Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
... View MoreClever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
... View MoreThe acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
... View MoreThere are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
... View MoreDo you love science fiction but are getting tired of the Marvel Universe and Galaxies Far, Far Away? This is a Sci Fi movie that feels like a classic western novel. It has wonderful character development and fine acting. The lives of the characters become important you as you watch, and they are not overshadowed by the special effects. If you are a Hollywood blockbuster fan, this movie is not for you. However, if you gravitate towards independent films and can think and feel at the same time, you will really like this one!
... View MoreIt almost feels like someone adapted Shakespeare to a movie set in the near future where the economy had gone to hell and the US is almost without water. The film is slow, really slow, so that in two hours you don't see much. Paradoxically, some of the important scenes are rushed through, while others, related to character emotions are prolonged.To me it felt both as a well done movie and a boring one. The practical effects, the acting, the shots, they were all excellent. The pacing and the story, on the other hand, a bit disappointing. I guess you have to be in the mood and you have to like the technique of film rather than just look for a story to entertain you.Bottom line: Hard to call it a bad movie in any context, but only part of the viewers will be glad to have seen it. Let it go at its own pace, watch it from start to end, try to grasp the vision of the writer/director. Hope it works for you.
... View MoreFirst off I haven't seen any reviews that mentioned this, but Young Ones was not at all what I expected. I expected this movie to be a dystopian Sci-Fi action movie about tough times in the future, which is actually all kind in the background. This turned out to be for the better.I don't know where the movie was shot, but the visuals were stunning. Everything is desert, rocks, and old buildings (or a house made of ship containers). There's a scene where you do see plants, and the colors are so vivid. Additionally, I very much enjoyed the slow-burn revenge tone of the movie. The movie pacing wasn't slow, but the build up of pain and anger felt so real that I felt as frustrated as Jerome (who I didn't know was the main character until like halfway through the movie). There were some weird plot points that never get resolved, like the fact that there's a perfectly good city nearby where everything seems normal and you don't know why these characters aren't allowed through the gates. Also, that random girl that Jerome meets and kinda likes, but never ends up seeing again? Kinda odd. Also I don't like Elle Fanning after seeing this movie, she just doesn't seem to fit...Overall I enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining to watch, kept my attention throughout, and made me feel for the characters. The oddities in the plot were minor and had little impact on my rating. Watch this movie.
... View More"Pray for rain."Gwyneth Paltrow's younger brother, Jake, introduces us to a dystopian future where water is scarce in Young Ones, his sophomore feature film. The film has style and it is also gorgeous to look at the empty vast dry land (filmed in South Africa, but taking place in an undisclosed American town), but unfortunately the characters did lack some development. This could well be classified as a sci-fi western centering on a family that is struggling to survive under the harsh dry conditions. The always fascinating Michael Shannon plays Ernest Holm, the father of two adolescents who has decided to stay in his dry land hoping he can find water to cultivate his once fertile land. His younger son, Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is always alongside him as they struggle to find a means for survival. With the help of a robotic donkey carrier, he sends supplies to the workers who extract water from deep wells. His relationship with his daughter, Mary (Elle Fanning), isn't going too well. She has secretly been dating Flem (Nicholas Hoult), who isn't someone his father trusts. Flem has plans of his own for Ernest's land and he will stop at nothing in order to get his way. Aimee Mullins has a supporting role as Ernest's paralytic wife who lives in the hospital where she can use special equipment to move. The film is divided into three chapters centering on each one of the three male characters. The first centering on Ernest, is by far the best thanks in large part to Michael Shannon's incredible performance. It also sets the rules for this futuristic world and it manages to engage us. But the promising start of the film quickly dies down in the next two chapters with predictable character arcs and familiar story lines. It is a shame because the film did promise an inventive post apocalyptic setting, but other than the fascinating visuals it doesn't deliver anything fresh. Despite not having much character development I did enjoy the performances from the talented young cast. Nicholas Hoult is solid as the villain, while Kodi Smit- McPhee once again finds himself playing a character in a desolated future (The Road). He delivers one of the stronger roles and did a decent job holding up his own in the scenes he shared with Shannon. Fanning is an actress I have always admired, but her character is the least developed this time and she doesn't get to do much here. It is a shame Shannon doesn't get more screen time because the film loses much of its appeal after that first chapter. He always brings an incredible fresh quality to each one of his characters and in a way Ernest was the reason why this dystopian world seemed so fascinating.Young Ones is the third consecutive Western I've seen and each one has been very different. Once Upon A Time in the West is a masterpiece and a classic spaghetti western, while A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was an Iranian vampire western that was more atmospheric than anything else. This futuristic western is also gorgeous to look at and introduces a rather interesting premise but it loses its appeal after the first part of the film and heads towards generic and familiar territory. I'd still recommend this film because there are some interesting qualities to it and there is also Michael Shannon of course who always delivers. I loved the landscape as well, but the pacing of the story does get tedious and predictable at times. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
... View More