IstvanWolf

This came up in the feed and I watched it with my daughter (5). The good: the animation is well-executed for the most part, and the world and its creatures are interesting and a bit different. The voice acting is, generally, solid, and there's nothing objectionable about the story. It is quite generic. The bad: the *pacing* is off generally. Scenes have a touch of padding, run a bit long, or they aren't particularly relevant. The "beats" just aren't being hit. My daughter is captivated by many films, even slow ones (e.g., Studio Ghibli fare), but this one didn't hold her attention and she'd drift in and out of the story (though she'd notice if I rewound to catch a phrase or something). Also: just as a side note, I was pretty shocked that the pods do not work the way they are depicted in the trailer. This might seem like a small ****, but it is a detriment to the pacing. I understand why the writers structured it the way that they did, but it caused avoidable drag to the pace (KPDH this is not). The baddie reveal / turn at the end, while conceptually interesting, is not very well executed, and the voice acting there is noticeably strained and less tonally consistent than the rest of the film. Overall a serviceable film: nothing extraordinary, nothing objectionable.

Of course a film about an anti-hero that takes a misanthropic view of the American West isn't going to resonate with some, but imo this should've won Best Picture that year instead of No Country For Old Men. The latter, while good, is just another entry in the detective-adjacent "catch the killer" genre, whereas this film is something else entirely - a commentary about the **** nature of greed, the callous nature of business, and the harsh realities of "making it." The cinematography, score, and performances are all exceptional.

Meh. It was, at times, better than I expected, helped in no small part by the veteran cast. While the movie does explore some big themes about love, loss, guilt, duty, etc., it does so in a very ham-fisted manner. That's not say the sacrifice was in vain, but the movie gives no concrete motivation to the protagonist for his change of heart or for his superior's actions (including the about-face by the senator's attaché or whoever that careerist political "villain" was). Very superficial all around and doesn't get into the grittier side of things or explore Pits beyond this single act of valor. Interesting, yes. Riveting, no. Realistic? At times yes, but doesn't reflect the messiness of the real world, especially at the end. The attempt of the film to make something out of the "cover up" is ... not well done, and the actual chain of events is pretty humdrum in the end. The battle scenes are confusing, as they jump back and forth in time, it's not clear where the perimeter is, and some of the action takes place either *very* early in the patrol or the previous day? It's very unclear. The movie could've trimmed some fat and instead used that time to focus on character motivations and cleanly retelling the battle in a way that's still obviously chaotic, but more easily digestible for viewers. I've watched my share of war films, and while I appreciate the human angle taken (examining the events 30 years after they transpired is an interesting angle), I think the film could've done a lot more with its nearly-2-hour runtime.

It's pretty formulaic in approach (grizzled veteran with a different style at first clashes, but then transforms, a high-performing team and gets the younger version of himself to step up), but it's well-acted and well-executed. The crashes were, for the most part, unexpected and well timed wrt the story.

... if anyone that's seen the original is giving positive reviews to this tripe then they're suffering from undiagnosed cranial trauma. There's zero character development, zero examination of motives, and zero chemistry between any of the pilots. It's like a shallow Cliff's notes for the series - just like "beast/berserker mode" can be accessed by a password, "the beast." Such inanity robs scenes from having anyemotional impact whatsoever. Absolutely trash - you should be ashamed of yourselves.

This retelling of the series loses all its nuance. The dialogue is TERRIBLE: repetitive, banal, and so on the nose it is like a sledgehammer to the head.