you… what a CAST! On top of the already mentioned Alexandra, this movie stars Henry Cavill, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Nathan Fillion and Minka Kelly! At this point, I was honestly gobsmacked, as I thought “how come I have never heard of this movie, with such a stunning cast?!” There is a reason for it though, and it’s exactly the one you are probably thinking of… the movie is not that great.

Night Hunter wants to be part The Silence of the Lambs (1991, my review here) and part Se7en (1995), but it’s not. Which is a shame, as the the movie has a pretty good start, but the more you watch it, the more boring it gets. Then, there is a plot twist, that has been used bunch of times before, but fair enough, it did work for this story. And then, the last 20 minutes happen, where any logic goes out of the window. I mean, seriously. I can get over some leaps in logic, but sometimes, movie, that wants to be darker, does something, that just taints the experience.

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

The final showdown is happening on a lake, where the twin brothers (what a twist, as M. Night Shyamalan would say) kidnapped Alexandra’s character and Eliana Jones‘s character. Ok, fair enough. The “not so Superman” Henry Cavill comes, drops his weapon (a slight stretch, but ok) then his co-worker, another police woman has her gun pointed at the main bad guy from the BEHIND, (aka he doesn’t know about her) but, she doesn’t take the shot! She gets herself shot instead (THE FUCK?!) by the main bad guy and honestly, just because of her stupidity alone, I couldn’t feel any sympathy towards her at all. I understand it’s just a movie, but come on, you have a clear shot on somebody, who’s aiming a gun on your co-worker!

Also, the movie starts quite dark, where you think there might be something, just for it to kind of fizzle out. There is no sense of any danger, anything that would seep through the movie. It just feels really “meh” after the first 15 minutes or so. That is the main problem with Night Hunter. This movie should have been at least watchable, especially with such a killer cast, but it turned into pretty bland, mediocre movie that you won’t remember a few weeks from now. Only thing I will remember is Alex’s (based on her Twitter bio, we can call her Alex) eyes, and… I mean, they are astonishing, but given her character did get only one or two scenes, where she could shine, it isn’t enough. I almost wish the twist would be for her to be the villain somehow, as I would love for somebody to give her a big, meaty role, she could use to showcase that she’s much more than body and those mesmerising eyes. Maybe one day…

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke