Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

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Xprimentyl

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I liked him as a child, but I was a very hyperactive child so we got on well. That kind of energy is just draining now.
Same. He reminds me of a slightly less grating Spongebob, but written without the self-awareness that makes the naivete funny.

But since Hollywood has been on this prequel/sequel/reboot kick forever, I'd like to see a gritty, violent reboot of Short Circuit where it's revealed that Johnny 5 is actually nascent Skynet. Think about it: doesn't Johnny 5 look like a "rough pass" at what would become the iconic Terminator endoskeleton? And he WAS designed for military purposes. Also, don't forget his eyes glow red when he's pissed, and the gunner tanks Skynet dispatches in the future are eerily similar to J5's design as well, so there're through lines that make this entirely feasible!

I was being flippant when I started this response; now... I kinda DO want to see this.

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thebobmaster

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...I missed that line. Whoops. I will amend that to "for the most part" then.
 

Absent

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The boring one
...I missed that line. Whoops. I will amend that to "for the most part" then.
Yeah, I'm not sure the scene would fly quite as well in a remake with Samuel Jackson as Quarrel. Also, the superstition bit is hard to relativize through Honeychile's own belief, as she is essentially a naive, feral kid (despite her good native "you know nothing jon snow" tirade). But hey, who isn't a big child compared to the civilizing British representative.

A sad thing also it that Quarrel became such a throwaway character. His death in the novel has a bit more gravitas, as he had already been a bit of a mentor to Bond in Live and Let Die. But whatever. I love these movies, even if they are so embarrassingly stupidly sexist and reactionary at times (I couldn't stop laughing when screencapturing this scene : this image alone encaplulates so many cringey aspects of that era's mindset).
 
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Hawki

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Shazam!: Fury of the Gods (7/10)

The TL, DR version of this is that yes, the movie is good, no, it's not as good as the first, and that while I liked it overall, the film has significant problems.

With that being said, I'm going to divide this review by pros/cons (basically), so on that note:

THE GOOD

-The villains are some of the best the DCEU has featured. Granted, that's not the highest bar in the world, even if it's had some good ones (Zod, Orm, etc.), but overall, they do a good job. Their motivations are understandable, their scheme makes sense (basically, the villains succeed in everyhting for 90% of the movie), their clashing motivations are well done. Anthea is the doe-eyed idealist, Hespera is the tactician who's driven to save her world, Calypso is a chaos titan whose desire for vengeance drives her actions. While these are tropes (Maiden, Mother, Crone), they're well done, and by extension, their powers are handled well also (Hespera has power over elements, Calypso has power over chaos (so can drive people insane for instance), Anthea can shift reality/perception of reality.

-The humour is really good. There's tonal whiplash with said humour (I'll cover that down below), but when it comes to the Shazamily, many of the lines/interactions are gold, and had me snickering, even outright laughing in "the letter scene" (those who've seen the film know what I'm talking about). When the movie is content to be a goofy fun time (which is most of it), the humour works well.

-Steve the Pen. 'Nuff said. Also, by extension, the end credits.

-This is a minor point, but the film makes good use of Greek mythology as a whole, and I'm generally a sucker for Greek mythology, so take it or leave it.

THE BAD

-This movie has significant tonal whiplash. You might recall the board room slaughter scene in the first film, and if you're like me, you'll say that it's an excellent horror scene, but it's one that felt at odds with the rest of the movie. FotG doesn't only have the same tonal dissonance, it actually doubles down on it. For instance, the first scene of the movie is excellent horror, but the next scene we're straight to wisecracks. Later on, as monsters are overrunning Philadelphia, it's not that we see anyone die per se, but given what's happening, yes, people are dying, and likely dying horribly. Which isn't bad from a storytelling perspective, but from a tonal perspective? Yeah.

-The ending. Fucking hell, the ending. I'm going to get into spoilers here, so on that note:

The end fight dies with Billy sacrificing himself to defeat Calypso. The death, and everything leading up to it, is well done - cliche, sure, but well done, what with his final goodbye to Freddie and his foster parents, with them finding is dead, teenage body, Freddie desparately trying to get him to wake up, Hespera giving her last words of approval before she herself dies, etc.) All of what I've just said is well done, bearing in mind that this is a 17 year old kid. He's buried in the titans' realm and...ugh, Wonder Woman turns up and revives him through some magic nonsense, Billy crawls out of the grave in his Shazam form (apparently being revived does that to a man), he crushes on Wonder Woman, cue laughs, cue undercutting of the emotional gravitas in the previous scene. Even if this plot point doesn't turn you off, the scene for Wonder Woman uses her battle theme, and I'm asking, why? This is the worst music you could use for this, it doesn't match the scene at all. But yes, I really hate the revival thing. FFS, even BvS waited until another movie to revive Supes, but sometimes, I like my heroes to stay dead, y'know? Or at least stay dead for awhile.

There's also a post-credits scene where Billy is recruited into the Justice Society, and it's still pointless, as none of it will matter in the DCU (not DCEU, the DCU), and even if it does, the humour here just doesn't work.

THE IFFY

-Action is a mxied bag. Despite these being super-powered individuals, it's a weird mix of the power level of Man of Steel, being carried out at the pace of BvS. As in, at least initially, there's nothing all that kinetic in the smackdowns. The ending sequence is a bit better, but a "bit" is the key word.

-Part of Philadelphia is encased in a giant dome for most of the movie, yet the people inside seem pretty chill about it. There's no riots over food, people go about their daily business, etc. I know that by this point in the DCEU, bonkers events are par for the course, but even so...

-This isn't really an issue per se, but there's an interesting contrast with the first film in regards to the human/adult forms. In the first film, kid and adult Billy get about 50/50 screentime (probably more the kid, actually), whereas here, it's more 90/10 in favour of his adult form, and that remains true for every member of the Shazamily bar Freddie, who's more 90/10 for his kid form. This isn't good or bad in of itself, but it's noticeable. I will say that the adult actors do a great job, that I can really buy that these are still kids in adult forms. That does leave the question of Mary, whose adult and, um, adult forms are identical (secret identity? What's that?), and her status as an adult rather than a teen is reinforced (e.g. she's recovering from a hangover in one scene, and Darla's too young to know what a hangover is), but meh, still works. If I had to guess, it's that it's because adult actors are better (generally) than child actors, so by having the adults more than the kids, you get a better performance.

-The Skittles ad. I mean, the unicorns are cool and all, but still, the Skittles ad... :(

THE PRETTY

-OMG, Rachel Ziegler as Anthea is so pretty!

...what? I can dream, can't I?

THE RANKINGS

Pretty much given it away from the start, but current DCEU rankings now as such:

12) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

11) Black Adam

10) Suicide Squad

9) Wonder Woman 1984

8) The Suicide Squad

7) Birds of Prey

6) Justice League

5) Aquaman

4) Man of Steel

3) Wonder Woman

2) Shazam!: Fury of the Gods

1) Shazam!
 
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Gordon_4

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Shazam: Fury of the Gods - 8/10

While I rate it a bit higher than @Hawki does, his breakdown of the good, the bad and the meh for the film is pretty spot on. I had a good time but if you’re on the fence erring towards saving money on cinema tickets you should probably follow your first instinct and wait for HBO Max.
 
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Absent

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-This isn't really an issue per se, but there's an interesting contrast with the first film in regards to the human/adult forms. In the first film, kid and adult Billy get about 50/50 screentime (probably more the kid, actually), whereas here, it's more 90/10 in favour of his adult form, and that remains true for every member of the Shazamily bar Freddie, who's more 90/10 for his kid form. This isn't good or bad in of itself, but it's noticeable. I will say that the adult actors do a great job, that I can really buy that these are still kids in adult forms. That does leave the question of Mary, whose adult and, um, adult forms are identical (secret identity? What's that?), and her status as an adult rather than a teen is reinforced (e.g. she's recovering from a hangover in one scene, and Darla's too young to know what a hangover is), but meh, still works. If I had to guess, it's that it's because adult actors are better (generally) than child actors, so by having the adults more than the kids, you get a better performance.
Question based on impressions based on mere glimpses of trailer and pitch meeting :

Could it be because the actors grew up and are more on the teenagey side and defeat a bit the point of shazam being an adult in full contrast with his alter-go (or, same thing, Zachary Levi behaving like a much younger kid than Asher Angel, which would become more blatant if we saw Billy more) ?
 

Bob_McMillan

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Question based on impressions based on mere glimpses of trailer and pitch meeting :

Could it be because the actors grew up and are more on the teenagey side and defeat a bit the point of shazam being an adult in full contrast with his alter-go (or, same thing, Zachary Levi behaving like a much younger kid than Asher Angel, which would become more blatant if we saw Billy more) ?
Haven't watched, but just based on clips I've seen, almost every "kid" actor looks like a whole ass adult (because they are). One of the transformation scenes I saw in a trailer was hilarious, Billy shouts "Shazam!" to transform from an athletic man dressed as a teenager to a taller man probably on steroids dressed in a red onesie.

In retrospect, not a great idea to have Billy Batson be a teenager in his very first movie huh? Didn't help that the sequel came four years later.
 

Hawki

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Question based on impressions based on mere glimpses of trailer and pitch meeting :

Could it be because the actors grew up and are more on the teenagey side and defeat a bit the point of shazam being an adult in full contrast with his alter-go (or, same thing, Zachary Levi behaving like a much younger kid than Asher Angel, which would become more blatant if we saw Billy more) ?
Hard to say. In a way, Levi is less mature than Asher (in terms of their characters), but it's a minor difference.
 

Xprimentyl

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John Wick: Chapter 4: Headshots / Great

I had a GREAT time watching this movie. They really ratcheted the incredulity up to 11 for this one. He dodged more bullets and more efficiently than in his role as Neo in The Matrix. A lot of characters are there only to be there, but that's fine; I'm glad they were there. Lots of fun; lots of violence; exactly what I wanted. One could argue they've finally jumped the shark, but let's be honest, that shark is about 3 films behind us already. I ate a whole small popcorn and drank a four pack of Sutter Home chardonnay minis by myself; my gf ate a whole burrito (basically unheard of,) some ice cream dibs, and her own 4-pack of Sutter Home by herself. We were so high on adrenaline afterwards, we couldn't sleep until about 2 hours after we finished the movie. I'm already ready to do that all again for another watch. Recommended.
 

Gordon_4

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The Nice Guys - 10/10

Its fucking criminal that this movie didn't do better business; its fucking amazing and its dialogue should be required reading for aspiring script writers. I don't know if I'd call it a noire throwback since its a little too bright and cheeky for that but its got a solid odd couple as private dicks vibe. Go watch it. Its great.
 

gorfias

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The Nice Guys - 10/10

Its fucking criminal that this movie didn't do better business; its fucking amazing and its dialogue should be required reading for aspiring script writers. I don't know if I'd call it a noire throwback since its a little too bright and cheeky for that but its got a solid odd couple as private dicks vibe. Go watch it. Its great.
I liked it but it seemed warmed over Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Pre-Iron Man also from Shane Black.
Hope you've seen this, which I think superior.
 
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Xprimentyl

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The Offering: Good / Great

A young man and his pregnant wife attempt to reconcile with his strictly Hassidic Jewish father who runs a funeral home. The amicable reunion is interrupted when it's discovered the son has ulterior motives and, oh, there's a demon loose in the funeral home.

I want to say there's very little "new" here, but it was refreshing to see a horror movie surrounding demonic possession that doesn't lean exclusively on the Christian take on religion. Recommended though not groundbreaking.

Cocaine Bear: Loved It / Great

Loosely-based on true events, a drug runner offloads millions of dollars of cocaine mid-flight over Tennessee, and one of the packets is found and ingested by a bear. The bear understandably goes nuts and terrorizes the local community while a mother tries to find her missing daughter, a cop tries to nab the smugglers, and a couple of guys who work for the kingpin try to recover the drugs.

I say I "loved it" because it's an entirely self-aware film; it's a solid B-movie and it knows it. From the title to the credits, it doesn't pretend to try to be anything other than exactly what it is: a ridiculous movie with a ridiculous premise and ridiculousness flowing through its every vein. It was fun, gory and funny. Will it net any Oscars? Absolutely not, unless they create a "Dumb Fun Movie" category. There's something to be said about a film that's not shy about showing two children eating cocaine off a knife.