Gaijin-

Right cast, some good ideas; wrong director / writer. James Gunn does not know how to make a movie other than Guardians of the Galaxy / Suicide Squad. Most moments that were intended to convey emotion abruptly interrupted or diminished by a nonsensical joke or a terrible choice of music. Attempts to portrait Superman as a relatable person end up going too far and making him look silly and devoid of any charisma. Lois Lane depicted as the typical argumentative chick from the East Coast, with zero skill as a journalist... because that is what Jimmy Olsen is for. Lex Luthor turns out to be a simple, dime-a-dozen psychopath with nonsensical motivations. Too many characters taking screen time for irrelevant side quests. Current-day politics and messaging shoehorned like a surprise visit to the proctologist with no lube. Not worth your money; watch it on streaming.

Best movie in the franchise since Predator 2, but not without its weak spots. Scores below 5 or above 8 seem unjustified to me, as the movie is neither that bad nor that good. Positives: Good action scenes, interesting shots of beautiful landscapes. Blood and gore are displayed, but in the right amount / moments. Visual effects are decent. This is a movie that would have been worth watching on the big screen; too bad Disney had a different opinion. Negatives: Excessive "patriarchal societies are evil" messaging. The first couple of times are more than enough to convey the message. The main character is simply not very likable: giving her a bit more background and motivation than being a contrarian would have improved the movie significantly.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Bad writing, poor action scenes and in-your-face identity politics turn what could have been a great continuation to the best female-led superhero movie so far into a nonsensical waste of the audience's time and money. It's not a zero by any measure, but it's not worth risking your health to go to a theater and get freaking COVID, and it's definitely not worth your money on VOD. Maybe at 5 bucks; watch it and be the judge.

Another case of polarizing movie where the 9s and 10s are as undeserved as the 0s and 1s. The writer and director clearly have some issues with their relationship with men, because the movie does project a clear resentment towards men: all male characters are evil and / or stupid. So much rhetoric about equality and stereotyping women, and you go and do the exact same thing to men. Anyway, the acting is merely ok: not bad, but nothing to write home about except for M. Robbie, which nails the character again. Action scenes: some are better than others, which may be due to the reshoots / additions. Portrayal of the original DC characters: the only one I took issue with was Cassandra. In the comics, she's the toughest, most badass Batgirl ever to carry that name. Here she's just some kleptomaniac, obnoxious brat with zero background that simply acts as a plot device to bring the team together. Music does the job, photography too. The writing is simplistic and peppered with androphobia, but bearable. The chaotic pseudo-Tarantino way in which the story is told may confuse some viewers, but I understand it is an attempt at conveying Harley's state of mind. All in all, an OK film deserving a 5 or a 6. If watching women beat up men twice their size for two hours makes you feel vindicated for the injustices in your life, I can see how your score may be higher, but in terms of movie quality, more than a 6 is unjustified.

Yes, J.J. Abrams was forced to try to fix all of the wrong that Ryan Jonson did in the previous entry AND close the trilogy, everything in one movie. That's no easy task and one has to sympathize with him to some extent. With the above in mind, it would make sense for the movie to stay focused on the main characters and story lines, right? Nope. Instead, Abrams decides to introduce half a dozen new characters and plots that, obviously, go nowhere or get "resolved" ninety seconds after they are started. On top of that, the way the story moves forward makes no sense at all. If at any time during the movie you stop for a second to think about what is being said and what is being done (and, more importantly, why),you will realize it is utterly nonsensical. Star Wars has never had brilliant writing, but this time around they have descended to the level of Fast and Furious or Michael Bay's Transformers films. All in all, a terrible ending for a beloved franchise. Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy should be put in front of a firing squad and the cost of the bullets used be charged to their families.

TLDR version: fun action movie if you don't care about the original movies and can tolerate some heavy handed identity politics. Long-time fans of the series, stay away. Full-sized review: If you have not watched the original two movies, then this one is a fun, switch-off-your-brain action film, and I could see how this could be a 7 or even an 8 for you. If you are a fan of the original movies, though, this film rewrites the story in such an insulting, infuriating way that you will probably give this a 4 or a 5. I do not think this movie deserves less than a 4, though, even with all its flaws. The acting is uneven, with Linda and Arnold being excellent and the other two main performers having ups and downs, but not bad overall. The action scenes are a bit over the top but, this being a Terminator movie, is to be expected. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but if you've watched any of the Fast and Furious movies (especially the most recent one) you will not be surprised. The writing... well, this is where the movie loses points for me. Let me try to break it down: - The script rewrites the whole time line of the Terminator universe, to the point that it renders the original two movies meaningless. I understand the desire to evolve past the original actors / characters, but this movie could have been executed without introducing these major retroactive continuity changes. If you are a fan of the saga, you will feel insulted. - Identity politics. These days one has to accept that every other movie / TV show is going to introduce some sort of identity politics message, but this movie really goes out of its way to do it. Except for Arnold, all the male characters in this movie are idiots or **** The movie introduces an unnecessary plot point to show very specific views on the issue of migration in the US. I honestly have nothing against strong female main characters; both Linda Hamilton and Mackenzie Davis and their characters are great. But I do not see the need to spread anti-male sentiment in order to empower women. In sum, the movie wants to take the franchise in a different direction and chooses to do so in a way that I find unnecessarily disrespectful to the previous works. You will like it only if you have not watched or do not care about the original two movies.